Hungry hungry hungry

[CraftyChristie 62]

OK kids. I have been trying to keep a very positive attitude about this but I am 2 1/2 weeks post op and still experiencing hunger all day every day. I had intense hunger pains the first few days after surgery, and they got better, but I experience mild to moderate hunger ALL day EVERY day - still.

My surgeon just keeps saying it's different for everyone, it should go away, etc... but I don't know if I'm convinced.

I tried some slightly more solid food yesterday as an experiment - had some cheese (the kind that is a small little block to eat) and I still didn't stop feeling hungry. When I eat my 1 ounce of soft food every two hours, I feel less hungry for a tiny bit but after an hour I'm really hungry again and have to wait an hour to eat. I am in despair because this feels like DIETING!!!! Restricting yourself to less than you want and dealing with the hunger.

THIS IS NOT HEAD HUNGER. I have successfully watched hubby and best friend eat burgers, pizza, etc and I did totally fine. Yes I longed for it a bit (that's the head huger) but I put myself in the right mindset, enjoyed the smells, etc.

THIS IS ALSO NOT ACID. I have had acid plenty before surgery and I know what it feels like. This is pure physical hunger and I know what it feels like, I am definitely in tune with that.

So.... please... if ANYONE ELSE has experienced this please tell me what you did about it, if it went away with time, if it went away when you got to solid food, etc.'

Hubby had his surgery yesterday (and is doing very well) and woke up with no hunger, and still isn't feeling any so far (I was having hunger pains the whole time in the hospital!)... so now I am feeling really really super unlucky and gypped. I am usually a very very positive person but this is really getting me down :001_tt2:

[goodlife 3]

I felt hunger a little bit around that point when I was drinking mostly Protein shakes and creamed Soups. I don't feel it anymore...unless I go for a long time without eating something. In fact, I'm finding it harder to get in the necessary calories and fluids now that I'm on more solid type foods.

Are you drinking all your fluids? I find if I keep sipping on my crystal light throughout the day that cuts down on the hunger too..or I drink the 100 calorie muscle milk light RTD drinks. That cuts down on the hunger for me too.

All I can say is hang in there...it does get better.

[PinkJewels 2]

I don't have any advice, I am right there with ya. My mom had the surgery after me and isn't hungry, and I am almost 6 months out and am constantly hungry and barely losing. I don't regret the sleeve, but some of us get the short end of the stick it seems

[CraftyChristie 62]

Ack PinkJewels... NOT what I was hoping to hear but I thank you for telling me because I need to be prepared if that is what is in store for me. I might have to put more effort than most in making all the right choices if I am not full on my small amounts of food.

Goodlife... yes I get all my fluids and Protein each day. Right now I'm in the yogurt/cottage cheese/refried Beans stage... and hoping solid foods will help but like I said I experimented yesterday and it didn't seem to help so I am worried.

[gatormomof2 0]

I wish I could help you more Christie but I have only had slight hunger pains and they were very far between each other, so it's not constant. I have had plenty of head hunger but no real bad hunger pains. Acid is killing me though it's waking me up at night for at least 2-3 hours..I just put in a call to my surgeon to try something else for it:-( I am eating solid (but soft) foods though. I have had tuna and chicken etc. I can only handle about 5 half spoons but it's something and it does help fill me up, maybe you should try some tuna it went down well for me:biggrin0: I hope you keep a positive attitude..everyone is different and I know it's all gonna get better, keep your spirits up:001_wub:

[goodlife 3]

Christie...I think it takes time too.....I went through a few days of panic thinking I was going to be miserable and hungry for the rest of my life. It passed quickly and I don't have that problem anymore. I have no idea if it will come back and I will get hungry again, but I'm not going to worry about it.

The good thing though is that it takes so little to fill up. Are you waiting a good hour or so to drink after you've eaten...especially after stuff like refried Beans?

[CraftyChristie 62]

Goodlife... my nutrition program says not to worry about drinking before/after meals until I get on solid food at 6 weeks - BUT - I think when I move to the semi-solids at 3 weeks (next week) I am going to start practicing that as much as possible and see if it helps. You might be onto something there. Maybe for me that's an issue even if it isn't for most in the early stage. Thank you for the idea.

[Tiffykins 672]

When I had hunger, it was acid, and I didn't have it pre-op. It wasn't like the little episodes of heartburn I experienced when I ate hot/spicy foods occasionally. It was a gnawing twinge an hour after I ate. Not saying that is what you are experiencing, but to let ya know that I never had the typical acid reflux issues. Once I got on Prilosec, those issues resolved and at a year out, I still never experience hunger.

Right now you still have Ghrelin floating around your system so hunger can still be experienced. Even on mushies/soft foods, I had to wait 30 minutes minimum before drinking or it did flush stuff through. I never experienced hunger, but I could feel it for sure.

It does get better. Congrats to your husband, best wishes for a smooth recovery for him as well.

[CraftyChristie 62]

Tiffy... Did you do Prilosec OTC, or a prescription? I guess I could try it. Because I do feel these hunger pains about an hour after eating so maybe you are right. I didn't think it was acid because I had acid all the time pre-op and it felt completely different but I am willing to try anything! I think today I will start trying to not drink for an hour after my meal too and see if that helps.

[Tiffykins 672]

I get a RX for my Prilosec since our insurance covers it, and I get my scripts for free, I don't see any sense in buying OTC. The OTC dose is the same as my RX. 20mg once daily is what I take. I take it first thing in the morning, and my bottle instructions state to wait a minimum of 1 hour before eating. So, I take it first thing in the morning, wait an hour, then eat. I tried taking it at night, but it didn't work the same. It did take 7-10 days for the Prilosec to kick in completely so don't be discouraged is it doesn't immediately work to resolve the hunger you're filling. I couldn't wait an hour to drink. It just cut into my sipping time LOL, so I waited 30 minutes to start sipping again.

[PinkJewels 2]

I actually LOVE this thread. I am so glad you started it. I'm gonna try the acid reducer thing and see if it helps me.

[JillianMarie 0]

Are you sure they said 1 oz? That is so restrictive. I got a 4 oz sleeve and i can consume 1/2 cup of soft food at a time easily. If you have a 4 oz sleeve, can you try 2 oz. of soft cheese if you eat it slowly in small bites? Also, i got something last night at the grocery store and it went really well for me. The broccoli and cheddar Cambells Soup, i poured half a can into a bowl, did not mix with Water (was the consistency of baby food) and heated it slightly. It was delicious and sat very well in my stomach.

I went to a GI Dr. yesterday for a follow up, and he said not everyone that has this surgery is the same. It's more about testing foods/seeing what you can tolerate. If you are truely hungry (which you will be on only 1 oz of food because you are giving your body almost no nutrition), try just a little more. Not much, but a little, and see how you tolerate it. It may be that it just takes a little more and you will be comfortably full. You don't want to overdo it, but the one oz restriction seems far too restrictive, they are probably just being "on the safe side" by saying that. Do what you feel comfortable with- i've found that eating more of the soft foods helps keep my energy up and keep me from feeling hungry. This is just MY opinion- i am not telling you to go against your Dr. suggestions, I'm just making a suggestion you might want to think about. Just stay away from solid/sharp foods!! I learned my lesson with eating crackers!! LOL

[wannalise 15]

Christy,

The acid reducers did eliminate some of that weird hunger for me. I hope it does for you! I still have more hunger than I imagined I would but it sounds like you are experiencing a lot more than I am and that would be frustrating. I don't mean to offend anyone else, but if your surgeon or NUT is telling you something that is the advice you should follow. We are only speaking from OUR experience, but they are generally dealing with hundreds of the same people and know what they are saying. Good luck!!!!

[JillianMarie 0]

I do agree with WannaLise, i thought that perhaps you can ask your Doctor specifically about his guidelines and when you can advance to a slightly larger portion of food?

[CraftyChristie 62]

Thank you EVERYONE for weighing in on this today. I felt like I was going to bang my head against the wall soon.

I have GREAT news, I really lucked out today. When we were waiting to check hubby out of the hospital, Kim came in - she is the head of the whole bariatric program at the hospital and works closely with my surgeon. She said that the sleeve program here is pretty underdeveloped because they've done so few... and they group us in with the bypass patients as far as the nutrition guidelines and classes... and that 1 ounce is far too little. She said I can eat UP TO 4oz in one sitting, every 2-3 hours. I don't know if it will take 4oz to fill me up or not but I will play around with it and see.

She also said I could go ahead and advance to the next phase of eating - full soft food diet!! I said what do I do since the nutrition class for it is not until next week - she sat down and wrote out a list for me of what I could eat!

She also said there was a cookbook written by one of my surgeon's patients that included recipes for all the eating phases, and I could go get it in his office which I did.

I am home now (and hubby is too - resting comfortably) and I am going to go have some cottage cheese b/c it's time to eat but then I'm going to look through the cookbook and probably make up some stuff that I can try to eat later. I will let you all know how it goes.

I think a lot of the problem here comes from the fact that a bypass patient starts with a 1 ounce stomach and mine is 3-4oz, and they just group us all together. I am so glad Kim came around and shared all this info with me.

Also - she said even though generally they don't worry bout you drinking after meals until 6 weeks/solid food, that I should start now since I am having problems with hunger (which I was doing already after the suggestion this morning) so I am going to continue with that.

If none of this works I will try the Prilosec too. Just don't want another pill to take if i don't have to :sad0: But I think that is a great suggestion Tiffy and thank you for the info.

Also Kim said I could start solid food at 4 weeks if I want to, instead of 6 weeks... but, I will wait and see how this phase goes and if I am not dealing with the hunger as badly I will still wait until 6 weeks.

Thank you everyone!