Is it normal to constantly feel hungry?

[semiphonic]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and new to T2 diabetes, so be gentle with me

I was diagnosed on January 2nd with a1c at 58 and cholesterol at 5.3, my BMI was around 25 (I think), I was immediately put on metformin and statins. I started with 1 x 500mg per day for the first week increasing by one tablet a week until I got to 4x 500mg per day, I'm on 40mg statins a day. I didn't have any of the gastro side effects with the metformin.

Pre diagnosis my diet was coffee for breakfast, coffee for lunch, coffee between meals(!) each with one sugar, an evening meal of mainly processed food followed by crisps, sweets, biscuits etc (and I used to wonder why I got the shakes late afternoon!!)

In lieu of any useful and usable diet information from my 'healthcare team' (this is a thread for another time!) I now have -
2 slices whole meal toast for breakfast, a sandwich or soup for lunch and a relatively healthy evening meal ('proper' portion size carbs/calorie counting etc) I have cut out sweets, biscuits, crisps etc and allow myself two of my coffees a day to have one sugar in.

The thing is, I am constantly hungry, sometimes to the point that it keeps me awake at night. I had a large Chicken Caesar Salad for my evening meal today which I finished around 45 minutes ago, I am so hungry I could happily eat another one. Is this normal??? Now that I'm eating sensibly is my metabolism readjusting?

Sorry for writing War and Peace! And many thanks in advance for your comments and advice

Steve

 

[Totto]

I would be afraid of going blind on a high-carb diet like yours. Sorry. I can´t even look a loaf without a bg spike.

Have some cheese? And / or nuts? very filling and very little carbs.

Regarding eating, I stuff my face until I am full but still might want a little of something later on, usually nuts or cheese.

 

[douglas99]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and new to T2 diabetes, so be gentle with me

I was diagnosed on January 2nd with a1c at 58 and cholesterol at 5.3, my BMI was around 25 (I think), I was immediately put on metformin and statins. I started with 1 x 500mg per day for the first week increasing by one tablet a week until I got to 4x 500mg per day, I'm on 40mg statins a day. I didn't have any of the gastro side effects with the metformin.

Pre diagnosis my diet was coffee for breakfast, coffee for lunch, coffee between meals(!) each with one sugar, an evening meal of mainly processed food followed by crisps, sweets, biscuits etc (and I used to wonder why I got the shakes late afternoon!!)

In lieu of any useful and usable diet information from my 'healthcare team' (this is a thread for another time!) I now have -
2 slices whole meal toast for breakfast, a sandwich or soup for lunch and a relatively healthy evening meal ('proper' portion size carbs/calorie counting etc) I have cut out sweets, biscuits, crisps etc and allow myself two of my coffees a day to have one sugar in.

The thing is, I am constantly hungry, sometimes to the point that it keeps me awake at night. I had a large Chicken Caesar Salad for my evening meal today which I finished around 45 minutes ago, I am so hungry I could happily eat another one. Is this normal??? Now that I'm eating sensibly is my metabolism readjusting?

Sorry for writing War and Peace! And many thanks in advance for your comments and advice

Steve

I used to eat the same.
It's habit, and yes, you will readjust.
I could easily go all day without eating if I was working, so I told myself I cold survive without eating all night.
It takes a few days, but you get there!

I now have lost 4 stones, have "normal" blood glucose, so it does work.

 

[Andy12345]

hi, you dont mention your bg numbers, are you self testing? i believe your problem is a combination of breaking the eating habit because thats what it is, you will not starve to death after eating the chicken salad so the only reason your hungry is actually because your not full. its different to real hunger, its a craving for un needed food, i understand as ive been there and to a lesser degree still am, i eat dark chocolate late nights which im not eating to stay alive, im eating because im craving it, so you have to try and switch off the part of your brain thats telling you, you need food, this is easy to say but hard to do, sometimes i succeed sometimes i dont, this brings me onto the second part of the combination, if you do have to give in to the craving, choose the food carefully, eat a couple of squares of 85% chocolate slowly sucking it to make the most of it, i used to power eat, it never used to touch the sides of my mouth, now i savour the food, you dont get the satisfying hit of feeling full but you get the satisfaction of enjoying the taste, i also eat sugar free jelly with double cream for afters and ive taken to eating it much later on after my dinner, i hold out knowing ive got it to come, so if i eat my dinner at six, ill hold off on the jelly for good couple of hours, knowing its coming stops me feeling deprived and then when i eat it at say 8pm ive had something delicious and that seems to be enough, then i have the chocolate as fall back, and thirdly and if it suits you, eat ome fat, in the form of say olive oil on your salad or sprinkle some milled flax seed over it, theres usually a way of dding fat to a meal without spooning butter into your mouth lol, the fat satiates you much longer (this is a point some people will disagree with) i hope some of this makes sense and its just my opinion or my way of dealing with it, it does get easier with time.....test your bg, if you dont get a meter from the docs, go and buy one
(but thats another thread)

best of luck

 

[semiphonic]

I would be afraid of going blind on a high-carb diet like yours. Sorry. I can´t even look a loaf without a bg spike.

Have some cheese? And / or nuts? very filling and very little carbs.

Regarding eating, I stuff my face until I am full but still might want a little of something later on, usually nuts or cheese.

I know this is going to sound stupid but I wasn't aware this was a high carb diet, there's less bread in my diet than I have been advised to eat, I've been advised to have bread with every meal!!

I've started to test my BG this week, not enough information yet to spot trends etc, although it does seem to be raised most of the time.

Fed up already with the lack of information from my GP/DSN and I'm only 7 weeks into this


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[semiphonic]

I used to eat the same.
It's habit, and yes, you will readjust.
I could easily go all day without eating if I was working, so I told myself I cold survive without eating all night.
It takes a few days, but you get there!

I now have lost 4 stones, have "normal" blood glucose, so it does work.

I'm 6'2" and 14 stone, I can't really afford to lose 4 stone!!



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[Karen.G.]

It isn't unusual to feel hungry all the time once you start having to eat three meals a day, but your body will adjust. I used to be able to go until 3pm without eating a thing, now I don't have a choice!

I would be interested to know your BS levels on bread/soup etc. I am so jealous as I love both, but they send my BS sky high!

 

[Karen.G.]

"Fed up already with the lack of information from my GP/DSN and I'm only 7 weeks into this"

There are loads of peeps in the same boat unfortunately - I think a good DSN is hard to come by (I have one but I know I'm very very lucky!).

 

[Andy12345]

I know this is going to sound stupid but I wasn't aware this was a high carb diet, there's less bread in my diet than I have been advised to eat, I've been advised to have bread with every meal!!

I've started to test my BG this week, not enough information yet to spot trends etc, although it does seem to be raised most of the time.

Fed up already with the lack of information from my GP/DSN and I'm only 7 weeks into this


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totto and i have chosen a low carb lifestyle which means reducing carbs to a very low level and a slice of bread would be considered too many carbs, the dietary advice given to folks by most HCP is wrong and id go as far as to say dangerous but thats another thread if your numbers are doing the right things and your weight is doing the right thing thats all that matters, if your numbers are too high, reduce your carbs, if you dont want to lose weight eat an amount of food that sustains your weight but choose foods that dont push your bg up (carbs) hope that makes sense if not say so hehe

 

[NotSoSweet2]

I know this is going to sound stupid but I wasn't aware this was a high carb diet, there's less bread in my diet than I have been advised to eat, I've been advised to have bread with every meal!!

I've started to test my BG this week, not enough information yet to spot trends etc, although it does seem to be raised most of the time.

Fed up already with the lack of information from my GP/DSN and I'm only 7 weeks into this


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I was the same and like you never even realised that I was on a high carb diet, it is a bit confusing for a while but you will get it right in time, it's just about re-adjusting and getting good advice. You can do it!

 

[semiphonic]

totto and i have chosen a low carb lifestyle which means reducing carbs to a very low level and a slice of bread would be considered too many carbs, the dietary advice given to folks by most HCP is wrong and id go as far as to say dangerous but thats another thread if your numbers are doing the right things and your weight is doing the right thing thats all that matters, if your numbers are too high, reduce your carbs, if you dont want to lose weight eat an amount of food that sustains your weight but choose foods that dont push your bg up (carbs) hope that makes sense if not say so hehe

Thanks Andy, both of your replies make perfect sense
I started testing yesterday (and yes I had to buy my own meter!) and my BG seems to be 'erratic' at best, my average is 10.1 although I need more test results to really draw any decent conclusions from the numbers.



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[semiphonic]

I was the same and like you never even realised that I was on a high carb diet, it is a bit confusing for a while but you will get it right in time, it's just about re-adjusting and getting good advice. You can do it!

It is really confusing and difficult to know what I should and shouldn't eat due to conflicting information given to me by my DSN :/ my lack of knowledge doesn't help either! But yes I'll get there, if I can quit smoking after 30 years of 20 a day (and find it incredibly easy), I'm sure I can change my eating habits


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[Andy12345]

great job for getting hold of a meter!

with those numbers and if i were you, i would reduce your carb intake as much as possible to get your numbers down, once they have come down, you can start to experiment with just how many carbs you can get away with, by carefully reintroducing them into your diet and testing to see what effect they have, this is complicated by the fact that for many (and me) it takes a while for bgs to settle down, it took me months to get settled pattern of bgs, for example i would get say 10 before food then 5 two hours later, this is a pain as you think to yourself great! i can eat that but actually you probly cant lol, isnt this fun!, for now get those carbs down while keeping a food diary (myfitnesspal app) and bg and start looking for patterns

 

[NotSoSweet2]

It is really confusing and difficult to know what I should and shouldn't eat due to conflicting information given to me by my DSN :/ my lack of knowledge doesn't help either! But yes I'll get there, if I can quit smoking after 30 years of 20 a day (and find it incredibly easy), I'm sure I can change my eating habits


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You will be giving me advice in a couple of months time, sharing is caring!

 

[semiphonic]

It isn't unusual to feel hungry all the time once you start having to eat three meals a day, but your body will adjust. I used to be able to go until 3pm without eating a thing, now I don't have a choice!

I would be interested to know your BS levels on bread/soup etc. I am so jealous as I love both, but they send my BS sky high!

I'll check my levels tomorrow Karen and let you know


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[Andy12345]

It is really confusing and difficult to know what I should and shouldn't eat due to conflicting information given to me by my DSN :/ my lack of knowledge doesn't help either! But yes I'll get there, if I can quit smoking after 30 years of 20 a day (and find it incredibly easy), I'm sure I can change my eating habits


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yes it is confusing there is conflicting advice from us on the forum too (terrific!) so you will have to get as much info as you can and try to work out what sounds reasonable, theres always trial and error, for example the dsn tell you to eat carbs? try it lol the once youve decided thats nonsense you can try not eating them, the only thing you can really trust is your meter (what dont speak dont lie hehe) so as we would say "eat to your meter"

 

[Andy12345]

and HELL YES you can do it! you have already demonstrated an inner strength with the ciggies! well done! once you decide you can do it, then you have already succeeded!

 

[semiphonic]

great job for getting hold of a meter!

with those numbers and if i were you, i would reduce your carb intake as much as possible to get your numbers down, once they have come down, you can start to experiment with just how many carbs you can get away with, by carefully reintroducing them into your diet and testing to see what effect they have, this is complicated by the fact that for many (and me) it takes a while for bgs to settle down, it took me months to get settled pattern of bgs, for example i would get say 10 before food then 5 two hours later, this is a pain as you think to yourself great! i can eat that but actually you probly cant lol, isnt this fun!, for now get those carbs down while keeping a food diary (myfitnesspal app) and bg and start looking for patterns

Good advice, thanks Andy. It helps hugely that you say it took you months to get settled patterns, makes me feel quite normal lol


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[semiphonic]

yes it is confusing there is conflicting advice from us on the forum too (terrific!) so you will have to get as much info as you can and try to work out what sounds reasonable, theres always trial and error, for example the dsn tell you to eat carbs? try it lol the once youve decided thats nonsense you can try not eating them, the only thing you can really trust is your meter (what dont speak dont lie hehe) so as we would say "eat to your meter"

The difference being that the advice on the forum, conflicting or not, is from people who are going through it every day, not people advising from a text book...


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[Andy12345]

exactly


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