Posted by CareBear04 on January 10, 2005, at 23:35:48
In reply to Should I be worried about her decreased appetite?, posted by Cairo on December 25, 2004, at 19:50:56
dear cairo,
i can speak from the other side-- the daughter side-- from my recent and current experiences.
there are a lot of things that can affect appetite-- stress and meds are big ones. when i started adderall, i had a decrease in appetite, but i made myself eat in between doses. when i switched to adderall xr, my appetite was obliterated because the dose lasts through mealtimes. i was busy with long days of classes and activities, so i had an increased need for energy and decreased intake. my body hung on to weight for a long time before my weight started falling, fast. i had an upper endoscopy done-- could be something to think about with your daughter. maybe she has a GI problem that is affecting her appetite or causing discomfort when she eats. the problem was that the scope punctured my throat, making it too painful to eat or drink. that's when i lost weight.
i was put on narcotics for the pain, and they messed with my mood so bad that i was suicidal within a week of starting them. i went into the hospital voluntarily, actually was in medicine first for lithium toxicity. i've seen dozens of doctors since first seeing a psychiatrist two years ago, some are the big-name experts, and others are the day to day drs i see that know me well. anorexia was never considered by any of the drs, but they fixated on it in the hospital. to make it worse, they never mentioned the word 'anorexia,' even though they were convinced i had it, so i couldn't talk it out with them, but they watched and recorded everything i put in my mouth. i didn't realize it, but that kind of monitoring turned me off from food even more. when i left the hospital and got away from that, i gained about four pounds in the first week. since then, i haven't been able to gain much weight. if i were living by myself, i think i could motivate myself to eat healthily and work towards weight gain. instead, i live with my parents right now, and the more my mom tries to force me to eat or nags and scolds, the less appetite i have. i would prefer her to be silent or to be silently encouraging by fixing foods that i like and not looking at me in accusing ways. she defended me while i was in the hospital and told the drs that i've never had eating-disordered behavior, but somehwere along the line, i think she started to believe in the anorexia. i would please be careful not to reinforce anorexic behavior by forcing your daughter into a corner where she won't eat just so she can feel in control and not pushed around or, for whatever reason, where eating becomes even harder. there are also things to think about like GI motility-- when you stop eating or eat only a little for an extended period, your GI tract slows down and food just sits in your stomach, and you can get constipated and really uncomfortable. foods that you used to be able to eat can make you nauseated or cause stomach cramps and pain. i used to live off of ice cream, but when i tried to eat it in the hospital and for weeks after, it was too rich and gave me the worst cramps. a soft diet can help, but protein and sodium are also important. if nausea is a problem, a good antiemetic can really help.i don't know if this has helped at all, but i think if i were you, i would keep an eye on your daughter's eating, but give her some space, maybe put her in touch with a professional or a friend who can talk to her about her eating whom she will listen to, and most of all, don't be overbearing and don't force food on her. if you're worried about medical problems, i'm sure her primary care doctor can help and if there are GI problems involved, he or she can refer her to a specialist.
good luck!
poster:CareBear04
thread:434145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20041128/msgs/440453.html