Sugar and Pain

[mellie4]

I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on sugar intake and pain and/or sugar intake and cravings due to medications.  I was fairly fit and a regular gym-goer and watched my diet about 90/10.  I wasn't overly rigid, but I was careful.  I noticed that at some point when my narcotic dosage got on the higher end, I started craving sugar.  I never added sugar to coffee or tea and always drank diet soda, if any.  Over the past year or so (when I was on the heaviest of the narcotics) I noticed a change in my taste.  I started adding sugar to things ... 3 to 4 tsp in my coffee and tea, adding a couple of teaspoons to a bowl of cheerios.  I started realizing that my sugar consumption has gone up dramatically.  I don't think sugar is a great thing to be adding to my diet in general, but I'm wondering if anyone has any theories on it increasing inflammation.  I'm going to try to improve my diet and start dropping the sugar little by little, but it seems to be a real craving with me.  (I sometimes even steal the kids "icky" candy like sour gummy worms that are coated in sugar!!!  At least when I would give in before, I'd eat something worthy of the calories!)

[marlynmorgan]

See if its to do with a shift in your metabolism. In a western diet the body sometimes shifts, taking a short cut drawing on carbs as primary energy source. If we are health conscious we can end up lacking in fats. Try eating more (polyunsat) fats for a while and stop eating carbs, especially simple carbs. The body will eventually shift to fat burning. Make the body work for its carbs by eating ONLY whole foods.

[Jaybay]

I do the same thing and it's not just sugar.  It's chocolate!  I've never had a big sweet tooth but with pain meds it goes nuts.  Go figure.  Once I got into pain management and the meds were regulated the craving backed off.  Any increase in dose though - like after a surgery - and all I want is chocolate in any form I can get it.    GRR!!

[mellie4]

When I was first put on Percocet, I had no appetite.  I was very thirsty, though, and drank a lot of water but I would literally have to force myself to eat.  It was when I was put on Fentanyl that the sugar cravings started for me.  I've been off that since March and while my cravings aren't as bad, they're still there.  Could also be peri-menopause, since I seem to be entering that stage of life.  It's more a curiosity than anything for me.

[mellie4]

I am going to try to keep a food diary with cravings and see if I can cut back on the sugar to see if it helps.  I heard somewhere that sugar aggravates inflammation.  I could never really stand it in coffee or tea and always drank diet soda.  It was one particular medication for me that seemed to start this craving.  Even if it doesn't help with some of the pain, I think it won't hurt to get off it or at least cut back.

[atonicat]

I normally eat a lot of sugar so I can't really say if there is a relation between narcotics and sugar. I don't drink soda but I basically live on candy and cake, not literally but I do eat a lot of sweets. If anything I've noticed that narcotics make me loose my appetite for anything. So maybe I'm the opposite.

[Jrsygrl109]

Hmmm - I never thought of that connection.  I've been on narcotics for a number of years and the dosage has slowly been increased and I am now at the highest dose that I've been at (although much much lower than what I see people in this forum taking) and I've noticed that I too want more sugar.  I always drank diet sode but now I drink the sugared stuff - like a two liter bottle a day.  I'm not sure if it is because I can no longer do regular food shopping and it is easier to just go to the corner store and buy coca-cola to sustain myself or if it is the narcotics.  I will have to track this. Thx

[Reruho]

I am sorry to hear about your chronic pain, I too suffer with chronic pain. You are right about the medication changing your taste, this is common. Check the side effects of your medication, it may be listed as a side effect. Many medications seem to dull your tastebuds, so you crave things with taste like salt and sugar. I would recommend that you carry some sugarfree candy or chew some sugarfree gum.
Reta