I know we aren't supposed to compare ourselves to others and I am trying not to, but I'm so confused by my tummy. This Tuesday I will be 3 weeks out. I feel like I am getting hunger pains and all I want to do is eat. Are hunger pains real and do they happen at only 3 weeks? What is head hunger and how do you know it is head hunger? I know my wanting to eat all the time is being home and being bored so I'm trying to stay active. I feel like I don't understand my tummy anymore and what it is trying to tell me. I take prilosec every morning so it shouldn't be acid. Someone told me we wouldn't have hunger pains, but I'm having what hunger pains felt like before surgery.

Here is a normal day of food

Breakfast 3/4 of a medium egg scrambled

lunch is 1.5 - 2 ozs of Protein either chicken or refried Beans & cottage cheese

dinner is usally the same as lunch and sometimes i will add 1/4 c of black bean Soup

I make 1 Protein shake in the morning wiht 1c of milk & 1/2 banana and drink on that between each meal so that would be 1/4 of shake 4 times thru the day

I feel like i'm eating too much, but at 6 weeks i'm to be at 1000 calories

Oh and so far I have lost 32 lbs since surgery, but 20 of those were in the 1st week

Please offer any input or advice

Thanks!

Your food intake sounds right on track to me. I had hunger pangs in the beginning too, and still do sometimes. I tried doubling my prilosec dosage for a while to twice a day and that seemed to help. I'm back to once a day now and only get hunger pangs when it makes sense to get them and it doesn't happen every day. I don't really know what it is medically except that your body is freaking out and doing all kinds of weird things. My suggestion (other than upping your dosage) would be to just sip on a protein shake when you're hungry and make sure you're not overfilling your sleeve. Don't worry about eating too much at this point. Just try to be comfortable and make good choices and be aware of your body. You'll get the hang of it eventually and your body will chill out and you'll feel normal again soon enough.

Thank you. I've sometimes wondered if the fact that he has me taking extended release Prilosec crushed is a problem. I think I'm going to try the twice a day dosage and see how that works.

Thank you!

You might try other acid reducers, too. I started off with prilosec, but it didn't do anything for me- I was having to chew a lot of Tums still. Now I take Pepcid in the morning and rarely need Tums.

Congrats on the 32 lbs!

Extended release pills should never be crushed. They lose the effectiveness of extended release and you are getting the full dosage at one. Maybe call your doctor and ask for something that is not extended release or enteric coated. If they are not those 2 things, then you can crush them.

This is what my surgeon prescribed for me and when I questioned the extended release he said they all are extended release, which I checked and they are.

I know it's crazy because I had to switch 3 of my rx's away from extended release.

You might try other acid reducers, too. I started off with prilosec, but it didn't do anything for me- I was having to chew a lot of Tums still. Now I take Pepcid in the morning and rarely need Tums.

Congrats on the 32 lbs!

Thank you!

Do you crush the Pepcid? I only have 3 more weeks of this pill crushing hell thank gawd lol. I will try anything at this point.

I dont have my op for another 20 days, but in all honesty Im not sure that I've ever been 'hungry' and think many of us would be the same. True hunger, the haven't had anything for a long time need food hunger.

Much of it is head hunger and habitual. Make new habits, sip the shake as suggested above. Grab some low cal Jelly if need be but remember it's probably not real hunger.

Eating is such a part of our lives whether it be social, habitual, just love the smell, bored, happy, sad... the works - almost everything presents itself to 'food' so we need to find another way of dealing with all that stuff.

I'm hoping I will have more energy to do something other than eat as my hobby when the time comes

It's frustrating when we don't know if it's real hunger, head hunger, or stomach acid. I take omeprazole in the am and it seems to be helping. Today we went to see a movie and I remember sitting there thinking about getting something to eat. I resisted and then the movie came on and I forgot all about food. I was experiencing head hunger. So when ever I find myself thinking about food, I am going to get busy doing something. Anyways, you are doing great.

Thanks guys this really helps. I never thought eating would be such an issue lol. I mean I thought I had it down after the whole baby food thing 40 yrs ago

I'm 2 wks out and I am hungry about every 2 to 3 hours. On liquids, I was starved 24/7. I know the difference between head hunger and real hunger, and this is HUNGER! My sister suggested that perhaps the hormone grehlin is still in my system. I think my body is starving and sending all kinds of hunger signals. However, I can eat just a little bit and I'm satisfied. I'm actually having very little head hunger. I don't think hunger is your imagination.