what's the deal?? I'm hungry!

[nurse_ally 0]

Having a bit of disappointment at the moment, I'm hungry! All the time! I eat small amounts and get full, but in two hours I'm feeling hungry again. I take a PPI (not Nexium, my insurance won't pay for it), and Gas X strips don't really help. Has anyone had this problem? Any suggestions? This stinks!!

[Tiffykins 672]

Which PPI are you on? Are your calories matching your activity level?

As stupid as it sounds, GasX strips contain some sugar alcohol which triggers some funky hunger like feelings for me. It's not hunger really, it's just this funky strange feeling I get. I was able to isolate it when I was snacking on Protein bars.

On the PPI, are you taking it on an empty stomach and waiting a minimum of 30-60 minutes before eating? This is on my RX of Prilosec, and I have a girlfriend down here that went on Protonix (generic) and her bottle reads the same.

[ouroborous 519]

Actually, according to my surgeon, it IS possible to feel physiological hunger after lap sleeve. The mechanisms are complex, but apparently we shouldn't expect to "never feel hungry again." Some people are lucky and don't ever feel hungry again, but Dr. L said that "most people do regain some sensation of hunger, although much less strong than before."

[mb20mom 9]

No you're not alone. I've been hungry since day one and it's never gone away, as I kept hoping. I also get hungry 2 hours after I eat, like you do. I don't have to eat much to satisfy it, but I'm jealous of those who lost their hunger from the surgery. It was my main motivation for getting it done and it has been disappointing for sure. I still wouldn't go back though.

[Globetrotter 1,340]

I miss being hungry, not because of missing food but because it feels kinda like I'm missing a basic human response. I'm a month out and am never hungry and those times when I thought I might be hungry, it turned out to be acid. I would like to eat without pain though, that would be nice. Doesn't matter what it is or how tiny the bite, 30 seconds after I've swallowed, I hurt. I chew tuna till it's grainy nothing, Soup takes an hour or more to eat. Today I just don't feel like eating at all, not even the Protein Shakes.< /p>

[LittleSteve 4]

I`m 8 weeks out and I get hungry, I always get hungry every 2-3 hrs. I understand that some people don`t want to be hungry but I like it. What I like most is I can satisfy my huger with small, healthy, yummy food. If I goto the Gym I am ravenous by the time I get home and so look forward to my piece of fish or whatever I`m gonna nuke. I don`t think getting hungry has affected my weightless.

[nurse_ally 0]

Tiffy-my PPI is called Dexilant and I do take it 30-60 mins before I eat anything. And thanks for the info on the GasX strips, I won't be taking them much anymore :001_wub:.

ouroborous-I didn't expect to never feel hunger again, but this is a LOT. Like more than before surgery. And fighting the head hunger when my tummy is growling isn't easy.

mb20mom-I agree, I wouldn't go back for anything in the world. It's really nice that, even when I'm hungry, a little bit of food takes care of it.

globetrotter-how far out are you? if you're more than a month or so, I would think eating shouldn't hurt anymore. I'm about 6 weeks out and I can eat pretty much anything now without pain, unless I eat it too fast. But some things that I thought would be easy going down aren't. tuna salad hurt. Scrambled eggs hurt. Which really stunk, because I really looked forward to them!

Steve-good job on making good food decisions! That's what this tool is for

Thanks for your help, everyone! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who still feels hungry.

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Tiffikins, this isn't the first time I have seen PPI associated with suppressing hunger. Are they suppose to help with that? I'm into week nine and am just taking them as needed. I haven't experienced hunger since surgery, I think I am very lucky in that dept., but if/when it does start to return, should I start back on my PPI? Do you take it before a meal? I was just taking one in the morning and one in the evening. Thank you in advance...as always!

Which PPI are you on? Are your calories matching your activity level?

As stupid as it sounds, GasX strips contain some sugar alcohol which triggers some funky hunger like feelings for me. It's not hunger really, it's just this funky strange feeling I get. I was able to isolate it when I was snacking on Protein bars.

On the PPI, are you taking it on an empty stomach and waiting a minimum of 30-60 minutes before eating? This is on my RX of Prilosec, and I have a girlfriend down here that went on Protonix (generic) and her bottle reads the same.

[Swiftflow 6]

NtvTxn, PPI's don't help with real hunger, but they do suppress acid production in the stomach which many confuse with hunger. I am not saying this is the case for the original poster, but some do have high acid production and need more than the standard 20mg PPI. There are also (non PPI) meds like pepcid that help control acid, and liquid meds you can take when you are having acid episodes that work the fastest. You could test with one of these to see if hunger goes away with taking them--if an acid controler removes the feeling of hunger then it was likely acid and not hunger to start with. However, if it is true hunger, acid reducers or PPI's wont do anything for that.

[Lisalu 89]

Nurse_Ally--

You are 1 day behind me. I had surgery in OKC on 6/30/10.

I get hungry too. Hunger is probably a complicated, redundant mechanism, just like sex drive. Because hunger (like sex) is necessary for perpetuating our species, it makes sense that there would be various pathways for it to follow. So what I'm saying is there's more to hunger than ghrelin production (take leptin for example) and maybe we are the "lucky" ones with other intact pathways.

So far I deal with it by drinking thickened Protein shakes and increasing the fat content of some of my foods/drinks. I thicken the shakes with xanthan gum or use silken tofu as their base. Atkins RTD shakes have more fat and they are thick. They satisfy me well though I do add a bit of beneprotein to them because they only have 15 gr of Protein per serving. These shakes satify me better than actual food, probably because they have more calories (150-200) than I can consume by eating.

I know it is possible to be both full and hungry at the same time. In my youth, I'd try all sorts of diets that involved lots of low calorie veggies. You can eat a head of cabbage, have a full belly and still be hungry for calories. If this weren't the case, we could have all gone on a sawdust diet and avoided the complication and expense of the surgery. :-)

[Papillon 7]

haha I think I tried the saw dust diet... LOL

[Jane_J 117]

Hi Ally, are you eating Protein dense chunky food? If now, do so as this sits in your stomach and stops the hunger. Having said this I am much more likely to feel hungry in the morning than the afternoon, it's my bodies rhythm.

Jane x

[Jane_J 117]

I miss being hungry, not because of missing food but because it feels kinda like I'm missing a basic human response. I'm a month out and am never hungry and those times when I thought I might be hungry, it turned out to be acid. I would like to eat without pain though, that would be nice. Doesn't matter what it is or how tiny the bite, 30 seconds after I've swallowed, I hurt. I chew tuna till it's grainy nothing, Soup takes an hour or more to eat. Today I just don't feel like eating at all, not even the Protein Shakes.< /div>

Hi Globie, That sounds pretty horrible. I think though you need to get to 8 weeks out to form any idea of where you will end up with this, and for my I think at 6 months I was still not stable although now at 15 months I think I am and it's sweet. So basically hang on and wait. Hope the Iraq thing is going OK, I think you are very brave.

Jane x

[Tiffykins 672]

I'll just ditto what Swiftflow mentioned. It's not "hunger" it's the acid that caused my "hunger' early out before I started taking the Prilosec.

I take generic RX Prilosec 20mg once daily, first thing in the a.m. and 1 hour before eating. Pepcid, Zantac, Tums, etc etc are not PPIs and do not work the same.

Ally- You may need a different PPI. You may need to take it twice a day. Check with your doctor and see he/she has any suggestions for you.

NtvTxn- With Prilosec, it takes a few days for them to become full effective. I think it took around 10-14 days for it to really kick in for me. So, if you're just taking it "as needed", it's only treating the symptoms of acid, and not preventing it. I would take it on a regular basis per your surgeon's directions.

Edited August 14, 2010 by Tiffykins

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Thanks for clearing this up for me. I actually haven't felt hunger since surgery, I was taking Pepcid Complete, but I'd seen others mention this and was wondering about it. I'm starting week ten and am only taking the Pepsid now 'as needed'. I wonder how long I'll need it....I'd say I take one every few days now.

NtvTxn, PPI's don't help with real hunger, but they do suppress acid production in the stomach which many confuse with hunger. I am not saying this is the case for the original poster, but some do have high acid production and need more than the standard 20mg PPI. There are also (non PPI) meds like pepcid that help control acid, and liquid meds you can take when you are having acid episodes that work the fastest. You could test with one of these to see if hunger goes away with taking them--if an acid controler removes the feeling of hunger then it was likely acid and not hunger to start with. However, if it is true hunger, acid reducers or PPI's wont do anything for that.