Hungry all the time

[Victoria]

Does anyone else have this? I am hungry all the time, and eating does not help, if anything it makes it worse. Does anyone found a thing that helped? Chlorella helped me for a while, SCD too, but not anymore.

You could try giving yourself a challenging mental chore to do.

(alright I'm nuts).

My story goes like this.....

At the beginning of April, I decided to set up a Blogspot on Google. Partly to challenge my limited computer skills. I stayed up til 2.00am in the morning 2-3 times & spent most of several days trying, going over & over the instructions on how to use a Google Blogspot template. I was determined to set it up & despite fatigue, I stuck at it until I managed to work it out - took me 2 weeks to understand the instructions. I kid you not. I am hopeless with a computer.

In the meantime, I wasn't hungry (despite my usual snacking habit). In other words I was eating out of boredom in the past - not hunger. I felt "hungry" before I finished full-time work. I had a busy job, even a stressful job. But that job wasn't ringing the right bells in my brain.

I needed to challenge myself with something that I desperately wanted. I didn't want to do more computer work when I was working, as I was exhausted all the time. So while I had the desire to set up my own blog, I was too fatigued to attempt it.

But now that I'm not working, I am not so tired.

It had to be the right "challenge". My intermittent brain fog stops me starting many tasks in recent weeks. But setting up that Blogspot was the right challenge at the right time. And I knew it didn't matter what time I went to bed, as I didn't have to get up for work in the morning.

Any chance that you can find something that distracts you enough, is so challenging that you can't put it down, & is doable.

Now that I've got past the so called "hungry all the time" mental state, I seem to have cured my habit.

(I might add that if I eat foods that don't agree with me, I can revert back to that hungry all the time habit).

So try not to feed the idea of "hunger all the time".

You could also try drinking a glass of water every time you feel "hungry". I've never done this, but have heard that it succeeds with some people.

High protein/low carb usually makes you feel fuller too. High Carbs usually make you initially full, but don't necessarily last long. Doesn't work for everyone, but if I eat carbs like bread or pasta, I seem to get hungry quicker (than if I eat steak & steamed vegies).

 

[BEG]

I heard a CFS specialist say that we can gain weight on a 700 calorie daily diet. I figure we have absolutely no metabolism anymore. This isn't much help I know.

 

[alphahusky]

Someone on here told me recently that constant hunger is neurological.

Brown-eyed girl, I had a Basal Metabolic Rate test done once, and that's exactly what I came out as. The only time I can keep my weight under control anymore is to get 9 hours of sleep (yeah, right) and then be able to exercise (I concentrate on muscle buidling and yoga, NOT aerobics). But it's a struggle. I gained 80 pounds in 6 months from a tricyclic before I got pregnant with my daughter, and my upper belly is still bigger than where the new baby is growing, though I lost 40 pounds.

 

[leaves]

Thanksthanksthanks

Thank you all for so many suggestions. Very helpful.
-Very interesting to hear that the hunger could be due to neuropeptide Y. is there a way to down regulate it?
-Hunger neurological? That is fascinating. I have a lot of neurological symptoms. Is there anything that can be don against it?
-The histamine is also something very relevant for me. It is true; whenever I am allergic to something, it makes me more hungry. The problem is I am low in histadine (probably because it all gets converted to histamine) so I dont want to take something that makes it even lower, it is needed for detox. Is there a way to prevent histadine to convert to histamine?
-Healthy fats are very important! I take fishoil and avoid the unhealthy fats (although I do eat butter) I have used coconut oil for a long time, but have stopped it as I think I may be intolerant to it (salicylates)
-And yes, it is true; when I am very busy I forget my hunger... but I cant always be.

xoxox
Leaves

 

[Athene]

Re histamine,
you cannot stop your mast cells releasing histamine, so any allergic reaction will deplete histidine.
Normal antihistamine drugs don't deplete histidine, they just block receptor sites to histamine, which is already a different substance.
I take a supplement of this (along with the other aminos) and diamine oxidase, which is the body's natural enzyme for eliminating histamine.

 

[IntuneJune]

Jody, thanks!

Thank you. Before I try something new, I am pretty good about checking it out. So first there is a reason for starting something new, then the product itself gets a thorough looking over before beginning a regimen. Then, if I am lucky, I will REMEMBER to be consistent about the regimen.

It is a wonderful thing if I remember the regimen, remember why I started the regimen, and really great if I remember why I choose THAT one.

Unfortunately, more likely than not, I forget why I bought something, or, after awhile, stop taking it simply because I forgot...... the bottle might have been misplaced, or temporarily hiding, only to come across it months later and I wonder why I bought the darn thing in the first place. This of course is frustrating considering the TIME, EFFORT, ENERGY, RESEARCH, and MONEY it took to change a behavior to purchase it in the first place.

Not to mention how purely "stupid" I feel when I am asked by a family member who might come across the half-empty bottle first and ask simple curious questions as to its benefits or how long I had been trying it, etc.

Having a highly functioning mind certainly would cut down on time and energy spent (wasted) looking for items, or save steps doing routines in a logical order, not having to do activities over and over, because of a step or item forgotten.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I try to stay positive, but I must admit I ask "Why, why impose such limitations on "brain" power on a group of unfortunate folks who have limited energy and physical capabilities in the first place?

OK, I will stop licking my wounds and tredge or is it trudge, geeezzzz, on with the day.

Thanks again, Jody!

June

 

[Hysterical Woman]

I am hungry all the time too. I can eat a meal and be hungry in an hour. I avoid sugars and white flour. Having a fruit snack handy helps as does drinking lots of water. I gained 30 pounds in about a year in a half and hate it. I will ask my doctor to check my meds as I am on low dose doxepin for sleep and read that it can increase appetite. Good luck. I'd like to know the answer to this too. My thyroid levels are fine and I am on a low dose of synthroid.

Wendy

Hi Wciarci,

Doxepin can indeed make you hungry all the time just like the elavil did to me. What really annoys me is that I took the elavil for insomnia and leg pain not knowing that I could supplement with magnesium and get better results without the side effects.

Hysterical

 

[leaves]

Hi Wciarci,

Doxepin can indeed make you hungry all the time just like the elavil did to me. What really annoys me is that I took the elavil for insomnia and leg pain not knowing that I could supplement with magnesium and get better results without the side effects.

Hysterical

Heheh Dr Klimas just send me the prescription for doxepin.. I guess I wont run to the pharmacy yet :tongue:

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Heheh Dr Klimas just send me the prescription for doxepin.. I guess I wont run to the pharmacy yet :tongue:

Hi leaves,

lol, interesting timing. Did Dr. Klimas say why she was prescribing the doxepin? Is it for sleep? For my own situation, I really wish I had known that I had a major (at least 20+ years) magnesium deficiency, and I would have never taken the elavil. However, because I didn't know that at the time, I was grateful for the medication because for the first 6 months of being ill I never slept more than about 4 hours each night. I was still working at my corporate job which usually included 50 hours a week of work and quite a bit of travel. It was a nightmare. It might be that you will end up having to take it to fight symptoms, but it is definitely a trade off.

If I am remembering correctly I believe that I read one time that Dr. Klimas feels that it is very difficult for cfs patients to hold onto their magnesium supplementation? Anybody else remember that? Did I dream that?? As result, she might feel that just suggesting magnesium might not take care of your problem. I personally believe that cfs patients can hold onto the magnesium that they take, but in some cases it takes some work to get the proper magnesium type, and dosage that works for you. For me that was magnesium glycinate (because glycine is a very small amino acid molecule that might allow better blood/brain penetration), and because I believe that my body might also need the glycine. I was also careful not to take calcium supplements (which I didn't need - my calcium level was/is "normal") since high levels of calcium can prevent magnesium absorption, as can alcohol, stress, etc. It was a slow process to bring my magnesium levels up to normal because I could never get a bigger dose than 300-400 mg into my body daily - otherwise it made me too sleepy during the day. After 11 months of supplementation I was close to normal levels.

Sleep improvement happened in less than a week, with the ability to gradually wean myself off the elavil. Muscle spasms, leg pain, heart palpitations, etc. took a while longer to diminish.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and please keep us updated.

Hysterical

 

[ahimsa]

Yet another possibility (I'm sure there are countless reasons, I hope one of the replies on this thread fits your situation and helps you) could be that your body is slightly dehydrated. And just drinking some extra water may not be enough if your body is not retaining the water. I have orthostatic intolerance/neurally mediated hypotension and possibly have low blood volume. One thing that helps me is not just drinking lots of water (about 3 liters daily) but also taking salt tablets and a couple of prescription meds.

The other thing that helped me was that I used to associate higher energy with eating something because, back when I was normal, that's how it worked. I had to re-train myself to realize that eating did not actually make me feel better or have more energy. I was still just as exhausted and out of breath, if not more so, after a meal. Now, I have figured out that eating actually reduces my energy (for a while, at least, while I'm digesting the food). So, on those days when I want to do some errands, I eat a lot less so that I'll have a bit more energy (in the short run, then I might have a crash if I don't carefully plan everything).

Again, this may not apply to you but I thought I'd put it out there. It was such an ingrained habit to eat something so I'd have some energy that it was happening on a subconscious level.

 

[Jody]

Thank you. Before I try something new, I am pretty good about checking it out. So first there is a reason for starting something new, then the product itself gets a thorough looking over before beginning a regimen. Then, if I am lucky, I will REMEMBER to be consistent about the regimen.

It is a wonderful thing if I remember the regimen, remember why I started the regimen, and really great if I remember why I choose THAT one.

Unfortunately, more likely than not, I forget why I bought something, or, after awhile, stop taking it simply because I forgot...... the bottle might have been misplaced, or temporarily hiding, only to come across it months later and I wonder why I bought the darn thing in the first place. This of course is frustrating considering the TIME, EFFORT, ENERGY, RESEARCH, and MONEY it took to change a behavior to purchase it in the first place.

Not to mention how purely "stupid" I feel when I am asked by a family member who might come across the half-empty bottle first and ask simple curious questions as to its benefits or how long I had been trying it, etc.

Having a highly functioning mind certainly would cut down on time and energy spent (wasted) looking for items, or save steps doing routines in a logical order, not having to do activities over and over, because of a step or item forgotten.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I try to stay positive, but I must admit I ask "Why, why impose such limitations on "brain" power on a group of unfortunate folks who have limited energy and physical capabilities in the first place?

OK, I will stop licking my wounds and tredge or is it trudge, geeezzzz, on with the day.

Thanks again, Jody!

June

LOL

I do the same thing, sad to say.

I will be quite up on a particular supplement, what it's for, etc. when I first start taking it. A few of them have had a noticeable enough effect for me that I will remember later what it's all about. But most of them ...

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Leaves/doxepin

Hi leaves,

I just spoke to my local friend who sees Dr. Cheney. She told me that Dr. Cheney believes that doxepin has immune modulating properties in addition to being able to help with things like sleep. Maybe that is another reason why Klimas prescribes it??? Don't know, just wanted to pass that information on to you in case it might help.

Take care,

Hysterical

 

[flybro]

I think there is a big correlation between hunger, nuasea and POTS/OI 'dizzyness'.

I rarely get hungry, and have a very small appitite, dizzyness does NOT make me feel nauseas. I used to be a thrill seeker and enjoyed the scary headrush stuff, so getting dizzy is not totally with out its enjoyable element for me.

However my partner who is healthy associates dizzyness with feeling sick and eating eleviates her dizzyness and nausea.

I'm not sure if I've made anysense with this, hope someone can make some sense of what I'm trying to get at.

 

[wciarci]

Hi Hysterical,

I just cut my doxepin down, I don't really want to stop it as it has really helped in so many ways. I will try adding more magnesium but I do take a lot each day, plus an avocado in my salad at night. I tried all the natural sleep aids and they didn't work. Valerian root made me so hung over the next day, I can't take it at all.

Wendy

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Hi Hysterical,

I just cut my doxepin down, I don't really want to stop it as it has really helped in so many ways. I will try adding more magnesium but I do take a lot each day, plus an avocado in my salad at night. I tried all the natural sleep aids and they didn't work. Valerian root made me so hung over the next day, I can't take it at all.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Good luck with decreasing the doxepin, altho please see the message I wrote to leaves - could it possibly have immomodulating properties?

If you get a chance, could you let me know which magnesium you are taking, what dose, when you take it, and are you taking calcium too? It is tough to get enough magnesium from food for a bunch of reasons. I also had problems years ago when I tried to take valerian for sleep - got that hung over feeling.

Take care,

Hysterical

 

[leaves]

Hi leaves,

I just spoke to my local friend who sees Dr. Cheney. She told me that Dr. Cheney believes that doxepin has immune modulating properties in addition to being able to help with things like sleep. Maybe that is another reason why Klimas prescribes it??? Don't know, just wanted to pass that information on to you in case it might help.

Take care,

Hysterical

Hey Hysterical,

Hmm thats interesting, thanks! She prescribed it for sleep as far as I know.
I guess ill have to try and see. But ill wait a while, I just started the imunovir and I dont want to start everything at once.
xoxox
Leaves

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Hey Hysterical,

Hmm thats interesting, thanks! She prescribed it for sleep as far as I know.
I guess ill have to try and see. But ill wait a while, I just started the imunovir and I dont want to start everything at once.
xoxox
Leaves

Hi Leaves,

It sounds like a wise to decision to wait before starting something else new. Hopefully you will get a picture of what might be helping/what isn't. Good luck with the treatment and please keep us updated on how you are doing. As you already know, this forum is a wealth of information about what each of us might try to better our frustrating health.

Take care,

Hysterical

 

[wciarci]

Hysterical, I take about 200 mg a day, maybe i need more? i have cut down on the doxepin and haven't been so hungry this weekend, just a cow and some small children.

Wendy

 

[leaves]

Hysterical, I take about 200 mg a day, maybe i need more? i have cut down on the doxepin and haven't been so hungry this weekend, just a cow and some small children.

Wendy

:Retro smile::Retro smile:

 

[Victoria]

I couldn't take Valerian either (it gave me terrible nightmares - not hangover the next day).