Just A Quick Question?

[Countrygal]

Hi everyone,I'm brand new here,But I did'nt know where else to go...I have Crohn's Disease and Diabetes,But I have been fighting this for a while I ahve researched on my own and have to ask...Do any of you feel like your starving always,no matter how much you eat or how often?????It is absolutely awful.When I tell anyone,they act like is that all...Its painful...And hard to sleep...Any help would be great...COUNTRYGAL

[judy05]

Hi Countrygal,

Welcome to the board! I have gluten and dairy intolerance and was diagnosed last fall with Diabetes. I don't take any meds, trying to control it with meds and exercise. I have a relative with Chron's and I know how she suffers with it. I also have spells when I get really hungry. my solution has been to eat protein along with my carbs, such as peanut butter(lo carb) with an apple or rice cake. Always try to have a protein with each meal along with veggies. Do you follow a gluten-free diet?

Hope this helps.

[Countrygal]

Hi Judy...I also use diet for my diabetes,except when chrohns flares...Then prednisone makes me have to take glucatrol...anyways...lately the hunger is constant no matter how much or how often I eat Its hard to sleep or consentrate...when you feel like you havent eaten in days...I am just starting the gluten free diet on my on...Of course between the chrohns diet and the diabetes diet...that leaves water..I just hope eventualy the diet will take effect and the hunger pains will diappear...Thanks...COUNTRYGAL

[skbird]

I have been having bouts of hunger again, a burning kind, lately. I have noticed it happens more when I have fruit or grains (like rice). I have been trying to stick with more protein snacks, like nuts and cheese, but sometimes it's hard to avoid. Frustrating, isn't it? I'm also hypoglycemic and most of the time I'm in good control but there are those moments...

I do find that drinking a glass of goat milk is pretty helpful - good combo of fat, protein, and sugar. But if you can't have milk then something else would have to do. Making smoothies is pretty easy and tasty - I like peanut butter smoothies (weird, huh?) and will add a spoon of unsweetened cocoa and a frozen banana (doesn't have to be frozen) and just enough coconut milk to get it the right consistency. If that's not quite sweet enough, I add some stevia. It's a good treat and very filling.

Stephanie

[tarnalberry]

If I don't make sure to balance my carbs with fat and protein at *every* meal, yeah, I can feel that way. And during ... ahem... "certain times of the month"... my hormones make me constantly hungry (lasts about five to seven days).

[LKelly8]

How long have you been on prednisone? When I took it for my rheumatoid arthritis it gave me crazy hunger, no matter how much I ate and I ate ALOT! In the middle of the night I'd wake up just STARVING and that would be after a day of eating everything I could get my hands on. I gained 50 lbs in six months. Other side effects were night sweats, mood swings and a lovely goatee.

It did nothing for my arthritis but as birth control it worked just fine.

[Carriefaith]

Yeah, I find I have to eat a lot in order to be full. Some days are worse than others. It's especially bad after I exercise.

[watkinson]

Hi countrygal,

Try drinking some green tea. It has wonderful antioxidant properties, and is a natural appetite supressant. Plus sipping somthing warm keeps your mind off eating other stuff.

Like skdbird said, drinking a glass of milk helps when you get craving. And definatley boost up your protien levels. A good snack when the munchies comes on is a piece

of cheese wrapped up in peice of lunchmeat like tukey, with a glass of milk.

Hope this works,

Wendy

[lmtrenholm]

Hi,

Eating more protein should help a lot, but if you're still having problems try Hoodia Gordonii. This is a natural food based supplement derived from a certain type of cactus - you may have seen the story 20/20 did on it last year.

I have used it myself and it really eliminates hunger. I have never experienced any side-effects from it and from what I understand it is completely safe since it's just a plant food extract that they put into capsules. If you have any trouble finding it in health food stores, just order it from the internet.

To read more about it just type Hoodia Gordonii into your favourite search engine. It's great for hunger control and really helps if you're trying to loose weight or going through a hard time giving up sugar/bad carbs.

[tarnalberry]

from what I understand it is completely safe since it's just a plant food extract that they put into capsules.

Just a reminder that just because something is a plant extract - even from food - doesn't mean it's safe. Parts of rhubarb can be poisonous, while some flowers are edible some are poisonous, aspirin and anti-malarial medications are essentially plant extracts, etc. This one may be safe, but it's not a safe analogy to say that because it comes from food, it's alright. (As one interesting example, nutmeg - the stuff that is likely in your pantry right now - has dangerous hallucinogenic properties if you take too much of it. And too much at one time is - for most people - less that what's in a large bottle of it. A few kids have tried it out from time to time, mostly to end up in the hospital and realizing the experience wasn't worth much to begin with.

[lmtrenholm]

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse by using the word "food" without defining it.

What I meant by food was something that was widely recognized as an edible plant/animal, with nutritional value, not known to normally have toxic properties (excluding individual sensitivities and allergic reactions) at levels/dosages recognized as safe and usual.

Poisonous parts of rhubarb, all plant extracts, and nutmeg (when consumed in unusually large amounts) do not qualify as foods and most people know that just about anything in a large enough quantity can cause harm.

For those who disagree with my personal definition of food, the dictionary says: Material, usually of plant or animal origin, that contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals, and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life.

Most of us would agree that poisonous plants and extracts, drugs, and substances taken in large enough quantities to cause harm do not meet the definition of producing energy, stimulating growth, and maintaining life.

Perhaps I should have gone on to explain the long history of eating this cactus in parts of Africa but I assume people can look into it further if they're interested.