Hello,
I'm trying to lose 27 pounds and so far I have lost 9. However, my doctor told me that since I have been experiencing panic attacks I should avoid eating wheat. The problem is that I don't really feel full if I dont include wheat tortillas or bread. I need help finding alternatives to wheat bread and tortillas.
how do wheat and PANIC ATTACKS relate? just curious...thanks!
Things that make me feel full are protein and fiber. You can get these naturally or from supplements. Protein shakes, bars, milk, fiber 1 bars, fiber one cereal, etc...
Original Post by lileberly:
how do wheat and PANIC ATTACKS relate? just curious...thanks!
Well my doctor told me that wheat may cause an increase in the frequency of panic attacks.
Original Post by ddeceive:
Original Post by lileberly:
how do wheat and PANIC ATTACKS relate? just curious...thanks!
Well my doctor told me that wheat may cause an increase in the frequency of panic attacks.
whoa whoa whoa!!! did your doc say why? cos I've been having a baaad increase in panic attacks lately and i eat a lot of wheat o.O
I'm sorry... that sounds like pseudo-science to me. Panic attacks are not caused by eating any particular food group. Except stuff like caffeine that raises your adrenalin level or stimulants ditto. But wheat? It would be a very strange food sensitivity that made you have panic attacks just because you ate wheat...
Original Post by marekat:
Original Post by ddeceive:
Original Post by lileberly:
how do wheat and PANIC ATTACKS relate? just curious...thanks!
Well my doctor told me that wheat may cause an increase in the frequency of panic attacks.
whoa whoa whoa!!! did your doc say why? cos I've been having a baaad increase in panic attacks lately and i eat a lot of wheat o.O
No, she just told me to avoid eating wheat products.
If your panic attacks subside on a wheat-free diet you've solved the problem. If not, let the doctor know and ask for some alternative ides.
Thanks a lot for all these replies! 
Just to be clear, eating wheat products doesn't cause panic attacks. Some times doctors will recommend reducing foods that tend to cause food allergies, such as wheat, dairy, peanuts, etc. However, to suggest that eating wheat causes panic attacks is a gross oversimplification. Panic attacks occur when you misread bodily cues and interpret them in a catastrophic way. So you may feel a slight increase in your heart rate and read that, consciously or unconsciously, as a sign that something is "wrong." Once you interprete your heart rate as dangerous, a veritable cascade effect occurs. Your body perceives that it is in danger, which signals cues to prepare for a threat. This makes your heart rate increase further, makes you sweat, and in many other ways starts to mimic a heart attack. Wheat may only play a role in this chain if 1) you are indeed allergic and 2) as part of your allergic reaction you experience physiological symptoms that lead to the kind of "misread" i described above. it's MUCH more common, though, for panic attacks to occur in situations of high stress...and not from eating wheat.
Thankfully, there are effective treatments for panic attacks that don't require you to limit your diet. Ask your doctor for more information about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with those posters who say ingesting wheat doesn't or can't cause panic attacks. I have Celiac disease, which is an intolerance to the gluten found in wheat, barley and rye. I have found that when I don't stick to my dietary restrictions I become moody, irritable and have otherwise unexplainable mood swings (not PMS related). If your doctor told you to avoid wheat, then you should try it and see what the results are. You may be pleasantly surprised at the change! Good luck!
Celiac's disease is a serious and unpleasant condition and I'm sorry you experience a range of unwanted symptoms when you ingest wheat. At the same time, I have to point out that being moody and irritable is not the same thing as having a panic attack. When you're body is not functioning optimally, your mood can certainly be affected. There is a wealth of research to support that observation. IF you have a wheat allergy, staying away from eating wheat is clearly recommended. However, panic attacks are not caused by eating wheat. Many people who have wheat allergies consume wheat and don't experience panic attacks (sounds like alaskanmama may fit in this category, actually).
That being said, I want to clarify that I never recommended eating wheat just for the heck of it. If you want to try it and see if it helps, great. I just want to advise that there is a distinct and independent process that occurs when you have a panic attack that may or may not be only loosely associated with eating wheat for some people.
True, I have never experienced a true panic attack. I was merely pointing out that wheat can cause behavioral/physical reactions in some people and that her doctor may very well have a valid point.
I will have to disagree with the people who do not think wheat can cause panic attacks. I am allergic to wheat and avoid it most of the time. Every month or so I break down and have something with wheat. Over the past five years my athsma seems to really get worse right after I eat wheat. I have to hit my inhaler a lot that day and my nose runs.
Recently I ate wheat and within 10 minutes I had the first panic attack I have ever had. I am almost sure it was from the wheat. I called my mother who is a nurse while having the attack and she confirmed that it was a panic attack...Felt like I was going to die.
My reasoning for panic attacks being related to a wheat food allergy is that I had an attack right after I consumed it. Also, if a person can go into anaphalactic shock from an allergy, which is very serious and can cause death, then why is it so hard to believe or think that panic attacks can also be caused by an allergy to something? Celiac disease is very serious and can cause all kinds of symptoms. Wheat seems to be the food allergy with the most reactive symptoms to it. Dairy might be just as bad but I have not researched it enough to know which can cause a worse reaction in a person who is allergic.
I am going to an integrative doctor this week and will ask about wheat in relation to panic attacks. Whether he confirms or not, I am truly scared straight now and will not consume wheat if I can help it again. I never want a panic attack again.
i believe this is true. i've never had a panic attack, and only a few minor anxiety attacks, but i went through a phase a few years ago when i had a terrible sleep disorder. i would go weeks at a time without sleeping more than two hours, usually between 5 and 7 in the morning. this lasted for several months - maybe over a year. at some point i noticed that when i ate even a little wheat, my heart rate would go up. i started experimenting, and on days when i had no wheat at all, i would sleep like a baby. for a while i cut wheat out of my diet entirely; if i had even a little - say, thickening in a small serving of creamy soup - i wouldn't sleep.
i stayed off wheat for a while, then gradually reintroduced it. now (about eight years later) i don't have to worry about it anymore.
Original Post by kajikit:
I'm sorry... that sounds like pseudo-science to me. Panic attacks are not caused by eating any particular food group. Except stuff like caffeine that raises your adrenalin level or stimulants ditto. But wheat? It would be a very strange food sensitivity that made you have panic attacks just because you ate wheat...
You need to do some more reading up on panic attacks.
I get heart racing and flushing from eating pretty much anything. Especially wheat, dairy, cocoa, onions and seeds.
Whilst in itself, it is NOT a panic attack (for me), the fact that it happens is what made me anxious, worry, panic then run away... heart races more... more flushing and burning. Tis an 'orrible cycle.
I took an experimental report (I'm a physicist and it seemed the best way to get the doc to understand what was happening as I'm not a good talker) and my doc gave me beta blockers.
The flushing has stopped, but I still shouldn't have the above mentioned foods as they leave my skin blotchy, like sunburn.
My doc reckons that my brains 'wired' wrongly, so I get a nervous system reaction as opposed to a salival one.
To keep a feeling of fullness, I find that diluted juice does the trick for me. I take it with me to uni in a bottle, and it also helps to keep me going through long lectures. And I have it hot when I'm at home. Bananas are good too, and oat flapjacks. Thats about the tastiest food I have... food is especially bland with out onions 
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