Hello All:

Hoping to find someone here to help me understand this? I've got a call in to my surgeon's office but no reply yet so I though I would reach out here instead.

I was sleeved 72 hours or so ago. For two weeks prior to surgery, I was on the all-shake liver shrink diet (and the three weeks before that were 2 shakes + 1 meal per day). So I've been starving for about six weeks now. And I was telling myself all along that it'll all be over after the surgery--just hang on until the surgery--you can do this until surgery because it's a limited time frame, etc.

So I can't explain how devastated I am right now because I'm STARVING... this was supposed to subside after the surgery, and it hasn't. And I'm about as depressed about it as I guess I could get. It sounds silly but this could "break" me... I told myself I could last until surgery, just last that long and you'll be free of the hunger beast (I know, only temporarily), but the beast is stronger than ever.

Whatever could this mean? Does this mean the surgery will be less beneficial to me? My metabolism is so screwed up that I'm already worried that it may not be as successful as it is for most people and I can't help but think that this hunger is a sign of more bad things to come. I'm certainly not an awful-izer, not by a long shot, but my morale isn't exactly at its highest right now. Any advice?

HW: 342, CW: 315, GW: Knee replacement weight

Hang in there. This was my experience as well but I'm 7 weeks post op and 40lbs down! Most people here will tell you that aren't experiencing REAL hunger... It's acid reflux, head hunger, etc. But I had TRUE hunger exactly 3 days after surgery. Jus eat the things you are allowed. You will be full. You will be satisfied. And it will get better. I'm hungrier on certain days than others. Hardly hungry at all sometimes. But I'm always satisfied with much less food than before the sleeve, and that was the point! I've been where you are. I even got a second opinion because I thought my procedure was botched! Everyone is not the same. Not everyone experiencing the reduced/non-existent hunger. I was not one of the lucky ones but the surgery was still successful!

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You stomach should not be sending you hunger signals right now because it's super traumatized and you shouldn't be feeling real hunger cues for some time. It could be head hunger, but it also could be acid production and you need a PPI, and it also also could be pain signals being misread by your body as hunger.

Hang in there and keep sipping your fluids and Protein drinks. This is the absolute hardest part right here; the time right before surgery and right after. You can get through this, and each day will be a little bit better until this time is just a distant memory and your progress will be totally worth it! Good luck, stay strong and I hope your doc can give you some real ideas of what to do to make it through all of this.

Edited July 30, 201610 yr by FrankiesGirl

It's a head game. I was like that too. Protien, for me, seemed to really curb the sensation. Drink enough to where you can't and you won't be hungry anymore. You haven't hit the "off" switch yet from what it sounds like. I've gone to Sugarfree Popsicles to head fake my self. What ever it takes....stay on fluids ONLY

Best of luck. Hold Fast

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I started to get hungry too, no clue if it was real, imagined, or a result of acid but regardless, I felt hungry. Good news is that when you start mushies you will be full after a couple bites and it takes HOURS to feel hungry again.

Whenever I think about hunger and my association with it.......I feel that I've truly never experienced true hunger in my life.

Real hunger is what people who have no idea where there next meal.....if there is a next meal.....is coming from. That's hunger.

Anything I've ever experienced in my life is simply mild discomfort. Perhaps some occasional real hunger would do me some good.

Head hunger is a challenge after surgery. You're so used to eating large amounts and your body is just confused and reacting to the difference in caloric intake. Stay strong, drink lots of fluids, get in all of your Protein and it will pass.