does anyone feel better when they dont eat?

[Teddi]

Yes! When I wake up I try to delay eating anything for as long as possible. I can actually get something done if I don't eat. I also feel better. If I eat as soon as I wake up, then I find it hard to do anything. I don't have energy and I feel lousy!

 

[knackers323]

is their any correlation in those that feel better when not eating are the patients that do or do not have enterovirus?

i feel better when not eating and suspect enterovirus although its unconfirmed with testing.

 

[Wayne]

Count me as another person who has major problems with eating. My current "work around" is to just eat twice a day. I start out my day with tea. When I start to get hungry after about 3-4 hours, I drink a large glass of fermented vegetable juice (usually sauerkraut juice). That normally gives me a slight boost. After an hour or so, I will then have my daily large glass of bone broth. This makes me slightly sleepy, but not too much.

I will then eat around 2:00-3:00 pm. This almost always makes me very sleepy, and I will then take my afternoon nap. I then get up from my nap, and slowly ease back into the rest of my day, with a very similar approach eating very minimally. I then eat my second meal at around 11:00 pm. I know, everybody recommends against doing this. But it actually helps me sleep, especially if a small amount of butter is included in my final meal. -- What we sometimes have to do to make things work; even minimally!

 

[Runner5]

I feel a lot better when I don't eat, usually I feel sick in 20 minutes of eating. 20 seems to be the magic number, but I don't know why. I do have a lot of GI issues though.

 

[cigana]

I feel a lot better when I don't eat, usually I feel sick in 20 minutes of eating. 20 seems to be the magic number, but I don't know why. I do have a lot of GI issues though.

About 20 minutes for me too.

 

[Runner5]

@cigana & @Wishful -- well I figured it out for myself. Although the nature of CFS / ME is very unique and personal so I can't state if this would work for anyone or anything else... etc. etc. (***disclaimer, results will vary****)

I can't eat wheat, oats, most grain, which I already knew to a degree. I can't eat anything with a lot of sugar (ice cream, yogurts, candy bars, fruit juice, syrup, soda, starbucks *cry* etc. sweets) I can't eat processed food (which usually has wheat and tons of sugar anyway.)

If I eat any of the above I'm in trouble for about 72 hours. The long time it takes to snap out of it made it really hard to track down the trigger(s). I think my last great error was having a green smoothie which seemed inocuous and healthy at the time.

Also my gallbladder isn't great, so I don't do a lot of fat / oils / meat either. **goodbye fried anything**

I think the 20 minute time for me is the transport time from my stomach to the colon where the really bad bacteria / fungi or parasite lives that is stealing my glucose / carbs for itself leaving my cells body-wide and brain high and dry from receiving fuel to run on. No glycogen, no go.

PEM for me is probably my body trying to rebuild and recoup glycogen in my muscle groups and it just isn't available so it tares down muscle, takes forever to replenish and until then I'm down and out. The only time I didn't get PEM was drinking nearly straight sugar i.e. Vega brand sport drink >>during exercise<<, which happens to have Ginger in it. Ginger does seem to kill whatever the crappity crap is in my gut. It was probably enough sugar with guardian ginger in it to restore my glycogen stores.

In a perfect world my microbes would be on my team, happily symbiotic, but at least some are out to profiteer on what I'm eating without contributing. *freeloading microbes*

So I've done a few things differently. I was Zantac and PPI's for a long time which can contribute to SIBO. I've stopped all stomach drugs, all of them, even Tums. They're gone. I need my stomach acid to kill what ills me.

I take digestive enzymes -- ALWAYS. I take bromelain by itself and then I take a multi-enzyme pill. But always, always, always. I want the food broken down so that the friendly bacteria can do some magic with it.

I don't drink water with my meals because my stomach doesn't work quite right (see long term use of zantac and prilosec, long term gastritis that I finally resolved) stomach can't hack having food AND water in it at the same time. Big meals I put a little wine in with it to help break down the food, psuedo stomach acid.

I've dumped all NSAIDs into the garbage (not really - I'm too cheap for that, but they're gone from my pantry of drugs). No more will I ever take ibuprohen ever again, not when I found out what it does to the gut microbial system. I knew it would make my stomach bleed but it is like swallowing a gernade to the GI.

I take a daily multi-vitamin and high quality (waaaay too expensive) fish oil now and am on a very strict diet guided by principals of "don't eat stuff that kill you Paula" *got it finally* I eat a lot of veggies and bitter foods because I've read that evil gut microbes hate bitter foods.

I was taking L-Tryptophan and sometimes benedryl to help me sleep but I've stopped that and I'm working on a routine at night (no computer, gentle stretching, meditation, soft music -- *stuff* it varies on what I have energy for...) to help me rest and when I wake up and can't go back to sleep I get up and read a bit or play with the cat.

The million dollar life changing question is if the changes I've made will bring about lasting healing and positive change. Today I woke up normal, had more energy than my husband and my brain worked. IT WORKED -- both sides of it were talking, working, happy... it was impressively normal.

So if the question was put to me, can an evil self-serving microbe ruin your life? H3ll yes it can. It can destroy your life. But I did lay down the red carpet by taking ibuprophen for monthly migraines (a lot of it), taking PPI's, eating junk food and last but not least -- getting older. Darn you ticking clock.

I could be wrong, but since I am 95% sure this is what ails me and the 'solution' is just multi-faceted and although it seems easy when I write it out, it really isn't. I have had to track stuff, log stuff, and write myself notes for more months than I know. I utilized Google Calendar's reminder system to help me remember things so I could track a bit (it e-mails me regular reminders to write stuff down). But so many things seemed to dead end, like there is no wheat in my oatmeal, there is no grain in my green smoothie... so it has been a long haul and I've had to make a lot of changes and will still be making changes I'm sure. And most of the time, I didn't know what to track, is it food? Is it blood sugar? Is it my blood pressure? Is it my gallbladder? Is it an enzyme deficiency? Is it something I inherited? A type of depression? Lyme? West Nile? I've been bitten by loads of ticks in my life maybe something exotic...At one point I had over 20 possibilities on my list.

I tried to limit zebras and stick to looking for stuff that was more common. But instead of so much work....

I could have just done CBT ***total uncalled for snark*** #sarcasm

 

[Wayne]

But instead of so much work.... I could have just done CBT ***total uncalled for snark*** #sarcasm

It "may" be uncalled for, but I love it! And I thought your entire post was great. Oh how most of us can relate...

 

[Wishful]

One experiment you could try is different sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, others? I tried that, and reacted differently. Bad bacteria might feast on all of them, but it's possible that some might be more selective. With grains, try some that aren't related to wheat. If all of them have similar effects, it's probably just the starch, which is broken down into glucose and maybe fructose.

There's a lot of literature now on gut ecology. There might be some advice there that might help you.

 

[Fogbuster]

Yeah, I used to feel better some when I wasnt eatting at all. I felt better starving myself then eatting at all, when I eat, my energy like drains to which I then was blaming on using more energy for digestion. This turned out not to be the case.

Firstly I slowly over years became aware I had food intollerences eg dairy at times was giving me headaches, peanuts..stomache pain etc etc. Hence food was making me sick due to that.

Secondly..I recently found out I had hyperinsulinemia... when I eat carbohydrates, my insulin goes too high, it often too dont go down well once up and will still be high at times the next day over 12 hrs later. The hyperinsulinemia in my case was giving me more sore throats, making me wake up extremely exhausted, causing GERD and was messing with my moods and also making me at times feel depressed (these symptoms are now completely gone or much improved as long as I stay on an extremely low carb diet).

If you have hyperinsulinemia happening it will give you all kinds of symptoms and make the CFS/ME worst. I currently see a CFS specialist Dr Alan Gale (immunologist/allergist) http://www.agale.com.au/PANDORA.htm who has cured ones previously diagnosed with CFS as it turned out all their symptoms were from the hyperinsulinemia.

Think about your diet... carbs are usually in every meal a person eats, hence if you have insulin issue.. topped off too more if you have MCS as well (I think that then makes up react even worst to the high insulin). Insulin is a poison and too much basically poisons a person esp if that person is sensitive to this poison. I basically near avoid all carbs all now. Carbs are in breads, cereals, potatoes, root veg, fruits (fructose is a carb.. tomatoes are fruit), sugar, dairy (lactose). I live now mostly off of meats and some veg along with only 1 small piece of fruit per day and a slice of bread and need to have meat three times a day (helps balance insulin issues).

I suggest to go and get your insulin tested. or I guess you could experiment for several days or a week by avoiding all carb foods and seeing how you go on just meat (not processed) and things like lettuce, cucumber, capsicum etc and whether you start to loose some symptoms doing that.

Hey @taniaaust1, thanks for this post. I definitely feel like I could be one of those CFS patients. From looking at the symptom list on the wiki page for hyperinsulinemia it matches up with my worst symptoms EXACTLY to the tee. I get sympathetic activation to virtually all food, it's horrible. I get a reaction/flare up/sympathetic activation almost instantly when I eat anything that is high in fibre, fermented, smoked, aged, high GI, fructose & high in most biogenic amines e.g. salicylates and histamine. Going on many different low carb plant based diets for SIBO/leaky gut healing has been in vain as it makes me feel even worse physically and mentally (mood & function) as I just have what feels like horrible hypoglacemic swings if I eat too big a meal, don't eat regularly enough or consume things with too high levels of the food components mentioned above. Had glucose test etc and it all came back fine. Eating starchy carbs like white bread balanced with some protein in a balanced meal will make me feel much more balanced and able to function than eating a bowl of fresh veg. I've narrowed the possible cause of my symptoms down to Hyperinsulinemia/Gastroparesis/MCAS. Sore throat/regularly needing to clear throat, hand tremor, head/eye pressure, mild flushing, ear fullness, nasal congestion, visual snow, fatigue, sleep issues, extreme brain fog & mental confusion increases exponentially 15-40 mins later after eating. Would you be able to help advise on this? Many thanks

 

[taniaaust1]

Hey @taniaaust1, thanks for this post. I definitely feel like I could be one of those CFS patients. From looking at the symptom list on the wiki page for hyperinsulinemia it matches up with my worst symptoms EXACTLY to the tee. I get sympathetic activation to virtually all food, it's horrible. I get a reaction/flare up/sympathetic activation almost instantly when I eat anything that is high in fibre, fermented, smoked, aged, high GI, fructose & high in most biogenic amines e.g. salicylates and histamine. Going on many different low carb plant based diets for SIBO/leaky gut healing has been in vain as it makes me feel even worse physically and mentally (mood & function) as I just have what feels like horrible hypoglacemic swings if I eat too big a meal, don't eat regularly enough or consume things with too high levels of the food components mentioned above. Had glucose test etc and it all came back fine. Eating starchy carbs like white bread balanced with some protein in a balanced meal will make me feel much more balanced and able to function than eating a bowl of fresh veg. I've narrowed the possible cause of my symptoms down to Hyperinsulinemia/Gastroparesis/MCAS. Sore throat/regularly needing to clear throat, hand tremor, head/eye pressure, mild flushing, ear fullness, nasal congestion, visual snow, fatigue, sleep issues, extreme brain fog & mental confusion increases exponentially 15-40 mins later after eating. Would you be able to help advise on this? Many thanks

Just an ordinary glucose test does not show insulin levels on it.. the dr needs to ask for the insulin results to be put onto the 2hr glucose tolerance test when they do it and the sample needs to be put on ice to be taken to a lab as the insulin levels break down otherwise during transport to lab possibly then looking okay when in fact they were not. (that website link by the specialist in insulin issues has info on that).

". I get a reaction/flare up/sympathetic activation almost instantly"

Insulin reactions can happen very quickly. I've had very severe ones in 15mins.

A diet for hyperinsulinemia is not just a low carb diet but also with it if you have this issue you should not have low fat (skim) dairy products, always go to the full cream dairy product if having dairy as the fats in things help to slow down the aborption of the carbs in them.

..................................

I dont think I mentioned it in my other post but I also have a CBS mutation as well which causes other foods to affect me sometimes (unfortunately its some of the foods which are good to be eating with the insulin issues). With the CBS mutation I can often get away okay without symptoms of sulphur foods but other times I cant and something like too much brocolli can give me then stomach pain or eggs can make me feel nauseus due to it. I had to give up a brocolli and steak dish I used to like to have due to the CBS mutation issues being a problem to me at times.

I think many people who are reacting to a lot of different things and struggling to figure it all out, probably have more than one food issue going on