Can certain foods/drinks cause and anxiety attack?

(sorry I havn't been online in awhile)

Like the title says: Can certain foods/drinks cause and anxiety attack?

I'm asking this because I have (mild?) anxiety & depression and whenever I drink pepsi (regular, diet, max it doesn't matter what kind of pepsi) I always seem to have an anxiety attack shortly after (not severe mind you, just that really uneasy feeling for no apparent reason at all)

So, I was wondering if this would be considered something that really happens, or if it's all in my head <font color="purple"> </font>

I don't know if foods generally cause anxiety attacks, but they can increase your risk of having one. Pepsi has caffeine in it...whether it's regular, diet or Max. I think I've read that even decaffeinated sodas and coffees may retain a small amount of caffeine.

For me personally, artificial sweeteners (aspartame, splenda, etc.) as well as caffeine trigger anxiety attacks. As a result, I had to omit artificial sweetners completely from my diet and limit my caffeine intake to either one cup of coffee/tea a day or one soda a day to stave off this unwanted effect.

caffeine is a major one for me. Triggers me every time. I can only drink a small coffee now at the most and even then sometimes it triggers it.

I use to have anxiety problems eating ice cream cones (so avoided them). However, once I was eating one and had a "flashback" and realized it wasn't anything in the dessert, it was my background and my stepmother's rigid/angry way of dealing with my getting messy as a little girl. I couldn't eat the ice cream fast enough so would get it all over me whereas my brother, a couple years older was better at it and didn't and I'd be compared to him and scolded for being messy/a "problem" etc. So even as a 40-something adult I was getting anxious and didn't know why whenever I had to eat messy foods.

Do you remember when your anxiety started when you drank Pepsi or has it "always" been there. Why do you still drink Pepsi? :-) I have to "make myself" eat hoagies/submarine sandwiches that are too full and get mayonnaise all over me, etc. :-) I'm working on it now that I realize where any anxiety comes from. However, I was also "born" not liking messes much, didn't enjoy getting dirty and had problems when I was very young so may never quite get over it. Much better now though that I have a "reason" and can make up my own mind if I want to put up with any "reactions" to my own choices.

caffeine and alcohol, imo

oooo yeah alchohol even though it is a depressant can defintly trigger them in me as well.

I have several triggers...definately alchohol and coffee. But, sometimes coffee can help me, if I can't settle into one thing to work on I'll drink a small cup and it gives me a boost.

My other triggers are steak and watermellon. It's weird, I know, but I had an experience where I choked on a piece of steak in a restaurant and had the hemlick performed on me. I swallowed watermellon badly once and was alone and thought I was going to pass out. So, sometimes if I eat these foods I feel like I'm choking and freak out. I made progress a couple weeks ago when I finally realized it was more anxiety than actual choking and got my self to breathe slowly. Amazingly it worked quickly and I calmed down and felt fine.

Yes, as you see above. However, it might not be just the caffeine in the sodas, but the sugars and/or other chemicals. Try (I know this is difficult) drinking cold water instead of tea, coffee, sodas, or even energized water. You should know after a day or two at the most if the stuff you're drinking is affecting you negatively, imo.

TC and good wishes.

Yeah, I need to do exactly that. Sky's right...it's HARD!!! I've been trying to eat healthier, but I've been slipping lately. Sugar is soooo goooood, but so bad for you. I don't need my drinks to have caffeine in them (meaning, I don't like decaffeinated sodas, but I am happy to drink juice or such), but I need them to be sweet. I just have a hard time drinking non-sweet things when I eat. Still, I can handle water a lot better than some other drinks, like at some of the middle eastern and Mediterranean restaurants my boyfriend and I eat at, he sometimes gets yogurt drinks (non-sweet) and such, and I can only drink them if they have mango juice in them or something. And they have to have a lot of it, be really sweet. Unsweetened coffee is definitely out for me--but then, even sweet coffee doesn't taste good to me.