hi all, hope <you> can shed some light on this for me,

I suffer very bad anxiety/panic attacks, so much so i cant go outside the door for fear of having one.

I've been on all types of meds and changed my food diet, but no change

I've been reading through the posts on the message board and came accross one about sweetners in diet drinks (asperagme?? sp) and wondered if it really would bring on a panic/anxiety attack cause i would drink 3litres of diet cola a day (no messing) im addicted to it, its the only drink i take!!!

Does anyone thing this is perhaps what my problem is regarding the constant panic/anxiety attacks

thank you in advance

Yes it is very possible that the soda is causing your problems. With all the caffine and sugar in it i would almost say definatly. Why not lay off of it for a while and see what happens. I had to quit drinking diet a few years back cause it was causing me horrible headaches. Then i quit drinking soda with caffine in it about 5 years ago. Now i rarely drink soda at all.

Here is my experience: When I stopped daily intake of two cups of coffee and six cans of regular soda, there was no change in the frequency or intensity of my panic attacks. I began drinking coffee and cola (this time diet) again and there was no change in the frequency or intensity of my panic attacks. I am now back to coffee and regular cola, and my panic attacks are the same as they have always been.
For me, moderate caffeine intake does not precipitate panic attacks. Just as well, neither Aspartame or Sucralose (Splenda) seem to affect my panic attacks. What's interesting is that my very first panic attack was brought on by caffeine pills. When I was in high school I took two extra strength caffeine tablets and an hour later I thought I was going to go insane and die. Needless to say, it was years before I touched caffeine again.

Soda has too much caffiene and sugar for you to drink if you have anxiety. When I have my anxiety periods I lay off all caffiene. It will get you too wired. You definately need to find another drink to like.

thanks for ur replies, everybody seems to think that the diet cola is causing my anxiety/panic attacks but i cant help drinking its they only drink i like!!!!!

i will just have to get some will power somewhere and try my best to stay off it for a while to see if this is the cause

Hi angiekinsella,
Like you, I used to drink Diet Dr.Pepper all the time for about 5 years. It was all I drank. I started having panic attacks and tried drinking more water. after a week I was drinking more water than I was pop. Do you smoke? For me, i had to have a pop when I smoked. So what I did was only drink pop when I had a smoke. Overall, I DO think it has helped with my panic attacks. I remember after a couple weeks I felt more relaxed, not so much anxious over stupid stuff.. I say give water a try and see if it helps you. Best of luck.

Hello-
I thought I would add that you might ease yourself off it. You didn't mention whether your diet cola had caffeine or not, so maybe switch to caffeine-free diet cola. (Maybe even half and half for awhile at first).

After you are drinking just caffeine-free cola, you could think about switching to sparkling water coolers, flavored water, and then eventually just water. I definately wouldn't just switch from three liters of cola to water in a single day (head-ache city!) Give it a few weeks and gradually change. Then see how you feel... good luck!

Woah...the caffeine intake in your daily diet is HUGE. You should start looking into going to other beverages that are caffeine free. Also, even though artificial sweetners are basically harmless...I would be leary consuming "a lot", if you're really drinking 3 liters a day...that's overboard.
[water, caffeine free teas, some gatorade, juices?]
Heck, buy a juicer and juice fruits and veggies?