loss of appetite, nervous stomach, acid reflux help

[honeyp1e]

as my anxiety and emetophobia has been bad the past few months i lost all my appetite and have to force feed myself but was just a piece of toast n maybe a biscuit or two a day thats all.... its mainly negative thinking from my phobia taking over and i freak out in a major panic even off a bite of toast etc... my neg thinking just chats away (this bite will make me sick etc...... but as am only eating lttle i just didnt feel like anything at all with bad nervous stomach i just could'nt force myself to eat i just thought if we eat on a nervous stomach i will vomit etc...........
is it ok to eat on a nervous stomach ??
anyway lately i have been having these feelings / cravings like am dying for a piece of chocolate or a sweet, or chips it can be anything !!
does this mean my body wants it so i should eat it or is it just the mind as once in a while i will have just a nibble of what i fancy when really i want to eat it all say the bar of choc or what ever i feel like at the time then my negative thinking takes over and i end up putting it in the bin or just not eating it... i have only recently started wanting / craving these whats happening as past few months i never wanted anything at all ....
the doctor told me just eat what you feel like eat little and often so my body gets used to it again but what is little and how often ? i just feel like eating a nice big roast dinner with choc pudding afterwards but i no my negative mind will take over with my phobia of vomiting and i will think am going to be sick help

[Sarah Louise]

Hi honeyp1e,

I have a simular anxiety i use to be 16stone then went on weight watchers lost a lot of weight and was scared to eat because my mind tells me i will be ill if i eat crap. I went down to 7st 5lb i like you would just eat dry rich tea biscuits or chomp on lettuce.
Then i caught pregnant and i made myself so ill thorugh it i had my little girl who was healthy 6lb 5oz and i weighed in at 6st 4lb! I have ended up going on Citalopram this has helped me so much with my anxiety which is what stops me eating. I am a healthy 9st 11lb and i am working with CBT to combat my fears. If you fancy something eat it or at least try its not going to harm you despite what the anxiety is telling you.
I would eat little and often during my pregnancy, i would have a yogurt in the morning and some milk. Then mid afternoon i would force fruit down, dinner i had soup no lumps goes down better. Mid afternoon some rich tea biscuits with milk. Then for my team i would have plain smelling food like chicken breast and boiled rice wouldnt make me feel so sick.

Hope this is some help to you x



History despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but faced with courage, need not be lived again!

[Pcdaft]

hi have had that in the past too and it helped if i took kalms i think it is just stress hope uou get well soon?

[Nigel]

Hi honeyp1e,

I’m sorry you’re going through a difficult spell at the moment. It would be good to try to start eating a little more though because that in itself can make a person feel rotten. What you call a ‘nervous stomach’ could well be partly the feelings of extreme hunger.

“anyway lately i have been having these feelings / cravings like am dying for a piece of chocolate or a sweet, or chips it can be anything !!
does this mean my body wants it...”

Very probably. It’s probably crying out for certain minerals and nutrients and it knows they can be found in those types of food. Perhaps not the nice big roast dinner with choc pudding just yet though, although it’s making me feel hungry thinking about it

When a person seriously under-eats their stomach tends to shrink, and it can be uncomfortable to eat too much at once. That’s gonna be mistaken for feeling ill and set off the whole anxiety cycle again, which is exactly what we don’t want. So ‘little and often’, as you already said.

“the doctor told me just eat what you feel like eat little and often so my body gets used to it again but what is little and how often?”

At this stage, whatever feels right. Try to get your eating back on track in ways that work for you, then you can work on a better more regular plan later.

But longer term I think it would really help to seek some help for the real problem – the emetophobia – else problems like these will keep resurfacing.

To let you into a little secret – I wasn’t feeling too well last weekend. I wasn’t sick but I felt I would be, and I was dreading the thought of it. Haven’t been sick for probably 30 years so that probably makes the thought of it happening after so long seem worse. But it’s not a phobia and it doesn’t rule my life. I eat what I want and like – within reason – and don’t give it a second thought.

What I’m trying to say is it’s OK to not like the idea of vomiting, because after all, it is something unpleasant. But at the same time it’s not a huge disaster, is it? It will be for a good reason and will soon be over, and afterwards I should be feeling a bit better. It’s a question of trying get these things into perspective.

Take care
Nigel

[honeyp1e]

Hi honeyp1e,

I have a simular anxiety i use to be 16stone then went on weight watchers lost a lot of weight and was scared to eat because my mind tells me i will be ill if i eat crap. I went down to 7st 5lb i like you would just eat dry rich tea biscuits or chomp on lettuce.
Then i caught pregnant and i made myself so ill thorugh it i had my little girl who was healthy 6lb 5oz and i weighed in at 6st 4lb! I have ended up going on Citalopram this has helped me so much with my anxiety which is what stops me eating. I am a healthy 9st 11lb and i am working with CBT to combat my fears. If you fancy something eat it or at least try its not going to harm you despite what the anxiety is telling you.
I would eat little and often during my pregnancy, i would have a yogurt in the morning and some milk. Then mid afternoon i would force fruit down, dinner i had soup no lumps goes down better. Mid afternoon some rich tea biscuits with milk. Then for my team i would have plain smelling food like chicken breast and boiled rice wouldnt make me feel so sick.

Hope this is some help to you x



History despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but faced with courage, need not be lived again!

Hi thanks for your reply you have reallt been where i am today its horrible wouldnt wish it on any1 am like a walking skelton anyway i was on citalopram but had been on them many years n i think i was then used to them so they didnt affect me anymore so i just stopped them without bein weaned off (silly i no) anyway there out my system now (thank god) the worse effects ever ............. so now am just on propranolo 80mg one daily which i always take,, its just now i really want to eat more than anything its just teh neg thinking i need to over come as i no we can eat and eat in modaration and not be sick.. (the doc explained this) as i can have a sandwich and some biscuits on a good day and still want more so i no am not full but i just choose to listen to my negative thinking and dont eat more :( any way am waiting on a few appointmenst for help.. counsellor and an eating disorder clinic which hopefully i should hear very soon fingers crossed.. but in the mean time this burning pain ni am feeling is so extreme it can start in my upper abdomen and travel down towards my belly button or up into my throat so i have to go have a camera down my throat as the doctor says it could either be due to not eating as an emptry stomach will produce alot of acid (which i dont think it it as i had this burning pain when i was eating or they think it could be an ulcer or something like that... anyway am just hoping that i get it seen to soon before christmas because if it can be treated then i no i will be able to stop eating as right now this is the only thing that stops me from eating x

[honeyp1e]

I wrote this post 3rd dec 2010 near,you 2yrs ago and it took me a long time to regain my weight and eat normal again but this past week my stomach has been bad with reflux and I made myself eat but the past two days I've hardly eaten today I had toast at 9am (its now nearly 11pm after the toast I ate a piece of choc and then got nausea so FREAKED out so then all I've had since is a cuppa tea with a few digestives I thought this morning my stomach had settled but obviously not.. Why is this happening again? I really don't wanna eat again because am so scared to eat I thought I was past all this