My experiences for me are that stress causes me to feel nausea. When I feel nausea, I won't eat because I hate throwing up. It was just 1 1/2 years ago when it hit again. In October/November, I was weighing about 108 (I am 5ft 2in). My Mother was dealing with cancer & my newly born filly had an injury (a cut on her leg that went down to the bone) that needed daily care. I was the only child & the only one that was trying to make sure that my Mother was having the best possible care after her cancer surgery. At the end of November, everything went from bad to absolutely horrible & ended up living through a horrible trauma that no one was willing to recognize (because it was something that just doesn't happen to normal people).

That stress caused so much nausea that I quit eating at all except for an oatmeal cookie here & there. My weight was going down probably because I felt like I was living on adrenalen.....the only thing keeping me going. After my Mother was ODed, I stayed with her in the hospital 24/7 for over 3 weeks.....awake every few minutes trying to keep her comfortable, knowing all the time that she was dying but no one was willing to tell me. I was also trying to protect her & myself from the person that was the trauma.

Not eating in this case did cause a massive weight loss. By the end of December, I was down to 102 & by the middle of January, I was down to 93, in the hospital when my Mother died, & ended up becoming anemic with malnutrition & had to be treated for it medically.

Even though I wasn't eating & that usually prevents weight loss because the body starts protecting itself when it stops being fed, but because the adrenelan was going full force, my weight just fell off & nothing stopped it. I found that everyone's body reacts differently to the situations it goes through.

When I was in school & sudying for tests (midterms/finals), I would eat a whole pan of fresh baked brownies, or a pound bag of M & M's, or a whole bag of BBQ potatoe chips, & end up loosing 5-10. It was hard to gain the weight back even after the tests were over depending on my stress level. I loved exercise too....especially racquetball at lunch time after I graduated & had my career........that helped keep my weight off too......so I loved exercising to keep my weight under control. I swore when I was young that I would never let myself gain weight like my Mother or grandmother & wouldn't smoke like my other grandmother just to stay thin (I was allergic to any smoke making me sick & loosing even more weight).

What I have found over the years (especially now) is that I have found a weight that I can be satisfied with & a weight that is fairly healthy (just above my minimum safe weight). When I gain a few pounds, I back off on my eating.....I loose a bit more, then I can eat some things I enjoy again. My weight only fluctuates by about 6 pounds....knowing that I can loose what I gain & can be healthy most of the time.

Hope you can find something that works for you,
Debbie