Poll Does Your Weight Or Diet Affect Your Ptsd

[jo may]

I was always a comfort eat but since my PTSD I have gone off food and hardly eat or drink. Mind I'm losing weight so maybe it's a good thing :)

 

[SadChicken]

Anxiety affects my ptsd, sugar and caffeine affect my anxiety.

 

[Changing4Best]

I never even thought of the fact that this could be a possibility, but for me it isn't a problem or an issue. Sorry to see that it is for some of you!

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I wasn't quite sure which ones to check.....

My symptoms spike, my diet goes out the window and my weight goes up.

My diet goes bad, my PTSD symptoms can go bad, too.

The cause/effect goes both ways. Its hard to get a handle on it all.

 

[Friday]

They do affect each other... But I'm not sure of the relationship, either.

So far my 2 worst runs have been when I was both exceptionally healthy (military fit body), and exceptionally unhealthy (2 years of recovering from injury & other sit-stay-get-all-fluffy :p).

Exercise is probably my best/healthiest coping mechanism. So my mood & my functioning is a whole helluva lot better when I'm fit. But even fit, my symptoms can be crying havoc. And I tend to direct them outward quite a bit more (rage up). Meanwhile, when I'm securing the couch for several months getting all fat? Soft? Lazy? Depressed? While I'm not as functional as when I'm running riot, I'm more stable. Shrug. I not really sure, it may well be 6 of 1, half a dozen of another. Except that, now having done both? I strongly prefer being fit and healthy and more outwardly functional.

 

[ButterflyDisco]

my anorexia is "comorbid" with my ptsd

 

[OneWing]

I've got 99 problems and being skinny ain't one. Since I got PTSD I had at one point put on about 60 or 70 pounds. Sure there are times where I lose my apatite, but there are more times when I just cannot stop eating. PTSD has made a lot of life's simple pleasures impossible to enjoy.
I had PTSD and didn't know it, I ended up with diabetes and had to lose a lot of weight to help balance my blood sugar. I did it.. and now I have put like half of the weight back on.
It is hard to give a damn some times, there isn't much I can enjoy in my life, depression would probably kill me sooner than the food anyway. lol I need to take joy where I can find it.

 

[AngelPaws14]

I have a lot of digestion issues that were just getting under control just before the brain surgery that is part of why I have PTSD and since this last surgery I have been struggling with gaining weight which is making my stomach issues much worse and then I get stressed and stress eat and that stresses me out more leading to more pain and stress. I am getting closer to dealing with depression the longer it takes to figure out how to figure out whats wrong now with my stomach/digestion and then what to do about it. Endless days of "try this" and "wait and see"! That's the story of my life! Lets just say meals cause fear, i can't take meds to help my ptsd for the trouble with side effects, and nothing about my health has made sense since my gall bladder surgery in 2009!

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Glad to see this one bumped up!

i'm learning more and more about my eating issues and how they are linked with my PTSD (in a way, at least).

I've posted about this other places, but I'll give a summary here.

I inadvertently stumbled upon an amino acid supplement that helps regulate blood sugar levels. I'm no doctor, nor have I consulted with a doctor about this (as I can't afford a holistic doc), but in my experience, and from what info I've been able to find online, it seems that my constantly fluctuation blood sugar levels were making me irritable, reactive, and pretty moody. I started taking amino acid supplements and my moodiness leveled out, I'm not so reactive, I'm not very irritable.

So it seems that my uneven blood sugar levels were increasing my PTSD symptoms. Now that my cravings are diminished, too, I am not struggling with weight so much and have been able to lose quite a bit over the last month or so.

 

[mrsps]

I am overweight, my eating problem started when I was 10 after I went through sexual abuse. It took me years to realise I had an eating problem and that I over ate and that it stemmed back to the abuse. I feel crap about myself all the time! If I wasn't this fat life would be so much easier but I cant stop eating. Its like being addicted to drugs but you cant just cut food out of your life like you can with drugs

 

[Crow]

The healthier I eat and the more weight I lose, the more intense my ptsd symptoms. Go figure.

 

[TonyG]

I am a short time suffer although my trauma was a long time ago, So I have been overweight for twenty years so I don't really fit the profile of what's considered a PTSD sufferer,
As a kid I was very active and I had anger issues, I had migraines and a bunch of other symptoms long before my trauma, So I have not been able to use my weight as a reason for my mood and symptoms,
Prior to my PTSD my life was quite normal, I was highly regarded at work and regularly got awards for my performance, I loved my job.
So with a open mind there are a lot things that could or could not be related to PTSD,
I selected the last option as there was no other option.