I just recently returned to this forum after nearly a year of inactivity. I moved to college and gained about 20 lbs in my first year (oops!). In high school I suffered from severe anxiety, but when I moved to college it went away. I assumed it was gone for good.
Just a couple of weeks ago I decided that I was ready to really change my life and lose weight. For the last two weeks I have stayed on plan, (I'm using My Fitness Pal and counting calories) and have been exercising and already lost two inches around my waist!
Great, right? Unfortunately, for some weird reason I am suddenly beginning to have anxiety attacks again. Nothing has changed in terms of my life situation, so I think it is a weird coincidence that this started when I started losing weight. It is getting to the point where I am having a hard time falling asleep at night, and have a tight anxiety in my chest. To make matters worse, I feel about 10x more emotional lately. Also, weirdly enough, as soon as I started dieting my period started and only just ended today. I have NEVER have a 2 weeks long period before! I am just so confused and don't know what to do. I feel like I should go to a doctor, but I have no health insurance and NO money that isn't being used for school through student loans.
So, has anyone else felt this way before? What did you do to overcome it? Is it just something that happens when you start losing weight that eventually goes away?
I know you say you have no insurance, but you really do need to see a doctor. What you've described seems like some sort of physical problem, considering the duration of your period. Doesn't your college offer some sort of insurance (most colleges do)? Also, what about a nurse or medical expert on campus? Most campuses have medical facilities for students. Even if that isn't an option, check into free medical clinics in your area.
ETA: I have, at times, experienced a sort of depression when starting a diet because I was mourning the loss of food as a means of comfort and the loss of complete eating freedom. However, that doesn't seem like exactly what you're experiencing.
I suffer from anxiety. I found blood sugar spikes play a major role. I now try to eat low GI and that, along with a lot of aerobic exercise, has really helped. I'm just wondering if, in changing your diet, you have inadvertently messed with your blood sugar.
Last edited by Northernrose; 06-05-2012 at 04:11 PM.
Losing weight can mess a bit with your hormones which could affect both your period and your moods, including anxiety. Still, that's concerning. Can you see a doctor to rule out anything?
Thanks for the helpful responses everyone! I do suffer from hypoglycemia, which actually runs in my family, so I will re-examine my diet to make sure that I'm eating frequently enough to stop that. It would make sense if that was causing the anxiety.
As for the super long period, after hearing from you guys I decided to do a bit of research, and apparently there is a health clinic on campus free for students. I made an appointment and will be going there tomorrow to get checked out. The nurse on the phone that I talked to said that changing my eating habits could have something to do with it, and was more than likely the cause, but that she would run some blood tests to make sure I wasn't anemic and things like that.
Losing weight but anxiety getting worse
