On another topic thread I have been reading, several of the people who were either newly sleeved or reported that from the time they were newly sleeved, they did not get relief from 'true physical hunger pains'. Not talking about head hunger masking itself as physical hunger. I mean the "real deal" here. I thought that with sleeve...and bypass...that hormones like grehlin (referred to as 'hunger' hormone because it stimulates appetite..and think it promotes storage of fat) and maybe others I'm not recalling were basically 'short circuited' to give additional help in addition to the 'pouch intake limitations'.

I honestly was looking just as forward to this relief as I was to the pouch limitations. This goes to show you no matter how much you think you've read up on stuff about the procedure you are having, you can come across sometimes...VERY IMPORTANT stuff that you did not know.

I know I'm having pre-surgery jitters (7/1) but my first gut reaction last night (after a VERY stressful day) was that there was no use in getting 85% of my stomach removed to just still be literally hungry all the time, even considering the physical limitation. Am not saying this is a good or correct reaction, but being honest in that is was my GUT reaction.

I don't think I've ever read any statistics, but most people do lose their hunger - at least for a few months (some up to a year or so). A few lucky people never get theirs back, but most of us do at some point.

even if you don't, yes - you'll be hungry - but don't forget, you'll have 85% less stomach. So you will still lose weight. But most likely you will lose your hunger for several months, too.

1 hour ago, KarenLR75 said:

Hi Karen! I'm 30 days out & I've absolutely experienced hunger & get real annoyed when people claim it's head hunger. Listen, when you're eating 500 calories a day, there are going to be times you're hungry. BUT - it's still less than before if that helps. It's also different by day. Some days I can go hours & hours without needing anything. Others I'm legitimately hungry. Not bored, I just want a dang chicken breast. But again - manageable. I'm currently at 600-900 calories daily & it's fine. There's NO WAY I'd be able to eat this little without the surgery.

3 hours ago, KarenLR75 said:

On another topic thread I have been reading, several of the people who were either newly sleeved or reported that from the time they were newly sleeved, they did not get relief from 'true physical hunger pains'. Not talking about head hunger masking itself as physical hunger. I mean the "real deal" here. I thought that with sleeve...and bypass...that hormones like grehlin (referred to as 'hunger' hormone because it stimulates appetite..and think it promotes storage of fat) and maybe others I'm not recalling were basically 'short circuited' to give additional help in addition to the 'pouch intake limitations'.

I honestly was looking just as forward to this relief as I was to the pouch limitations. This goes to show you no matter how much you think you've read up on stuff about the procedure you are having, you can come across sometimes...VERY IMPORTANT stuff that you did not know.

I know I'm having pre-surgery jitters (7/1) but my first gut reaction last night (after a VERY stressful day) was that there was no use in getting 85% of my stomach removed to just still be literally hungry all the time, even considering the physical limitation. Am not saying this is a good or correct reaction, but being honest in that is was my GUT reaction.

It seems like you are looking for the negative, instead of the positive. Nothing is guaranteed from this surgery, but the odds of success are very very good.

Couple of things:

I believe some people do have true hunger early on after surgery. What @JanJan19 describes is entirely plausible, hunger that can come and go, and that can be satisfied with small amount of healthy food. But there are also people who truly cannot differentiate between head hunger, stomach acid, and physical hunger. They feel that physical hunger is the only real type of hunger, and any suggestion that it could be head hunger or stomach acid is invalidating what they are experiencing.

I was fortunate enough to have very little physical hunger for about 6 months. But I dealt with head hunger starting a couple of weeks post op. For me, head hunger was much more difficult to deal with than physical hunger. If I was physically hungry I could eat a couple of ounces of chicken and be satisfied. Head hunger was either impossible to satisfy (wanting pizza 2 weeks post op), or satisfying my head hunger threatened to sabotage my weight loss.

Finally, as an example, I am 15 months post op, and this is the amount of food it takes to make me full. Seems worth it right?

5 hours ago, KarenLR75 said:

On another topic thread I have been reading, several of the people who were either newly sleeved or reported that from the time they were newly sleeved, they did not get relief from 'true physical hunger pains'. Not talking about head hunger masking itself as physical hunger. I mean the "real deal" here. I thought that with sleeve...and bypass...that hormones like grehlin (referred to as 'hunger' hormone because it stimulates appetite..and think it promotes storage of fat) and maybe others I'm not recalling were basically 'short circuited' to give additional help in addition to the 'pouch intake limitations'.

I honestly was looking just as forward to this relief as I was to the pouch limitations. This goes to show you no matter how much you think you've read up on stuff about the procedure you are having, you can come across sometimes...VERY IMPORTANT stuff that you did not know.

I know I'm having pre-surgery jitters (7/1) but my first gut reaction last night (after a VERY stressful day) was that there was no use in getting 85% of my stomach removed to just still be literally hungry all the time, even considering the physical limitation. Am not saying this is a good or correct reaction, but being honest in that is was my GUT reaction.

I understand your fears and questions

Food no longer rules my world. Pre surgery It’s hard to even imagine what your sensation of full or hungry feels like. I don’t think I had a real sensation of full before surgery. It’s amazing to feel full on a small amount of food. My hunger is much more manageable after my sleeve. My taste buds have changed and it’s a good thing.

What you’re getting into:

Surgery does not take hunger 100% away. You will feel the sensation of full at an earlier point than you do currently. Your surgery restriction is going to stop you from overeating, you can satisfy hunger signals on smaller amounts of food. Healthy sweet and salty options manage cravings.

Ask your surgeon/dietician for your weight loss food plan. Also get your maintaining plan to see what food will look like after goal. Nutrition is still flavorful. You can make old favorites in a healthy way. - Google bariatric real food stage recipes.

You won’t be eating 500 to 900 calories forever. Protein shakes are only for the first stages when your surgery restriction is tight. Real food stage: You will be able to get your protein in with real whole foods (you can ditch the shakes) Your calories will increase as you progress. When you hit maintenance stage your diet will change once again. New calorie range and healthy carbs to slow/stop your weight loss.

19 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

I understand your fears and questions

I don't have much time as I'm in a time crunch at work, but thank you for saying this...sometimes when ppl post...especially when new and having a surgery date looming, it is not that in the back of my mind I cannot accept the answer in the end. I'm anxious, excited, fearful, relieved....and so many other opposing emotions all at the same time.

These past 15 months doing keto and for a long long period in keto towards the last 6 months, getting to a point where even thinking about food became..more of a chore. Food was just...food. Honestly, I crossed the line into it being almost an inconvenience which I will have to be careful of because unlike keto when I could eat a whole chicken breast (maybe divided over 2 meals) and drink a shake and have well in excess of 80 gms of protein, this won't be ANYWHERE near as easy to do.

I didn't express myself well in my post and only let my fear show through. I didn't feel like I was only searching for the negative, but I'm open to the fact that perhaps that is what I was doing. I did not elucidate the fact that I did expect some hunger pains, I just had been trying to soak up more knowledge and was on a thread where the 'true hunger pains/pangs' where...what I would call extreme in the amount of hunger (like basically never had any relief from hunger pangs ever, not even when they have consumed their protein). Maybe something else is going on for them..or maybe I misunderstood.

I was just honestly...taken aback. However, that doesn't mean I stay fearful or allow myself to be trapped by the negatives. If that was true, then I wouldn't be on this board still and I wouldn't be pursuing surgery. Thank you to everyone for your input. It gave me time for additional self reflection and to process my concerns.

I am 3 days post OP and I have painful hunger pains. I guess it's not completely uncommon. I was surprised though considering I thought I wouldn't have hunger pains after surgery.

On 6/27/2019 at 11:07 AM, AliceAngyl said:

I am 3 days post OP and I have painful hunger pains. I guess it's not completely uncommon. I was surprised though considering I thought I wouldn't have hunger pains after surgery.

Alice, it gets better. I'm only 35 days out so I can remember that first couple weeks. The worst hunger for me was during soups and protein drinks. I still experience hunger now, but it's more manageable and is satisfied with a 4oz meal. Soup just made me angry.

I have had both the sleeve and the bypass. I woke up from my sleeve surgery hungry and remained hungry. I did have complications, so I'm not sure how much that played into things. I did not wake up from Bypass surgery hungry and I have more restriction and less hunger over all.

I’m almost in week 6 right now and I absolutely had hunger after surgery. Like, a lot. Like smack everyone who brought their food in front of me on my liquid diet hungry. I didn’t get sick so I was just unhappy and hungry a lot.
Once I started soft food it really helped. Now that I’m released to eat All food I can tell you that my hunger is satisfied waaaay quicker than before. Like, never in my life would a piece of turkey wrapped in one slice of cheese make me feel full and satisfied. Now it does for a few hours easily.
So I still get hungry but it is much more quickly and easily satisfied. Everyone has such different expectations and experiences here that it can be hard to figure out and I think you really can’t guess what it will be like for you until it is done.

On 06/30/2019 at 00:04, JanJan19 said:

Alice, it gets better. I'm only 35 days out so I can remember that first couple weeks. The worst hunger for me was during Soups and Protein Drinks. I still experience hunger now, but it's more manageable and is satisfied with a 4oz meal. Soup just made me angry.

Lol this. Yes. Strained soup bad. Soft food good. ?

I came out of surgery hungry, remained STARVING during the 10 days of liquids and have been hungry ever since. It was NOT head hunger. Yes, I do sometimes get head hunger and I feel like grazing but I was legit hungry. The only thing I can tell you is I'm down 60 pounds and I could never have done that where I was before surgery. You might be hungry but you eat small meals. Yes, that means I have to make more decisions. I never got the blessing of not being hungry but I'm managing.

Somehow..I thought with the last minute switch from VSG to an RNY..that I was 'luckier' in some ways as SURELY this method would DEFINITELY give more 'true hunger' relief.

I got to enjoy a whole TWO days of that. I do feel the restriction though and I'm thankful for that.

I have to be honest though..I would have been happier to keep the not feeling hungry "feeling". It felt SO GOOD for those 2 days to not be hungry.

On 6/26/2019 at 8:14 PM, sillykitty said:

But there are also people who truly cannot differentiate between head hunger, stomach acid, and physical hunger. They feel that physical hunger is the only real type of hunger, and any suggestion that it could be head hunger or stomach acid is invalidating what they are experiencing.

Unfortunately one can't tell how many people are experiencing hunger this way. It will always be a blackbox since there is no way to measure and/or quantify this kind of thing.

Also "true hunger" signals feel different for different people and that's not making it any easier.