Anxiety and Food

[bztap]

Whenever I don't eat I am fine, for the most part. I am probably more anxious than most but I am generally ok. After I eat however if you throw a pinch of anxiety on top of it, my symptoms spike and I just need to get out of the situation. It makes me want to vomit. Then the thought of like going out to eat with other people some how makes my symptoms spike. I don't know what is going on.

I have had this to a degree for a long time but its getting worse as of recently and I feel it consumes my life. Some things I am fine with some things im not. Many times if I have eaten I will have to leave a class and dry heave or even vomit in the bathroom from nerves.

But if the focus of what I am doing doesn't revolve around food or drinking im fine. Like my dad wanted to go to a restaurant with me today before we went to a hockey game and I was just thinking no I will get nauseous. Then I am thinking this is retarded cause I know I will A) eat at the game and B) drink at the game, and be totally fine.

I have borrowed some xanax from a friend, those things have saved my life on occasions it feels. Does anyone have what I have or can explain to me what is going on. Whats the best solution? I am trying to schedule appointments with doctors and had a first meeting with a couselor. I am looking for more insight with my choices and options.

[Carla]

Hello!
I can fully relate to your post. I was exactly the same. I lost so much weight due to all the actual vomiting especially a few months ago. I was being sick with anxiety on average 3 -4 times a day. I researched a lot into anti anxiety foods and since I have stuck to an anti anxiety diet and cut out all processed refined foods,cut out alcohol, stopped smoking and drink lots of water, I have noticed a big difference in how my anxiety is. I eat lots of fruit especially bananas which are very good for anxiety. There is a lot about these foods on the net and also in some of the posts on this forum. I also take supplements that help with anxiety - B vitamins, magnesium, iron, 5-HTP. I eat small portions and make sure I have a little something to eat every 3 hours to keep my blood sugar levels up. Since doing all of this it has really helped me. If I eat a large meal then I find I end up being sick, so I just have smaller portions, - little and often. I would however visit your doctor to rule out that what you are going through is anxiety related or not. I hope this can be of some help to you.

[northstar]

hi bztap!

carla has given you lots of good advice about eating, diet was the key to my recovery and after suffering with crippling anxiety i'm now soooo much better :) i'm also glad to see that you are starting counselling, it's a very wise thing to do, it helped me out enormously and i doubt that you will regret it either.

i wanted to ask you if you have looked at the foods that you are eating, what is your diet like? is it possible that the food you're eating is making you feel sick? or is your diet pretty healthy? it's worth thinking about.

also i just wanted to say please please be careful with the xanax, it's really NOT a drug that you want to borrow from friends :( it's very addictive and has caused endless problems for people with anxiety, in some it produces more anxiety, in others they find they need larger and larger amounts of it to feel ok and withdrawal from it can be hell if done in the wrong way. it's really not wise to take it without your doctor's supervision. if your anxiety is that bad then just go talk to your doc about it, they will discuss with you the best kind of medication to take for your own personal circumstance if you choose to take that route. with anxiety you need to be kind to yourself and look after your body, taking xanex unsupervised may lead to more problems and that's the last thing you need. my own father is addicted to xanex after years of use, his doctor has never tried to help him other than giving him prescriptions and he depends on it to feel ok quite a lot. i didn't know this until recently when i went through my own problems with anxiety and it's made me so angry that his own doctor has allowed this to happen, it's irresponsible to allow your patient to get like that :(