A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:I'm 32 and have 2 children. I split up with my partner on the 9th December. Was quite a bad break up and since then I just don't have any appetite what so ever.....I just push food around my plate and barely eat anything. Typical daily example is a piece of fruit for breakfast and a few mouthfulls of the evening meal that I cook. I've lost 14lb in weight and feel so depressed. I am already taking 20mg Fluoxetine (Prozac) which I was taking before the break up. I just have no desire for food and worry I've now got an eating disorder?
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reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2011): Hugs to you. I would recommend slowly going off the anti depressant and then take vitamins instead- fish oils and b12 are good for mood boosting, have a glass of wine at night, exercise early in the day, take nature's sleep at night to sleep. Drink Green tea. All of this will help your depression and hopefully your appetite will slowly come back and your mood will get better. Try eating comfort foods to gain back your weight if you're underweight now. Anti depressants are known for completely messing up your hormones and your body clock so if you can avoid them I would.
A
female
reader, muddle  +, writes (31 December 2011):
dont worry i also lost a stone when my bf chucked me, i lost my appetite but slowly it came back its normal just be kind to yourself
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A
female
reader, person12345  +, writes (31 December 2011):
 Everyone deals with depression differently. Some people overeat, some undereat. Neither is an eating disorder. An eating disorder has nothing to do with appetite and everything to do with self image. I second talking to your doctor about the Prozac and maybe switching to something else or depending on what you're taking it for switching to an as needed medication.
You have to give yourself time to grieve and mourn the loss of your relationship. You might want to talk to a therapist who can help. Many people say you should treat a break up like a death in the family and give yourself time and permission to mourn it.
You should try to force yourself to eat more and more each meal and supplement it with snacks. When you don't eat you become less tolerant of food so eating a normal amount feels uncomfortable or downright painful. If you don't eat you won't have any energy, which will make the depression feel even worse than it already does.
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A
female
reader, sarcy24 +, writes (31 December 2011):
 I am sorry to hear that this is happening to you and especially at this time of year. No, you do not have an eating disorder, instead you are depressed and upset. This also happened to me and I lost 2 stone in 3 months as all I was living off was tea. Shock and emotional upset takes away our appetite. What I would say is that you are going to have to force yourself to eat something because if you don't you will then become ill, more miserable and will be unable to take careof your children. I too have children so I had to carry on as well. My friend who was childless ended up in hospital from a bad break up and lost most of her hair due to lack of nutrition. Of you eat little and often you will begin to feel a bit brighter in yourself. My doctor told me it takes 3 months for each year you have been together to be able to think properly and cope with things after a break up. You must eat although you will not be at all hungry just to keep the normaility for your children. E-mail me if you want to talk further, xx
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A
male
reader, eddie85 +, writes (31 December 2011):
 I wouldn't call it an eating disorder. You are going through a very emotional time right now.
I remember when my girlfriend broke up with me, I easily lost 10 pounds. Food wasn't that interesting and I would spend hours walking around and I couldn't sleep.
The wounds are still fresh at this point and eventually you will heal and get better. Everybody gets over this pain at different rates. You don't explain the duration of your relationship, but it definitely sounds like it was very important to you. You are also experiencing this during the holidays, which only compounds the pain.
Give yourself some more time and do try to force yourself to eat. By not eating, you are compounding the pain and misery. Remember: be kind to yourself. You may also want to talk to your doctor who proscribed the Prozac to see if you can find someone to talk to.
Have a Happy New Year and please -- do something nice for yourself today.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2011): No you don't have an eating disorder. But you DO have depression, and one very common symptom of depression and anxiety is going extreme with food. Some people overeat and gain a ton of weight when depressed because food activates the pleasure centers in the brain and is a form of self medicating and provides temporary relief through mood altering. My husband, for example, gained 80 pounds through depression-induced overeating!! whereas others like you and myself too, lose our appetites when depressed. When I've been depressed I just did not feel hungry at all even though I hadn't eaten in a long time and also lost weight because I couldn't bring myself to eat because everything tasted horrible and made me nauseaus or at best bland and unenjoyable. (unfortunately there was a period of time when both my husband and I were depressed at the same time. I stopped eating, and he over ate. and since I wasn't eating he'd eat my food. I got thinner and thinner while he got fatter and fatter. it was probably the worst period in our marriage.)It's not an eating disorder because you're not being obsessed with the food per se or with your weight and appearance. Eating disorders are about the obsession to be thin and obsession with your physical appearance and being judged by others so treatment for eating disorders consists of addressing the root cause of unhealthy and distorted body-image. But you're not obsessed about your appearance. Instead your loss of appetite is because you just feel so crummy all you want to do is crawl under a rock. or maybe you're feeling anxious and freaked out which can also suppress your appetite.I recommend that you see your therapist or doctor so you can work through and heal from your depression. Or if you have time-tested ways of working through your depression, then do those and allow yourself time to heal. Once you're feeling better psychologically your appetite will probably return to normal.
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reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2011): Losing your appetite is all part of it...I went down to 7 stone for a while.. If you really dont fancy food then top up with vitamins and supplements. If your still off your food in a month then go to your doctor.
Your children need you to be strong and there for them
Good luck
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A
female
reader, Dear Mandy +, writes (31 December 2011):
 Hi
It's no wonder your not eating properly. Prozac in its self gives you less of an appetite, may I suggest you ask your Dr to change your anti-depressant to 20mg of amitriptyline. It is also a relaxant as well as an anti-depressant. Your break up is still so very raw, and to be near christmas too, anyone would feel the same as you are now. What I also suggest is that you make sure you have an appointment to see your Dr about why you are still feeling so depressed even though you are on prozac, as they are obviously not helping you, as sometimes these kind of tablets actually make matters worse. You may feel once off these tablets and on another kind, you will start to get your appetite back, AND have the strength to move on with your life, and be the person you want to be. A strong independant women, who loves herself first!! I know it's easy for me to say you maybe saying to yourself , but I have been there , it's not nice, but after 4 months of amitriptyline my life turned around, and I have never looked back, I have not had ANY tablets now for over 3 years :) and have never felt better. This can be you too if you really want out of this state? but you are the one who has to do this, just say to yourself " yes I am worth it, I am a great person who deserves better in my life, i am beautiful,and I will make it through this tunnel of darkness, because im a strong independant women". but most of all you would want to be the best mother you can possibly be, so look at your childrens beautiful faces , and know they love you so much and only want to see their mummy happy. You can do this ok? any time you need to let off steam email me xxx
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