I can't make myself eat properly!

Okay, you were probably thinking I was going to say I indulge on too much junk food or fast food. I wish this were the case.

No, I don't eat enough period. I've had digestive track problems since I was fourteen, mostly just discomfort, pain, and other undesirable symptoms of intestinal problems. Was diagnosed with Colitis, not Ulcerative however, when I was 17-18. I am 25 now. I'm underweight at 155lbs and 6 foot 2 inch height. 155lbs is when I have eaten alot too.

The problem: I just dont eat. I think I have tricked myself into equating food with pain and discomfort, as just about anything I eat will cause me *some* amount of discomfort and/or pain *somewhere* down the line. So I really dont get hungry like normal people. My initial hunger signals come from my brain and I fight them, block them out.

Then, usually after going most of a day on just liquids like sodas and teas and other drinks, sometimes vitamin water and/or a multi-vitamin, I'll give in during the evening and force feed myself. The reason I give in is because I will start to get that painful, empty, nausious feeling that you get when your stomach has been completely empty for pro-longed periods.

But even then, even then, I have to force myself to eat. Then as I take a few bites, I will instantly gain appetite, basically needing to taste something I guess. Then after that initial bit, I am good to go and will eat until full, sometimes even stuff myself. But that always turns out bad lol..

So lately, I have been averaging only one actual meal a day, I just dont have the strength of appetite to eat 3 meals a day. If I bust my arse HARD I can eat two full meals in a day and be good, but I have to work myself to feel like I need two meals.

Please dont tell me I'm anorexic because that is not it. I do not want to be thin, care to be thin, i dont avoid eating to be thin, I avoid eating b/c of pain. If its technically anorexia than okay, but I am not conciously deciding "hmm, I guess ill refuse food for my looks" or even for control over myself. It's really an issue of .. even having the appetite.

I notice the effects on my body and brain and daily health, and its not good. sometimes I feel like an old man should feel, and I just turned 25. I want to change it. Even using .. medical cannabis in itself won't trigger enough appetite regularly to eat like a normal person should. Any ideas on what I can do about this?

This sounds pretty serious, RT. Been to the doctor lately?

You may really want to consider going to a stomach specialist of some kind. Going without food is really not healthy and there is probably an underlying physical cause that they may be able to fix.

If you don't eat all day, your stomach will start working on itself, which can exacerbate a condition like this. I'm not an expert on stomach illness, so you really should go talk to a professional about it.

I would recommend a naturopath rather than an allopathic doctor. Either way, you need to see a professional. Probiotics can be very helpful with digestive disorders but not all probiotics are created equal. Northstar Nutritionals has a good product (probiotics) that they will give you your money back if it doesn't work in 14 days. Still, before starting any regime or taking any kind of pills, see a professional.

In case you're wondering, I don't have any affiliation with the above mentioned company but I know someone who had the same problems and it worked for them. That's how I heard about it. Best of luck to you, runetang and let us know how things work out for you.

Right, well I used to see a Gastroenterologist, who did the Colitis work for me. :X

But the thing was, he was never willing to prescribe me anything. And no I wasnt a drug seeker on my info or anything. He was quick to tell me I had irritable bowel syndrome and acute colitis without the ulcers.. but wouldn't even prescribe me a simple constipatory medication called lomotil, a diarrhea medicine which is like schedule 5! the lowest schedule. The only thing he was ever willing to prescribe me was anti-chlorinergics, which never did a single thing. In essence he was of the opinion without saying that I should just be uncomfortable my entire life.

My family doctor WILL prescribe me the lomotil when im having rough times. and this will keep it all together and I can eat anything under the sun and keep it down fine. But despite it being a very weak synthetic opiate, lomotil is of the family, although its psychoactivity is really low, so low that it isnt abusable. But needless to say, if I went that route, whenever I wouldnt have the meds I'd be hershey squirting it, and I don't want that existence.

I also don't have insurance anymore. Hmm .. I will go see a doctor though. That gasto doc almost prescribed me a tricylic antidepressant for my IBS, claiming that tricylics have a function on the bowels. But he never went thru with it, must've been too unorthodox for him to handle. Thats the problem these days, Doctors are worried about losing their licenses more than they're worried about genuinely treating their patients properly.

All because the DEA and the FDA and the medical boards and the government are up their bums over addiction and illegal distribution.

Edit: I know what you mean about the acids working on the stomach interior itself MM, I hate having to vomit up bile. It burns so bad! And it's messed up the enamel on a couple molar teeth..

[edit on 10/28/2007 by runetang]

Yeah, docs sometimes don't do the right thing, which is why if you don't get treated properly for something bugging you -- especially something so important to quality of life as eating -- second opinions are imperative.

Good luck.

I'm a bit of an expert at eatting and gaining weight!! Used to be a right FB!

Also.

Travelling around Asia I've had some hardcore stomach bugs, but nothing copmpared to what you are going through on a daily basis.

Have you tried bulking drinks like weight lifters and such use, I'm not sure about the health impact of doing this, but it came to mind so I thought I'd share!

Best of luck.

MonKey

You can get help! Hypnosis works very well for this kind of problem.

Tell me what kinds of things are easiest for you to eat right now. There must be at least a few foods that don't cause as many problems as the others.

Also, what about drinking? Protien and health shakes etc. Have you tried that?

I'd like you to try a very cheap treatment. It's called a PRObiotic. You need about 60billion, yes, BILLION of the GOOD bacteria in your digestive track for it to work properly and not cause you the problems your seeing.

Just call wallgreens, ask how much their PRObiotics are. Asodophullis (sp) is pretty cheap. 1 little supliment might change you life in reguards to tummy troubles.

Also, bromaline - it's also a digestive enzime. Also found in supliment form.

There are so many things to help with this - but I need more info first. But often times, even whtn the body rights itself with proper treatment (a few things are listed above), the subconscious mind has already 'decided' that the body will respond in a certain way to certain things...even after the problem is resolved. So if that's the case, hypnosis could do the trick in 1 session.

I'm reluctant to suggest this, but have you considered a 'gluten-free' diet?

Sometimes it's found that gluten free diet?

It's thought to be a cause of some types of digestive problems.

Also, people that have Crohn's Disease may also require special diets.

As far as eating better, the best I can suggest is to consume a small meal every 2 hours - say under 200 calories. That way, you would avoid overloading your digestive system but still get a few more calories.

I might even look into adding a protein drink mixed with water if you can do that. It should be very easy on the digestive system (for most).

People who are doing strenuous activity, like adventure racing or ultra-marathons will sometimes do better if they resort to an all-liquid diet.

If you have insurance, I'd also suggest you go to a specialist and not let this first MD have the final say. He sounds much too conservative.

Avoid 'fringe' solutions, homeopathy, crystals, hypnosis - they're scams and have no peer-reviewed research showing any benefit. (some find there are benefits, but due to the placebo effect, not the treatment pe se).

Good luck!


Just a few thoughts.

I actually drank "weight gainers" shakes for a week once to test if I'd gain weight and what the effect on my gut would be.

It worked out good, but it was expensive and the shakes began tasting foul after a week of it. I gained like 7lbs drinking them as directed for a week an a half .. the mega calorie protein shakes. Expensive stuff, though!

That's good - then we know that something IS able to stick with you without the side effects. What else can you eat (regular food or drink) that isn't troubling?

If ice cream / yogart isn't a problem, you can make your own shakes (and they taist better).

The ice cream is cold (which masks part of the bad taist) - and adds flavor and texture. Wheatgerm for complex carbs, raw egg for protien, banana for the potassium, some instant breakfast drink for lots of vitamins and flavoring.

You need protien - easily digestible protiens would be fish, cottage cheese, eggs - stuff like this.

How do you feel after drinking milk?
How do feel after whole grains and roughage?

Well, allow me to explain what I can and can't eat.

If it has any peppers other than ground black pepper, I cannot eat it.

I do not eat Pork, by choice. Gotta keep it Kosher baby.

So I can eat Beef franks, Hamburgers, Ground beef meals with noodles or potatoes such as soups and pasta dishes. I can eat breads, I like garlic bread. I can eat Chicken in various forms .. just not any spicy kind. Anything spicy will give me the insta-runs, lol.

I like oatmeal, and roast beef sandwiches are nice. sub sandwiches are good, and I can also eat pizza, so long as it is cheese pizza or beef topping pizza - no pepperoni or sausage - no pork.

But anything spicy, even mildly spicy, has a chance of setting it off. If its fairly spicy I am going to be in for it. So I cant eat much authentic mexican.

Also, Im not lactose-intolerant, I can eat cheese and drink milk based beverages. It's just that, if I drink a big fat milkshake, sometimes it will cause me to get the runs. I dont know why. But straight milk goes down fine, and I can eat cheese on whatever I want to. I eat ice cream rarely, but I can.

Basically .. I eat alot of bland stuff. Give me bland breads, sauces, meats that are pork free, cheeses, noodles, oatmeal, grits .. just give me something bland. Heck, I love cabbage! Green beans are good, spinach is good, I like sweet peas, corn on the cob is good. I like corn bread, and baked potatoes. Looking forward to thanksgiving, yummy.

edit: chicken and dumplings, beef stew, vegetable beef soup, chicken noodle soup, ravioli, spaghetti, etc. I like sour kraut, beef reuben sandwiches, and other authentically bland german food.

[edit on 10/28/2007 by runetang]

I feel fine usually after a glass of milk and/or some greens...

[edit on 10/28/2007 by runetang]

M. It sounds like you just have to stay away from spicey (not uncommon) and high fat meets. That can easily be worked around.

Now when you eat and how much...

Never force yourself to eat more than you want. Eat often and as much as you need to satisfy yourself.

Again, protiens to build yourself up if weight gain is what you want (or muscle gain).

Try those supliments I listed first. AFTER those are included in your diet and your eating often throughout the day trying to include protiens in each of the times you eat (even if it's peanut butter - that's fine)... then you can add in a supliment like CLA. For some stupid reason people went from not even knowing what it was to jumping on some band wagon saying it was to loose wieght. Not so. It REGULATES (as will calcium +D and other things in our diets). CLA will build muscle (which is why people loose body fat). But if you have no body fat that you need to loose, what happens is that you still build muscle and you actualy start needing more food/protien. 99% of the people have no problems with CLA... but of the thousands I've put on it, only a few have had any problem at all - and that was loose stools.

Ok - more later. My pup is driving me nuts. He knows it's bed time and keeps jumping up and grabbing my arm to pull me off to bed. lol

Runetang, i also have what doctors call an eating disorder. I like to starve myself and then when i cant stand it any longer, i will eat. I dont eat all day long and eat a tiny amount in the evenings.
I also have digestive problems, and have been a recovering bullemic, that lasted 10 years and it kind of damaged my heart a little bit. I no longer do that, but i dont eat which is the next step a bullemic does...They gave me Klonopin and Prozac, that stopped the bullemia, but i still have the problem where i go for long periods without food.
I can totally relate with your problem and i wish i had an answer and solution for you. I dont. All i can say is you're not alone.
You got company, my friend.

Well right on, I'm glad that you only potentially damaged your heart and aren't dead! That would be terrible.. for us at least. Who knows what it would mean to you. It sounds like we do something similar to ourselves though.

Sometimes I think, am I really just a twisted self-control freak? Not control freak but SELF-control freak .. to where if I can control or affect anything about myself I have to do it, even subconciously? That would be terrible b/c .. it would effectively mean that I am starving myself to be able to THINK that I was capable of controlling that impulse or ... brain signal.

Please tell me this is not all there is to it! Because you'd think one would have to try alot harder to do it like that. Hell, I am about to go grab a steak biscuit from Hardees for breakfast. I know fast food isnt the best for you. My phiosophy is, I am under weight by a bit, I need to fatten up, give me the fattiest stuff!

I will try that stuff, the CLA. If it gives me heavy runs ill let you know, lol.

Lets see, yesterday I ate "okay". I had half a bowl of some bland bean chilli, though it wasn't chilli like you are thinking, it had no spice in it. Then I had a roast beef sandwich with american cheese on white bread with mayo. And I ate the whole sandwich just about.

That is a good day for me.

[edit on 10/29/2007 by runetang]

I'm going to post to this thread to remind myself to eat lol.

I was thinking, a grilled steak stuffed burrito from taco bell, minus the mexican rice, minus the tomato bits, would taste excellent.

Mmmmm

You said: Sometimes I think, am I really just a twisted self-control freak? Not control freak but SELF-control freak .. to where if I can control or affect anything about myself I have to do it, even subconciously?

... We aall have this part of ourselves to deal with. Some of us just don't have the will power to go through with it. (I'm week - can't deprive myself). And if this is truely a part of the problem - hypnosis can do you wonders. (I just helped my mom with a problem with lactos intollorance. She never had a problem with milk etc... then after my baby brother died a few years ago suddenly - she had no appitite and just drank a glass of milk to settle her stomack. Well, the subconscious mind linked the fact that she was doing something damaging to her body (i.e. not eating) to the fact that she was drinking milk instead. So - the body tried to protect itself by developing a histomine to the milk. Once the subconscious link was broken - poof - like magic - no more problem.)

I'dl ike to see you try the probiotic first before the CLA. That way your gut can digest properly. (I always like to ask people to only make one change at a time so they know exactly what helps and how.) And the probiotic is very cheap - and even for people with no digestive problems at all (like myself) - It keeps the immunity up.

probiotic it is!!

maybe my gut needs these "good" bacteria ..

I cheaped out on the steak burrito and got two beef tacos instead. oh the humanity

Originally posted by runetang
probiotic it is!!

maybe my gut needs these "good" bacteria ..

I cheaped out on the steak burrito and got two beef tacos instead. oh the humanity

lol
I'd say you made a good choice (compared to what I'd have gotten). I'd have went for one of those SUPER high in aturated fat barrito supreme. Of course minus the onions and tomatoes (those are good for you - heaven forbid!)

I eat well normaly. Or shall I say I won't deprive myself, but I do try to make 'the best choice'. But sometimes you just have to go all out and do it right.

Support forums can be a real blessing and give you strategies for dealing with this kind of thing. Here's one:
www.ibsgroup.org...

Support groups can help you keep on track and give you some options and recipes. More than anyone else, they understand your pain and will be on top of new meds and treatments.

And yes, do change doctors. If you don't like the treatment from one, take a good history with you and go see someone else. Sometimes they're not very understanding of people in chronic pain.