Why am i not eating anymore
Causes, other symptoms, and treatment
Anyone can experience a loss of appetite and for many different reasons. People may have less of a desire to eat, lose interest in food, or feel nausea at the idea of eating.
Alongside a loss of appetite, a person may also experience fatigue and weight loss if they are not eating enough food to sustain their body.
In this article, we look at what causes a loss of appetite, what it means, complications, and how to treat it.
Digestive issues may lead to a person losing their appetite.
A loss of appetite can be physical or psychological. It is often temporary due to factors such as infections or digestive issues, in which case appetite will come back when a person has recovered.
Some people may also lose their appetite as a symptom of a long-term medical condition, such as in the late stages of serious illness, including cancer. This is part of a condition that doctors call cachexia.
The medical term for a complete loss of appetite over a more extended period of time is anorexia. This is different to the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which is a mental health issue.
Below, we look at the possible causes for a loss of appetite.
Common causes
Common viral or bacterial infections, such as flu or gastroenteritis, are often to blame for appetite loss. A person’s appetite usually returns when they start to recover.
Common short-term causes of feeling a loss of appetite include:
- colds
- flu
- respiratory infections
- bacteria or viral infections
- constipation
- an upset stomach
- digestive issues
- acid reflux
- food poisoning
- allergies
- food intolerances
- a stomach bug or gastroenteritis
- pregnancy
- hormonal imbalances
- stress
- medication side effects
- alcohol or drug use
People with pain in their mouths, such as sores, may also experience a loss of appetite if it becomes difficult to eat.
Medical conditions
Long-term medical conditions can cause a loss of appetite for a range of reasons that vary depending on the cause.
Loss of appetite can be related to lowered immune system function, feeling unwell, and having an upset stomach.
Medical conditions that can cause a loss of appetite include:
- digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease
- a hormonal condition known as Addison’s disease
- asthma
- diabetes
- chronic liver or kidney disease
- high calcium levels in the blood
- HIV and AIDS
- underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism
- overactive thyroid or hyperthyroidism
- COPD
- heart failure
- stomach or colon cancer
Side effect of medications
A loss of appetite is a common side effect of many medications, along with other digestive issues, such as constipation or diarrhea. This is common when medications pass through a person’s stomach and digestive tract.
Medications and treatments that often cause a loss of appetite include:
- sedatives
- some antibiotics
- immunotherapy
- chemotherapy
- radiation therapy to the stomach area
If people have recently undergone major surgery, they may experience a loss of appetite after the operation.
This feeling can be partly related to anesthesia drugs.
Using drugs recreationally, such as cocaine, cannabis, and amphetamines can also cause a loss of appetite.
Psychological causes
Psychological factors and mental health conditions can have a significant impact on a person’s appetite. These can include:
- depression
- anxiety
- panic attacks
- stress
- grief
- eating disorders, such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa
Age
A loss of appetite can also be more common in older adults. This can be due to increased use of medications and changes in the body as it ages. These changes can affect:
- the digestive system
- the hormones
- the sense of taste or smell
Some cancers
A loss of appetite or unexpected weight loss can sometimes be a symptom of certain cancers, such as pancreatic, ovarian, or stomach cancer.
Alongside a loss of appetite, people may experience the following symptoms:
- stomach pains
- heartburn
- feeling full quickly
- yellowing of the skin or eyes
- blood in their stools
If people experience any of these symptoms, they should see a doctor who will be able to find out the underlying cause.
A person should see a doctor if they are vomiting for more than a day and have a complete loss of appetite.
People with serious medical conditions may experience a loss of appetite that can be due to the illness itself or as a side effect of treatments, such as chemotherapy treatment for cancers.
Some people in the later stages of serious illnesses may experience cachexia.
Cachexia is the term for weight loss, muscle wastage, and general ill-health caused by chronic, life-limiting illnesses.
People with cachexia can get nutritional advice from their doctor who can help create a nutritional plan to make sure they get the necessary calories and nutrients.
A person with a serious illness should see their doctor if they have a complete loss of appetite for a day or more or any of the following:
- vomiting for a day or longer
- inability to keep liquids down
- pain when trying to eat
- irregular urination
A doctor may prescribe certain medications to help increase appetite and reduce other symptoms, for example, nausea.
If depression or anxiety are causing people to experience a loss of appetite, talking therapies and sometimes antidepressants can help.
If a doctor thinks a specific medication is a reason for a loss of appetite, they may be able to change the dosage or the medication.
People may find it easier to eat several smaller meals a day instead of three bigger ones.
Aim to make these meals high in calories and protein to make sure the body is getting plenty of nutrients and energy. People may also find having liquid meals, such as smoothies and protein drinks, easier to take.
Adding herbs, spices, or other flavorings to meals may also encourage people to eat more easily. Eating meals in relaxing or social settings may make eating more enjoyable.
People can also keep drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Gentle exercise, such as a short walk, may sometimes increase appetite as well.
A doctor will look at all the symptoms a person is experiencing, and use these to work out the possible cause of their loss of appetite.
A doctor may examine a person’s abdomen by feeling with their hand for any unusual bloating, lumps, or tenderness. This can help them find out if a gastrointestinal disorder is causing a loss of appetite.
A doctor may also carry out tests to help them work out the cause. Tests can include:
- blood tests
- an abdominal X-ray
- an endoscopy, where a camera enables doctors to look inside the body
It is important to find out the reason for a loss of appetite, as it can lead to complications without treatment.
A continued loss of appetite can cause weight loss and malnutrition. It is vital for people to find out the reason for their loss of appetite, as leaving it untreated can be serious.
People can talk to a doctor if they have a loss of appetite for a prolonged period. If they notice any unexpected or rapid weight loss, they should also see their doctor.
An individual should seek medical help if they notice any other symptoms alongside a loss of appetite, such as:
- stomach pain
- fever
- shortness of breath
- coughing
- a rapid or irregular heartbeat
People can experience a loss of appetite for a wide range of reasons.
Some of these are short-term, including colds, food poisoning, other infections, or the side effects of medication. Others are to do with long-term medical conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, or life-limiting illnesses.
Appetite loss often comes with feelings of fatigue or nausea. If a person is worried about a loss of appetite they should tell their doctor, also mentioning all other symptoms.
Treatments for appetite loss will depend on the cause. People may benefit from eating small, regular meals instead of three large meals, and liquid meals are often more palatable.
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Why Am I Not Hungry? Causes and Treatment
Hunger is the feeling that our bodies get when we’re running low on food and need to eat.
Under normal circumstances, hunger and appetite are regulated by a variety of mechanisms. In some cases, however, underlying causes can lead to abnormal appetite and hunger levels.
In this article, we’ll explore:
- what causes hunger
- why you may not feel hungry
- ways to increase your appetite
Hunger is the feeling or sensation of wanting to eat.
When the body is running low on fuel, feelings of hunger and an appetite for food increase.
Hunger levels are regulated by:
- an area of the brain called the hypothalamus
- a drop in your blood sugar level
- an empty stomach and intestines
- an increase in certain “hunger” hormones
The hypothalamus of the brain plays an important role in hunger and appetite. In this area of the brain, a population of neurons regulates function dealing with appetite and the feeling of hunger.
These neurons produce or work in conjunction with certain hormones, such as neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide (AgRP), and ghrelin, to stimulate appetite.
Hunger can feel like a gnawing, empty feeling in your stomach and an increase in appetite.
If you become hungry enough, you may even notice that your stomach makes a grumbling noise. For some people, hunger can also be accompanied by:
- weakness
- light-headedness
- disorientation
- irritability
There are many reasons why you might not feel very hungry, even when your body needs to eat.
When you experience anxiety, your fight-or-flight response kicks in and causes the central nervous system to release certain stress hormones. These stress hormones can slow down your digestion, hunger, and appetite.
People with anxiety disorders may also experience other long-term symptoms, such as nausea, that frequently interfere with normal feelings of hunger.
DepressionDepression can also lead to a long-term decrease in hunger and appetite signaling.
In one small research study, researchers investigated brain images of 16 participants with major depressive disorder who experienced appetite loss.
They found that in these participants, the area of the brain responsible for monitoring the physiological state of the body was less active than their healthy counterparts.
StressStress can cause physical symptoms, like nausea and indigestion, that interfere with your appetite or desire to eat.
In addition, research suggests that your appetite levels can be influenced differently based on the type of stress you experience.
For example, acute stress that activates the fight-or-flight response is more likely to lead to a sudden decrease in appetite and hunger.
IllnessCertain illnesses, like the common cold, seasonal flu, or a stomach virus, can cause a decrease in hunger levels.
Respiratory illnesses, in particular, can block your sense of smell and taste, which can make food seem unappetizing.
In addition, both the seasonal flu and stomach viruses can cause nausea, which tends to decrease your appetite.
PregnancyPregnancy can lead to a decrease in hunger, a loss of appetite, and possibly even food aversions.
Certain pregnancy symptoms, like nausea and heartburn, can make it difficult to sense true hunger levels. In addition, aversions to certain foods can have a negative effect on appetite and hunger.
There are a handful of underlying health conditions that can cause you to feel less hungry. Some conditions like hypothyroidism cause the body’s metabolism to slow down, which can lead to a decrease in hunger.
Other conditions that may cause a decrease in appetite include:
- kidney disease
- liver disease
- heart failure
- certain cancers
Chronic pain
Chronic pain conditions that negatively affect your physical and mental health, like arthritis and fibromyalgia, can cause you to lose your appetite, as well.
This is also part of the reason why some people experience appetite loss during menstruation: The hormonal changes and pain can lead to a decreased appetite.
MedicationsSome medications can cause a loss of appetite as a side effect. These medications include:
- antibiotics
- antihypertensives
- diuretics
- sedatives
The decrease in hunger caused by these medications can be accompanied by other side effects that influence hunger levels, such as fatigue and nausea.
Some treatment procedures for certain diseases can also decrease your hunger levels.
One example of this is cancer treatments like radiation and chemotherapy, which are known to decrease appetite. Other procedures, such as peritoneal dialysis, have been shown to cause a loss of appetite as well.
AgeRoughly 15 to 30 percent of older people are estimated to experience age-related appetite decline. There are many reasons why hunger levels decrease with age, including:
- lower metabolism and energy needs
- lowered hormone response
- dampened senses of taste and smell
- reduced saliva production
- poor dental health
- acute and chronic illnesses
Mental health disorders, like anxiety and depression, can also affect appetite in older individuals.
In one cross-sectional study, researchers identified a link between appetite loss and poor cognitive performance in older people with major depression.
If you’ve been experiencing a loss of appetite and a decrease in hunger levels, here are some ways to stimulate your appetite.
- Make flavorful, delicious meals. If you’re having trouble sparking your appetite, cooking foods with herbs and spices can help you create flavorful meals you’ll enjoy looking forward to eating.
- Eat smaller meals with more calories. Instead of forcing yourself to eat huge meals, focus on eating smaller meals with more calories. For example, adding whole grains and heart-healthy fats to a meal can boost calories and keep you full for longer.
- Eat more of the foods you love. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your body when you have no appetite is to eat what you can in the moment. This may not always be a nutrient-dense meal, but not to worry. You can focus on those foods once your appetite returns.
- Focus on nutrient-dense foods. If possible, try to incorporate nutrient-dense foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, into your meals.
This will help ensure that you’re meeting your nutrient needs with the foods you do have an appetite to eat. - Learn to enjoy eating again. Eating is not just for fuel. Sometimes it’s also for enjoyment. When you learn how to enjoy eating again and build positive associations with the act of eating, this can help reignite your appetite for food.
- Set reminders to eat. With certain illnesses such as depression and anxiety, it can be easy to lose track of our basic needs. Setting a phone alarm for every few hours can help remind you that it’s time to eat a small snack or another meal.
If you notice that your lack of appetite is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should visit your doctor, as you may have an undiagnosed underlying condition:
- finding it difficult to swallow food
- not eating for long periods of time
- not being able to keep food down after eating
- any other symptoms that would indicate a more serious condition, such as pain when eating or food getting stuck in the throat
- unintentional weight loss
In most cases, your doctor will order some tests to determine if there’s an underlying cause for your lack of appetite.
If there is, your appetite will likely come back over time as you undertake a treatment plan for the underlying condition.
A lack of appetite and a decrease in hunger levels can be caused by a variety of physical or mental factors.
Mental health conditions, like anxiety, depression, and stress, can all have a negative effect on hunger levels.
Other physical conditions, such as pregnancy, hypothyroidism, and more, can also cause a decrease in appetite.
Sometimes even the medications and treatment procedures for certain health conditions can make you lose your appetite.
There are steps you can take to increase your appetite again, including eating smaller meals, cooking foods you enjoy, and setting meal reminders.
If none of these small changes help to improve your appetite or you notice other concerning symptoms, it’s time to visit a doctor to determine if something else is going on.
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Why you don’t want to eat and what to do about it
March 4 Likbez Health
You may need to stay cool for a couple of hours.
Why I don't want to eat
Loss of appetite is not a diagnosis. But this can be a sign of serious health problems or just a misunderstanding. Here are a few common factors that can affect appetite.
1. Age
Appetite often decreases with age. Perhaps this is due to the fact that with age, the metabolism slows down and people simply need fewer calories than in their youth.
But other reasons are not excluded. Scientists suspect that the elderly may not produce enough ghrelin, a hormone responsible for appetite.
Or the work of the sense organs is changing, and people do not get the pleasure from food that in their youth (and if so, why eat?).
Research is still ongoing. But it is unambiguously established: the older we get, the less we eat.
2. High physical or mental stress
If you feel like a squirrel in a wheel all day long, hurry somewhere, worry about something, and in the evening you fall exhausted from your feet, you should not be surprised at a decrease in appetite.
When you are extremely exhausted, the body is forced to choose what to spend energy on: running around or energy-intensive digestion. If you can’t get out of business, the brain reduces the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. You just don't want to eat.
3. Pregnancy in women
Many expectant mothers face nausea and loss of appetite. Most often this happens in the first trimester.
Kesha Gaither
MD, obstetrician-gynecologist, in a comment to Parents.
Approximately one in two pregnant women in the United States experiences periods of aversion to some familiar food.
The exact cause of decreased appetite during pregnancy is not known. But experts suggest that the matter is in the hormonal restructuring of the body and increased sensitivity to tastes and smells. Perhaps the refusal of a favorite food is an evolutionary mechanism: in this way, the mother’s body tries to protect the fetus from substances that are potentially harmful to its development.
4. Weather
In the summer heat, you want to eat much less than on cold autumn or winter evenings. The fact is that food is part of the body's thermoregulation system. When we are cool, we tend to consume more calories in order to convert them into heat. In the heat, the body does not need additional heating, and therefore neglects food.
5. Mood
Someone's appetite disappears because of nervousness, someone, on the contrary, "jams" stress. Scientists have not yet discovered any common algorithm for all that connects emotions and eating behavior. But it was quite clearly established that the desire to eat largely depends on mood.
And for each person, this connection is individual.
6. Smoking
Nicotine has a side effect: it reduces the need for food.
7. SARS and other diseases in the acute phase
Leptin is a hormone that causes satiety. But at the same time, this substance takes an active part in the immune response to infection.
With a cold, flu, exacerbation of other infectious diseases, the level of leptin increases - this allows the body to repel a pathogenic attack. But once the hormone becomes more, there is a feeling of satiety. Therefore, sick people often refuse to eat.
8. Taking certain medications
Reduced appetite may be one of the side effects of antibiotics. But other drugs sometimes discourage the desire to eat. Painkillers based on codeine and morphine, as well as diuretics, for example, lead to such a reaction.
9. Psychiatric disorders
Loss of appetite can be caused by depression.
Another common mental disorder that is directly related to the reluctance to eat is anorexia nervosa.
So doctors call an eating disorder caused by a desperate fear of gaining weight.
10. Diseases of the digestive system
Changes in appetite may be one of the first symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease.
11. Viral hepatitis and other liver damage
One of the most important elements in the digestive system is the liver: it is here that blood enters with nutrients processed by the stomach and intestines. The body sorts the substances received, cleanses them of toxins and only then passes them into the general bloodstream. With viral hepatitis and other liver diseases, it ceases to cope with its functions.
In order not to overload the suffering liver and give it a chance to recover, the body reduces the production of hormones, enzymes and other substances responsible for the manifestation of appetite.
12. Cardiovascular diseases
Loss of appetite is one of the symptoms of chronic heart failure. In addition, reluctance to eat may be associated with a developing heart attack and heart defects.
13. Endocrine Disorders
If the thyroid gland produces less hormones than necessary (a condition called hypothyroidism), appetite is greatly reduced. However, the weight may increase.
14. Iron deficiency anemia
Loss of appetite along with weight loss, especially if all this is accompanied by fatigue, a feeling of lack of strength, is one of the most characteristic symptoms of iron deficiency in the body.
15. Cancer
Loss of appetite often accompanies oncological diseases such as:
- stomach cancer;
- pancreatic cancer;
- colon cancer;
- ovarian cancer.
Food aversion can also be a side effect of tumor treatment.
Is it necessary to restore appetite
On the one hand, reducing appetite is a convenient thing. Someone suffers on diets, and you reduce the caloric content of the diet by itself.
On the other hand, you should not rejoice at the lack of appetite.
At least because with a limited diet, you get fewer nutrients. And this can lead to hypovitaminosis (and even beriberi), a decrease in hemoglobin levels, anemia and more serious problems - with the liver and other internal organs, vision, joints, teeth.
What exactly will be the long-term consequences of a decrease in appetite depends on the reasons that caused such a condition. It's one thing if you don't feel like eating just because you're sad or too hot. And it is quite another if the loss of appetite is associated with damage to the liver, heart, and even more so cancer.
What to do if you don't feel like eating
First, take care of yourself, your well-being, and life circumstances. Perhaps your appetite has decreased for external reasons, for example, due to heat, fatigue, worries. In this case, the desire to eat will return as soon as stress factors disappear.
But if everything is calm in your life, and your appetite has disappeared, or if indifference to food lasts for weeks, try to see a therapist.
