Struggling with appetite and worrying about health.

Bella77007

I am female, 5 ft 1, 98.8 pounds at the moment.

Over the past few months there has been a lot of stress in my life, my mum died and I have had a huge relapse in my panic disorder, I am having therapy but it's early days.

Initially after mum's passing I comfort ate but now it's all caught up on me and with a very low mood I am struggling to eat much.

I am happy to remain at my current weight so I plugged the figures into MFP and set it to sedentary since I am not well at the moment and struggling to be active, it gave me 1330 calories per day, so far so good.

I started logging again and to be honest I am currently struggling to hit 1100, some days it's less, I know I need to try to bulk that out and will try but my main concern is that I have developed an intense fear of passing out which is worse in the mornings.

I have little appetite for breakfast, in fact I don't usually bother with it and have never had any ill effects but now that my intake is so low I worry I might pass out if I don't have it.

This morning I forced a small apple and a cup of tea down but I was so terrified of passing out that I spent the whole time having a huge panic attack whilst traveling in the car and doing the grocery shop.

This fear could be completely unfounded but it's really impacting my anxiety just thinking about it.

I am struggling badly with the panic disorder and really don't need another fear to add to the ones I already have, I feel dizzy and shake a lot but to be honest anxiety does that so it's hard to tell if it's my nerves or lack of breakfast.

So my question is what or how much does a woman of my size and activity level need to eat in the morning to prevent any kind of passing out or fainting episodes?

GaleHawkins

Do you have a meter so you can check your blood glucose level when you feel this way? They are relative inexpensive.

Bella77007

No I don't have one of those but I will look into buying one, thank you for the suggestion

PennWalker

I just want to say I'm sorry your mother died and send my condolences. This must be a very hard time for you right now. Many years ago, I suffered a grief period and lost a lot of weight from not eating. I just had no appetite. It helped me to eat ice cream, which isn't the healthiest food but easy to eat and has calories. Premade shakes might also help. There are a lot on the market. I keep some around for emergencies when I am too busy to meal prep. Atkins makes one with 15 G of protein and 1 G sugar that tastes better than most -- all I have to do is drink it. I hope these two options give you some ideas.

chocolate_owl

So sorry you're going through this

I'd look into things you can consume without needing much of an appetite. Protein shakes or juice you can sip on, for example.

If it helps your anxiety, I'm 5'5" and was anorexic once upon a time. I was eating under 800 calories most days, skipping breakfast, trying to skip lunch, and only eating dinner because it was in front of my family. I never passed out. The only time I've ever fainted was waiting for 2 hours in Texas summer heat to get into an amusement park. In my (non-professional, limited to my personal experience, take with a grain of salt) opinion, I don't think you're in any real danger, but you should definitely try to eat more regardless.

tcunbeliever

I find that if I am feeling woozy eating something with fat in it will help me the most - and I also don't have a breakfast appetite, so I opt for a teaspoon of coconut oil or some cream in my coffee because I am a coffee girl!

You could also try eating something small like a spoonful of peanut butter or half a dozen nuts or a slice of cheese - it shouldn't take much to get rid of that feeling.

vingogly

Easiest way is to eat something small and calorie rich as others have said: nut butters, nuts, cheese, olives, avocados, butter on a small piece of bread.

Since you struggle with appetite, you might plan out your day's calories, and set a timer to the next time to eat. When the timer goes off, eat the next thing on the list.

I'd also suggest discussing your struggles with this with your therapist. You might find some o the suggestions here helpful:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Panic-disorder/Pages/self help.aspx

Ploofs

I've been dealing with stress and a mild concussion for over a month now. My appetite is just not here... and I don't like the idea of force feeding myself . In the beginning there were times that I became light-headed so I would always keep small snacks with me (my go-to are crackers).

This may not apply to you, but I find that I try to eat more when I have others around me (friends, co-workers, etc). I may not be hungry but I don't like it when others worry about me. I've also started drinking a lot of my calories. I'm 100% sure I'm not meeting my macros and I'm not sure if this is the best way to approach the situation but this is what helps me at least add on a chunk of calories I wouldn't have touched otherwise.