I’m figuring it could mean pretty much any damn thing under the sun, but it’s worth a shot to ask my fellow Dopers.
The past few weeks, I haven’t really had an appetite. This is a bit unusual for me; I usually eat too much. Back in February I started doing Atkins, and have since slowly added carbs back in (including noodles, potatoes, etc) and increasing my exercise. I found I was losing more weight while eating more carbs; hey, fine with me.
But lately I just haven’t had an appetite. I actually have an aversion to food. It doesn’t matter what the food is (if it’s high fat, high carb, high protein, whatever), I don’t want anything. My stomach feels “urrrrrgh” when I eat something.
I’ve been forcing myself to eat each day. I don’t want to send my body into starvation mode, with my metabolism plummetting and storing fat like there’s no tomorrow; I want a good weight loss and to be physically fit (going to the gym twice a week for a couple hours, and pilates at home). So it’s not like I want to not eat. Any ideas on what it could be, or any questions to narrow ideas down?
Back in the dark ages, I contracted mononucleosis, which made any food feel like a lump of lead in my stomach. You might want to see a doctor and get a blood workup.
im like the OP is, but ive been like that for a couple years. Starting a new thread since i dont want to threadjack. Anyways, i was told to take vitamins and i should be fine.
What am I eating? Well, it varies from day to day. Let’s see, yesterday was:
~11am - 1 cup of fresh steamed broccoli with a bit of melted cheese on top
throughout the day I nursed a 24oz bottle of Diet Mountain Dew
6pm - one baked chicken thigh (skin removed) with bbq sauce, a cup of previously frozen broccoli, and 1/2 cup noodles
~8.30pm - 1 medium cocoa with a shot of espresso.
It really varies. One day I just had a handful of peanuts, a green tea ice smoothie and an espresso smoothie (that I didn’t even want, but bought anyway). Other days I’ll make myself have an egg or two for breakfast with a dinner around 6 (usually random piece of meat, cup of vegetable and maybe noodles).
I’m not hungry when I have anything. Even one day where the first thing I ate or drank was a Diet Pepsi at 5pm (yes, I went the whole day without even water), I didn’t feel hungry or thirsty, I only bought it to avoid a caffeine headache. I literally had to force myself to have a granola/yogurt bar on Monday when I otherwise wouldn’t’ve had anything until 8pm, because I could feel the revulsion and “tingly jaw” (anyone else get that when they start feeling nauseous?). I basically have to pretend I’m not eating when I’m eating.
If the 24 oz bottle of Mountain Dew is new to your diet, it may be that the huge amount of caffiene that Mountain Dew has is acting as an appetite supressant.
Mountain Dew has a huge amount of caffeine? Trust me, caffeine is not new to my diet, and I usually have more caffeine than that throughout a normal day (including more Diet Dew).
And uh, [sub]I don’t really have a doctor, per se[/sub]. I know, I know! I’m 21 and the last doctor I saw was my pediatrician back senior year of high school. I should probably get around to going for a checkup or something, shouldn’t I?
I went through a spell where I just wasn’t interested in food. Not sopping for it, cooking it let alone eating it. I forced myself to eat “light” snacks throughout the day to keep up my energy and eventually my desire for food came back. I don’t think it was gone for too long.
Sounds just what happened to me when I stopped taking my thyroid medication. It took several month for everything to stabilize, but I’ve been fine since. If your GP detects a problem with your metabolism, get ye to an endochrinologist (sp?), especially if the GP recommends medication.
This happened to me when I was on the Atkins diet after about 6 months. I became a real struggle to eat, but my doctor didn’t have trouble with it as long as I took my vitamins and took in about 1000 calories a day. Be sure you get all the water you need too.
Remember, if you aren’t eating “enough”, you need the vitamins. And I always take mine before bed so that I don’t get nauseous (and I get that tingly thing right under my jaw too!)
Add my name to those suggesting you consult a doctor.
Among other things, diminished appetite or an actual distaste for eating can be a sign of depression or stress. Depression is a varied, complex issue, and one can ease into a depressive state without being consciously aware it.
zweisamkeit, um, no offense and I know I sound like my mom, but FIND YOURSELF A DOCTOR and get a checkup. There’s probably a nice harmless reason for your lack of appetite, but a real food aversion and “my stomach feels ‘urrrrrgh’ when I eat something” can be symptoms of Very Bad Things which a checkup would easily rule out. The Very Bad Things include cancers and other disorders of the digestive system that get worse, not better, when ignored.
Don’t panic, just go. Are there any low-cost walk-in clinics in Detroit?
BTW, an EMT friend of mine saved my life several years ago by insisting that I get my first checkup in years because of some heartburn I was having, in case it was gallbladder trouble. It wasn’t, but my doc noticed these funny little bumps on my neck… which turned out to be a treatable-when-caught-early-enough kind of cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I’m all better now. But checkups are a v e r y good thing.
Probably a longshot, but I had chronic appendicitis for an extended period before I had it yanked. For the first few days I ate almost nothing, but you would know if had it. The remainder of the time (which was weeks) my appetite was greatly dimished. There were other symptoms of course, so that probably isn’t it. But I thought I would share anyway.
Damn. I hate going to doctors. I think I’ve inherited it from my mom, who hasn’t been to one in over a decade, and only once or twice for a few years before that. I just… I don’t know, I don’t like going.
I also come from a family where, if it is depression, well, tough it out. You think you have it bad? Why don’t you try blahblahblahblah.
Blar! Thanks for the suggestions though, I’m sure I’ll go eventually.
I think I’ve inherited it from my mom, who hasn’t been to one in over a decade, and only once or twice for a few years before that. I just… I don’t know, I don’t like going.