Posted by NoMotic on October 27, 2003, at 7:48:38
Hi, I would say the following is true for anywhere from 20 - 80% of social anxiety problems: Social anxiety is caused by a mix of mental symptoms caused by food sensitivities (dairy, gluten, yeast, etc), caffeine (via downregulation of 5-HT1a, possibly upregulation of 5-HT2a receptors through cortisol excess - very important factor in my opinion), alcohol, lack of sleep, and hypoglycemic like symptoms (without blood sugar actually being low defined by a test). I know this to be 100% true for myself and definitely true for other people on boards who are more interested in immune disorders and candida type illness. These people tend to call it "brain fog" but its all the same. Gluten and dairy both cause symptoms in me that would seem like some sort of downregulation of prefrontal dopamine chemistry, mediated maybe directly via dopamine, or indirectly through exorphin opiates, 5-HT2a or Cytokines (most likely). Caffeine probably is the most important for me. Any amount of caffeine sets off the excess glucocorticoid syndrome and I think my feedback mechanism, like most people w. depression / anxiety, is severely impaired. Unattended to, I believe that excess glucocorticoids definitely alter monoamine levels and I believe that 5-HT1a and 2a are probably important, with 1a having a lot of scientific backup. Note that 1a is implicated in social anxiety, as Buspar is a partial 1a agonist, and kava may act as a 1a agonist. As far as blood sugar levels, I have read studies that people with ADD often lose blood flow to the prefrontal cortex after a high carb meal. This makes sense, and would be similar in symptoms to DA or 5-HT dysregulation in the PFC. Anyone have any thoughts to add to this? For me, when I avoid caffeine, food sensitivities, alcohol, and watch my blood sugar levels, my social anxiety symptoms decrease to the point where I would without question call myself extroverted and having little if any social fears. Under the influence of any caffeine, this changes very very quickly, and since anxiety is a learned experiencem, in a way, I can easily get myself into "learning" to be anxious again in social situations by using caffeine and eating foods I am sensitive to rather than "learning" to be more extroverted by knowing what makes me feel good. Anyway, that's it. Thoughts? Comments?
poster:NoMotic
thread:273845
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031025/msgs/273845.html