Like alcoholism.....but not.
Discussion
Odd one this. A friends's mum. Not mine, she's dead and was an alcoholic but that's by the by.
This woman appears to be going on sweet benders. She's behaving like an alcoholic around sweet things.
Woman in her 50s with underlying health issues. One of which is MS.
She needs a hip replacement but it has been cancelled several times because of her high blood sugar. She's basically making herself diabetic.
Her sugar intake is crazy. A freezer full of (10) different types of ice cream, cakes etc. cupboards full of biscuits, cakes etc.
My friend, popped round to see their mum the other day, Entered the house without knocking to find this lady hiding a packet of biscuits under a cushion.
She displays all the traits of an alcoholic. Hoarding the stuff, hiding it, and when confronted coming up with silly excuses. "I only get ice cream in for you when you come around. If you didn't like it d not buy it". Type of stuff.
My friend and their family are all very worried. If it was booze or drugs, there'd be support groups for addicts. Support groups for families. A biscuit addict is somehow different.
It doesn't help that her family is the most polite not say boo to a goose bunch of people ever.
Is it the MS? It's pretty much under control for now. Can it create obsessions or addictions?
One theory is that she is somehow trying to make herself I'll, to hasten her death with some other disease, heart attack or whatever.
They can't get her to talk about it. It's very worrying as the mum is a genuinely lovely lady. Kind, loving etc.
This woman appears to be going on sweet benders. She's behaving like an alcoholic around sweet things.
Woman in her 50s with underlying health issues. One of which is MS.
She needs a hip replacement but it has been cancelled several times because of her high blood sugar. She's basically making herself diabetic.
Her sugar intake is crazy. A freezer full of (10) different types of ice cream, cakes etc. cupboards full of biscuits, cakes etc.
My friend, popped round to see their mum the other day, Entered the house without knocking to find this lady hiding a packet of biscuits under a cushion.
She displays all the traits of an alcoholic. Hoarding the stuff, hiding it, and when confronted coming up with silly excuses. "I only get ice cream in for you when you come around. If you didn't like it d not buy it". Type of stuff.
My friend and their family are all very worried. If it was booze or drugs, there'd be support groups for addicts. Support groups for families. A biscuit addict is somehow different.
It doesn't help that her family is the most polite not say boo to a goose bunch of people ever.
Is it the MS? It's pretty much under control for now. Can it create obsessions or addictions?
One theory is that she is somehow trying to make herself I'll, to hasten her death with some other disease, heart attack or whatever.
They can't get her to talk about it. It's very worrying as the mum is a genuinely lovely lady. Kind, loving etc.
Edited by wildcat45 on Sunday 7th June 21:08
Definitely a problem that needs addressing, ideally sooner rather than later. Has anyone tried searching for addictive behaviour groups online, and seeing if there is one which accepts cake eaters, specifically with the intention of addressing the issue and not simply losing weight?
Someone somewhere will be able to help, professionals will charge, but there may just be someone within traveling distance or a group which she can access.
Hopefully she's not too heavy, as I'm guessing someone will have to drag her there. If she can agree to go, brilliant, but talking her round (and finding an open group which deals with multiple addictions) would be the challenge. Sorry, not much help, but I did once hear there are over 300 different types of 12 step groups.
Someone somewhere will be able to help, professionals will charge, but there may just be someone within traveling distance or a group which she can access.
Hopefully she's not too heavy, as I'm guessing someone will have to drag her there. If she can agree to go, brilliant, but talking her round (and finding an open group which deals with multiple addictions) would be the challenge. Sorry, not much help, but I did once hear there are over 300 different types of 12 step groups.
I was in the TA years ago with a guy who delivered sweets to local businesses, he'd turn up for a weekend exercise with one or two of those giant jars of sweets that you'd see in the shops ( the 2ft tall ones with the massive black lids), and I swear that we once stopped in a motorway services for 30mins and he bought 6 or 7 Snickers/Mars bar choc ices and ate them one after another.
He was as skinny as a rake but I'd hate to see his gnashers nowadays.
He was as skinny as a rake but I'd hate to see his gnashers nowadays.
Thanis for that. I think as with all these things to do with addiction you have to get the person to admit to there being a problem.
And yes, it isn't a weight issue. Though as you can imagine, she's not skinny but a long way from being one of tese 25 stone people you see on TV.
I think a bit more research s needed.
Thanks again.
And yes, it isn't a weight issue. Though as you can imagine, she's not skinny but a long way from being one of tese 25 stone people you see on TV.
I think a bit more research s needed.
Thanks again.
J4CKO said:
I know people like that, I worked with a guy who would have five or six individual chocolate bars during the day and a lad I used to live next door to who puts what he has eaten on FB, six Cadburys Creme Eggs in one sitting as an example, one of those makes my teeth hurt.
Worked with a guy who would come into work, attend the morning meeting and then go to the shop to get his breakfast; two big packets of Haribo and two energy drinks; usually the big Monster drinks. 30 minutes later he would have a massive high, which was an hour or so of him being a pain in the arse, then he'd have his come down and be all depressive and misersble until lunch.
Lunch was two packets of Haribo and two large Monsters; repeat the high and low from the morning and the rest of the day was interspaced with yet more sugar and crappy Ginster type food.
Skinny as a rake, good looking but he was terribly pale and didn't look particularly healthy, smoked like a chimney too.
Also had gambling issues, to the point that his wage was paid into his dad's account so that his dad could monitor his spending and effectively give him an allowance so he didn't spunk it all on placing bets, I guess he had an addictive personality what with his sugar intake and gambling issues.
Edited by HTP99 on Sunday 7th June 20:49
this could be an older person thing. My Grandparents when I was little would have cupboards of biscuits and cakes, would buy all sorts of extra sweet things if they knew we were coming to visit etc. They even had the microwave filled with cakes and biscuits... my parents aren't quite there yet, but they do have half a biscuit cupboard, which they've not always had.
I have never, ever had a sweet tooth - not fond of chocolate, would never order desserts, etc - until I was put on 10mg a day of Amitriptyline - an antidepressant in much larger doses, but used to treat nerve pain in small doses (my case - trapped nerve in my shoulder).
By god, even that tiny dose made me into an eating monster - I could have a massive sandwich, so full that I really couldn't finish it - 10 minutes later I'd be thinking "I'd love another one of those".
It also gave me a craving for fatty, sweet foods, which I never had before.
It may be purely psychosomatic, but to this day I need to watch what I eat, even 2 years after stopping the Amitriptyline - I gained 2 stone on the stuff, and it took a lot to work it off!
By god, even that tiny dose made me into an eating monster - I could have a massive sandwich, so full that I really couldn't finish it - 10 minutes later I'd be thinking "I'd love another one of those".
It also gave me a craving for fatty, sweet foods, which I never had before.
It may be purely psychosomatic, but to this day I need to watch what I eat, even 2 years after stopping the Amitriptyline - I gained 2 stone on the stuff, and it took a lot to work it off!
I'm fully expecting to be way off the mark with this but I believe that sugar and alcohol, once they are processed by your body, form the same chemical that hits exactly the same receptors in your brain.
Obviously alcohol has a physiological effect too but they both drive something in your brain that makes it demand more, developing into addiction.
I think this is why, if you give up alcohol, you tend to develop a sweet tooth instead. Personally I have a fixation for chocolate (especially warm brownies
), and have to fight not to stuff my face with sweet stuff all the time.
Might be wrong with my assessment of what's actually going on, but I vaguely recall watching a video on the effects of sugar not so long ago.
Obviously alcohol has a physiological effect too but they both drive something in your brain that makes it demand more, developing into addiction.
I think this is why, if you give up alcohol, you tend to develop a sweet tooth instead. Personally I have a fixation for chocolate (especially warm brownies
), and have to fight not to stuff my face with sweet stuff all the time. Might be wrong with my assessment of what's actually going on, but I vaguely recall watching a video on the effects of sugar not so long ago.
Super Slo Mo said:
Sugar and alcohol.
Yeah. Both are addictive. If we were to objectively define "drugs" as simply "addictive, harmful compounds" then sugar is a drug. That isn't going to happen for decades, and then you can bet they will cling to their market like the tobacco industry has.And the "sweet tooth" when you quit alcohol is nearly correct - your body gets a lot of sugar along with it's alcohol pretty much whatever your drink, so you already have both cravings when you quit one. You just thought it was an alcohol craving.
Super Slo Mo said:
Trying to break the sugar craving is bloody hard, probably more difficult than the alcohol I think. It's probably because it's more difficult to avoid sugar.
No point playing Russian Roulette with a craving - just never eat any. And when checking the ingredients, remember anything "-ose" is a sugar.So of course I am now addicted to ripe Le Rustique Brie and Whipped Philadelphia. It's like Addiction Whack-a-Mole chez grumbledoak.
It's easy to say but difficult when I often can't prepare my own food and am relying on what the hotel prepares. Supermarkets aren't always conveniently nearby and when I'm buying pre made sandwiches again it's sometimes a matter of taking whatever they have.
Mind you, I could stop buying sweets, ice cream, cake etc.
I like fruit too, although that is a little healthier.
Mind you, I could stop buying sweets, ice cream, cake etc
. I like fruit too, although that is a little healthier.
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