What are your thoughts about using a prescription strength appetite suppressant after weight loss surgery? I had my surgery in May of this year and I absolutely do not want to gain any weight back now or after reaching my goal. But…I love food, love to eat and still graze with now smaller, healthier portions.
Please let me know what do you think? Or can anyone relate?

Even with an appetite suppressant, you will still gain weight if you are "loving" food and grazing too much. I took phentermine and it didn't work because I ate when I wasn't hungry. So I didn't lose weight. You have to do the work to not eat too much and not eat unhealthy things.

yea - grazing can really do you in. I'm not sure an appetite suppressant would help me, either, because I still catch myself eating when I'm not truly hungry (which I used to do *all the time* before I had WLS). It's more of a mental thing with me - and probably for a lot of us. I know a lot of WLS patients work with therapists to deal with disordered eating. I haven't - although I can see where that might be beneficial.

In my opinion, your money would be better spent and your health would be better.....seeing a bariatric therapist to discuss your concerns and create strategies for managing your habits if you feel you are overeating.

We all like food & like to eat. It provides pleasure. I still like food & I still like to eat but I work at being careful about all my food choices every day. I put more importance on the nutritional value but of course it still has to taste good.

Do you really need to eat or are you eating because you want too? Are you really hungry or are you experiencing head hunger? Real hunger feels different from head hunger. Discovering what real hunger feels like was a big aha moment for me. A therapist can help you to work out the answers to these questions & help you to develop strategies to manage them.

Do I sometimes eat mindlessly? Yes I do but I usually realise as I’m doing it & stop. The other night, I was putting away a container of nuts but before I did I opened it & took out a handful. Did I need to eat the nuts? No. I wasn’t hungry. It was just an old bad eating habit. I realised as I popped the first couple in my mouth so I put the remaining ones back. I don’t keep bad choices in my house so that temptation isn’t there Of course anything can be a bad choice if you eat too much of it. If a head hunger raises itself, I make myself wait before heading to the kitchen. I’ll distract myself in some way (a chore, read, ring a friend, read this forum, etc.) & that 30 odd minute window is usually enough for the head hunger drive to disappear. These things help me.

I’m 21 months post RNY- I was 245 when I started- got down to 155 and started grazing while at work. I just had an appt this morning and I’m going to start topiramate tomorrow. My doctor said a lot of wls patients will eventually need an appetite suppressant whether it’s one year or 10 years down the line. You do what’s best FOR YOU. Nobody else can tell you what’s going to work for you.

Ok so are you maintaining or gaining right now? I’ve surpassed my personal goal weight (well my original one. I’d altered it once I passed it lol). I do tend to graze at work (it’s a fairly rigorous job so I burn a lot of calories and end up needing snacks to help keep my energy up), but I make sure it’s healthy stuff. I actually just discovered Wilde Chicken Chips and use those to munch on throughout the day. Low carb, low calorie and it tends to last my shift (just 20 chips), because it’s made with chicken instead of potato so the protein helps. I think what you need to do is before you start snacking stop and think “do I need this? Or do I want this?” If it’s a want, work on the will power to put the snack away. Find something to distract you or drink (I hear that helps sometimes when we want food).