Anxiety and Panic Attacks In Emphysema ... - Mind Publications

Appetite and weight loss in COPD
One friend with COPD shared the following:
“I feel better with little or no food, but that's not going to help me
gain weight. I've lost another 5 lbs. since this last March. I look
anorexic and was sent to a eating disorder clinic, but I don't fit
into this category. It's because I am struggling to breathe---which
uses up a lot of calories and I don't know what to do about this too-
full feeling. It's not constant, but happens three or four times a
week and lasts for hours.”
Many people with COPD have significant level of anxiety and depression
problems. For those people, loss of appetite could be an interaction of anxiety,
depression and complication of lung impairment. If anxiety alone is causing overeating
or under eating, calming the over reactivity of the nervous system can be helpful. And,
you should calm the mind as well. Obviously, if there is a situation that is keeping you
tensed up, it needs to be modified.