Extreme Hunger....

[Rachel--24]

Lately I've been experiencing something new. All of a sudden I'll feel REALLY hungry...I get a little lightheaded and kinda shaky. I'll feel like I need food badly...RIGHT NOW. I could've just eaten 1/2 hour earlier but you'd think I hadn't eaten in days. I'm eating alot more now than I was before my dx when I was just eating meat, veggies and fish (candida diet). I had this feeling a few times before I went on the candida diet..back when I was still eating gluten...but it went away until now. What could be causing it? I still have malabsorption...my stools are abnormally huge.

[Danijela]

I have enperiences the same thing. It usually happens to me right after I eat or after a period of fasting. I get this oerwhelming feeling that I need to eat right NOW!!! I get shaky and my mind gets kind of foggy. It makes sence to me that thats from malabsorbtion. A person feels hungry when they have burned off the calories or energy from their last meal. If your body is not absorbing nutrients properly that could be the reason.

[Rachel--24]

Thanks Danijela,

I just answered your topic question with pretty much the same response. He-He

Too bad we couldn't just condense the 2 topics since they are almost identical.

BTW....Welcome to the board!

[jknnej]

I had this for the first two or three months after going gluten-free. It went away, though. I've been gluten-free for 9 months now and I no longer have this problem.

It was not a fun problem-I'm glad it's gone. How long have you been gluten-free?

[Wandering Hermit]

gluten-free since April and I feel the same way pretty much every day. Does not always coincide with a feeling of hunger, though.

I just keep hoping that someday this gluten-free diet is going to pay off and I will start feeling like a normal person again with no fatigue, dizziness, and bizzare stools. At least the d has stopped.

[Rachel--24]

I had this for the first two or three months after going gluten-free. It went away, though. I've been gluten-free for 9 months now and I no longer have this problem.

It was not a fun problem-I'm glad it's gone. How long have you been gluten-free?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was probably 95% gluten-free since April but only got dxd a couple weeks ago. I've swtiched all my products to gluten-free now but I've had a couple slip-ups already cuz of contamination. I'm wondering if maybe my body is starting to heal and the hunger attacks mean it wants more food/nutrients since its trying to heal? Just a guess..

[Guest Viola]

I think part of it is physiological. Before we were diagnosed we thought about food only when it was meal time, or time to cook. Now that we have been diagnosed we spend all our time and effort thinking of food in one way or another. Checking ingredients, calling companies, worrying about going out, thinking about what we can take out etc. In other words most of our lives is all of a sudden tied up with food. It's only natural that our stomach follows our brain waves sometimes.

I find if I am out doing something I don't have to eat at all ... as soon as I come in, or sit at the computer it keeps saying feed me, feed me, I know there's ice cream in the fridge.

[Rachel--24]

  I find if I am out doing something I don't have to eat at all ... as soon as I come in, or sit at the computer it keeps saying feed me, feed me, I know there's ice cream in the fridge. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL...I think I'm actually the opposite in that I think about food alot LESS since getting dxd. I thought I'd had candida so I was constantly worried about "feeding" the candida or getting sick...paranoid everyday...but I never had these hunger attacks...I was eating way less also. Now I know all my food is gluten-free and I know the candida is not going to "get" me so I just stick to stuff I know is safe and I'm not too worried about food anymore. But my body is REALLY hungry.

[mandigirl1]

HI!!!!

I have the same symptoms that you described. Ive had celiac disease for 6 yrs. Usually I get extreme hunger after having an attack from gluten. Its a killer BM, then I feel sooooo hungry, I eat everything in site (gluten-free of course).

To feel full, I think you need to eat more protein with carbs like potato or rice. I went to a top, high priced Manhattan nutritionist, and thats what he told me. Also told me to stay away from sugar (Avoid it like the plague, he used to say). Finally, take your vitamins. I never enjoyed better health in my life until I followed a strict regime of vitamins. I felt like I had the energy of a 10 yr old (Im 32).

BTW, what is "candida"??? Never heard of it before.

Good luck, and if you have questions, ask!!! I may be able to help!!

[Rachel--24]

HI!!!!

I have the same symptoms that you described. Ive had celiac disease for 6 yrs. Usually I get extreme hunger after having an attack from gluten. Its a killer BM, then I feel sooooo hungry, I eat everything in site (gluten-free of course).

To feel full, I think you need to eat more protein with carbs like potato or rice. I went to a top, high priced Manhattan nutritionist, and thats what he told me. Also told me to stay away from sugar (Avoid it like the plague, he used to say). Finally, take your vitamins. I never enjoyed better health in my life until I followed a strict regime of vitamins. I felt like I had the energy of a 10 yr old (Im 32).

BTW, what is "candida"??? Never heard of it before.

Good luck, and if you have questions, ask!!!  I may be able to help!!

           

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

After I get glutened I'm NOT hungry at all for a few days. The attacks come about a week later when I start to feel a little better and my appetite is good. All of a sudden I'm starving and even though I've eaten I'll get a hunger attack. Come to think of it its usually after I've eaten something high in sugar. Why would that be? As soon as I eat something it goes away.

Candida is a yeast overgrowth in the intestines. Its a very controversial condition to say the least.

Oh yeah...what vitamins do you take? I'm not taking any right now cuz I wasnt sure if mine were making me feel worse. I'll try them one more time but if anything bad happens I'm done with them. They are a liquid gluten-free multivitamin.

[mandigirl1]

I get my vitamins from Freeda Vitamins in NYC. You can look them up online to order or request a catalog. I think every single vitamin they make is gluten-free.....so you should be safe. I take the Multi Vitamin, calcium, b6/12/, folic acid, and a few others. Ive never gotten sick from them.

Sugar makes you hungry. Once Ive had sugar, Im on a sugar "high" and eat and eat and eat. Its best to avoid sugar, if you can.

Just curious, if you dont mind, is candida a female condition????

[Rachel--24]

Just curious, if you dont mind, is candida a female condition????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info. on the vitamins.

Nope....Candida can affect anyone male or female. We all have candida in our guts...its a bacteria. We also have "good bacteria" as well. If there is an upset in the balance between good/bad bacteria (numerous things can cause this) the candida will grow and can sometimes cause problems. The *extent* of damage it can cause is what is debateable and controversial.

[Carriefaith]

Lately I've been experiencing something new. All of a sudden I'll feel REALLY hungry...I get a little lightheaded and kinda shaky. I'll feel like I need food badly...RIGHT NOW. I could've just eaten 1/2 hour earlier but you'd think I hadn't eaten in days.

I also feel like that sometimes, it's really annoying and I don't know for sure what causes it. For me, it happened really bad after I started the gluten-free diet and now it happens about a week or so after I've been glutened. I get so hungrey that I feel like I am going to faint if I don't eat something. It may be that food isn't absorbing proporly (due to gluten) and the body reacts by telling itself that it needs more food. But that is just a guess.

[thomas3000]

Candida is caused by chronic infection or overuse of antibiotics.

[Rachel--24]

I also feel like that sometimes, it's really annoying and I don't know for sure what causes it. For me, it happened really bad after I started the gluten-free diet and now it happens about a week or so after I've been glutened. I get so hungrey that I feel like I am going to faint if I don't eat something.  It may be that food isn't absorbing proporly (due to gluten) and the body reacts by telling itself that it needs more food. But that is just a guess.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup Carrie...that is *exactly* whats happening to me. Its about 1 week after getting glutened. When it happens I feel a little faint and shaky. Once when it happened I was luckily near a Whole Foods so I stopped and got some Envirokidz bars and some blueberries. I worry what will happen if I'm somewhere where there is no gluten-free food I can eat. Will I pass out? Maybe I should just carry around snack bars in case.

[tarnalberry]

Lately I've been experiencing something new. All of a sudden I'll feel REALLY hungry...I get a little lightheaded and kinda shaky. I'll feel like I need food badly...RIGHT NOW. I could've just eaten 1/2 hour earlier but you'd think I hadn't eaten in days. I'm eating alot more now than I was before my dx when I was just eating meat, veggies and fish (candida diet). I had this feeling a few times before I went on the candida diet..back when I was still eating gluten...but it went away until now. What could be causing it? I still have malabsorption...my stools are abnormally huge.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sounds like a fairly standard hypoglycemic response. Have you been tested for that? (And I'm sorry if I already asked you this one... I feel like I might have, but I just can't remember.)

[jknnej]

When I had this problem someone on this board told me that without gluten there is a massive change in stomach volume contents. Plus, our bodies go through gluten withdrawl.

Give it some time; what helped me out was eating every hour or so, just something small. Even today I eat very little at each meal so I can eat many times a day. It really does help.

It will go away and get better!

[Rachel--24]

That sounds like a fairly standard hypoglycemic response.  Have you been tested for that?  (And I'm sorry if I already asked you this one... I feel like I might have, but I just can't remember.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope...you never asked me. I'm sure I've been tested since in the beginning they ran a million tests. I know I got tested for diabetes 4 times in the first year! I'll be leaving my HMO soon so I'm requesting all my records. I'll be able to see all that was done....I'll ask my doc as well.

[tarnalberry]

I'm sure I've been tested since in the beginning they ran a million tests. I know I got tested for diabetes 4 times in the first year!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Meh... tests aren't that great. And I don't think the standard diabetes tests cover testing for hypoglycemia very well (but I could well be wrong about that). My tests all come out fine too, but my doctor noted that a lot of people she sees (particularly women) find that they are just more sensitive to the effects than what the lab tests say is "okay" and "not okay". The only way to know for sure is to try the treatment (a more balanced meal (at every meal) and significantly less in the way of refined, high-glycemic load carbs). I'm sure, however, there are other things that could be going on as well.

[Rachel--24]

  My tests all come out fine too, but my doctor noted that a lot of people she sees (particularly women) find that they are just more sensitive to the effects than what the lab tests say is "okay" and "not okay".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know this to be true with thyroid testing so I'm sure the same things goes for most tests. I think since it's only happening after a glutening it may just be something my body's going through as it tries to recover. If it continues to happen in the absence of gluten I may have to ask you for some meal advice.

[aikiducky]

This happens to me, too, and also about a week after being glutened. I try to always take some nuts and raisins or a banana with me, especially when I'm recovering from a glutening. And eat some protein at every meal. Gluten is a protein after all, if you leave it out, I figure something has to come in it's place.

Pauliina

[Rachel--24]

Thanks,

Well noones said I could pass out from one of these episodes so thats a relief.

I'll just keep munchies with me if I leave the house.

[mandigirl1]

Where is the chronic infection in the body? Like having a whole body like flu or in a specific area???????

I also feel faint and dizzy and very hungry. I had that yesterday, during the day, and immediately devoured the closest thing to me, which happened to have been a bag of baked lays doritos !!!! Then a baskin robbins pistachio/mint choc. chip ice cream (and I never eat this way because I like to stay thin)

The idea that maybe youve been glutened and arent absorbing nutrients properly makes sense.

Best Advice: Just 'hang in there' like the rest of us Celiacs do!!!!!!

[mandigirl1]

Oh yeah, I just remembered, it always helps to keep a stash of gluten-free food, with you if you go out. I find that when I dont bring a snack I get ravenous, faint and very irritable!!!!

My boyfriend always makes sure wherever we go that I have my chocolate rice cakes on hand. This does help. He knows if I dont have something quick I get crazy.......as a matter of fact he calls it "crazy food". So if we go on a vacation, he'll ask, Hon, did u pack your crazy food??????

[Rachel--24]

Where is the chronic infection in the body? Like having a whole body like flu or in a specific area???????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mandigirl,

He's talking about chronic conditions which may leave the immune system weakened and vulnerable to bacteria overgrowth. Any undiagnosed condition I suppose could lead to this. It would be most dangerous to a person with a very compromised immune system though...such as an AIDS patient.