How does the sleeve FEEL? How does it work?

[OldMomOf3 52]

I am wondering what the sleeve feels like on a daily basis? What do you feel when you eat?

What do you feel that makes you stop eating?

What happens if you eat after you get that feeling?

Edited January 31, 2015 by MomOf3InOC

[JamieLogical 8,727]

I try not to eat until I have that overfull feeling, because it is VERY uncomfortable. I try to measure out my portions or have a strong sense of how much I'm going to eat in advance so I can prevent myself from getting to that point.

That being said, when I feel full, it's not like a vague, contented full feeling. It's a feeling like I might actually explode at any moment. It's not necessarily painful, just VERY uncomfortable. I often feel like I need to lie down when I'm experiencing it and it usually lasts for a good 45 minutes to an hour even after I've stopped eating.

Like you, prior to surgery, I used to love feeling full. I was never a grazer or a snacker. I just ate HUGE amounts of food in one sitting. Like a whole pizza plus some ice cream. Or a huge entree at a restaurant plus dessert. The full feeling I experienced back then was comforting to me and I was very content when I did that. It is NOT like that now. The full feeling I get now is very unpleasant.

I have not thrown up at all. I had two bouts of dry heaving the day after my surgery, but nothing like that in the 5 months since.

[mae7365 372]

I am 11 weeks post-op sleeve surgery today (lost 40 pounds as of this morning). I will be honest and tell you that I had a few complications the first 6 weeks, but most were preventable had I been paying attention to my body. I had hiatal hernia repair the same time as the sleeve, so I had esophageal spasms (crushing chest pain) every time I would put anything in my stomach plus I had nausea and vomiting. So I didn't eat/drink as much as I needed to and ended up dehydrated, low potassium and back in the hospital for IVs etc. I also continue to have severe acid reflux, but that is improving each week post op. I'm going to answer your questions for how I feel today - since it really does take 8-12 weeks for your sleeve to heal, the swelling to go down and your eating to get to your "new normal".

I am wondering what the sleeve feels like on a daily basis? I physically feel exactly like I did before surgery. I compare it to get getting your gallbladder removed. Once your healed from surgery, you just don't miss what was removed.

What do you feel when you eat? I now feel "normal" when I eat, but I just can't eat anywhere near as much as I could before. I can consume one Protein bar over a 30 minute period. But I could never chow down the whole bar in 5 minutes like I could before surgery.

What do you feel that makes you stop eating? I feel pressure.

What happens if you eat after you get that feeling? I end up feeling nauseated and throw up. Even 11 weeks post op, I will still throw up if I put too much in my stomach.

Do you get “stuck” and throw up? I'm throwing up less and less, but I will throw up if I eat too much.

In your own words, not the informative website words, how does the sleeve work and how does it feel? I think the sleeve is the best option out there for gastric surgery. I can eat normal food, including spicy food, as long as it's in moderation. The other surgeries disrupt the normal digestive system and this one doesn't . Your stomach still dumps the food into the small intestine and digestion occurs as usual. You just eat less food.

[katcycler 95]

If you overeat with the sleeve you will feel it in your chest and it is very uncomfortable. If you really overeat, you will throw up. I was sleeved Nov 26 and have thrown up twice. Now, I know how much I can eat so I don't have the discomfort anymore. You will learn that. With the sleeve, they remove the part of your stomach that has the hunger hormone so most people are not hungry anymore either. You will still have head hunger and some gurgles in your sleeve which will sometimes be hunger but you will definitely be able to control your eating. Nothing you do with wls is easy, but you will definitely feel your restriction and modify the way you eat. Best of luck to you.????

[*Lexie* 1,486]

From reading your post, it sounds like the band and sleeve feel very similar. I doubt you'll be surprised by the difference. Hopefully someone that converted from a band to sleeve will post a response comparing the differences.

I am wondering what the sleeve feels like on a daily basis? What do you feel when you eat? Once healed, I don't feel my sleeve unless I'm eating. I can drink normally now and don't need to sip anymore. When I eat, it feels normal as long as I take tiny bites and chew a lot. I get full pretty quickly but I usually stop before that point because feeling full doesn't feel good anymore. It's more uncomfortable. I like what another poster said about liking to feel full before surgery. I used to like the full feeling. I compare this full to those rare times pre-op when you kept eating long after feeling full and pushed yourself to a painful full.

What do you feel that makes you stop eating? I try to measure my food so I don't have to wait for that feeling. Once or twice I have eaten very slowly and chewed very well and was able to eat until I got to a comfortable satisfied feeling. I could probably do that more if I was more patient.

What happens if you eat after you get that feeling? I throw up. And I won't be able to eat or drink anything for a while. Last night I had my small dinner and did everything right. Except I went for a run about 45 minutes later and I could feel my dinner in my throat the whole time. Afterwards, I promptly threw up. Guess now I need to wait longer before working out or eat after. I'm still learning.

Do you get “stuck” and throw up? This happens to me more often than I would like. I have been trying hard to eat slow but it still seems to happen every few days. The stuck feeling sounds the same, chest pain and pressure and for me, I either have to suffer through it for 2+ hours or throw up to get relief.

In your own words, not the informative website words, how does the sleeve work and how does it feel? I don't feel anything unless I'm eating. No issues with any type of fluids or the amount I drink, that feels like it did before surgery. Other than getting full faster and issues with food getting stuck or not being able to tolerate something (which feels the same as food getting stuck) I don't feel any different. Once I got past the first month, my energy levels are fine. I think the sleeve definitely works to restrict the amount of food I eat. I also think it restricts my food choices a bit because of things getting stuck. I'm much more careful about what I choose to eat and how much. Even if I'm not motivated and want to eat bad, the negative side effects help me make the choice not to eat something. I have made that wrong choice a time or two and a few bites in, I get sick and I learn to stop being a dummy.

I hope this helps you out. Best of luck with the switch to the sleeve.

[mdlange 50]

Great questions, great answers! I love my BP family!

[pippinleicester 78]

I have had a band which slipped and now a sleeve.I find with the sleeve that I feel a much stronger sense of restriction in fact I find it impossible to overeat.If I eat one spoonful more than I should the feeling is most uncomfortable and I just throw up the whole meal so it is something you very quickly learn not to do.I am so happy with the sleeve,at last I feel in charge of my eating and have found no downside.Pippinleicester.

[HaddocksEyes 205]

Everyone is different. My stomach is just smaller than it was before. So when I eat it feels like before except I get full fast. I get the same "full" feeling that I got before but it happens a lot quicker. I can eat anything and everything I ate before - nothing really disagrees with me but I will mention that ice cream no longer tastes as good as it did before (it seems to irritate my esophagus and my stomach just a bit) and I don't know why that is. I don't like donuts anymore (HUGE donut fan before surgery) and I don't eat a lot of bread because it just fills me up too quick.

I've never gotten anything "stuck" but if you eat too much, it feels like you're full all the way to your throat and that is uncomfortable. There was one time I ate too fast and wasn't paying attention and by the time I realized I was too full, it was too late-all the food was eaten. I sat around like that for maybe 40 minutes until I finally got up and went into the bathroom. All I had to do was bend over and I threw up on my own. That was the most unpleasant part of having the sleeve but I did it to myself by not following the rule of "take 30 minutes to eat".

Edited January 29, 2015 by HaddocksEyes