# Complete Disinterest in Eating



## Moselle (Aug 2, 2011)

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it seemed like the best area for this topic.

Somehow I've completely lost any want to eat, mentally. My body says it needs food, but nothing I can think of sounds remotely good and I can't seem to get the motivation to actually get up and go make something, then force myself to eat it. I'll be leaving for work in roughly 20 minutes and I know I need to eat, especially since I worked on no food yesterday. I haven't really eaten since roughly 10 or 11PM on Tuesday the 2nd. I did take a couple fries before tossing them out (I'm a fast food cashier) in hopes of triggering my appetite, but no luck.

Last night I found myself lying on the couch feeling nauseous and light headed. I knew it was the lack of food. I always feel extremely sick if I don't eat. It's like I have a mild hypoglycemia. I decided to clean up my laptop and a few other things, then go to bed. While trying to bend over to pick things up or walk around/over things I ended up being very off balance. My boyfriend told me to leave everything and let him get it, then escorted me to bed.

Honestly I'm surprised he hasn't tried to force any food down my throat. I'm grateful too though. I just don't want it.. Thinking about eating anything holds no interest for me. I'm even not as sick as I normally would get from lack of food. He probably doesn't realize it's been this long.

Anyway, my questions are:
How can I recover my appetite if it doesn't come back on it's own? What might have caused this? Has this happened to anyone else? Can anyone suggest something light and easy to digest that I might be able to make myself eat?


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## TheoBobTing (Jul 8, 2010)

Are you depressed? Whenever I feel really ****ty I hardly eat anything.

Maybe you should get nutrients from a liquid source? Maybe a protein+carb weightlifting type drink? Maybe get a vitamin/mineral supplement too.


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## Addler (Apr 28, 2011)

I only experience what you're describing for short periods of time, usually no longer than a day, and then my belly hurts too much for my disinterest to cancel out, and I start eating again, even though I don't really want to.

I agree with the other poster: try something liquid like juice or a protein shake or milkshake or something. It's usually much easier to make oneself drink than eat.


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## PickleNose (Jul 11, 2009)

I can't really say I've ever had this problem when I wasn't physically sick. I have the opposite problem (Which I don't mind having at all). There's rarely a time when I couldn't eat something. 

Maybe it's some kind of anxiety or something. Do you worry about your weight a lot? Maybe the anxiety of gaining weight kills your appetite or something?


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## Moselle (Aug 2, 2011)

I'm still not interested in food. :/ I thought I would feel horrible by now and have to eat, but I don't even really feel hungry. I just got back from a five hour shift.



TheoBobTing said:


> Are you depressed? Whenever I feel really ****ty I hardly eat anything.


I've been depressed on and off for the past month or more worse than usual. Besides that I've been suffering from some sort of depression for years. I've had loss of appetite before, but it was more like I would only eat a full meal once a day and a snack around lunch time.



PickleNose said:


> Maybe it's some kind of anxiety or something. Do you worry about your weight a lot? Maybe the anxiety of gaining weight kills your appetite or something?


I'm dissatisfied with my current weight, but I don't think it's something I really worry about. At most I am 20-25 pounds overweight. Maybe I'm more worried than I realize and that's whats killing my appetite.


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## proximo20 (Nov 25, 2006)

Check if something that you are eating, drinking or taking as a supplement or medication has appetite suppressant effects.


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## Cashew (May 30, 2010)

Do you feel sick at all when you force yourself to eat? If not, maybe you should set up a schedule with an alarm at normal food times like 11 for lunch and 6 for dinner, just as a reminder that it's time to eat, since you don't feel the need. and buy microwavable things that require almost no work to make, like those lean meals.

I don't feel hungry most of the time, and usually forcing it makes me feel kinda nauseous.. so if you feel that way too, maybe try lighter foods like soup/crackers. Especially the microwavable kind. Microwaving is just so easy!

As for what caused it... are you on medication or anything?


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## Moselle (Aug 2, 2011)

piscesvixen said:


> I've heard that nutritional deficiencies can result in poor appetite, so maybe try taking some nutritional supplements? I think Zinc enhances the taste of food.


Maybe that's it. I have a horrible diet. I just moved out on my own and money is really tight. I've been just buying what I can afford rather than what's good for me. I'll have to look more into this zinc thing. It's always been a favorite element of mine because it's so versatile. I actually usually go by Zinc online and have for so long I often respond to it better than my own name.



Siringo said:


> Do you feel sick at all when you force yourself to eat? If not, maybe you should set up a schedule with an alarm at normal food times like 11 for lunch and 6 for dinner, just as a reminder that it's time to eat, since you don't feel the need. and buy microwavable things that require almost no work to make, like those lean meals.
> 
> I don't feel hungry most of the time, and usually forcing it makes me feel kinda nauseous.. so if you feel that way too, maybe try lighter foods like soup/crackers. Especially the microwavable kind. Microwaving is just so easy!
> 
> As for what caused it... are you on medication or anything?


I forced down a tortilla with melted cheese last night and thought I was going to throw it back up. I had been shaking (I'm assuming from low blood sugar or something like that) so I decided to toss some cheese in a tortilla and microwave it. After I ate the shaking worsened and then stopped a few minutes later. It kind of helped though. I was able to eat a chicken sandwich after that.

I like the alarm idea. I wouldn't have thought of that.

I'm supposed to be on allergy meds (been taking them since I was little), but I haven't been taking them consistently. I never remember to take them for more than a week straight. >.> They shouldn't have affected my appetite though.


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## velocicaur (Aug 8, 2009)

Boost/Ensure PLUS drinks were recommended to me by my psychiatrist as a way for "easy" calories/a way to get extra calories.

They are little 8oz "shakes" that are full of vitamins and ~330 calories a pop. They come in a few flavors, they taste pretty good considering - I found chocolate to be the safest. Don't except a hershey's bar, but they taste good enough to suck down.

They are fairly expensive though, ~7 dollars for 6 of them. But I keep them around for days that I'm not feeling well.

Anything with peanut butter. Peanut butter is 200 calories for 2 tablespoons. I basically live on peanut butter. I slab a pile of it onto a toasted bagel and that's 600 calories right there.

Ice cream... not the fat free/low sugar stuff. The "real" ice cream. The full fat haagen daz, ben and jerries, etc. stuff. ~250-300 calories for a half of cup... a few scoops and you're looking at 600 calories easy.


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## zta (Jul 5, 2008)

I was like this on-and-off for so many years when I ate the standard American diet. Nothing sounded good. My diet is completely different now and I no longer have that feeling of not wanting to eat. I'm a high raw vegan now btw. In hindsight I can see why I didn't want to eat. It was because I didn't like the standard American diet but I used to think that was the healthy way to eat. So I would force myself to eat what's considered "normal" food in our culture. It didn't make me feel good though and I didn't feel good eating it.


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## proximo20 (Nov 25, 2006)

Fish oil also increases appetite. 

You can also have your blood sugar checked. If you have high blood sugar, although you are not eating much, you wont feel hungry.


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## Classified (Dec 7, 2004)

Have you been watching too many documentaries about where our food comes from? When I go into the grocery store, I remember all the crap they do to the 'food' in order to make it easy to grow and make more money.

As for your dietary needs, the human body can live on low amounts of food. Just make sure you are taking a multi-vitamin and eating some basic fruits and veggies. Make sure you are getting enough water as well. When the temperatures are hot, I cut back on how much food I eat as well.


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## aw1993 (Aug 8, 2011)

I've had that when I've been really stressed. it usually lasts for just a day or two and then once the stress alleviates a little I get my appetite back


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## PickleNose (Jul 11, 2009)

I was going to say maybe you could try having a drink to calm yourself but then I saw that you're 19 and you live in the US so that isn't an option. I find that when I'm really relaxed, I get even hungrier than usual.

Tea, believe it or not, is a relaxing beverage. It can even be almost intoxicating at times. Why not try having a couple of cups and see if it relaxes you and helps you get in the mood to eat?

Edit - I know this post seems dismissive and like I'm not giving you serious advice but if you haven't tried it, why not give it a try? Tea is one of the few things in life I really enjoy and find some refuge in.


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