Panic attacks whenever I eat!!! Please help!!!

[Tyler368]

22 year old male.
The majority of the time when I eat I get anxiety. Initially I thought it was sodium  in the food I was eating but it happens no matter what I eat. I tried experimenting by cooking an all natural chicken breast,plain without any seasoning. I ate this with plain frozen sugar snap peas and it still happens. Headaches, chest pain, nausea,chills,feals like Im going to pass out.I feel Very faint. This seems to happen most in the afternoon. Usually I can get through breakfast and lunch with only minor symptoms(though not all ways ).I can't eat at restaurants such as cracker barrel,Ruby Tuesdays esc. Within a few bites I get extreme anxiety attacks. Yet for breakfast I eat a chichen bacon croissant with honey mustard from Dunkin Donuts nearly every morning and aside from nausea and the occasional anxiety symptoms I feel fine. I was on antibiotics about a month ago and the nausea never went away. This nausea is accompanied by pretty bad lower back pain. I've tried eating Greek yogurt for the probiotics but it hasn't helped.my doctor ordered a ultrasound of my aorta,kidneys, blatter, and prostate which was slightly enlarged but my doctor said it's not a problem due to my age. This has been happening for about 4 months and I have lost 30 pounds in that time. (186 lbs now down to 155). Im starving but im terrified to eat.This happens when I'm overly full or if I eat a granola bar it doesn't matter. I can eat the same exact thing that caused anxiety the next day and be fine. There no pattern or consistency. Please help I want my life back.

[Paxiled]

If this started when you were on antibiotics, you're on the right track about probiotics but yogurt isn't the answer.  While yogurt is an okay prebiotic, it's not much of a probiotic source, as the organisms used to culture it are killed off by pasteurization.  Some of your better quality yogurts found in health foods stores put some back in, but not very many.  The best thing you can do is go to your best local health food store and buy the best probiotic supplement they have in their refrigerated section.  These have billions of organisms.  You want one that has a good selection of organisms, but especially bifido bacteria, or bifidus, as it's very involved with digestion.  Other good sources are cultured vegetables, such as kim chi or sauerkraut.  Because dairy is often a problem in itself for humans, it's best to look elsewhere.  It's not sodium -- I don't know where you got that idea -- but it could be a form of sodium found in many restaurant foods, especially Oriental, called MSG.  And I'd also suggest you start to eat a healthy diet at all meals, at least for awhile -- all the restaurants you mention have cheap and therefore horrible food full of artificial ingredients that could pose a problem, and that breakfast of yours, well, I'm sure you know.  You're just perpetuating your problem.  As for your anxiety attached to this, that's a separate issue, and a therapist might be a good place to start to see why you've become so anxious about eating in general -- most people with an illness or drug-related problem (the antibiotics) don't become that anxious, they just get mad.

[Tyler368]

Thank you for the reply. I also have  a strong feel of taking medicine or drugs of any kind. I can't even take ibuprofen without thinking I'm going to die. When I was a teenager I smoked Marijuana and spice. When I decided to quit I went through terrible withdrawals and that was the first time I experienced anxiety. The anxiety and paranoia lasted for make 6 months then gradually went away for a few years. It just came up within the last 4 months or so.