hungry70 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hello good people at LS. I'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on regaining appetite after losing it during to a break-up (or other extremely emotional time, I guess). Well, it's a long story, but since I was told six days ago that she's with someone else, I've lost ALL appetite. I don't get hungry at all and can't even force myself to chew/swallow. I'm at a loss how to reactivate my appetite. I want to get stronger, not waste away. Any tips or stories or insights would be much appreciated. Thanks again. Link to post Share on other sites
oldguy Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I'm sorry for your pain Starving will actually make it worse as will lack of sleep. Your first priority is to eat and stay hydrated for your physical, mental & emotional well-being. Try to surround yourself with friend. You need a support group. There are stages of loss similar to those experienced when a love one dies, some say a little worse. I've heard 5 stages to 7 stages it really doesn't matter but you will need to experience all of them in no particular order or within no particular time frame. But get nutrition & get a support group of friends & family. Things will get much better than you can imagine right now, it just won't be right now. Best of luck to you. Link to post Share on other sites
shadowofman Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 No advice, but this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_D2GgtDLPs Link to post Share on other sites
tman666 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 You might just need to force yourself to eat something. Starving yourself isn't doing you any good at all. Get angry! What's the rolling over and letting yourself wither away business? Eat well and stay hydrated, but avoid alcohol and drugs... Use your anger in the gym as motivation. Link to post Share on other sites
shayla Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I lost 37 pounds in 3 months after my boyfriend put a ring on another woman's finger behind my back. I just could not eat. I'd take a bite, not be able to swallow it, and that was the end of the meal. Eventually my appetite came back. Right after their wedding. But then I had met someone else at that point, so that helped alot. But even so, before that I went to the gym every day, kicked the punching bag until I was too exhausted to cry over him, and started slowly eating again. In time, you will feel better and your appetite will come back. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) If you really haven't eaten in 6 days then you are probably in ketosis. Most likely you've lost at least 10 pounds but most of this is glycogan from your liver which will come back easily. If you're in ketosis then there is no glycogen left in your liver so your body will begin burning fat and muscle to stay alive. This is how diets such as Lighter Life, Cambridge and Atkins work, but in a controlled way. You are in it uncontrolled and that is quite dangerous, you are not getting nutrition and are in danger of blacking out or doing damage to your liver. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL, this is extremely dangerous while in ketosis, it can lead to death. Make sure you drink LOTS of water (at least 4 litres a day!) and you might want to take multivitamins if you can't eat. You can buy test strips from a pharmacy called Ketostix very cheaply (about £3 for 50) which will test if you're in ketosis, and how far you're in. To get out of ketosis you need to eat carbs. The amount you need will depend on your physiology, some people can be kicked out with 1 biscuit but others might need more, like a bowl of pasta. This will convert to glycogen after a few hours and as you are kicked out of ketosis your appetite will most likely return with a vengeance. Edited June 29, 2011 by PegNosePete Link to post Share on other sites
Author hungry70 Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Thanks for your replies. I've still can't force feed myself, but I went to the chemist and they said that there really isn't anything available that re-starts appetite. I was told to use Complan. It's a powdered nutrition drink. So I'm trying to drink these every few hours. PegNosePete - Thank you for your detailed, informative and quite scary post. I really needed a wake up call. I can't believe my own survival mechanism can be so readily over-ridden. shayla - Reading your post has inspired to go swimming today. I'm hoping some physical exercise will make me hungry again. Link to post Share on other sites
betterdeal Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Pete, will drinking sugar rich drinks be of any help? Link to post Share on other sites
Damia Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 You don't say in your post if you have any "extra" you can afford to loose. I didn't eat or ate very little for the first 2 weeks ,when I was traded for a younger model.After that I could only eat after midday as I felt nauseous until then. I ate very small meals so it wasn't such a mission to eat. I also ate fresh healthy food. I lost 15 kg in 8 weeks' For me this was the sliver lining in my large black cloud. 8 mths later and I have kept the weight off and feel great.Im sure this has helped with my healing. The positive comments I get tell me im in the right place for me. I did go to my Dr early on and he was not too worried so maybe a visit to yours may help if you are concerned Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Pete, will drinking sugar rich drinks be of any help? Well I'm not really an expert but I don't think so. Sugar will give a quick release of energy and then you'll come crashing down. It won't get converted into glycogen and you won't be kicked out of ketosis. That is why alcohol is so dangerous, it is burned up extremely fast, the body expects more and burns up everything it has, causing blackouts. The best thing is carbs - any kind will do, a biscuit, slice of bread, potato, cereal, pasta etc, or a supplement. My ex wife did the Cambridge diet (400 calories/day), that is where I picked up my knowledge. We researched it quite well before she did it, and yes I know a lot of people will probably be critical of VLCD's but it worked very well. The ketosis is controlled and it is quite safe IF you do it properly. But doing it in an uncontrolled way, not even gteting those 400 calories or nutrients or drinking enough water, is not a good idea. OP I would definitely get some Ketostix just to make sure, they are cheap. If you're in ketosis and still unable to eat then I would at least do some damage control: take a wide range multivitamin, calcium supplements and drink at least 4 litres of water a day (or even better milk). I'm not sure what Complan is but sounds like it's a good idea and certainly better than nothing, just make sure you're getting 100% RDA of everything. You may experience slight hair loss or thinning, even when you re-start eating, this is a normal side effect of ketosis so be ready for it - don't worry it won't all fall out, and it will come back! Link to post Share on other sites
Lecturer Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I'm very sorry to hear of your situation. I can imagine the severity of the emotional turmoil you're in. It's incredible what those emotions can do to us. Crazy levels of hormones are pumping through you, overriding other hormones (like ones that are hunger-inducing). Maybe try to find something to distract yourself from it all, and bring some snack food with you. The idea being that the distraction will cause you to be able to eat at some point, and then you can eat what you've got handy. I imagine that once you start eating, you will start re-creating an appetite, making it easier to eat more. Link to post Share on other sites
betterdeal Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Have a break - have a KitKat Link to post Share on other sites
MisUnderstanding Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Just like everyone said, drink and drink a lot. Also, vitamin B complex helps promoting appetite. Try drinking gatorade/powerade. And just go to a grocery store and stroll around. You will find something that you might be interested in eating. Healthy or not, cheap or expensive, at this point just buy it and eat it. Even if it's just a bite or two, do it. Slowly your appetite will come back. Link to post Share on other sites
D-Lish Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I lost 50lbs in the course of my divorce- it melted off so fast because I couldn't eat. I was emaciated at one point- and I began buying boost shakes. You can buy them with extra calories. Your appetite will come back eventually... Try Boost shakes in the meantime. Link to post Share on other sites
jenniferd Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 It looks like very interesting discussion here. Thanks all for your different views i got very nice information from here. Meltabs Link to post Share on other sites
shadowofman Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I'm pretty sure people smoke pot to get appetite back. Link to post Share on other sites
skydiveaddict Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Hello good people at LS. I'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on regaining appetite after losing it during to a break-up (or other extremely emotional time, I guess). Well, it's a long story, but since I was told six days ago that she's with someone else, I've lost ALL appetite. I don't get hungry at all and can't even force myself to chew/swallow. I'm at a loss how to reactivate my appetite. I want to get stronger, not waste away. Any tips or stories or insights would be much appreciated. Thanks again. I wouldn't worry about your appetite. I had the same thing happen to me. It will come back on it's own in time. People react to severe stress (like yours) in different ways. Having your girl ditch you for someone else is the worst feeling ever. Been there too. Six days isn't a long time. I didn't eat for weeks. Soon you will be able to swallow a protein drink, you will be ok. And then you will move on from there. Always be courageous. You will make it through. Link to post Share on other sites
thehead Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I'm pretty sure people smoke pot to get appetite back. That's what I was going to suggest. If you're in the United States, Ensure drinks can help give you some nutrition while you recover. Link to post Share on other sites
Author hungry70 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hello again. I'm grateful for all the replies in this thread. It means a lot to me that fellow human beings show caring like you do. Well, to update. I'm still not eating right, but managed to avoid any serious symptoms so far. I kept drinking the complan, added multivitamins, some fruit juice, and these last few days even the odd hamburger (real, sit-down meals are still off the menu though). It has been interesting to note that my appetite would return when ever I got news from her that she would meet me later 'for a drink'. In her company I would be ravenous. But the morning after, back to nil-by-mouth. By the way, I was thin to begin with. I feel like telling some of the story of how I got here, but that's probably for a different section of the forum. hhmm... Link to post Share on other sites
Trishi Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Hello again. I'm grateful for all the replies in this thread. It means a lot to me that fellow human beings show caring like you do. Well, to update. I'm still not eating right, but managed to avoid any serious symptoms so far. I kept drinking the complan, added multivitamins, some fruit juice, and these last few days even the odd hamburger (real, sit-down meals are still off the menu though). It has been interesting to note that my appetite would return when ever I got news from her that she would meet me later 'for a drink'. In her company I would be ravenous. But the morning after, back to nil-by-mouth. By the way, I was thin to begin with. I feel like telling some of the story of how I got here, but that's probably for a different section of the forum. hhmm... A good idea is to eat more "liquid" food (Not sure if there exists a more accurate english term for that). Anything like soup, yogurt, ect. I have had this problem for more than a year now, and I have found it more bearable to eat easy-to-eat food. If you can, anything that is rich on fat and/or protein is great as well, as that helps keep your weight in check. And I agree - This forum has some really awesome members Link to post Share on other sites
betterdeal Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hello again. I'm grateful for all the replies in this thread. It means a lot to me that fellow human beings show caring like you do. Well, to update. I'm still not eating right, but managed to avoid any serious symptoms so far. I kept drinking the complan, added multivitamins, some fruit juice, and these last few days even the odd hamburger (real, sit-down meals are still off the menu though). It has been interesting to note that my appetite would return when ever I got news from her that she would meet me later 'for a drink'. In her company I would be ravenous. But the morning after, back to nil-by-mouth. By the way, I was thin to begin with. I feel like telling some of the story of how I got here, but that's probably for a different section of the forum. hhmm... Have you shared how you got to this stage yet? Is there another thread about it? It can be good to talk about it. Link to post Share on other sites
D-Lish Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Keep drinking boost shakes. If you're not eating you'll faint in public and have to deal the with the embarrassing fact that when you faint- your body relaxes and most people fart during a faint:p Trust me, it's true:eek: I ate so little after my divorce- and I fainted a lot. I lost 50lbs from embracing the misery. Link to post Share on other sites
creighton0123 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nutrition wise, take multivitamin and get some form of juicer for veggie/fruit juice. I recently had a medical issue and have found that since Monday evening, I have only been able to eat the following: A few crackers, a baby carrot, two cubes of cheese, a small part of a bagel, half of a sandwich, a PB&J, and a banana. That is not that much for five days, but it is slowly coming back. I found that the key is to start off with bland foods, very little dairy or processed foods, and as much water as I care to drink. Link to post Share on other sites
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