Hi everyone!

This is my frist time posting! I am almost 3 weeks post-op (surgery date Oct 4th) and I am extremely hungry!!! For the first few days after surgery I was not hungry, but since then, I am craving stuff. The dietician said it was just "head hunger". I think sometimes it is, but sometimes I am just so hungry. I just want real food! Has anyone else had this problem? I thought I was suppose to not be hungry after.

I have lost 27 pounds since the date of surgery, 42 from my heighest. The dietician said I was losing too fast. Is that even possible? I lost 15 the first week post op, 6 the next week, and 6 this week. My starting weight was 369, and surgery weight was 356. I thought I was just losing a lot because I have so much to lose.

My surgery went very well. I didn't even have to get a drain!!! He said that most everyones stomach was around the same size, but that mine was HUGE. He had to mke one of the incisions larger to get my stomach out.

Thanks in advance for any input!

It's not out of the ordinary to feel hungry post-op for some sleeve patients.

#1 The hunger hormone is still in your system.

#2 You may not be eating enough calories if you are working out and you're body might need more calories

#3 Sometimes if you're eating certain foods, it can cause cravings or hunger. Some people experience "eat carbs, crave carbs" and it can cause an endless cycle of cravings and hunger

#4 If you aren't on a PPI (acid reducer like Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix), then you can get hunger from overproduction of acid

#5 Head hunger causes cravings, but if you have an empty feeling, like you need to eat then that's true physical hunger

I don't know what food stage you are on, how many calories/carbs/protein your taking in, how often your eating, your post-op eating plan, or how active you are so it's kind of hard to give you advice on what you can change up to help you. But, if you'll share more details, we can all help figure out how to help you with some ideas on getting the hunger under control.

My post-op plan was pretty simple: 4 meals per day, no snacking, each meal needed to consist of a minimum of 15gr of Protein, no more than 30gr of carbs per day, and between 600-800 calories with a minimum of 64oz of Clear liquids.

Are you taking a PPI? Acid reflux can feel like hunger, and I am suffering from inappropriate hunger too. My PPI only helps alittle, I am now on a quest to figure out how much my PPI is helping and possibly switching meds. Its a frustrating, mysterious journey.

It's not out of the ordinary to feel hungry post-op for some sleeve patients.

#1 The hunger hormone is still in your system.

#2 You may not be eating enough calories if you are working out and you're body might need more calories

#3 Sometimes if you're eating certain foods, it can cause cravings or hunger. Some people experience "eat carbs, crave carbs" and it can cause an endless cycle of cravings and hunger

#4 If you aren't on a PPI (acid reducer like Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix), then you can get hunger from overproduction of acid

#5 Head hunger causes cravings, but if you have an empty feeling, like you need to eat then that's true physical hunger

I don't know what food stage you are on, how many calories/carbs/protein your taking in, how often your eating, your post-op eating plan, or how active you are so it's kind of hard to give you advice on what you can change up to help you. But, if you'll share more details, we can all help figure out how to help you with some ideas on getting the hunger under control.

My post-op plan was pretty simple: 4 meals per day, no snacking, each meal needed to consist of a minimum of 15gr of Protein, no more than 30gr of carbs per day, and between 600-800 calories with a minimum of 64oz of clear liquids.

Thanks for the reply!

I went to the dietician last week, and she wanted me to change only a few things. More protein, and I could add 1 egg. I did both those things last Tuesday and got very sick. I had horrible diarrhea for 3 days and was so nauesous. I couldn't even drink crystal light or G2 or Water. They put me on phenergan and Im feeling better. I am still on liquids. I think my stomach couldn't handle the added protein. I get the Isopure Protein powder from GNC and I am pretty sure that is what I couldn't handle. I know I cant handle soy because it causes diarrhea. Could I also not be able to handle whey protein? I tried some before surgery and I just couldn't handle the taste/texture. I drink the atkins Protein shakes (in boxes) and its not too bad, but not high enough protein. I am still at about 4-5 oz 6-8 times a day. I have the following: atkins Protein drinks, pudding, yogurt (Yoplait-no fruit, mostly just strawberry flavor, thick and creamy), tomato Soup with milk, or cream of potato with milk. I think we figured I was only getting 30 g of protein a day, and around 400-500 calories. I tried greek yogurt and haven't found one I liked. I don't know how else to up my protein. I also think i am not getting enough fluids in between my "meals". I cannot drink regular water because it makes me nauseous. The dietician said it was okay to drink the reduced calorie gatoraide (G2) right now and crystal light. I am probably getting about 20oz of that per day. I am not walking enough, probably about 3 times per week. I am moving out of my house, so I have been very busy packing and moving. I know I shouldn't make excuses, but doing all that makes me so exhausted its hard to think about getting my walking in. I go back to the dietician next week, and I think I will start on mushies. I get about 32oz of the soup/protein drink/pudding/yogurt a day. This week probably only 20-24oz a day when I was getting better from the diarrhea and nausea. The pudding I eat is sugar free/fat free, and I have one 4oz cup of that a day. And I have 1 yogurt a day. I probably get about 1 of the boxes of the Atkins, which is 15g of protein in a day, and maybe a can of soup with milk. I am following what my dietician has told me to do. I just can't add the protein like she wanted me to. I should probably put a call in to her today. I was on Nexium before surgery, but they wanted me to stop that. I am now on Prilosec but I am just about done with that. He only put me on it for 3 weeks. After a few days, I will not be on anything. Some days I do think I feel some reflux so I was going to see if I can go back on the Nexium.

Sorry this is all over the place!!! I appreciate the advice I get or any input from anyone! I love this board and I am so glad I found it.

Thanks for the reply!

I went to the dietician last week, and she wanted me to change only a few things. More Protein, and I could add 1 egg. I did both those things last Tuesday and got very sick. I had horrible diarrhea for 3 days and was so nauesous. I couldn't even drink crystal light or G2 or Water. They put me on phenergan and Im feeling better. I am still on liquids. I think my stomach couldn't handle the added protein. I get the ISOPURE protein powder from GNC and I am pretty sure that is what I couldn't handle. I know I cant handle soy because it causes diarrhea. Could I also not be able to handle whey protein? I tried some before surgery and I just couldn't handle the taste/texture. I drink the atkins protein shakes (in boxes) and its not too bad, but not high enough protein. I am still at about 4-5 oz 6-8 times a day. I have the following: atkins protein drinks, pudding, yogurt (Yoplait-no fruit, mostly just strawberry flavor, thick and creamy), tomato soup with milk, or cream of potato with milk. I think we figured I was only getting 30 g of protein a day, and around 400-500 calories. I tried greek yogurt and haven't found one I liked. I don't know how else to up my protein. I also think i am not getting enough fluids in between my "meals". I cannot drink regular water because it makes me nauseous. The dietician said it was okay to drink the reduced calorie gatoraide (G2) right now and crystal light. I am probably getting about 20oz of that per day. I am not walking enough, probably about 3 times per week. I am moving out of my house, so I have been very busy packing and moving. I know I shouldn't make excuses, but doing all that makes me so exhausted its hard to think about getting my walking in. I go back to the dietician next week, and I think I will start on mushies. I get about 32oz of the soup/protein drink/pudding/yogurt a day. This week probably only 20-24oz a day when I was getting better from the diarrhea and nausea. The pudding I eat is sugar free/fat free, and I have one 4oz cup of that a day. And I have 1 yogurt a day. I probably get about 1 of the boxes of the Atkins, which is 15g of protein in a day, and maybe a can of soup with milk. I am following what my dietician has told me to do. I just can't add the protein like she wanted me to. I should probably put a call in to her today. I was on Nexium before surgery, but they wanted me to stop that. I am now on Prilosec but I am just about done with that. He only put me on it for 3 weeks. After a few days, I will not be on anything. Some days I do think I feel some reflux so I was going to see if I can go back on the Nexium.

Sorry this is all over the place!!! I appreciate the advice I get or any input from anyone! I love this board and I am so glad I found it.

It sounds like your just going through an adjustment period, and things will get better. Protein supplements do suck, I hated all of them, and yeppers they all made me puke. I developed lactose intolerance and since whey is a milk product, I'd puke or get major gas with diarrhea.

On the greek yogurt, you can mix in the ranch dressing packets, and the sugar free pudding powders to add flavor without having to buy a bunch of different flavors. You can also purchase those sugar free coffee syrups to add to greek yogurt that will help with protein counts. eggs didn't work for me either. Poached eggs super soft with some cheese were the only ones that worked, and to this day, I still hate the way scrambled eggs feel in my sleeve. You're being super active with your packing and moving, it's not an excuse, your running on fumes at this point, and once you get to mushies, I'm sure you'll feel much better and be able to get more protein in from soft meats, and Beans. Since you're still on liquids, you won't get much satiety. It's the liquids in, liquids out kind of rule. Even full liquids don't hang out in there long. If you had reflux pre-op, it may have intensified post-op since your stomach doesn't realize it doesn't need to produce less acid. Water really sucked for me too, I had to drink it room temperature, and I drank a lot of warm tea the Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea was my favorite with a little splenda. It felt soothing on my stomach, and counted as a clear.

Hang in there chickee, it'll get better ! ! !

I did the best on egg drop soup when I was on liquids. The little bit of egg seemed to fill me up better than anything. The doctor said I could have that before mushies because the way the egg cooks in the soup, it's just like a liquid.

I was hungry until I moved to mushies, but as soon as I felt hungry, I found something I could have. I didn't hate the Protein drinks so that helped. I mixed unflavored protein powder into any liquid I could find and it did seem to take the hunger away for awhile, and then I would just drink some more. I also had cream of chicken soup, and blended it til there were no chunks, and that held the hunger off too.

You should be able to move to mushies soon.