Constantly hungry

[Rheadster72]

Since having B12 jabs I find I am always starving no matter how much I eat. I used to always have a very light lunch but recently have had to up my intake - breakfast, lunch and dinner x2! I wonder if this could be my body telling me it needs more nutrients to help the B12 out at the cellular level. I take daily 400 mcg folate and a B complex multivit as well as the once weekly B12. On the plus side, I've found some new spinach recipes to try out!

[Hidden]

I'm a n00b here & still figuring out the cause of my b12 deficiency & kinda leaning towards the coeliac side of things so joined that community too but thought I'd share my experience as definitely got the munchies after my jab yesterday and been hungry today. Trouble is staying at my dad's at the moment & he eats wheat, just been eating some ritz biscuits and got heartburn mad at the moment, and my thighs seem to have bloated up as noticed my legs rubbing together earlier which they weren't this morning. Had an apple earlier which helped, green ones the best. Should've just had another apple!

Point I'm getting to is only time I got my hunger under control was when I totally went off carbs ten years ago and also swapped around the way I eat, breakfast in the morning - ideally porridge as slow releasing energy, then bigger lunch and less in the evening cos I needed the energy in the afternoon. Since I've been back here it's the other way round as I cook for my dad most evenings, he's used to bigger meal at night.

I used to snack on sunflower seeds thinking they were ok but bland AF but now I've been checking and they're not that great so need to find new snacky stuff.

But that was first time I'd ever managed to control my blood sugar levels, not sure if you know root cause of your b12 deficiency but might be worth trying the gluten free approach if you haven't already. I followed the fake Dr. Dr. Gillian McKeith's stuff, now looking back I can see it was the diet that gave me the energy to do all the cycling, swimming and gym, I can't hardly walk down the stairs at the moment lol!

Hope you manage to sort your cravings out, I previously thought I had a yeast issue and that doesn't go unless you cut it out totally otherwise just grows, but last doctor sniggled when I mentioned that so don't really know whether I'm right or not there, I'm a hacker so I know about computer code all this food stuff is big learning journey, I'd just forgotten what I'd learned before, time to get back on the mission... determined to not have to self-inject!!

[Rheadster72 in reply to Hidden]

I feel your pain regarding the "...used to cycle, swim, gym...bit now can barely walk down the stairs". I used to be a triathlete and had one of those FB photo reminders that it was 9 years ago today I did my first. Now I can no longer run, can barely swim and have been on my bike I think twice this year for a ride round the block! Very frustrating. Part of my thinks I might have knackered my metabolism somehow when overdoing the training. Not got a firm B12 deficiency diagnosis but symptoms pointed towards a possible cause so haematologist advise on a trial of jabs. Had kale for the first time ever this month... and it's actually alright tasting!

[Hidden in reply to Rheadster72]

Wow! Well I wouldn't say I was quite *that* fit, I was 17.5stone, went down to 12.5 now back up to 17.5. It was actually around that time when I was back here and I was starting again I got my first Drupal (Free/Libre/Open Source modular web app framework/CMS/engine thingy) contract, was for Mazda's wearetriathlon website which paid for me to move to Brighton where I was until last year. I built the back-end - they needed an expert to help them connect with Facebook so people could support their friends.

Went to Brighton cos thought it'd be the perfect mix of art, music and tech geeks to start up my 'organic open source coworking cafe concept' ~ the food side of that was a result of my amazement at how much I just didn't know about food and found it hard and time consuming to figure out my own stuff. I mean kale's nice, but it's pretty much starting from scratch when you need to take so much out of your diet in order to lead a 'normal' life.

Obviously everyone's different and I've no idea whether you've had this through your triathlete stuff but I'd be inclined to check out the diet stuff, I did it the manual way - always wanted to try out one of these tests things like the 23andme stuff so will do that when I've got some cashflow. Sure beats going round the bush being told I've got X or Y or Z when all I need to do is eat differently.

[fbirder]

I strongly believe that it's the mood-altering effect of B12 deficiency that is, at least in part, responsible for changes in eating habits.

Personally, I found that the depression I got while deficient made me eat more - mainly the foods I should really be eating less of.

But some people find that depression makes them lose their appetite.

Have you experienced an improvement in mood. Or have other people close to you (often they can spot such changes more easily than we can).

[Rheadster72 in reply to fbirder]

I don't really have a sense of depression and never have but I have found before injecting that I became incredibly irritable. This has improved a bit but some days when symptoms return so does the irritability.

[Dee215]

I too am always hungry. I consume so much fruit in a day it is ridiculous, but I am very conscious of not wanting to gain weight. I am going to start a separate post but my GP will not entertain the idea of PA, he just says categorically that I do not have it, despite all the symptoms.

[Rheadster72 in reply to Dee215]

Gaining pounds is a concern at the back of my mind; particularly as I cut my exercise down dramatically. That said, my weight hsnt changed despite the increased intake.

[topazrat]

I always get the munchies after a jab too, just for a couple of days. But as I'm a feather weight, that ain't no bad thing.