Celiac And Hunger Attacks!

[nadz]

Dear All,

I am a newly diagnosed celiac (3 months) and i have been following a gluten free diet. I am having this weird problem of feeling hungry every couple of hours even if i had a large meal. I eat and then one or two hours later i feel like i am starving and i feel i need sugar ... i am eating loads of sugars in the form of chocolate and fruits, but even this stays for like one or two hours and then i feel this urge to eat something sweet again. I tested my Blood Sugar Level and my Insulin and everything turned out normal.

Anyone with this problem? I cant sleep continuously because i wake up in the middle of the night to eat something "Sweet" again!

Can anyone please help me in what i have to do? Anybody with similar experiences? It is getting depressing and annoying ... I have been switching Drs with no result!

Thank you in advance

[Mango04]

Yes, I have that problem when I eat a lot of sugar too. When your body feels like that, it doesn't actually need sugar, but rather a good balance of protein/fat/carbs.

Try to majorly cut back on the sugars and see if it helps.

[nadz]

Yes, I have that problem when I eat a lot of sugar too. When your body feels like that, it doesn't actually need sugar, but rather a good balance of protein/fat/carbs.

Try to majorly cut back on the sugars and see if it helps.

Thanks Mango! Do you get dizzy and tremble when you get this hunger attack? I feel seriously tired / fatigue! Is this normal? I will follow your advice although choices are very limited!

[darlindeb25]

Nadz...the feelings you have is exactly what eating sweets, chocolates, sugar does to you. It gives you a high, then slams you to the ground, making you feel you need more. You need to stop eating the goodies and stick to good foods. At first, try eating several small meals a day, instead of 3 bigger meals. Try eating around 100 calories every 2 hours for a time, then stretch it out some. An apple, then maybe some cheese in 2 hours, a bowl of cottage cheese in 2 hours (of course, if you are dairy intolerant you will need to think of other things), my doc even told me peanut butter on a spoon is great for one of the meals. Eat a normal breakfast, then eat these meals the rest of the day, and have a nice supper, like chicken breast and rice, with a veggie. With a little patience and time, you will start feeling much better. Try to stay away from the sweets, they aren't good for you anyways.

[ravenwoodglass]

You have gotten some great advice. I would add a good high protein snack at bedtime also. That may help you sleep through the night. Your body is craving nutrition and the hunger attacks are IMHO it's way of begging you for it. More protein and good carbs should help alleviate that.

[veggienft]

You can survive on a blood sugar level near zero. Getting calories from fat ingestion is healthier.

The advice given you so far is excellent and curative. Stop eating sweets. If you continue eating starchy foods such as corn and rice, your body converts them to blood sugar ......but at a regulated pace.

If cutting out sweets doesn't cure your symptoms, then cut back on all carbohydrates until your symptoms are gone. Then stay at that level.

..

[nadz]

Thanks to you all you are really sweet and kind ...

I have been to the Dr yesterday, he says this is hypoglycemia ... anyone having this too? i guess it is a common reaction to such diets? I wonder if celiac and hypoglycemia are connected! I know i am asking a lot! But i am not finding answers except here in this forum

Thanks again ...

[MELINE]

Hello

I had the same experience with you. Right after starting my gluten-free diet I started STARVING every 3 hours, I would cry if there was no food when I wanted to eat, I kept eating huge meals and losing weight. When I say huge meals, I mean that just for dinner I would have 3 stakes and 4 plates of potatoes and salad and I would still feel hungry. Doc said that this was malabsorption (I also had bad body odor and stools smelling awful, and these are signs). Now, after 10 months of gluten-free diet, my celiac symptoms are gone, I've put on weight and I am not hungry at all. I eat regularly, no more bad smells and my period is back to normal. My doctor gave me magnesium for malabsorption, maybe you could discuss it with yours...

Meline

[veggienft]

Thanks to you all you are really sweet and kind ...

I have been to the Dr yesterday, he says this is hypoglycemia ... anyone having this too? i guess it is a common reaction to such diets? I wonder if celiac and hypoglycemia are connected! I know i am asking a lot! But i am not finding answers except here in this forum

Thanks again ...

Before I get corrected again, let me describe hypoglycemia. Literally "hypoglycemia" means low blood sugar. Nobody who eats sugar or starch, except maybe pancreatic cancer patients, has chronically low blood sugar. In practice hypoglycemia is the term used to describe wide blood sugar swings like yours which periodically swing to low blood sugar.

.......which brings about my point. Hypoglycemia is not a disease, as your question implies. It simply describes high - low - high - low sugar levels. If you want to get rid of it, follow the advice offered here.

Stop eating sweets.

..

[tarnalberry]

If it's hypoglycemia - it's a condition known as reactive hypoglycemia. if you were to continuously test your blood sugar, you'd find that it would dip at a certain point, maybe to a low-normal, but to a point where *your* body thinks is low. (reactive hypoglycemia has a characteristic curve to blood sugar after a glucose challenge.) it's not that you can't eat any sweets (but you sure as heck shouldn't have very many), but you really need to find moderation - and what your body does best with in balancing out fat/protein/fiber/carbs to moderate the insulin impact of carbohydrates on your body. refined carbs are not your friend, and - for the most part - even complex carbs on their own aren't going to be either. some people find that, regardless of how balanced their meals are, if they have reactive hypoglycemia, they have to eat every three or four hours, others don't. but your body will tell you pretty quickly.

(I also have reactive hypoglycemia. some meds can make it worse, some supplements can help - depends on your body and what state it's in.)

(heh, sorry, I come across sounding way more... something along the lines of arrogant... than I meant to. that's what I get for trying to multitask and not paying attention.)