Can anxiety cause vomiting

[TiredNSick]

Hi I'm new here and I'm wondering if anyone has had gastrointestinal issues due to anxiety. I've been having such a difficult time. Everything I eat I vomit. I can't even keep water down. Im also belching excessively. My therapist and psychiatrist both say its from my anxiety but I've never heard of it effecting a person like this.

I have headaches and chest pains and numbness in my feet and hands..I'm so miserable. My MD has not found a cause and I don't want to keep going to different doctors if it is from anxiety. But im just not sure. No one i know had these symptoms.

[lonelycat]

hi! i have actually had nausea after high anxiety.. however, it has never been as extreme as your experience appears. I'm sorry that you're experiencing this..

[TiredNSick in reply to lonelycat]

Thanks. It is really bad I've lost 30 pounds in 2 months. Seen a 2 GI doctors no one has answers how to make it better. This is taking over my life.

[Hidden]

Have you been able to keep anything at all down lately?

[TiredNSick in reply to Hidden]

No I've been to the er for dehydration 3 times. Today being the 3rd trip.

[Hidden in reply to TiredNSick]

Wow, I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this! Please keep us updated. We all care about you. I will keep you in my prayers. That sounds so tough. Hopefully you find out what this is sooner than later.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Have you been stressed about anything lately? I mean that could be the cause

[TiredNSick in reply to Hidden]

I was really stressed due to to loss of my relatives 4 in 2 weeks. But that was in April. I feel less stressed now but the symptoms haven't improved.

[TiredNSick in reply to Hidden]

Thanks I appreciate the prayers. I need them. I having a hard time excepting this is from anxiety but can find a medical reason.

[Althaea]

I am very sorry to hear that you’re experiencing these symptoms and not getting answers from your health providers. Working with a holistic doctor has helped me a lot to address underlying health conditions that contribute or exacerbate my anxiety.

Curious if you have up to date bloodwork and if you’ve ever been tested for GERD. Those things might be worth looking into with a Functional MD if you’re not feeling as supported as you would like by your current MD.

I don’t want to alarm you because everyone experiences their anxiety differently but as someone who is clinically trained to watch for red flags, I have concerns over your inability to keep down water. That is dangerous and could require that you get IV fluids to prevent serious dehydration and related complications.

That amount of weight loss in a short time frame is something that you ought to mention to your doctor (if you haven’t already) right away for further screening.

Remember that you have the right to change your health care provider or get second opinions. You can request that your doctor give you a referral to a specialist and if they refuse, ask for the refusal in writing with bloodwork to back it up. Your health provider works for YOU and if you feel like something is wrong with the information or the assessment you’re being given, I would encourage you to seek out a health care provider that you feel supported by—they are out there!

[TiredNSick in reply to Althaea]

Thanks I am in the process of looking for holistic assistance. I have had an endoscopy to check for Gerd and it was clear. I also had blood work done multiple times. That was also normal. I have been given an IV to rehydrate at the ER. These health issues are making my anxiety worse. I have therapy 2x a week and since my therapist thinks it from anxiety I hoping to get relief soon. I am just desperate and overwhelmed.

[Althaea in reply to TiredNSick]

I hope you get relief soon too.

[Tikirob]

Sorry you are going through this...what brings on the anxiety?

[TiredNSick in reply to Tikirob]

In April I felt really anxious all the time about my spouses safty. The stomach issues started in May. But I feel less stressed and anxious now about that and I'm always worried about my health now. It seems like something new is bothering me every other week. I started with stomach issues then i had numbess in the feet and hands next came the belching, followed by vomiting

symptoms haven't gotten. My therapist sad all my issues are from anxiety but o feel like the issues create the anxiety.

[Tikirob in reply to TiredNSick]

Thanks for the reply. Have you been diagnosed with OCD or as having health anxiety by your psychiatrist ? There is a certain form of somatic ocd where you can get caught up on body functions and having to monitor them or in some cases repeat them to alleviate the anxiety but it never works and continues the cycle. Perhaps you constantly monitor your stomach then burp to prove it’s working and overbelching causes your self to throw up I am no expert but I think it’s worth discussing with them.

I don’t want to give you reassurance but as a person with OCD I’ve had some pretty strange symptoms from extreme anxiety. Remember this is a really tough time.

[TiredNSick in reply to Tikirob]

Thanks. Do you mind sharing the strange symptoms? I was having a hard time accepting that anxiety could cause physical symptoms but im becoming a believer.

i will ask my doctor. She never mentioned OCD. I have only be diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

[Tikirob in reply to TiredNSick]

I will share one with you because I’m actually going through another right now and I don’t want to trigger it.

The first time I entered an established exposure therapy program for ocd I had to commit to facing some of my worst fears. I had no idea how I was going to do it. How would I be able to touch the floor, a door knob, to eat my food with my hands to name a few. The fear of potentially doing these things made me want to quit the program immediately, But instead I sat down, bent my head and prayed, saying, “God, I’m going to challenge my ocd and I don’t know how it will work out but I have to take this chance...” and with that I committed to going through with the therapy.

I got nervous, maybe even cried a bit, then felt relieved having made the decision. I decide it was beautiful out so I should take a walk to celebrate my commitment. I got out side and turned up the block and as I walked I felt like I was wearing marshmallows on my feet. I tried to adjust my eyes but no matter where I looked my vision was not as correct as it normally was and I felt off kilter as if I was walking slightly more to one side of the horizon than the other. By the time I got to the end of the block I was panicked. I remember telling myself this is what I get for confronting OCD.

I came back home and told my girlfriend something was wrong. I called my doctor and made an appointment with an ENT specialist to see if perhaps I had a sinus infection or ear issue that was affecting me. ENT said all was clear I had really dry sinuses though and he thought it could be anxiety.

I then got my eyes checked and they were okay too although my right eye was slightly losing vision but not enough to explain feeling the way I did, She said perhaps anxiety but maybe check in again about it with my therapist.

My therapist said it could be anxiety. That week I was scared to walk around because I just kept obsessing about my vision, the floaty feeling, feeling off kilter, no way anxiety could cause this. I decided to walk anyway made it about half way around the block and I needed to stop because I just felt off. A guy was having a stoop sals and I tried talking with him to distract myself from worrying. We talked and it was nice but it took all of my attention and energy to stand there and look at him and participate in the conversation, I remember thinking this guy has no idea how much it’s taking me just to keep up with this conversation with him.

A month went by of feeling like this. It impacted so much of how I felt. I decided to walk as much as I could and I made it up to 4 miles like this with the same feeling of bouncing and not being able to concentrate or see thing as good as I did before committing to treatment and then one day I just forgot about it, and it was gone.

[Hidden]

Yes it surely can. I'm sorry you are having that experience too. Whenever I have something coming up that I'm nervous over I'll throw up every morning until it's passed.

[MrSweatingTV]

From what I understand, anxiety can manifest in any physical symptoms. My anxiety doesn't cause me to vomit, but I do feel like gagging often like a finger inside the throat. Another symptoms is the stomach irritation like what they describe for Irritation Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Symptom is bit relieved when I take Klonopin or relax a long time. Hope your psychiatrist can prescribe sufficient sedative to relieve the syndrome, or do some relaxing therapy yourself.