I am 6 days post op and I am nervous. I am starving. Half the time it is head hunger and half the time it isn't. It sucks. I hope that eventually I will have restriction, but if it takes a good 5 fills thats still another 6 months which means that yet again I am on a crappy diet that will fail.

I have never managed to use will power for 6 months to lose weight. I am scared that if I can't the the full feeling I am going to eat whatever, whenever.

The first 3 days were AMAZING! I was way tight. It took me over an hour to drink an 8 oz Carnation Instant Breakfast. I assume the sweeling around my stomach went down, and now this is how it will be for a while.

Am I the only paranoid one that feels like this right after surgery? I can't have soft food for another 8 days. I'm going to pull my hair out. :tongue2:

I am sorry you are frightened and frustrated. Remind yourself this is a marathon, not a sprint. This is the rest of your life. If you work the band correctly you will not fail. Hundreds of people before you have had to muscle through that postop time lasting several months where you relearn how to eat and you deal with hunger. You knew it before going in, yes?

Keep your chin up. You can do it. So many others have, who have the exact same hopes and food issues as you do. You can do it.

eta: I am three months postop and just now getting good restriction. That might sound like a long time, but look how much I have lost anyway as I get there....and its half the amount of time you named in your original post.

My doc gave me my first fill 10 days post op because I was starving. Maybe your doc will too.

You will survive this...and it goes soooo fast.

Good luck!

No, you're not alone. I was banded on the 11th and I am also starving. It doesn't seem as bad in the morning but the afternoon is terrible. I'm hoping that once we start some kind of solids that it will get better. I have an appointment on Thursday and I'm hoping that he will go ahead and advance me to pureeds. I'm like you though, I 'm worried that it will always feel this way.

I am the opposite; banded 2 weeks ago today and I barely have an appetite. Today all I had was a 4oz small curd cottage cheese with applesauce and for dinner a few teaspoons of a pureed bean soup I made. Need to have shake as I have no way had my required protein intake today. I am enjoying the 'not hungry' feeling as in the past could win any eating competition I am enbarassed to say!

I think that a lot of time it is just habit. I had my band placed in 2005. You never forget the urge and the want of food. The band is a tool. You have to re-train yourself to recognize hunger and want. It will get easier just hang in there. Make sure that you are taking in enough protein because that helped me with hunger.

I had my band in on 9/29/08 and I haven't reached my "sweet spot" yet, I've had two fills so far. I get full during my meals, but I am hungry every three hours. I just stocked up on healthy snacks and I have a snack ine between meals. String cheese, fat free pudding, a slim fast shake etc... Once you get past the initial restrictions, you will find that you will have your three meals and a small healthy snack in between and the hunger pains will be minimal (at least they have been so far). I also find that if I drink plenty of water, I stay full between meals as well.

On another note, it's been five months for me, I am down over 60 pounds, and my doctor has already reduced my high blood pressure medications and will soon be reducing them again.

You will get the hang of things, During post op, I drank alot of tea sweetened with Equal and that helped.

Hang in there and know your not alone.