Why am I so hungry?
October 4, 2010 3:36 PM Subscribe
Ravenous hunger a few weeks after surgery, how normal is this?
It's been almost three weeks since I had surgery and I've developed an insatiable appetite. I can eat a ton of food and not feel satisfied. I didn't really have much of an appetite the week following surgery and I slowly got back up to my normal eating routine and now I have gone way past that. I have also been craving sugar and carbs like mad which is very abnormal for me. I am not a sugar fiend and I rarely eat candy. Is this my body's way of coping with surgery? Has anyone else experienced this? Is this going to go away?
Related facts:
-I have a healthy relationship with food.
-I'm at a healthy weight (21.5 BMI).
-I am not a compulsive eater. I don't eat due to stress or boredom. I'm not a snacker.
-Before surgery, I consumed no more than 2000 calories a day.
-I ate a very healthy plant-based, organic diet but lately I've been craving carbs and sugar which is not normal for me.
-Before surgery I ate 2 mediumish meals or three small meals a day.
-I never could eat a large volume of food at one time but now I can! It feels like I'm eating for two.
-I used to only eat when hungry and stop when that feeling went away. I rarely ate to the point of feeling super full (I don't like that feeling).
It's been almost three weeks since I had surgery and I've developed an insatiable appetite. I can eat a ton of food and not feel satisfied. I didn't really have much of an appetite the week following surgery and I slowly got back up to my normal eating routine and now I have gone way past that. I have also been craving sugar and carbs like mad which is very abnormal for me. I am not a sugar fiend and I rarely eat candy. Is this my body's way of coping with surgery? Has anyone else experienced this? Is this going to go away?
Related facts:
-I have a healthy relationship with food.
-I'm at a healthy weight (21.5 BMI).
-I am not a compulsive eater. I don't eat due to stress or boredom. I'm not a snacker.
-Before surgery, I consumed no more than 2000 calories a day.
-I ate a very healthy plant-based, organic diet but lately I've been craving carbs and sugar which is not normal for me.
-Before surgery I ate 2 mediumish meals or three small meals a day.
-I never could eat a large volume of food at one time but now I can! It feels like I'm eating for two.
-I used to only eat when hungry and stop when that feeling went away. I rarely ate to the point of feeling super full (I don't like that feeling).
I came to suggest the same thing torisaur did, though I can't point you to any kind of research. My guess is that your body needs extra calories from the week when you didn't eat much and to help itslef in the healing process.
posted by Aleen at 3:55 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Aleen at 3:55 PM on October 4, 2010
I would assume what the above posters said; that your body is seeking energy and additional resources to heal. I'd give it whatever it's asking for, myself.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:19 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:19 PM on October 4, 2010
Response by poster: I have been giving and giving, but gaining weight is the absolute last thing that I want. It just seems that my body has lost the feeling full mechanism. Exercise and physical activity is not an option until I'm completely healed. The doctor said I can resume exercise in about 3 weeks.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 4:23 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 4:23 PM on October 4, 2010
You're not going to "gain weight" in any significant way in just three weeks. Give your body what it's asking for until you're back on your feet. Once you're back to your normal routine, check back to see if your appetite and feeling-full mechanism have returned to normal; if not, then worry about it.
posted by vorfeed at 4:33 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by vorfeed at 4:33 PM on October 4, 2010
If I do something stupid to my diet or I'm experiencing a lot of stress, and I lose weight quickly, I have ravenous hunger for as long as two weeks, and then one day it will flip off like a switch. It could be you've moved away from your set point, if such a thing exists, and your body wants to get back. (I am not a doctor.)
Also, this happens to me when I'm not eating enough animal fat. I'm ravenous for sugar, carbs, anything. And if I eat some fatty meat (not olive oil, not canola oil, not nuts, not seeds), I experience hours-long satiety within a couple meals.
posted by zeek321 at 4:33 PM on October 4, 2010
Also, this happens to me when I'm not eating enough animal fat. I'm ravenous for sugar, carbs, anything. And if I eat some fatty meat (not olive oil, not canola oil, not nuts, not seeds), I experience hours-long satiety within a couple meals.
posted by zeek321 at 4:33 PM on October 4, 2010
(vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds help a little bit, and milk helps a little more, but fatty--not lean!--meat flips that satiety switch like nothing else)
posted by zeek321 at 4:35 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by zeek321 at 4:35 PM on October 4, 2010
I can't answer your question, but I find I get this shortly after surgery. I put it down to the pre-op fast giving me the food crazies.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 4:36 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Trivia Newton John at 4:36 PM on October 4, 2010
Seconding zeek here, your body will tell you what it wants, and if you're healing from surgery, it wants meat.
posted by Oktober at 4:44 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Oktober at 4:44 PM on October 4, 2010
Response by poster: Meat or any other animal product is not an option.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 4:47 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 4:47 PM on October 4, 2010
Agree with everyone else here. I recently had a significant injury and though was bedridden for 5 weeks, and expended no energy on any movement, had a ravenous appetite. In particular, protein was what I craved. I ended up keeping wasabi peas, seaweed snacks, soy chips etc right next to my bed, and still eating meat or bean filled meals on top of that.
I didn't experience weight gain, just muscle atrophy, which will likely be addressed by physiotherapy when you're ready to resume movement. In fact, I lost weight despite eating enough for 4 stomachs.
Just focus on healing and give your body what it craves!
posted by shazzam! at 5:39 PM on October 4, 2010
I didn't experience weight gain, just muscle atrophy, which will likely be addressed by physiotherapy when you're ready to resume movement. In fact, I lost weight despite eating enough for 4 stomachs.
Just focus on healing and give your body what it craves!
posted by shazzam! at 5:39 PM on October 4, 2010
It could be psychological, particularly if you are anxious with regard to the results of the surgery. I believe I remember you mentioning this surgery in the past here? I would mention the hunger to the doctor; it can't hurt and could help.
Insatiable hunger isn't generally a physical result of most surgeries AFAIK but it is also true that reaction to surgeries can be very different and highly idiosynchratic. But if your question is "is this a typical physical reaction to surgery in general", I don't believe it is typical.
posted by Justinian at 9:49 PM on October 4, 2010
Insatiable hunger isn't generally a physical result of most surgeries AFAIK but it is also true that reaction to surgeries can be very different and highly idiosynchratic. But if your question is "is this a typical physical reaction to surgery in general", I don't believe it is typical.
posted by Justinian at 9:49 PM on October 4, 2010
(As others have said, certain kinds of injuries and serious surgeries could result in a lot of hunger. I just don't think that's what we're talking about here. But your doctor would know better.)
posted by Justinian at 9:50 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Justinian at 9:50 PM on October 4, 2010
Response by poster: I don't believe that it's psychological. I am no longer anxious over the results of my surgery like I was over a week ago. I actually lose my appetite if I'm anxious, stressed, depressed or in pain. The first week after my surgery, I didn't eat much. The second week my appetite slowly came back to normal and then in the last few days it has gone from normal to insatiable.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 9:59 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 9:59 PM on October 4, 2010
Yeah that's why I suggest asking your doc. He or she would know for sure whether hunger is a common, uncommon, rare, or virtually unknown side effect of your particular surgery. And thus whether it is likely to be physical or not and how long it is likely to last if it is.
posted by Justinian at 10:08 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by Justinian at 10:08 PM on October 4, 2010
If you're a vegetarian (as am I) I wonder if your body isn't trying to address something that it's not getting. We're not always great at craving the things we really need... I mean, sometimes when I'm hungry, I feel tired, and vice versa.
Try adding sources of iron and protein. Leafy and dark green vegetables are great for that. Get complete proteins (beans and rice), take a protein supplement, maybe try an L-carnitine supplement.
If it's really starting to bother you, put in a call to your doctor's office. That's what they're for!
posted by ErikaB at 10:36 PM on October 4, 2010
Try adding sources of iron and protein. Leafy and dark green vegetables are great for that. Get complete proteins (beans and rice), take a protein supplement, maybe try an L-carnitine supplement.
If it's really starting to bother you, put in a call to your doctor's office. That's what they're for!
posted by ErikaB at 10:36 PM on October 4, 2010
Your metabolic needs are increased by A LOT because you are building new tissue, and likely experiencing some inflammation. Especially if you experienced any loss of appetite directly after the surgery ("anorexia" in the traditional sense.) Eat when you are hungry. Eat what you are hungry for, or try to bump up the caloric density of what you're eating.
If the full mechanism doesn't seem to be there, it's probably because your body's needs actually exceed your physical capacity to hold food comfortably, so your body may have kind of "shut down" that mechanism. This is almost guaranteed to be temporary.
I know this is cold comfort, but your body probably knows what it is doing. For people without underlying disorders, weight remains remarkably stable over the long term; even if you were to gain weight in the short term, you'll likely lose it again once your life returns to normal. Or else you will stabilize at a slightly higher weight and remain there -- again, sometimes the body has reasons that reason knows nothing of.
Best in your recovery.
posted by Ouisch at 9:54 AM on October 5, 2010
If the full mechanism doesn't seem to be there, it's probably because your body's needs actually exceed your physical capacity to hold food comfortably, so your body may have kind of "shut down" that mechanism. This is almost guaranteed to be temporary.
I know this is cold comfort, but your body probably knows what it is doing. For people without underlying disorders, weight remains remarkably stable over the long term; even if you were to gain weight in the short term, you'll likely lose it again once your life returns to normal. Or else you will stabilize at a slightly higher weight and remain there -- again, sometimes the body has reasons that reason knows nothing of.
Best in your recovery.
posted by Ouisch at 9:54 AM on October 5, 2010
This page references an earlier (2003) study that says that having a vegan/vegetarian diet can make recovering from surgery more difficult. It also has some tips for what you need to add back into your diet.
posted by Oktober at 11:06 AM on October 6, 2010
posted by Oktober at 11:06 AM on October 6, 2010
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posted by torisaur at 3:43 PM on October 4, 2010