I’m trying to get in with therapy right now, but I’m most concerned on having issues with not eating. Intrusive thoughts and anxiety make me nauseous and distracted from eating. It took me an hour last night to eat instant ramen. Does anyone know what I could do about this? I’m only eating around 1 meal a day and I’m afraid of how this could affect me medically.
Yeah I get it. I was bulimic for 5 years because of it. The stress causes a boost of cortisol in your body. One of the things that really helps actually is Ashwaganda and mushroom coffee. Anxiety, OCD and stress can chase gut health issues which leads to of course lack of or increased in Appetite.
Same happens with me, idk how to deal with it either and sometimes I don't eat for days or even weeks😭
I always try to tell myself “start with something small” and try to eat a few crackers at a time and have ready snacks when I do get hungry I can eat right away.
@rachylkh I’ll definitely try to keep more nutritious snacks on hand for myself
Hi Serio. It's okay to eat one meal a day as long as it's filling and nutritious. Sadly there's no clear method as I figured mine out from a lot of introspective and stubbornness that surpassed my OCD fears. My anxiety stemmed from PTSD of people insistent on me eating when I wasn't hungry, wanting a sense of control of at least one thing in my life, and people shaming me and withholding food because I was wasting money or fat (I was heavily underweight). So my cure was I happen to find someone who loved food. I trusted and loved the person more than my disorders and barriers. It helped me overcome any discomfort with more ease because the motivation was I had someone to cook for, cook with, food cook for me, and the whole experience was a mix of survive with joy. I was still anxious yet it diminished over time as I was regulating with someone who I was willing to be influenced with and admired. They helped me love food with "Eat to live, not live to eat" where I can enjoy food yet not about overindulgence which included not eating. We are no longer together but the lesson is still here. Having a clear goal and routine to follow along helps. It's similar to dieting to eat less yet instead aim for bigger or more frequent portions with slow consistency. It helped knowing and seeing if I didn't finish my food someone else would too without judgement. I also have a lot of healthy snacks to munch on like peanuts when I'm anxious, it helped ground with PTSD
@Anonymous I see what you mean. I think it will help me to build my tolerance for food again. I had a ham and cheese croissant for lunch and crackers for breakfast but that’s already sooo much better than yesterday
@Serio? That is great! I know a lot of ancestors lived on that meal as well so it's a celebration for sure. If I could I would only eat Lunchables but that's lead and I do enjoy actual sides with my crackers. It's so easy prep with Lunchables and ramen for me that is fun and easy to eat.
@Anonymous I used to love those as a safe food too. I was devastated about the lead
@Serio? There are adult ones. It's more expensive and feels like smaller portions. That's why it's easy when there are kids or people to eat with because I can pour out all the crackers and ham and cheese on a cutting board to call it discount charcuterie. Then in an hour or two I put the whole board in the fridge so anyone can still snack on it fresh without much clean up or set up. Just missing that lead spice.
When I had undiagnosed OCD, I was 15 pounds underweight from not eating. The best thing I found was eating small but frequently. Fruit in the morning, maybe something with a fat like bread and butter, a little protein with each meal. And in between maybe do a smoothie with protein powder, just to help yourself. You also need to train your body to eat more. The lack of appetite goes back to “I’m in danger, no time for hunger”. So even reminding yourself: I’m safe and I deserve a snack, was helpful for me.
Not sure if losing appetite has become the obsession, but if it has, maybe saying "maybe I will lose my appetite, maybe I won't" might help. If you feel the fear of not having an appetite is what is escalating it. That way you deflate the uncertainty of its power
@rgp Oh it’s not a part of my obsession, it’s just a really debilitating symptom
@Serio? Oh, okay, then disregard what I wrote. I'm sorry it's so debilitating, hope you can get what you need
Guys I need help. I feel so alone . Basically I have this compulsion where I feel the need to write everything but this stems from me being anxious about EVERYTHING. Like my mom came in my room and I was irritated and snapped, immediately regretted now I keep writing “don’t be mean to mom next time” but I keep thinking about it. Then I think about how I finally left my house today and all the surfaces I touched that could’ve been contaminated and now I’m writing “next time don’t touch this and this”. Then I think about all the things I need to be doing for this week and I’m writing “don’t forget to do this and this” even though I’ve written it 5 times already. This is what happens everyday btw. My brain always thinks about something I need to be doing and making me anxious that I’ll forget it which is why I write it down on my notes app. I’m sooo mentally exhausted I need help pls!! Anyone have any advice ? I used to think I need to stop the writing but really I need to stop the anxious thoughts coming into my head . People say I need to accept the thoughts and let it go but that’s too hard for me
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
My OCD has been terrible the for the past two weeks. I have a fear that I will never be able to get out of the thought loop. I am hyper aware of my thoughts and it disturbs me. I haven’t been able to eat for 10 days. I force myself. I haven’t been able to sleep for more than a couple hours. Then I wake up and ruminate for a couple hours, until I’m exhausted. I’m also afraid I’ll never sleep well again. And I’m afraid I’ll never eat and enjoy my food again. I’m afraid I’ll never be able to stop thinking about this enough to enjoy my family ever again.
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