I see a lot of people saying they don't feel hungry anymore just an empty feeling. What's the difference between feeling hungry and feeling "empty"?

Nicole my stomach growls.. I fast two day a week and on those days my stomach growls and feels like its eating itself.

When people say they feel "empty" I feel that too a bit, I'm not sure that's hunger? I eat I'm full and a couple of hours or (less sometimes) the fullness goes away and it's an empty feeling right?

But is it hunger? I know I think about food then.

But I think about food all the time it seems.

I have to take omeprazole on fast days. I know it's acid because by evening it's coming up my throat!

Maybe you need to do the same?

~Cheri

When I am hungry, I get nauseated and a little cranky. I do have that empty feeling which may or may not be acid, but it's definitely hunger along with the possibility of acid because I am doing everything I can not to eat between meals. My meals are spaced about 3-4 hours apart with one snack.

Pre-surgery, I was rarely hungry. I was far too much of a bulk eater to ever be truly hungry.

I truly believe that our brain signals ARE broken, I believe that our chemical approach/desire for food is exactly the same as the alcoholic or the junkies approach/desire/need for their drug. Brain scans have shown that a lot of people with substance abuse problems have an organic deficiency in certain good chemicals so, in a sense, the abuser is actually self-medicating and because the brain is lacking, it interprets it as needing to overdose to make up for the lack - a little dopamine won't do it, they must have lots of dopamine, and more, and more. I think we are the same and someday it will be proven that there is either a chemical deficiency or a mis-wiring of sorts.

As for the hunger; pre-op it seemed like I could just never be satisfied, it just never registered, no matter how much volume I ate. I could eat until the point of nausea, until I could literally not put one more bite in my mouth without vomiting, and I still wouldn't feel satisfied. I think that was psychological and that it was head hunger, pre-op style. Now, it is tangibly different, but I still battle the head. Now I may *want* to eat, but any "need" I may have is strictly in my mind ... or is it?

I don't know ... I ate normally yesterday, Breakfast, lunch, dinner, but when it got time for dinner I had a green salad with dressing and my hand was shaking on it's way from forking a bite to putting it in my mouth. I ate like someone was going to take it away from me and remained shaky throughout, so what was that all about? If I am very busy I can completely forget/ignore needing food, I have been out with non-op friends gadding about town or hiking and they will mention the need to stop and eat and when I ask why, they look at me and say, "because it's been 8 hours since we ate!" And I just didn't notice. When I am alone though ... food is almost all i think about ... v_v

The struggle continues ...

"Yum, pizza smells good. We should eat pizza next time we're out." She'll say, "Yum, pizza, I'm hungry!"

That's really interesting. I'm more of the, "Yum, pizza, I'm hungry!" and that thought is unrelenting until I actually eat something. This tells me that obesity really is a 'disorder' if not a true 'disease'. I have no idea what I am going to do about the head-hunger and that terrifies me!

For me head hunger means I just want a "taste" in my mouth. Gum or a mint usually does the trick for me on that.

Pre-sleeve hunger- stomach growling w the I MUST eat!

Post sleeve "hunger"- I don't have any. I'll get weak if I go too long btwn meals. I love this though bc I'm not "driven" to food. Also post sleeve I (for a better lack of words)---> crave... meat, Veggies & fruit no joke. My taste buds changed drastically. I cannt stand fried foods nor sweets.