I am posting on behalf of a friend, who is six months out from being banded and has gained 5kg (11lbs) since she started out. She did all her research before going ahead with banding and was assured that after her surgery she would not feel any hunger in the early days and that fills would eventually kick in when the hunger returned. Within hours after her surgery she experienced hunger pangs (I have never heard of others that I know experiencing this) and this is something that has stayed with her constantly. In her words she feels like she is 'starving all the time"She has all but given up hope that it will ever work for her because she is constantly thinking about food. She has had weekly fills since the beginning of the year and 2 unfills. Currently she has 10.035cc in her band and can eat anything - bread sandwiches, steak, salads etc without difficulty - in fact she can eat a meal in 10 minutes and an hour later the head hunger is back and she is looking for food again. But if she drinks too quickly, liquids will come back up - but not the food. 10.1ccs (which is only 0.065ccs more, is too tight and she is unable to swallow liquids. She said that before her weight loss surgery she used to fast, but even then, she has never experienced the all consuming hunger and obsession with food that she has now. She is at a loss as to what to do now........ she understands that the band is a tool, but she has never felt like she has come near to the sweet spot and doesn't believe she will ever find it. Here's hoping that someone may have had a similar experience and can share their experience.

Marion

"in fact she can eat a meal in 10 minutes and an hour later the head hunger is back and she is looking for food again"

This points to head hunger issues to me rather than actual true hunger. If she believes that she could fast better before the band, perhaps she should get it unfilled and see if that works better for her? The band can really only control the amount of solid foods we eat at a sitting. If we go back to food after an hour, chances are we'll be able to fill up our pouch again, but chances are also it's not true hunger sending us to the table.

I can kind of understand the hunger pangs after surgery. I didn't have any, but by the time I got the chicken broth and Water they gave me, I hadn't had anything for about 18 hours.

She may need to get some serious psychological help as well.

Thanks for your thoughts Sarah

The thing is - head hunger feels like real hunger if you are banded AND there is no restriction at all. My own band has been removed because of complications and all my pre band behaviours have returned with a vengeance. Some of my banded friends (very successful with their weight loss) also exhibit the same behaviours if they lose their fill even marginally. I used to fast occasionally too - because after a day, the desire for food left me, but as soon as I started eating it didn't take long before - whammo - out of control again! My friend got tired of fasting and was hoping to find that banding would suppress her appetite and assist with weight loss, like it has for thousands of successful bandsters. As for psychological help - she never had any issues that most of us haven't had, that is until she realised that her journey since being banded was an up hill battle. Right now she is feeling very depressed because she has spent a huge amount of money and gained 11lbs. She plans to have it investigated more thoroughly soon.

Marion

I'm currently unfilled. I totally get what you mean about having to struggle against head hunger. In my experience if I know my body doesn't "need food", I try to find something else to occupy my hands and my mind. Stitchwork, or drawing, or a game, or something.

I also thought the band would fix all my eating issues. I think that if I had the band loosened, all the fast eating and overeating (and non-physical hunger eating) would come back. I want to believe that I and everyone else are changing our way of life and learning how to eat to live. I guess you have to work on it one step at a time. I am trying to add exercise into my life everyday in small ways. I park on the top floor of my garage at work and walk up 3 flights of stairs to get the car. I am leaving the kitchen after dinner cleanup. I am taking on hobbies so I can keep busy and not eat out of boredom or whatever drives me to eat. Small steps.