Anyone heard of a disease that stops your brain from hearing your stomach ?
 

Okay, so i was wondering if anyone had heard about this particular disorder or disease that affects your stomach ,by which you eat but the stomach doesnt signal to the brain that its eaten or that its full?

Im wondering if this is what ive been struggling with..because i can literally eat 25 wings and dessert and down 3 coke's and i wont feel full..its like..for so many years.. i could eat and eat and eat.. at my 7th birthday party i ate 7 slices of pizza and never threw up and never felt full...its as if i had never eaten before..

Anyone else have this ? or something similar? were you prescribed a medication? did you find anything that helped?

are you talking about Prader-Willis syndrome?

If you're gluten intolerant, your body hasn't been properly absorbing nutrients, and won't until you adhere to a gluten free diet long enough to heal the damage. Your brain and body learn that you have to eat massive quantities of food to get basic vitamins and minerals absorbed. You can't do that if you are aware of the physical discomfort and distension, so your brain blocks it out.

STRICT adherance to a gluten free diet, time and consciousness are the only cures I know. I had to think about my body a lot. Years of evaluating how I felt and what I'd eaten. It sucks, and it isn't fair. And until you get there, you have to accept that you can't trust your body. That your cravings are wrong. I still wrestle with that, and "I can't stop eating that" or "That's the only thing that sounds good" are big red flags for me. I stop eating when experience tells me I SHOULD be full, even if I'm not. I might eat more later, but I give myself an hour for my brain to catch up.

There's no pill to undo the effects of gluten if you're gluten intolerant. Some you can fix with time and hard work, some you can't. Sorry.

If this is the condition you're speaking of, looks like they can do genetic testing.

http://www.pwsausa.org/faq.htm

I doubt that you have Prader-Willi syndrome, but your doctor can probably find out with some simple tests.

If someone chronically overeats, the stretch sensors in their stomach become suppressed. It's more likely that this is why you don't feel full. If you eat normal amounts and don't binge for a few months, the stretch sensors wake up again, and then you begin to feel full with less food. But check with your doctor--always the best way to find out.

Jay

Do you stop for a moment to see if you're full? It takes the brain 20 mins to send signals to the stomach that it is full, you may not be giving it enough time. If I plow through a meal I can consume hundreds of cals in a sitting and not realize till 20-30 mins later that I've totally over done it.

Next time try stopping halfway through your meal, waiting 10 - 20 mins and see if you're truely still hungry.

Serving size is an issue too. If I have a plate of food I'll eat it all if I'm hungry or not, so if I give myself an appropriate portion I realize I'm satisfied with a lot less then I think I "need" or "want".

OP wouldn't have Prader-Willi, one of the major traits is infertility (she has a baby) and there are a huge number of traits beyond overeating that one would notice long before adulthood (overeating simply being the most obvious/'sensationalist' trait that people notice).

OP, have you ever read The End of Overeating by Kessler? I'm about 1/2 way through it right now and you may find it very useful.

Talk to your doctor, but you're probably not dealing with an actual "disease."

Hunger and appetite are actually very complex phenomena. There are genetic and behavioral/experiential components. You may have inherited a "different" appetite/hunger control system than others. Or you may have learned or "trained" your body to get used to very large amounts of food. You may also be eating foods that don't "turn off" hunger, but instead only make it worse.


I've learned (in 40 years of dieting) that I can't trust my appetite or hunger. When I eat too many carby foods, I feel like I'm starving, even if I'm in agony from overeating, and my stomach feels like it's going to explode. On a very low-carb diet, I don't feel hungry at all - even if I don't eat all day. My first sign of hunger on super-low carb is irritability and even rage - but the first sign I recognize is feeling sick and about to throw-up or pass out.

I have to use a calorie/portion-control, because I can't trust "hunger."

I also would recommend David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating, because it really helpped me understand that I wasn't nearly the freak I thought I was. A lot of people (perhaps even most) have a different hunger response to some foods than others.

Infertility is a possible trait, not a definate. Highly likely yes, but not absolute

But I agree, I wasn't inplying OP had PWS, just asking if that's what she was talking about.

I think more people are conditioned from an early age not to know what proper portion sizes are and what amount the body actually needs. It's hard to eat a certain way all your life then try to change it - as I'm sure we all know :)

OP - if you have concerns at all there could be something wrong genetically, thyroid, glutten tolerance . . . anything, please go see your Dr and have it all checked out. At least you'll know right?

I am not a doctor, but i think you suffer from what we have all suffered from. You are using food as a source of comfort, a crutch, to make yourself feel better for a short time. You should never eat until you are full. What you are doing as i have done is live an unhealthy lifestyle. We all have to take responsibility for gaining the weight we put on. It is no one else's fault and there is no pill that will cure it. It is a mindset and it takes committment and work. I know for many many years, i hated myself for what i have done to my body and how i looked in the mirror. I think it affects everything in your life, because until you feel good about yourself, for me i couldnt feel good about alot of other aspects of my life. I feel like you are crying out for help and looking for an answer to your weight problem. The answer lies in you my dear. You can do it. Take one day at a time and know that you deserve to feel good about yourself and you want to be healthy. Believe me, i am 49 years old and have tried to give myself all the excuses in the book, i thought i must have hypothyroidism, our my metabolism is very slow or stress is doing this to me. NO, i did it to myself.
If you cant do the Ideal Protein diet because of your not liking vegetables, perhaps you should consult a nutritionist or try one of the other packaged diets, like Jenny Craig. Start trying to give time to yourself to start a light exercise program. If you commit to losing weight you WILL AND CAN DO IT.
There are hundreds on this blog that have weighed more than you and are doing an amazing job. We are all here to support you.

Hunger and "fullness" also are very subjective definitions. I didn't realize it until very recently, that the feeling I associated with "fullness" was actually stuffed-to-the-gills discomfort.

I "retrained" my perception of hunger by giving up meals entirely. I reduced my meals to the size of snacks and doubled them. SO instead of eating 3 large meals, I ate 6 to 8 small snacks. As a result, I never got very hungry, and I also never got full. I wasn't planning on eating this way forever, just until I "shrunk my stomach" (after reading a Reader's Digest or Prevention magazine article on doing so).

At first I missed being full. I felt like I was hungry all the time, because I was used to that sense of fullness.

What I didn't miss was eating to the point of feeling sick or sleep, and actually having to lie down often after a meal.

I agree with the other posts- I doubt it's a medical problem. It's much more likely a habit. You've been in the habit your whole life of eating vast quantities of food, it's your normal - both physiologically and psychologically. Your stomach is conditioned (stretched out?) to accomodate the quantities you're used to, and you likely eat that quantity mindlessly.

I also had some bad habits, that I"m on my way to changing. Portion size is one of them. While I never ate in the huge quanitity you describe, I filled my plate with a darned good portion of x and y.. and maybe went back for a smidge more of z. I no longer take seconds, and my original portions are about half what I used to take. And you know what? After just a week or two, I feel horrendously stuffed if I eat one of those old portions... my stomach has shrunk to a proper size already.

I also had the habit of night time snacking. Its been a couple of months since I started my journey, and I no longer have any desire to eat in teh evening. At first it was hard.. but after a couple of weeks, no effort at all.

You just have to look at your current habits as just that - habits. Something you currently do, but certainly subject to reevaluation and change. You'll be surprised how quickly you can teach an old dog a new trick! ;) GL!

I read somewhere (over the last year) in a book (I think) written by 2 doctors that our stomach is actually only the size of a large fist (like a man's); but that we have been encouraged to each huge portions in our society, that stretch it way over-size.


OP ~ this over-eating has been going on for a long time (since early childhood), so you will have retrain yourself to eat "normal" portions again. The advice given by KAPLODS & others will help. My DH and I use a dinner soup bowl or sandwich plates (7-8") for dinner plates now, and feel quite full with that. Over time, our stomachs have shrunk, and have gotten used to the new, smaller portions.

I often have some salad, or veggies, or soup with my meals; and that fills me up fast (I usually eat them first). Slow down and chew more; until it takes you at least 20 minutes to eat your meal. :D

What about if u have no feeling(or very very rarely) the feeling of hunger? I have to remind myself to eat,and if I'm busy doing projects I just wont. I remember I had project after project, and did not eat (only drank) any meal for 2 days, and didn't even notice at all. And this disconnect is normal for me,and has been for years. Is there something for me that is the reason for this?

Thank you all for your advice..No i do not have prader willies sydrome..i am nowhere near close to having issues that are pre-cursors to it. Yes i do have a gluten and wheat allergy..it sucks but its true..and i have eaten wheat and gluten for a very long time so the thought that my body isnt getting enough nutrients out of the food i eat, is probably true..im probably not absorbing as much as im supposed to cause ive messed up my guy from eating so horrible through my life..

I dont believe i have an over-eating problem..but i do believe that i eat a lot because i feel hungry chronically even after i eat..so any thoughs on how to get your body to better absorb nutrients? Ive learned my triggers for when i do eat.. and im learning to avoid situations that trigger it..like boredom for instance.. i try and curb the hunger pains through going to sleep...and getting some more shut eye..

But i truly believe that this is gut related in terms of physically speaking..you are right.. i eat massive amounts.. i eat more than my fiancee..which i agree..makes me think i have stretched my stomach waaaaay beyond the size its supposed to be..any thoughts on how to help with that?

I was just wondering if it was possible that my stomach isnt signaling back to my brain that im full..??? cause i would have thought a good sized stomach ache would have cured my desire to eat..but i dont seem to get a stomach ache even when i eat lots...my stomach just feels empty all the time..and then i end up eating anxiously becasuse i dont like the feeling of feeling empty..its weird..its not that i feel hungry maybe, its just that i feel empty...it feels horrible feeling empty..i like the full feeling..and i want it all day..cause it makes me feel satisfied..any thoughts on how i can gain that without adding more food? how do you deal with that issue?