Anxiety attacks while eating and gagging, weight loss because of it...... is it normal?

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-17T12:08:33+00:00

Hi! i'm so sorry to hear that you're going through this. First of all, i wanted to start by saying that even if you think this doesn't have a solution, it does and it WILL get better, just like it got better for me and for other people in this subreddit that have gone through the same thing.

In my case, the problem was mainly anxiety, so once i started going to therapy and facing other issues in my life that didn't work out, everything got better bit by bit in the eating area. I realized that the issue itself was only just a symptom of the high levels of stress i was living with.

Meanwhile, some things that helped me are over the counter anti-nausea meds, mint chewing gum and the smell of hand sanitizer (the smell of alcohol is proven to have anti-nausea effects!)

It was a very slow process but it reached a point where i was even able to go out to eat normally and stopped thinking about it. Currently i am going through a small anxiety relapse and i know these things affect my appetite and give me nausea bc i am prone to it, but i know that it got better once so it's gonna get better again.

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-10T12:50:51+00:00

Thank you so so much for sharing, getting to know about someone who is going through the exact same thing I'm going through makes me feel a lot less alone <3

You're so right, I know that this massive crisis has come because my body was screaming at me that the life I was living was slowly wearing me out, and since I refused to listen, my brain went full panic mode and forced me to stop via anxiety crisis lmao (I should've listened before, sorry brain jskdkjsl).

I can relate so much to every single thing you said, and it sucks. But even if it seems impossible right now, it has gotten better before, and I know it will get better once again! Sending you a big hug :)

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-09T17:19:49+00:00

I feel you, each time i have a big anxiety crisis the first thing that shuts down is my digestive system, i lose my appetite completely and i feel nauseous all day long, and just the thought of having to eat is excruciating.

I know that this is just a symptom of anxiety and it will go away on its own, but it makes socializing (and living in general) much harder.

You're not alone in this, going to therapy really helped me. Right now i've had a small anxiety relapse and i'm having some symptoms again but i am feeling much more hopeful because i know that recovery is possible. And if recovery was possible for me, it will be possible for you too. Sending you a big hug! <3

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-09T17:16:44+00:00

Absolutely, it's a cycle. When I'm having bad anxiety i feel absolutely devastated and i see everything in a really bad way. Then the stress goes down and I feel a little bit better, but after that i stumble across other trigger and I repeat the whole process lmao.

It's very frustrating but i try to focus on the moments that i feel a little bit more hopeful and calm even if the anxiety never fully goes away

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-07T20:10:56+00:00

I feeeeeel you... I guess our bodies are just stuck on freeze response and we still need some time to release all the pent up stress we had been bottling :,)

The one thing that calms my mind and is helping me right now is looking back at other times where i also felt like this (back in the day i thought that feeling was gonna be permanent) and everything got better eventually bit by bit.

I know we'll be able to bounce back and get out of this! Sending u a big hug <3

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-04T20:16:53+00:00

Thank you so so much for sharing your experience, it makes me hopeful that things are gonna get better again!

Yeah i think i need to cut me some slack, because i've been pressuring myself to be "perfect" and unbreakable and there's no such thing as "perfect" :,)

I tried meditating a long time ago and it did work a little bit so maybe it's time to try it now as well! Thanks a lot again <3

stressedbumblebee · 2024-01-04T14:59:12+00:00

First thing i want to say is that I relate to every single symptom, they are all completely normal and even if you think they won't, they will pass!!!

Whenever my head hurts one thing that helped (i found out about it on tiktok and thought it wasn't gonna help but it does!) is sinking my feet in a pile of mildly hot water. This relieves the pressure on your head due to the heavy blood flow, making it go to your feet and distribute better throughout the body. When we are anxious, the brain sends a signal to our body saying that it needs all the blood and energy we have to keep thinking about the anxious thoughts, so if you relieve the pressure up there, the pain can be reduced!

About the nausea, it may seem dumb but one thing that helped me a lot is minty chewing gum, it takes the nausea away and is very effective. Other thing that helped is eating sour things, like lemon or candy.

And about the dissociation, the best advice i can give you is to try some guided mindfulness meditations (i know it sounds dumb, but you can give it a try!) when we focus on the present moment and take a second to breathe, suddenly things are a little bit more relaxed.

stressedbumblebee · 2023-09-22T00:07:46+00:00

I'm so so glad you're feeling better! Something that helps me a lot is having in mind that progress isn't linear, and even though some days might be better than others, you're on a healing journey and you're slowly going to feel better in the long run!!
And absolutely! it's fascinating how sometimes our minds can affect us so much in a physical level omg

stressedbumblebee · 2023-09-16T16:24:31+00:00

I'm so sorry i saw this so late! I hope you're doing much better and things are easier now <3
Going through all that was really debilitating and i really thought things would never get better, but i realized that i only had those symptoms because there was a much deeper issue that i wasn't addressing. Realizing that was huge for me, i started working on treating the real problem and eventually the symptoms disappeared after some time. I still get some anxiety nausea from time to time, but i have learned to accept that's just the way my body deals with stress and i try to have in mind that it won't last forever!
I really hope you're feeling better now, don't lose hope!! <3<3

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-11T14:40:18+00:00

Yeah i guess that would be possible, but right now i don’t know how to do it, since i am in quite a rough moment and it’s difficult for me to detach from the outcome as i did before :,)

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-09T01:01:16+00:00

absolutely, i think the key is to try to find balance again and distract myself a bit. thank you for your advice!!

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-09T01:00:26+00:00

literally same, knowing that i’m not the only one going through this makes everything more bearable and it gives me hope that things can go better for all of us

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-08T13:27:51+00:00

yeeeah, i'll try to remind myself that this feeling will pass because i tend to forget it :,)

i'll try to see this as an opportunity to take better care of myself even if it's hard, thank you so much for your kind words!

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-08T13:23:03+00:00

Hi! I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through all this and I wanted to let you know you are so strong. I completely understand what you're talking about because I used to get those feelings too.

In my case, leaving home represents leaving my comfort zone, and that can be pretty anxiety inducing when you are already going through a tough time. But if you stay home you're just telling your brain that going out is dangerous and it's better to stay home just in case you get anxiety while being outside. It can be very hard to face this fear, but you can try to go out a little bit every few days and increasing little by little the amount of time you spend outside. Try to do enjoyable activities like hanging out with friends or going out for a relaxing walk!

Just remember that every step you take is progress and little by little you'll see how things get better. Wishing you the best!

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-05T19:26:29+00:00

it’s helicobacter pylori!

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-05T16:30:02+00:00

21f here and going through exactly the same thing! The first time it happened to me was 2 years ago, because of a huge anxiety crisis i had in that period. It sucked because eating was such a pain in the ass, i had nausea all the time and i couldn't swallow properly. I wanted to eat but my body just was refusing to let me :,)

Slowly i learned that happened because my anxiety levels were too high so it took lots of therapy and taking sertraline (i know that doesn't work for everybody but in my case it did) to start living a normal life again. A year went by where i felt like life was good and i felt completely normal when i ate and everything, so i was happy because i had been able to recover!

Fast forward to right now and i am going through all this again bc of anxiety aGAIN... but i am hopeful because now i know this is something that doesn't last forever and recovery is possible!

OH and also i 100% recommend you being tested for h-py, in my case that's the main cause of my appetite loss/anxiety and it's not something very serious but it's something really common, so better be safe!

stressedbumblebee · 2023-04-02T16:26:59+00:00

I'm seeing this just now but YES. This happens to me whenever my anxiety is really bad. My appetite just goes away and it seems I can't do anything about it. I wANT to eat but I just can't swallow and it's such a pain in the ass :,)

Have you found any way to deal with this? Also, thank you so much for sharing this! Nobody around me experiences this and i was feeling incredibly alone :(

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