Lack Of Appetite

[kittty]

When first going gluten-free about four months ago, I felt great. Better than I had in so many years, and it was such a relief. But since being glutened about three weeks ago I can't seem to get back to feeling good again. I got over the initial flu-like feeling, the stomach issues, and the anxiety. But now I have no energy and no appetite. They must be related (no energy in = no energy out), but nothing at all sounds appetizing, and half the stuff I usually eat actually sounds nauseating to eat. I'm trying to force myself to eat, but it's hard.

Has anyone else dealt with this, and did it eventually pass? Could this just be a lingering aftereffect of being glutened?

[kareng]

My mom has had this issue, unrelated to gluten. She had a stroke and ate something she couldn't chew or swallow well, likely a cookie or chip, and ulcerated her throat. She didn't eat much for a month. Then she had no appetite. Nothing looked, smelled or tasted good. We got a dietician consult & you can see if this might apply to you.

This is the basics of what she said:

When you don't eat much for a while, it affects your taste buds. Things taste odd. Your mental state isn't good because you aren't getting nutrition and protein so you don't want to eat. Your tired, so you don't exercise. If you don't exercise you don't get hungry.

To get it back, you have to force your self to eat. You need to eat a small 2 bite snack every hour. The more calories and protein, the better. 2 grapes is not as good as a piece of cheese, for example. You should add protein to your meals. Extra protein is a key to getting an appetite back. Add calories to what you do eat.

So here are some things we did as examples. Note: my mom can do dairy and gluten

2 bite snacks -

A few nuts

See's chocolate with cream centers

cracker with a nut butter or PB

cookie

chips

Cheezits (from my boys)

Any cookies or truffles my boys make (or I tell her they made)

We add protein powder to her milk and oatmeal. She won't drink the protein shakes but maybe you would?

My dad makes the oat meal with cream instead of milk which adds a lot of calories.

Add olive oil to foods.

Use the full fat version of something.

Add avocado to a snack or sandwich.

Twice baked potatoes with cream, full fat sour cream & cheddar (made skim milk, reduced fate cheese & sour cream for my dad )

We found that she ate spicier things & liked them. She usually doesn't like spicy. BBQ sauce on her meat & she thought it tasted better.

Hope this helps.

[kittty]

Thanks so much for the advice! I have been eating peanut butter, because it's one of the things that doesn't turn my stomach at the thought of eating it.

It probably is a chain-reaction like that- I wasn't feeling well, so didn't feeling like eating, and now I've just gotten out of the habit of eating.