Edit: I need to proof read my posts. I spelled suppressant wrong in the title and now in my post. Sorry I am not all there.

Ok, I know everyone talks about how nice it is to have no hunger but I am not one of those people. For about the last 5 weeks my hunger has been out of control. I get full really fast but I have these enormous cravings. I think it started when I stopped being so carb conscious so it is my own fault. I just wonder if anyone else has tried any appetite suppressants to help them get through the head cravings. I do fine when I eat my meals because I eat so little but I have been grazing and have only lost 3 pounds in 5-6 weeks. I get really bad PMS and my cravings along with my depression are out of this world. That lasts around 10 days...heck that is almost half the month, it is insane. I was on an antidepressant for almost a year now (after I lost two of my four grandparents within a month last holiday season) but i stopped taking them around 2 weeks ago because I don't want to be on them forever especially because of the sexual side effects. They make me feel like im a dried up old prune instead of a normal 33 year old who adores her husband. I am doing fine without the antidepressants probably because I am exercising and that helps my overall mood.

Anyways, I really feel like I want to lose the last 15 pounds I have on my agenda. I was low BMI to start with and though I have lost around 42 pounds I dont want to have paid almost 7k for a surgery that I don't make the most of and get to my goal, especially since I am so close to it already and it is not a really tiny number. If I hit my goal I will be like 5 pounds under the "normal" range according to BMI. I feel like I probably get just around the amount of calories a day to keep me at a steady weight. I don't OVER indulge, I just am not saving any calories toward weight loss right now.

I have been looking up appetite suppressants, I don't want to do phentermine or anything prescription just something over the counter to help me not feel as hungry.

I sorta feel like an idiot posting this and I should probably just go back to the basics and start a low carb diet to get rid of my cravings but dangit I don't know if I am up to that right now.

any advice? Suggestion? am I all alone with my hunger? I know it is not my sleeve because I have recognized that i get full really fast and eat around 8 oz of slider foods and only around 4-5 oz of dense Protein foods.

I second what Irene said -- the carbs are a killer -- good luck and let us know how it goes!

I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and it sounds like you have some really good advice here (love this board!)

I also read that book "The End of Overeating" and loved it. It was a slow read at first but picked up about half-way through it is truly astounding what the food/restaurant/beverage industry has done to our food. Glad you are reading it, and good for you for searching out ways to conquer the hunger/carb monster!

Hi there! I think you said that you have a lot of head hunger. I'm confused how an appetite suppressant will cure head hunger. Perhaps you need to journal your thoughts and feelings and figure out what is it that is making you want to turn to food to fill that need. Postop I personally want to avoid taking any pills or putting any drugs into my body that aren't necessary.

I guess I was hoping it would alleviate any unecessary hunger and help with cravings. I mean if I feel NO hunger then it would stop me from thinking man that sounds good, I think I need to eat some.

LiLMissDiva: thank you for fixing my typo in the title of the thread.

Sleevesearch I felt similar post op and changing up my PPI did work on my tummy and at that time I felt the burning frothy GERD stuff.

Stacy160: I will bring up the Wellbutrin if I start feeling like I might need the antidepressant again. I wont see him until next month and I stopped my other one without consulting him first. He will probably scold me but like someone else mentioned I hate taking meds, of course if I feel like they are necessary I will but that is why I stopped the PPI because I thought well if my body doesn't need it then I wont take it. I was going to try something over the counter for the hunger just to get me through the next 15 pounds but I guess if the PPI was doing the job then I should just take it for a while longer.

Mommy2Girls: I think it might have been a post where you mentioned the book that led me to purchase it about a month and half ago. It is good reading and heck ya it was slow at first hehe. I also want to try Eat this Not That.... both home and restaurant editions.

The 5 day pouch test doesn't sound to appealing right now as I am heading to DIsneyland for my birthday Friday of this week. Then next week I am making all the candy for my holiday baskets and then Christmas! I am starting the PPI today, buckling down on my choices of food and stepping up my exercise routine to counter balance things a bit. I will however do the pouch test to sort of cleanse my body of the crappy carbs that I LOVE OHHH SO MUCH after the holiday like as in December 26th hehe.

I will report back and thank you all for the time you took to offer advice and support. I will try them so they were not given in vain.

Stacy160: I will bring up the Wellbutrin if I start feeling like I might need the antidepressant again. I wont see him until next month and I stopped my other one without consulting him first. He will probably scold me but like someone else mentioned I hate taking meds, of course if I feel like they are necessary I will but that is why I stopped the PPI because I thought well if my body doesn't need it then I wont take it. I was going to try something over the counter for the hunger just to get me through the next 15 pounds but I guess if the PPI was doing the job then I should just take it for a while longer.

Please don't take this as criticism, but if you don't want to take medications that are medically necessary, like PPIs and antidepressants, then why would you want to take something that's NOT medically necessary like an appetite suppressant? I too am struggling with cravings lately - but I know it's not real hunger 99% of the time. As someone who tried plenty of weight loss drugs before surgery, I just can't see putting that in my body after doing something as drastic as WLS. I'm SLOWLY getting myself back on track and it's taking me one day at a time. You can get your head back in the game without the drugs. One thing that helps me is to increase my Protein supplements. The more Protein drinks I get the less unhealthy food I take in. Increasing your protein might help balance out some of the carbs you're taking in until you can gradually decrease them. Good Luck - to both of us!

Please don't take this as criticism, but if you don't want to take medications that are medically necessary, like PPIs and antidepressants, then why would you want to take something that's NOT medically necessary like an appetite suppressant? I too am struggling with cravings lately - but I know it's not real hunger 99% of the time. As someone who tried plenty of weight loss drugs before surgery, I just can't see putting that in my body after doing something as drastic as WLS. I'm SLOWLY getting myself back on track and it's taking me one day at a time. You can get your head back in the game without the drugs. One thing that helps me is to increase my Protein supplements. The more Protein drinks I get the less unhealthy food I take in. Increasing your protein might help balance out some of the carbs you're taking in until you can gradually decrease them. Good Luck - to both of us!

LoL I know it probably sounded a little askew but I was meaning something that had a little caffeine and some herbs in it for appetite suppression, not some crazy prescription like Phentermine. But I am past it. I will be honest I was emotional and frustrated last night and just throwing it out there in response to my hunger issues. I am a reasonably intelligent person (I think ?) so I just needed a little get your head out of your butt and a little talking down from my perch. I am not going to take the meds. I picked up my PPI again and I popped one this evening before dinner. I busted my ass at gym today. I know I can do it. I got this.

Im glad that you are not going to take any appetite suppresants. I abused anything with ephedra in it years ago, and its now off the market. I lost mass amounts of weight, but once I was off it, I blew up again. Thats what happens. Once you are off it, everything slows way down. Just remember that if you get the idea of taking something in your head again

You mentioned that if you lose 15 more pounds, your BMI will be under the range for your height. So, I was thinking, maybe your body is happy at the weight it is at right now. Sometimes I wonder if everyones body has a set weight it should be at, and maybe you are at that weight. You probably don't want to hear that though. Just a thought

Not sure why it didn't post all of my comment.....

Could you be pregnant? Not sure if this is even a possibiliby and I hope I don't sound like an a$$. My friends think its crazy because I always know when someone is pregnant before they tell anyone

I am hungry A LOT too!!!! I will eat and be stuffed and then about 30 mins to an hour later I will be hungry again. I am glad I am not alone. I was starting to think I was a FREAK

LoL I know it probably sounded a little askew but I was meaning something that had a little caffeine and some herbs in it for appetite suppression, not some crazy prescription like Phentermine. But I am past it. I will be honest I was emotional and frustrated last night and just throwing it out there in response to my hunger issues. I am a reasonably intelligent person (I think ?) so I just needed a little get your head out of your butt and a little talking down from my perch. I am not going to take the meds. I picked up my PPI again and I popped one this evening before dinner. I busted my ass at gym today. I know I can do it. I got this.

I'm glad you got past your worries, but don't feel like you can't ask questions here. We are all here to support you, so don't feel like it's not OK to ask. Believe me, I've got some doozies up my sleeve! :-) BTW, I've tried Phentermine, and it raised my blood pressure almost immediately. I had to stop taking it because I felt like I was going to have a heart attack! Blech.

I am no doctor, but I think that an appetite suppressant is the LAST thing that I would take. Most of them contain huge amounts of caffeine, and some have strong herbs that can cause heart irregularities. They also often contain dieuretics, which you DO need to keep your fluids in.

Could it just be a matter of time, and maybe incorporating behavior modification... something to distract you from the hunger... even a hypnosis CD, until your head gets used to your new, slim body?

I am pretty much fresh out of surgery, so food still seems gross to me, but I have taken up Crochet, to keep my hands busy and distract me from eating. It works great, and I've already finished 1.5 beautiful scarves!

I also like the idea of the Slim Shots, although I tried them a long time ago and they did nothing for me, maybe it would work different now.

Cindrella

In an effort to try to curb my hunger pangs, I talked to my doc today, and decided to switch from prescription prevacid to protonix. Won't start them for another week, but I hope it works.

I am not pregnant, I also got my monthly gift today. GO mother nature lol. It also explains why I was so emotional during my initial post. I started the PPI yesterday and that combined with my hormones being normal again have made a huge difference in my hunger so far. I did some killer workouts the last two days and feel much better. Thank you all for the talking down and the encouragement.

Anytime mp! You've always been super supportive of everyone here.

sleeve, what is protonix? Is that new? I've never heard of it - thanks!

Anytime mp! You've always been super supportive of everyone here.

sleeve, what is protonix? Is that new? I've never heard of it - thanks!

Daisy's on Protonix and she swears by it. . . It's available in generic, and it's an older PPI that was used before Nexium got so popular. Not available OTC, but generic RX is super cheap apparently.

Daisy's on Protonix and she swears by it. . . It's available in generic, and it's an older PPI that was used before Nexium got so popular. Not available OTC, but generic RX is super cheap apparently.

Ah, thanks! My omeprazole is working ok for now, but sometimes things just stop all of a sudden. It's nice to have backups in mind.

From what I've learned so far in my Quest to eliminate my hunger or false hunger or acid OR WHATEVER IT IS that is making me hungry all the time. I've found so far that:

active ingredient - esomeprazole magnesium (i.e nexium) - didn't do diddly squat

active ingredient - omeprazole (i.e. Prilosec) - only tried for a week, seemed like same ingredient as nexium and still didn't do anything for my hunger.

active ingredient - lansoprazole (i.e. Prevacid) - I've been on for couple of months and it has helped alittle but not constant. I also didn't know that this is an H2 blocker not a PPI, per my PA (I don't really remember the difference)

active ingredient - pantoprazole sodium (i.e. Protonix) - going to try it, and see what happens

If this doesn't work, I don't know what's next, I think those are the main PPI's on the market now.