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Constant hunger for over 9 months
Hi!
To begin with I will tell you a bit about my "medical background" so to speak, and I'd like to point out that english isn't my first language so be nice.
Almost 4 years I ago I was diagnosed with IBS from a doctor after suffering from really bad nausea for almost 3-4 months. I missed out on school and would often stay up all night afraid that I would vomit, I have an extreme phobia of vomiting. Before getting my diagnosis I was tested for gluten and lactose intolerant, with negative results. As long as I can remember foods with high fat and sugar content has given me a "bubbly" stomach. Anyways, after my diagnosis I got to talk to a dietitian, she didn't mention fodmap but basically told me to only eat bland foods and no spices or tomatoes, apples, coffee - things that are known to irritate the stomach. So I did, and my symptoms eventually faded away. I stopped eating apples and drinking juice even after my symptoms when away, because I found that especially apples always gave me D.
So, everything was fine after that and I lived my life normally, up until 9 months ago when this living hell started. A year ago I went on birth control for the first time, dont know if that triggered it (I'm 18), but in February this year I started to feel extremely tired, like I had a flu without the usual symptoms. I also started feeling more hungry at night, which was unusual. After feeling like I was dying I went to the doctors and I had both B12 deficiency, folic acid deficiency and my thyroid levels weren't quite right. So the doctors put me on a bunch of medications and my levels went up and I am no longer deficient.
Now to my main problem, the slight hunger I experienced grew stronger each month, and before I knew it I felt this hunger 24/7. Its like a gnawing pain in my upper stomach, just below the ribs. It isn't normal hunger, my stomach is never rumbling of hunger or anything like it used to, its just this constant suction kind of feeling, that makes me feel like i need to eat and that I haven't eaten in years and years. I feel this sensation ALL THE TIME. Eating doesn't help and I feel NO FULLNESS - ever!! The only thing telling me to stop eating is when I'm at the point of throwing up. Certain kind of foods does not make it better or worse, I feel this hunger from when I fall asleep to when I wake up and the rest of the day. Nothing makes it better, not eating less neither eating a ton.
I have no heartburn, no acid reflux, nothing like that. I tried Omperazol, Gaviscon, - no success at all. Not the slightest difference. I thought that maybe its because I have low stomach acid, so I started drinking apple cider vinegar - no difference at all. I've also taken HCL supplements, again, no difference, not worse not better. I feel the need to eat all the time, its always in the back of my head and all I ever think about is food because my stomach is telling me to eat. Even though I just ate 5 minutes ago. This constant hunger makes it extremely difficult to follow any kind of diet, believe me when I say that I've tried. There's not a single second of the day that I don't feel this hunger. I am going crazy and I can't live like this. I eat everything in sight, I even eat cold food from the fridge that you're supposed to heat up. It's disgusting but I eat it anyways because my stomach is screaming for food.
The doctors don't know what it is, nor do they really care.. Last week I did a gastroscopy and I am waiting for the results, but I'm almost certain that it'll show that everything is "fine". I've done 3 gluten blood tests, all negative. Also tested negative for H Pylori. I don't know what to do, I'm feeling hopeless and I'm afraid I'll live with this for the rest of my life, which makes me cry. I'm ALWAYS bloated, I don't even remember what my stomach looks like when it's not bloated since it's bloated from the moment I wake up. I also have low white blood cell count, again the doctors dont know why but told me not to worry about it??
Does anyone have similar symptoms? Does anyone have ANY idea what this might be and what I can do to make this hunger feeling go away? I am EXTREMELY desperate!! PLEASE HELP.
To begin with I will tell you a bit about my "medical background" so to speak, and I'd like to point out that english isn't my first language so be nice.
Almost 4 years I ago I was diagnosed with IBS from a doctor after suffering from really bad nausea for almost 3-4 months. I missed out on school and would often stay up all night afraid that I would vomit, I have an extreme phobia of vomiting. Before getting my diagnosis I was tested for gluten and lactose intolerant, with negative results. As long as I can remember foods with high fat and sugar content has given me a "bubbly" stomach. Anyways, after my diagnosis I got to talk to a dietitian, she didn't mention fodmap but basically told me to only eat bland foods and no spices or tomatoes, apples, coffee - things that are known to irritate the stomach. So I did, and my symptoms eventually faded away. I stopped eating apples and drinking juice even after my symptoms when away, because I found that especially apples always gave me D.
So, everything was fine after that and I lived my life normally, up until 9 months ago when this living hell started. A year ago I went on birth control for the first time, dont know if that triggered it (I'm 18), but in February this year I started to feel extremely tired, like I had a flu without the usual symptoms. I also started feeling more hungry at night, which was unusual. After feeling like I was dying I went to the doctors and I had both B12 deficiency, folic acid deficiency and my thyroid levels weren't quite right. So the doctors put me on a bunch of medications and my levels went up and I am no longer deficient.
Now to my main problem, the slight hunger I experienced grew stronger each month, and before I knew it I felt this hunger 24/7. Its like a gnawing pain in my upper stomach, just below the ribs. It isn't normal hunger, my stomach is never rumbling of hunger or anything like it used to, its just this constant suction kind of feeling, that makes me feel like i need to eat and that I haven't eaten in years and years. I feel this sensation ALL THE TIME. Eating doesn't help and I feel NO FULLNESS - ever!! The only thing telling me to stop eating is when I'm at the point of throwing up. Certain kind of foods does not make it better or worse, I feel this hunger from when I fall asleep to when I wake up and the rest of the day. Nothing makes it better, not eating less neither eating a ton.
I have no heartburn, no acid reflux, nothing like that. I tried Omperazol, Gaviscon, - no success at all. Not the slightest difference. I thought that maybe its because I have low stomach acid, so I started drinking apple cider vinegar - no difference at all. I've also taken HCL supplements, again, no difference, not worse not better. I feel the need to eat all the time, its always in the back of my head and all I ever think about is food because my stomach is telling me to eat. Even though I just ate 5 minutes ago. This constant hunger makes it extremely difficult to follow any kind of diet, believe me when I say that I've tried. There's not a single second of the day that I don't feel this hunger. I am going crazy and I can't live like this. I eat everything in sight, I even eat cold food from the fridge that you're supposed to heat up. It's disgusting but I eat it anyways because my stomach is screaming for food.
The doctors don't know what it is, nor do they really care.. Last week I did a gastroscopy and I am waiting for the results, but I'm almost certain that it'll show that everything is "fine". I've done 3 gluten blood tests, all negative. Also tested negative for H Pylori. I don't know what to do, I'm feeling hopeless and I'm afraid I'll live with this for the rest of my life, which makes me cry. I'm ALWAYS bloated, I don't even remember what my stomach looks like when it's not bloated since it's bloated from the moment I wake up. I also have low white blood cell count, again the doctors dont know why but told me not to worry about it??
Does anyone have similar symptoms? Does anyone have ANY idea what this might be and what I can do to make this hunger feeling go away? I am EXTREMELY desperate!! PLEASE HELP.
Hi Ellieka,
I know this post is quite old now, but i've been googling like mad and trying to find answers to my symptoms which are similar to yours. I wondered if you had got to the bottom of your issue? For 6 months I have suffered extreme hunger for no reason either. Eating regular full healthy meals makes no difference, and 5 mins later I'm starving again. I've had numerous blood work, H-pylori, camera into stomach but I feel it must be hormonal, and my doctor is useless.
My cortisol was at the high end of normal but endocrine don't want to see me as they say I'm not bad enough but like you I cannot carry on living like this. Please let me know if you found light at the end of the tunnel???!!
I know this post is quite old now, but i've been googling like mad and trying to find answers to my symptoms which are similar to yours. I wondered if you had got to the bottom of your issue? For 6 months I have suffered extreme hunger for no reason either. Eating regular full healthy meals makes no difference, and 5 mins later I'm starving again. I've had numerous blood work, H-pylori, camera into stomach but I feel it must be hormonal, and my doctor is useless.
My cortisol was at the high end of normal but endocrine don't want to see me as they say I'm not bad enough but like you I cannot carry on living like this. Please let me know if you found light at the end of the tunnel???!!
You may want to switch to a non-hormonal birth control method as trial.
-Synthetic estrogen and progesterone may be messing up your homonal balance and causing a spike in Ghrenlin, a reduction of Leptin or inducing hypoglycemia or a combination of these.
-Subclinical hypoglycemia, which most doctors dismiss, may be disrupting your sleep (even if you may not notice) which may impact negativley hunger regulating hormones.
-Leptin which controls appetite gets reduced when sleep
is disrupted. while Ghrlein, which stimulates appetite, increases!
-Stress, including biological stress (you would not be aware of this type of stress), when prolonged. elevates stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which will increase appetite, while reducing serotonin. which again results in increased hunger!
-You need to rule out tapeworm and parasitic infections,
which are often difficult to detect.
-Dehydration is another possible factor in chronic hunger,so make sure you're always well hydrated by drinking ample spring water.
-Refrain from alcohol, which increases hunger and is dehydrating.
- The best way to test for food sensitivities is elimination diet.
If you want to try something which works faster,
try Dr. Coca's Pulse test, which is free (public domaine).
Fairly accurate compared to the conventional medical tests which return very unreliable results.
I hope this helps.
If you need more details, let me know.
The next hurdle you might encounter is the medical system itself, before you can get useful answers.
Best wishes,
Niko
-Synthetic estrogen and progesterone may be messing up your homonal balance and causing a spike in Ghrenlin, a reduction of Leptin or inducing hypoglycemia or a combination of these.
-Subclinical hypoglycemia, which most doctors dismiss, may be disrupting your sleep (even if you may not notice) which may impact negativley hunger regulating hormones.
-Leptin which controls appetite gets reduced when sleep
is disrupted. while Ghrlein, which stimulates appetite, increases!
-Stress, including biological stress (you would not be aware of this type of stress), when prolonged. elevates stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which will increase appetite, while reducing serotonin. which again results in increased hunger!
-You need to rule out tapeworm and parasitic infections,
which are often difficult to detect.
-Dehydration is another possible factor in chronic hunger,so make sure you're always well hydrated by drinking ample spring water.
-Refrain from alcohol, which increases hunger and is dehydrating.
- The best way to test for food sensitivities is elimination diet.
If you want to try something which works faster,
try Dr. Coca's Pulse test, which is free (public domaine).
Fairly accurate compared to the conventional medical tests which return very unreliable results.
I hope this helps.
If you need more details, let me know.
The next hurdle you might encounter is the medical system itself, before you can get useful answers.
Best wishes,
Niko
Get a complete Blood test done that includes sugar, hormones, etc. And consult with the doctor for taking medicines for worms. Keep a check on anxiety and avoid all fast foods, especially sugar sodas.
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