[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 10:24 am Post count: 93172]

#1164496

My wife was diagnosed with Graves about 4 weeks ago/had a baby 5 mos.
ago. She never had a sweet tooth at all (even during pregnancy) but
she is voracious now (cookies, ice cream, butterfingers, you name it).
During her untreated hyper period she was actually losing weight while
eating this way (we figured it was post partum metabolism, plus chasing
2 year old around the house). Anyway, now that she is taking medication
she’s gained a pound or two which has her terrified, but she still
feels hungry a lot. So far her doc has just told her she’ll have to
stop eating like a truck driver to avoid weight gain. We thought her
appetite might adjust with the anti-thyroid meds (PTU, plus she’s also
taking beta blocker Atenolol), but it’s still a little early. Anyway,
thought you’d like to hear about her sugar cravings.

[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 12:50 pm Post count: 93172]

#1164497

Nancy,

I’ve been having intense sugar cravings!!! I gave up refined sugar
in November when I thought it was making my symptoms worse. I’ve not
really wanted it after the first few weeks UNTIL lately. My dosage
of PTU got lowered 9 days ago….and I wish I could dive into a sea
of peanut M&M’s!!!! We had my sister’s birthday cake and somehow
I resisted, but I’m still thinking about it…esp. since there is
some in my freezer. When I originally gave up the sweets, it wasn’t
that hard. This past few days has been sheer torture. I’ve tried
eating fruit, tried eating something that is the opposite (you know, the
whole yin and yang thing) nothing is stopping the craving except sheer will power.

My oldest sister insists that chocolate is a natural anesthetic, necessary
to numb you after a rough day! Right now it’s like the Siren Song in the
Odyssey…and I’m have a REAL hard time sailing past.

[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 2:49 pm Post count: 93172]

#1056825

If anyone has experienced sugar cravings I would love to hear from you.
It seems this last two months or so when my symptoms have gotten worse
I can’t stay away from sugar. This has never been a problem for me
before except during PMS and then it only lasted a couple of days. I
wake up in the morning and have to have a cookie…or four!

[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 4:16 pm Post count: 93172]

#1164498

Ditto on the sugar cravings – have been diagnosed since November, but
seems lately that the sweets thing has taken over – bought Krispy-
Kreme chocolate iced doughnuts today – I typically don’t even like
doughnuts! Oh well!

[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 6:10 pm Post count: 93172]

#1164499

I also suffer from sugar cravings. Before I ate some sweet things but I could avoid them if I wanted. Now, I have to have chocolate.

[Anonymous February 25, 1997 at 7:57 pm Post count: 93172]

#1164500

Yes, i have these…it is so amazing..i find myself thinking about
a Milkey Way at 10am…2pm 4pm…on and on and on..I finally got rid of all the girl
scout cookies…i ate them!! Really I am now trying to stay away!! I am just trying to
eat good stuff…i never thought about sweets!!! until the last
seven months,,,,now it’s really bad!! P

[Anonymous July 9, 1998 at 10:59 am Post count: 93172]

#1164501

Dale–
Have you had RAI or a total thyroidectomy? Another thing our thyroids manufacture is calcitonin, which affects a number of systems in our bodies. One thing calcitonin does is to suppress insulin secretion and increase bloodsugar. If your calcitonin level has dropped recently because of destruction of the thyroid, perhaps your insulin level has risen and you are hypoglycemic. Hence the sugar craving.

Please, please keep in mind that I am not medically trained. I have been reading on PubMed about calcitonin and came across that interesting part about the insulin and bloodsugar (I think I can give you the citation if you want it); the hypoglycemic part I added myself.

Please let me know if my speculation is anywhere in the ballpark. Do more complex carbohydrates satisfy the craving? If not, I hope you are enjoying the sugar!

Elisa

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