So I was at my annual dr visit complaining about being hungry all the time and hitting a plateau, and my dr said to convince him it was real hunger and not head hunger. I said I don't know, my stomach growls and I feel starved. He said I need to wrap my head around it because with all the protein I am getting I should not be hungry every two hours....which I am.

Anyone have any answers for this? PS. Dr said it was not acid in my stomach as I would have heart burn, which I don't.

Thanks!

Easy for him to say. You don't have to have heartburn to have acid in our stomachs. Perhaps you could do an experiment. Go buy an over the counter PPI (prilosec, omeprazole, nexium) and try it for a short period of time. If the hunger goes away, then you know it's acid reflex. If not your doc was right on.

I would defnitely look into an acid reducer. You don't need heartburn to have acid. That's just silly

Secondly, try drinking water - a good amount if your stomach growls. You could seriously just be thirsty. I've found that to be the case for me.

I haven't had any issues with acid, I had some reflux occassionaly before surgery, but NOTHING after - so it was probably food reaction related.

But I have often found that the body is just thirsty, not hungry

I'm a year out from surgery and my stomach makes all kinds of noises, including growling. I learned pretty quickly that I could not rely on stomach noises to tell me if I was hungry. Honestly, I have not been hungry since surgery. Empty, yes, and a little dehydrated, yes. Both of those let me know that I need to eat or drink something. But hunger is all in my head now and I can tell it's head hunger because:

I eat when I am anxious, angry, or bored

If I am busy all day I can go all day without eating because I'm not "hungry" but when I am at home and there's nothing to do I can graze all day long

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Head hunger usually wants me to eat sweets even though I have really lost my taste for them. If I am craving something dessert-ish, it's head hunger. Head hunger never says to me, "Hey, I NEED some ground turkey and cottage cheese!"

If I have head hunger, I can distract myself with something--a hobby, a walk, a cup of tea. If I'm truly in need of food, I'll get light-headed.

When the hunger hits you, try this in this order: distraction, exercise, fluids. If you are still hungry after doing all of those (and it would take more than an hour to accomplish all) then try a small snack if it's not your regular meal time. Also try more dense Protein if you are eating soft dairy or deli meats.

Hope this helps!