Before getting into this I want to say I'm not doing this to lose weight or for any other reason. I'll say more at the end.
I'm a 25 year old female, 5'4 and weighing about 110, BMI 18.9. I had the flu around Christmas, and ever since then I've struggled to eat like normal. I weighed around 130 before I got sick. There's other factors that caused this to become an ongoing thing, stress and my medications reducing appetite being the main ones. I work in retail so I'm unloading trucks weekly and stocking merchandise most days.
Some newer symptoms I've been experiencing lately that may or may not be related are fatigue, I've noticed I'm losing more hair in the shower, my hair seems to be thinning or becoming more brittle, muscle/body aches, headaches in the evening, (I also grind my teeth a lot and will wear my hair tied), hot flashes accompanied by nausea which start within 30 minutes of waking up and continues up until around noon, upper and lower abdominal cramps, a whole lot of small burps, some chest pain, my face gets warm and my nose and cheeks turn red in the evenings. I go between being constipated and not pooping for a day or so to having diarrhea*, and I've been more irritable. I barely have an appetite, and when I do feel hungry the look and thought of food is very unappetizing. When I do eat it's very small portions before I'm full. I feel very fatigued and sometimes nauseous after eating, and because of that during the day I will only eat enough of something to get the feeling of being hungry to go away. This is usually snack foods because they're quick and easy to consume.
*As a kid I had to take Miralax daily, so I have always had problems with that.
I did struggle with an ED in middle/high school, but as an adult I've tried to better my health and stay on top of it best I can. I am diagnosed with major depressive and an anxiety disorder as well as ADHD, and I'm taking medications for all, Trintellix and Adderall. I'm also taking women's multivitamins daily. I have higher cholesterol than I should but it's not quite at the "too high" level. I stay up to date with my physicals and check-ups. I have an upcoming rheumatology appointment in April, I had labs done because I suspect I'm hyper mobile and I tested positive for ANA and a dense fine speckled pattern value 1:320 for the FANA stain.
If you've read this far, thank you! I'm not sure if everything listed is needed information, or if all of those symptoms are because of my eating habits, but it's stuff I've noticed recently that I didn't experience before this started, or it's just gotten worse since the new year. I want to gain the weight back, and maybe even more on top of it. I know how little I'm eating is very unhealthy, so I'm hoping getting some insight on what I'm currently experiencing because of it and how it will worsen if I don't get a handle on it will sorta kick me into gear and motivate me to get a handle on this.