Hello everyone. I am “used to be” a healthy young man i am 22 years old married with 2 boys.
I have been having trouble for the past month or so with dificulty swollowing foods i literaly lived on liquids for few weeks. I have been to the doctors he has prescribed me anti depressants and told me to speak to someone. I have also had the camera down my throat which came out positive that theres nothing there and thats all in my head. I used to be 14stones now currently 12 (79kg) i have lost rapid weight at a rapid pase. I am lacking in my foods i do not eat like i used to anymore now it varies to 1-2 meals a day if im lucky and which i do not finish it all. I have a fear of chocking when i eat and i rush with my food and grt very nurvous i cant socialise like i used to anymore. I have a problem with always searching up my conditions and it could be with even a slight pain in my wrist. I dont knw whats wrong with me every one says its anxiety i have good days but most days i feel down in the dumps with noone to speak to because i dont even know myself whats troubling me i just feel ill and that the doctors are missing something. I lost my father 2 days after my wedding from bowel cancer which i did not get a chance to moarn over as i was newly married could it be that its getting to me now? I just want to go back to being normal and healthy. People make small comments sayig they cannot recognise me nomore because i used to be this big man now im half my size. I am 6ft2 with a bmi of 25.6 atm which is coming up very healthy and before i was iver weight but i cant get iver the fact i lost that much weight within 2 months!! The main thing thats worrieng me even more is the fact that i feel as thiugh i am severly ill and i do not want to die at my age. Has anyone else had what i have? I constantly want re-assurance from people and tend to ask them quiet fruequantly if i look healthy. Somedays i try to ignore it and move on and feel very good but other days i feel so s**t and cant get over it. Ive had stress and depression before but it was never this bad i just want to snap out of it because its making me and the people around me tired im 22 years old i know im healthy but its just getting the better of me. Any tips on what to do and how to over come all these fears? Thank you in advance if anyone would like to email me privately. Thank you ever so much.
Moderator comment: I have removed the email address as we do not publish these in the forums. If users wish to exchange contact details please use the Private Message service.
Hello mate.
I understand your concerns and I thought you might want to hear thoughts on it from a very similar perspective. I'm 27, I've suffered recurrent anxiety for about 10 years and when I was you're age it was a bit of a limbo period for me. In good times, I'm a 5 foot 11 mountain of muscle and very athletic who eats about 4k calories per day. In bad times I pretty much lose all of it, and look more like golum from Lord of the rings, surviving barely on forced rounds of toast. In my most recent episode I resorted to using mass gainer as I simply couldn't tolerate food for about 1 week.
Firstly you can't force your way out of anxiety. Improvements will come but they will be incremental and the challenges will be many. You've got to find a regime that works for you right now. For example if large meals just aren't being tolerated, aim to settle for 3 small portions per day. Force nothing, and build on it as you're able. The weight loss is worrying, but this is where you are now.
I've been pretty unwell for about 6 weeks now. At the beginning I also lost a lot of weight and that was when I was using the mass gainers. Now I'm managing about 2-3 meals, a snack and a few lattes everyday which is maintaining me where I am. I started exercising again and people are now saying i look 'cut'. I say I wouldn't recommend my regime.
It sounds like you did exactly what I did and basically ignore and bury your grief. I imagine you've got a lot of responsibility in life also and this builds up in your body if it not released. If you suffer anxiety you've got to go easy on yourself and allow yourself to feel the fear, loss and pain. Ive experienced difficulty swallowing in the past. In fact i dont think theres a symptom i havent experienced. In essence you've gotta fall apart and rebuild again, and accept that recovery is a time game. it doesn't get better through force. And I know how difficult it must be with your young family. I hope your wife is supportive.
Al
Hi there, I'm so sorry to read about your suffering, and you certainly are. As I was reading through your post, I could feel your desperation and pain. The tension was almost tangible! When you wrote about how you are not eating, I was thinking "there has to be a reason". And then you said it! You are afraid of choking. You had tests, it nothing physically. You can maybe now accept that there is nothing physically, internally wrong, right? This is a psychological block, or problem that's causing this. And this is a serious issue as you have already lost a lot of weight. You rush your food and swallow quickly. You don't enjoy it. You eat because you feel you have to. In order to survive. You eat to live when maybe before all this, you lived to eat! You poor thing. I really do feel for you. You understandably just want answers, cut feel confusion. Go back to your doctor as I fear the longer you leave this, it could get harder to deal with and maybe worse. I think some sort of counselling would benefit you greatly. Ask your doctor about it. You are not and no one expects you to be superman. You can't always be strong because you are human! Make a plan eg doctors appointment. Then see, you can be strong because you are taking control. I think it could well be related to unresolved issues. Losing your dad and newly married, total opposite ends of the spectrum. That is such a tough situation to go through. I suspect there is a lot of suppression and unresolved issues there that's why talking to a professional and working through it will help. Keep me posted honey. Donna xxx
Hello, i had a similar situation as you. Im 23 years old and last year i was a full time student in college and was going through a lot of stress due to school and my grandfathers death from prostate cancer.
He passed away in july amd everythinh hit me 3 months after. Like you i woke up feeling like a i couldnt breathe and also lost weight quick 15 pounds in less than a month. Had a scope down my throat and said everything was fine.
What are your symtpoms? Mine were:
Tightness in chest, feels like someone is sitting on me.
Feeling weak
Nausea
Diarrhrea
Headaches
Shortness of breath
Depersonalization
Irrability
Insomia