New to this site and Anxiety

I will just start with when this all began,
I am 25 years old, and was working on the Dec 29th 2012. (Roughly two weeks ago)
I had woken up that morning roughly 8am, and began drinking my morning coffee, (I use non-dairy creamer and no sugar so each cup I drink is roughly 10 calories total with no sugar intake)

I do drink a lot of coffee, however I usually counter-balance with plenty of water. However that particular Saturday, I finished roughly 6 cups and went to work. During the day, I kept forgetting to drink water. We were really busy that day/night, so I felt like I didn't have time to grab a glass of water. By this point in the day I had consumed roughly 10 cups of coffee with no water. Than around 9pm its like it all hit me. My hand began tingling, and I felt really foggy in my head. I assumed I had dehydrated myself; but I think even after drinking some water and some gatorade, panic continued to ensue. I was nervous to go to sleep; and even worried to my partner that I might not wake up. Well, morning came and I did in fact wake up. I continued to consume water, whilst trying to eat and maintained drinking gatorade to assist my body in consuming the water. Because of this event, I have slimmed my caffeine induction; and drink maybe a cup of coffee a day. However, over the past couple weeks I have been extremely anxious; at points spawning anxiety or panic attacks. I feel like I need to take extreme steps just to calm myself; and I do not feel like myself at all. Some days are better than others; some days I have 0 panic attacks; other days I have massive ones; ones that make my heart race, and cause extreme paranoia of health.

I think it should also be noted that I drastically changed my diet; Prior to this, I would go all day without eating.. (I know so bad) but coffee would negate feelings of hunger so I would normally eat a decent dinner around 5pm. Since that saturday however, I have ensured an early breakfast, (usually consisting of toast and a bowl of Multi-grain cheerios) a lunch similar, and a normal dinner. I began taking vitamin C and Fish oil with every meal (the fish oil that is, vitamin c usually 1-2 a day) So my diet has shifted dramatically too. (in the healthy direction)

My paranoia hit a high tonight though, as I was searching online and noticed that my anxiety could be caused from a sudden shift in Caffeine intake. I was most certainly consuming over 500mg of Caffeine a day; and now consume 1/10th of that. So reading online, I saw that I could be going through caffeine withdrawals. I attempted to intake a normal dosage that I use to, and I suffered an extreme anxiety attack. (I had to take a hot bath and focus just to end it, my heart was racing.)

I have had zero instances of extreme-anxiety or panic attacks prior to these events in my life. However I do feel tingling in my hands and sometimes feet; ultimately since two weeks ago I do not feel like myself; there are moments of joy but I feel suffocated by anxiety a lot of the time. (I found playing my SNES to calm me, It may just be positive memories from my childhood; but playing it does calm my senses)

I am simply wondering what could be going on with me...

I am wondering if bringing on a severe dehydration gave me a panic attack, which than provided me with anxiety for my health. (As prior to this dehydration I would definitely not have considered myself a healthy person.) I am just looking for an opinion on what could have happened or what is happening..

Hi Namahsllort and welcome!

I am sorry to hear of your recent anxiety struggles. It is not unusual for stimulants such as caffeine to trigger an anxiety attack. We have had some posts from people who have consumed the energy drinks, that are full of it, resulting in panic.

Of course there are other issues that factor in, such as a predisposition to anxiety/panic...but a catalyst such as caffeine is a fairly common one. Add to that low blood sugar from not eating...and you have a recipe for an attack:(

The withdrawl symptoms from caffeine are usually fatigue and headache. I would not try going back to your usual intake...as that was very high.

To help you deal with the panic attacks, I would suggest looking into our Resource Guide. It is on our main page here, first post. In it you will find video links for breathing and relaxation exercises that are very effective if practiced daily. Try doing these for a week or so and see how you feel.

There are other treatment options available as well, such as therapy and medication...but if you start with the self-help, you may very well find that you can manage, along with cutting out the caffeine.;)

Post with us anytime. We are here to listen and understand, and will be here to support you through this.

Scaredy Cat