Increased appetite due to medication

Fitnessgirl0913

Hi everyone,
Recently the dosage one on of my medications was increased and it is making me ravenous all the time! My one friend who is an RN in a nursing home said they often give my medication to patients with a low appetite because it makes you very hungry. What do you suggest for combating the increased appetite? I have tried a few things such as keeping busy by doing puzzles, reading, playing gams, etc but I cannot seem to get my mind off being hungry as this is a level of hunger I have never experienced before. I should mention I am focusing on recomp so I am already eating at maintenance which for me is around 1800 calories. I have been doing a bit of extra exercise so I can eat 2,000 calories but it doesn’t really seem to be helping. I have messed with my meal timing; I have eaten a small breakfast and lunch so I can have a large dinner as this is the time I am hungriest. I ate 1,000 calories for dinner last night but was starving again in 2 hours. I know what satiates me so I have been eating the macros for that but I just can’t shake this hunger! The medication I am in works wonders for my condition so going off of it is out of the question and my doctor just said increased appetite is normal. It has been 2 weeks and so far I have been doing well about not giving in and eating everything but it is getting harder and harder as time goes on. Any advice on dealing with this would be greatly appreciated!


ETA: stats I am a 27 year old female ,5’5 and 137 pounds

mywayroche

Have you told your doctor that it's a problem for you or just told them that it's happening?

Fitnessgirl0913

I have told them it’s a problem but the benefit of the medication outweighs the side effect. I have tried switching medications in the past and it never works out well.

Fat_girl_getting_slim

I’m also on medication that causes weight gain and I’ve actually gained a lot of weight through them but like you the medication is working for my condition so coming off them is out of the question, I just try and reach for fruit and veg I will also eat houmous and veg sticks and lots of fruit, boiled eggs and cooked meats it is hard but it can be done if you put your mind to it x

Deviette

It might be that the macros that you previously found satisfying have shifted with the medication. Now may be a time to experiment to see if mixing up your macros will help you out.

On that note, you might find benefit in volume eating. That being eating very low calorie foods in high volumes in an effort to fill your stomach with "stuff". I know some find it very helpful.

Alternatively you could try switching around your calorie distribution. I normally have a small breakfast and lunch and then most of my calories for dinner. But, I find I'm actually a lot more satisfied if I have a larger breakfast, then a late lunch, and then I'm barely hungry for dinner and sometimes I don't eat it. I know that this distribution works best for me, but it doesn't work best for my schedule which is why I don't normally follow it. However, my point is that for the same number of calories, I tend to find the second method much more satisfying for the day.

Fitnessgirl0913

Deviette wrote: »

It might be that the macros that you previously found satisfying have shifted with the medication. Now may be a time to experiment to see if mixing up your macros will help you out.

On that note, you might find benefit in volume eating. That being eating very low calorie foods in high volumes in an effort to fill your stomach with "stuff". I know some find it very helpful.

Alternatively you could try switching around your calorie distribution. I normally have a small breakfast and lunch and then most of my calories for dinner. But, I find I'm actually a lot more satisfied if I have a larger breakfast, then a late lunch, and then I'm barely hungry for dinner and sometimes I don't eat it. I know that this distribution works best for me, but it doesn't work best for my schedule which is why I don't normally follow it. However, my point is that for the same number of calories, I tend to find the second method much more satisfying for the day.

That is very interesting. It didn’t occur to me my macro preference may have shifted with the medication, I will definitely mess around with them! I will for sure play with my meal timing too, a bigger breakfast may work since I work up this morning having hunger pangs and ready to gnaw my arm off.

kshama2001

Fitnessgirl0913 wrote: »

Deviette wrote: »

It might be that the macros that you previously found satisfying have shifted with the medication. Now may be a time to experiment to see if mixing up your macros will help you out.

On that note, you might find benefit in volume eating. That being eating very low calorie foods in high volumes in an effort to fill your stomach with "stuff". I know some find it very helpful.

Alternatively you could try switching around your calorie distribution. I normally have a small breakfast and lunch and then most of my calories for dinner. But, I find I'm actually a lot more satisfied if I have a larger breakfast, then a late lunch, and then I'm barely hungry for dinner and sometimes I don't eat it. I know that this distribution works best for me, but it doesn't work best for my schedule which is why I don't normally follow it. However, my point is that for the same number of calories, I tend to find the second method much more satisfying for the day.

That is very interesting. It didn’t occur to me my macro preference may have shifted with the medication, I will definitely mess around with them! I will for sure play with my meal timing too, a bigger breakfast may work since I work up this morning having hunger pangs and ready to gnaw my arm off.

This may not be true for you, but when I feel hungry in the morning, it's due to my hunger cues being crossed with thirst - once I start drinking tea I stop feeling hungry for a few hours.

kshama2001

Deviette wrote: »

It might be that the macros that you previously found satisfying have shifted with the medication. Now may be a time to experiment to see if mixing up your macros will help you out.

On that note, you might find benefit in volume eating. That being eating very low calorie foods in high volumes in an effort to fill your stomach with "stuff". I know some find it very helpful.[snip].

Yes, if I were otherwise delighted with the medication and unwilling to experiment (which I can understand) I would eat lots of high volume, lower calorie meals such as chicken breast and non starchy veggies, plus a filling starch like potatoes.

Fitnessgirl0913

kshama2001 wrote: »

Fitnessgirl0913 wrote: »

Deviette wrote: »

It might be that the macros that you previously found satisfying have shifted with the medication. Now may be a time to experiment to see if mixing up your macros will help you out.

On that note, you might find benefit in volume eating. That being eating very low calorie foods in high volumes in an effort to fill your stomach with "stuff". I know some find it very helpful.

Alternatively you could try switching around your calorie distribution. I normally have a small breakfast and lunch and then most of my calories for dinner. But, I find I'm actually a lot more satisfied if I have a larger breakfast, then a late lunch, and then I'm barely hungry for dinner and sometimes I don't eat it. I know that this distribution works best for me, but it doesn't work best for my schedule which is why I don't normally follow it. However, my point is that for the same number of calories, I tend to find the second method much more satisfying for the day.

That is very interesting. It didn’t occur to me my macro preference may have shifted with the medication, I will definitely mess around with them! I will for sure play with my meal timing too, a bigger breakfast may work since I work up this morning having hunger pangs and ready to gnaw my arm off.

This may not be true for you, but when I feel hungry in the morning, it's due to my hunger cues being crossed with thirst - once I start drinking tea I stop feeling hungry for a few hours.

That is a good point but I doubt true for me since I drink 32 ounces of water right when I wake up with my thyroid medication. I think I will try out volume eating. It is interesting because I used to be so satiated by fat, I could eat a serving of peanut butter and be full for hours! Crazy how the body can jump from one thing to the next. I will be going to the store tonight to look for tasty, low calories, high volume salad ingredients. I may try and keep some fat on there too from nuts or dressing just to see if it still helps.

Thanks everyone!

AmyC2288

That sucks! The good news is that you know about this side effect in advance so you can actively combat it!

If it were me, I would try to find the the lowest possible calorie options that I could, so that I could essentially eat to my heart's (or tummy's) content without completely screwing up my day. I'd probably just prep them all out into large snack portions. And as you said above they'd be great to just throw in a salad too!

So:
Cucumbers
Bell peppers
Carrots
Broccoli
Celery
Clementines
Mushrooms
Strawberries

Also, I don't know if someone mentioned this yet but I love popcorn and recently tried Boom Chicka Pop in the Sea Salt flavor. It's 35 calories per cup and great for fiber!

ShayCarver89

When your prolactin levels are high there's very little that can be done about what it does to you. Its not a head thing its your body literally screaming at you to eat. My levels were 6x what they should of been, my doctor cut my medication dose and watched me closely to make sure it didn't make me backslide or cause any harm, and it fixed the problem. Latuda is what caused it. Unless its a medication that you'll absolutely die if you don't have THAT dose, I would see either about a. decreasing my dosage, or b. finding an alternative medication that will help you get the same desired results.