eating troubles with anxiety

i know a lot of you will hate me for saying this but i wish i was one of those people who ate when they were stressed out. i've always been a thin person and i feel self concious about it sometimes. my dad used to bug me about it a lot when i was younger and i think it has a lot to do with my anxieties about restaurants and eating in general and possibly my emetophobia (fear of vomiting)
anyway, whenever i get really anxious for one reason or another or get knocked back into "the hole" as i like to call it when i have a bad attack and it takes weeks to get back to normal again, my stomach goes haywire and i can't eat hardly anything and i feel ill a lot, probably from not eating, which in turn makes the phobia worse and so on and so forth.
does anyone else have trouble eating when they are really anxious? sometimes ifeel like i am the only one. my boyfriend will eat more when he's stressed and it just makes me sad. he's overweight though, so it is bad for him. i don't need to lose ANY weight. in fact, i really want to gain about 10 lbs.

and no i do not have an eating disorder.

ugh. i guess i really am a freak. no one has anything to say

I have trouble eating when I get depressed or anxious. I generally have no appetite and when I try to eat, I can't keep it down. I have a weight problem in that I need to lose a good deal of weight, but after losing 25 pounds in less than 4 weeks, I decided it was time to slow things down a bit.

What I've found that works for me is to plan what I need to eat in a day (a certain number of calories) and try to pre-package and put it all together in the fridge. What I've been doing is just eating 2 or 3 bites every half hour or so. That way I NEVER get sick. My stomach can only handle small amounts of food at a time right now. And I eat whether I'm hungry or not because I know I need to. I've gotten my weight loss down to 1-2 pounds a week and that's perfectly healthy.

Since you want to gain some weight, you could try this same process but with more calories. You might want to consider seeing a nutritionist or talking to your doctor about the number of calories you would need to consume. And if you can't eat much, try to choose higher calorie, higher fat (the good kind) foods - like peanut butter, mixed nuts, avocado, olive oil in vegetables.

Sorry you didn't get this response you were hoping for. I hope this is at least a little bit helpful.

You're not a freak!

Sorry I didn't see this post before now. My brother's wife is in the same boat. She is excessively thin, she eats, but not enough, and she doesnt' have an eating disorder. She has had three children and her size 3 jeans are loose on her. She told me she is very self-conscious too, because there are alot of cute clothes she would like to wear but she always feels silly in them because of her "boyish figure" . You're not the only one out there. Unfortunately, I'm not one of the ones with a boyish figure, so I can't really understand what you're going through, but my sister-in-law did shed some light on that.

I hope everything works out for you. Wish I could've helped more..but just wanted you to know you're not alone!

Take Care,
K.

I'm no expert, but I'm thinking that anxiety can kill the appetite, and it doesn't have to be a recognised eating disorder, but a symptom of the anxiety disorder.

Rubylizard, this is a very common problem, who wants to eat when their not hungry? Your certainly not alone.

I have a couple of strategies for the anxious times. Obviously little and often is the first one. Another is to find a low profile food that you can digest more easily. Here in the UK we have a breakfast cereal called 'Weetabix' , which goes mushy and is nice with honey or a bit of fruit.
My best strategy is to always drink some water or juice with the food, I find that the liquid makes it easier on the tummy.

Those are in the difficult times. For a while now I have been on the mend and a week ago I was in Spain eating a steak dinner. Aaah, how the other half live!

For anxiety sufferers the fear is often worse than the reality. I think that is the place to start. If we can deal with the anxiety, then the appetite usually comes right again.

A last idea is to see a nutritionist and also to get some alternative therapy, Shaitsu or Reiki, to bring down the anxiety levels. There is a lot you can do.

I hope it gets better for you soon.

I have had food anxiety as well.. not because I wanted to stay skinny, it was because in the summertime I ate a burger that wasn't cooked all the way through and I panicked thinking i'd get sick, and it escalated from there.

I get even anxious now whether or not I took a vitamin twice!!

It's getting better, I don't avoid meats anymore, but I always check it.

Still get anxious whether or not something will happen, all because of that one day.....I can relate to what you are feeling.

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Still get anxious whether or not something will happen, all because of that one day.....I can relate to what you are feeling.

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That's it exactly. We get an idea stuck in our heads, and it triggers the fear. That's what it's about really, fear of something we think we can't handle.

We all have our strategies, but it's plain old fear that drives them.

Let's fight it.

I also have the problem that anxiety along with other triggers cause me to stop eating. Unfortunately, I'm married to the cause of my anxiety so it is hard to avoid. I find that once I get into the cycle of not eating, it becomes harder &amp; harder to eat, causing extreme weight loss. Also once I start losing weight, I realize that I want to lose that weight because I feel fat.

This has happened continually throughout my life until it finally hit long enough that I ended up in a treatment hospital (16 lbs under my minimum weight). I am now experiencing the same problem again after 5 years. I really thought it would not hit like this again, but I guess I was wrong. I didn't realize it was a problem until my dr mentioned about my weight loss &amp; I find myself wearing the same cloths I did the last time. But I feel good about losing the weight, &amp; don't want to stop (yet). After all, I weigh less than what I did when I got married 30 yrs ago. That's good.

It was a few weeks ago when I realized this &amp; found these forums I thought might help me deal with it before it becomes a problem again. Everyone here seems so supportive when someone has a problem &amp; is quite a family.

Eskielover,

It's funny that you should mention the 5 year thing. My long term depression cycle runs in five year periods, and the weight and the eating follow the cycle. Lots of us on these boards are disappointed when a downturn kicks in again, and it's often something like a weight change which is the first sign.

For me, I try to see the big picture and not get focussed down onto immediate feelings. I know that if I'm obsessing on something too much then I have to try to take a step back.

Of course, it's easy to say this because I have been on the mend for a while now.

One idea, keeping a journal helps you to see where you have been and where you are now. Counsellors often suggest doing this.

Hope it gets easier for you.

Myzen.

For me it's not wanting to loose weight, even though I'm only 114lbs at 5'2...but I was underweight in the past at 96-98lbs so gaining a bit of weight isn't really the issue can't be size 0 for ever.

If I didn't eat some raw meat before this anxiety with food wouldn't have happened.

I found myself avoiding chicken specifically. I ate salad for a long time...

Got anxiety eating a pickle, anxiety drinking a coke....anxiety eating a nacho that barely touched the floor... etc etc.

But i'm still eating. And drinking. But sometimes it's hard to eat when you are anxious or it, or something else.

My eating habits have changed again to barely eating anything during the day.. more snacking then actual meals which is so unhealthy.

See, RubyLizard, you're not a freak! Lots of us have trouble eating enough. I guess your first post just "slipped through the cracks."

I have trouble when I am anxious. Food tastes dry. It's gotten worse as digestive problems and other physical disorders have kicked in as I've gotten older. Fortunately, I am not stick thin. I do my best to eat nutritiously, but sometimes it is hard to remember to eat if I'm not hungry.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner.

Seeing as a lot of us have this problem, are there any useful books on it, or any good links? There are loads of diet books out there, but about what strategies for getting nourishment into us, and maybe even enjoying it?

Anyone have any ideas?

Myzen

thanks guys. i guess i'm not a freak. today i go to see my shrink and i am taking my parents and boyfriend with me.... this should be interesting. perhaps he will get dumped today. by a whole room full of people!

I get power smoothies that taste good and are loaded with vitamins. I'm lactose intolerant, however, so no milk. They are wet and easier to get down when I can't bear the thought of food and/or food seems dry and hard to eat. Also fruit, until it gives me diarrhea. And I love veggies, which are moist, but not as moist as fruit.

Rubylizard,
I have to agree with everyone else. You are not a freak!! When I become anxious/stressed out/depressed I stop eating. I think it started happening with me in college, especially around exam times. I wish that I knew how to help, but I am still trying to think of ways to get my appetite back in these situations.
Maybe getting on a schedule and just eating something on that schedule will help. Even if it was a sandwich or something??

Jessica

<font color="purple">It's important to talk to yourself when you are having food anxiety. Even with food that isn't related to meat etc I still have anxiety. Now I'm having anxiety everytime I go to my bf's parents place for our weekly supper and i've been going there for over 3 years now. Because I was anxious there in the past now the symptoms are related to the house, but I force myself to go, and eat what is there because I know they are good cooks and i've never been sick before from food, and I doubt I will. I still check food, but that's ok better look then accidently eat something under cooked. Even eating pasta get a bit nervous, but luckily I haven't exactly been avoiding food anymore like I used to.

Still not eating enough or drinking enough in the day and my psychiatrist gave me sticky notes to put around my house to remind me to eat/snack and drink. Wonder if that will work. </font>