Not eating?

[Spaghettiwithtomatoketchup]

NC. I’ve not been able to eat very much recently because of an upset stomach. I’ve had less than 1000 calories over the last week because of ongoing cramps and diarrhoea and eating makes it a lot worse. I’m not on a diet or starving myself but i just don’t feel hungry at all and don’t have an appetite.

I’ve never avoided eating for this long and I expected to be unwell but apart from the separate cramps and diarrhoea I’m not unwell at all from not eating. I don’t have a headache from it and I’m still drinking water. For the last 2 days I’ve only drank water- I was trying to eat some snacks before that but it was making the cramps and diarrhoea a lot worse so I don’t have an appetite for anything anymore.

even when I do eat I get even worse diarrhoea so nothing is really staying in anyway.

like I said, I feel fine and I actually thought not eating for this long would make me feel unwell but I don’t feel lightheaded or anything (not from not eating, anyway). But is there anything I should be taking in the absense of food? I’ve tried taking diarolyte but it and everything else is making my upset stomach worse, including water but obviously I’m not going to go without that. If I should be taking a vitamin or something for not eating this long then I’ll take it, but it’s only been a week of this so i wasn’t sure if that was necessary and I was fine without it? Like I said, I don’t feel lightheaded or headachey at all. So should I be getting a vitamin or something from the chemist or am I fine without it? The last thing I want to do is end up making myself feel more unwell from not being able to eat. I presume things like salt and iron etc will be ok because I’ve already had salt and iron in my body from before this all started last week?

the only one thing I’ve noticed since not eating is I can feel my heart beating very strongly. It doesn’t feel bad or sore but I’m just very aware of it beating very strongly (which I presumed was a good thing)

any advice would be appreciated x

You need to eat. You need to find something that doesn’t upset your stomach.
And if this has been going on for a week you need to ring the GP tomorrow.

Please see a doctor ASAP. It’s not normal to have an upset stomach for this long. How long do you think you can go on not eating?

We’re you underweight in the first place? Any eating disorders prior to this?

You need to give a stool sample
Sounds parasitic to me

no eating disorders and a normal weight. I usually eat loads!

it’s not that I’m starving myself completely, and I’ve tried to eat small bites at a time of bland food like dry toast and rice and banana and stuff like that but it’s making the cramps and diarrhoea so much worse. I’m not hungry and I dont feel like food but i do want to eat, it just makes the upset tummy so much worse!

In that case
GP
stool sample
probably antibiotics
sorted

You need to see a doctor
Maybe go on a drip in hospital
Test for cause

I am baffled why if you’re so very concerned you haven’t been to your Gp before now?

I personally don't think you need to worry just yet. DD was poorly a few weeks ago with the same symptoms as you. Didn't eat properly for over 2 weeks and doc diagnosed gastroenteritis. She just had water regularly and dry biscuits etc. I would give it a few more days. The doc recommended really tiny sips of water regularly in order to keep hydrated.

Hope you feel better soon

I once had this for 3 weeks. 1st GP told me not to eat anything just keep fluids going in. After 2 weeks I was getting very worried so rang and spoke to a different GP. I was told to eat light food like soup and scrambled eggs. Nothing heavy or spicy.
I will say though that a few months later my hair started to fall out and a new GP (I'd moved house by then) put it down to nutrient depletion so I would recommend taking a good multi vitamin.

What @tomatoandherbs said! My friend had exactly the same symptoms as you - every time she ate, she was ill. Turned out it was a parasite she had picked up on a trip to India. Antibiotics zapped it. I'm no doctor, but this doesn't sound viral or like food poisoning to me.

When I had similar to you what worked for me was really really flavoured ice lollies. It got the need for food back iyswim.
Plus it gets some nutrition in.
My favourites were the Rowntree fruits ones, lemonade ones and the really strong orange ones, think they might be del monte?
But definitely second doctors, last time I had gastro I ended up in hospital on a drip because I hadn't had any actual nutrients for ages and my body was running out.

I’m not very concerned, I was just a bit unsure if I should be taking any vitamins or anything until this passes! I’ve never been in this situation before so didn’t know if it was fine with mostly just water for a week but obviously I didn’t want to make myself more unwell from not eatting because of the upset stomach. I had a normal diet before this so I wasn’t sure if that was enough to keep me going through this or if there was anything else I should take during this to try and help until the upset stomach stops! Yeah I’ll go to the GP if it’s still going on when they reopen, I think they’re closed today because of the bank holiday Monday though so I’ll see how things are when they reopen

Or as per pp it could be a parasite.
My mate got one from India, she had very similar symptoms to you as well thinking about it.
Been anywhere recently?

Tiny tiny regular sips of water/ diarolyte.
I'd call 111 if it doesn't stop in a few days though.

A week is a long time to be suffering from a tummy upset. I would contact my GP if still unwell tomorrow. On another note, I find it strange that you refer to the amount of food you’ve eaten in calorie form. Are you sure you don’t/have never suffered with an ED? I mean it’s not even helpful in this context because you could be eating a 1000 calories worth of ice cream per day, which would obviously not help with your cramps and diarrhoea.

Stomach bugs (bacteria and viruses) tend to be over in 2 or 3 days, sometimes your stomach can be a bit sensitive afterwards but not to this extent. As others have said you need to give a stool sample and go to the doc, you probably need antibiotics

I definitely don’t! I just used calories because I thought it would be easier to put a number on it rather than saying small bites every so often, I thought a number would be a better explanation. I haven’t counted calories though it’s just a rough guess. I don’t even know how many I typically eat, I just eat whenever I’m hungry!