Is anyone finding that post op they are having trouble differentiating between hunger and being full?

I don’t even know if its head hunger or real hunger. I don’t know if im eating enough

Most people (not all) immediately post op do not experience hunger so if you are eating and experience this feeling afterwards my guess is it’s your full signal. Mine doesn’t feel anything like hunger to me but I guess we are all different.

Yes, I have discovered my new full feeling has similarities to what hunger pangs felt like before surgery.

I am 3 weeks post-op and I feel hungry all the time. I have pain when I eat, maybe from eating too quickly, but even with those, I'm hungry. I don't think it's head hunger - it feel like how it used to feel if I went 8 hours or more between meals before surgery. Everyone keeps telling me I'm NOT hungry, but that just feels like gaslighting. It's possible it's GERD, but I'm taking 20mg of omeprazole every day...

1 minute ago, lizonaplane said:

I am 3 weeks post-op and I feel hungry all the time. I have pain when I eat, maybe from eating too quickly, but even with those, I'm hungry. I don't think it's head hunger - it feel like how it used to feel if I went 8 hours or more between meals before surgery. Everyone keeps telling me I'm NOT hungry, but that just feels like gaslighting. It's possible it's GERD, but I'm taking 20mg of omeprazole every day...

There are the few rare people who still have actual hunger. Are you eating snacks? I honestly think mine was head hunger, but I still couldn’t deny it every-time. As long as it’s healthy, you should be okay to incorporate snacks. I ate breakfast at 6 (or whenever I wake up) lunch at noon and dinner at 6 so with snacks at 3 and 9 I was eating every three hours. I still kept portions small and calories low but I had to eat more often than just three meals a day. The nutritionist preferred that we try to keep it to three meals a day but the NP was fine with snacks as long as they were small and healthy. In the very beginning my snacks were veggies cause of all the constipation issues I needed fiber.

I'm 2 weeks post-op and have absolutely no idea what is happening in there. Some times I feel what I think is hunger, but then it goes away and I start questioning if I felt anything at all. Then when I eat (still on purees), I can't really tell how much to eat or when I'm full. I do think I've started to notice a pressure in my chest that I didn't have before and I'm thinking that might be my "full" signal, so I'm trying to listen to it and let it guide my eating. Thankfully, I haven't dealt with head hunger too much, but I also did (and am still doing) a lot of work around food addiction/emotional eating before surgery to try and get ahead of some of that, knowing that I for sure struggle with it. I just have to keep reminding myself that its a process and I need to learn to listen to my body as best I can.

My new 'full' signal feels like pre-op hunger. Driving me insane. I just force myself to wait 30 minutes. If it goes away, then I'm good. If I'm still hungry, I eat another couple of bites.

3 minutes ago, vikingbeast said:

My new 'full' signal feels like pre-op hunger. Driving me insane. I just force myself to wait 30 minutes. If it goes away, then I'm good. If I'm still hungry, I eat another couple of bites.

If it feels like being hungry, how do you know it's your full signal?

5 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

If it feels like being hungry, how do you know it's your full signal?

This is going to be really weird... but I got stuck in traffic (sudden road closure due to wildfire) and had nothing at all to eat for about seven hours. The feeling I got was CLEARLY hunger—it felt like my stomach grinding against itself. It's completely different to the "former hunger" signal.

And now I keep emergency food in my truck.

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by vikingbeast

Also, if I eat more after the "former hunger" signal I get the tight chest, sneezing, and burping that means I exceeded the capacity of my pouch.

6 hours ago, Sleeve_Me_Alone said:

I'm 2 weeks post-op and have absolutely no idea what is happening in there. Some times I feel what I think is hunger, but then it goes away and I start questioning if I felt anything at all. Then when I eat (still on purees), I can't really tell how much to eat or when I'm full. I do think I've started to notice a pressure in my chest that I didn't have before and I'm thinking that might be my "full" signal, so I'm trying to listen to it and let it guide my eating. Thankfully, I haven't dealt with head hunger too much, but I also did (and am still doing) a lot of work around food addiction/emotional eating before surgery to try and get ahead of some of that, knowing that I for sure struggle with it. I just have to keep reminding myself that its a process and I need to learn to listen to my body as best I can.

I’m now on purées too and I have the same issue. I have no idea what is going on with my body. But I just eat very small portions and then try to ignore that hunger feeling cause I don’t want to over do it. But I have no clue. I’m nervous moving forward if my stomach doesn’t figure itself out. Lol

8 minutes ago, KarrinnaP said:

I’m now on purées too and I have the same issue. I have no idea what is going on with my body. But I just eat very small portions and then try to ignore that hunger feeling cause I don’t want to over do it. But I have no clue. I’m nervous moving forward if my stomach doesn’t figure itself out. Lol

Idk if this helps but the NP told me that we are supposed to eat to prevent hunger rather than to eat when we are hungry. Since surgery I have been eating by the clock and it seems to work for me. Between three meals and two snacks I eat a small portion every three hours and I know when I feel hungry between meals it must be head hunger cause I just ate.

4 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Idk if this helps but the NP told me that we are supposed to eat to prevent hunger rather than to eat when we are hungry. Since surgery I have been eating by the clock and it seems to work for me. Between three meals and two Snacks I eat a small portion every three hours and I know when I feel hungry between meals it must be head hunger cause I just ate.

My nutritionist told me to eat six small meals a day but I really can’t. I have a protein shake when I wake up and maybe get a third of it down, then I try to do an egg white scramble a few hours later, then for lunch I’ve been just sticking to soups, then I may try and finish the protein shake or have a sugar free pudding. Then I don’t eat until dinner. And that is totally dependent on how I’m feeling. Maybe I really am hungry and I’m scared to over eat. I honestly never had a food problem until this surgery. I could not lose weight after my 4th baby then I gained 30 pounds last year after a total hysterectomy and the extra 30 pounds was putting too much pressure on my fragile joints( I had a broken back and broke my ankle three times) after I left the military. So I felt like once I hit 227 it was time for a change. But I like to think I always was a practical eater, now I’m feeling obsessed with what I’m supposed to eat or how I’m supposed to feel. I just want to feel “normal”. But I just feel a lot discomfort now matter how much or little I eat. And the Crazy thing, I don’t know if the person posting about this has this too, my stomach growls at me after I eat. Never before. Idk what that is about.

2 minutes ago, KarrinnaP said:

My nutritionist told me to eat six small meals a day but I really can’t. I have a Protein Shake when I wake up and maybe get a third of it down, then I try to do an egg white scramble a few hours later, then for lunch I’ve been just sticking to Soups, then I may try and finish the Protein shake or have a sugar free pudding. Then I don’t eat until dinner. And that is totally dependent on how I’m feeling. Maybe I really am hungry and I’m scared to over eat. I honestly never had a food problem until this surgery. I could not lose weight after my 4th baby then I gained 30 pounds last year after a total hysterectomy and the extra 30 pounds was putting too much pressure on my fragile joints( I had a broken back and broke my ankle three times) after I left the military. So I felt like once I hit 227 it was time for a change. But I like to think I always was a practical eater, now I’m feeling obsessed with what I’m supposed to eat or how I’m supposed to feel. I just want to feel “normal”. But I just feel a lot discomfort now matter how much or little I eat. And the Crazy thing, I don’t know if the person posting about this has this too, my stomach growls at me after I eat. Never before. Idk what that is about.

13 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Idk if this helps but the NP told me that we are supposed to eat to prevent hunger rather than to eat when we are hungry. Since surgery I have been eating by the clock and it seems to work for me. Between three meals and two Snacks I eat a small portion every three hours and I know when I feel hungry between meals it must be head hunger cause I just ate.

Thank you by the way. I’m feeling like a head case lately.

4 minutes ago, KarrinnaP said:

My nutritionist told me to eat six small meals a day but I really can’t. I have a Protein Shake when I wake up and maybe get a third of it down, then I try to do an egg white scramble a few hours later, then for lunch I’ve been just sticking to Soups, then I may try and finish the Protein shake or have a sugar free pudding. Then I don’t eat until dinner. And that is totally dependent on how I’m feeling. Maybe I really am hungry and I’m scared to over eat. I honestly never had a food problem until this surgery. I could not lose weight after my 4th baby then I gained 30 pounds last year after a total hysterectomy and the extra 30 pounds was putting too much pressure on my fragile joints( I had a broken back and broke my ankle three times) after I left the military. So I felt like once I hit 227 it was time for a change. But I like to think I always was a practical eater, now I’m feeling obsessed with what I’m supposed to eat or how I’m supposed to feel. I just want to feel “normal”. But I just feel a lot discomfort now matter how much or little I eat. And the Crazy thing, I don’t know if the person posting about this has this too, my stomach growls at me after I eat. Never before. Idk what that is about.

My stomach growls after I eat as well. I think it’s digesting and maybe because it’s smaller we hear it more. I honestly don’t know either for certain. Sometimes it’s really loud too.