Do you have food cravings while tapering or in withdrawal/recovery?

I'm curious if others have had a craving for certain "relief food" while coming off benzos. I have been craving dill pickle spears and am munching on two jars of them a week.

 

I normally would eat a dill pickle maybe once every six months or so in the past, and only then if I'd ordered a sandwich and the pickle came along with the sandwich.

 

I wouldn't think sour and tart dill pickles would be a "comfort food" for those of us dealing with post-benzo insanity, but when I get really anxious the one thing I crave is a damn dill pickle! Every time I munch on one I feel a bit better -- at least for a few minutes.

 

Does anyone else have weird food cravings?

Oh yes!  Since my first week of withdrawal. I've never eaten so much ice cream in my life!  And I normally don't eat sweets at all.....

the sugar boosts serotonin. Any women having their period will tell you they crave carbs right before their period when serotonin is at it's lowest. And in benzo w/d it is very low at times.

 

The pickles...maybe it's the salt? Perhaps you are dehydrated? I always crave salt after a workout or a night of too many bottles of wine..lol...Alabama.xo

Tex, buddie, pickles?  You know you can buy those at home pregnancy tests now from the drugstore.

Sugar sugar and more sugar. Not a weird food craving but can't seem to get enough during this process.

Another sugar junkie here. I've always had a savoury tooth and never understood my wife's cravings for biscuits and chocolate. Now I can't keep my hands off her stash. Sometimes I have panicky cravings and find myself having to race down to the kitchen for a binge. Not great for my teeth but hey ho.

NewMoon, if I am pregnant then I expect scientists from all over the world to fly in to experiment on me to determine how a 59-year-old man ended up carrying a child!

 

Maybe I'll wake my wife up at 2 a.m. and ask her to go get me to butter pecan ice cream!

 

Withdrawal makes me crave carbs and sugar in general. I've eaten more ice cream, muffins, and cake than I should. I've gained 20-30 pounds in withdrawal.

Hey, why not...we live in an equal opportunity society.  I for one am all in favor of male pregnancy. 

I read a few study's on cravings during anxiety/withdrawals. It seems in some cases the foods become comfort foods because the person experienced calmness during a prior binge so the brain continuously wants this feeling. It becomes a "safe food" kind of like people have "safe places". May not be this in your case but it's interesting and makes sense.

 

 

 

Fonz

Hey, why not...we live in an equal opportunity society.  I for one am all in favor of male pregnancy. 

 

Make that menopause too! LOL. 

And now for my terrible late night snack secret - Rice Krispies Crackers around midnight. Can't help myself. It's the salt I think and weird munchies. No MSG in them either and no problems with w/d symptoms revving. Every night: flavors are regular, popcorn and cheddar. Haven't tried the others. Okay, my disreputable snack secret is out of the bag (no pun intended).

Massive alcohol cravings too, but I'm not giving into those!

I've replaced my nightly 2 glasses of wine with 2 slices of cinnamon toast. My mother used to make this for us sometimes as a treat. Butter on the bread, sprinkle with cinnamon then a dusting of sugar and place under the broiler just until the sugar melts and turns crispy. Honestly, I'd rather have the wine but,oddly enough, my sleep has been much improved since I switched to toast

I miss my wine Rosa.....

I know, Svenhoak, I know....it's gonna be alright

Maybe you're pregnant Tex. Haha. In all seriousness, I crave chocolate like nobody's business. I'm generally very health conscious so it's very out of character for me to have no will power when it comes to candy.

Macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, & chicken enchiladas with green sauce. 

I'm curious if others have had a craving for certain "relief food" while coming off benzos. I have been craving dill pickle spears and am munching on two jars of them a week.

 

I normally would eat a dill pickle maybe once every six months or so in the past, and only then if I'd ordered a sandwich and the pickle came along with the sandwich.

 

 

 

I wouldn't think sour and tart dill pickles would be a "comfort food" for those of us dealing with post-benzo insanity, but when I get really anxious the one thing I crave is a damn dill pickle! Every time I munch on one I feel a bit better -- at least for a few minutes.

 

Does anyone else have weird food cravings?

 

Ha ha Tex I was going to say I think you're pregnant and New Moon beat me to it.

Sorry, folks, I'm not pregnant, although it seems as if a lot of you wish I were! 

 

I also like teacher2's suggestion about green chile cheese enchiladas. My wife is Mexican-American but I make the enchiladas in our house. I make killer green childe, cheese and chicken enchiladas!

 

Wow, now I am getting hungry!

Wheat Thins with gobs of butter. . . at night when I'm reading. About two hours after I take my valium I get the munchies and want to eat the world. Specifically carbs.

 

Okatz

OKatz I like wheat thins too but with slices of colby jack cheese or peanut butter!

 

I eat that instead of what I am craving - sweets and more sweets. 

So...this is NOT the group that has lost enormous amounts of weight, right?  Good, I'm in the right place with my salty food cravings.

I have been getting cravings for carbs and salty foods. I don't know how I havn't gained more weight eating worse with minimal to no exercise, but I just haven't had the energy to do anything...