Problems with being able to "tell" when full

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Does anyone else have (or used to have) problems with being able to tell when one feels "full" while they are eating? I used to have that problem, or one similar to it. I wasn't really aware I had a problem with it until I was about 12 years old and would start having really bad stomachaches that would leave me incapacitated for at least a week and a half at a time. At first, my mother thought it was because I ate too much - literally stuffed my stomach until there wasn't any room left inside at all. Part of this was bcuz I simply didn't want to stop eating; the food tasted so good. But an even bigger issue was that I simply didn't pick up on the cues of "fullness" that my stomach gave me until I felt stuffed - not simply satiated, but absolutely stuffed.

My mother took me to several doctors the following summer and found out that the stomachaches were due to my gallbladder malfunctioning, and needing to be removed, but that still didn't change the fact that my needing to be made aware of the signals of "fullness" that my body gave me was also important. Heck, I still have problems with it - I'll just be minding my own business eating something I love, and then, BAM! I'll feel stuffed again!

Does anyone else know what this is like?

I think so.

I just eat until I can't eat anymore

How fast are you eating? Try really taking your time with meals, and see if this helps. I believe it's twenty minutes before the satiety signal from your stomach reaches your brain (to tell it, hey I'm full so you can ease up now...)

Speed of eating doesn't matter for me - nor does the knowledge that the amount I am eating "should" make me full. The lack of feeling full combined with the sensory need of the crunch, soft or combo of textures is what drives me to eat as well.

The combination of the lack of feeling full and sensory needs is a total dangerous combo. I have eaten myself ill more times than I can count... and will STILL have the urge to eat if the sensory need has not been met completely.

I never feel hunger either though.

Yes, yes and yes.

IBS and me were good friends in childhood.

Once my family and extended relatives went out to a fancy out-of-town dinner as a special occasion, and I ate so much I wound up in pain in the bathroom for nearly 2 hours. The restaurant threatened to charge us for an extra meal because we were there for too long because of me.

i kind of have the opposite problem, i cant tell whether im hungry or not, i just dont realise untill i start to feel ill in other ways such as dizzy shaky and cold, then i finally realise maybe i need food. the only reason i eat enough is because i know i have 3 meals a day.

having said that i do feel hungry once i taste food, i suddenlty realise how hungry i am.

Does this happen more with certain foods than others?

No, I've never had any odd issues with hunger and fullness, etc.

I was like this a few years ago. I assumed it was because I was recovering from an eating disorder at the time, maybe not O.o .

I had this when I was younger but it was the Risperdal. When I switched to Seroquel the problem went away.

I used to get this kind of problem as a child. It is related to autism (I read this somewhere). I used to have to eat when I didn't really need to because I could not tell that I was full.

It is better now I am older, maybe it will go away for you as well.

Maybe?

Yes, it is related to sensory issues; I think...

I naturally had a high metabolism as a child. My older (non-adopted) sister unfortunately did not. So she would always be growing out of clothes and my mother would have to constantly shop for new clothes for her. I interpreted this as one example of how my sister was loved more than I was. So, in turn I also wanted to grow tall and wide like my sister, hoping I would get some of that same love. I was always anxious about food, and my "eyes were always bigger than my stomach" so I was told, and I would love to eat and gorge myself on food and feel full to the detriment of my bowels later on. I would eat three mayonnaise sandwiches in a row and get mad when I was refused a fourth. This went on until puberty hit me like a ton of bricks. I loved and still love the taste and texture of food too much, which is why I often failed at being an anorexic and became bulimic for many years, ugh. I still have disordered eating but thankfully the bingeing and purging is in remission now. I lost too many good teeth to that ugly disease.

This is exactly my experience, I have always been a predominately oral stimmer. Eating really is 90% just for the sensory stimulation. I often will crave a very specific texture/flavor sensory combo and upon satiating it I almost immediately intensely desire a new stimulation. I have found myself countless times uncomfortably stuffed, after a serious sensory binge.

On the other side of the coin I find that I can go for many hours without eating and then suddenly find myself with a painfully rumbling stomach before it occurs to me to feed myself.

I have this problem as well. I can't really tell when I'm full. If I don't actively watch my eating, I can eat all day long. When I don't have much time or when I eat in between activities, like not dining with others at the table, I eat really, really fast. Something I picked up in the military (maybe) I always tell myself.

Aspies do have sensory issues. People with more severe, (almost) non-functional autism, have to be told to stop eating otherwise they keep on stuffing and end up littering themselves. It could have something to do with a precursor of diabetes, borderline diabetes (I had my glucose level checked and it was fine)(also fast eating is a sign). Autonomic neuropathy, also associated with diabetes, can cause digestive problems.

Since a few months I really have digestive problems. I've been constipated a few times because I ate too much and an insane amount of fibers, nuts and "healthy" fat. Now I'm seeing a doctor because I have stomach problems: pain (dyspepsia), constant fullness, GERD and really bad breath (at times). I'm on medication for it. It's getting better, but slowly and I have to really watch what and how much I eat.

So, besides being the mental aspie, I'm also experiencing the physical down side of that part of my life at the moment. I'm confident that the latter will go away. Because of all the digging to find root causes for my problems I'm almost starting to think I'm hypochondriac.

This is a common problem, but I don't know if it's autism-related.

Most people with weight issues eat until they are full, but it takes the body up to 20 minutes to recognize it has eaten....You can ingest a lot of calories before 20 minutes run out.

I've managed my weight and a big part of it is portion control. Limit how much you take in and wait at least 15 minutes before asking yourself if you want more. By then, the "hunger" is past and you really aren't interested in eating anything more.