Weird Medical Oddity...

[Seien Hananosei]

So, yeah. I implied 'not have the desire to have sex' but in this case I mean not have the desire to eat. I read something relating the two in another post and it kind of made me think of something. So, in my family, and I've heard similar things from various other people, some of us can go for long periods of time and then look back and realize that we haven't eaten anything in XX amount of time. We don't really get hungry, but you can tell that the condition of your body is bad, so you decide it's time to eat. But we don't really feel 'hungry' per se. It's kind of weird. :/ I know that both my dad and I are kind of like this. I get my fast metabolism from him, which is probably why we don't really eat all that often. It just struck me as weird when I thought about it, I suppose.

((This is in no way related to anorexia, because that is when you have a psychological disorder related to body image and thus starve yourself. We eat enough that we stay healthy and all, but we don't really get 'hungry.' We just realize "hey, I am feeling low on energy, maybe I should eat something" as opposed to what I hear other people say about how they feel like they need to eat etc. Or maybe feeling weak or dizzy is the same thing as feeling hungry? People always describe it to me as a feeling in your stomach. :/))

[Parth]

Hunger is most assuredly a feeling in the stomach (a "rumbling" stomach for example - it feels and sounds like your stomach is crying out for something :P). Feeling weak and dizzy is a product of having far too little to eat in general, signifying you should have been hungry a long time ago.

[Atalante]

This is in no way related to anorexia, because that is when you have a psychological disorder related to body image and thus starve yourself.

It could be related actually; anorexia merely means 'decreased appetite', which might be an accurate description of what you have. The disorder you have in mind is actually called 'anorexia nervosa' and is a fairly different can of worms, but there are plenty of other causes of anorexia, and plain old anorexia itself isn't necessarily dangerous, if you are still eating enough.

I know I was experiencing a bout of anorexia a few months ago, when I just didn't feel any need to eat much (two biscuits or a fruit would be good enough)... only to realize after a few days that I hadn't eaten anything like a half-decent meal in a week. I was actually trying to maintain my weight at that time, as I was a little bit on the feather-light side of life already... Well, I ended up losing another stone in less than two months, which is probably not what you'd call healthy.

Fast-forward to now, my appetite has returned now, and I can feel 'hunger' very much! It is indeed a feeling in the stomach, and it's pretty hard to ignore for any long period of time. It does feel a bit like your whole body is crying out for food and wants it as soon as is convenient... Now, if you will excuse me, my body demands some food right now!

[Guest Fosco]

Well I'm the same, I never get hungry.

Some people think it's an eating disorder, but like you said, I just don't feel hungry, ever.

I know when I should eat, and that's when I force myself to eat at least something on most days. Otherwise I get the shakes and fall over.

[jay williams]

I don't think you are all that unusual. I used to be quite skinny, and never felt eating was a big deal. I eat too much anymore, as I am overweight. But still eating is not that big a deal to me.

There is an expression:

Some people live to eat; some eat to live.

Well I'm the same, I never get hungry.

Some people think it's an eating disorder, but like you said, I just don't feel hungry, ever.

I know when I should eat, and that's when I force myself to eat at least something on most days. Otherwise I get the shakes and fall over.

[JustJudy]

I rarely have a desire to eat either, and currently have felt this way for over a year. I know I need to eat and I do, I'm not under weight nor over weight. I go days without eating anything more than a protein shake. The thought of food often turns me off so I'll find something that like a piece of fruit that I can stomach. I was never a big eater and used to too thin but now that I'm in my 50s I'm not skinny. Funny thing chocolate ALWAYS sounds good to me and if I could survive I'd probably live on chocolate alone. Part of my problem is I live alone, I don't like to cook, and I don't like to go out so it's easier to just not eat, and the less you eat your stomach shrinks and you're less hungry.

[twister]

You know, that applies to me too and always has. I most days go all day from breakfast until I get home, not eating or drinking! Then I get in and eat, but can then realise I have still forgotten to have a drink. I have to kind of remind myself that I need to do these things. I do occasionally get a bit woozy in the late afternoon, but not always by any means. I have pondered whether this is somehow linked to my asexuality? - ah well, just a thought......

[thylacine]

I know people who never want to eat. It's weird, but that's the way they are.

[Forensic]

I wish I could borrow that for a while.

[Parth]

I wish I could borrow that for a while.

Haha, me too. My appetite is massive. I'd share it around if I could.

[Tanwen]

I used to put it down to being a post war baby - our parents had to endure stict rationing during the war, so wouldn't let us waste a scrap! So anyonw want an appetite? I'm not asking you to take on the lot - around 100 taking a bit each should bring it down to reasonable proportions...

[Ziffler]

I wish I could borrow that for a while.

I eat so as not to get hungry. I enjoy eating. I can snack and snack all day long.

Family trait I think. All my relatives are like this. When someone is coming to visit, we always cook something special. No one has ever left any of my relatives houses hungry. Birthdays the birthday person gets to pick where we are going out to eat. Eating holds a huge place in my families social structure. A large part of our budget goes to food.

Saying that, I can fast for 30 days at a time and not feel hungry. Occassionally during fasting I will have a stomach twange but it dont last but a few minutes and then I'm fine with not eating. I can get busy with a project and not get hungry or eat during the project. When I start a project I like to continue with it till its done and then eat and sleep after, even when that project takes 24 to 36 hours to complete. When I sleep I don't get hungry. I have slept as much as 72 hours straight without getting out of bed for anything. No hungry pangs at all.

I know that we Americans definately eat way more food than our bodies need. I'm about 25 pounds to the good. :D

So I guess I am the opposite of you. I eat to eat, and you only eat when you have to eat for your health. I don't think either is bad, as long neither of us, take it to the extreme. Me gain so much weight that I can't fit thru a regular size doorway and you loose so much weight that the wind blows you away. The important thing is to stay healthy. We only have this one body and its our home for the duration of our life on earth, so we have to take care of it.

But rest assured, It doesn't have anything to do with being or not being asexual.

But it makes for a great discussion.

This could of been a poll. Under eaters and over eaters. :D

So if anyone is keeping score, here is one vote for being an over eater.

[mad_scientist]

Sometimes I feel hungry, sometimes I don't.

It might be misreading the symptoms. I'f I'm distracted for a long period of time (24 hours or so) i'll end up thinking, "Why is my stomach hurting? Oh, right, no food." It might also be your diet -- there's more than one type of hunger. Having an empty stomash will give you the stomach-rumbling or stomach pains type, whereas low blood sugar will make you feel nauseous, weak or just irritated. Results vary between people. If, for instance, there was a condition in your family where food is digested very slowly, your blood sugar would always drop before your stomach emptied and this could be interpreted as "never being hungry" because you simply don't recognise it as hunger (the stomach-rumbling type is more popular in the media). Off the top of my head I can think of several reasons why this could actually be connected to the symptoms of a high metabolism, but I'm not a doctor.

Alternatively, it might be a hormone deficiency or a mental condition. Could be one of several. Again, I'm not a doctor.

Ziffler, I'm an over-eater, too. Why lose weight when you have chocolate?

[Nalle Neversure]

I'm a lot like you, Seien.

Eating just doesn't cross my mind as a must-do-thing. I know it is a must, but...

I often just forget to eat. Not a big deal to me but others make a big fuss out of it.

I love food, so I remind myself by buying delicious food. I'm not going to starve next to Pringles and Maltesers. (Yes, they are 'food' ;))

[isillote]

I can forget about food altogether for hours if I'm really absorbed in a task, otherwise I eat reasonably normally, and I do enjoy food. But I have fasted for 14 days once, and no, I didn't feel hungry at all. I expected to, and everyone said I would, but I didn't. Felt great, in fact.

[metalgirl2045]

Once when I was about 13 I was in something like a geography lesson shortly before lunchtime and I suddenly felt this really weird feeling in my stomach, like I was going to be sick. I went to the school nurse, but nothing else seemed to be wrong.

Next day I got the same thing again, but despite my stomach feeling horrible, nothing seemed to be wrong.

This went on for several more days, I'd feel this sick-like feeling just before lunchtime every day. I eventually realised I wasn't ill, but it was actually hunger and the mysterious "rumbling stomach" I'd always heard about but never actually felt. The reason I felt ill was because I'd never once felt hungry in my life before and the totally alien sensation was freaking me out.

I have no idea why I was unable to feel hunger until I was in my teens or why I developed that ability so suddenly, but I still don't eat an awful lot. I'm physically unable to eat very large meals, what most people would consider a normal meal leaves me feeling like I'm going to be sick or explode like Mr Creosote in Monty Python. I get very little pleasure out of eating. This has absolutely nothing to do with my body image, I just don't get hungry very often and then eating a lot is very uncomfortable. If I want to eat a lot of food in one go I have to be in practice, if I've eaten small meals for a few days then there's no way I can eat a medium or large one.

I'm perfectly healthy and have no reason to see a doctor about this. If I'm missing out on something vital then I crave it.

[Gatto]

I'm physically unable to eat very large meals, what most people would consider a normal meal leaves me feeling like I'm going to be sick or explode like Mr Creosote in Monty Python.

Surely you can have one wafer-thin mint? It's only a tiny little thin one. Just one?

[pikku]

I get hungry, but I never really liked to do it. (Though I occasionally do. Just not often...)

Basically, I have the drive, but I don't generally have the desire/attraction.

Also, I hate chewing, so it may be linked to that.

[evanescence]

Yeah, I've known people like that. In some ways I envy them, because they have a built-in weight control mechanism. I love food, and if I let myself eat as much as I wanted I would probably weigh 400 pounds...

E.

[Cacille]

Yay more people like me! I am the same way, I am a undereater. There was a while back a few years ago in which I realized that I ddin't remember the last time I ate. I could eat only one meal a day and be fine. I never got hungry as well, the rumbling sensation was a weird experience when it did happen, which was rare.

Until i got to weigh 113lbs. After that, I got dizzy and experienced other side effects. I was working 2 jobs at the time and just couldn't eat, due to time! So i quit a job and focused on weight gain. I got back up at 120 lbs, and to this day I weigh somewhere between 117-120, can't gain any more. I eat 4-5 times a day now, back to working 2 jobs so the meals are pretty spaced out.

I have the skinny gene in my family (Dad's side), a fast metabolism and low cholesterol and perfect blood pressure. I joke that i have about the most perfect body anyone can have, haha.

[metalgirl2045]

I once suddenly found myself underweight and feeling rather dizzy. The problem might have been that what little I was eating was very healthy, so I wasn't craving anything in particular (if I eat nothing but chocolate for a day, I start getting massive cravings for things like salt, protein and vegatables). So I didn't notice that I wasn't finding reasons to force myself to eat as much as I possibly could.

[lunagirl]

I wish I could borrow that for a while.

I eat so as not to get hungry. I enjoy eating. I can snack and snack all day long.

I love to eat and snack to...Love it

[Beardless]

I have to be encouraged to eat. I just forget. I get distracted. It also doesn't help that if I'm low I don't like to go into the kitchen.

[Nico-Nico Friendo]

Heh. I can be weird when it comes to hunger, or lack thereof, as well. Sometimes I forget to eat when I get involved in something. I often do not feel very hungry, but I try to eat the standard "three meals a day" (sometimes not exactly 'meals' as most people would think of it) even if I only have an apple for lunch. Some days really suck because my stomach will keep burning no matter how much I eat. I don't really like eating for the most part. I just feel like it's something I have to do to keep my energy up and not feel dizzy and stuff. I rarely have cravings for food, unless it's chocolate. Mmmm. :)

I don't understand people who eat a lot just because they are depressed. I'm just the opposite. When I'm really depressed, I usually don't feel like eating much or at all.

[SomeoneElse]

Those of us lucky enough to have been blessed with tiny appetites can reap the benefits of calorie restriction.

Just make sure you get enough vits/mins!

Another thing, does anyone not have a gag reflex?

[lar93]

i get that for a few weeks every six months, it's kinda annoying, because I'm thin enough as it is (I don't put on weight unless I grow in height, even on a 3000 calorie per day, high-fat diet designed to make you pile on weight) i just kinda forced myself to eat 3 meals a day, because my body probably couldn't afford to miss out on calories! It's probably nothing to be worried about, but if you are, speaking to a doctor won't do any harm even if it does no good!

[UvaOxide]

Heh. I can be weird when it comes to hunger, or lack thereof, as well. Sometimes I forget to eat when I get involved in something. I often do not feel very hungry, but I try to eat the standard "three meals a day" (sometimes not exactly 'meals' as most people would think of it) even if I only have an apple for lunch. Some days really suck because my stomach will keep burning no matter how much I eat. I don't really like eating for the most part. I just feel like it's something I have to do to keep my energy up and not feel dizzy and stuff. I rarely have cravings for food, unless it's chocolate. Mmmm. :)

I don't understand people who eat a lot just because they are depressed. I'm just the opposite. When I'm really depressed, I usually don't feel like eating much or at all.

Scanning all the posts.. I agree with this one most. Busy doing something = forget to eat. It' s a bother, so I grab something like a handful of nuts or an apple . Depressed = no appetite. Yet some days usually when around the holidays (social eating) like at a pot luck when food is everywhere I eat all day long and never seem to fill the hole that is my guts. But, most of the time eating is a chore. Though I crave potatoes (in almost any form chips, fries, mashed, tots, yams etc.. ) or fish for some reason. Though my favorite food is with out any hesitation chocolate cake :)

[Islander9]

I eat when I'm hungry - and only when I'm hungry. This can cause problems because I'm generally not hungry at 'normal' mealtimes...but family & friends are used to my odd ways-

I *love* food, and know a lot about it, especially seafood (without skiting, I can also prepare it well.)The only time I dont want eat when hungry is when I am ill:

it's one of the ways I know I have some kind of lurgi: the symptoms of hunger are there but appetite isnt-

[metalgirl2045]

Being depressed doesn't affect my appetite, but being anxious makes it impossible to eat.