Big Appetite Anyone?

[milelj]

Anyone have a big appetite? I see a lot about people with celiac disease being really skinny because of malnutrition. But if you have a big appetite you are still getting too many calories and can gain weight, right? I feel like I crave food all the time and often feel like I can't control myself. I'm about 20 lbs overweight, not horribly overweight. Maybe I have this problem of craving food because I'm not absorbing nutrients, making my body crave more food? Did anyone feel like this?

I have my appt today to be tested for celiac disease. I've had chronic anemia for about 10 yrs and it's getting worse, so my doc is finally testing me for other things.

[julirama723]

I've not been "officially" diagnosed by a doctor (and I'm not sure I ever will) but after my mom was diagnosed with celiac and I was having lots of symptoms, I decided to go gluten-free.

In the year leading up to going gluten-free, I put on about 20 pounds. (I had lost 100 pounds previously, so this really freaked me out.) I wasn't eating vast quantities of food. I was exercising regularly (in fact, I was training for a marathon!) I did start to eat more grains, especially things like wheat bread (homemade, so I would add extra gluten because it was 100% whole wheat) wheat tortillas, CLIF bars with oats, etc. I was STARVING when I was in training, and I would try to eat enough to be satisfied, but that was never enough, I didn't feel like I had eaten all that I wanted. I thought maybe it was just marathon training...

This summer, after the marathon, though I was eating a bit less and exercising on a regular schedule, I gained MORE weight. This coincided with me eating still more grains. I also began to notice that about 30 minutes after I would eat wheat/oats/grains, I would bloat so hugely that my pants wouldn't fit, I'd have embarassing gas for HOURS and HOURS, I would have cramping, and constipation. I noticed that I was bloated all the time, or rather, that my body was just getting bigger and bigger in size, and still continuing to bloat after meals.

I didn't think it was gluten-intolerance until my mom was diagnosed. (I thought, how on earth could I be celiac, celiacs don't GAIN weight! That was before I realized that celiac doesn't have a singular set of one-size-fits-all symptoms. Many people gain weight, bloat, are constipated, rather than lose weight and have diarrhea.)

So long story short, yes I gained weight, yes I was ravenous, yes not all celiacs lose weight!

Since going gluten-free, I feel like my appetite has "normalized" and I don't feel the need to eat everything but the kitchen sink.

[cat3883]

That is exactly what is happening to you. Your body is craving nutrients. The hunger continued the first 3 weeks of the gluten free diet. I am in my 4th week now and that has somewhat subsided. I felt like I could eat the kitchen table!!

[babysteps]

The last 6 months or so before I went gluten-free I never felt full, was always hungry.

Once gluten-free that subsided immediately.

I still get hungry, but I actually feel full after a 'normal' amount of food. And now if I have a small snack between lunch and dinner (for me, usually a hard-boiled egg) I am not ravenous at dinner (for a while I kept biting my lip I was so hungry while chewing!).

[Bell]

Since going Gluten free, my appetite finally feels "normal". Before, I'd either not want to eat at all, or sometimes when I did eat, I would start to feel all wrong (sort of tension) inside, and actually feel extra hungry AFTER eating. I am assuming it was gluten related because it hasn't happened at all since about 2 weeks after going gluten free. I used to try and not eat for a while when I got this weird "wrong inside" feeling, but it was sometimes hard because I really wanted to! Usually, the feeling was followed by either diarrhea or awful stinky gas, and then my insides would seize up for a few days. I grew to know the series of events well enough to restrain myself!

If you are like me, it will begin to right itself after a while. Good luck.

Bell

[rocon99]

Big appetite does not begin to describe my eating! I would literally feel like I was starving, and as soon as I ate (way too much at a time) I would continue to eat. My sister, niece and daughter were all diagnosed, but my test came back negative. I just went gluten-free two days ago, because something has to stop. I have so many of the same symptoms they do, just a negative test. How long does it take before the feeling of an immense hole that can't be filled goes away!