Always Hungry- Hormone Crazy

[gfquestion]

The past couple of years have been a rollercoaster for me. It started by me losing my period (at age 20) and then losing a lot of weight (and I was thin to begin with). Then like a boomerang I started getting hungry all the time. I was constantly eating and couldn't even sleep because I would have to eat all night just to keep up. If I did sleep it would only be for an hour or two and I would have night sweats and often nightmares. My stomach looks like a very pregnant woman against a small frame, but I just can't stop eating because I feel starving!!! The doctors did a lot of blood tests and found nothing conclusive. Finally someone suggested the gluten intolerance thing, and I had never even heard of it. It made sense because gluten is what I was eating constantly! A couple boxes of cereal, a couple loaves of bread, pasta, bagels, pizza, could all be consumed in one day and I still felt starving. Anyways, I tried to stop eating gluten for a while and asked the doctor to test for gluten so they did and it came back negative. So I went back to eating gluten. I have since gained 50 pounds. I will try the gluten-free thing for a week or two, but two weeks is the longest I have been able to do it, and I can lose like 10 pounds, but then I go back to gluten because I am not 100% sure that it is the culprit. I have asked for an endoscopy to be sure but they say it wouldn't show anything really and they keep pushing back my appt, now it is set for a month and a half from now. I feel like I should just stick with the gluten-free thing, because when I do I can actually sleep and I start to feel less hungry BUT then I miss my wheat and go back to it because I don't have hard evidence not to, for example, maybe it is just psychological. Maybe I avoid wheat to lose weight, but then cave? I honestly don't think it is psychological. I feel genuinely starving even when I eat all the time. Has anybody found a way to test for gluten intolerance that tested positive even when the blood tests came back negative???

Also, when I do feel better and sleep is when I not only cut out gluten, but also corn and dairy. Does anybody else have this?

Thanks for reading my long post. I just feel so fed up with this and I am tired of being asked if I am pregnant!!

[cyberprof]

The past couple of years have been a rollercoaster for me. It started by me losing my period (at age 20) and then losing a lot of weight (and I was thin to begin with). Then like a boomerang I started getting hungry all the time. I was constantly eating and couldn't even sleep because I would have to eat all night just to keep up. If I did sleep it would only be for an hour or two and I would have night sweats and often nightmares. My stomach looks like a very pregnant woman against a small frame, but I just can't stop eating because I feel starving!!! The doctors did a lot of blood tests and found nothing conclusive. Finally someone suggested the gluten intolerance thing, and I had never even heard of it. It made sense because gluten is what I was eating constantly! A couple boxes of cereal, a couple loaves of bread, pasta, bagels, pizza, could all be consumed in one day and I still felt starving. Anyways, I tried to stop eating gluten for a while and asked the doctor to test for gluten so they did and it came back negative. So I went back to eating gluten. I have since gained 50 pounds. I will try the gluten-free thing for a week or two, but two weeks is the longest I have been able to do it, and I can lose like 10 pounds, but then I go back to gluten because I am not 100% sure that it is the culprit. I have asked for an endoscopy to be sure but they say it wouldn't show anything really and they keep pushing back my appt, now it is set for a month and a half from now. I feel like I should just stick with the gluten-free thing, because when I do I can actually sleep and I start to feel less hungry BUT then I miss my wheat and go back to it because I don't have hard evidence not to, for example, maybe it is just psychological. Maybe I avoid wheat to lose weight, but then cave? I honestly don't think it is psychological. I feel genuinely starving even when I eat all the time. Has anybody found a way to test for gluten intolerance that tested positive even when the blood tests came back negative???

Also, when I do feel better and sleep is when I not only cut out gluten, but also corn and dairy. Does anybody else have this?

Thanks for reading my long post. I just feel so fed up with this and I am tired of being asked if I am pregnant!!

Hi GFQ and welcome. First, I'll say that I'm not an expert but here's my advice. It looks like gluten could be a problem for you (either celiac or "just" gluten intolerant). You, as I was/am, might be psychologically or physiologically "addicted" to gluten. There is some info that wheat and/or carbs up the seratonin level, mimicking drugs like opiates. Or your body might be addicted to simple carbs like rice and corn.

Since you are still on and off wheat, and you seem like you might need a firm diagnosis to convince you, I'd suggest that you press your doc for an endoscopy after you eat lots of wheat for a month or two. (The guidelnes are 3-4 slices of wheat a day for a few months, but you haven't been reliably gluten-free for long enough to invalidate the endoscopy, in my opinion.) Your blood test was likely useless, as you were off wheat when tested, and you should remind your doc of that. Blood tests show "recent" gluten reaction, endoscopy measures damage from exposure "over time."

If your doc refuses to do an endoscopy, you could switch doctors or the alternative would be to go gluten-free and just promise yourself that you will try it, faithfully, for 2-3 months to see if it really helps.

A third option would be to pay out of pocket for a gene test (via www.myceliacid.com) to see if you have the gene or intolerance/gene testing via Enterolab (www.enterolab.com), which is a useful if somewhat controversial test. You don't need a doctor to order these for you nor to interpret the results. You also don't need a doctor to tell you what to eat or what not to eat.

Also, dairy is a very common problem for those who are gluten-intolerant. Corn is less so, but is a problem for some folks. Sometimes the intolerance to dairy and corn is temporary (and clears up once gluten is removed) and sometimes dairy and/or corn (or soy or eggs) are a permenant problem.

OK, hopefully I haven't confused you. Really, it's hard for me not to give advice because I've seen up close the damage that gluten can do and have also seen the benefit of going gluten-free for me and my son. And via stories here.

Good luck to you and I hope you get answers and good health.