Sudden loss of appetite

[giggs]

Hi,

First I want to say that I am very happy to have found this forum. I always have anxiety/depression related issues, but I have never seen a doctor about it.

I am 30 years old male, never smoked, only have a beer once a while (like in several months).

Here's my problem, about a week ago, I had lunch with my colleagues in the food court, I had a chicken sandwich and a salad, the sandwich had some raw onion in it. 30 mins after eating, it gave me a heartburn, but went away after 2 hours. But after that, I suddenly lost my appetite. My cancer fear then all of sudden came back to me. Saturday, I couldn't eat a lot either, same goes for Sunday. I had a heartburn on Sunday again after taking an advil for headache. All weekend, I didn't really feel hungry at all.

Monday morning, had little breakfast, then about 2 hours later, got a heartburn that lasted the entire morning, then I felt my stomach is empty, and I think I felt hungry, and the heartburn went away. I also burped a lot and sometimes can feel the acid coming back up to the throat. Saw the doctor that day, who gave me some prescriptions of antacid for 4 weeks. I took one in the afternoon after the heartburn started again about 2 hours after lunch, the heartburn went away pretty fast.

I had another pill Tuesday, but felt my stomach is not emptying quick enough for some reason, so I stopped the pill suspecting I have too little acid in my stomach to help digestion. The heartburn hasn't came back since, but neither is my appetite. Now it is Friday, I still don't feel like eating eventhough I feel hungry around lunch and dinner. I also started feeling nauseous whenever I eat oily food, or meat or fatty food. However, I can eat a lot of fruits without feeling full quickly. But, whenever I have dinner or lunch or breakfast, I feel full quickly, and have to force the food down.

During this time, my fear of cancer has grown stronger and stronger, and my wife who's been very helpful is telling me that it is all in my mind, and I shouldn't worry about it.

I feel like a coward, always get scared about getting sick, I have a 7 months old lovely daugher, and now I fear that I can't see her grow up, and that feeling is making me very sad and stressful whenever I think about it.

Sorry for the long post, but I just feel like to get the feelings out of there and hope to get some support. Has anyone had similar issues like me?

Thanks a lot for your help in advance.

YP

[imissnotworrying]

it sounds like it could be gastritis, the doctor told me it's common with stress, and you can lose your appetite with it, it's also a cause of random heartburn. 'gastritis' is basically stomach inflammation, sometimes the acid comes back up, sometimes people feel sick with it, and sometimes people lose their appetite as i mentioned. i had it and they gave me omeprazole, i found that to be great stuff but had to take it every day for a week. my dad had it around the same time as me and they gave him a similar drug beginning with p but ended in 'ole' too, same kinda type, it helped us both eventually. apparently they're like gaviscon but the strongest ones. doctors also say to lay off anything acidic (foods/juices) or spicey, as this aggrivates things. it's much more likely to be a stress-related thing such as this than a cancer Xx

[giggs]

it sounds like it could be gastritis, the doctor told me it's common with stress, and you can lose your appetite with it, it's also a cause of random heartburn. 'gastritis' is basically stomach inflammation, sometimes the acid comes back up, sometimes people feel sick with it, and sometimes people lose their appetite as i mentioned. a doctor will be able to test for it. i had it and they gave me omeprazole, it's great stuff. me and my dad both had it at the same time, they gave him a similar drug beginning with p, but the same kinda type, it helped us both.

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. That actually make sense. I am a certified accountant, and I have been very busy and stressful during the last two weeks of April, and the last week of April I worked from 8-8 every week day.

I also have been diagnosed with IBS 5 years ago, and whenever I am stressful, I will get diarrhea, but I rarely loose my appetite though. It seems like whenever I fear I am getting seriously ill, I loose my appetite.

[imissnotworrying]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. That actually make sense. I am a certified accountant, and I have been very busy and stressful during the last two weeks of April, and the last week of April I worked from 8-8 every week day.

I also have been diagnosed with IBS 5 years ago, and whenever I am stressful, I will get diarrhea, but I rarely loose my appetite though. It seems like whenever I fear I am getting seriously ill, I loose my appetite.

It can be possible to lose your appetite due to plain old stress (I have done a few times) but when you say lack of appetite + heartburn + nausea it sounded more like a stress-related stomach issue. Just be sure to take your meds if you're still having these symptoms and if they don't resolve it the doctor could try you on different ones. As hard as it can be, try to de-stress, the stomach is often the most reactive organ to stress. IBS being stress-related too as i'm sure you know. Xx

[giggs]

It can be possible to lose your appetite due to plain old stress (I have done a few times) but when you say lack of appetite + heartburn + nausea it sounded more like a stress-related stomach issue. Just be sure to take your meds if you're still having these symptoms and if they don't resolve it the doctor could try you on different ones. As hard as it can be, try to de-stress, the stomach is often the most reactive organ to stress. IBS being stress-related too as i'm sure you know. Xx

Yep, I definately know about IBS being stress-related. During the past few days, I have also lost interest in everything, can't concentrate on working, and don't want to talk to people. I think as soon as my appetite came back, I should be all fine, but if I keep having anxiety, it's likely that my appetite won't come back very soon...what should I do...

[imissnotworrying]

Yep, I definately know about IBS being stress-related. During the past few days, I have also lost interest in everything, can't concentrate on working, and don't want to talk to people. I think as soon as my appetite came back, I should be all fine, but if I keep having anxiety, it's likely that my appetite won't come back very soon...what should I do...

Anxiety can cause depression and feelings of losing interest and not wanting to communicate. It's very consuming mentally and seems to take our attention away from other things. I haven't really found any anxiety cure, I still go through very rough moments myself, the only things that have helped me a bit are camomile tea, as it's calming to the system, and having a good old cry. If you find it hard to eat stick to light foods and snacks, like crackers, maybe some soup etc. Just make sure you are eating something, even if it's not big meals. I think your appetite will resolve itself though, i tend to lose my appetite for a few days and it comes back again, though with anxiety we tend to think we won't go back to normal again, or something is going to continue for a long time because we're afraid of that happening, which just ends up making us more anxious. If you're still suffering from lack of appetite in a while it may be more so linked to gastritis and a follow up appointment with your doctor may be helpful to determine if that issue is resolved or whether some different meds would be better.

[giggs]

Anxiety can cause depression and feelings of losing interest and not wanting to communicate. It's very consuming mentally and seems to take our attention away from other things. I haven't really found any anxiety cure, I still go through very rough moments myself, the only things that have helped me a bit are camomile tea, as it's calming to the system, and having a good old cry. If you find it hard to eat stick to light foods and snacks, like crackers, maybe some soup etc. Just make sure you are eating something, even if it's not big meals. I think your appetite will resolve itself though, i tend to lose my appetite for a few days and it comes back again, though with anxiety we tend to think we won't go back to normal again, or something is going to continue for a long time because we're afraid of that happening, which just ends up making us more anxious. If you're still suffering from lack of appetite in a while it may be more so linked to gastritis and a follow up appointment with your doctor may be helpful to determine if that issue is resolved or whether some different meds would be better.

Thanks a lot for your reply, it really helped me to calm down a little. I will try to keep my anxiety at a minimum and see how things can change.

[imissnotworrying]

Thanks a lot for your reply, it really helped me to calm down a little. I will try to keep my anxiety at a minimum and see how things can change.

thinking about it now when i lose my appetite for meals i usually try to eat some cereal, i figure that's the next best thing. no worries on the reply, i know how hard it can be when your mind jumps to the worst case scenario, and how we're never fully at ease until the actually symptoms go away, but it seems that what we have to keep in mind constantly with a health anxiety is that minor (non-life threatening) ailments are SO common, especially as we get older, we're more likely to get them than not. i've done the 'jumping to the worst case scenario' more times than i can count though. fear is a very strong emotion, it's hard to reason with it, but when you have something that could be the cause of what you're experiencing AND you've been under stress/anxiety and this very thing can be caused by that, it's so likely to be that:hugs:but it's worth mentioning to your doctor if you continue to be bothered by these things, sometimes even though people reassure me i still find myself needing a medical professional to put my mind at rest again Xx