I am 5 days post op. and I am having a hard time distinguishing the difference between hunger pains & surgery pain. I was laying in bed last night and my stomach started cramping really bad. I thought it was related to the surgery untill I realized...I was hungry! :confused:My stomach was growling & rumbling.:smile:

Has anyone experienced this? I am on mushies now, and eating every hour or so. Any advice?

Uh ME! I had my surgery yesterday and was hungry last night!

I'm STILL hungry. It's not head hunger either. it's my body saying "Hello we haven't had food since noon on thursday. Are you insane? FEED ME" I tell it "You have the band" and it says "But I can't eat that!" It's gonna be a looong 2 weeks I refuse to "cheat" but man, I am going to be one mean woman before this is over!

i was banded on thursday and my stomach is growling as well, but i'm not hungry, in fact i've only had water a little k2o and about 1/3 of pudding so far and i'm fine, i'm sure tomorrow i'll need to try and get on more of an eatin schedule but for now i haven't been hungry... maybe i'm lucky

I wish I got pudding! I don't get mushies until week 3!

I was told we wouldn't be hungry for several days because of the band placement and so on, but no. I'm hungry. I could eat a cow.

Of course I feel really good....recovered quickly etc. That's probably part of it. But I will just have my clear fluids at least till weds. maybe then he'll clear me for a protein drink or something.

my liquid includes pudding, jello, cream of wheat, along with all of your liquids, but so far i havn't taken much advantage of all that i can have, and i'm onto mushies after one week

I can have jello, grits, oatmeal, & pudding.

I'd be jealous if I weren't weak with hunger LOL

Those are our "mushies" I don't get them until week 3. Week 1 is only clear liquids (broth..it's not clear! but still) week 2 is clear liquids and protein shakes Week 3 starts mushies. I can hang on till mushies....i can hang on till mushies.... i can hang on....

I have to say, this past month has been the first time in a really long time that I have felt actual hunger. I am always surprised to hear my tummy rumble and roll! I have made a point of waiting to feel some hunger before I try to eat. The head hunger is what gets me!

You will get through the liquid stage, it is tough, especially if you were doing a liquid diet before surgery. Just stick with it and you will move to mushies and then soft textures, quick enough. Make sure you are getting some Protein in, that will help with the hunger. The New Whey bullets are good as well as the unjury unflavored Protein Powder.

Hang tough, remember that this is a short part of this journey and you will be eating soon enough - right now you don't have to make too many choices, so it is easy to stay on track!

Good Luck!

Refried Beans pureed and thined out with milk really helps with the hunger

I never thought in my life I'd be so excited about refried beans LOL

I don't get mushies till week 3 but then, watch out!

Isopure protien drink helped me a lot. I haven't had problems with hunger, so far my problem has been the lack of hunger, and getting enough protien. It seems to satisfy me.

I was banded on Thursday as well and right now the sound of refried bean thinned out and cream of wheat is awesome!

My doc has me on Jello, pudding, yogurt, Protein shakes and Water. But I am still hungry, even with eating about every 1-2 hours.

I think that I will try the options suggested. As long as it is thin, it will not hurt the stomach or the band. And if I can have yogurt, why not cream of wheat???

On post op day 4, I also couldn't distinguish between the pain from banding vs hunger pains. I at 3-4 tbsp of Mac Grill's chicken tuscano soup (broth only) and my hunger pains went away! I'm now 10 days out from my banding and have lost 12 pounds since starting the protein shakes on Aug 5th. I'm pretty happy so far.

I'm with you. I was banded on 8/14/08 and I'm starving. I can now finally eat food but it is a totally new experience. I'm due to have a fill tomorrow.

So...I started allowing myself to have things that are a little creamy - cream of wheat, cream Soups (very little due to calories). Then I got a little adventurous and moved to mashed potatoes and blended soup (like chicken noodle thrown in a blender so it is consistency of baby food).

I feel like I am moving up the timetable, I am not supposed to start baby food consistency until I see the doc on Monday 9/8, but I am hungry, and I haven't experienced any problems at all! The food fills me up and keeps me full for at least 2 hours so I am pretty much eating 3 very small meals a day and getting in my Water, etc.

So, should I tell my doc that I sped up his plan? Or, should I act like I was completely faithful on his yogurt and Protein drink diet?

I am still losing weight at a consistent pace so it is not like I am taking in too many calories.

What do you think?