I have read a lot of information on the internet that says after you get the sleeve, the hunger hormone is officially gone, is that true?

Not true for all sleeve patients, and Ghrelin(hunger hormone) is still produced in other parts of the body. But, I'm 2 years post-VSG, and still never experience physical hunger. My stomach never growls nor does it make obnoxious noises. I've gone about 14-16 hours without eating, and the only thing that signals me that I need to eat is that I get super grouchy around 12 hour mark.

As for appetite, and the "want" to eat, I only lost that temporarily, and it was during my losing stage when food just wasn't appealing, and eating was a chore. To this day, I tell people that I still have a "fat girl's" appetite. I still love food dearly, and I still get cravings. Cravings are mental, and I've learned how to manage them. I do not deprive myself of something now that I'm in maintenance. If I want a Snickers bar, I have a couple of miniatures instead of a king size bar. For me, moderation helps me manage my cravings and old fat habits. I also keep "sleeve friendly" foods around me to avoid snacking on junk food. For months, I carried beef Jerky in my vehicle if I was out and about and forgot to eat. I try to avoid a lot of fast food places, but I cave in a few times a month.

Not true for all sleeve patients, and Ghrelin(hunger hormone) is still produced in other parts of the body. But, I'm 2 years post-VSG, and still never experience physical hunger. My stomach never growls nor does it make obnoxious noises. I've gone about 14-16 hours without eating, and the only thing that signals me that I need to eat is that I get super grouchy around 12 hour mark.

As for appetite, and the "want" to eat, I only lost that temporarily, and it was during my losing stage when food just wasn't appealing, and eating was a chore. To this day, I tell people that I still have a "fat girl's" appetite. I still love food dearly, and I still get cravings. Cravings are mental, and I've learned how to manage them. I do not deprive myself of something now that I'm in maintenance. If I want a Snickers bar, I have a couple of miniatures instead of a king size bar. For me, moderation helps me manage my cravings and old fat habits. I also keep "sleeve friendly" foods around me to avoid snacking on junk food. For months, I carried beef jerky in my vehicle if I was out and about and forgot to eat. I try to avoid a lot of fast food places, but I cave in a few times a month.

This is good to know~! And Congrats to you - 2 years out and you are still doing great!!!

I am a month out today and YES I do still get hungry. I am hungry almost all of the time! NOT HEAD HUNGER, I never had that!! My stomach growls all the time! And yes, I do take a PPI, twice a day.

I am hoping that once I am able to eat more solid food, it will subside. This was the biggest hope for me pre-op that the hunger issue would go away and so far it has not!

I hope it does for you!

Kelly

I'm 5 months out now, and the only time I feel hungry is the week before my TOM. I've also noticed that during those few days, my capasity for food is higher. For example, most days 1/4 cup of egg whites with some cheese and grapes have me super full for breakfast. However, when its my TOM, I can eat 1/2 cup of eggs, more grapes, and a piece of string cheese. Then, about 3 hours later I'm hungry, and counting down until lunch time. I think its really different for everyone, because so far I haven't really had a craving for food. I'm hoping it stays this way, because I don't want to have to deal with my food demons. I baked a cake yesterday because my hubby wanted some, and had no desire to eat any of it. Pre-op, I would have eaten a huge piece right along with him.

My hunger went away only for a short time. After about 6 weeks, it returned. It's not voracious but, it's there. I no longer get headaches or migraines from my hunger, but it is enough to make me eat. Some days it's strong, some days barely there. I think my stomach is now working how it should've long ago. Don't let the worry of being hungry not let you do this procedure. It's well worth it.

I am two months post-op tomorrow. In the last two weeks I have noticed that I do feel differently when I haven't eaten for four hours or so. Something is telling me that its time to eat, but it is very different than either hunger pains from the past or cravings. It's more of a gentle reminder to eat. At that point no matter what I eat I am satisfied, very different than a craving for a specific food or snack. Like the previous poster said, I think this is how it is supposed to be. Loving my sleeve. I take an acid reducer daily before surgery and don't think that is what I am experiencing.

Marie

I'm just over 7 weeks out & started feeling very mild hunger pangs this past 2 weeks. I often forget to eat and though I feel the familiar rumble & grumble, it's not as intense as pre-surgery nor do I feel out of control with hunger. So far it's been easily managed and I can usually ignore it or drink water to make it go away. If I do indulge with not so great food choices, I can no longer binge as I did before since I get really full on 2oz of solid food.

I am not an emotional eater- my problem is that I have a HUGE appetite and love good tasting good (for me, that's meat, potatoes, cheese, etc.) I'm not really a fruit/vegetable type of person. My main concern was that after surgery (and for the rest of my life), I'd crave something, not be supposed to eat it, eat it anyway, and gain back all of my weight. I have been told that after a while, you can still have things you crave (although I've also been told that your cravings change), but that you will be able to eat these things in smaller amounts. That made me feel better. I know that I can't have loaded mashed potatoes and green beans cooked in bacon every day of my life after surgery, but I just never wanted to set myself up to fail by giving in to cravings (which I've always done when dieting).

AND DO NOTE: YOUR TASTES IN food WILL CHANGE!!!

The things you LOVE now, you may not later. I've found this true in many foods. Now the only things that I REALLY love and would eat everyday are homemade hamburgers and chicken nuggets. Everything else, not so much.

that is true!

I use to love yogurt. I find it is so nasty now. could not stand it on my full liquid stage...made me gag! LOL

It will be interesting now that I am on soft foods to see what else I am going to not like!

Kelly

AND DO NOTE: YOUR TASTES IN food WILL CHANGE!!!

The things you LOVE now, you may not later. I've found this true in many foods. Now the only things that I REALLY love and would eat everyday are homemade hamburgers and chicken nuggets. Everything else, not so much.

I still get hungry. And I still get hungry fast. One minute I'm not, then bang! I need food. But 2 bites of something immediately quiets the hunger. Very different these days. It's very easy to distract myself too. So even if I think I want more, this tool really helps you to put aside the food desire that isn't really related to hunger.

I am not an emotional eater- my problem is that I have a HUGE appetite and love good tasting good (for me, that's meat, potatoes, cheese, etc.) I'm not really a fruit/vegetable type of person. My main concern was that after surgery (and for the rest of my life), I'd crave something, not be supposed to eat it, eat it anyway, and gain back all of my weight. I have been told that after a while, you can still have things you crave (although I've also been told that your cravings change), but that you will be able to eat these things in smaller amounts. That made me feel better. I know that I can't have loaded mashed potatoes and green Beans cooked in bacon every day of my life after surgery, but I just never wanted to set myself up to fail by giving in to cravings (which I've always done when dieting).

Meg -

I completely understand this concern. I was not a big eater but there were certain foods I absolutely loved, salad being one of them. Well, I can't have salad now. Maybe eventually, but it's a while into the future. But I'm okay with that. It's very hard to explain. I'd read before the surgery about how it's easier to cope with these urges and it was hard for them to explain because it is something you have to experience for yourself.

As others have said, your desires will change. I hated cream of wheat or oatmeal, anything mushy like that. Well, obviously I had to get over that! But I actually enjoyed thinned down cream of wheat and thinned down oatmeal. Something that gagged me before. It's odd.

Do you have a date yet? I sure hope it all works out for you.

In my case, it's absolutely TRUE! I never get hungry. I do feel sick if I don't eat though.

I'm 5 months out and never get hungry. I get a feeling that I describe as "empty" when I haven't eaten for 6+ hours. At this point I know it's time to eat something or I'll get the shakes.

I am 2 weeks post-op! On a different plan than most because I had my surgery here in Austria; I did not have a prolonged liquids or mushies stage after surgery. They transitioned me to mushies in the hospital (they kept me a week, that's just what they do).

I haven't felt hungry but about once, and I bet that was acid.

After surgery, I went 4 days without eating anything at all! Or drinking anything at all - they gave me IV fluids and that was it. I wasn't hungry; it was incredible to me.

However, once they gave me broth and I started to feel better, I started to obsess about food. But I still didn't feel hungry. It's like the stomach wasn't there at all -- no feeling in the belly for food, none of those craving "pulls" I would get where I felt like my tummy was about to jump out of my throat and eat stuff all by itself, hehe. Just in the head. It was very weird!

As soon as I got to eat some semi-solid foods, though, those cravings pretty much disappeared and I haven't been hungry since.

Just wanted you to know that most people do the "obsess about food" thing when they are on liquids but find they are no longer obsessing when they can actually, you know, eat something. I was worried it meant the surgery didn't work for me, but obviously it did!