Distinguishing hunger from other symptoms
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mg1123
Posts: 69 Member
First, let me say that I have NOT done the fasting step. I know that I can fast, as I have done so for lab work or surgery. It is mostly due to timing - I really can't do it at work, and the weekends so far haven't been conducive to doing so. I do know that I have been partly afraid of going too long without eating, as I have tended towards migraines - although they may actually have been triggered by drinking sodas AND not eating, and I have since learned that the benzoates in sodas are a migraine trigger for me.
Still, I have been paying attention to sensations of uncomfortableness before and after eating. I found it especially helpful to understand the differences between hunger/desire/cravings. What was confusing to me the past few days was that I could eat until I felt full, but not long after, feel what I had always attributed to hunger - as in I had not eaten enough. It is the same feeling that you get with cravings - the feeling in my throat like I need something. So I knew it wasn't hunger, and that as we read, "hunger is not an emergency", so I ignored the uncomfortable feelings. If I am busy, I don't notice it as much, but it feels like it is always there, even hours later. It didn't FEEL like cravings, though, as there was no one item I felt drawn to eat - more like, I need to continue snacking on something.
After googling "uncomfortable feelings in my throat after eating", I am now suspicious that I might have GERD, which might be related to what I suspected in the past was a hiatal hernia. If it is caused by stomach acid not releasing fast enough, then the continual eating was helping to send the acid to my intestines. Therefore, the reason I was gaining weight or not losing weight was likely caused by eating all the time to get rid of what I felt like was hunger.
This really helps me, as I was so frustrated with diets. I have all these different diet books, I have met with a nutritionist, I have tried to change what I eat, but the reality is, it's always been about quantity. Now that I know it is not hunger, I can avoid feeding this feeling. It's still uncomfortable, but I can see that the burning feeling isn't a need for more food (other than to calm the acid).
I have also stopped taking Alleve (an NSAID), unless I absolutely need it. That should also help with stomach/kidney/other issues I might have. It's only been a couple of days, but I feel like I have lifted a burden, because I understand now why I was feeling so compelled to eat, and why I was feeling out of control.
Sorry so long! I am just happy to learn this. Now I don't know whether to try "treating myself" with tums when I feel these symptoms, and see if changing my eating will help the problem, or if I need to contact my doctor. According to this one article that helps summarize things, it's really about the percentage of carbs, and cutting down on my food will help change that percentage, which may help with the symptoms, and yay, I should lose weight. Which when I weighed myself for the first time since starting to follow the information in the book, is already 2 pounds less than a couple of weeks ago!
Stomach Acid & Hunger article:
http://www.nemechekconsultativemedicine.com/?page_id=1289
Still, I have been paying attention to sensations of uncomfortableness before and after eating. I found it especially helpful to understand the differences between hunger/desire/cravings. What was confusing to me the past few days was that I could eat until I felt full, but not long after, feel what I had always attributed to hunger - as in I had not eaten enough. It is the same feeling that you get with cravings - the feeling in my throat like I need something. So I knew it wasn't hunger, and that as we read, "hunger is not an emergency", so I ignored the uncomfortable feelings. If I am busy, I don't notice it as much, but it feels like it is always there, even hours later. It didn't FEEL like cravings, though, as there was no one item I felt drawn to eat - more like, I need to continue snacking on something.
After googling "uncomfortable feelings in my throat after eating", I am now suspicious that I might have GERD, which might be related to what I suspected in the past was a hiatal hernia. If it is caused by stomach acid not releasing fast enough, then the continual eating was helping to send the acid to my intestines. Therefore, the reason I was gaining weight or not losing weight was likely caused by eating all the time to get rid of what I felt like was hunger.
This really helps me, as I was so frustrated with diets. I have all these different diet books, I have met with a nutritionist, I have tried to change what I eat, but the reality is, it's always been about quantity. Now that I know it is not hunger, I can avoid feeding this feeling. It's still uncomfortable, but I can see that the burning feeling isn't a need for more food (other than to calm the acid).
I have also stopped taking Alleve (an NSAID), unless I absolutely need it. That should also help with stomach/kidney/other issues I might have. It's only been a couple of days, but I feel like I have lifted a burden, because I understand now why I was feeling so compelled to eat, and why I was feeling out of control.
Sorry so long! I am just happy to learn this. Now I don't know whether to try "treating myself" with tums when I feel these symptoms, and see if changing my eating will help the problem, or if I need to contact my doctor. According to this one article that helps summarize things, it's really about the percentage of carbs, and cutting down on my food will help change that percentage, which may help with the symptoms, and yay, I should lose weight. Which when I weighed myself for the first time since starting to follow the information in the book, is already 2 pounds less than a couple of weeks ago!
Stomach Acid & Hunger article:
http://www.nemechekconsultativemedicine.com/?page_id=1289
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Replies
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Hi.
Another Becker here. I have troubles distinguishing when I am satisfied vs desire to continue to eat. that is where the portion sizes are helpful for me. Also waiting the 20 minutes after eating. Slowing down is hard, but it is getting easier.
The phrase, "hunger is not an emergency", has been helpful.0 -
After doing more research, I emailed my doctor this afternoon and told him what Dr. Google said it could be - excess stomach acid not draining, and how it made sense if eating helped to ease it. He said I could be on to something, and sent in a prescription for Protonix to take once a day for a week or two to see if it helps. That would be good - because right now, I feel this constant sensation until the next time I eat. If I hadn't been reading this book and learning the difference between hunger/desire/craving, who knows when I would have realized that it wasn't hunger that I was experiencing.0
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Hope you get to feeling better mg.0
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It's already made a huge difference. My abdomen was burning between every meal because I wasn't feeding it. Today I have not had the burning discomfort in between meals. In fact, I think it's making me eat less at a time. This morning, I was full after 1-1/2 egg muffins (not eggMcMuffins - just little individual "muffins" that are kind of like frittattas or crustless quiche). My lunch salad was noticeably smaller than usual.0
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Good job, MG. Glad that you are tuning in to your body's signals.0
