Appetite problems

Every once in a while, I get really hungry. But that's only every once in a while. I just don't really get too hungry anymore. I don't "feel" hunger. I guess it has been this way for a couple of weeks now. Could this be due to going off of birth control? I'm exhausted a lot, but appetite... I mean I know I have to eat sometimes, my blood sugar will drop and I'll KNOW, but other than that... I'm just not hungry at all. Is this normal after stopping a medication?

No, not really. As you've had food related problems in the past I'd recommend seeing your doctor/therapist immediately

I was just there yesterday for the follow up and he took a look at everything. He says I look fine. I feel fine save for the fatigue, and I am eating, I'm just never "hungry" anymore. I like being hungry!

Is it possible that you are eating healthy so that you aren't waiting until you are starvign to eat?  Also just being busy or stressed can cause the lack of hunger.  I would see what the next few weeks look like, maybe it will change.  Not be hungry will prevent you from over eating, so that is a good thing.

i think it could be when i was on the pill my appetite was double what it was before. or perhaps the race and everything has just made you tired . have you been making sure you eat enogh despite this ? h x

I am eating, yes, but I think it must be the pill and all of the sudden being very busy. I just like... being hungry. It makes eating feel a lot better. Plus I don't like that not being hungry makes it easy to forget eating in the morning/early afternoon when I'm running after my kids and doing classwork/housework.

Hey bethany, being on the pill can definitely increase your appetite, so I'm not surprised you don't feel as hungry since you've gotten off of it. I think your appetite will eventually stabilize, so for the next couple of weeks you'll just have to be very conscious of making sure you eat enough. 

Good luck :)

ur recovering from an eating disorder, yrs or wahtever of ignoring ur hunger cues.

u need to eat mechanically 4 now, maybe on a schedule, regardless of hunger.

Hey - I also have problems with recognizing physical hunger.

I have not been able to feel it, or recognize it if it WAS present

Either because I always eat regularly, so not giving my body a chance to feel real hunger

Or due to my past restriction, maybe I have forgotten what physical hunger genuinely is, OR my body feels it differently to before. Who knows


Lately though, I am beginning to feel hungry and know it is hunger

But other times, honestly,  it is the blood sugar and need of carbs that I feel; not actual physical hunger.


So eating mechanically when my stomach is not necessarily growling with hunger is necessary for me most of the time!

So personaltrainer do you SOMETIMES feel like... ravenous and that's really when you recognize "hunger" at all?

I NEVER feel hungry. I am recently widowed, with 2 teenagers and under tremendous stress. My stomach is extended...but there is no fat there..This week , i have forced myself to eat. Hungry or not. I feel I have starved myself for a year, unknowingly. It's not that I look in the mirroe and think I am fat...I just do not have any appetite. My body has reacted, I think, by this extended belly, which only makes me feel horrible...So I will force myself to eat healthy foods, small amounts, all through the day and hope fully my body will re-adjust.I could not be more stressed...but I need to learn to eat, stressed or not..Looking 5 months pregnant, is more upseting than forcing myself to eat.Just curious how long it will take for my body to re-adjust. Any help is appreciated...i feel so very isolated and alone with this. Thank you so very much.

I don't think this is related to previous issues with restricting. I get so unhungrry sometimes I feel nauseated. But if I don't eat, I feel like i'm ill. I felt like I was coming down with something all morning, my throat ached, I was nauseated, but after eating, I felt better. I don't understand. Maybe I've just been fighting something off.

Sweetrandi, you are suffering from anorexia, even if it isn't anorexia nervosa. Your body will adjust over a few months, so long as you keep at it. I am so sorry for your loss. I imagine the stress is tremendous and I can understand not feeling hungry. You must nourish yourself to care for yourself, though, because if you have two teenagers they need you and you need them. I wish you all the best.

Yes yes yes!   That is how I get!

For me to feel hungry, I need to be VERY hungry before I feel ANY physical sign of hunger!


Lately, I have been trying to see if I can only eat when physically hungry,  and on a few occasions I have felt that   “ ill” or “sick”  as you put it,  only to feel better after I ate.


It looks like it is linked to us not feeling physical hunger unless we are VERY hungry; therefore, being too hungry can cause people to feel ill, due to low blood sugar, lack of energy, who knows…

It is good to try to try to feel hunger before eating, I personally enjoy eating much more when I am actually hungry…

It is not always feasible for some people to wait until they are hungry though.  

It is really important for us to make sure we just eat enough. That is what is important.

So I have been making myself eat enough regardless of hunger. Which is not hard, because I enjoy food!

Our bodies may just not feel hunger strongly

For me, I do not think it is because of  my past restrictions; I have not restricted for a long time, and I NEVER go under calories.

But in the past, I went through a stage in life where I was not stimulated/fulfilled and etc, so I ate to compensate for the lack of enjoyment in other areas of my life…

I definitely did a lot of eating when I was not hungry

Over a long period of time, non hungry eating has also caused me to switch off to what actual hunger is - because I never bothered to wait until I felt hungry before eating…


So, my past is: restriction, and than eating enough, and than brief periods of under eating (unintentionally - I did not count calories, and simply did not know how many calories I needed for exercise),  and for a good year or more I have eaten enough calories every single day -  usually more than recommended to be safe.



So - my past restriction, plus  my tendency to never wait until I was hungry to eat, has probably caused  me to lose track of real hunger!

personaltrainer - that sounds a lot like me, actually. wow. like, really a lot like me. i ate a lot for "enjoyment" when i was younger because home was just depressing. i enjoy food, too! it makes me feel better to know i'm not entirely strange for feeling this way.

Thank you both for sharing and supporting what I suspected. I have to force myself to eat or I won't. I need to do it for myself...for me to be healthy. It is difficult since my environment at home is very toxic. My 16 year old is very angry and difficult and after a year of therapy, she is basically your selfish self absorbed teenager...who vents all her anger on to me, every day. Far better than tantrumming 9 times a day but still very hard on my soul. I am still in therapy...to learn to  manage my emotions and not let my emotions manage me. I must add, I do feel better this week, pysically since I have been eating very small amounts throughout the day, that has helped with feeling nauseus....though I am no where near my needed calories. I am going to the bathroom better too, since there is food now in me to go....LOL..This is for me...I need to take care of myself...Give to myself..Nurture myself...cause if I don't...NO  ONE  WILL  ...I have cut out caffeine and make sure I have a lot of herbal tea and water as well...but it would be nice to feel hungry...I am assumming that as my non-eating just became a habit...so will this...and maybe my hunger will come back...Thanks again and I wish you both only the best on your journey and adventures of life...You both sound like very aware and smart women...I know you will get to where you want to be...