Why can't I figure out what I want to eat?

April 22, 2008 9:12 AM

I'm hungry, but nothing sounds good. Actually, most things sound gross and vaguely nausea-inducing. This has been going on for at least a month. What's wrong?

For the last month or so, I seem to have lost all enjoyment of/desire for food. I still feel physical hunger, so I still eat. But when I try to think "what do I want" or "what am I hungry for" nothing sounds good, and most things register as vaguely gross.

Case in point: It's three minutes to noon right now, I didn't have any breakfast (nothing sounded good) and my stomach is telling me that I am hungry. I'm trying to figure out what to get for lunch, but every single thing that I think of either a) does not excite me, or b) makes my stomach lurch a little bit.

Now, folks, I'm hardly anorexic. In fact, I could stand to lose a few. I have, in the past, been very interested in cooking and eating. If this is some kind of psychological anti-food eating disorder thing, it's brand new. I don't hate my body (any more than the average woman probably does) and I don't feel strong or virtuous or in-control or any of those other pro-ana things about not eating. I *want* to eat ... I'm hungry! But everything I can imagine eating right now just sounds like something that would make me sick.

This has been going on at nearly every meal for about a month now. I end up eating random stuff like yogurt/granola or baked beans because they sound possibly, remotely palatable and I have them in the house already, and there's nothing else I want badly enough to make the effort to go and get it.

But even those few things that don't make me want to gag are getting old.

I do intend to bring this up with a doctor, but I feel like the doctor's just going to say it's all in my head. Anybody else experience anything like this before? Did it have a medical origin or psychological or both? What did you do about it?

(Oh, and I am female but I am absolutely positive that I am not pregnant.)

posted by mccxxiii to health (26 comments total)

I've had this happen to me before, although not for as long as a month. For me it happens when I'm stressed or excited about something (relationship trouble, great new job, little professional successes etc.) Have you had any changes in your life that have preoccupied you in some way?
posted by minicloud at 9:16 AM on April 22

I read the whole thing thinking, "This is EXACTLY what happened to me during my pregnancies!" Then I saw the last line. If you are SURE about pregnancy, it could still be some kind of weird hormone shift. I would go to a Dr and have your levels checked. I remember how frustrating that feeling was. I was so glad when it ended! Good Luck!!
posted by pearlybob at 9:22 AM on April 22

This has been happening to me too, for a couple of months. I am also not pregnant, and I am fat. Last week my thyroid swelled up to the size of an egg, and I am having blood tests tomorrow (and have been freaking out in the meantime). So pearlybob may be onto something with the hormonal shift.
posted by kimdog at 9:31 AM on April 22

(IANAD)

This happened to me when I was about 13. Go to the doctor and have a blood test done; make sure that they test your B.U.N. (blood urea nitrogen) and creatinine in addition to a general panel of electrolytes and CBC. I had many other symptoms, but the one you describe was very potent. It was not a psychological problem.

Don't worry about your doctor thinking that it's in your head. Just be firm about wanting a blood test, and explain that thinking about food just makes you feel sick and that you're concerned that it's indicative of a larger health problem. If she refuses to write you an order for a simple blood test, you probably need a new doctor.

While you're there, make sure to talk to her about any other symptoms you might be having: are you drinking a lot of water? Are you feeling extremely tired? Anything else going on besides the new aversion to food?
posted by k8lin at 9:39 AM on April 22

I got like this when I was horribly stressed and depressed (hello, dissertation!). It went away when that got sorted out, which took a while because I found out a few times that I couldn't reliably get myself in to the university; I'd be walking down the road and find myself shaking and about to throw up. In the short term, that stopped once I turned around and walked home again; in the long term, not so much. If you think you may have some similarly doom-laden psychological issue, it's probably worth doing something about it now, today, because there are very, very few things it is worth making yourself sick over, and work/study/any other kind of paperwork (debt? or, on looking at your previous comments, may be not) should never be one of them.
posted by Lebannen at 9:55 AM on April 22

Maybe it is in your head and a conversation with someone about depression and other issues in your life might be in order?
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 9:56 AM on April 22

I have had this. (I have also had an eating disorder, which is indeed an entirely different beast.) It was a side effect of a medication I started taking. It doesn't sound like you've recently started on any new medication, but if you have that might be why. Anyway, I definitely think it's something a doctor can and will help with.

What might help in the meantime is carrying innocuous, portable foods with you - graham crackers, granola bars, anything that you aren't grossed out by that can stay in your bag indefinitely. When I lost my appetite, the only thing that would reliably get me to eat was the threat of passing out otherwise. Having something immediately accessible, that I didn't have to think about, helped me a lot.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:01 AM on April 22

I've had this, and was neither anorexic (could stand to lose a few, in fact) nor pregnant - I don't know if there were any underlying health issues, but it was at a time when I was very stressed about relationship issues (pining over someone I couldn't have). In any case, it went on for a couple of months, I didn't see a doctor, got somewhat thinner and then was fine.
posted by altolinguistic at 10:03 AM on April 22

Seconding k8lin on on the bloodwork... I had the exact same symptoms when my levels of various things were not quite what they were supposed to be. And they didn't have to be off by very much at all before I was in "everything makes me want to vomit" mode. IANAD, but if you're not depressed, pregnant, or anorexic, then my money's on this.

(If it is some kind of imbalance, your doc should help you figure out the underlying cause... for me, it was a side effect of a new med.)
posted by somanyamys at 10:13 AM on April 22

I have this situation probably about once a day. Waiting longer to eat just makes it worse because I become so hungry I'm almost nauseous. Maybe force yourself to eat a granola bar or something else plain when you first get up. That's what I do and it seems to help.
But also see a doctor since this is going on non-stop for months.
posted by fructose at 10:26 AM on April 22

When I'm really hungry, sometimes the thought of food makes me queasy. Its sort of backwards, I know, and I'm really not sure why my brain works that way. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Its this very low level sort of nausea, where you're hungry, and you want to eat, but the thought of food just makes your stomach lurch. If you're only eating a certain small number of foods, and not very much of them, you might still be hungry and the queasiness over food is carrying forward in a vicious cycle? A month seems like a really long time, though.

I would definately go to the doctor, and be firm that even if its 'in your head', its not normal for you, and needs to be looked after. You could have a low-level stomach flu, you could have a thyroid issue, you could be reacting badly to a form of stress or a medication or whatever, but a month of low-level queasiness and dislike of food isn't something that should continue.
posted by sandraregina at 10:29 AM on April 22

Been having any GI problems? Abnormal frequency of bowel movements (too few or too many)? Diarrhea?

If any of these are true, see a doctor, preferably a GI. Loss of appetite is a symptom of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (or IBD)
posted by chrisamiller at 10:37 AM on April 22

By the way, "anorexia" can also refer to loss of appetite as a symptom, as opposed to anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder. So if you're talking to your doctor or looking through some medical literature and the word shows up, don't worry. (It's confused me in the past.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:41 AM on April 22

I second the irritable bowel syndrome. When I get this way, I can't even look at a salad or vegetable without wanting to barf. I have to work my way into eating as if I were pregnant -- "Oh, let's nibble some crackers and see if my appetite comes back."
posted by lleachie at 10:57 AM on April 22

I often get this way when my blood sugar gets a little low. Oddly, the fix for me is to eat a little something to get some sugar in my system and then think about what I might want to eat. If I go ahead and eat enough for a meal, the hunger passes and I just end up vaguely dissatisfied.

At other times I can surely relate to those who bring up depression and stress.
posted by advicepig at 11:27 AM on April 22

This happens to me when I feel a little sick or when I have not gotten enough sleep. Do you feel generally tired?

Also it sounds like you are experiencing nausea. A lot of things cause that, not the least of which is an h.pylori infection. Perhaps its time to talk to a doctor. You should be feeling hungry once a day. I doubt a doctor will tell you its all in your head if its been going on this long and you arent a starving teenage girl.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:30 AM on April 22

I've got Crohn's disease and I get this a lot. So all of these people telling you to see a doctor are probably onto something.
posted by phax at 11:35 AM on April 22

I wouldn't bother to see a Dr unless there's some symptom that's causing you distress, either physically or mentally. It sounds more like you should see a nutritionist.

You may have some type of diet malaise. Overprocessed foods can have this effect - your system just cannot tell the difference anymore. It is probably an excellent time to create healthy habits that could extend your life. A nutritionist can help you find food that's interesting and healthful.

If you want to try something right now, stop by your nearest organic produce market and pick out three superfoods and make that your lunch. Perhaps choose them based on a predetermined color scheme. If you eat a superfoods raw lunch for a week, chances are, by dinner time, you'll know what you want.

Getting your body to crave real foods and overcoming your eating malaise may take some effort, so be mindful and diligent. No matter what, though, EAT! Even if you have to set an alarm.
posted by valentinepig at 11:41 AM on April 22

That sounds like what happened to me when I first went on birth control pills; . There were very few things I could stomach at all, which was totally unlike me. So I'm seconding something hormonal? Definitely a question for your doctor.
posted by SoftRain at 12:15 PM on April 22

I'm hypoglycemic (not underweight, overweight, or pregnant), and this happens to me fairly frequently when my blood sugar is low, and for weeks at a time when my stress is high. If you want a low-cost alternative to seeing the doctor right off, try a small snack that contains protein, simple carbs, and complex carbs (peanut butter crackers, for example), and wait 20-30 minutes or so to see if you start to feel a little better and more able to assess food options. If so, diet change (frequent small meals, carb management) may be the key.
posted by notashroom at 12:51 PM on April 22

I'm male, but I had identical symptoms to this when I was on a generic for Relafen (an NSAID — think super-Advil) for a back problem. Are you currently taking an NSAID regularly? They include ibuprofin (Motrin, Advil), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and even good old aspirin. Eventually my Dr. switched me to an NSAID with an anti-emetic, which worked wonderfully.
posted by Xoder at 3:26 PM on April 22

The only thing I can think of is that your hormones are wonky. My better-than-laypeople-but-still-limited-because-I'm-a-neuroscience-student knowledge of neurotransmitters says that this is the most likely case.

Wonky hormones can be a result of a lot of things, so I'd evaluate whether you've been depressed, whether you've had any major changes in activeness, or whether you've had any changes in eating habits, and then go to your physician about it if this has been going on for a month. If your problems are really weird, they will send you to an endocrinologist. Ockham's razor, horse-before-zebra and all .
posted by kldickson at 3:39 PM on April 22

Bug ikkyu2 about this. S/he's a full-fledged MD-bearing neurologist; s/he can tell you way more about this than I can.
posted by kldickson at 3:41 PM on April 22

Get a checkup. Try to think if you have *any* other symptoms since anorexia (which is the medical term for what you're describing, like Metroid Baby mentioned) is a symptom of lots of things.

FYI, when I had it for a few months it turned out I had Addison's Disease. A pretty serious, but easily treated, endocrine disorder.

Anorexia IS a recognized sign for lots of medical problems; if you're doctor dismisses it, find another doctor.
posted by INTPLibrarian at 5:35 PM on April 22

I get this every year when the weather gets hotter and more humid. I'm in Hong Kong and it was 32C with 90% humidity yesterday. Yuck! I hardly ate anything despite being hungry. I just can't eat in hot humid weather. I feel queasy even when I'm starving. Could this be your problem?

I find airconditioning and lots of water helps me feel better.
posted by heffalump at 7:17 PM on April 22

you're bored. find something new.
posted by swbarrett at 9:22 PM on April 22