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Can't Seem To Eat...

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lostforgottensoul

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So for the last Id say 4 months, possibly more, ive struggled with wanting to eat, going until 1am until I realized I havent eatten that day. Even when im hungry (not often) im nausious too (likely from not eating; i get nausious when i dont eat) and in the last week im seeing it getting a lot worse, to the point of living on boost and mutli vitimins again.

I say again cause a few yrs back I had a gall bladder packed full of gall stones and couldnt have it removed for a year so i couldnt eat, anything. I lived off baby food and boost for a year cause its all i could eat. Id throw up anything else. After i had my gall bladder removed i slowly started to eat more until i was back to normal, until recently.

Durning my gall bladder thing, i was given an AWESOME anti nausia med and still have a bottle and i'll use that now cause generally by the time im hungry, im also nausious and cant even force myself to eat more than a few bites of something.

I gained some, not all, of the weight lost during the gall bladder thing and ive lost some recently but not enough to worry any Drs or anything but its likely because on work days i force myself to eat at lunch (and dont even want that) but its the only time i eat, i dont eat breakfast or dinner ever.

Its also probably because when i do eat, its not quality. Its a bowl of cereal or something fast unless by dad forces me to eat something, like today he made me eat a humburger that he cooked but if he wasnt riding me and annoying me to death, i wouldnt of.

Any one else go through times like this? How can i get myself to want to eat and not forcing it down me or get to the point that im too nausious to eat?

Im sure its following my recently emotional/mental changes. And im positive its why im dizzy a lot and have no energy.

Help!
 
The sympathetic nervous system shuts down digestion (sympathetic = Fight&Flight, parasympathetic = Rest&Digest). So it's a natural byproduct of anxiety to not be hungry in the first place, and if one does eat to get diarrhea or vomit it right back out again.

^^^^
With this one, the 3 biggest tricks I know are

1) Think sick-people foods & baby foods: aka almost already digested for you / broken down & easy to absorb. Soups. Over cooked mushy foods. Super processed foods / fast food. Nutritional shakes. Avoid things that require hard core digestion (like high fiber, whole grain, "healthy" foods, aren't healthy if you can't digest them!). These don't have to be gross. 10,000 soups, curries, sauces, shakes, etc. Broken down, easy to digest, but still delicious. Need to bite? Sandwiches. Salami & fire roasted red pepper, for example. Also things like gyros, burritos, canneloni, eggrolls. All = Pasted meat (meat fiber removed & broken up for easier digestion), cooked veg, refined flour bread/tortilla/pita/rice wrapper.

2) Small meals more often (that's just good advice period, but it's especially important when your digestive system can't handle volume). Doesn't matter if it's ONE potsticker, then 2 hours later 3 bites of burrito, then 2 hours later 1/2 cup soup.

3) Don't eat because you're hungry. Eat because it's time. ((Aka set an alarm.))

***

You're also on opiates, if I'm remembering right? Which also has a side effect of shutting off both hunger & peristaltic action (the squeezing through the digestive track from 1 end to the other). So when you do eat, even if your anxiety is low & you can digest fine, the food will be difficult to choke down, and then will just sit like lead in your belly, and later constipation issues. "Don't eat because you're hungry, eat because it's time" & liquids-liquids-liquids helps combat opiate gut. Liquids-Liquids-Liquids = Quite literally, washing your food down, since the smooth muscle isn't helping propel it along.
 
struggling with this too, big time. Only thing I can manage is breakfast - my afternoons make food feel noxious. I can eat at night a bit so I try then. I know there's a huge biochemical PTSD component to this - in fact, that's 99% of what it is. Have been relying on intstant oatmeal and then eating a very nutritous dinner. it's difficult... i'm wondering if a pre-eating meditation or positive affirmations would help prior to eating, or deep breathing. And an alarm every couple hours to remember to put something in there...cheese, a smoothie...
 
Im sorry, i fell asleep writing this;

I def have the opiate consipation VERY BAD that has NEVER been helped by any over the counter anything. Ive taken laxitves like mad, stool softeners, & benefiber on everyrhing & in everything and it doesnt do anything.

Im thinking about asking for that medication specifically for opiate constipation.

I also have urine retention, BAD, due to my neurotin.

I dont know if the meds are really causing this as ive been on pain meds since my accident in '09; but for sure they arent helping tho, already clogging me up.

The alarm sounds like a good idea cuz im looking at food like its something thats the grossest thing in the world. Im not gonna eat or forget to. Not sure how to.set up the alarm. Maybe in my phone as its the only thing always w/ me? I dont wear a watch.

The food types, im gonna have to play around w/ that cuz I dont like soups but i can drain it and eat it that way (how ive always eatten soups.

You think its worth investing in baby food again? The only kind i can eat is the fruits. The rest is DISGUSTING, even w/ salt on it & microwaved lol.

Thank you so much for all the foods! I will def try it. Not sure what the medical stuff means at the beginning but it sounds right lol ;)
 
struggling with this too, big time. Only thing I can manage is breakfast - my afternoons make food feel...

A cheese smootie? lol. Yeah, sometimes i bring instant oatmeal to work; i dont wanna eat it but its easier to.

Try drinking something like boost or ensure. I drink boost creamy strawberry as the other flavors are goss. I know that baby food is disgusting but some of the fruits are good. I know that sounds like a weird thing to eat but its food, just all mashed up. @FridayJones has some great food ideas too.

Just want to make sure you are getting enough nutrion is all! I thought id be the only one struggling w/ this. Maybe it is the anxiety and im having more anxiety than i realize? Its def following my emotional/mental state as this last week has been very eventful emotionally/mentally.

Thank you for your reply! And make sure you get enough nutrion even if its in liquid form. :hug:
 
Are you hydrating with WATER? Even under "normal" circumstances, over 70% of adults are chronically dehydrated. Just askin'.

Oh, i forgot to put that in @FridayJones's reply. I do drink a TON of water, its all i drink at home and even at work where im drinking soda, i have water at my desk and drink that too. I do seem dehydrated a lot though & it seems it doesnt matter how much water i drink & not sure why. Maybe my medication?

Do you think if i drink more water it will help?
 
1 oz per pound not counting physical fitness... per day

I cant do anything physical due to pain but i'll try to make sure i'm drinking that much. People always say i think three 8 oz a day but if its 1 oz per body weight then that will differ. Ive gotta add that up. The water i buy says its 16.9 oz so i think that adds up to 7. Well calculater says 6.9 so that would be 7. That seems like a lot of bottles to me. Last time i was weighed i was 118...so i think i did the math right.

What about over weight people, that would be very hard for them to drink that much as it could add up to like 20 or more.
 
I am feeling the same and have you tried nurishment drink or complan they are like meals in a can like slim fast but for putting weight on a milkshake with 400ish calories. They are palatable especially if you go for chocolate or banana. You can add a blended real bananas when you're ready to thicken your diet ready for actual food again. Hope this helps
 
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