What to do about appetite? Gotta eat to live, right?

[Overwatchdude]

Im not a big eater at the best of times, so when I experience severe anxiety such as I am now, I lose almost all appetite, the only things I can stomach are juices, soft drinks, and soups.

One of my major symptoms of anxiety and depression is nausea, to the point where I gag and/or vomit. Even when it eases a bit, I still have no appetite and I find forcing myself to eat leads to more anxiety and nausea which makes me depressed.

Might anyone have any tips for the nausea? Im trying to avoid "rocking the boat" with more prescriptions whilst I adjust to new medications, but I need to eat.

In the past 2 weeks ive already lost about 4kg 😕

[CMF]

Hi,

sorry to hear youre struggling right now. Do you see someone re your anxiety?

i too struggle to eat when I have anxiety. I think what's important is that when you do eat make sure it's nutritious. I would cut out the soft drinks and fruit juices as they have Lots of sugar which makes anxiety worse. You probably need something gentle on the stomach so soups are good, chicken broth and vegetable soups. You could even just sip them slowly.

do you do anything yo try and calm your anxiety? Deep breathing, exercise etc? I use vitamin b6 and magnesium and recently bush flower essence which are drops under the tongue. You can get them from a health food store.

i imagine you must be exhausted with anxiety and no appetite. I really think don't force yourself so you don't vomit. Small meals and nutritious.

cmf

[Loula]

Hey I'm fully in the same boat. It fully sucks!!

Fizzy Drink is the worst thing you can have. But oh my it's the yummiest. It will also make your belly upset.

What I do when I'm in this situation I make sure I drink water or eletrolite so I don't dehydrate. I don't eat 3 meals a day as they are to big and organised. I graze through out the day and eat foods that are healthy so I get my health on. So I have like vegemite sandwiches and fruit. High in vitamins and easy to eat.

Im not sure if your upset stomach is the same as mine as my anixety gives me reflux and I get violently ill and can't keep a thing down. I lost 15kg in a month! I now take medacine for it and won't eat and spicy or acid foods so maybe look into that.

All the best.,

[Zeal]

Hi Overwatchdude,

I'm glad Loula and cmf have replied with helpful personal advice 🙂

I have anxiety, but with me this tends to involve overeating (nervous eating), which is the opposite problem!
I highly recommend seeing your doctor (GP) about this, both for the anxiety and the associated eating issues. Once you have developed some coping strategies and are getting professional guidance, you may start to see some improvements in your anxiety. Managing the anxiety should hugely help the nausea and eating difficulties.

There are some sites I'd like to recommend:

http://www.mindhealthconnect.org.au/ (this is a general site for wellbeing information)

http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=46 (you could browse a few of the modules, either now or during the course of your help-seeking)

I hope you can seek help from your GP soon.

Best wishes,

Zeal