Unintentional weight loss: Hi all I have... - Anxiety Support

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Unintentional weight loss

Kayanne1980 profile image
19 Replies

Hi all

I have such severe HA right now and have had actually since January this year.........basically alot has happened from January to now with X-rays, scopes, endoscopy, FBC and now I am being referred to the GI for a colonoscopy.....I have had a change in BM for about 7 weeks now and within those 7 weeks I have dropped 7lbs......when I had anxiety throughout the year to now there was no weight loss but now there is........I used to snack all the time for which I do not now and I have about 1200 cal a day which I assume I used to consume alot more before all this stress kicked off.....do you think you can still loose weight unintentionally through anxiety and stress as I am 10000000% convinced I have colon cancer!

I am very scared, my head is totally all over the place, really worried, dont know where to turn, constant headaches everyday.....

Please can someone talk to me as I am really very anxious and worried...

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Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980
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19 Replies
Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016

Omg!!! Let's talk. I have experience the same and have been awaiting to know if I was the only one going through this. Yes yes, I assume stress anxiety and mild depression is what I've been told I had. I lost weight so rapidly and it made me even more afraid. I wasn't eating normal or sleeping normal. I've become an insomniac. It all started again for me in june of this year. My whole mental flipped. I have diagnosed myself with every illness from cancer to brain tumors

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to Icanbeathis2016

Hey

Thanks so much for talking to me......this is the worst I have EVER been....I never loose weight and now it seems to be falling off me.....I have kept a food diary for the past 2 days and just putting my mind back I know I have defo cut out snacking even my work colleagues are asking if I am ok!

I seem to be sleeping but waking up at 5am first thing popping into my head is cancer.......since January I have self diagnosed myself with Lung, throat & stomach together with hernias, malabsorption the list is endless.....

Tell me your story...

Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016 in reply to Kayanne1980

Well June is when then took a turn for me. I had experienced panic attacks before like last year but all before June I was never this bad off. What made my anxiety and stress go through the roof was when I went to the urgent care because I felt.like I had acid reflux and I had then began to realize I wasn't eating like I normally do. I felt like a burning sensation in my stomach and then also I would just get really nervous for no reason and I didn't have much of an appetite. So I went and they did blood work for anemia, diabetes, and thyroid. And it all came back normal. Buy then they said my kidneys function was abnormal. Well that traumatized me badly. I began googling and it made it even worse. So then I started thinking I could have all kinds of cancer because I had lost like five founds in one week and so I went back and then they had check me for h pylori bacteria. That came back fine. So the doc had prescribed me buspar but I did not want to result to any medication so I didn't take it. Meanwhile my anxiety was still there. I couldn't sleep I had insomnia. So then miraculously I was beginning to feel better I hadn't harassed the urgent care for about two weeks and I had felt my appetite kind of coming back. Then someone I knew died I think from a heart condition in their home while in bed. That freak me right back out. I couldn't sleep I kept thinking I was gonna die in my sleep too. I couldn't eat I had lost 7 more lbs. So basically since June I had lost 15 lbs. And i like to hope it is from stress and anxiety and not anything more because that's whyy health anxiety is bad I keep thinking I am sick with something else. And the docs just missing something. And then one day I had a bm. I was very constipated and blood came out on the tissue. Second time same thing but blood was in the toilet. I just flipped out. And all the er said was it may be hemmroids or a fissure. They never once check my anus to be sure and that what scared me the most. They just assume it's a fissure all because I said I was constipated. Plus I don't know if I'm dealing with ibs either because I have days of normal bm some days a little soft or fluffy and a few times constipation.

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to Icanbeathis2016

OMG!!!! we are in exactly the same boat here!!!!!

How old are you? I am 35 and where do you live? I am in the UK....I have lost (last time I checked which was last week Thursday) 7lbs so 1/2 stone, I would also like to think that my anxiety and no snacking has caused this weight loss but things are niggling at me!

I am the same as you BM are okay for a day and then BOOOOM they are either soft or fluffy or mud like....do you get the mud like ones??

As I say I have never lost weight and now all of a sudden my weight is dropping but then again I have never stopped snacking.....

What is the doctor doing about your change in BM? How long has it gone on for and it is still happening? Like me I had full bloods about 3 weeks ago and they were normal too. In June I had an endoscopy so they put a camera down my throat as my reflux was so bad it was burning my throat when I breathed in they found nothing, not even redness from the acid they said it was an anxiety induced!

The whole colon cancer thing is scary, I have an appointment with the specialist next week Thursday and I am very very scared.........

You have lost 15 lbs in 3 months....??

Lhdanny profile image
Lhdanny

I lost 2 stone within a space of 2months and i couldnt really afford to lose it. My bmi was low and i was feelin awful.Was tested for everything, had endoscope done 2. The only thing that showed up was h pylori infection which ive been treated for.. ive gained over a stone again but i dont know if thats to do with the infection bein treated or my anxiety has got a wee bit better nothing much tho. But likewise its my first thought in th morning that theres something serious wrong with me.. this past few days ive been gettin twinges in my right side so im utterly freakin out that its my appendix. Health anxiety is th worst ever 🙁

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to Lhdanny

Hello

Did you have continuous trouble with your toilet? mud like stools? then normal? I was tested for H Pylori back in March but for acid reflux, there has been no test for it this time round......

Lhdanny profile image
Lhdanny in reply to Kayanne1980

Yea ive th same troubles with th stools.. i never thought about that before actually, u described quite well there.☺ my weight still drops quite quick. I was in hosp for 5 days and i lost 6 pound the nurses couldnt believe it. At the time when i lost all th weight i thought i was eating well but lookin back now i wasnt. Ive started eating every 2 hours nw and my stomach has got used 2 it. Dont get me wrong on my bad days my appetite just disappears again..

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to Lhdanny

:) haha it is sometimes like pudding or cow poo other days it seems to be smaller and then other days very normal......so concerning. I would have thought that the stool tests we did would have seen the H Pylori virus....

Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016

I'm 34. I have two daughters. I'm from usa. From Georgia. Well the doc never diagnosed me with ibs I just assumed it could be that since it keeps doing different things. They have yet for anyone to do a scope thingy to see if I really have acid reflux or not all the doc did was give me medicine for it. Yes I lost 15 lbs in 3 months. And it happened so fast. But before I was doing alot of exercise like 3 days a week. I think that had a lot to with how my weight dropped even faster. But I had stopped working out when I saw I was losing more weight unintentionally. Do you take meds for anxiety?

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980

Hi

See everyone has explanations for their weight loss except for me which is concerning me!

No meds for anxiety the doctors say it is not needed!

Beevee profile image
Beevee

Hi

Reading all these comments takes me back to the early onset of my anxiety, I was convinced something bad was wrong with me because one of my many anxiety symptoms was bowel trouble so I kept weighing myself and then ended up being terrified of weighing scales in case I had lost weight. WTF 😳😳 😳.

Funny thing is, I'm of slim build (built for speed not comfort 😜) and hadn't weighed myself in 30 years or more so why was I doing it now? I just shows how anxiety plays tricks on your mind and body. Anxiety fills you full of fear so it is very easy to develop all types of fears that are irrational to non-sufferers. This is why people develop agoraphobia and every other type of anxiety disorder. All are driven by fear. There is no other reason.

I make no apology if I am repeating myself here but if the doctors can't find anything wrong with you, please stop searching for answers why you have lost or gained weight or monitoring it every other hour. It doesn't matter! It is your anxiety habit that is saying it matters and you are giving it the fuel it needs to stick around by obsessing about it. Stop fearing your symptoms and you will recover. Just let the scary thoughts and feelings come and don't react. Just observe them. Do nothing else apart from carrying on with your day. You are much bigger than anxiety and it will become bored and leave you if you follow this advice. And when you are recovered, you will look back laugh at the absurdity of it all. But hey, what a journey!

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to Beevee

He Beevee

Thank you for your message it was great to read it and it makes so much sense when the anxiety finally fades away as when one procedure is done the next symptom comes along......

It is worrying though when one does just loose weight even though you are eating and the signs and symptoms of this is all in the form of the C word which freaks me out....

I wish I knew what the my problem is that I have at the moment and it will all just fade away....

Oh wow. I have had the same problems over the last week. My BM aren't normal and I have a hard time passing gas.. And sometimes I get the urge to go to the bathroom it doesn't even feel like my muscles are working! I get pain in my sides mostly on the right side which really scares me! Also get back pain. I sit here and can stop thinking about it i literally make myself sick. I also had the bleeding from my bum and went to the Er for it and they did nothing. My doctor is sending me to a specialist soon. I have convinced myself that I damaged my pelvic floor and can't have a bm or even pass gas. I have convinced myself that its my appendix bursting. I have convinced myself that there is a blockage and I really can't think of anything else and my stomach is going crazy! I'm so nervous and break down crying at least twice a day.. I also don't even want to eat anymore. And I probably will lose weight.

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to

Hi

Yes.....I cry almost every day and my stomach goes crazy when I think of the possibility of leaving ie being diagnosed...it feels like butterflies in my belly. I have been consuming about 800 cal less each day just looking back at my food diary, surely this can be a cause for weight loss.......

What does your GP think the reason for your symptoms are?

My doctor doesnt think anything is wrong and is sending my to a specialist to see... I have been to the Er twice with this and have called my doctors office at least once a day... And no one sees a problem. They must think I'm nuts or something. My family thinks its just stress and being afraid to go to the bathroom since I have had so many problems with it lately. But with everyone telling me nothing is wrong and it will get better..i know my body and I know something isnt right. And I cant preach that enough to my doctor. So as I sit here everyday with the struggle of going to the bathroom or even passing gas and have several break downs a day... I am waiting for that call to finally go see someone who can actually look inside and see if there is anything wrong. I wake up everyday and hope this will be the day it gets better but its never that day.. The problem only gets worse. And the more upset I am the more i don't want to eat or even do anything. It seriously makes me so sad and upset... But I'm trying to take it day by day

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to

I know what you mean that is what I am like everyday........I hope they get to see you.....my first Gastro appointment is in a week today...really scared

in reply to Kayanne1980

Well I hope everything gets better and hopefully they can give you answers and relief.

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980 in reply to

I really do hope so i wish the same for you too. Keep me informed

Kayanne1980 profile image
Kayanne1980

Hi all

The GI reckons I have post infections IBS, believes I have picked an infection up and this has left my bowel in a bit of a spiral. We are still doing the colonoscopy which is on Oct 5th, very scared, and it feels like my fate is impending right now.

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