Anxiety and losing weight

[Rgnonti]

I've been pretty anxious for the last week. So bad that I haven't been able to work and have had a few er visits and dr visits. I've lost 5 lbs in less than a week from not eating much. Does anyone else lose their appetite when they are going through a rough patch? I never have in the past but I also have never experienced my anxiety this bad either. I suffer from health anxiety. I have eaten but very little and I have to force myself.

[sisterneedshelp24]

yes ! when i'm deeply depressed about something , i can't seem to put any food in my mouth... it's like your stomach can't bear the thing you are stressed about or something i don't know ! i'm going through that today as a matter of fact , i didn't have a proper lunch and people keep telling me that i got thinner more than i already am lol so i think that's bad ! it's all about stress it's like it's eating you from the inside so you couldn't be able to eat properly... if you want to share on what is stressing you so much i'd love to listen !

[Rgnonti in reply to sisterneedshelp24]

I have health anxieties. I can go months and have no issues but these past few months have been tough. I got pneumonia in early March and I think my anxiety had gotten the best of me. I overcame the sickness but my anxiety about otherhealth issues were made worse. I've been to the er 6 times, few urgent care visits and my normal dr. Had blood work done, chest X-rays, ekgs...everything is normal. Last Friday I had a small headache, which I thought was from caffeine withdrawal. Back story- I don't drink caffeine at all. Not even soda for over a year. Well,the past month or so I started drinking these gas station hot chocolates. Sometimes 2 a day. 24 oz. some days I'd go without. Well, last week Wednesday morning I drank a 24 oz quickly and went to work. After I stopped walking around ( I do lawncare)I felt like I was having an anxiety attack. I called my brother and told him and I mentioned the hot chocolates. He said they aren't that but cappuccinos. So the past month or so I've been drinking these things like they are going out of style. Ok forward to last Friday. I stopped drinking them so I figured the dull headache was from not getting that caffeine anymore. Friday evening I had a weird "motion sickness" type feeling. I had it in and off Saturday and went to er and they said anxiety. Sunday I was tired all day and groggy, didn't do anything. Most my week has been like that but slowly getting better. Tuesday urgent care found fluid in my middle ear and told me to take Sudafed. Instead, I went to the chiropractor and had him drain them on Wednesday. Went back today, no fluid in my ears. My motion sickness feeling is getting better. I wasn't able to work all week because I would get these spells of "wooziness" or " motion sickness". I wouldn't say full on dizzy or lightheadedness. Just a funny off feeling. Nothing points to anything bad with me,could it have been caffeine whitetail making me feel I like crap or the fluid in my ears. The chiropractor said that would make me dizzy or off balance. I do have stressors, my elderly father had a stroke years ago and suffers from dementia pretty bad. I see him daily and the last few months he has been in and out of the hospital. The worse he gets, could be why I have gotten worse.

[sisterneedshelp24 in reply to Rgnonti]

oh well just think that you are doing things that are making your health better and that seing your father going through that won't happen to you because you are younger and you are getting better which means you are doing progress , and i hope your father is going to be better

[Jeff1943]

Rgnonti, anxiety can affect our appetite either way, some people lose their appetite and can't eat, others tend to overeat for comfort food. Meds to combat anxiety are fine for a while but nobody wants to stay on them for ever which is where self help methods of recovery come in. The first thing we need to understand is that due to stress and worry and maybe overwork our nervous system decides it's had enough and it becomes over sensitised. In this state it fires off all kinds of anxiety symptoms from panic attacks to palpatations and obsessions that we are about to die to various pains and even visual disturbances. After a while we become bewildered by what's happening to us and just want a quick fix solution to get back to the way we were.

Most of these anxiety symptoms mimic real physical illness but anxiety symptoms are fake: they can't kill you, they can't disable you and they can't send you crazy. However, the problem is that whenever we feel these fake symptoms and obsessions it causes more fear which keeps our nervous system in a constant state of over sensitisation. It's like a vicious circle - anxiety causes more nervous sensitisation which causes more anxiety which causes more nervous sensitisation and on and on it goes.

The path to recovery depends on breaking that vicious circle and giving our battered nerves a chance to recover. When it does we start to feel normal again. So how do we break the vicious circle you're probably asking?

The answer is to do the very opposite of what we've been doing so far. So instead of fighting the bad feelings, which only causes more tension and anxiety, we should stop fighting them - and accept them instead. When I say accept them I mean accept them for the time being. Let them come even though they make you feel bad but because you now know that they are merely blips in your overloaded nervous system that cannot do you permanent damage you can begin to fear them less. And less. With practice and persistence you will eventually Accept them without fear, at most they become a temporary irritation. And because you are not stoking your nervous system with the fires of fear they will eventually become de-sensitised and you will regain your quiet mind once more.

Rgnonti, this Acceptance method for recovery from anxiety disorder was worked out many years ago by Claire Weekes and expressed in her first book 'Hope and help with your nerves' availavle from Amazon. It has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide to fully recover and take control of their lives once more. I thoroughly recommend it.

[Rgnonti in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you for the reply.. I will look up that book right now.

[jessiejakes in reply to Rgnonti]

Hi Rgnonti I to have anxiety and I can't eat just don't feel hungry sometimes I get so anxious I actually heave ,I lost 7 lb when I was going through severe anxiety after losing my mother in Nov 16. But I'm back to eating and don't worry so much about it now if I have a day I'm feeling really anxious I will eat later when I'm more calm.I know its hard but keep telling yourself you will get better.and except your body and mind work together. So upset mind upset tummy.hope you are soon feeling better.

[jessiejakes in reply to Jeff1943]

That was a brilliant example of anxiety read doctor weeks book years ago ,will have to get myself a book from Amazon ,but everything you said is so true thank you for reminding me as I'm not having a good day today.

[Jeff1943 in reply to jessiejakes]

Jessie, when I had bad days I found that reading and rereading Claire Weekes' first book was very helpful, in fact I think anybody putting her acceptance method into practice needs to read it more than once. Then there are all the other books she subsequently wrote but they are all ellaborations on her first book. Sorry you're not having a good day, Jessie, but the fact is you can only practice Accepting and Floating when having a bad day. The loss of your mother is still a fresh wound but with time you will accept her passing and the grieving process is something we must all go through to achieve closure.

I hope you have a better day tomorrow and wish you well on your journey to recovery.

[jessiejakes in reply to Jeff1943]

Jeff1943 thank you I keep saying float except these feelings.sun has come out so feeling a bit brighter ,thanks for your wise words.

[jessiejakes]

To Rgnonti just eat when you are feeling relaxed I put TV on and watch favourite program as I eat my meal it takes my mind of it.remember when feeling anxious it makes us tense and this also causes stomachs to knot up to.

[J-Nevil]

It incredibly common to experience a loss of appetite when suffering from anxiety or depression, please try not to be concerned.