Misinterpreting symptoms?

[mommabear]

Hi all. I have a question that may not seem to belong here, but due to its relationship with foods I'm avoiding just might. Anyway, I am off wheat (but can do other grains with gluten), dairy, oats, and quite a few other random foods I am allergic/sensitive to. I have noticed that when I avoid these foods my appetite plummets (perhaps regulates is the better word), and I lose interest in food almost altogether. Having once struggled with bulimia (ages ago), this is quite foreign to me, but I like that I am not addicted to food, nor am I preoccupied with it, anymore.

So now I actually have to remind myself to eat, and I think maybe I need to eat more frequently, because I no longer get 'tummy-hungry' -- it goes straight to my head and I get all weak and shaky, but don't actually feel 'hungry' like I used to. And it's all of a sudden -- I eat/snack every 2-3 hours, but it seems like if I am a second beyond what my body wanted, the symptoms come on full force.

My chiro pointed out that it is our brains that need the glucose first/most, so these symptoms make sense to me. I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? And if it could be a 'kill off' in my gut of bad stuff (yeast, bacteria, etc)? Or could it be hypoglycemia? I tend toward low blood pressure as well... Or is this how it's supposed to be, and I am just missing some earlier appetite clues?

The funny thing is, I either feel fantastic (energy, lightness), or I feel very very 'off'. And the irony is I am not *psychologically* preoccupied with food now (hallelujah!), but am *physically* preoccupied. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks so much for any tips or btdt!

[tanyalynn]

I've experienced some of this. For a while, I had to snack fairly frequently and if I didn't eat, or experienced something unusually stressful (event/situation or a physical exertion-type stress) I'd go to shaky/weak/light-headed pretty quickly. For me, it seems to be related to my adrenals (also low blood pressure, that's finally coming up a bit for me), I think it was blood sugar decreasing -> adrenaline surges (since my body wasn't making cortisol properly) -> adrenaline aftermath.

During this time period, I don't remember being hungry a lot, but it was a few years ago now. I was losing weight quickly after cutting out gluten and dairy and was eating when I was hungry and eating til I was full, or eating when I physically felt like I needed a snack.

By focusing on taking stress off myself, and physically taking care of myself (lots of sleep, supplements that were specific to my situation, trying not to over-exert myself), this decreased in intensity within 6 months? I think, it's been a while, though focusing on taking care of myself was/is still important.

[tanyalynn]

Oh, and it seems there are general links between leaky gut issues and adrenal issues, and food intolerances stressing our adrenals, it's a vicious cycle. So it sounds like you're on the path of making it work in reverse, remove problematic foods and snack as you need to, your adrenals get rest, less stress on your gut, more rest for adrenals, etc.