Identifying Hunger

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I am just wondering if other people on the spectrum have issues identifying hunger. I never realized this was the case for me until recently, but I really do not react the way to hunger that others seem to. For example, most people will get something to eat when they are hungry and stop eating when they are full. I either do not eat or I eat far too much. I have a tendency to sleep in (you could say that oversleeping is actually built into my routine ) And if I do not get anything for breakfast at school, I often skip lunch, and sometimes even supper too. Most of the time I do that, I don't even realize I am hungry (or thirsty sometimes). On many other occasions, though, it is the complete opposite. I eat SO much, that I make myself sick because I cannot seem to figure out when I am no longer hungry or when I have had enough. I have also struggled from eating disorders my entire life (diagnosed with bulimia about 8 years ago, but also had both BED and anorexic tendancies), but I am beginning to wonder if this trouble identifying AND listening to the hunger (or lack thereof) might be related to autism.

Oh, and this isn't one of those threads that is like Hmmmmmm THIS MUST be related to autism because I have it. I know people have been posting that a lot lately. The reason I am associating this to autism is because I seen a powerpoint delivered by a psychologist that said autistic people have trouble identifying their own emotions, the physical feelings of these emotions, and even things like hunger. I was just wondering if others have noticed this as well.

The only time I can tell the difference between genuine hunger and a desire to eat just because I'm bored is when I get a strong hunger attack that makes me feel weak and shaky.

YES. This is a big problem for me. I can't reliably identify hunger or thirst. When I can't tell that I'm hungry, I don't eat. When I can't tell that I'm full, I eat too much. Same with drinking. This morning, I woke up with dry cracked lips, because I hadn't had anything to drink yesterday. I didn't feel thirsty at all. Sometimes, for a week or two, I can't tell that I'm hungry at all. My psych specifically asked me about this hunger/thirst thing, because she noticed that I was very skinny due to this problem. My mother refers to me as "The Food Saver" or "The Camel". People have suggested that I was anorexic.

My coping mechanism, when I remember to use it, is to eat according to the clock. My mother often reminds me to eat and tells me what to eat. I also keep a big carton of ice cream in the freezer at all times. That's the only thing I can eat when I go through these periods of not being able to feel hungry. During these periods, I'm down to a bowl of cheerios for a whole day, if that. Just can't eat if you're not at all hungry, or if you feel full when you're actually starving.

As for emotions, I am the opposite of bipolar. My feelings are like this: -------------------------------

This is bad, because I can't tell when I'm stressed out, and the more stressed out I get, the less I can tell that I'm stressed out. Maybe this is a kind of sensory hyposensitivity to internal stimuli.

I have the opposite problem. My inability to identify hunger usually leads me to overeat more than the occasions where I do not eat at all. As a result, I am far from skinny.



I think this is one of the support systems I need in place. I simply do not know when I should eat, how much I should, when I should stop eating, etc. I think I would benefit greatly from having someone help me a LOT in this area until I can maybe learn it on my own. Evidence shows it is not something I am just going to learn naturally though.

I don't have this problem. I get hungry every 2-3 hours, and if I don't eat for more than 5 hours, I'm ready to hurt someone if I have to, to get food. I don't usually eat that much though, whenever I do I always end up feeling really sick for a day or two. I've never had issues with being overweight or underweight.

I'm the opposite - even though I often forget to eat, I am actually somewhat hypersensitive to hunger. When most people are like "I'm feeling kind of hungry" I get a serious urgency to eat. My ex used to accuse me of exaggerating for attention but it really is pretty intense.

There have been times when I couldn't tell whether I was full or not and whether I was hungry or not.

I'm hungry right now.

Most of the time I don't know that I need to eat until I feel like I'm ready to kill anyone that get's between me and the frig.

Of course, I have three Aspie sons, and every single time I reach that point all three decide to come into the kitchen and get in the way.

These days all I have to do is growl at them and they scatter until I've sat down to eat.

When I get hungry I get really grumpy or I get dizzy. Feels bad man

Yes, it's a well know issue. Eating disorders and autism go hand in hand. I have an eating schedule set out my specialist that tells me when to start eating and when to stop. I cannot figure that out for myself. I have to rely on set times and set amounts rather than feelings.

I must be a rare NNt as I know all about hunger. I have been hungry all my life, not starving, but hungry. Even after a meal I feel hunger; it wakes me at night, and plagues throughout the day, even after eating.
I can count on the fingers of my hand how many times I have felt full. Once twelve years ago (an all you can eat buffet at a friend’s restaurant) we ate for two hours, I had six main meals and several sweets. Again about four years ago went out for a meal with a bunch of lads and we all had 20 ounce Steaks with all the trimming. And once three weeks ago, when the same bunch of lads went out for “all you can eat Chinese meal” We ate and drank beer for two and a half hours I only had five main course and a couple of plates of noodles and vegetable stir fry.
I’m overweight, but not huge as I have a strong will power, and know that if I were to eat all that I felt I needed to eat/wanted I would be dead.

I was recently told my brother has this issue, in retrospect I noticed he never ate much but didn't think much of it. I am the opposite, my anxiety makes me eat constantly.

I have this problem! Wow, I never even thought this could be an autism thing. I never realise I'm hungry until I get those bad pains in my stomach that make you feel really empty, like when you're really starving. I could go for days without food. Yet I also never know when to stop. I'll just keep going even if I'm having problems fitting it all in. For some reason I find it harder to identify hunger when it's "that special time" because I can't pull different sorts of pain apart to work out whether it's a hunger pang or... you know.

I used to think starving was hunger. I used to think full meant feeling sick to your stomach.

What I do now is eat on the clock if I can and if I am not too lazy to get some food or don't forget. When I am eating, I limit how much I can have. Sometimes I don't limit myself when there is lot of food and that is at buffets or pot lucks or picnics but I stop eating when I feel full. I just won't feel good if I eat too much but maybe that came from when I had an eating disorder for years and then my stomach shrunk. But at least it keeps me from eating until I feel sick. I just eat and then stop because I lose interest in the food.


My mom tells me I was never hungry but I always ate what was in front of me and I ate when I see my brothers eat. She even said I never asked for food or even said I was hungry. I have some memories of me getting food but I did that when I feel like having something or when I was starving. My mom always cooked so I never felt hungry. But in school I would always starve so I thought that was hunger. I was about 23 when I learned starving and hunger are not the same thing. They both feel different and I realized "OMG, I never felt hungry, what does hunger feel like?" I also think that is why I suffered an eating disorder and why I had weight problems. Because I was letting myself starve and it makes you put on weight because your body goes in starving mode so I starved myself just to keep my weight down. But it wasn't just that. I am now finding I can keep my weight maintained if I eat normal and nor let myself starve. Plus I am breast feeding so I think that is also why. I have to eat to make the milk to stay healthy.

When I get hungry, I get cranky and resistance to change. People annoy me very easily. Plus my anxiety increases. But I still can't tell. When I starve, my tummy growls and I can hear it. I can also feel it. Then I feel full when that feeling is gone. But I think I am full but I am probably not.

Yep. I'm lacking the hunger gene too.
I drink something when my throat is dry.
I consider eating something when something (for example a tv commercial) reminds me to.
But if I haven't got food, or I haven't got the energy, or there are more interesting things to do, I often just shrug my shoulders and decide to eat later.

I frequently find I've gone a day or two without more than one pb&j sandwich, 8 cups of tea, and a carton of milk. Oops.

I do get hungry on rare occassions. Or maybe just hyperaware of the fact that I haven't eaten in too long. This is usually the reason I decide to go to the grocery store.

I can cook. And very well. In fact I absolutely revel in cooking for other people.
But if left alone, and to my own devices, I'd be satisfied with astronaut paste imbibed on a two hour cycle, fed directly into my stomach.

I get this too. The only way I know to eat sometimes is when I feel really tired and moody, although I've been so hungry inthe past I've actually been sick.

I find the best thing to do is eat at set times and eat things like porridge which releases energy slowly so im better able to cope if I do forget to eat a meal. When you don't eat much your stoamach shrinks and your body goes into starvation mode which makes it even harder to feel hungry so it's important to eat regulary.

I think that hyperfocusing on things can also be a problem. I can sometimes get so into what I'm doing everything else gets completely forgotten about like food and sleep.