Hello,

I am new here and I just had my gastric sleeve on Feb 13th 2014. I had no complications and am healing well. But one thing that caught me off guard was the mind hunger. There was a ton of focus and emphasis on preparing for surgery and changing my eating habits but nothing on the mental and emotional struggles that came right after surgery.

First off, surgery was tough, not as easy as a lot of people said it was, and I'm sure this is determined by the type of person you are. But for me, when I got home that was the toughest. Physically I can't eat food right now, but I wanted the ham and cheese sub my husband brought home. My stomach WAS NOT hungry but my brain was. It's better today but the mind hunger was so bad it had me wondering if I made the right decision by having the surgery. I just wish after all that therapy I had that I was better prepared for this first week after surgery. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

I had my surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester MA, with Dr. Potter. Also. I am new here and trying to get a hang of the site so bear with me if I leave info out.

SF, I have not had surgery yet but I am scared of the same thing. I wrote a post about it yesterday and got some good advice. Maybe it will be helpful to you? I'd love to talk about it more if you want to PM me. This too shall pass! (eventually...) Stay strong! You can do this!

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/298404-head-hunger-actual-pain/

I'm glad you are here, 1215sf! I've been at this site for a few months now and have read many posts similar to yours. This is where you vent and I'm not sure how prepared anyone is going into things post-op. My surgery is at the end of March and I am doing weekly counseling up to then and I still don't feel like I'll fully understand my post op brothers and sisters until I am one myself. My suggestion is to keep coming back here - you find many folks in the same situation as yourself and that should hopefully bring some comfort.

By the way - my family lives in Worcester and surrounding towns. I'll be back visiting them all in May.

It's all good...heck, I still can't figure out how to post a new topic!!! LOL

Anyway...one of the things I found helped me was to drink something warm...decaf tea, broth... since it takes time to consume a hot beverage, it seems to help.

Try to keep busy...even doing some kind of game on computer or phone etc... can help make the time pass...

good luck and welcome

A. Its good that you recognize that!

B. Lets find a solution.

My solution to head hunger is this and you can use it or ignore me.

Set timer for 30 min.

realize that its not real, drink 8-10 oz of Fluid ( I personally cannot drink plain water)

Take a 15-20 min walk and distract, do you have a dog? They love these short walks.

Come back home drink another 8-10 oz of fluid.

Solved! I can almost guarantee you are no longer "hungry" If you are its probably real hunger and have some lunch meat and cheese wraps and move on with your day.

I just realized you are on liquids! you will not really ever feel full until you are on solids. at this point distract yourself, do what i suggested above and instead of a meat and cheese roll up, eat popsicles and jello!

Edited February 20, 201412 yr by ASKSARAH - Sleeve

So glad to get some feedback! I found my smell of foods became super intense after surgery. I could smell every ingredient in certain foods. That's when I realized that I really had a food issue. I have been going to tons of counseling, group and alone and we all have been focusing on fixing our issues so we were in a good place before surgery. But the feeling of holy crap I may not ever be able to eat that again kicked in two days after surgery when I was home. I realized how foolish this thought was, since food is simply to keep us alive, it's not a recreation.

Which is how maybe how I have been viewing it? I did great with managing my food before surgery but actual surgery threw me for a loop. Now I understand what my doctor meant when she said people may get depressed after surgery. I am allowed to have cream Soup with skim milk, so that is satisfying. There is a clear disconnect between my stomach and my brain. My new stomach tells me to back off and I do listen to it, but my brain apparently has it's own stomach.

I did realize the other day that the feelings I have right now are not real, they can't be. Also, being home is not easy, I am a busy person and work full time so being home and resting is not easy and it gives me that much more time to think about food. Today is the first day I feel normal. I am going to have some powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken soup for lunch today and play some games with my step-son. I plan on going back to work on Monday and get back to my life. I see my nutritionist for my 2 week post op plan next week. I have to admit that was afraid of joining a forum, I didn't know how many people shared my issues or thought I was nuts. But it seems I am not alone. !!! Thank you for the warm welcome as well!!

When I have the head hunger. I eat sugar free Popsicles. I know that some people get nauseated when they eat something cold. But I works for me. I can chew the Popsicles and not feel full afterwards.

Welcome to the "light" side

Edited February 21, 201412 yr by BigGirlPanties

I haven't had my surgery yet but just yesterday me And my husband and our friends went on a Harley ride My girlfriend Had on a beautiful Harley Outfit sexy boots sexy jacket just looked beautiful I wasn't jealous I admired her and I was dressed like Man Only because nothing fits me I used to be a Extra-large so it wasn't that bad but my extra clothes didn't fit me no more and I felt I was to big For the bike Maybe it's all in my head but That's the way I felt so even though I was thinking maybe I shouldn't get the surgery after that bike ride I realize why wouldn't I I try to do it by myself for years and never Worked And we were at the beach enjoying a beautiful dinner and I realized I can never eat like this again so I guess you have to take the good with the bad I've been overweight half of my life yes you enjoy that food but then what I could never eat like a regular person I always eat more than what I am a post to eat So there's other things out there Than just food like wearing a sexy Harley outfit and going on a beautiful Harley ride I have to teach myself Eat to live not live to eat and I can't wait to enjoy the summer with my new body and I tell myself nothing is easy it's all hard work but I'm ready:)

I'm brand new here, not quite sure what I'm doing:). I'm excited to see you all talking about what I'm feeling. I'm 4 weeks post op today. I'm on soft foods. I'm scared I'm not eating right because of the carbs. And yes I have a lot of mental hunger, which scares me about grazing. I'm a hairstylist so grazing is my nature.

I wish I was at 4 weeks but I am ok today. I keep having conversations with the head hunger demon in my head. He's not winning. I like ice cold drinks so like others have said, ice pops or sugar free Italian ices help. I just downloaded a great book called Recipes for life after weight loss surgery by Margaret Furtado, Lynette Schultz and Joseph Ewing. Great recipes too, it's been helpful getting me to think about the good foods I will be able to eat rather than what I can't eat anymore.