Hello all,

I am 12 days post-op and everything went well with my surgery. I had a gastric bypass (lapband to gastric bypass revision to be precise). I am now on full liquids, but am not experiencing ANY feeling of constriction. I am so worried. Is this normal during the food stage I'm in? Now, I haven't tried chugging water or anything like that, but when drinking broth or smoothies, etc., I feel no constriction.

On another note, I am experiencing what I think is "head hunger". I see advertisements for food and think that I want the food. However, I am pretty sure I do not feel any real hunger. How can I tell the difference?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hey! I didn’t have bypass. I was sleeved. But I wouldn’t try to chug anything ever. Small sips/regular sip is what I always do.
I’m not sure if bypass pt feel restriction. But I will tell you head hunger is a real thing. I’d turn the channel when you see something that temps you or distract yourself with some type of activity, book, go for a walk etc
Learning how to do that is important I think. At least it was for me. Figuring out whether I just want something as opposed to actually hungry for it. Good luck to you! This app/forum I’ve found to be super helpful since my sleeve 3 years ago.

Just now, Kris77 said:

Hey! I didn’t have bypass. I was sleeved. But I wouldn’t try to chug anything ever. Small sips/regular sip is what I always do.
I’m not sure if bypass pt feel restriction. But I will tell you head hunger is a real thing. I’d turn the channel when you see something that temps you or distract yourself with some type of activity, book, go for a walk etc
Learning how to do that is important I think. At least it was for me. Figuring out whether I just want something as opposed to actually hungry for it. Good luck to you! This app/forum I’ve found to be super helpful since my sleeve 3 years ago.

Thank you @Kriss77! I hope I am able to distinguish between head hunger and real hunger as time goes on. Good luck to you as well!

Are there any gastric bypass patients out there who can talk about when I should start to feel restriction?

you're not likely to feel restriction until you get to the solid food stage. Liquids go right through you - and purees, although slower to move through, still go through pretty fast. Solid food sits there for awhile, though - so you should feel the restriction then.

30 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

you're not likely to feel restriction until you get to the solid food stage. liquids go right through you - and purees, although slower to move through, still go through pretty fast. Solid food sits there for awhile, though - so you should feel the restriction then.

thank you, @catwoman7!

Also, some solid foods "sit" longer than others. Ground meat just sits in my belly forever, but lunch meat just slides right through. It's so weird.

Learn what your body's new "full" signal is like (for me, I start to get the burps and a feeling like someone is pulling a rubber band across my chest) and then stop one bite earlier.

As catwoman7 said, you will feel restriction when you get to the solid food stage. The more dense it is the less you can eat. I'm 3 yrs out and I still get my runny nose signal if I have one bite too much! That's why it's more important to follow your teams guidelines on how much to eat at certain stages. You will know if you eat too much...don't try to find out, it's not worth it! You get the "foamies" and wish you could throw it all up! As far as head hunger, yes it's a real thing! I think it gets easier. I didn't feel physical hunger for about a month and then it came back. Although I don't feel it often, I do feel it sometimes. I sometimes have to remind myself to eat because if I wait until I feel hungry that might not happen.

Congratulations on your surgery! I wish you much success!

Yeah I didnt feel any constriction at first either. It took maybe after a month, dont worry.

Also yeah I remember head hunger still being there after surgery, kept thinking about junk food which worried me....But thats only because your head needs to catch up with its stomach. Honestly youre fine, everything is part of the journey.