Has anyone had sudden weight loss from an anxiety flare up??

[Mumofnah]

Hi all,

just a quick question if anyone has experienced sudden weight loss from an anxiety flare up. As I weight around 63kg and now after a few months weight 58 and it’s kind of scaring me. I also have moment of upset burning in my stomach and on and off runs when going to the bathroom(apologies for the detail) I did have about a week where I couldn’t eat as had to force myself to. Am eating ok now and get sudden hunger pains so am having smaller breakfast, lunch and dinner meals and snacking in between. Also is there any females that find a few weeks before there period that the anxiety really ramps up??

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[jess334]

Hi Mumofnah,

During periods of prolonged anxiety I struggle to eat properly and multiple times this has led to weight loss. Last year I lost 10 kilos in a couple of months and ended up looking very under nourished. It can be scary! It sounds like you are doing the right thing by snacking and making sure you are eating.

Whenever I find it difficult to eat, I always make sure that whenever I do eat it's something really healthy. I don't want to compound the issue by snacking on sugar or salt. I have even made veggie muffins and I lasted on those for a few days (lots of cooked veggies, eggs, flour, & cheese in a food processor). Snacking regularly is also really good. I found that eating big meals made me feel worse, but if I ate something every few hours I would still get enough food without feeling sick (this is also how I dealt with morning sickness).

I also spoke to my doctor and I decided to go onto an antidepressant medication which had a side effect of weight gain. It really helped me get back to my normal weight and get back into a healthy eating habits.

I'm not sure when during my menstrual cycle my anxiety gets worse. Have you tried tracking it? You might be able to find a pattern.

Kind thoughts, Jess

[Mumofnah]

Hi Jess thank you for your insight!!!

yes I have been eating healthy foods because that’s all I have felt like eating. I really couldn’t stomach any junk food so I’m right in that way.

yes I also find if I fill my self full with a main meal it makes me feel worse as I find my heart rate rises a lot and as this anxiety has been causing me to have racing heart for the last 3 months it’s scares me and makes me panick. Just silly I know but it is my thinking with this anxiety.

i have been tracking in my head and seems a pattern with menstrual cycle, but your right I should right it down to know for sure.

it makes me feel a little more at ease knowing the weight loss can happen with anxiety as it has really been playing on my mind (again the anxiety brain at work) as I look down at myself and think omg I’m fading away to nothing!!!

[therising]

Hi Mumofnah

Sounds like you're onto something, associating the anxiety with the weight loss. You got me wondering 'Does anxiety speed up metabolism' (which I typed into the search engine). Apparently it does. You then got me wondering 'Does menstruation speed up metabolism'. Apparently it does. Sounds like you know yourself pretty well based on the things or links you're wondering about. The fact that you've changed your diet to a more natural one points to the fact you're a natural in a lot of ways.

While I enjoy researching biological and psychological factors in life, my number one love involves the natural and energetic aspects of self. May sound a little strange but do you find you're sensitive to rises in energy? Certain thoughts work you up, certain foods work you up, certain changes in body chemistry (such as with your cycles) work you up? What about sensory stimulation? Are you sensitive to certain sounds for example? In this case, sound gets you worked up. With a worked up metabolism and a worked up nervous system, we can be feeling pretty worked up. By the way, nothing quiet like ramping up a few good tunes to get us feeling pumped.

Balancing things out with what calms us down is pretty important, such as that change in diet you mention (a lot less harmful chemical reactions between food and your body). Meditation is an interesting one. Plenty of people will suggest meditation to others but it's key to know what your meditating on. We can meditate on a lot of things but if we're not meditating on the thing that will make the difference, it can feel like a pretty unproductive exercise. I'm sure there are guided meditations out there that focus on specifically calming the nervous system. This might be one for you. Me, I love to meditate on finding answers to what I wonder about. In other words, I zone out and let the answers come to me. Great way to exercise our intuition by the way. I've been accused of being a serious daydreamer at times 🙂

With the bowel issues, there's a lot of research being done these days under the title of 'Mood and Food'. Imbalances in the gut can not only contribute to our questionable toilet habits, experts are now discovering the relationship between gut imbalances and anxiety and depression. It's interesting stuff.

Definitely sounds like you're a natural, on track to knowing yourself better. As you go along, you'll naturally come to know what you're super sensitive to. Before you know it, you'll be super natural.

🙂

[Mumofnah]

Hello therising,

very interesting all you have said and I am taking it all onboard.

I’m not sure about the rises in energy as from the last 3 months my energy has been very low due to the anxiety and panic.

yes even more so at the moment and it’s with every little thoughts that works me up.

i find that some foods get me on edge but I haven’t quite pin pointed what foods exactly yet I need to keep a log to know and at the moment it will just cause me to overthink.

Menstrual cycle I am definitely worked up and also if I am sick with a common cold or have a stomach bug for instance. Any change in my body.

i find I can’t handle a lot of noise as I get very on edge.

As for the anxiety speeding up my metabolism with this flare up I find one minute I’m full and satisfied then the next minute I have hunger pains it doesn’t slowly creep up then I feel myself getting hungry it like (I’m starving and I need to eat NOW).

With my racing heart I am finding that with a big meal brings on the racing heart and I feel it mostly in my neck arm if I’m laying on it and also in my stomach if I look at my stomach when I have the racing heart I can see my stomach beating it freaks me out!!!

i hope you are right and am onto what my body is telling me. I am also trying to find myself after dedicating the last 10 years constantly to my children and putting all my needs in the background. Maybe now that my son has just turned 4 my body has decided that it’s time I started taking notice and I need to get re usto all of the feelings that before I have shut out.

thank you for you insightful thoughts and I have really taken not of it all. 😉

[therising]

Hi Mumofnah

Wondering whether the exhaustion from the panic attacks and anxiety (you're body going into hyperactivity mode) are leading to the desperate need to refuel. Bit like a steam engine that suddenly needs more coal thrown into the furnace. Food and good quality sleep are definitely up there on the list of the body's natural ways of refueling. Couple of other ones involve solar power (some vitamin D) and hydropower. I find I function so much better with some water throughout the day. Will be the first to admit that it's hard to bring water into your way of life when it's never been much of a priority in the past. Requires a bit of self discipline. It's worth the effort.

When introducing more energy into the body, I find it needs a bit of balance at times. Feeling our systems 'power up' can lead us to feel anxious (aka 'What the heck is my body doing?!') Read about a great exercise just yesterday called 'The hot soup exercise'. It's a good exercise when you're feeling too hyped up. Imagine you have a hot bowl of soup in front of you. Breathe in through your nose and then out through your mouth, toward your imagined hot bowl of soup, in an effort to cool it down. Do this about 5 times. I know this is going to sound a bit weird but when I work on dialing down my energy levels to the point of relaxation, I'll feel a pressure change in my head. Yes, weird. At first this used to stress me. Again, 'What the heck is my body doing? What's wrong with me?' Now, when I feel the pressure change, I see it as a sign that my calming down has worked or is working. It's become a cue rather than a stressor. The body is an interesting thing, in the way it communicates through certain sensations. It's interesting how a lot of the physical sensations we experience have probably always gone on but at some stage we actually become sensitive enough to begin feeling them. Some folk will actually exercise their way toward intentionally feeling such sensations through Yoga, meditation, Tai Chi and so on. For the rest of us, such sensitivity can come on quite suddenly for one reason or another without such effort.

Enjoy getting to know yourself 🙂

[Mumofnah]

Water!!! I have never been one to drink a lot but am trying my hardest to drink,drink,drink and your right it is something to get usto. I prob don’t get enough vitamin D either and must also work on that too.

It all makes sense and I think you might be right there. I myself feel these sensation and fight them as you said “what the he’ll is my body doing” then the anxiety.

I am feeling optimistic that I will get on top of this and am working with it