General Medical Question - Non Urgent - I Can't Eat
I haven't eaten in the past two days, because I haven't felt hungry. I've heard my stomach grumble once or twice, but I've never felt the hunger. But, I was made to eat something before, and it was fine, but now I feel naseous and like I've eaten too much, and I have the horrid taste in my mouth, like bile. I'm getting lectured about how I shouldn't be starving myself again, but I'm not.
It's tricky to answer this in terms of what might be wrong: some questions:
Has it happened before?
Have you got any other symptoms - eg. pain in your stomach, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea?
I'm assuming you have an ED? if so have you been restricting/purging?
Have you changed anything recently? eg. meds/purging more etc
Yeah, like i said it's difficult to tell you what it is. Maybe you have an infection that's putting you off your food. Also when you've got/had an ED it can be hard for your body to interpret hunger signals properly, so you may not feel hungry.
Try eating plain things, dry toast, soup and anything else you can think of (sorry i'm not a good person to ask about food choices) and keep on drinking water, that's really important.
If you start experiencing other symptoms or it doesn't go away then go and get someone to check it out.
xxx
Last edited by purple is a fruit : 12-11-2010 at 11:22 AM.
Reason: forgot something - oopsies
Of course it's happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean it's not real?
I don't have much advice. But I've been the same lately.
I don't feel hungry but have been trying to eat "because I know I should" and feeling really sick and full afterwards.
Its happened to me a few times and the only cure I've found is just keep trying to eat little and often and eventually it seems to sort itself out with me.
If it goes on for a while and you lose weight, or get stomach pains or anything then see a doctor.
Ive felt like for a couple of weeks due to a med change and it's making me not hungry and when I do I feel like I'm going to be sick. Is it from your meds?
I was also wondering if it's from a change in medications as these can lead to a loss in appetite with some medications, as can some illnesses.
Really, whether you feel hungry or not then you do need to eat. It is likely that you felt sick after you ate because you hadn't eaten in a while and therefore your stomach wasn't processing the food properly. As well as that, if you don't eat for a while your stomach does shrink making you feel full more quickly as well as feeling nauseas.
It's tricky to answer this in terms of what might be wrong: some questions:
Has it happened before?
Have you got any other symptoms - eg. pain in your stomach, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea?
I'm assuming you have an ED? if so have you been restricting/purging?
Have you changed anything recently? eg. meds/purging more etc
Yeah, like i said it's difficult to tell you what it is. Maybe you have an infection that's putting you off your food. Also when you've got/had an ED it can be hard for your body to interpret hunger signals properly, so you may not feel hungry.
Try eating plain things, dry toast, soup and anything else you can think of (sorry i'm not a good person to ask about food choices) and keep on drinking water, that's really important.
If you start experiencing other symptoms or it doesn't go away then go and get someone to check it out.
xxx
No, it's never happened before.
Yes, I feel nauseous, but I tend to feel nauseous constantly. I have other problems, but there to do with my IBS. Could that be the problem?
I had anorexia when I was eleven/twelve, but I'm recovered, disregarding the odd weak moment I have, but the last time I purged was around about a month ago.
I'm not on medication, but I've been sleeping from fourteen hours a day, upto nineteen hours sometimes recently, which means I haven't been eating as much because I haven't had the time.
My first thought is that it's a long time to sleep each day and maybe it's tied in with that or have you always slept that much? or is there a reason that you're sleeping that much?
It could be related to your IBS, especially if you're having a flare up at the minute.
Depression and anxiety can also affect your appetite (and may also affect your IBS)
If you haven't really been purging or restricting then it doesn't sound ED related, but again it's hard to tell as EDs can have long lasting effects.
It doesn't really sound like an infection either, but these things can present in funny ways.
Sorry this is just a long list of "possibilities" and is by no means exhaustive.
I'd go and visit a doctor if possible for a check-up, they may be able to do some blood tests and see if there's an underlying problem?
Sorry i'm not much help
xx
Of course it's happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean it's not real?
My first thought is that it's a long time to sleep each day and maybe it's tied in with that or have you always slept that much? or is there a reason that you're sleeping that much?
It could be related to your IBS, especially if you're having a flare up at the minute.
Depression and anxiety can also affect your appetite (and may also affect your IBS)
If you haven't really been purging or restricting then it doesn't sound ED related, but again it's hard to tell as EDs can have long lasting effects.
It doesn't really sound like an infection either, but these things can present in funny ways.
Sorry this is just a long list of "possibilities" and is by no means exhaustive.
I'd go and visit a doctor if possible for a check-up, they may be able to do some blood tests and see if there's an underlying problem?
Sorry i'm not much help
xx
No, you've been more than helpful. I used to have trouble sleeping at all, it's went the complete opposite way. If its still like this tomorrow, I'll suck it up and go the doctors. Thank you.
I think it may be worth you going to the doctors anyway to try and look for reasons why you're sleeping so much as well as this. This can be linked with something like depression where people often don't want to do things and some sleep more (others sleep less) and it can cause a reduction in appetite also. This can also cause nausea but as well as that, nausea can also cause you to not want to eat, however you do need to try and combat that as another problem is that if you don't eat then acid can build up in your stomach; that in itself can cause nausea and therefore it can be a vicious cycle and trying to eat something, I'd suggest something easy to digest such as white meat/ fish/ pasta/ scrambled egg/ toast may help. Also, I'd say if you drink something then have it when it's lukewarm and that may also help to settle your stomach; don't drink anything acidy or fizzy as that could make it worse but something like milk could line your stomach and help with the nausea as well as getting protein into your body and reducing the acidity of your stomach. You're best off as well trying to eat small portions regularly and see if that helps but you really do have to try and make yourself eat.
And yes, it may be to do with your IBS as this is a condition of further down the digestive system and it would've been better if you mentioned that earlier. If that has flared up then it could be affecting your bodies ability to cope with food and therefore making you feel nauseas but also not wanting to eat as your body is telling you that it is not the right thing for you to do.
Thank you for all your advice and support. I went to the GP yesterday. He said that the oversleeping is a part of the depression. He said he thinks the fact I can't eat is psychological, and because I'm not happy with my weight, I'm convincing myself I don't need to it, even though I'm not aware I'm doing it.
