Trouble eating

[Nausea]

I feel pretty crappy today; woke up too nervous to go to work and wound up taking a lorazepam but even that didn't really bring me all the way down to normal like it usually does. I just started on Lexapro yesterday and really wish that it would kick in already instead of two+ weeks.

Worse though, I've had trouble eating lately. I'm used to my anxiety acting like an appetite suppressant. But today it's been the worst ever, I was barely able to down two-thirds a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. I'm hungry, but the thought of food just doesn't appeal to me. As usual, all this is stirring up a vague litany of fears that there's something more wrong with me than just GAD, but I'm doing my best to keep these back.

Help?

[chanel07]

Is there something making you more stressed out than usual?

From experience, I use to have the same exact problems but only when I was a bit more stressed out than usual.

Sometimes drinking mint tea can really help out a stressed tummy and stimulate your appetite.

Try to stick to some light foods and eat small meals throughout the day even through you have trouble with it. Just eat whatever you can.

[Nausea]

More nervous than usual?

I suppose it could be that I've had a resurgent wave of panic attacks starting Saturday and started on Lexapro Monday, but I'm worried that the Lexapro won't work or will make me worse and of course all the usual fears that I have some undiagnosed but fatal disease are working themselves up in the background. Besides that, I'm supposed to go back to school next week, which will mean living away from my parents who have been very supportive of me so far.

Thanks for your suggestions. I've been trying to eat small meals occasionally, but I'm still worried about malnutrition. Things are going a bit better today, so far, but my appetite is still problematic.

[northstar]

hi nausea, sorry to see you having so much trouble.

many people who suffer with anxiety have difficulty eating, they cannot stomach anything or else they just don't want to eat at all. i remember going through this myself, some days i just couldn't force myself to eat no matter how hard i tried. i even ordered my favourite dinner in one of my fave places to eat and sent it back with an apology that i was feeling sick and couldn't swallow it!

the problem here is that not eating will actually only put your body and nervous system under immense pressure and while you continue not to eat you will find it difficult to feel better. your body needs food and fuel to work well and for you to feel good.

so i know it's difficult but you need to try to eat properly, especially in the mornings! in the mornings you can feel particularly bad because your blood sugar is so low after not eating all night long. low blood sugar is a big cause of anxiety, fortunately it's pretty easy to solve by eating lol.

keeping a banana by your bedside and eating it first thing when you wake up can really help. bananas are pretty easy to get down even when you have no appetite and they will give you an instant blood sugar boost :)

also the advice to eat small amounts as much as possible during the day is great, it might be easier for you to eat small amounts frequently.

take a look at this thread for more advice on diet and anxiety, it might just give you a starting point: http://www.anxietyforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4087

there is also a really great book you can get called Optimum Nutrition for the Mind by Patrick Holford which is all about diet and mental health. it will give you a good idea of how to eat to stay in good mental health and it is actually a pretty interesting read!

[sentoria]

I know how it feels. I've been staring at my shredded wheat for almost an hour, but I know I need to eat. Been eating watermelon, yogurt, light stuff for the past three weeks.