Always hungry!!

[lowkey]

Hey guys,
I hope you are all doing well given the circumstances. I just have a quick query about hunger? Recently, I have been eating a lot! I will have a smoothie in the morning packed with good stuff. I will have morning tea, a big lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and something after dinner. I will also snack throughout the day. I'm not eating huge portions, and it isn't unhealthy food (mostly). However, even straight after i've eaten a meal, i am hungry again. I am not gaining weight. For context, I am a 20 year old male. 173cm tall, I weight about 60kg and have slim build. Before I was ill I would exercise daily, and have never really eaten this much. Any ideas about what is happening?
Thanks

 

[ScottTriGuy]

Pre-ME I always had a very strong hunger drive ("I'm hungry" escaped my lips multiple times a day as my colleague can attest) and so it was hard to keep weight off.

Now I don't have an appetite and so am more concerned about keeping weight on.

I don't know what's happening (obviously), but I think my gut flora may have changed...pure speculation.

 

[JaimeS]

@lowkey -- if you're eating but not gaining, that could be:

• hyperthyroid - any anxiety, shakiness, feeling 'on' all the time?
• parasites - any travel lately?

Just some ideas -- not to be taken as medical advice, obviously.

-J

 

[drob31]

Your cortisol may be really high as well.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Insulin resistance? A glucose tolerance test with matching insulin levels is one good way to test this.

 

[Mrs Sowester]

@lowkey that happens to me when I'm moving into a relapse/flare-up/crash too.
The crazy hunger came with the big virus that floored me in 2010, I suddenly wanted two sandwiches instead of one, then my eating almost doubled. It took about 3months of over eating before I started to gain weight, then I ballooned.
For the first few years when I was in an ME boom and bust cycle I found the hunger goes when in boom and comes with the bust. I now take out of the ordinary hunger as a warning to slow down completely with activities - I think I'm averting massive PEM crashes this way, although that might just be hopeful thinking!

 

[MeSci]

I was always hungry until I cut out gluten and reduced sugar and grains. Now my appetite is normal, probably because I no longer have the blood glucose spikes and troughs caused by too much carbohydrate.

 

[Invisible Woman]

I was always hungry until I cut out gluten and reduced sugar and grains. Now my appetite is normal, probably because I no longer have the blood glucose spikes and troughs caused by too much carbohydrate.

I echo the cutting out sugars and have to be very careful with grains. If I allow sugar spikes it seems to awaken a monster within me that can only be satisfied by carbs.

I was also advised to substitute smoothies (particularly fruit ones) with just eating fruit - obviously some fruit like bananas and grapes are higher in natural sugars than others.

If I have grains/carbs I try to have small portions of wholegrain. Eating a little fat with carbs can also slow down the sugar release.

We are all different so it's worth experimenting - keeping a food diary will give you a good record as to which foods are more likely to leave you feeling hungry later.