Is this normal? I'm brand new to this forum, and this is my first post. I had my surgery 4 days ago, and I have never experienced this level of starvation. I'm sipping broth, light juice, and diet jello. But I swear I've never been this hungry and it feels like torture. Is this the way it's supposed to be? Are we supposed to suffer this way? Have any of you been prescribed an appetite supressant? I don't think I can do this for four more weeks. I am one step away from Cheeseburger-ville!

Oh wow. I thought you weren't supposed to feel hungry at all for a while! I'm not having surgery til this Friday so I don't have advice... only good luck wishes. Did you tell your surgeon? Maybe if you call they'll let you start with the "mushies" stage early. Good luck, congratulations and keep us posted. I'll be looking forward to your progress updates.

Thanks, Felicity!

First of all, good luck! I have to be honest: I thought my surgery was going to be traumatic, but it wasn't. At all. It was fast and easy. I was released the next day, and only suffered a little. You will have pain, but most of that comes from your drain tube. It's not so bad. But hunger? Wow! It's horrible!

G

I felt hungry until the 5th or 6th day. Since then, I haven't had any desire for food and just remind myself when I need to eat. My theory is residual hunger hormone (ghrelin)left in my system but that is only a guess.

I am not hungry but food looks and smells good. I still have a ton of gas so I am full. Can't wait for guacamole with a spoon!

I'm 4 days post-op as well and the only time I have felt any hunger is when I've been hit by head hunger. I know this to be the case because I sat with my hubby while he ate bratwurst, chips, soda etc. for dinner night before last and I could have cared less about his food. I did feel a little head hunger today at the grocery store though because I was completely SURROUNDED by rows and rows of things I could not have and it was only then that I felt hungry and I immediately made the connection to head hunger. Even today I asked my hubby to drive me around to get a few necessities and treated him to Carls Jr. as a thank you. He ate a double bacon cheeseburger, large fry, and soda all right in front of me and it didn't even phase me. It smelled good and I just enjoyed the yumminess of the smells instead. He didn't want to eat it front of me but I made him do it so that I could test my abilitly to distinguish real hunger from head hunger and it worked. Just be sure to have a good variety of things on your clear liquid diet so that you can look forward to changing things up a bit. Also try to remember that it will only last a few weeks and you'll be enjoying food again in a healthy way again. Three weeks is going to pass whether or not you stick to the plan so you might as well go with it. I hope it gets easier for you girl.

I am not hungry but food looks and smells good. I still have a ton of gas so I am full. Can't wait for guacamole with a spoon!

Sooo true about that darn gas, Arj!! I enjoy the smells as well and am so stoked that I can be satissfied with just that.

Just make sure you are really getting in as much fluid as you can. I thought at one point right after surgery that I was really hungry, but it wasn't hunger, just a weird feeling in my stomach that is related to the healing/swelling/gas. I think that it is probably just an unfamiliar feeling that we can only relate to as hunger. Keep taking I those small cups of broth, fluids and see if when you know you are full, that feeling is still there. Chances are it will be, and then you'll know it isn't hunger. Can you do liquid activia? That saved my first week.

I am 6 days post op and I wasn't suppose to start full liquids until tomorrow but there was No way I could do clears anymore so I started creamy soups today and that did the trick. I had two of them in 9 hours and I feel so much better.

@ginajet77 - I am exactly 3 weeks post op and I can say that I have had days where I feel hungry but it is head hunger due to bad habits that I need to fix. Hopefully you will switch to soft food soon (I was on softs at 8 days) and that should help. Right now the liquid is just running right through you (though a little slower due to a swollen sleeve) so you don't get the full sensation as much. Good luck with everything!

I've also heard that sometimes hunger can be a sign of excessive acid and a need for a PPI.

I am 5 days post op and can hardly get in my liquids. I am not hungry but am ready for Monday for full liquids.

As a Kaiser patient the surgeon and nutritionist had me on clears for 3 days only and then onto full liquids for the next 12 days, then transitioned to pureed/soft diet. Full liquids include thinned hot cereals, creamy soup, yogurt, sugar free puddings and regular protein shakes. This helps ALOT. Perhaps this might be an option for you...many of us use this time line with no ill effects. Good Luck!

Is this normal? I'm brand new to this forum, and this is my first post. I had my surgery 4 days ago, and I have never experienced this level of starvation. I'm sipping broth, light juice, and diet Jello. But I swear I've never been this hungry and it feels like torture. Is this the way it's supposed to be? Are we supposed to suffer this way? Have any of you been prescribed an appetite supressant? I don't think I can do this for four more weeks. I am one step away from Cheeseburger-ville!

I felt hunger days 4-9. When it happened it HURT like crazy too. I dropped everything to do something about it. On day 10, it went away. It took me a couple days to figure out it was really gone. For 2 weeks I felt no hunger and had to remind myself to eat. Now, I get a slight hunger pang after a work out but it is very minor. Its a good reminder without being overpowering. Hang in there, I think some of us have excess residual gherlin that takes a few days to process.

As a Kaiser patient the surgeon and nutritionist had me on clears for 3 days only and then onto full liquids for the next 12 days, then transitioned to pureed/soft diet. Full liquids include thinned hot cereals, creamy Soup, yogurt, sugar free puddings and regular Protein shakes. This helps ALOT. Perhaps this might be an option for you...many of us use this time line with no ill effects. Good Luck!

This was my exact diet timeline as well.