Been hitting a rather long stretch of a rough patch. Family suggested I start taking my meds again. I was on wellbutrin all throughout highschool, but switched to Duloxetin (Cymbalta), after a few things started irritating my menstrual cycles.
It’s been a week so far, and I’m struggling to work up an appitite when I first wake up. I’m not super fond of that nauseated feeling from forcing myself to eat. I’m on 60mg, I was wondering what you guys do to get passed that not wanting to eat barrier concerning antidepressants. I was thinking just score it, eat first, take the half, then take the other half midday/afternoon after another meal/snack.
Maybe my experience could help despite it not being with antidepressants but amphetamines. When I first started my meds and each time I had the dosage or formula switched it completely blunted my appetite.
Even know when I’m under the influence of it, the thought of food repulses me. Two strategies I use, first is drinking hydrolized caesin and HBCD mixture with either Powerade/mio flavoring or biotests flavor stuff. Real easy to drink, traditional shakes with whey, and the chocolate/vanilla flavor palate plus the thickness doesn’t work for me.
Second is forcing myself to have lunch. Dinner isn’t a problem as it tends to wear off by then and breakfast/midday meal are those shakes. When I say force, I mean force. Think of it like mentally getting ready for a PR set. Once you start chewing it usually isn’t as hard, it’s the starting part for me that is difficult.
Not my personal experience, but Stan Efferding talks about how when he used oral steroids they shot his appetite to shit (a very common thing with orals). He found a small amount of fructose was enough to stimulate his appetite again.
I forget the specific recommendations but it was something like a small glass of orange juice or half an orange every 4 hours or so.
Psych meds tend to make you ravenous or or nauseated usually for about a month. To combat the nauseated feeling, get out your blender and make homemade smoothies and have a small one every three hours. I can give ya some recipes, but ya are a smartie. Just make sure macros and micros are met. The KEY is to put a little ginger root in your smoothies. It helps with that nauseated feeling, smoothies are easier to digest and lots of antidepressants cause either diarrhea or constipation. It helps with both. If you have issues with dairy, you can eat lactose free products to use in your smoothies. I also know some people do bette if they limit their caffeine while getting adjusteing to meds. Best of luck, and hopefully, this helps some.