Any tips on eating?

Since I came off the benzos, I've had this unbelievably annoying symptom where I need to eat every 2-3 hours or else I get a horrible over all flare up in symptoms. I get really angry, and anxious. My balance gets terribly worse, and my head starts feeling dizzy. I honestly think I'd feel at least 50% better if I could resolve this. The catch 22 is in order to get a few hours of feeling "full", I need to eat a ton of carbs. I've been eating so much junk food because it seems to be the only thing that burns slow. The flip side is, eating junk food makes my heart beat so heavy a fast, and my stomach is so bloated, I've gained so much weight that I'm embarrassed to even go anywhere. I've tried eating super clean, and I only make it about a week - 2 weeks before I can't deal with it anymore because my body is freaking out not having carbs. I'm also forced to choke down like 6 meals or more a day, and my appetite sucks, so I'm borderline throwing up trying to eat healthy (I've have thrown up a couple times)... it's a nightmare. Has anyone had this problem, and if so, any tips or suggestions?

Tia- Pvibes

Yes, in acute I ate every 2 hours....around the clock because I was awake all night. If I didn't eat, I would feel more nausea, and more likely to throw up. Sometimes I wouldn't even make it an hour.

But I had the opposite problem.. I ate nonstop but was burning off calories faster than I could put them in!

However, I will tell you that eating more substantial protein when you can will help. Things like plain egg whites, plain grilled chicken, and chicken sausage (not spicy). It's just a fact that protein stays with you longer. But the key is plain foods.

So even if you are eating carbs that's fine...but throw in some kind of protein everytime, an maybe it will help slow down eventually.

 

Btw, I totally eat back to normal now. The crazy eating was only right before rapid WD and then for about 5 or 6 months after

How long you been off?

 

Ps I threw up while eating too, lol

It was awful

I was the same as belle. Weight was just sliding off of me like it was a new fashion sense. I felt worse after eating carbs and found out it was due to my blood sugars. Not everyone has blood sugar issues in withdrawal but mine were ridiculously high. I had no choice but to do high protein because my blood sugars couldn’t handle the carbs. It’s slowly getting better though. So I went from 130lbs down to 87lbs in the first month.....  maybe month in a half. Now at month 5 with an immense amount of protein I’m up to 99lbs. So I’m slowly picking weight back up without carbs and sugars and it’s healthier. I get the hungry every two hours too but I eat peanuts, meats and cheese for snacking.

Thank you both for the reply. Belle, it's been a little over 2 and a half years for me. 32 months to be exact. Really hoping to try and fix my diet. I think it's partially mental, and if I can get my body used to eating less carbs and more nutrition, eventually my stomach will shrink and I'll adjust to eating cleaner. My gut is destroyed, I know that for sure.

I just this second posted in another thread about the difficulties recommending what people eat, it fits here too:

 

The difficulty, I'm sure, is that we don't all share the same conception of what "sensible diet" means. To me, that necessitates a bit of a description. I agree that some people take it too far. I think there are some people who could benefit from a strict keto diet but it's not the general advice I'd give for most people. Instead, advice like "avoid processed food", "especially avoid refined sugar", "don't eat too many carbs" seems better and more sensible. Also, try not to graze all day. Leave 3-4 hours between meals, try not to snack. Similar to keto, some people will find intermittent fasting helps but I don't think that's good for everybody. Instead, I try to promote the idea that it's good to not be constantly eating. Advice like "try to get most of your carbs from cruciferous vegetables" and "fish and eggs are great sources of protein" go a bit further but they get across what I mean by "sensible".

 

It's "unfortunate" that FDA guidelines promote a diet that isn't sensible for normal people, let alone people trying to recover from something as serious as benzo withdrawal. That's why people like me choose to go into detail, because people don't know how to eat sensibly and have in fact never known throughout their life. And it's tough because our body's become metabolically addicted to certain foods, especially sugar, so it becomes necessary to share with people not to change too much too quickly. Swap a habitual chocolate bar for a piece of fruit before going too far too fast in reducing carbs to a more moderate level. It's not that I think everybody should be a low carb maniac, it's that the prevalence of people on high carb diets (especially true of a vulnerable population like ours) makes it good advice for almost everybody who's seeking help to cut the carbs.

 

I try to give people some real, specific pointers. But I also want to be honest about how much we differ in terms of what will be best. It's really tough to achieve both.

 

Basically, don't change too much too quickly. Get your carbs from cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, sprouts, kale, cabbage, things like this) as much as you can. Eggs (organic if you can afford is better) and fish (wild caught is much better, if you can get it) are probably good for most people. Swap sugary/candy treats for a piece of fruit (but in the long run, try to cut down even on fruit, say twice a week). Avoid processed food (including refined sugars) like the plague. Avocados are really healthy and versatile... if you can find your way to liking them, it makes life a lot easier. Walnuts and pecans seem to be the best type of nuts and quite filling too. A salad with leafy greens and some nuts is good but be careful with the dressing you choose because most refined seed oils are pretty bad for you.

 

Foods like onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric (amongst others) are good at countering inflammation for most people. Tomatoes too for me, although some people will react differently. If you like these foods, try to get plenty in your diet.

 

Herbal teas are good to get in your diet, too, for the phytonutrients.

 

Like I said above, it's a thorny issue because we're all so different. I hope I have given your some inspiration to get going. It's an interesting subject.

Thank you Diaz-e-bam, that's really great info.

Since I came off the benzos, I've had this unbelievably annoying symptom where I need to eat every 2-3 hours or else I get a horrible over all flare up in symptoms. I get really angry, and anxious. My balance gets terribly worse, and my head starts feeling dizzy. I honestly think I'd feel at least 50% better if I could resolve this. The catch 22 is in order to get a few hours of feeling "full", I need to eat a ton of carbs. I've been eating so much junk food because it seems to be the only thing that burns slow. The flip side is, eating junk food makes my heart beat so heavy a fast, and my stomach is so bloated, I've gained so much weight that I'm embarrassed to even go anywhere. I've tried eating super clean, and I only make it about a week - 2 weeks before I can't deal with it anymore because my body is freaking out not having carbs. I'm also forced to choke down like 6 meals or more a day, and my appetite sucks, so I'm borderline throwing up trying to eat healthy (I've have thrown up a couple times)... it's a nightmare. Has anyone had this problem, and if so, any tips or suggestions?

Tia- Pvibes

 

Tia-

 

I pretty much concur with what diaz-e-Bam has offered above. I would be curious to know what form of carbs you are consuming in order to "feel full". Are they grains, starches or products made with seed oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil? All of the above have been shown to have an inflammatory effect on the gut especially in large quantities. I found that after gradually reducing my carbs and replacing them with whole foods such as beef, pork, liver, fish, eggs, (some leafy greens and dairy on occasion), I would tend to feel satiated after a meal and could go for hours with no cravings. I'm to the point now where I usually have one meal a day.

 

There are some medical and nutritional experts that I've been following online that have helped me greatly in this regard. Here are some links to their Youtube channels that might interest you:

 

Dr. Ken Berry- Keto 101

 

Dr. Robert Cywes- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4Mk7vArjSYBa1VKv9-chA/videos

 

Judy Cho- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgXrNUokx_Zgprns3z6zqSg/videos

 

Hope this helps,

 

Richard