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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Glydin on April 20, 2006, at 8:55:06
I have posted about this before and thought I would revisit the topic.
While on Klonopin routinely, I would experience anxiety symptoms within several minutes of beginning to eat. This happened mostly when eating out and some of it was probably due to being “out and about”, however, it did happen while at home also. The episodes were brief and mainly akin to a very mild panic reaction: sudden freezing up, intense focus on feeling really unwell and the desire to flee the situation and setting. Not a full blown panic reaction but a toned down version for me. It was short-lived and would ease over several minutes leaving me unsettled it occurred.
The strange thing (well, it was all strange) was the connection with eating. It felt metabolic, as if there was some sort of blood sugar thing going on. It did not seem to be related to the type of food I was ingesting or if I had gone awhile since eating and it was sporadic.
I have not had these episodes in many many months. I have been off Klonopin for many many months. The connection seems to be with no longer taking Klonopin routinely or even PRN currently, but who knows? I would like to sort out if the incidents were related to taking K or just anxiety strangeness in general. I have researched for a connection between the two and haven't been able to make any connection with alterations in BSL due to using Klonopin, so it probably IS just me.....
Anyone else experience this eating and anxiety weirdness or noted any similar reactions while taking Klonopin?
Posted by blueberry on April 20, 2006, at 17:20:35
In reply to Klonopin use and episodes related to eating??, posted by Glydin on April 20, 2006, at 8:55:06
I took my very first klono dose today, so I'm a newbie. No experience. I only took .25mg. In an hour I had good calming, along with some depressed feelings. Then had some dinner. After dinner I felt like anxiety was stronger than it had been before klono (about 3 hours). Very uneasy. Being so new to it, being the first dose, and being such a small dose, it's hard to tell. But it was weird that it happened just after eating.
Posted by Glydin on April 20, 2006, at 17:43:54
In reply to Re: Klonopin use and episodes related to eating??, posted by blueberry on April 20, 2006, at 17:20:35
It was my only head med for three years and it was a Godsend. It was a great med for me and while I'm not taking it currently, I would not ever rule out a return to using it routinely should I need it. The eating weirdness wasn't a deal breaker - it was just, well, weird and I'm not sure of the cause and effect relationship.
I hope you have great results.
Posted by bassman on April 21, 2006, at 11:05:12
In reply to Re: Klonopin use and episodes related to eating?? » blueberry, posted by Glydin on April 20, 2006, at 17:43:54
One vote for it being a reaction unrelated to the Klonopin-as a panic disorder person, eating out is such a classic panic-provoking situation (lots of people stimulation, in a situation where you can't "escape" easily, etc.) that used to avoid going out for just the symptoms you describe. It would seem it would be really hard to sort out what is happening, unfortunately, since if you take the Klonopin and go out, part of you will be thinking, "well... is it going to happen?"
Posted by Cairo on April 21, 2006, at 11:58:01
In reply to Klonopin use and episodes related to eating??, posted by Glydin on April 20, 2006, at 8:55:06
I had a couple of episodes where immediately after eating, I'd experience profound relaxation and almost euphoria. My husband said it might be due to vagus nerve stimulation. Here's what I found:
"We have a growing number of post-polio patients who feel exhausted after a meal. When their stomachs fill with food, the vagus is apparently overstimulated and triggers a drop in blood pressure, causing feelings of fatigue and sometimes palpitations. Polio survivors have also been reporting another problem: food sticking in the upper esophagus. We think this is due to the vagus not stimulating esophagus muscles to move the food downward. When food gets stuck, irritation triggers a painful esophagus muscle spasm that also stimulates the vagus nerve, causing blood pressure to drop and the heart to race or to slow."
http://www.newmobility.com/review_article.cfm?id=488&action=browseSo increased heart rate might seem like a panic attack and increase anxiety in some, and lower heart rate in others.
Some other articles that caught my interest:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1684865&dopt=Abstract
http://stresseraser.com/stresseraser-science.htmlThe Stresseraser sounds interesting. I read they're going to do a study comparing the Stresseraser to muscle relaxation techniques and to something else I can't remember. Believe it's going to be at NYU. Probably one can get similar results by just doing relaxation/visualization techniques several times a day, but if a device helps you do that where you normally wouldn't spend the time 3-4 times a day practicing relaxation, then I guess it's a good thing.
Cairo
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