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larteaga
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16 Sep 2014, 9:02 pm

In order to control, not rid, my HIGH anxiety, I eliminated sodas and caffeine. I do have decaf coffee in the mornings with 12.5 dose of Paxil. That's it. Sometimes, I'll have a Diet and caffeine free Pepsi. The sodium will kill me, so I have like 2 ounces.
I've noticed that cantaloupes relax me right away after consuming them.
Good luck with your career!



Birdsleep
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16 Sep 2014, 9:59 pm

If you happen to be sensitive to sugar, then cutting out sweet foods and beverages would make a huge difference.
After I found out that I was sensitive to sugar and I stopped eating it, I was feeling a lot more calm, clear and more stable and secure.

http://www.radiantrecovery.com/newsensitive.htm

That website of Kathleen DeMaisons might give the impression that people with sugar-sensitivity are generally overweight, but that is not the case.
I was always very skinny, but there are lot's of alcoholics in my family tree and I always had mood-swings anxiety and brain-fog.

I so wish I could do something to make your anxiety go away, I know it feels really awful.
Hang in there, you can get through this, SteelMaiden.



andrethemoogle
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17 Sep 2014, 1:51 am

Having no caffeine keeps my anxiety down a bit. Not by a whole lot, but enough. Plus my body reacts horribly to caffeine, I get all jittery, paranoid and sick feeling.



Coolguy
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17 Sep 2014, 9:21 am

You want to avoid foods that cause you're body to produce excessive amounts of cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone. High levels of cortisol are associated with anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. Sugars are major agitators of cortisol levels. You also want to avoid grains and legumes. If you want to eat bread, white bread is a better choice than whole wheat bread. Stick with meats, fruits, and vegetables as much as you can.

Regular exercise will also help keep cortisol levels in check.

To learn more about cortisol, I highly recommend "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. I'm not a strict paleo eater myself, nor do I think it's the perfect diet. However, it does have some well-researched information about cortisol and healthy eating in general.



SteelMaiden
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17 Sep 2014, 12:44 pm

I've been trying to eat really healthily, following your advice. However I hate cooking (and I have severe problems with following recipes - I have to have someone help me) and I only shop once every 10-14 days on online food shopping (I cannot go to supermarkets myself due to severe sensory issues). I also don't have much of a budget.

So I'm just trying to avoid excess sugar and caffeine, and I'm trying to avoid fast food / junk food.

My anxiety is improving a bit.

I will try to follow people's advice here but I often wish I didn't have to eat and I could just take a magic pill that contains 2,000 calories.

Eating is annoying, eating is tiresome and eating gets in the way of studying and my special interests.

Sorry.


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17 Sep 2014, 3:20 pm

I don't know a whole lot about nutrition, but I can tell you that the reason Coke mitigates your migranes is because the caffeine in it dilates the capillaries in your brain, which allows it to get more oxygen, decreasing the headache. Of course, caffeine is also a diuretic, so it dehydrates you. I would ask your friend/nutritionist for things that will have the same impact on your migranes as caffeine, but which don't cause dehydration, and which, of course, contain less suger. Good luck!


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SteelMaiden
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18 Sep 2014, 10:56 am

StarTrekker wrote:
I don't know a whole lot about nutrition, but I can tell you that the reason Coke mitigates your migranes is because the caffeine in it dilates the capillaries in your brain, which allows it to get more oxygen, decreasing the headache. Of course, caffeine is also a diuretic, so it dehydrates you. I would ask your friend/nutritionist for things that will have the same impact on your migranes as caffeine, but which don't cause dehydration, and which, of course, contain less suger. Good luck!


I figured. They add caffeine to some migraine medication combinations. At least they do in the UK. Although the vasodilatory / vasoconstrictory theory of migraines is not certain, according to a textbook I've read.

Yes caffeine is a diuretic. Hence why I avoid it when I'm out.

I have Rizatripitan to take if I can feel a migraine coming on, but I can only take it maximum 8 days a month, and last time I took it, it gave me temporary, but moderate cognitive dysfunction, and what can be best described as "dopeyness", to quite a severe degree. So taking Rizatriptan on a day where I plan to study is not a good idea.

However my migraines are improving as I'm stabilised on a dose of Gabapentin.


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Birdsleep
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20 Sep 2014, 2:27 am

Wikipedia: "Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a pharmaceutical drug, specifically a GABA analog. It was originally developed to treat epilepsy, and currently is also used to relieve neuropathic pain."

Steel Maiden:
a herbal GABA-analog is muscimol, the active ingredient in the Fly Agaric mushroom.
It's my fovourite 'herb' when I have to go out to meet lots of people and I don't want to get stressed.
It's blocking stress receptors, lowering blood pressure and it's for free and non-toxic.
(I preserve it in honey.) It works in very small amounts and the effect lasts 48 hours at a time.
Sometimes it is available on the internet, but I like to be in the forest and gather them myself.
A very efficient herb for migraine treatment is Feverfew. It has white daisy like flowers and
tastes very bitter, but it is famous for it's effectiveness.(grows like a weed in my garden).
Should also be available from herbalists.



NicholasName
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23 Sep 2014, 3:22 am

Sugary Coke making your migraines better makes me wonder if you might have reactive hypoglycemia. You might want to get a blood sugar monitor and check your blood sugar a few times a day for a while, especially when you have migraines. Also check it if you have any strange changes in mood or energy level with no apparent cause.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_hypoglycemia


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SteelMaiden
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23 Sep 2014, 8:02 am

Birdsleep wrote:
Wikipedia: "Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a pharmaceutical drug, specifically a GABA analog. It was originally developed to treat epilepsy, and currently is also used to relieve neuropathic pain."

Steel Maiden:
a herbal GABA-analog is muscimol, the active ingredient in the Fly Agaric mushroom.
It's my fovourite 'herb' when I have to go out to meet lots of people and I don't want to get stressed.
It's blocking stress receptors, lowering blood pressure and it's for free and non-toxic.
(I preserve it in honey.) It works in very small amounts and the effect lasts 48 hours at a time.
Sometimes it is available on the internet, but I like to be in the forest and gather them myself.
A very efficient herb for migraine treatment is Feverfew. It has white daisy like flowers and
tastes very bitter, but it is famous for it's effectiveness.(grows like a weed in my garden).
Should also be available from herbalists.


Reminds me of pharmacology lectures. I'd have to research this as I have many health conditions. I have haemophilia so Feverfew could be a problem. As for muscimol, I don't really want to buy uncontrolled drugs.


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SteelMaiden
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23 Sep 2014, 8:05 am

NicholasName wrote:
Sugary Coke making your migraines better makes me wonder if you might have reactive hypoglycemia. You might want to get a blood sugar monitor and check your blood sugar a few times a day for a while, especially when you have migraines. Also check it if you have any strange changes in mood or energy level with no apparent cause.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_hypoglycemia


That is a very good point. I knew someone in hospital who had reactive hypoglycaemia and I do know about its postulated mechanism. I just didn't connect it properly. I'll have a talk with my GP about this.


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SteelMaiden
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24 Sep 2014, 3:26 am

I am not taking muscimol. No way. It has pyschedelic side-effects. I get enough of hallucinations from my psychosis.


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MrsPeel
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02 Sep 2020, 6:07 am

My suggestion is to cut down sugar