Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes a symptom of binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive quantity of food. A diagnosis of binge eating is associated with feelings of loss of control.
How many times as gastroparesis patients have we felt that we have "binge ate"? To us the definition of binge eating is very different from the Wikipedia definition. I have discussed this numerous times over the years with my GI doctor. It is actually quite normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Each and every one of us have a different reason as to why we feel that we "binge eat". For me personally, I begin my day out with a small breakfast. I am not able to eat a normal sized breakfast due to my GI tract becoming so overwhelmed with that amount of food. To be honest, most mornings, I am still working on digesting my dinner. Anyway, it makes my medication less effective and I will feel the effects of that throughout the day. It simply is not a good combination so I try my best to avoid it.
I start my medication regime in the morning. Around two or three in the afternoon, I may have a few bites of a snack. It is mostly just to satisfy the need to chew something. If you've never experienced that, I realize how odd that sounds. By dinner time in the evening, I am usually pretty hungry. It all depends on how nauseous I am. I will eat a "GP sized" dinner and feel extremely full after eating it. Don't you just love the feeling of satiety? Your body feels full and satisfied before you're done eating your small meal but you're still hungry. It is one of the oddest feelings and sensations associated with gastroparesis. It took me a long time to understand exactly what was going on. I would feel full and have abdominal bloating and distention but I would still be hungry.
After my daughter goes to bed at night, I consider this to be my "down time". I usually read, watch tv and eat a snack. Combine that snack with dinner, I usually go to bed feeling extremely full and bloated, almost to the point of being miserable and questioning why I "binge ate" that snack. However I'm still hungry. My GI doctor explained to me that basically I am just making up for not eating during the day. It is my body's way of catching up so to speak. So to all of us gastroparesis patients, we're not binge eating. We are just making up for those lost calories and nutrition.
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