hunger pangs

Painful spastic contractions at the top of my abdomen, not attributable to having gone too long without food. Say, I eat a high protein meal, drink tea and two hours later feel these dreadful hunger pangs, or wake up from them in the middle of the night despite having eaten supper at bedtime. And eat in the middle of the night to quell them and go back to sleep and then need to eat breakfast again at 7AM. And it is getting worse, despite the fact that I am on Mounjaro and Topamax.

Has anyone had them? The endocrinologist did not have anything useful to suggest except that Seroquel can cause hunger but how can 75 Seroquel do it when in the past I was on 500-800 mg Seroquel and this did not happen? Plus, I have been on my current Seroquel treatment since last spring and hunger pangs returned in December.

I had hunger pangs in 2021 and at that time they were attributable to Zyprexa. Switching to Lybalvi did not help. I do not take Zyprexa anymore.

I have just read a long article about hunger pangs on the website of Cleveland Clinic and nothing addresses what I am experiencing. Of course, I am glad that the endocrinologist confirmed that my hormonal bloodwork was normal, but what do I do now?

I have lost all the pleasure from eating.

I stopped taking Ozempic after a short time because of stomach pain waking me up. They scared me. Now i am envious of those who have lost weight on the drugs. Maybe try treating the symptoms? Heating pad, massage, Gas-X?

I will try massage and heating pad. For gas-x it is not that kind of pain I think but still worth a shot

I am not unfamiliar with the hunger pangs. I feel ya. It's incredibly frustrating! When I get the hunger it's like I have to eat... NOW, and it sounds like it's the same way with you. My hormone levels are also all normal and I'm also on topamax (100mg as bedtime).

I don't know what we can do about this problem we have unfortunately. I just wanted to let you know you're not alone.

Yesterday the despair was so bad that for a brief moment, for literally a split second, for less than a split second I thought that one can kill oneself from it. That was not surprising though since my mind defaults to suicidal ideation at odds moments. But the despair was warranted: I would eat a HIGH PROTEIN meal (two hard boiled eggs, a 0% single serve plain Fage yogurt, and a piece of cheese, all together), have tea, still not feel truly full, and in less than two hours feel those dreadful pangs again. I could not escape. And with the pangs, anxiety would spike.

I even read about leptin resistance, an area that has not been well researched, and started suspecting that that is what I have.

I thought yesterday that how ironic it is that I am now on a trio of meds that are supposed to reduce hunger: Mounjaro that has stopped working, Topamax and now amphetamine which I have started taking for narcolepsy (I do not suffer from ADHD). And the trio does not help.

Then last night I was suddenly excited, happy, and not sleepy at all. I suspected that amphetamine started to cause mania and insomnia, a well-known side effect. I feared that it would mean I would have to halt the amphetamine trial which in turn would mean no cure for narcolepsy and disability.

I put on a familiar audiobook and for a couple of minutes listened with my eyes open, thinking that I was so wide awake that it would be pointless to try to close them. But then I did close them.

Next I woke up several minutes before the 7AM alarm, happy and alert. I could not believe it: I had slept through the night for the first time in I do not know how long. I took one dose of amphetamine (the smallest dose). The day before, the amphetamine took very long to work, more than 2.5 hours, and the pdoc suggested I increase the dose. But I did not need it this morning. Heck, this morning I did not even need the amphetamine: I took it just in case.

This miraculous story continued. I was at work before 9AM, with my brows and lashes done which is unusual for me. I had a super productive day at work and just could not believe my luck. In the morning, I was not super hungry but I decided to eat preemptively. I ate the above (it is the food that our micro kitchen at the office stocks): two hard boiled eggs, a little cheese, and Fage. I had a cup of tea. I felt full. It was that pleasant, almost forgotten feeling. Full and warm in the tummy from the tea.

Then I had a couple lattes and for lunch, Latin food which I really like. Again, I felt full after a regular quantity of food and simply could not believe my luck. I was on cloud nine. I planned to keep drinking tea to drown my enemy but I did not have to: I was not getting pangs. In the evening, before leaving for the gym, I was getting very mildly hungry and decided to eat, again preemptively. I had a cup of warm whole milk, a tiny bag of baby carrots, and string cheese. I felt full after it. I was amazed.

Then I had a 55 minute workout on the treadmill with sweat dripping, doing intervals. Then I had 75 minutes of very slow yoga, followed by a shower. Then I came home, had a bowl of borscht with beef and sour cream (not a lot of beef, just a little) and a few pineapple chunks. I now feel full.

I simply cannot believe that it can be such a change overnight. What will tomorrow be like? As dreadful as yesterday or as easy breezy as today?

Tomorrow I will inject the last dose of Mounjaro 10 mg. The insurance has finally approved 12.5 mg. I will pick it up from Walmart pharmacy this weekend and start on it this Thursday. In theory, more is better, but for me this summer I did not have hunger pangs on Mounjaro 5 mg and this past December had them on Mounjaro 10 mg. go figure.

But @raspberrytorte I like how you say it, we are walking pharmacies and no one knows what long term metabolic side effects of being a walking pharmacy are.

Yeah I'm the same way. I used to be able to fast for 16 hours. Now I can't even go 5 hours without getting major hunger pangs.

When I was young, I easily fasted for days. Now I cannot even think about it.

Success: another night without waking up to eat.

@Tart Cherry Jam

Wonderful news! I'm so happy your hunger pangs have gone away! Guess I just have to get my pdoc to prescribe me an amphetamine... just kidding. Lol. What's mounjaro? Is that a weight loss drug?

I used to be able to go an entire day without eating. Now it would be IMPOSSIBLE. So frustrating.

completely IMPOSSIBLE! I hear and read those folks talk non-stop about intermittent fasting (IF) and I just roll my eyes. It is out of the question for me.

Mounjaro is a weight loss drug. It has the ingredient in Ozempic plus one more. I am going to go inject it right now. Injections do not hurt, by the way, but leave unsightly marks on the skin.

Oh okay. Did your GP prescribe it? Or your pdoc? I'm assuming there's no generic?

I want to go to my GP about my weight concerns 😟, but I know she's just going to tell me to diet and exercise more. At my physical in August she didn't even say anything about my weight.

No, it was prescribed by a medical weight loss physician assistant (who is great by the way). But the pdoc says that if I wanted to, he could continue prescribing it. There is no generic. It is very new.

Diet and exercise do not work very well, which is why these weight loss drugs are taking over.

Okay. If topamax doesn't work out, I'll talk to my pdoc about other weight loss drug options. I was SO hungry today I had three apples, three bowls of oatmeal, two bowls of lentil soup, a bean burrito and two sugar cookies.

I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow to buy salad and yogurt, but we're getting another blizzard, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to drive. And my husband has work all weekend. I know, boohoo. At least I have oatmeal. I'm just tired of always being so ****ing hungry. I'm hungry right now!

That is a LOT of food. This sounds so familiar to me, eating abnormally high quantities of really health foods. Lentil soup–what can be healthier, really?

Yeah

I just get so damn hungry! And the oatmeal was only half a cup each, sweetened with stevia, and with a little bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk in it. I guess it could be worse. I could be pigging out on pizza and chips or something.

Thats why i added raisins and walnuts to my oatmeal. Otherwise its like chewing water.

I had 4 good days. Wed through Saturday. eating normally, enjoying food, getting full, staying full for hours.

This morning, woke up at 5:20 AM from hunger. Had a glass of warm milk. Thought I would be able to go back back to sleep. Wasn't able to. Waited and waited. Got up again, warmed up high protein chocolate milk shake in the microwave. Drank it. Was then able to sleep and got up at 9. Had an omelette for brunch. Was not full. Came home from brunch and had to have lunch. Even ate lamb. Ate a lot. Went to work out on a recumbent bike. Drank 1.5 l of water with electrolytes while exercising. Came home. Hunger. I feel aversion to food when I am so painfully hungry. I derive no pleasure. I had a little meat but could not bring myself to chew more meat. It was just so unpleasant. Had two cups of plain kefir. Now feeling sort of not acutely hungry but not full, either.

Darn! they are back.

Ugh! What is WRONG with us?! It's so FRUSTRATING!

Could we be leptin resistant?

I mean... I NEVER feel full either!

This is horrible.

I think this is me too. If I think about it I don’t eat whole meals when I eat- some chicke then 2-3 hours later salad or cereal. Hot ovaltine helps at night.

I have never heard of ovaltine.

I actually liked cocoa, especially when I was a child. I can try drinking hot cocoa (just milk and cacao powder, no sugar: I like it this way) before going to bed.

I don't know.

I should try drinking just plain hot milk before bed and adding a teaspoon of chia seeds to it. Chia seeds supposedly help fill you up.

I of course had oatmeal and an apple at 5AM and it is now 8:35AM and I am STARVING already. Will not eat though. I'll just go drink some more tea. Sigh. This is sucky. I don't know why I always have to be so damn HUNGRY.

Try eating a 385 calorie can of Bush's butter beans for breakfast. You won't be too hungry for the rest of the day.