I was banded on November 12th. The diet I'm on is allowing about 400 calories a day, mainly liquids (a little liquid yogurt, or watery oatmeal is allowed once a day). I was not eating huge quantities of food beforehand, but wasn't hungry all the time. My stomach growls almost constantly, and hurts, I'm so hungry. I don't want to be this hungry all the time for the rest of my life. Any suggestions? Does this get any better?

Kristine

Texas

Banded on 11/12/2007 by Dr. Miguel Zapata, Monterrey, MX

I know exactly what you are talking about.....believe me it does get better....but you know every time I do eat, my stomach makes some of the loudest sounds.....it sounds like hunger growls but it's not....just food passing through the band I guess. If you can make it through this phase, I promist you it gets better.....when you are restricted properly, you will get full on a little amount of food and stay satisfied for quite some time.....don't whatever you do drink before and after you eat....it will defeat the purpose of the band. Good luck and just believe me, it will get better. Sometimes you have to take a little pain, before you recognize the wonderful benefit you are going to receive. Good Luck

You need to remember you don't have any real restriction until after you get a fill. Any you feel right now is just due to internal swelling. I was banded 10/12 and I don't get my first fill until 12/4. I struggle all the time with hunger because I have no restriction yet. Hope that helps you understand what's going on with you currently.

Cincha

Of course it will get better. But if you are only consuming 400 cal a day that might be why you are hungry. Are you taking in Protein?? During the liquid part of my diet I ate chicken broth, Protein shakes, stuff like that and that kept me satisfied. You might want to consult with your dr and check. I think anyone would be hungry with only 400 cal per day.

Sometimes though I had to take a moment to not let my mind dominate my body. It took me time to realize that I was consuming smaller portions of food. And even though I was satisfied, the fact that I was eating a little made me think I was still hungry. I don't know if I'm making sense, but my head thought I was hungry because I was eating smaller meals. Even though the body was satisfied. Sorry If I can't really explain myself well.

I'm surprised you were told to only have 400 calories, at any stage of post-op! Even my nutritionist...who my surgeon feels is a quack...said I should have no less than 800 calories per day from the first day I was allowed to take in full liquids. My surgeon felt between 800-1200 was a good goal to start, mainly because we DO get so hungry until we're filled properly. Anyway, I'm not trying to tell you to disregard your instructions...but perhaps you should call your surgeons office and clarify them.

I'm including the suggested menu here so there won't be any confusion about the content. Believe me, I'm not confusing something else for hunger pains, it's waking me up at night. And as for restriction, I tried to add just a teaspoon of rice to my chicken broth yesterday and thought I would die from the pain. It would not go through, and came back up instead. Rice is so small, I was sure it would be fine. At any rate, here is the suggested menu for this week:

Breakfast:

1/2 cup fruit juice (diluted by half with water) (about 25 cal)

1/3 cup Jello (sugar free) (maybe 10 cal?)

one liquid yogurt (no idea about that one)

Lunch:

1/2 cup clear chicken broth (about 10 cal)

1/3 cup juice (diluted) (about 20 cal)

Dinner:

1/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt (35 cal)

1 low-fat pudding cup (70 or 80 cal)

And that's it. They suggested crystal light, waters, sugar free tea, and stuff like that for the Water intake. So, no extra calories there.

I got myself some creamy potato Soup tonight, and that went down fairly well, although after a few bites it started hurting, so I didn't have much. I think one of the problems I have is that it seems to take so long for the food to leave the pouch and get into the lower part of my stomach. I am still having hunger pangs and I had the soup almost an hour ago. So, I guess part of the problem is the inflammation, which must be rather severe. I'm just feeling a little whiny because I had to go to the grocery store this afternoon and they were sampling all the really good stuff today. All those smells made me twice as hungry, I think. Anyway, thanks for all your comments.

Kristine

Texas

Banded on 11/12/2007

Sometimes it helps to take appetite suppressants during this time.

Hey--why suffer?

Wow-- it doesn't look like you're getting much protein at all. Are you sure you're not missing something? I thought at this stage you don't even worry about losing weight. It's all about healing.... I get banded in January and I don't think I'd survive on what you're having. Hang in there and stay away from the rice!

It looks to me like you need more protein. I only say that because I was borderline hypoglycemic before getting banded and hungry ALL THE TIME. Getting in plenty of protein after getting banded has helped A LOT. I realize I still have some swelling that keeps the hunger from getting too bad, but I'm just amazed that I've had none of the hypoglycemia symptoms that I had before getting banded. Would they allow you to drink protein shakes? Like maybe a Slim-Fast low carb shake? That's the only thing getting me through.

Kristine, why so few calories???? I had Dr. Zapata and i always had more calories than that. No wonder your hungry. How did you like Dr. Z. I thought he was really nice. I love the hospital he uses. You might want to add some more broth or protien drinks or something and see if that helps. Keep us up-dated. Donna

Donna,

Did they send you home with a menu plan and list of foods, etc? I just copied the menu in the above post from the sheets they gave me after surgery. Yesterday I substituted oatmeal for the liquid yogurt, so probably had a few more calories than that, but it still isn't much. It sounds to me like I just need to add in a few more small meals, and pitch the menu. After next week, they have more foods on the menu, but I'm concerned about the pain from just trying rice, and thinking I might need a little more time to reduce the swelling first.

I really like Dr. Zapata. He was so kind. I had a rough go in the hospital, vomiting everything, including ice chips for the first 24 hours. He was very involved, trying hard to figure out a solution. (The solution came when they stopped putting meds that made me sick in the IV -- lol) I would recommend him to anyone.

Kristine

I ate a ton of creamy soups. It really helped with my protein intake too because they were milk based.

My doctor insisted that I get 70 grams of Protein per day. It's all over the material he gave me. And I was to test and find a good source of Protein powder to add to foods -- something that I liked and didn't upset my stomach. I'm using powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury and low-carb SlimFast.

Are you sure you're not following the diet for maybe the first day or two after surgery and then you're supposed to be getting in more protein? I don't even have a calorie restriction or a restriction on the amount of food -- just nutritional minimums and directions for how and when to eat. The only time I've been hungry is when I don't keep up with the schedule.

I really think you need to verify your diet with your doctor. Good luck!

Hi there!

As several other folks said, you don't have any restriction yet, so it can be a "hungry time."

All I can offer for advice is that my doctor told me to take in 70-90 grams of Protein daily through liquids for several weeks after surgery (in 3 "meals" per day). I drank Protein shakes and some other liquids that were fortified with protein. I got a box with samples of these liquid Proteins prior to surgery (hot chocolate, fruit punch, tomato Soup, etc.). I was told not to "eat" between meals--that's when I sipped on the plain Water.

I was also allowed to have other liquids in addition to water like other folks mentioned (sugar-free popsicles, Crystal Light, and sugar-free pudding).

Check with your doctor before changing what you are doing. Remember that you paid them for their services, so they should be there to advise you if you experience any problems--don't be shy about asking questions!

Keeping my protein intake up worked out quite well for me and I didn't start getting really, really hungry until close to my first fill 5-6 weeks after surgery.

Good luck and let us know if things improve for you!

Psalm20,

I could not make it with that, you need to at least add 3-4 Protein shakes, there is EAS and Low carb slimfast/ Try that. Hope it gets easier.

Kristine, 400 calories is not a lot. I would speak to your surgeon and/or Nutritionist and find out if you can eat more like 800-1k. Try and eat a lot of protein if you can't. Good luck.