How long can you go without eating before you get sick?

[luvwinnie]

I have a friend who is very stressed about a family matter and has only eaten ONE small container of yogurt and a daily coffee for 4 days. She says she is NOT hungry and i"m telling her she has to force herself to at least have some toast or something. Any experiences with this? THanks.

 

[ducklite]

I went through this a couple years ago, I ate almost nothing for about ten days. Finally my body said enough and gave me an appetite.

Unless she's got a medical condition that would make doing this really dangerous, don't worry about it, she will eat again.

If you know she likes a certain type of milkshake you might bring her that, I know that I was much more willing to drink something--especially through a straw--than to eat anything. The thought of eating solid food made me ill.

Anne

 

[golfgal]

I know I went a good week without eating much, probably about what your friend is eating, during a particularly stressful part of our life. I just couldn't eat, even the thought of eating at that time made me sick to my stomach (so did most everything else). Eventually as the stress eases, her appetite will return. You can go many weeks without food and survive, not that it is good for you but people can go at least 40 days or so without food as long as they have water. You can only survive about 2 weeks without water.

 

[CathrynRose]

My mom went into ICU on Tuesday January 24th, this year.

She passed away Saturday January 28th.

Other than daily coffee, I didnt eat until the following Wednesday - Scrambled Eggs, Orange Juice and Crackers. I was craving it, like nobodies business. I guess my body needed it.

So, she'll live.

 

[NMAmy]

When I was going through my divorce, I barely ate anything for 3 months. Although I certainly don't recommend it, a lot of people lose their appetites when stressed. My mom lost 45 pounds after my dad had a stroke and passed away.

In my family, we're definitely not stress eaters. I find the thought of food incredibly nauseating when I'm upset.

She'll be fine--she'll eat when she needs to. Maybe not a lot, but she'll eat something.

 

[Disney Doll]

While I agree that if she hasn't eaten much for 4 days, she's probably not going to die, improper nutrition has an effect on our bodies in many ways.

If she is going through a stressful time, she needs to be sharp. Improper nutrition isn't going to keep her sharp.

I would agree that if you know a certain milkshake she likes, maybe bring her one or two of those a day. A smoothie with a mixture of things might even be better, as perhaps soemthing with protein could be added into it.

What effect it will have on her also depends on what she weighs to begin with. I had a undiagnosable gastric "issue" a few years back which caused me to lose about 30 lbs. in the space of about 2 months. Now, I had 30 lbs (and then some!!! ) to lose, so it was OK, but if I was a petite person who was within her normal body weight before the "issue" began, and lost that kind of weight within a couple of months, it could have been much more damaging.

Be supportive of your friend, let her "vent" about her stress and hopefully things will settle down in the next few days and she'll start to get back on track.

 

[luvwinnie]

Thanks all.

 

[Keli]

I've went seven days without eating anything at all earlier this year, just drinking water and I was ok afterwards.

 

[azgal81]

People on survivor do it all the time. I can't go that long because if I don't eat I feel all light headed!

 

[Hannathy]

I had a college roommate that lived on a container of yogurt and coffee for 2yrs!
She was bone thin but graduated with honors and accepted a job with Price Waterhouse so your friend will be fine. (her fiance was aware and was dealing with the problem so I know she was going to get treatment after school) When my Mom was terminally ill and I had 2 kids to take care of also there were days on end I barely ate.
The body can go a loooong time with very little food so unless she is pregnant I wouldn't stress over it.

 

[phillybeth]

I went through this a couple years ago, I ate almost nothing for about ten days. Finally my body said enough and gave me an appetite.

Same here, except I went about 2 weeks and lost 15 pounds. I was drinking plenty, but the thought of food made me want to vomit. Gradually my appetite came back- I think it took another 2 weeks for me to be able to eat a full-sized meal 3x a day.

 

[IwasatWDWforamonth]

When I went thru a eating disorder phase I lasted about 7 days before I started to black out

 

[Pop Daddy]

IF I ate big on my last meal, I could go for a few hours

 

[YorkieMommyKandis]

I'm horrible...I think I can only last a few hours. If I don't eat I get shaky, irritable, headaches, and generally lose all common sense. I drive horrible when I am hungry. My whole family gets like this. I usually have a snack of some kind in my purse for emergencies.

 

[crazelion]

I have this same problem couple days ago myself. I have not eat for 3 days because thought of food made me sick. It turn out to be serve stomach problems. My appeite is slowing coming back by this weekend I should eating everything in site.

Unless she have health problems I would not worry. Just make sure she drinks alots water and powerade.

100 degree heat makes lose your appeite.

 

[kellyg403]

I am also one who during stress can not eat. During my divorce I lost about 40 lbs in a 3 month span...not that it was a bad thing!

But, even when she does start to eat, and she will, make sure that she starts with several smaller meals. I had the hardest time getting back into eating larger meals since I hadn't for awhile. A little at a time until she gets her regular appetite back will better than trying to eat 5 days worth at once.

Kelly

 

[The Mystery Machine]

When my oldest was a baby and very very very sick and I knew things were not right, I lost 20lbs (over 1 month prior) and couldn't eat for 2 weeks. I could only take sips and 1 or 2 bites of food.

Once she was hospitalized and then had emergency surgery I was fine.

 

[CEDmom]

At various times I've gone up to 2 weeks without eating much either because of stress or just being busy or both. The last time was recently when we were moving and over a 2 week period I ate next to nothing and lost about 8 lbs. I actually still went to the gym during that time and had my usual stamina. I think stress just shut off my appetite.

 

[Kimmie5870]

DD14 was born with a severe form of SPina bifida so she had to stay in the hospital for 31 days after being transfered to a childrens hospital in Indianapolis.I couldnt even think about food without becoming ill.Cokes and an occasional candy bar was more than enough.I'd only gained 19 pounds with DD and by the time we brought her home from the hospital I had lost 48 lbs.

Now though I need to eat every 3 hours for low blood sugar or I become shaky,confused and belligerent(sp?)

 

[JVL1018]

When my Mom was diagnosed with cancer in April of 2004 I ate nothing but water and I think I ate the mozzarella part of one of those mozzarella/cheddar twisty cheese sticks a day(and I forced myself to eat that) for 4 or 5 days. Once I had a bite of a sandwich, but couldn't eat more.
I was eating again normally in about 7-10 days.