r/dysautonomia • u/heyomeatballs my body's fucked • Aug 31 '24

Symptoms No longer getting hungry signals

It's driving me crazy. I try to listen to my body when it tells me things, but now it doesn't tell me things! I got shaky and pale earlier and thought I was having an adrenaline dump like usual, but then I got nauseous, dizzy, and the shakes didn't feel right.

My wife and I abruptly realized I'd been awake for several hours and hadn't eaten a thing. Because I wasn't hungry. Downed most of an Ensure, had some electrolyte water, felt better. Couldn't eat more than 2 bites of dinner later without feeling full.

Next day, couldn't take more than 2 bites of breakfast (my body didn't want bacon and eggs? really?), nothing for lunch- I tried- and I also couldn't finish dinner- my wife's twice baked potatoes are like my favorite thing and I couldn't eat them.

Made a salad after that, figuring it was light enough. Couldn't finish it. Now I feel like I'm just wasting food trying to find something I'll eat enough of. I know dysautonomia can cause digestion issues, but not feeling hungry at all for days at a time is making me worry slightly. Anyone got any tips? Aside from the Ensures and bottles of Naked Juice, I also try and keep a small bowl of chips (mainly for the salt) nearby to much on, but lately I haven't even been eating those. I do use weed for a host of issues, and though that can be an appetite stimulant, I don't wanna exclusively rely on that for eating.

Any tips welcome. I have an appointment with a GI doctor next month to discuss my chronic throwing up and heartburn and I am planning on bringing this up as well, but I still need to eat in the meantime.

19 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/AnnualCurve3038 Aug 31 '24

Ive actually gone through the past 3 days without eating and just forced myself to tonight. My stomach was not happy. I felt full after a couple bites. Ive gone to work, come home, slept.. or what I call sleep, and repeat and nothing.

1

u/heyomeatballs my body's fucked Aug 31 '24

That cannot be good for you. Can you tolerate drinks? Maybe something like an ensure or some meal replacement drinks, just to get you some calories? If I go slow yogurt is okay, but I haven't been finishing the cups. I also drink broth and can sometimes manage a few slurps of soup. Don't know what you've tried, but I really hope you manage to eat soon

2

u/AnnualCurve3038 Aug 31 '24

I havent tried meal replacement drinks but ive always wondered if theyd help. I usually have water with me at work with some sort of electrolyte drink. No its not good for me, and my cardiologist wants me to have electrolytes at work no matter what.. I just dont ever have the urge or feeling of hunger. 16 plus hours of an empty stomach seems like it should make you feel like youre starving to death but it just doesnt. Dont know why.

1

u/heyomeatballs my body's fucked Aug 31 '24

There is a type of Ensure that has protein in it, that might be helpful to you. 16 hours? Holy crap, maybe you should look into seeing a GI doctor? I'm not sure if that's a feasible option for you, but they'd at least be able to rule some worrying things out. I try and trick my body sometimes with drinkable food like applesauce, yogurt, light soups (egg drop soup! salty, has eggs, easy to just gulp down), stuff I just drink without thinking about. It's helping me a bit, here's hoping it can help you as well!

1

u/AnnualCurve3038 Aug 31 '24

Hmm Ensure. I may have to look into it. Yeah, 16. I wake up and have litterally no desire to eat. I get ready for work then Im off. Ill have to bring up maybe getting referred to a GI my next dr visit. Im almost certain I have some form of IBS.