I'm a sugar addict but am scared of giving up, has anyone else done it?

[Elf]

I am a real sugar addict together with chocolate. If I give up chocolate I can manage if I can still have sugar. However, I have far too much, am totally reliant on it and now suffer with severe pms and am worried about future diabetes. DH says he is sure my moods (what moods?!) are due to the sugar highs and lows., TBH, just getting rid of the pms would be fantastic.

Anyway, the thing is, I don't drink, I don't smoke, what would be my crutch in life? Can anyone go through life without some sort of crutch? To be honest the thought of getting through my days without going to the chocolate cupboard or rifling through my bag for my next fix, is terrifying.

I have three young dcs and life is half wonderful and half very difficult, I'm sure you kwim. But could I cope without the sugar Idon't know. Then again, woujld I be so full of new energy and joy that it would be great!

Is anyone else in this situation or has anyone else kicked the habit? Do tell.

I've kicked it in the past - just over a year ago I joined weightwatchers and for the first few weeks had a complete de-tox from sugar, caffeine etc. Had a blinding headache for the first few days - literally had to go to bed for the first couple of days it was so awful. Then started to feel better and I lost 2 stone.

Having put 1 stone back on I'm back on the wagon, on day 3 of healthy eating (don't mention the diet word...).

I think excluding sugar permanently and completely is a mistake - it's not tolerable in the long term. Try to cut down a bit, or what I found was OK was to cut it out altogether for a week or two, and then add back in in small amounts. I swapped sugar for splenda in coffee (had 2+ sugars in each coffee and about 8 coffees a day...). I also swapped to diet coke, but I still sprinkle a bit of sugar on my cereal - you need to still have the odd treat or it's not sustainable.

Oh, looks like it's just you and me Dotty! Yes I agree that giving it all up is not sustainable. Your sugar in your tea sounds like the equivalent to my chocolate bars! thanks for replying and supporting. We shall see what happens ..

I suppose I have given it up - I'm a long term low carber, and sugar is out of the question on that way of eating! (Even most fruits)

However, I wasn't much of a chocolate/sweet fiend before that - much prefer savoury things.

Sugar (as with all carbs) causes a sharp and sudden spike in insulin followed by an equally sharp and sudden crash not long after - which could be part of the mood swings.

There are sugar-free sweets and chocolate that you can buy if you need a treat (Thorntons do a diabetic range, Boots have some diabetic stuff and Fruitella make sugar-free sweets). You just need to be careful because they contain polyols which can cause dreadful wind and/or diarhhoea (sp?) if you have too much!

Re a crutch in life: your health and happiness?
Sugar may seem like something that you could never give up and it may be easier to live with the side effects, but you are obviously unhappy with what it is doing to you, or you wouldn't have posted.
I'm not suggesting going cold turkey, but try reducing gradually so that you don't notice the difference as much, whilst replacing hard core sugar with fruits and other natural sweetners (stevia for eg.).
This way you won't have 'detox' symptoms, but in the long term it will benefit you health just as much.
Glad that you do have some wonderfulness in your life, and yes, think how much more you'd have if you could refuse sugar.

I'd do it by weeks - the first week, reduce sugar by a quarter, and if this is horrible eat lots of fruit to replace it.
Then go down a bit more each week untill you are limited to only the recommended amount each day. I think the gov recs are about 75-100g max a day (which is still alot so you could then strive for less!).

Why not use this thread as a support group for when it feels tough. We'll get ya through it!

i did it, it was hellish.
Much too extreme- i was still in tears through lack of energy 4 weeks later.
I would not change anything for, say a week, but keep a food diary. The you will be able to identify when you get the cravings. When you already have them, IMO it is too late- you need the quick fix. But, if you eat an apple, say, about 30 mins before you are due a serious craving, you may find you get through the craving ok.
Drink LOADS of water: i found sometimes i thought i had a craving for sugar, when actually i was just really thirsty. Keep a bottle in your bag. Eventually you should be able to go longer and longer as the glycaemic index of the food you eat drops down.
Hope that helps

Thanks everyone, it's great to hear your views. Yes, I think I will do it gradually, good idea. I also like the idea of keeping the food diary, or sugar diary. It may make scary reading.

What are your crutches?

Can someone give more ideas for natural sweeteners please? I've given up using Hermestes type and so have many spoonsful of organic freetrade sugar. I'm really tired at the moment; I'll join Elf in keeping a diary, but the thought of my cuppa with no sugar makes me

I am an addict too - di not realsie it until I started looking into dietary stuff related to ds and came across the sugar addiction. I do not have it in tea or coffe or on cereals but chocolate os my undoing - i cannot get through the day wihtout some, and am getting worse. I can have a piece of fruit but still NEED the chocolate

I would like to cut down - have tried the 'd' word but not for long, cannot cope but I have done in the past, before ds.

will try a food diary and take it slowly and see how i get on - good to know I am not alone

I cut it out for a while last year, (am total addict too) and was amazed by the results.

No bloating, no farting, (the whole family was pleased about that one) loads of energy, bright eyes.

Hang on, why did I give it up ?! I think Xmas came along....

I'll do it again if you do it! I't easier than you think. Cut down on bread (ferments inside you) Eat natural stuff. Lets do it!!

Yes. It's the only way I can really lose weight. I start off cutting it out entirely - incl fruit and the sweeter veg, basically most carbs, just for a few weeks - then add the more healthy complex carbs back in again slowly. It's fantastic being in control of my eating and cravings.

I think if you try to cut it out completely you will just crave it more, as soon as I tell myself I cant have something it becomes the thing I want the most in the world If you eat a lot of sweet things you will feel foul to start with, really grumpy and headachy.

The best thing would be just to cut down as much as possible, I allow myself one Jaffa Cake a day and have started eating lots of fruit - I used to wake up every day with stomache ache but feel much better now.

I do keep a bar of really good chocolate hidden away (out of sight) for the low days strangely enough I just have a couple of squares and really enjoy it much more than I would have in the past.

... but if you're eating lots of fruit you're just switching from one form of sugar to another!

not at all. Fructose is not glucose. And apples have a pretty low glycaemic index.
May be worth looking at glycaemic indexes, because ofr example, white rice (not basmati) and potatoes are absorbed almost as quickly as sugar. It may target what you eat for main meals more effectively

glycaemic index tables here

TBH i would try not to get too complicated about it. Pick some things with a low value and try and incorporate those into your diet.
FYI the lower the value, the better. Sugar has a GI of 100. Therefore grapefruit is absorbed 4 times slower than sugar

hi a really good programme to help with sugar addiction can be found at the website www.radiantrecovery.com. can highly recommend it. the author of the programme kathleen desmaisons has also written books including 'the sugar addicts total recovery programme' and 'potatoes not prozac'. good luck

Interesting thread. I'm engaged in the same battle. Agree with those who say that - for the sweet toothed among us - it is unrealistic to go completely cold turkey and always better to take these things moderately and gently imo. Also, small portions of good chocolate does have health benefits!!!

What works best for me is giving in to the cravings but in a very limited, reduced way. For example, when I get the munchies (best to identify these times in advance and be prepared - mine is after dinner) I allow myself a home-made oat cookie, or a couple of fresh dates, or three or four dried apricots or, on bad days, one mini-Bounty bar. And, a good tip is to line up all your small "treats" for the week in a tupperware box and if you eat them all on the first day too bad, but you soon learn to ration!

In dire emergencies - some pre-prepared microwaveable portions of a thick home-made soup made out of pulses/lentils will satisfy - always have some to hand in the freezer.

In general, have stuck to pure foods - don't like the artificial replacements in reduced sugar stuff. All of this balanced with good diet of slow-release foods such as oats, loads of veg and pulses and you're away!!

The other thing that helps me most - and sorry to say this 'cos it prob. won't be possible with three young dcs - is to try to get enough sleep. I used to fuel myself with sweet things to get myself through the day before dd started sleeping through.

Good luck!

Well I'm better off with nothing at all. It's hell to start with but easier in the long run. You lose the taste for it after a while.

I had to have a completely sugar free diet for around 5 years (iirc), because of a candida infection (yeast overgrowth).

Previous to this, I had been a complete sugar addict, and even now, I usually eat half a bar of chocolate a day.

Sugar free diet is not that hard, and is certainly manageable. You just have to change your eating habits so that they dont include cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. I had plenty of energy once I started to get better from the candida infection.

Now that I am back on sugar, I consciously try to substitute lower sugar snacks for high sugar ones. My average was 200g of choc snacks a day until recently (1 RitterSport bar), but I have now started to have yoghurt, or soya cream desserts instead, and reduce the chocolate.

How long does it take to leave the taste for it completely OrmIrian?

lose - sorry

About a week counting. Honestly, it is that quick . And I feel so much better. My appetite diminishes for food generally, I eat only when I'm hungry and stop when I've had enough. But after a while I get bored and miss the desire to eat and enjoyment of food. But it's a good way to get back on track when you've had one binge too many.

nightynight - my SIL has been suffering from ME for about 7 years now, and one of the worst symptoms was candida overgrowth - it was horrendous, at one point she couldn't swallow anything. It was the spur to finally find someone who could really help, and she changed her diet to exclude all wheat, sugar and yeast containing foods. She had been a vegetarian but she went back to eating fish and then meat. She is much much better. Slow progress but progress all the same.

Cor, this is good - lots of people understanding the issue! What confuses me is, do you go for it totally ie no dried fruit, honey, etc - I guess as discussed, it's a personal decision to see what suits you.

What about the crutch issue? Yes, sugar is an energy boost for me, as greyhairs rightly guessed but what do you people have as a joy in life when you don't have the sugar fix? And no cakes, coffee, tea etc? OrmIrian, I'd love to be able to eat only when hungry etc but food is my raison d'etre at the moment.

Oh yes, to the person who kindly recommended the Sugar Addict's Recovery Programme I have got that book but to be honest I felt it had some pretty awful food - lots of dairy, wheat and meat.

Mrs Merton and Carbonel, are you ready for it? I'm going one step at a time and today was starting the diary!

Thanks Orm. You've given me pause for thought.

Perhaps we SHOULD go Cold Turkey Elf?

I know it sounds wierd (sugar-withdrawal ramblings) but I can't help thinking that nature wouldn't have made sweet things taste so good (honey for example) if we weren't meant to eat some of them in moderation. It's just when it all gets out of whack that it's bad for you .... maybe?

Or perhaps I'm just trying to justify holding on to my last mini-Bounty bar?

Btw Elf, I get my kicks in the evenings sewing patchwork (chocolate and sewing projects to not mix!). Exciting eh???

ormirian - how horrid for your SIL. Having just a candida infection by itself was bad enough, mixed with ME it must be awful. I don't know how one would do the diet without eating fish and meat, because so many things are excluded. Lots of positive thoughts from a recovered candida sufferer! nightynight