i have posted alot about my medical problems and the fact that my band does not provide me with any "diminished hunger". i feel as if i havnt really asked my questions so that i will get the information im looking for. so this is sort of a survey. i know what restriction is because ive had my 4cc band filled up to 5.2cc and spent most of my time trying to get food unstuck and down the toilet (6months)

i now have about 4.6cc's and what i still dont experience is any lack of hunger. as ive said because of former medications i know what "diminished hunger" feels like. i maintained my weight since i was a child (prone to obesity) at 100-110lbs by every diet and form of starvation possible. i got the band with the promise of (here i go again)"diminshed hunger".

i have read very few posts about people not being able to eat as much

because of "diminished hunger" its always because of dieting (oh excuse me )"correct food choices". and sometimes due to the painful restriction

or cortisol, thyroid and other medical issues. with all of that taken into consideration can those of you who have actually experienced "diminished

hunger" please answer this thread with your stories and experiences.

as i said ive asked alot of questions trying for that response and have yet to hear from those of you who indeed have experienced what the pamphlet promised.

lets assume i am a nutritionist and scientist and/or physician who knows all about "correct food choices" and have tested myself medically for all possible physical issues including band slippage, leakage and/or erosion.

(of course im not any of those but i have made sure over the 2yrs 9months since i got my band i have covered those issues)

i would very much like to hear from those of you who have lost mainly by experiencing less hunger. (thats not to suggest those other issues arent

involved. ) thanks in advance for the responses. if you would prefer writing me privately please feel free. with admiration and respect for all who have had success with the band , susan

Here is my take on it. It's not that i'm hungry less. Before I had the band I was eating even when I wasn't hungry. I may have wanted it, or had the munchies but I wasn't hungry. Now after many struggles and control issues I think that the band has aided me in taking food off of the pedal stool, or at least down a few notches. So yes I do think it makes the head hunger diminish. :eek:

I've been banded since March 7th, so my expertise on being banded is limited, but I can honestly say I have only been truly hungry a few times since then.

The problem for me isn't true hunger - it's head hunger. I've had a couple of weeks when my brain isn't constantly nagging me to eat but, sadly, as I approach my time of the month, the head hunger is starting to win out again. Nag, nag, nag, eat.

Are you sure you're not experiencing head hunger? It's a pretty big monkey on most obese peoples' backs. Like, King Kong sized.

Hey Susan! We all know I haven't had any luck losing weight, but since banding, I have been able to understand "diminished hunger."

I'm not sure if this will make any sense, but since banding, i've noticed that I really do have less hunger than I had before I was banded. But one thing I have really come to understand are my body cycles.

When I have a lot of cortisol in my system, I want to eat everything.

When I eat corn products I want to eat everything in the house. I'm not allergic, exactly, but it does make me want to eat everything! Soy does the same thing, but to a much lesser degree than corn.

I know my is head hunger. Once I put something sweet yogurt,fruit it only makes me want more sweet things. If I stay away from these thing for a few days and it gets out of my system. I tend to have less head hunger

I have had more hunger since banding than I ever had becuase prior to banding I rarely had a chance to get hungry, I just ate all the time no matter what.

Now I get STARVING around meal times, I wake up hungry too. But its easily quelled with a small amount of food and doesnt return unless its appropriate.

Like if I get truly hungry between meal times I would eat.

I have had to work on the head hunger a lot but its disappearing month by month, it strikes me less and less.

Hunger I respond to. That's what we're meant to do. I find it easy to eat appropropriately and judge how much is enough when I'm responding to true hunger. That's much harder to do when you're just eating for eatings' sake.

I guess, for me, I consider my hunger diminished, but really it's more that I get "full" on so much less than pre-band. I can eat a SouthBeach Diet wraps box (2 whole wheat flour tortillas, some kind of filling and sauce, and a little FF Jello cup) and be full. FULL. I may WANT to add a little something to it, a few ounces of egg salad, or a 4 ounce cottage cheese, but then I'm REALLY full. And I'm fine till the next meal or snack. What I notice, however, is that I'll substitute a snack for a cup of coffee. Or 2.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm truely satisfied on less food, not NO food, so I feel my hunger has diminished.

l.a.susan, you are a smart lady and I consider you a friend, so don't take this wrong...do you think you need to change your expectations about how the band works for you? What I'm getting at, I guess, is, what if you are a tad too tight? If you got a smidgen of saline taken out, were able to eat more, more comfortably, would that help you? You tell me, I know you aren't crazy about advice and you have been around all these blocks before, but could too much restriction be part of your problem with "diminished hunger"?

You amaze me. I don't know how you cope with your chronic pain issues. I really hope nothing but the best for you!!!!! (((hugs)))

can those of you who have actually experienced "diminished

hunger" please answer this thread with your stories and experiences.

I have greatly, greatly diminished hunger. Actually post-op my appetite never returned. I started getting a little concerned 2, 3, 4 weeks post op when I'm hearing from everyone else how ravenous they were, and I was a combination of never hungry + full very fast. I've only been truly hungry a few times since my operation 5 months ago.

wheetsin I notice that you have loss so much weight so fast is your Doctor not concerned. I am very proud but concerned

Hi Susan -

I just got banded on May 24, and got my second fill this week, but still only 1.5 cc in 4 cc band. Still have very little restriction, so am hoping doc will let me get another fill sooner than the originally planned 6 weeks. All that by way of saying that I'm not in "the sweet spot" yet.

However, part of the reason that I got the band is that a friend's fiance was banded 2 years ago, and is now at her goal weight, and she was full, satisfied, on very little food. For example, she said that she occasionally gets cravings for potato chips, but 10 chips satisfies the craving, instead of 1 or 2 whole bags. So there's at least one real person who is satisfied much more easily with much less food. She said the most difficult behavioral change was not drinking with meals.

I believe you when you say you know what diminished hunger is, because I also had that experience when I was on Phen-Fen. I ate, felt satisfied with very little food, and stopped eating because I didn't want anymore food, and lost weight almost effortlessly ("almost" because I plateau'd at 165 lbs, and needed to really kick up the exercise to continue losing weight).

Once you know what it's like to be free of the constant cravings, once you know it's possible to feel satiated, it's hard to settle for anything less, because anything less feels like such a constant battle. It's exhausting. I'm hoping that when I get to the right fill point I'll have some of the freedom from the food battle again. I hope you do, too.

Well, I don't have any helpful advice, but did want to let you know that I personally know of one person for whom the lap band worked as advertised:-).

Julie

P.S.: I also get rather tired of being told to "stick to the diet", since (1) most of us know the lapband diet guidelines and know a tremendous amount about dieting in general, and (2) the point of getting the lapband was to make it easier to "stick to the diet" by helping us feel full easily and hungry less often...so if the lapband isn't doing that, it's not helpful to be told to stop eating so much....I didn't need to go through surgery to be told that I should stick to a diet, that's the same advice we all have been hearing all our lives...grumble, grumble....okay, sorry, wanted to get that off my chest.

It has greatly reduced my actual hunger and somewhat head hunger. I struggle with the head hunger more often than not! I rarely feel like I am "starving" like I was pre-band. My stomach doesn't give off the same sensations as it did pre-band.

Shawn

I still get hungry. I just can't eat everything that I desire. Before Lapband I was known to order or cook everything I thought that I might want to eat and then proceed to eat it. I have changed by diet by eating every 1.5 - 2 hours. I eat or drink constantly. It is what I eat that has changed. I drink Protein drinks. Then Water. I snack on nutrional bars, fruit or maybe another Protein shake. Then water. I eat Soup and salad for lunch instead of a full course meal. Then water. I snack before I leave work. Then water. This helps me to eliminate or reduce stress eating as a result of the commute to the house. I have a dinner plan before I arrive home (Sometimes I plan it before I leave home, sometimes I plan it before I leave work). I have chosen to keep fruit & some vegetables (summer fruit are great - melons, cherry tomatoes, plumbs, nectarines, grapes, Jello etc.) washed and ready to eat in the 'fridge'. I prep (store in sandwich sized baggies)them for eating before I store them. My family is eating better as a result of me making the decision to get healthy. It's not easy. It's a constant struggle and you will get hungry and part of the plan is to retrain your body to learn the difference between satisfying urges and "HUNGER".

Banded 06/30/06:clap2:

219/200.5/146

surgery wt/today/goal

I still WANT to eat, even though I know that I can't possibly be hungry, but the band will only allow so much of that nonsense. I make myself eat the protein first. That way, there is very little room left for the stuff I really want - like ice cream and Cheetos.

If you're really hungry, a pickle will do just fine - at least in theory. When I tried to do South Beach, I ate ALL the time and still thought I was going to starve to death.

thankyou all for the great and to the point responses.

i now think that since so many of you discussed head hunger i may have used the wrong terminology to describe what is happening with me.

i totally get (understand)head hunger and can differentiate. i have had years of therapy

and hypnosis and as a psychologist who is always trying to grow and learn i read and have read every book on the subject i can think of.

i do still have head hunger and sometimes i indulge (ie chocolate)

i take a spoon of straight choc etc.) but, i also get pain and nausea if i dont eat frequently (which i know goes against lapband rules no snacking)

i eat raw almonds a glass of nf milk or something soothing and nonfat. (this has been an issue since i was a teenager ulcers and other upper gi issues)

but, i think what i really meant was that i can still eat just as much as ever and not feel any more full and that isnt in my head.

kathy, thanks for your post . i was filled at 5.2 couldnt swallow anything but

still didnt lose weight in 6 months. i would just chew the food very slowly till it was almost liquid and take a long time to eat. but, if it got stuck

it was over. now i have 4.6 and i dont have restriction but i havnt really tested it because ive changed so much how i eat out of fear. so i can still

eat alot of food just very slowly.

i know that despite all your patience with me all of you, you dont have the answers for me. that is why i try to ask specific questions. so i can see if

anything clicks . its how i always problem solve. eventually if i gather enough info (data) i can decide what i need to do .........or not (lol).

these posts were very non-judgemental and i soooooooo appreciate that.

im hard enough on myself (which im sure is why ,in addition to my genes,

i got so fat in the first place. love to y'all susan

Susan,

I pretty much agree with everyone else in my case. I am not hungry as often as I was before, and it takes less to make me not hungry (not hungry does not mean full, you know?). Head hunger is another story altogether, but I'm working on that too.

Have you gotten any feedback from your doctors about why you still feel hunger? Maybe yours is truly a situation where the band isn't right for you (which by no means indicates that you did anything wrong, mind you).

Eating every few hours CAN be ok with the band, if you are eating 5 or 6 small meals a day, instead of 3 meals per day which still technically means no snacking.

I hope that you get some relief one way or another with your struggle.

Hi Susan -

Trying to think of any more possibilities. Are ulcers etc. still an issue? If so, seems like that could change your sensations of hunger and fullness in some way. Since you have to eat frequently in order to not feel nausea or pain, that implies something out of the ordinary is going on inside that is short-circuiting the effectiveness of the lapband - the hunger sensor isn't getting switched off for some reason. I could imagine that having an ulcer or similar issue might mess with the signals the brain is getting from the stomach.

I understand that the drug Acomplia has recently been approved for use in much of Europe, and is expected to be approved in the U.S. soon. That drug's supposed to help people experience satiation more easily. Maybe that avenue might be effective for you, since it sidesteps the stomach.

Keep us posted on what you find out. Hope you can get it figured out! Good luck!

Julie