Anxiety/Depression Weight Loss

[Manuelc43]

I'm a 33 year old male, I've been suffering from anxiety since I was a child. Recently I've been feeling anxious and depressed. I have a a fear that I'm going to get cancer. Anytime I feel anything wrong with my body I feel that I have some sort of cancer. I go to see my doctor and I'm always told that the physical symptoms I feel are because of my anxiety. Recently I began feeling anxious and depressed and I completely lost my appetite. I started feeling a small pain in my stomach and I automatically assumed it was cancer. I haven't been hungry for the past 2 to 3 weeks and I've lost about 5-7 pounds. Losing weight has caused me even more anxiety because of the knowledge that unexplained weight loss is a sign of cancer. I'm currently on medication to control my anxiety. Has anyone else experienced these type of symptoms and fears?

[brittany32888]

I'm a 33 year old male, I've been suffering from anxiety since I was a child. Recently I've been feeling anxious and depressed. I have a a fear that I'm going to get cancer. Anytime I feel anything wrong with my body I feel that I have some sort of cancer. I go to see my doctor and I'm always told that the physical symptoms I feel are because of my anxiety. Recently I began feeling anxious and depressed and I completely lost my appetite. I started feeling a small pain in my stomach and I automatically assumed it was cancer. I haven't been hungry for the past 2 to 3 weeks and I've lost about 5-7 pounds. Losing weight has caused me even more anxiety because of the knowledge that unexplained weight loss is a sign of cancer. I'm currently on medication to control my anxiety. Has anyone else experienced these type of symptoms and fears?


Absolutely have. I have had people close to me battle cancer, and even pass. The severity of it is so scary to me, I am constantly questioning every feeling, wondering if it's cancer. Every headache, stomach pain. I even had a little lump on my shoulder recently that I thought was cancer, but it eventually scabbed up and went away. I believe it was only a bug bite. Every time I eat something or feed something to my son, I wonder if it has carcinogens and if eventually it will cause cancer.... It never ends. My anxiety definitely effects my diet. I just came out of about a month where I had no appetite. So then of course it caused weight loss and fatigue. Then that causes more anxiety. It sucks for sure. But everything you said are definitely side effects of anxiety. If you can constantly remind yourself you have anxiety and realize it causes irrationality, it helps a little.
What I do when I don't feel like eating is try to find the most nutritious thing I can, so even with eating a small amount your body won't jump into starvation mode. And try to drink plenty of water.
You're not alone. And googling your symptoms may make it worse, if you would even do that, so I don't recommend it. I do it myself sometimes, and always regret it. Just keep talking about it, I believe verbally releasing what you're feeling is therapy within itself.

[Manuelc43]

Absolutely have. I have had people close to me battle cancer, and even pass. The severity of it is so scary to me, I am constantly questioning every feeling, wondering if it's cancer. Every headache, stomach pain. I even had a little lump on my shoulder recently that I thought was cancer, but it eventually scabbed up and went away. I believe it was only a bug bite. Every time I eat something or feed something to my son, I wonder if it has carcinogens and if eventually it will cause cancer.... It never ends. My anxiety definitely effects my diet. I just came out of about a month where I had no appetite. So then of course it caused weight loss and fatigue. Then that causes more anxiety. It sucks for sure. But everything you said are definitely side effects of anxiety. If you can constantly remind yourself you have anxiety and realize it causes irrationality, it helps a little.
What I do when I don't feel like eating is try to find the most nutritious thing I can, so even with eating a small amount your body won't jump into starvation mode. And try to drink plenty of water.
You're not alone. And googling your symptoms may make it worse, if you would even do that, so I don't recommend it. I do it myself sometimes, and always regret it. Just keep talking about it, I believe verbally releasing what you're feeling is therapy within itself.

Thank you Brittany32888, yes unfortunately I do google or go on WebMD and it just makes my anxiety worse. I appreciate your reply. It's good to know that I'm not alone and that there are others that suffer from the same thing I do. I'm hoping that hearing stories from people similar to me, it will help me control my anxiety and fears. Once again, thank you.

[brittany32888]

Thank you Brittany32888, yes unfortunately I do google or go on WebMD and it just makes my anxiety worse. I appreciate your reply. It's good to know that I'm not alone and that there are others that suffer from the same thing I do. I'm hoping that hearing stories from people similar to me, it will help me control my anxiety and fears. Once again, thank you.

You are absolutely welcome. A lot of people choose to handle their anxiety differently, I choose to not go to doctors about it. I find that being able to openly express myself and hear others doing the same, eases the stress. I hope you can find the same relief as i do. :)

[Andres Tavarez]

Hello! I do at times lose my appetite because it seems that when i eat I feel worst? A feeling washes over me. I cant explain it, Ive had blood work and a CT scan done, none showing i have any abnormalities, my double vision is probably my biggest symptom that adds to my anxiety. Went to get my eyes checked they seemed fine other than a common astigmatism. I hope that as I manage my anxiety the vision problem gets better. Hope you are doing well, after getting some reassurance from a doctor I did find some peace in it. (since i thought my double vision was caused by a tumor)

Andres