Unintentional weight loss

[coxwit]

Hello,

I am a 42 year old male and within the last month have lost 7 to 8 pounds without any changes in diet, apetite or exercise. I am officially diagnosed as depressed and with Generalised Anxiety Disorder but am not on any meds for it. I have recently had my physical and thyroid is normal, and a gastroscopy and abdominal ultra-sound both came back normal as well. Being a hypo-chondriac whose major fear is cancer I automatically assume colon cancer. Both my family doctor and my gastro-enterologist don't think a colonoscopy is warranted as I do not have other symptoms such as blood (red or black) in my stool. They advise that there are lots of reasons for weight loss. One website I read indicated those with anxiety have heightened levels of cortisol and this cause the body to burn fat reserves (the fight or flight mechanism). Can anybody comment regards their own personal experiences re: unintentional weight loss.

Thanks

[ruthb1]

hi there,

i suffered unintentional weight loss 3 years ago and i lost over 1 stone in weight, i was really concerned. like you i thought i had cancer etc, i had all the tests going and nothing showed up. my friend whom is a nurse summed it up for me, because i was so anxious all the time, my heart was racing all the time, so basically i was running all the time, of course you are going to loose weight and also becuase i was so anxious i didnt want to eat. and what i was eating , i was running to the loo all the time ( sorry about that lol). i like you wasnt on any meds but i needed to take action wether i liked the thought of meds or not, so my doc put me on an antidepressant, ehich also increased my weight, i also started taking complan to build me up.

over a period of time my weight increased and within 4 months i was back to my normal weight

hope this helps

take care

ruth

[coxwit]

Thanks Ruth,

That helps. I have that racing feeling all the time complete with a lot of insomnia, restless legs and so on so that would probably make sense. What med did you find worked for you, I am worried about, addictions, side effects, and overall effectiveness?

Andy

[ruthb1]

hi andy,

I also

[ruthb1]

sorry andy, dont know what happened there lol, i also had restless legs, thought i had blood clot, but mine was more like twiching in both legs. i also had insomnia, the list is endless.

the meds that helped me put on weight and also mad me sleep was mirtazapine. it got me back on track, but it didnt lift the anxiety totally. i didnt seem to have any side effects with them at all, the only side effect my doctor mentioned too me was that they can put weight on you but i didnt mind that.

i eventually came off mirtazapine after about 1 year and then i went on to prozac which helped me immensly. and i havent been on meds now for over 1 year.

i would get yourself to the docs and try and think about meds

hope this helps

take care


ruth

[coxwit]

Excellent! Thanks.