What's Going On> He's Not Hungry Any More? Is This Good Or Bad?

[ARK]

I THINK, I HOPE that this is a good sign.

Ever since Saturday my 14 yr old has stopped being ravenous from the second he wakes up until he goes to bed.

It has been 4 full days and he has eaten 3 small meals each day with one healthy smoothie for a snack, but only because I wanted him to. I think that even though he isnt hungry, his body needs the nutrition after being sick for so long.

What do yall think?

I m in SHOCK!!

This is the kid who has always been desperately/anxiously hunger - some even though he had a food obsession. If you did ANYTHING in the morning to delay him gettting his cereal (like run out of milk) then there would be utter panic!

Does this mean his intestines are healing? He is feeling better and better each day. We have been gluten free for a week, minus a few slip ups. Gluten lite for a week or so before that. Today he felt SO good! His depression has lifted, and he even played a board game with us at supper which is something he hasnt done in AGES. He never could play without thinking we were all ganging up on him. Serously, he was so foggy, and depressed, and upset with life that he couldnt play games.

We still dont have our test results by the way!

ARK

[Nantzie]

That's exactly what happened to me after I went gluten-free. I had been constantly hungry for years. After I went gluten-free, my appetite just disappeared. It was actually kind of difficult to eat, so you may need to remind him to eat. Small meals is okay, work with him to keep it balanced. He may forget to eat because he won't be driven by hunger signals like he was used to.

I've been gluten-free since last January, and I still don't have a big appetite, although it has improved. For a while there I was actually getting nauseous when I ate, which was so odd. Nothing sounded good or tasted especially good. I really didn't have much of an opinion about food at all. I started drinking ginger tea and that really helped stimulate my appetite. It helped me get from nauseated to just having a small appetite. So if he ends up just not wanting to eat that may help. Doesn't need to be much. I think I drank one cup of it for three or four days and it helped a lot.

I'm glad he's feeling so much better. It sounds like he's doing great. It's amazing how quick and dramatic the change is isn't it?

Nancy

[Kaycee]

Same thing happened to me too.

Felt so hungry for the last few years, but more or less within a week of being gluten free, the hunger just disappeared. Hunger does not rule my life anymore.

Cathy

[ARK]

Same thing happened to me too.

Felt so hungry for the last few years, but more or less within a week of being gluten free, the hunger just disappeared. Hunger does not rule my life anymore.

Cathy

Thanks so much to everyone who answered - I am so relieved!

That is one of they results of being gluten free that I NEVER EXPECTED.

We've lived with a ravenous kid for 14 years and we were so used to it that we did not realize how bad it really was, and that it was not normal. That is NOT one of the symptoms for which we took him to the doctor.

The very FIRST problem we noticed was depression/irritability/confusion. And that just came on gradually - I wish we had figured it out sooner so he could be happy and healthy sooner.

BUT, I am thankful that our doctor figured it out so fast! We use a homeopathic doctor occasionally, and that is who we went to. If we had gone to our regular MD all he would have done is give us depression pills!

[e&j0304]

That is exactly what happened with my dd. That is actually what we did take her to the dr for. She was only 2 years old and was eating CONSTANTLY. She would not play with friends, particiapte in little classes or really do much of anything because she was sad/anxious about when she could eat next. It was a nightmare and before she was diagnosed (by us and ONE helpful dr.) the medical community at a University hospital told us that she had mental problems and needed to be seen by a psychiatrist. Don't forget that my dd was 2-years-old.

I do believe that she had many of the mood problems, depression, anxiety, etc that you describe in your son. I am so very happy that you found your answer. I hope that he is able to live a long healthy life!

Shannon

[ARK]

That is exactly what happened with my dd. That is actually what we did take her to the dr for. She was only 2 years old and was eating CONSTANTLY. She would not play with friends, particiapte in little classes or really do much of anything because she was sad/anxious about when she could eat next. It was a nightmare and before she was diagnosed (by us and ONE helpful dr.) the medical community at a University hospital told us that she had mental problems and needed to be seen by a psychiatrist. Don't forget that my dd was 2-years-old.

I do believe that she had many of the mood problems, depression, anxiety, etc that you describe in your son. I am so very happy that you found your answer. I hope that he is able to live a long healthy life!

Shannon

That IS a nightmare! I'm so sorry you had to go through this with your daughter, and I hope she is feeling lots better now! I believe that our son's problems would have come to a head MUCH sooner had we not been homeschooling him. Simply because he would have been eating way more junk food! The teachers would have pressured us to put him on Ritalin - several doctors told me he had ADHD and we "should" medicate him. We never did though. I wonder if that was all because of the gluten intolerance too?

[Ursa Major]

Sure, ADHD is a known symptom of celiac disease! I wonder how many kids are on Ritalin, that should be on a gluten-free diet instead.

I think one reason your son doesn't feel like eating is, that he was addicted to gluten. It was the addiction that kept him wanting to eat all the time, not normal hunger pangs.

Now that his 'drug' (gluten) is gone, he doesn't know when he is hungry. He has forgotten what normal hunger pangs mean.

The same thing happened to me. When I eliminated gluten a little over a year ago, for a long time I had to remind myself to eat, because I had no idea when I was hungry. Sometimes I'd remember in the late afternoon that I should eat something. By then I'd be feeling sick with hunger, but didn't know why I was sick.

It is somewhat better now, but I still have to pay attention to needing to eat.

[Sophiekins]

My family never really noticed that I was eating vast quantities of food - as both of my sisters have hyperactive metabolisms and eat positively enormous quantities of food though they are both slim and healthy. . .with the two of them at home we go through eight loaves of bread, two pounds of cheese and at least ten litres of milk in a week - but they did notice that I virtually stopped eating after I was diagnosed celiac. Six years later, I still have to eat to a timetable because I don't notice my body's hunger signals. Large meals make me feel mildly unwell, but if I don't eat regularly enough, I get vicious migraines. So I started calorie counting (me! never-on-a-diet-in-my-life me counts calories!) and took a nutrition class to make sure that the meals I am eating are large enough and properly balanced. I still make mistakes - particularly after I've been glutened (remember that any meal with enough gluten to make you sick is a meal you might as well not have eaten for all the benefit your body got, so you have to eat more the next couple of days), but I find that an apple and a couple of small squares of chocolate (or raisins) is a good catch if I'm about to lose it. When I've forgotten to eat for too long, I don't want to eat and can become nauseous if I try and force it, so I start with a glass of diluted apple juice (one part juice to three parts water) or, in a pinch, a teaspoon of sugar dissolved in hot water, and after about half an hour, I follow it up with something plain, like brown rice with milk, peanut butter and celery, or baked/boiled/mashed potato with broccoli or sweet pepper.

Speaking of which, I'd probably better go and eat. . .as I think my last meal was lunch, and it is well past dinnertime!