Anxiety After Eating

[Lotus97]

I sometimes experience anxiety after eating. Many times with the first meal of the day. It usually happens within 5 minutes of finishing a meal so it happens within 30 minutes of my first bite. I usually eat meat with my first meal, but it happens with different types of meat. Since it happens so quickly after eating I'm wondering if it has something to do with my digestive system starting up rather than something from the food itself.

 

[jeffrez]

Could be from the fat, which causes the body to release cholecystokinin, an anxiogenic substance. You could try going fat-free for a few days and see if the anxiety goes away.

 

[Stillgoing]

I get that too.

I see at as my body needs the energy to start processing the food and so takes some of it away from the brain..

I also get colder hands and feet and sometimes more tingling...

 

[Valentijn]

I sometimes experience anxiety after eating.

Orthostatic intolerance can be aggravated by digesting (blood diverted to the stomach). And OI symptoms have some overlap with anxiety symptoms.

 

[jeffrez]

http://stuartshipko.com/research.html



Panic Disorder and Gastroesophageal Reflux

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Shipko1.html

 

[Lotus97]

Orthostatic intolerance can be aggravated by digesting (blood diverted to the stomach). And OI symptoms have some overlap with anxiety symptoms.

So does that mean I should lie down after my meal rather than sit in a chair? I don't know if I have POTS/OI, but I do experience the symptoms when sitting at a computer for too long.

 

[Valentijn]

So does that mean I should lie down after my meal rather than sit in a chair? I don't know if I have POTS/OI, but I do experience the symptoms when sitting at a computer for too long.

Smaller meals (more of them as needed) can help, since there's less to digest at once. Also being sure you haven't been standing a while before or after eating. And lounging a bit after eating can help too, especially if you don't have a problem with acid reflux.

 

[caledonia]

It could be a chemical allergy to something in the food. I get an anxiety reaction to nitrates, which are commonly added to berries, nuts and shrimp. This is something that won't be on the label. The reaction is pretty immediate. The organic versions thereof, don't bother me.

One time I was at a friend's house for dinner and had a problem with meat. I assume it was something in a seasoning or marinade.

 

[caledonia]

It could be a chemical allergy to something in the food. I get an anxiety reaction to nitrates, which are commonly added to berries, nuts and shrimp. This is something that won't be on the label. The reaction is pretty immediate. The organic versions thereof, don't bother me.

One time I was at a friend's house for dinner and had a problem with meat. I assume it was something in a seasoning or marinade.

 

[Thinktank]

caledonia , i'm experiencing exactly the same thing and it started 4 weeks ago.
It's getting worse and worse and last week i had to go to the ER because i thought i was losing my mind and my heart was racing. I got some xanax and have been using it since then.
For me it's purely physiological and not psychological, it happens right after eating or sometimes even during eating when i'm consuming a larger meal.
I've been experimenting with macronutrient ratios the last few days but have not found out what's causing it yet, although i've noticed a meal high in fat and / or protein causes a more severe anxiety / panic effect than a carb meal.
I have about 50+ severe IgG scores but i've been avoiding those for a while now. I believe it's some kind of immune reaction OR a liver-related problem. My guts are inflamed at the moment and my food isn't getting digested!

Do you have any GI disturbances or problems liver/spleen/pancreas?
I'd really like to hear from you if you have found out what's causing it because it's freaking me out!

 

[peggy-sue]

I often feel rotten and/or break out in a sweat after eating. My Dad did too - he didn't have ME, but he did have diabetes.

Larger meals produce larger effects.

 

[caledonia]

caledonia , i'm experiencing exactly the same thing and it started 4 weeks ago.
It's getting worse and worse and last week i had to go to the ER because i thought i was losing my mind and my heart was racing. I got some xanax and have been using it since then.
For me it's purely physiological and not psychological, it happens right after eating or sometimes even during eating when i'm consuming a larger meal.
I've been experimenting with macronutrient ratios the last few days but have not found out what's causing it yet, although i've noticed a meal high in fat and / or protein causes a more severe anxiety / panic effect than a carb meal.
I have about 50+ severe IgG scores but i've been avoiding those for a while now. I believe it's some kind of immune reaction OR a liver-related problem. My guts are inflamed at the moment and my food isn't getting digested!

Do you have any GI disturbances or problems liver/spleen/pancreas?
I'd really like to hear from you if you have found out what's causing it because it's freaking me out!

My Nutreval test is showing problems in all three gut areas - dysbiosis, malabsorption, and fungal infection. The next thing on my list is to do a Metametrix GI Effects stool test, which is the best test for the gut.

I think my nitrite problem is probably due to leaky gut and/or low glutathione (I have both). Low glutathione causes chemical sensitivity.

You can try going totally organic/grassfed with no seasonings for a few days and see if that helps. That should rule out a hidden food additive allergy.

Another thing to try is betaine hydrochloride, and digestive enzymes. Meat and fat are the hardest things to digest, and many of us have low stomach acid and not many enzymes.

 

[jeffrez]

caledonia , i'm experiencing exactly the same thing and it started 4 weeks ago.
It's getting worse and worse and last week i had to go to the ER because i thought i was losing my mind and my heart was racing. I got some xanax and have been using it since then.
For me it's purely physiological and not psychological, it happens right after eating or sometimes even during eating when i'm consuming a larger meal.
I've been experimenting with macronutrient ratios the last few days but have not found out what's causing it yet, although i've noticed a meal high in fat and / or protein causes a more severe anxiety / panic effect than a carb meal.
I have about 50+ severe IgG scores but i've been avoiding those for a while now. I believe it's some kind of immune reaction OR a liver-related problem. My guts are inflamed at the moment and my food isn't getting digested!

Do you have any GI disturbances or problems liver/spleen/pancreas?
I'd really like to hear from you if you have found out what's causing it because it's freaking me out!

Again, it's the CCK reaction. Stop eating fat for a few days and it should subside. Then when you're stable, add fats back slowly.

 

[Thinktank]

My Nutreval test is showing problems in all three gut areas - dysbiosis, malabsorption, and fungal infection. The next thing on my list is to do a Metametrix GI Effects stool test, which is the best test for the gut.

I think my nitrite problem is probably due to leaky gut and/or low glutathione (I have both). Low glutathione causes chemical sensitivity.

You can try going totally organic/grassfed with no seasonings for a few days and see if that helps. That should rule out a hidden food additive allergy.

Another thing to try is betaine hydrochloride, and digestive enzymes. Meat and fat are the hardest things to digest, and many of us have low stomach acid and not many enzymes.

I have the same problems if i have to believe the CDSA 2.0 test result except for dysbiosis, but it does show 5 different strains of candida in moderate growth + a few bacteria in very high growth which might act as pathogens.
I'm going to do the GI effects as well at the end of this month, when are you planning to do it?

I've been on GAPS / SCD for a long time, a lot of it is organic and all is grass fed or non-farmed.
But the fact that i get panicky / anxiety right after or something during a larger meal means something is wrong in the upper digestive system. Like you said maybe betaine HCL + pepsin will work and i'm going to try that out.

I'm going high in carbs / easy digestable vegetables, low / moderate in animal protein and very low in fat for a few days to see if it has any effect. I fear this will feed the candida overgrowth but anything better than the panic attacks!

 

[Thinktank]

Again, it's the CCK reaction. Stop eating fat for a few days and it should subside. Then when you're stable, add fats back slowly.

I tried googling for CCK but can't find a good explenation, can you elaborate on what CCK means?

 

[caledonia]

I have the same problems if i have to believe the CDSA 2.0 test result except for dysbiosis, but it does show 5 different strains of candida in moderate growth + a few bacteria in very high growth which might act as pathogens.
I'm going to do the GI effects as well at the end of this month, when are you planning to do it?

I actually have a GI effects test kit sitting right here on my desk. But I have a problem, which is I have an extremely high need for magnesium right now - way beyond bowel tolerance. I'm going to trial stopping all methyl supps to see if I can get this under control. Then when bowels are normal, I can do the GI test.

 

[caledonia]

I tried googling for CCK but can't find a good explenation, can you elaborate on what CCK means?

jeffrez posted a nice chart and some links in post #5. Stress causes the release of CCK which causes panic. But I don't see where fat fits in this?

 

[jeffrez]

jeffrez posted a nice chart and some links in post #5. Stress causes the release of CCK which causes panic. But I don't see where fat fits in this?

Fats trigger more bile production, which triggers more CCK. ;-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholecystokinin

 

[Dufresne]

I sometimes experience anxiety after eating. Many times with the first meal of the day. It usually happens within 5 minutes of finishing a meal so it happens within 30 minutes of my first bite. I usually eat meat with my first meal, but it happens with different types of meat. Since it happens so quickly after eating I'm wondering if it has something to do with my digestive system starting up rather than something from the food itself.

Many of us have reported feeling worse shortly after eating. I’ve noticed this happening within five minutes of swallowing. I’ve also suspected it has to do with my digestive system starting up rather than a reaction to the food I’m eating. I know this reaction plays a large part in perpetuating my electrical hypersensitivity, nasal congestion, fasciculations in arms and legs, and a few more symptoms. These symptoms link into what I believe to be a cycle of glutamate excitotoxicity, which could also be a cause of anxiety.

I’ve come to believe it’s the result of something coming out of my liver. When I’ve done Hulda Clark liver flushes the symptoms I mention above have been completely eliminated. The liver flush involves olive oil consumption without any food. What this does is ejects virtually all the bile through the GI without any absorption. I believe this odd reaction to eating has to do with something coming out in the bile which is then absorbed as part of the digestive process. The idea of toxins springs to mind, but this CCK could explain it too. Though symptoms return from eating things like lettuce or cucumber (foods that have no fat content).

 

[Thinktank]

Dufresne , How long do you go without symptoms after a flush?

I've been experimenting with various types of foods and i've eliminated fats for the last 3 days. It doesn't matter what i eat, EVERYTHING causes anxiety and panic in some degree.
I'm feeling very anxious at the moment and I've had it with this, i'm going in for a brain MRI, full body MRI, capsule endoscopy and some more extensive hormone bloodwork. I fear there might be something wrong with my liver or some of the hormone producing glands.