Re: Menstrual hunger

[Guest guest]

Oh my god yes! I feel insane with the eating during that time

period, but it is what it is. One thing I do is make sure I eat

exactly what I am craving whenever possible. No eating carrots when

i am craving carrot cake. This was I tend to feel satisfied much

more quickly. I just eat until I am too full to eat any more. It is

comforting to know that it will pass. I will try an iron supplement

to ease my symptoms, good idea!

>

> I get so ravenous the two weeks before my period. I eat until I am

> sick and don't want anymore and then I keep eating...constantly.

The

> day my period starts my hunger stops cold.

>

> Taking an iron supplement has helped.

>

> Does this happen to any of you and what do you do?

>

> Annie

>

[Guest guest]

I just finished up the PMS eating on Monday, so it's fresh in my mind. I very

nearly wrote a

post on it but have been too busy so far this week.

I don't overeat with the PMS hunger. I'm hungrier than I am the two weeks at the

beginning of my cycle, which I know is normal, so it doesn't bother me and I go

with it. At

that time in my cycle 'hunger' and 'fullness' are more definite. I find it

easier to find sense

them s when I'm more hungry, so it actually works in my favour, even with the

slower

digestion.

As soon as the next cycle starts though, my appetite drops dramatically just as

you said

yours does. For me, that is the more difficult time. When I don't feel very

hungry, I don't

get a clear sense of full very easily and I very frequently overeat and feel

uncomfortable. I

did okay with it Monday, but yesterday I was not even close. I still don't feel

great this

morning.

Do you take magnesium? I found that many pms cravings are magnesium related -

espeically the chocolate ones. I take magnesium (mag citrate is well absorbed)

and try to

use the cravings to get a sense of other nutrients I may be lacking in. The

message was

clear this past week - salt. I could not get enough salt - craving all kinds of

salty junk

food, and my skin on my hands was so dry and actually loose. I always use as

much sea

salt as I want in cooking and on my food - but the way my body was demanding it

last

week, it clearly wasn't enough.

>

> I get so ravenous the two weeks before my period. I eat until I am

> sick and don't want anymore and then I keep eating...constantly. The

> day my period starts my hunger stops cold.

>

[Guest guest]

It so varies for me. Some months I am like this where I feel like I'm ravenous all the time and can't seem to fill myself up. Other times, I feel so bloated that I really don't eat much. It just really varies from month to month. I'm not sure if that is because I'm entering into peremenopause and I notice small changes with my cycle all the time or what. Or maybe it's because I'm more in tuned with my body. I do think it is natural to need more food during this time so I say, just keep listening to your bodies. They will tell you what you need if you listen.

--Alana

-------------- Original message --------------

Oh my god yes! I feel insane with the eating during that time period, but it is what it is. One thing I do is make sure I eat exactly what I am craving whenever possible. No eating carrots when i am craving carrot cake. This was I tend to feel satisfied much more quickly. I just eat until I am too full to eat any more. It is comforting to know that it will pass. I will try an iron supplement to ease my symptoms, good idea! >> I get so ravenous the two weeks before my period. I eat until I am> sick and don't want anymore and then I keep eating...constantly. The> day my period starts my hunger stops cold.> > Taking an iron supplement has helped.> > Does this happen to any of you and what do you do?> > Annie>

[Guest guest]

There have been a couple postings on suuplements such as Iron. I know for me Magnesium supplements give me diarrea. My doctor helped me figure that one out, which brings me to my point. I think we need to be careful suggesting certain suuplements and if we want to try a supplement, we really should talk to our physicians or whoever we see for our medical care. Now don't get me wrong, I do take a number of supplements but have discussed them all with my doctor. I think this also goes for any herbal recomendations.

--Alana

-------------- Original message --------------

Do you take magnesium? I found that many pms cravings are magnesium related - espeically the chocolate ones. I take magnesium (mag citrate is well absorbed) and try to use the cravings to get a sense of other nutrients I may be lacking in.

[Guest guest]

It has been awhile since I had to deal with this (post menopause) but

I do so remember the PMS munchies - especially craving chocolate. I

think it is natural for our bodies to 'prepare' for that time of the

month. The hard part is finding how you can distinguish between body

hunger needs and emotional drives too. PMS isn't a joke for sure! Hope

others can provide more meaningful input, but just wanted to let you

know I sympathize!

ehugs, Katcha

>

> I get so ravenous the two weeks before my period. I eat until I am

> sick and don't want anymore and then I keep eating...constantly. The

> day my period starts my hunger stops cold.

>

> Taking an iron supplement has helped.

>

> Does this happen to any of you and what do you do?

>

> Annie

>

[Guest guest]

Magnesium (and vitamin C as well) will if it's taken in excess of not in an

absorbable form

- which many less

expensive supplements use. Many health providers use the onset of diarrhea to

determine

the dose, recommending patients take it to 'bowel tolerance " . A significant

percentage of

people are deficient

in magnesium, so it's worth doing research into.

My sister had undergone months of medical tests looking for the cause of some

hip pain

that made progressively more difficult for her to walk. She was scheduled for

surgery to

try to locate the cause of the pain. I had recently learned about magnesium and

asked her

if she'd tried it before. She said she hadn't, but started it immediately. Her

hip pain went

away within days. She told her doctor, who then realised she needed magnesium -

due to

celiac disease - but somehow he didn't suggest it before he suggested thousands

of

dollars of tests and surgery.

Doctors do not have all the answers and if someone knows a possible solution to

a

problem I have - I don't want them to be afraid to share it! I don't have to do

anything if I

think it's wrong for me - but it could be just the answer I need. I have

learned so many

things from other people sharing their experiences that I *never* learned from

my doctor

- things he still doesn't even know about. I'd be on a number of prescriptions

- including

anti-depressants I did not need trying to deal with symptoms, rather than fixing

the

problem - which I was able to do based on info that I learned from regualr

people sharing

their own experiences. I (and my family) will forever be grateful that they did!

I don't 'prescribe' to people, I just tell about my experience, same as i do

with my IE

experience. And same with IE experiences, no one is required to try it, or even

listen.

Some will be helped by it, but others will find it doesn't 'fit' them. Sharing

knowledge is

how we learn - but we should continue

to use our judgement about what we learn.

>

> There have been a couple postings on suuplements such as Iron. I know for me

Magnesium supplements give me diarrea. My doctor helped me figure that one out,

which

brings me to my point. I think we need to be careful suggesting certain

suuplements

[Guest guest]

-Thanks for the insights.

I already take the supplements listed but it wasn't until I added the

chelated iron supplement, 25mg,that I noticed the cravings start to

subside some.

I thought maybe I was anemic, not enough to show up on tests, but

enough to affect me in this way.

Annie

>

[Guest guest]

That's interesting. I only recently started iron supplements and haven't noticed

anything like

this.

>

> -Thanks for the insights.

>

> I already take the supplements listed but it wasn't until I added the

> chelated iron supplement, 25mg,that I noticed the cravings start to

> subside some.

[Guest guest]

Women do lose iron every month as a natural part of their menstrual

cycle -- since a lot of the materials of menstrual " blood " contain

iron, etc. It seems only natural, then, that the body will crave

iron-rich foods to try and stabilize the body's levels of iron again.

And if a supplement can do the trick, all the better, I think!

(Although I often find I love the taste of things like red meat or

cereal more around the day or two before my period as well as during

the first couple of days of it.)

Carolyn

>

> -Thanks for the insights.

>

> I already take the supplements listed but it wasn't until I added the

> chelated iron supplement, 25mg,that I noticed the cravings start to

> subside some.

>

> I thought maybe I was anemic, not enough to show up on tests, but

> enough to affect me in this way.

>

> Annie

[Guest guest]

I am in the " feed me! " time of my cycle. It has come down to me

thinking that my body is in prep for fertilization(yeah, right...like

I am going to let that happen)and is trying to make a happy, healthy

womb. So there is a need for extra nutrition but foods aren't

nutrient dense enough for my needs so I have to supplement or be

plagued by ravenous hunger even though my stomach is saying " stop or

I will burst! "

Right now I am being plagued by just an unreasonable desire to eat

even though I know I am full. The supplementation has made the desire

less unreasonable but it is still pretty strong. The IE part makes me

choose nutrient dense foods rather than just 'fillers'

because 'fillers' don't work for nutrition. Fillers are processed

foods and anything with low fat or artificial sweetners for me. This

keeps the ravenous nature of the cravings at bay too by eating real,

whole food like anything that is full fat or naturally sweet. I will

use real sugar too. If I eat I make sure I eat well, foods that are

pleasing to the eye and to the palate.

Adding the iron is what took the hunger into a manageable stage for

me rather than just being a blind, eating machine. I am fortunate

this is the only PMS symtom I have ever had. I don't know what I

would have done if I had to experience depression and irritabililty

along with it.

Annie

>

> Women do lose iron every month as a natural part of their menstrual

> cycle -- since a lot of the materials of menstrual " blood " contain

> iron, etc. It seems only natural, then, that the body will crave

> iron-rich foods to try and stabilize the body's levels of iron

again.

> And if a supplement can do the trick, all the better, I think!

> (Although I often find I love the taste of things like red meat or

> cereal more around the day or two before my period as well as during

> the first couple of days of it.)

>

>

> Carolyn

>

>

>