Struggled with having an appetite my entire life.

[ashish1]

I've struggled with being underweight my whole life. I have a hard time eating anything and I'm a very slow eater. I've had many people give me looks and make comments because I either eat too slow or dont finish my food. For some reason I'll take like 4 bites out of something and get extremely sick of the food I'm eating. I also cant seem to eat foods that are difficult to chew like a hamburger for example. Not sure if it's because I have a small mouth or something else.

Does anyone have any tips on how to force myself to eat without feeling like throwing up? I smoked cannabis consecutively since highschool but I just stopped recently because it made me a lot more anxious. Meds also decrease my appetite and make my body feel extremely sick.

I feel hopeless. Please help.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi ashishmunde,

Thank you so much for posting. It’s really nice to have you here on the forums...

It sounds as though it has been a lifelong struggle to maintain much of an appetite. I feel it can really hurt when people make comments about a person’s weight, especially when they don’t know the circumstances that have led to it...

Sorry, I’m not a doctor or nurse but just an everyday, average person. So as an everyday person, my gentle suggestion is, if you haven’t already, perhaps you might like to consider visiting your GP to ask for a full check-up to rule out any underlying physical health issues that might be contributing to your lack of appetite. Just my thoughts anyway...

Otherwise, I wonder if your poor appetite is an emotional response e.g. some people with depression or anxiety don’t have much of an appetite, which is a reflection of their mental health struggles. Maybe this is something you might also like to think about too...

Thanks so much again for posting. I think it’s brave to open up...feel free to write more if you like but there’s no pressure of course. Only if you feel comfortable doing so...

Kind and caring thoughts,

Pepper

[mandymoo]

Hi there,

For a very long time I had a similar issue. Any food I put in my body made me feel really yuck and I never got that hungry feeling that would remind me that I should probably put some fuel in the tank. Some times I would go four or five days and not even realise that I hadn't eaten. For me it was a response to bad anxiety and stress. The problem was also that when I wouldn't eat my symptoms of anxiety would also get worse and make eating even harder.

Eventually I began to resolve the issue. I started by making smoothies out of fruits and veg and keeping it in the fridge so I could grab it and have a little when I'd get a drink of water. It's seemed to sit in my stomach a bit better and let me get some good nutrients into my body. At the same time I put a lot of effort into seeking assistance with my mental health issues. The first few months of being a new medication can leave your stomach feeling queasy too and the smoothies helped out with this as well.

Gradually I worked my way up to feeling OK eating a more solid meal. I also used to have to set reminders that it was time for a snack and that helped my body get into a rhythm with eating too.

It would also be a good idea to run the issue past your doctor to make sure there isn't any underlying reasons that food isn't agreeing with you.

I hope this will be of some help to you.