Jump to content

Symptoms After Eating Support Group


[...]

Recommended Posts

There seem to be a lot of people that experience symptoms after eating.  I am starting this support group to aid in sharing symptoms, coping strategies and any other knowledge worth sharing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My symptoms started at my setback from corticosteroids in October 2021.  This was 11 months into my recovery from ativan.  At the time I felt 70% recovered.  I was taking a nasal steroid and tried to stop not realizing it was a cross-tolerant drug to benzos.  Everything came back.  It was CT x1000.  Worse than the most acute of acute.  Food seemed to be one of the biggest triggers and sugars/carbs were the worst!  Symptoms included severe, severe anxiety; burning, like lava, nerves; fear/doom; depression; intrusive thoughts;

 

Through trial and error I came up with a list of foods that I could eat that would not send me straight to hell.  They still caused a lot of problems but not as bad as the rest.  Those foods were:

1- Beef

2- Chicken

3- Eggs

4- Cheese

5- Nuts: Macadamia Nuts, Pecans, Walnuts, Pistachio

6- Avocado

7- Spinach

8- Zucchini

9- Sometimes Blackberries, Celery

 

Today 7 months later it is a little better especially at night for some reason.  I still cannot eat anything but eggs or chicken in the mornings after 10am.  If I eat anything like bread or fruit or coffee or sugar my body goes into extreme anxiety, constricted chest, labored breathing, burning nerves.  It is terrible.  Around 5pm I seem to tolerate fruit and veggies just enough to be motivated to eat it.

 

I have learned from several folks this can take a year, even more, to fully recover.  Everyone I spoke to recovered though so there is hope for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, I thought I was the only one with this problem. I am still tapering but Every time I eat I get horrible akathisia  symptoms. I have akathisia right after I reduce my dose and it is so much worse when I eat. It has been this way through my entire taper. No matter what I eat it revs me up. I had lost a lot of weight because I was reluctant to eat, but my Dr. threatened to put me in the hospital if I didn't gain weight, so I had to start eating more which makes me feel horrible. Strangely enough, I have zero problems with my stomach or digestion. Do not know why it makes my akathisia so bad..  Such a freaking nightmare.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry gray and foxclover.  This is the worst!  I had only eggs today and it revved me up so bad I can barely breathe!  So much anxiety and shortness of breath. 

 

I met two guys that were on here in 2019 and both said it took them a full year to recover. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Jben this is definitely the worst! So I am probably going to have this problem even when my taper is done. Never though that being on a med. for 1 month would cause such serious problems.. This crap needs to be banned!! Sorry you are in so much pain foxclover.  I have severe pain in my neck shoulders and arms  too.. Hopefully we all start feeling better soon!!

Lots of prayers and hugs!! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may want to look at the histamine support group postings. Allergic reactions to food making symptoms worse sounds like histamine is implicated. I know that muscle pain can be caused by histamine. We know this because long covid is a histamine disorder and people have lots of pain, not to mention tiniitus, anxiety, head pressure, and many similar symptoms to benzo withdrawal.. I had a lot of the symptoms you describe, and taking a DAO enzyme has changed my life. I'm cutting Remeron, but I was on a benzo before it, and my symptoms from cutting the remeron were identical to my benzo withdrawal symptoms, hell on earth. I added amino acids on the advice of my holistic psychiatrist and then based on my experience with long covid decided that histamine must be involved; it was too similar. So I also added the DAO enzyme. It's been a game changer for me. I literally went from being about take option B to having no symptoms at all. You can look at that Histamine Support group page and my buddie blog if you want more info.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may want to look at the histamine support group postings. Allergic reactions to food making symptoms worse sounds like histamine is implicated. I know that muscle pain can be caused by histamine. We know this because long covid is a histamine disorder and people have lots of pain, not to mention tiniitus, anxiety, head pressure, and many similar symptoms to benzo withdrawal.. I had a lot of the symptoms you describe, and taking a DAO enzyme has changed my life. I'm cutting Remeron, but I was on a benzo before it, and my symptoms from cutting the remeron were identical to my benzo withdrawal symptoms, hell on earth. I added amino acids on the advice of my holistic psychiatrist and then based on my experience with long covid decided that histamine must be involved; it was too similar. So I also added the DAO enzyme. It's been a game changer for me. I literally went from being about take option B to having no symptoms at all. You can look at that Histamine Support group page and my buddie blog if you want more info.

What brand of dao do you use? And aminos?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Jben this is definitely the worst! So I am probably going to have this problem even when my taper is done. Never though that being on a med. for 1 month would cause such serious problems.. This crap needs to be banned!! Sorry you are in so much pain foxclover.  I have severe pain in my neck shoulders and arms  too.. Hopefully we all start feeling better soon!!

Lots of prayers and hugs!! :)

 

Everyone is different so you can never really tell.  I did not have this issue during my taper, nor during my post taper recovery.  11 months into the recovery a nasal steroid set me back into a CT acute, like the worst of the worst acute.  It was during that CT I developed this condition.  The doctor ruled out a bunch of stuff including histamine.  The theory is that my CNS is hypersensitive to all stimuli including cortisol surges, food, drugs, lotions, viruses, etc, etc.  So until it heals I have to deal with this food situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had tried a DAO enzyme and it actually made my symptoms worse. I had also thought it might be histamine.  I think I am in the same situation as JBEN. My CNS is hyper sensitive to everything including food. I have also noticed changes in temperature affect it also. I am just hyper sensitive to everything. It is just horrible...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had tried a DAO enzyme and it actually made my symptoms worse. I had also thought it might be histamine.  I think I am in the same situation as JBEN. My CNS is hyper sensitive to everything including food. I have also noticed changes in temperature affect it also. I am just hyper sensitive to everything. It is just horrible...

I think this is mine too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is truly horrible.  All these symptoms, the depression, the fear, the anxiety, the burning nerves and then on top of all that it takes away the pleasure of eating. 

 

It will get better though.  I am very slowly starting to eat stuff other than protien and fat.  Somehow my symptoms relax just enough after 5pm and I can eat.  Still no sugar or simple carbs!  So I just suffer through the day as much as I can and starve until about 4/5.  That is when I eat. 

 

This ability to eat is new though.  The first 3 months were horrific.  I wasnt able to eat anything without going into crisis!!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Jben this is definitely the worst! So I am probably going to have this problem even when my taper is done. Never though that being on a med. for 1 month would cause such serious problems.. This crap needs to be banned!! Sorry you are in so much pain foxclover.  I have severe pain in my neck shoulders and arms  too.. Hopefully we all start feeling better soon!!

Lots of prayers and hugs!! :)

 

Everyone is different so you can never really tell.  I did not have this issue during my taper, nor during my post taper recovery.  11 months into the recovery a nasal steroid set me back into a CT acute, like the worst of the worst acute.  It was during that CT I developed this condition.  The doctor ruled out a bunch of stuff including histamine.  The theory is that my CNS is hypersensitive to all stimuli including cortisol surges, food, drugs, lotions, viruses, etc, etc.  So until it heals I have to deal with this food situation.

 

I am so sorry that you all are suffering like this. It sounds absolutely horrific.  :-[  These f*cking drugs-- first, do no harm?? How can the psychiatric profession even keep that as a motto with a straight face.

 

I would be curious to know how the doctor determined that histamine was not a player in your case. Everything y'all describe seems highly adrenal/cortisol/histamine related-- the temperature causing flares (histamine/cortisol ) and eating (causes release of histamine to produce stomach acid), the lessening of symptoms after 5pm (cortisol goes down after 5pm, histamine is also tied to circadian rythym), coming off corticosteroids triggering it (cortisol/histamine). The body uses cortisol and GABA as a brake on histamine in the brain and body. This is why our adrenals go haywire trying to keep up with the cortisol demand in withdrawal because GABA drops and can't do the work against histamine any more, and its all left to the adrenals.  If someone is on a nasal steroid, which is putting a cortisol-like substance directly in the brain, when that's pulled, histamine is going to tee off big time. I myself am not sensitive to histamine foods or anything like that, but histamine is clearly a huge player in my nervous system reactivity.

 

As for the DAO enzyme, some people can't tolerate it, because when it breaks down histamine, it releases ammonia and hydrogen peroxide in the body. Although these are common bodily waste products, you have to have nutrition to break these down, and a lot of us don't. But it sounds like it was more of an allergic reaction when DAO was taken?? All I can tell you is that all of my burning nerves, electric surges in the spine and head/neck, horrible hunger attacks from low blood sugar, panic surges, all of that got eliminated by the DAO. The Aminos helped with the depression and anxiety, too, but more during the day when I would think about being afraid of withdrawal, not for those surge-attacks by the devil, as I like to call them.

 

The brands I use are: DAO: Seeking Health- Histablock - I take 2 capsules 3x per day when I make a cut and then lower back to 2 capsules 2x perday, morning and bedtime in between.  AMINOS: Pure Encapsulations Aminos NR- I take 6 capsules, 6 grams, 2x per day, morning and bedtime.

 

The last thing I'd mention is that if you can't take anything because you can't eat, meditation lowers histamine on its own. There is research showing this. And people have recovered from long covid or chronic fatigue syndrome just by meditating 3x per day.

 

Sorry to jump in on your support group. I was just reading through, and the suffering seemed so terrible, I thought I'd just share my experience in case it could help. I know it won't work for everyone. Sending positive thoughts for healing to each of you. --Quinn  :smitten:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Jben this is definitely the worst! So I am probably going to have this problem even when my taper is done. Never though that being on a med. for 1 month would cause such serious problems.. This crap needs to be banned!! Sorry you are in so much pain foxclover.  I have severe pain in my neck shoulders and arms  too.. Hopefully we all start feeling better soon!!

Lots of prayers and hugs!! :)

 

Everyone is different so you can never really tell.  I did not have this issue during my taper, nor during my post taper recovery.  11 months into the recovery a nasal steroid set me back into a CT acute, like the worst of the worst acute.  It was during that CT I developed this condition.  The doctor ruled out a bunch of stuff including histamine.  The theory is that my CNS is hypersensitive to all stimuli including cortisol surges, food, drugs, lotions, viruses, etc, etc.  So until it heals I have to deal with this food situation.

 

I am so sorry that you all are suffering like this. It sounds absolutely horrific.  :-[  These f*cking drugs-- first, do no harm?? How can the psychiatric profession even keep that as a motto with a straight face.

 

I would be curious to know how the doctor determined that histamine was not a player in your case. Everything y'all describe seems highly adrenal/cortisol/histamine related-- the temperature causing flares (histamine/cortisol ) and eating (causes release of histamine to produce stomach acid), the lessening of symptoms after 5pm (cortisol goes down after 5pm, histamine is also tied to circadian rythym), coming off corticosteroids triggering it (cortisol/histamine). The body uses cortisol and GABA as a brake on histamine in the brain and body. This is why our adrenals go haywire trying to keep up with the cortisol demand in withdrawal because GABA drops and can't do the work against histamine any more, and its all left to the adrenals.  If someone is on a nasal steroid, which is putting a cortisol-like substance directly in the brain, when that's pulled, histamine is going to tee off big time. I myself am not sensitive to histamine foods or anything like that, but histamine is clearly a huge player in my nervous system reactivity.

 

As for the DAO enzyme, some people can't tolerate it, because when it breaks down histamine, it releases ammonia and hydrogen peroxide in the body. Although these are common bodily waste products, you have to have nutrition to break these down, and a lot of us don't. But it sounds like it was more of an allergic reaction when DAO was taken?? All I can tell you is that all of my burning nerves, electric surges in the spine and head/neck, horrible hunger attacks from low blood sugar, panic surges, all of that got eliminated by the DAO. The Aminos helped with the depression and anxiety, too, but more during the day when I would think about being afraid of withdrawal, not for those surge-attacks by the devil, as I like to call them.

 

The brands I use are: DAO: Seeking Health- Histablock - I take 2 capsules 3x per day when I make a cut and then lower back to 2 capsules 2x perday, morning and bedtime in between.  AMINOS: Pure Encapsulations Aminos NR- I take 6 capsules, 6 grams, 2x per day, morning and bedtime.

 

The last thing I'd mention is that if you can't take anything because you can't eat, meditation lowers histamine on its own. There is research showing this. And people have recovered from long covid or chronic fatigue syndrome just by meditating 3x per day.

 

Sorry to jump in on your support group. I was just reading through, and the suffering seemed so terrible, I thought I'd just share my experience in case it could help. I know it won't work for everyone. Sending positive thoughts for healing to each of you. --Quinn  :smitten:

You're awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished eating. I don't know what my problem is. Food just burns all the way down to my stomach. Histamine?

Also can't digest fats. I was told I am missing enzymes and more test are needed.

I bought some enzymes and not I am too chicken to try it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just eat whatever since everything makes me sick anyways.  I give up with the food.  I have no damn appetite.  It's been gone for over 9 years now.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey thatonegirl.

 

It is difficult to be mentally ready for the symptoms to come after eating.  My symptoms are off the charts bad after eating and bring me to my knees.  When I eat I get severe, severe anxiety where my lungs constrict and my nerves set on fire.  It is terrible.

 

To cope I usually dont eat in the mornings at all.  Just water and even that causes symptoms.  I hold out as long as I can - usually 1 or 2pm in the afternoon.  Then I have only protien/fats like chicken/cheese/avocado.  These foods dont revv me up as much.  Then I hold out again until 6 or 7 when my overall symptoms seem to die down.  Once that happens I can eat a lot more without terrible symptoms.  I think it has something to do with the amount of cortisol in my body from the point of waking until afternoon.  Not really sure. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also wake around noon. I can only get 400cal down in a sitting. I would like to eat 1000cal a sitting, but right now that is a dream.

My method is to eat as fast as possible before my body can react. I succeed with mixed results. It easiest for me when I wake up and late at night. Evening I think there is a fluctuation in my body that cause it to be harder.

 

Chicken and rice, gluten free cereal, and gluten free, dairy free pizza and bananas is what I can eat best right now.

 

Do you have any issues with fitting more into your stomach?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh it appears we have completely different symptoms.  I cant eat sugar nor carbs.  My body, specifically my nervous system, reacts to it.  It must have something to do with blood sugar and its affect on our CNS.  Not really sure.

 

What you are describing sounds as awful as my symptoms but completely different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey thatonegirl.

 

It is difficult to be mentally ready for the symptoms to come after eating.  My symptoms are off the charts bad after eating and bring me to my knees.  When I eat I get severe, severe anxiety where my lungs constrict and my nerves set on fire.  It is terrible.

 

To cope I usually dont eat in the mornings at all.  Just water and even that causes symptoms.  I hold out as long as I can - usually 1 or 2pm in the afternoon.  Then I have only protien/fats like chicken/cheese/avocado.  These foods dont revv me up as much.  Then I hold out again until 6 or 7 when my overall symptoms seem to die down.  Once that happens I can eat a lot more without terrible symptoms.  I think it has something to do with the amount of cortisol in my body from the point of waking until afternoon.  Not really sure.

Makes sense

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eating candy actually makes me feel better.  I think I need the glucose for energy in my brain or something.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone find their sensitivity shifts? Like you know a food sets you off, but sometimes it doesn't? Or later at night you can tolerate more of that food? I mean sometimes it was so bad that bottled water would set me off.

I either get headpressure at the top like inside my head, my left arm either goes heavy, tight or loose like it's dropping or my vision goes crazy almost like a hyper focus or I feel the food moving through my head, not the food but like a weird sensation right after eating

I notjced these set me off

- Carbs (Doesn't matter which)

- Eggs

- All forms of sugar which actually is a blessing, I have a bad sugar addiction so this will help me off. The body doesn't need carbs or sugar, your liver and kidney make it own content for blood glucose through two main processes Glycogenolysis & Gluconeogenesis

- Cheese

- most Veggies

 

That's all I got so far.

Happy to be a part of this group thanks for starting this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the triggers shift for me.  The end result is always severe, severe anxiety, burning nerves and constricted chest.  During the first 3 months I could only eat macadamia nuts and boiled chicken.  Everything else set me off.  Now I cant eat anything at all from waking until about 1 in the afternoon.  At that time I can eat protein.  After 5pm I can eat nearly anything except refined sugars.  I am hoping this gets better as time goes by.  Everyone I have spoken with says food triggers can last about a year.  That seems right given I am at 8 months and STILL having so many symptoms!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...