[adeline]

I have bulimia, though it's mostly gone now. Except for when I have massive hunger "attacks," reliably, about every two weeks, and when I'm PMSing. I just feel ravenous for days on end, and all of my usual techniques (high fiber, whole-grains, lots of protein) fail.

I think it's real (not emotional) hunger, but I have no idea why, since I'm not exercising excessively, and I eat a normal amount of carbs, fat and calories.

Does anybody else get hormonally based hunger and binge flare ups, and what do you do about it?

[PetulantWolf]

Yes, that happens to me also.The rest of the month month is so different but beginning a week before my period Im an animal! I eat so much. And its like Im starving I just wolf everythng down..I feel lik e I gained five ponds this week. Im going to see if I exercise more, if that will help. I havent purged in years but this PMS eating doess bum me out and i dont want to start again...Im glad you brought this up- Im going to google it right now. Usually what I do is just eat and then lose it the following week because I feel so big and bloated....If I find a web site or something Ill post it.. In the mean time Im going to try to exercise instead of eating...

[PetulantWolf]

Hi again- there is tons of stuff out there, Im going to read up. It says PMS is linked to binge eating and to a craving for hi fat and hi sugar foods. So its common. Now to figure out what to do about it!!!!

I can sure identify with this! I have read that when we are in the throes of pms our metabolism is higher, which in turn makes us hungrier. I don't know if this is true, but I do know that it is a battle for me every month, since most of the time I eat as well and as healthy as I can. About 1-2 weeks before my period though I get cravings for junk food, mostly sugar and salty things, which in turn makes me feel more bloated! I did not feel so bad this past month, but it varies. I've also read that increasing calcium intake helps with pms and bloating. I drank a glass of milk a day for about a week and I did notice a decrease in bloating. Oh the joys of being female!

[adeline]

Wow, thanks for all of the info ! I'm going to try adding more calcium into my diet, I had no idea that that could help. I've just started getting these gourmet chocolates w/ calcium in them (Adora, sold at Whole Foods) but I ate them all before I got to my PMS week. I HIGHLY recommend them... guilt-free chocolate is the best.

Has anyone noticed a change in mood after eating alot of soy in your diet? I don't know how much of it you would need to eat to get an effect from the plant estrogen...

Thanks!

Jessie

[Namaste]

OH my gosh...took the words right out of my mouth. I go on the worst binges when Im PMSing! All of my food boundaries go out the window, and it seems impossible to stick to a meal plan. And at the same time, I purge way more than normal. Even when I haven't been on a binge, I purge. I hate it, and Im on my cycle this week...so my emotions are up and down, and that makes my eating up and down! Well, I completely understand! I hope your week goes better:-)

[Namaste]

Hi, me again...sorry i forgot to write about the soy. So, I eat a vegan diet, and soy is my main staple for the majority of my foods. So, I can't recall if my mood was effected enough to recognize, but too much soy does mess with my stomach. Sometimes to the point that im nauseous. And the calcium trick about reducing bloating...really really works. Brocolli also has tons of calcium, so if you eat a little of that every day as well...it's good too:-)

[January]

Soy works wonders in many ways. This is just one of them.

Jan

[adeline]

I think soy makes me more emotional, but I can't tell for sure. Most birth control pills now are low-estrogen, since estrogen makes you hungrier, more moody, and be unable to lose weight. Before ortho-tricyclen made the current low-estrogen version, I lost 10lbs in a few weeks after stopping the pill... with no changes in exercise or diet. But I don't know if the levels of soy that I'm consuming are high enough to cause an effect...

I think I'm finally coming out of my ravenous/emotional PMS time -- last night I was able to limit myself to 1/4 of a piece of Dulce du Leche cake (for my sugar fix). I was totally in that racing-mind feeling that I get when I feel like I need to binge, but managed to calm myself down.

Why don't men have anything comparable to a menstrual cycle?!

[Namaste]

haha...seriously! men get off so easy. Im glad you could calm yourself down, and not binge--you shuold be proud:-) Although, along with the menstrual cycle...I lost mine due to my ED, for about a year and a half, and you sort of miss it. It sounds crazy, but when I finally got it back-I was actually happy, I felt like a woman again:-)!!

[adeline]

Thanks, Namaste!

I know what you mean about missing the menstrual cycle after a point... I've had amenorhea since I was 15, and haven't been able to have a natural period since (i.e. have to stay on birth control). My friends were totally envious in high school, but it does become kind of threatening to your sense of womanhood.

Do you know what the effects of amenorhea are on fertility? I've been asking my doctors since I was 15, and all that I ever got was that it may or may not cause infertility.

Thanks!

Jessie

[adeline]

Thanks, Namaste!

I know what you mean about missing the menstrual cycle after a point... I've had amenorhea since I was 15, and haven't been able to have a natural period since (i.e. have to stay on birth control). My friends were totally envious in high school, but it does become kind of threatening to your sense of womanhood.

Do you know what the effects of amenorhea are on fertility? I've been asking my doctors since I was 15, and all that I ever got was that it may or may not cause infertility.

Thanks!

Jessie

[Namaste]

you're welcome! ya know, i honestly don't know if it has any effect on fertility...as long as you are having a period of some sort at the time of getting pregnant. Even if it isn't natural. I don't know for sure, but when I asked my doctor, just last week actually, she gave me the same response!

savannah

[Namaste]

you're welcome! ya know, i honestly don't know if it has any effect on fertility...as long as you are having a period of some sort at the time of getting pregnant. Even if it isn't natural. I don't know for sure, but when I asked my doctor, just last week actually, she gave me the same response!

savannah

[funnygirl]

Hi ladies

If your cycle is artificially induced, your ovaries will release eggs which can be fertilised in the normal way.

But I'm not sure if that is still the case if you are on the birth control pill which causes a monthly flow but doesn't release an egg.

FG

[darkeyes]

My appetite doubles or even triples when I am PMSing, they claim it's the shift of hormones that cause that.
Nature has programmed us that way,even occurs in the animal world,during estrus.
Amazing how it snaps back to normal,but then already 2 weeks of the month have put me back with dieting.