Trouble Discerning Hunger/Fullness Cues?

[inkfingers]

I don't know if this is super common among people on the autism spectrum, but I have almost no sense of hunger and fullness. It has gotten to the point where I am overeating because I don't know when to stop. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Loren]

I don't, but, I have have an acquaintance who does, and also has a high pain threshold, but, I think those are mutually, exclusive. Apparently, it is more common in autistic people, and, particularly those with Alexithymia or more extensive alexithymic traits.

 

[Fino]

I wouldn't call it "almost none," but I know it's definitely less than normal. I've said many many times, "I'm hungry! I think... I'm not sure. What is that feeling? Am I just thirsty? How do you know when you're thirsty?"

I drink water obsessively because I'm not sure which feelings are thirst, and I eat every couple hours so I never get the chance to feel hunger or not anymore anyway.

But if I'm prevented from eating for long, I eventually feel very hungry. Does that not happen for you? Would you starve if you didn't intellectually know to eat?

I don't, but, I have have an acquaintance who does, and also has a high pain threshold, but, I think those are mutually, exclusive. Apparently, it is more common in autistic people, and, particularly those with Alexithymia or more extensive alexithymic traits.

Is the thing more common in autistic people, particularly those with Alexithymia, the high pain threshold you mentioned or what OP is talking about? Or both?

 

[Loren]

I wouldn't call it "almost none," but I know it's definitely less than normal. I've said many many times, "I'm hungry! I think... I'm not sure. What is that feeling? Am I just thirsty? How do you know when you're thirsty?"

I drink water obsessively because I'm not sure which feelings are thirst, and I eat every couple hours so I never get the chance to feel hunger or not anymore anyway.

But if I'm prevented from eating for long, I eventually feel very hungry. Does that not happen for you? Would you starve if you didn't intellectually know to eat?



Is the thing more common in autistic people, particularly those with Alexithymia, the high pain threshold you mentioned or what OP is talking about? Or both?

The difficulty discerning hunger/fullness cues, but, both can be associated with alexithymia, apparently. I don't think you have to be alexithymic to experience it, and I don't know if either of those symptoms are considered to be traits of alexithymia. They are, however, prominent in alexithymics, and alexithymia is prominent in AS/ASD.

 

[inkfingers]

I wouldn't call it "almost none," but I know it's definitely less than normal. I've said many many times, "I'm hungry! I think... I'm not sure. What is that feeling? Am I just thirsty? How do you know when you're thirsty?"

I drink water obsessively because I'm not sure which feelings are thirst, and I eat every couple hours so I never get the chance to feel hunger or not anymore anyway.

But if I'm prevented from eating for long, I eventually feel very hungry. Does that not happen for you? Would you starve if you didn't intellectually know to eat?



Is the thing more common in autistic people, particularly those with Alexithymia, the high pain threshold you mentioned or what OP is talking about? Or both?

I eventually feel hungry, but like you said, I don't know if it is hunger or not. I have trouble naming the feeling.

 

[china autie]

Sometimes I get so involved in stuff that I literally forget to eat. Then I am totally starving. But I think this is diggerent.

 

[Fino]

Sometimes I get so involved in stuff that I literally forget to eat. Then I am totally starving. But I think this is diggerent.

I think that's hyper-focus, maybe.

 

[SusanLR]

I rarely know the sensation of hunger. Yet I am not underweight, in fact, a bit over.
Don't know how long it would take to feel hungry. I usually just remind myself I've got to eat
something for health.
Thirst is what I feel almost all the time.
I have no idea if this is anything medical. My tests are all normal for blood, etc.
It could be emotional. Depression can cause lack of appetite or over eating either way.
But, usually there is weight loss associated with loss of appetite.
I've wondered about this myself and don't know the answer.

 

[Fino]

I've been relating to everything mentioned about alexithymia since I got to this forum, and I finally researched it somewhat and the first anecdote I found basically described me LOL I should go back to therapy, but my insurance is terrible.

Thanks for making the thread!

 

[55853]

I have almost no sense of hunger or thirst. I'll only notice when I get a headache or feel nauseous. To get around this, I just eat at the same time each day and eat the same amount (when possible - otherwise I go by the signs above). It works, since I've maintained a constant healthy weight. My BMI has never been outside the 18.5 - 24.9 range, or even close to being so. I do feel fullness, however, and I dislike it so will avoid eating until I'm "full".

I've never seen it as a problem, so I've not requested medical advice on this. All health tests point to me being healthy. If it's causing you problems, I suggest you see a doctor, rather than try to explain it as an autism trait. There has been something (unrelated to hunger) I didn't think much about because it could be explained by autism, that had an actual physical cause. In my case, it isn't particularly serious, but it's something you should be aware of I think.

 

[Monachopia]

I don't think this is related to autism (though I could be wrong). It's to do with your stomach's ability to send signals to your brain about its state. I've (almost) always been overweight and to be honest, even after I've eaten I can't tell whether I'm full or still hungry. It went both ways too, sometimes when I've not eaten for most of the day, I know I *should* be hungry, but I can't tell that either. I'd know because I'd feel faint and foggy instead.

In my teens, since I didn't understand that it could be a thing, I became clinically obese. I just wouldn't stop eating at some points at home and it was somewhat before the age of dietary advice being everywhere, before the internet was easily accessible.

I've had a bunch of eating disorders, ranging from binge-eating to anorexia. I now resort to managing my meals and educating myself on how much I *should* be having and how often because I can't trust my stomach to tell me.

I don't think I have alexithymia, maybe only partially, as I do and feel emotions, but can't tell them apart - it takes a week to process why I reacted a certain way and what the range of emotions were. It's all a chaotic jumble of *something*. Sometimes some feel like a pain, for example, depression feels like my heart is rotted away and there's just a hole. Excitement feels like there's a little tickly dance happening inside my chest. It took a while to figure out what those more physical sensations were associated with.

 

[Dias]

I really don't know for sure but these threads are good to make me think about it. When I was a child and teenager I never thought about eating or drinking, especially thirst I didn't recognise what it was and I remember feeling hunger sometimes only when it was really extreme but still I would take no action about it, I would just wait for the next meal to be on the table. Now, I force myself to drink 8 glasses of water a day because that is what everyone says it should be, and about eating I try to do the normal regular meals at regular hours because I think I do not have the mechanism to listen to my body, about what it really needs and when, so I stick to what is normally accepted by the society has healthy and normal.

At the age of 16 I had a diagnosed depression and I started overeating as a way to cope with it and is something I still do, I manage to stay healthy and not overweight, but it is a constant exhausting struggle to keep it under control. Sometimes I think I am missing an on/off button somewhere.

Alexithymia might be a reality for me, as I just feel constant apathy and I perceive everything I feel as just painful and distressful. Can not tell the difference between a good feeling or bad feeling...Sometimes I ask myself if I have alexithymia or if I am just depressed and are just afraid of allowing myself to feel at all because I do not know what to do with it.

 

[Tom]

I would have to dig to find it, but read a study a year or so ago that said that eating disorders had correlation to autism in women.

 

[Mia]

I'm still full from the lasagna I made last night, and I had a small piece. My husband has the same difficulty that you've indicated. Although with him, it's more a matter of habit and routine, eating at the same hour each day, whether he's hungry or not.

He'll still eat at that time even if he's eaten something two hours earlier. He's told me for many years that he cannot tell when he's full. Much of this stems for him, from being underfed as a child. If it's something he really likes, he'll overeat. His older brother who is also an Aspie, does not overeat and has a decent BMI. So this is likely a somewhat personal obsession with the availability of food on his part.

 

[Mia]

I would have to dig to find it, but read a study a year or so ago that said that eating disorders had correlation to autism in women.

They do, apparently some women who are autistic have co-morbid anorexia nervosa or binge eating disorders. And usually it's the eating disorder that's prominent, rather than the autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorder in Anorexia Nervosa: An Updated Literature Review

But the more I look at this, the more I think men must also have eating disorders, that have not been studied or even looked at or considered. More on the scale of binge eating disorders.

 

[sidd851]

I don't know if this is super common among people on the autism spectrum, but I have almost no sense of hunger and fullness. It has gotten to the point where I am overeating because I don't know when to stop. Does anyone else have this problem?

Your question may very well be linked to serotonin.
Our feeling of satiety comes from serotonin.
Serotonin is produced by several mechanisms, including repetitive actions, and digesting food.
Serotonin is also responsible for our feelings of well-being.
Indeed, serotonin is usually lacking in depressed individuals.
This also occurs for different reasons, usually the body's quick re-uptake of it.
Sometimes it simply isn't produced in sufficient amounts.
As serotonin is a precursor to melatonin, sleep difficulties often accompany depression and serotonin-related eating difficulties.
It is well worth studying the interaction between these phenomena.
Often an SSRI (Selective Serotonin
Re-uptake Inhibitor) is prescribed solely for sleep or eating difficulties, even if there is no depression reported(which also may relate to alexithymia).
It is a fascinating subject, and you may find out quite a bit more about yourself than you intend.

 

[tlc]

I never figured it to be related to autism, but to my lifelong digestive problems. I'm never hungry, and I can go without eating or drinking until problems happen. I don't get turned on by food on TV or by others eating. I have to force myself to eat and drink, because I know I have to.

 

[inkfingers]

I would have to dig to find it, but read a study a year or so ago that said that eating disorders had correlation to autism in women.

Yes, I have had anorexia in the past, and still struggle with anorexic thoughts. I have seen several articles describing the correlation between autism and anorexia/eating disorders in females.

 

[inkfingers]

I never figured it to be related to autism, but to my lifelong digestive problems. I'm never hungry, and I can go without eating or drinking until problems happen. I don't get turned on by food on TV or by others eating. I have to force myself to eat and drink, because I know I have to.

Are you underweight, then?

 

[tlc]

Are you underweight, then?

People always say I'm too thin. Right now 5'8", just over 120#.