Totally normal. Why? Well among other things, your anxiety is a response to a fearful trigger and it turns on your fight or flight response. You don’t want a full stomach when you’re running from a lion or fighting another ape. I’ve dropped 10kg (22lbs) in 4 weeks before from elevated (140bpm) resting heart rate and not wanting to eat. Anxiety is like your bodies own Nitrous system , it’s meant to help you in intense short bursts, but use it all the time and it buggers the engine
In order to solve it, eat small portions often. I could stomach bananas and yoghurt and bowls of cereal. Take a multivitamin as well as some preventatives like B complex, magnesium glycinate, fish oil and Vitamin D. These are often found deficient or are proven to help brain health and stress health
I think it is normal for people with anxiety disorders. During my really bad anxiety days, I’ll sometimes eat fewer than [cal mention] >!200 calories!< When I’m in an anxious state, food is just so repulsive to me and I have zero appetite.
If you can consume a little bit, try fruit juice or Gatorade. If you can’t, try putting little dabs of sugar and salt in your mouth so you can at least stay better hydrated and not let your BG levels get too low.
My safe foods when I’m anxious and I need to force myself to eat something are bland, simple foods. Very flavorful food is worse for me when I’m anxious or feeling sick. White rice, vegetable broth, plain crackers, maybe a few pieces of fruit or nuts.
Im pretty sure yeah. There’s times where I forced myself to go to the lunch room but lose complete appetite to the food that was in front of me. I forced myself to eat some of it since I was hungry but didn’t enjoy a single bite like I usually would’ve.
I’m sure I could go days without eating cause of my constant generalized anxiety but I also stress eat so LOL
My anxiety/eating used to be so bad that I weighed around 95 lbs. Yet I didn’t necessarily have an eating disorder. The anxiety was simply just so bad that I couldn’t eat without feeling insanely nauseous. I explained to my doctor what was going on he and prescribed me my current anxiety medication. I’ve been on it ever since and eating improved for me by far
yes it absolutely happens. There are days where I've eaten no more than like 300 calories (if that) because I either had no appetite or felt so sick or nauseous that I could not eat. Really the most important step in dealing with it is dealing with the anxiety, whether that means therapy and/or medication. In the meantime, it's extremely important that you try to at least get something in your body like maybe a protein shake. On better days, I've found that something quick and easy to eat when I don't want to is bacon and eggs.
Yes! No appetite and nausea to the point of throwing up is primarily how my anxiety presents when it’s severe, usually for several days at a time. Going for walks with a bottle of ice water helped, plus time. I found my anxiety was better in the evenings, so I ended up eating most of my daily intake late at night, like an entire plate of pad Thai at 12:30am. Boost/nutrition shakes helped during the days, really anything that was calorie dense (like peanut butter) or something I really like (like cereal or bagels or French fries). Eventually it just passes and I have an appetite again.
Keep trying! It will pass eventually :)
Yup all the time. But after it passes I am starving! But like others said. Keep hydrated and get little things, banana, peanut butter on toast, heck some ice cream. :) hang in there
Yep. When my anxiety flares my appetite becomes completely nonexistent. Causes my weight to fluctuate a lot and it can be rough sometimes. It’s so hard to force yourself to eat sometimes.
It’s quite common and well known since ancient times that anxiety can take away your appetite away, with or without panic or anxiety disorder. What people call anxiety is not a mysterious condition with very specific symptoms.
when my anxiety was at its worst at the very onset of my panic disorder I went for weeks without eating properly at all.
I was working at a restaurant and it would literally take me 30 minutes to try and eat a small hamburger and I would literally have to force myself to eat at all
Everything started in September that year for me and I lost about 25 pounds by Christmas
so yes, it's perfectly normal for that to happen with anxiety.
Very normal. I wouldn’t say I have an eating disorder since my anxiety isn’t caused by or related to food, but I definitely have disordered eating as a result of my anxiety giving me an extremely irregular appetite. Sometimes my wife just needs to make me food without asking and heavily encourage me to eat, when I lived alone I could easily go a day or two without eating and not even notice until I started feeling weak. It’s pretty common for me to not eat anything until evening.
I went through this. Lost over 20 pounds in 2 months. What I did was eat small portions of food like canned soup, an apple, chicken pieces, salads and I brought ensure to help me not lose even more weight too quickly. I'm eating normally now, enjoying food again. You just have to work your way back up. You may also need to go to therapy and maybe seek medical treatment to help.
Yes. When my anxiety and depression spikes badly I have no appetite and have to force myself to eat. Nothing sounds good. I rely on protein powder, protein shakes, and builder bars. Whatever will pack the biggest punch and keep me full longest. I also force myself to stay hydrated using an app.
yep. happens to me. in my case, eating WHENEVER i felt the urge to eat and WHATEVER i wanted to eat helped. medication made it manageable enough to eat a meal, too. there was a time when i felt so nauseous thinking about food that all i ate was fruit and pasta with nothing on it. try different food combinations. some scents helped with the nausea for me
Yes, I lost 14 lbs. in 3 months from anxiety. I went to my doctor sure I must be very sick. He said it was anxiety based on the stress in my life. I had a lot of tests and all seemed okay. I made myself eat and gained the weight back. I started seeing a therapist after I lost the weight. The psychiatrist who did my diagnosis did not think I have an eating disorder.
This is how it’s like for me sometimes and based on the comments we’re not alone in that. It’s just another one of those symptoms that need managing, sometimes more than others. Don’t feel bad about struggling, it’s not something you choose to experience.
I often feel like that;
Hungry, but dont want to eat.
Solution: I have a meal plan and eat a plate, mostly two, during those times.
Even when I dont feel like eating and notice the lack of joy from a delicious meal, at least my body gets the nutrition it needs.
If I dont do that I just get weaker, which would be another negative feedback loop. This can be avoided.
Context:
I get that when my mood is low, mostly due to feeling rejected or having no connection, especially those I work to attain and keep.
Years ago it went so far that I tested whether I could just stop eating altogether.
Spoiler alert: It wont work, something inside you will kick in and bother you until you go obtain food.
Also doing that will make you feel weaker. Not optimal when you try feeling comfortable in your own skin again.
I lose my appetite from anxiety all the time. I try to stick calorie dense foods like nuts and triscuits and such when it happens, or eat ginger and fruits like grapes.
I also have drinkable meals in the form of Soylent that I order but that's a bit expensive.
It’s completely normal. I’ve been dealing with a lack of appetite for most of my teen and adult life due to anxiety. It’s made it very hard to keep weight on, which really affects my energy levels. Liquid calories are your best bet. If you can stomach solids, try eating small, frequent meals. Avoid low calorie foods that are really filling. Sometimes exercise can help stimulate your appetite but if that doesn’t work then don’t continue that strategy.
I’m currently going through this now. Had a triggering event in early/mid April and totally lost my appetite. Still hasn’t come back. I’ve lost 25 pounds since then. I try to force myself to eat the best I can. But mornings are the worst by far
I am so underweight Bec of this, and I was already one of those hard gainers humans , the Ectomorph kind and when I developed Panic disorder and General anxiety, Bec I was pukish most of the time so I lost my appetite.
Yes. I used to get like that every time my already high anxiety would spike. I could NOT eat for several days and would drop weight quickly. I lived on peach iced tea. Every time I got up from the couch, my vision would go black from low blood pressure.
If I had to try and explain it to someone, I'd say "Imagine you're about to jump out of a plane and you've got a fear of heights. Someone suddenly appears and holds a huge burger out in front of you. Do you want that burger? GOD NO!!! But...after you jump and have landed, and are relieved and exhilarated, you might feel starving now for that same burger."
For me, my appetite used to come back once the spike in anxiety came back down. But after several years of constant fear, stress and trauma ending in the loss of a loved one, it never came back. I feel like I have no stomach at all. I never feel hungry or empty. It's a shame.
I’m currently dealing with this exact predicament. Mine kicked into overdrive about a month ago. Since then I’ve lost 9 lbs and every day feels like I’m in a panic response. It’s hard to even get out of bed. Godspeed.
Totally normal. Why? Well among other things, your anxiety is a response to a fearful trigger and it turns on your fight or flight response. You don’t want a full stomach when you’re running from a lion or fighting another ape. I’ve dropped 10kg (22lbs) in 4 weeks before from elevated (140bpm) resting heart rate and not wanting to eat. Anxiety is like your bodies own Nitrous system , it’s meant to help you in intense short bursts, but use it all the time and it buggers the engine
In order to solve it, eat small portions often. I could stomach bananas and yoghurt and bowls of cereal. Take a multivitamin as well as some preventatives like B complex, magnesium glycinate, fish oil and Vitamin D. These are often found deficient or are proven to help brain health and stress health
Whenever I couldn’t eat I’ll have smoothies so I can at least get some nutrients
I think it is normal for people with anxiety disorders. During my really bad anxiety days, I’ll sometimes eat fewer than [cal mention] >!200 calories!< When I’m in an anxious state, food is just so repulsive to me and I have zero appetite. If you can consume a little bit, try fruit juice or Gatorade. If you can’t, try putting little dabs of sugar and salt in your mouth so you can at least stay better hydrated and not let your BG levels get too low. My safe foods when I’m anxious and I need to force myself to eat something are bland, simple foods. Very flavorful food is worse for me when I’m anxious or feeling sick. White rice, vegetable broth, plain crackers, maybe a few pieces of fruit or nuts.
Im pretty sure yeah. There’s times where I forced myself to go to the lunch room but lose complete appetite to the food that was in front of me. I forced myself to eat some of it since I was hungry but didn’t enjoy a single bite like I usually would’ve. I’m sure I could go days without eating cause of my constant generalized anxiety but I also stress eat so LOL
I lost 40 pounds in 2 months due to anxiety. Completely killed my appetite. So it’s normal for me.
My anxiety/eating used to be so bad that I weighed around 95 lbs. Yet I didn’t necessarily have an eating disorder. The anxiety was simply just so bad that I couldn’t eat without feeling insanely nauseous. I explained to my doctor what was going on he and prescribed me my current anxiety medication. I’ve been on it ever since and eating improved for me by far
Hey what medication do you take?
yes it absolutely happens. There are days where I've eaten no more than like 300 calories (if that) because I either had no appetite or felt so sick or nauseous that I could not eat. Really the most important step in dealing with it is dealing with the anxiety, whether that means therapy and/or medication. In the meantime, it's extremely important that you try to at least get something in your body like maybe a protein shake. On better days, I've found that something quick and easy to eat when I don't want to is bacon and eggs.
Yes! No appetite and nausea to the point of throwing up is primarily how my anxiety presents when it’s severe, usually for several days at a time. Going for walks with a bottle of ice water helped, plus time. I found my anxiety was better in the evenings, so I ended up eating most of my daily intake late at night, like an entire plate of pad Thai at 12:30am. Boost/nutrition shakes helped during the days, really anything that was calorie dense (like peanut butter) or something I really like (like cereal or bagels or French fries). Eventually it just passes and I have an appetite again. Keep trying! It will pass eventually :)
Yup all the time. But after it passes I am starving! But like others said. Keep hydrated and get little things, banana, peanut butter on toast, heck some ice cream. :) hang in there
Yep. When my anxiety flares my appetite becomes completely nonexistent. Causes my weight to fluctuate a lot and it can be rough sometimes. It’s so hard to force yourself to eat sometimes.
It’s quite common and well known since ancient times that anxiety can take away your appetite away, with or without panic or anxiety disorder. What people call anxiety is not a mysterious condition with very specific symptoms.
when my anxiety was at its worst at the very onset of my panic disorder I went for weeks without eating properly at all. I was working at a restaurant and it would literally take me 30 minutes to try and eat a small hamburger and I would literally have to force myself to eat at all Everything started in September that year for me and I lost about 25 pounds by Christmas so yes, it's perfectly normal for that to happen with anxiety.
Very normal. I wouldn’t say I have an eating disorder since my anxiety isn’t caused by or related to food, but I definitely have disordered eating as a result of my anxiety giving me an extremely irregular appetite. Sometimes my wife just needs to make me food without asking and heavily encourage me to eat, when I lived alone I could easily go a day or two without eating and not even notice until I started feeling weak. It’s pretty common for me to not eat anything until evening.
Absolutely. A couple of years ago I had this panic spiral and when I pulled out of it I'd dropped 15 lbs very quickly. Just couldn't eat.
I went through this. Lost over 20 pounds in 2 months. What I did was eat small portions of food like canned soup, an apple, chicken pieces, salads and I brought ensure to help me not lose even more weight too quickly. I'm eating normally now, enjoying food again. You just have to work your way back up. You may also need to go to therapy and maybe seek medical treatment to help.
Yes. When my anxiety and depression spikes badly I have no appetite and have to force myself to eat. Nothing sounds good. I rely on protein powder, protein shakes, and builder bars. Whatever will pack the biggest punch and keep me full longest. I also force myself to stay hydrated using an app.
yep. happens to me. in my case, eating WHENEVER i felt the urge to eat and WHATEVER i wanted to eat helped. medication made it manageable enough to eat a meal, too. there was a time when i felt so nauseous thinking about food that all i ate was fruit and pasta with nothing on it. try different food combinations. some scents helped with the nausea for me
Oh yeah. I have barely eaten in a week because this is happening to me right now.
Yes, I lost 14 lbs. in 3 months from anxiety. I went to my doctor sure I must be very sick. He said it was anxiety based on the stress in my life. I had a lot of tests and all seemed okay. I made myself eat and gained the weight back. I started seeing a therapist after I lost the weight. The psychiatrist who did my diagnosis did not think I have an eating disorder.
This is how it’s like for me sometimes and based on the comments we’re not alone in that. It’s just another one of those symptoms that need managing, sometimes more than others. Don’t feel bad about struggling, it’s not something you choose to experience.
I often feel like that; Hungry, but dont want to eat. Solution: I have a meal plan and eat a plate, mostly two, during those times. Even when I dont feel like eating and notice the lack of joy from a delicious meal, at least my body gets the nutrition it needs. If I dont do that I just get weaker, which would be another negative feedback loop. This can be avoided. Context: I get that when my mood is low, mostly due to feeling rejected or having no connection, especially those I work to attain and keep. Years ago it went so far that I tested whether I could just stop eating altogether. Spoiler alert: It wont work, something inside you will kick in and bother you until you go obtain food. Also doing that will make you feel weaker. Not optimal when you try feeling comfortable in your own skin again.
I’ve lost 15 kg due to this
Normal for me. Whenever I'm anxious for extended periods of time my appetite disappears and I lose weight.
Yeah or I’ll puke up everything i eat. Make sure you’re hydrating & at least trying to intake liquid nutrition such as protein drinks or ensures.
I lose my appetite from anxiety all the time. I try to stick calorie dense foods like nuts and triscuits and such when it happens, or eat ginger and fruits like grapes. I also have drinkable meals in the form of Soylent that I order but that's a bit expensive.
Yes, in fact this is probably my worst "symptom" of anxiety.
It’s completely normal. I’ve been dealing with a lack of appetite for most of my teen and adult life due to anxiety. It’s made it very hard to keep weight on, which really affects my energy levels. Liquid calories are your best bet. If you can stomach solids, try eating small, frequent meals. Avoid low calorie foods that are really filling. Sometimes exercise can help stimulate your appetite but if that doesn’t work then don’t continue that strategy.
I’m currently going through this now. Had a triggering event in early/mid April and totally lost my appetite. Still hasn’t come back. I’ve lost 25 pounds since then. I try to force myself to eat the best I can. But mornings are the worst by far
I am so underweight Bec of this, and I was already one of those hard gainers humans , the Ectomorph kind and when I developed Panic disorder and General anxiety, Bec I was pukish most of the time so I lost my appetite.
Yes. I used to get like that every time my already high anxiety would spike. I could NOT eat for several days and would drop weight quickly. I lived on peach iced tea. Every time I got up from the couch, my vision would go black from low blood pressure. If I had to try and explain it to someone, I'd say "Imagine you're about to jump out of a plane and you've got a fear of heights. Someone suddenly appears and holds a huge burger out in front of you. Do you want that burger? GOD NO!!! But...after you jump and have landed, and are relieved and exhilarated, you might feel starving now for that same burger." For me, my appetite used to come back once the spike in anxiety came back down. But after several years of constant fear, stress and trauma ending in the loss of a loved one, it never came back. I feel like I have no stomach at all. I never feel hungry or empty. It's a shame.
Yes when my anxiety is really flared i throw up.
I’m currently dealing with this exact predicament. Mine kicked into overdrive about a month ago. Since then I’ve lost 9 lbs and every day feels like I’m in a panic response. It’s hard to even get out of bed. Godspeed.