Hungry after Surgery

[MrsSnapBack 16]

I had my VSG surgery yesterday morning and by last night I was hungry! I’m even feeling hungry this morning. Has anyone else experienced this? Spoke to my doc this morning and he said that there’s nothing to worry about. He said that some of his patients have the same reaction. That everybody is different. He only removed 70% of my stomach. My friend had the same surgery with 80% removal and she says she’s never hungry...even now at four years out! 😩 Trying not to get discouraged...

[Fatboyslim1 204]

Perhaps you don't quite understand. Say for example your stomach was originally the size of 2 bananas (and we are talking in its un stretched state) and now your stomach is the size of one banana. what percentage of your stomach was removed ?

Now imagine that your stomach was the size of 3 bananas, and now it is one. What percentage of your stomach was removed?

I asked my surgeon "how big was my stomach" and he said "kind of like the size of a football, but it's really hard to tell as stomachs are very elastic." He said my new stomach is "the size of the banana."

You do the math

[RobertaMSN 60]

It must be frustrating especially if your program touted no hunger post surgery. It's true that everyone is different and some do have hunger again right away. The good news is you still have a much smaller stomach so as long as you don't "push your sleeve" one extra bite at a time you'll still lose weight - assuming you're following a good eating program. Have you watched any of Dr. V's YouTube videos? Look under "Duc C. Vuong" - he's a bariatric surgeon from New Mexico who posts a huge amount of extremely helpful content. One of his videos talks about this. Good luck and I wish you the best in your journey.

[AJ Tylo 1,398]

I dont think your hungry its the Head games starting, May be gas also - sip a little Water and move around

[MrsSnapBack 16]

RobertaMSN yes, I love Dr. V! I watched him religiously before my surgery. He has been a great help. I do recall him saying that the only people not hungry are dead people. Lol I guess I just wasn’t expecting to feel it right away. They’re telling me that it’s more than likely gas that I’m feeling and not true hunger. I sure hope that is the case. I hate the feeling of hunger! That has been one of my problems and one of the things that led me to surgery, aside from my other problems. Thanks for your response. Continued luck on your journey!

[lvidacovich 372]

I too felt hunger right after my sleeve and it worried me a ton. Turns out it's not really the same type of hunger I used to feel, if that makes sense. It's easier to ignore and a lot of the time I can just drink and be good for an hour. Don't worry too much about it.

[RobertaMSN 60]

Edited December 19, 2019 by RobertaMSN

[GradyCat 3,692]

No, I wasn't hungry for several months post-op. Hang in there and good luck on your weight loss journey.

[sillykitty 10,705]

Head hunger is just as real as physical hunger, and IMO tougher. If I have physical hunger I can satisfy it with something on plan and healthy. But head hunger is usually in the form of pizza or burger or ice cream, right?

It gets easier when you can start to differentiate the different types of hunger feelings. Physical hunger = eat something on plan. Stomach acid = make sure you're on a ppi. Head hunger = come up with a strategy to distract yourself.

[Losingit2018 1,170]

Same exact thing happened to me. I never lost my real appetite after the sleeve like many others do.

I revised to rny a few weeks back due to a hernia and gerd. So far I have had zero appetite. Enjoying it while I can because I feel certain that it will be back.

[izzybear420 10]

I was starving after surgery like stomach growling but I hadn’t eaten previously for 27hrs before my surgery if I drink too much broth or popsicle my tummy starts to hurt me I feel a lot better now tho

[New&Improved 1,780]

Nobody can guarantee you'll never be hungry ever again...