Help! Health anxiety weight losss

Posted , 3 users are following.

hi hope youre all well. im in need of some advice. my brother has suffered severe health anxiety for a number of years but lately its bscla with avengance. hes lost his job.of 30 years due to this anxiety and is now just at home not leaving the house and just sitting on the sofa googling his symptoms. He has a normal appetite and is eating normal but has said about a number of symptoms including stomach pain and watery diarrhoea.

hes lost a significant amount of weight and is looking very frail and ill.

my question is, is it possible to lose 3 or 4 stone in weight in a few months just from health anxiety. or do we need to be concerned that there is actually something dreadfully wrong with him. any advice.would be greatly received.

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi there, severe anxiety can cause severe weight loss or weight gain it all depends on the person. He needs to go to the doctor and get an mri or ultrasound done and lots of blood work because this should be dealt with by a medical professional but health anxiety can cause people to become very ill 🤒 but you need to get him into see his doctor 😷 as soon as possible because it also could be something more serious than this. I live in Canada how much weight has he lost I can't do the math in my head with the amount you said he had lost and how much he keeps losing each week? I need to be able to convert it to over to pounds. Have a great evening 🌃

    • Posted

      hi thanks for your response. hes lost about 18 kg in the last 4/5 months.

      im so worried about him. hes terrified to go to the doctors but im taking him on monday hes agreed to go.

  • Posted

    This same thing happened to me 25 years ago.

    I was suffering from severe anxiety.

    I lost 30 pounds in 1 month. I was not very big at the time to loose this weight.

    it was anxiety but I was so very very depressed by the symptoms of anxiety.

    He is so lucky to have you. My ex husband would scream at me that he wanted a wife not a zombie.

    it was terrifying.

    assure him he will be ok. Get him to a doctor. But I can assure you its severe Depression caused by the anxiety. The chronic worry that something is wrong causes it.

    Feeling like noone can find the issue

    and these symptoms never stop.

    Treat the anxiety and depression

    and he will regain the weight and come to understand hes not dying.

    You are a great person to care so much and get him help.

    Wish I had the same years ago. Hope my story helps him some.

    Read peace from nervous suffering.

    Saved my life.

    Best wishes to you both. Thinking of you.

  • Posted

    thanks for your response. i didnt realise severe health anciety can cause such dramatic weight loss. he has no energy at all and hardly gets up from the sofa. im so worried about him

    • Posted

      I came home from work one night and just sat on the couch worried I had something so horribly wrong.

      I too lost weight like your brother.. I was so convinced that I was going to die that I couldn't function.

      Yes health anxiety can cause weight loss and it is scary to watch someone with it.

      such a helpless feeling.

      Hopefully the doctor will run tests to see if there is any physical cause. And get him some relief for the anxiety.

      Praying for you both. I know it was the worse time in my life. The fear was so real.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.