weight loss

[jothenurse]

Does anyone have trouble with weight loss with their anxiety and panicks? I've lost around 18 pounds, though I think it has finally stabilized where I'm not losing any more. The problem is, I can only eat decently at night, and that also a small amount. I try to eat a little bit during the day (e.g. I did have a baked potato for lunch) - but then sometimes I get nauseated. And then get panicky about being nauseated and gaggy. Everytime I seem to gain a little, I have a bad day or two and lose it. I also have IBS, so that doesn't help.
Any advice or anything that has helped someone else? I've tried shakes, etc., but that doesn't always sit very well on my stomach. I can eat ice cream at night for a snack though.
I tend to eat a lot of carbs - toast, potatoes, a little meat. But, I can't eat much. I think I would feel a little better if I could put some weight back on.

[jothenurse]

Does anyone have any help for me on this? I keep having the gaggy feeling and dry heaves. I need to be able to eat, but the last few days I just can't seem to.

[suzy-sue]

I used to be like this Jo ..I found Complan milk shakes , and fruit smoothies the only things I could manage for a while .They both are full of the essential vitamins you need .Id try very small nibbles of sanwiches ,usually Jam ok .Very small ammounts ie just a 1/4 with the crusts off .Yoghurts or anything that slips down easy .I couldnt stomach soup tho ..I do hope this passes as I understand how worrying it is .It seems to make it worse the more you worry about it.You really need to try to get something nourishing in you .Once you pick up .you will put the weight back on .I hope you feel better soon .Sue x

[guitarpants]

I lost 20lbs over 2 weeks when it first started. It's taken months and I still haven't gained it all back.

[jothenurse]

Thanks for your replies. When I had the panic disorder 30 years ago I lost about the same amount of weight. I did end up gaining the weight back though eventually. I'm 56 now - I feel so thin now. It's embarrassing because people can tell.

[jothenurse]

Ninja -
Did anything help you? I did try a zofran this morning that the nurse practitioner said to try. It is for nausea. I can't say yet whether it will help or not because I am always so nervous with taking any new medicine. I unfortunately look at all the side effects and that usually scares me. But I am much more scared that the gaggy feeling won't go away and I won't ever be able to eat again. Plus I get scared with that.
I can at times eat a little.

[guitarpants]

Not really. Medication is not going to solve the problem. You will get your appetite back when you start feeling more relaxed and not under some sort of threat all of the time. It still happens from time to time. The other day I ate an entire pizza by myself, then yesterday I ate nothing but a couple of granola bars.

Actually, EXERCISE. That's what did it for me. It's the best thing for depression and anxiety. Better than any medication. It's free and you reap all sorts of health benefits from it.

[jothenurse]

Thank you for your reply. It is so nice when people give a reply. I remember when I went through the panic disorder/agoraphobia 30 some years ago. (I am 56 years old now). I had lost a lot of weight then too and I remember my psychiatrist saying, don't worry about it, when you calm down, you will eat again. Now at 56 though, I think I may have even lost more weight than I did back then. I must be around 95 pounds but I would feel fine at 110 or 112. It just seems that this time the gagging is worse. But - not sure - I know I had trouble with that also back then and it just may seem worse now because I am experiencing it again.
I will tell you though - I did work through the anxiety 30 years ago - I was on Serax and challenged my fears. I ended up getting two degrees,one in nursing, and ended up with a great career and a very high stressed job. I am now on a medical leave. My counselor told me that I was getting stressed out about a year ago - working too hard and taking care of too many people. Guess I should have listened to him. Ended up getting palpitations and repeat visits to the ER - I used to exercise all the time, but now I am just trying to take some walks because I got so terrified of the palpitations. They say my heart is healthy. Anyway - sorry about the long reply, but I think it would be good for people to know that you actually can get well again. I am just so depressed that this happened to me again. I had my ups and downs with the anxiety over the last 30 years, but always seem to keep it under control. Thanks again.

[guitarpants]

Well, I'm usually around 150lbs. 160 when I was exercising regularly and such. I've always been thin, but since muscle is more dense, I weighed more. I'm about 5'10". Anyway, when this started I went all the way down to about 120lbs, maybe even less. I'm back up to about 135 but I still have some way to go.

[jothenurse]

I'm just under 5 feet 2 inches. I was actually trying to lose a little weight with watching what I ate and exercising before this anxiety came back. At my highest I was around 124 pounds. When the anxiety started, I was probably around 116-117. I wish I had that weight back.

[Zee]

Hi jo, I found about 6 weeks ago when my anxiety flared up that I went off food ( unusual for me )..I would feel the hunger but had no appetite..its a vicious circle really..Anxious, off food, eat and feel nauseus..Also got upset loo problems because of the change in eating habits. I was also told that when I calm down it will all come back to normal.

[jothenurse]

Thanks, Zee.