NoBsVs

I feel your pain, except I am only 2 1/2 months out and I can tolerate everything I could before the surgery plus take in about a cup and a half of food per meal. Once I figured out that my stomach could tolerate everything without getting sick, the head hunger and cravings came back like I'd been hit by a freight train. I went from losing weight consistently with almost no effort to every day being a struggle filled with near crippling depression. I'm supposed to be back on a liquid fast right now, but that's not working out very well. It's feeling pretty close to like I never had the surgery at all, which ticks me off because I paid cash. I have two relatives who had the surgery done, and up to 6 months out they got sick whenever they ate anything they weren't supposed to. Even now, 3 years out, they can both only handle about 1/2 a cup of food per meal. To be honest, I feel pretty ripped off. I realize that eventually it was supposed to get to this point, or close to it, but not anywhere near this soon. It sucks that we put ourselves through this yet still end up fighting and suffering. Apologies for going off on a rant. This is some frustrating stuff.

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, because I actually was an emotional eater(I realize that's not lucky either). Pre-surgery, I rarely experienced real physical hunger. It wasn't unusual for me to eat one meal a day(albeit a huge one). Head hunger was my biggest issue. Whenever I get stressed out now, it's torturous because I have no outlet. I can't get my high from food, and I can't sleep off my depression with a nice carb crash. I'm actually considering going to counseling to try to find some other way to distract myself when I'm upset. I don't want to turn to shopping because I burn through sizes too quickly. And exercise won't work because it doesn't distract my mind. Getting back on track with the topic though, I talked to the PA at my surgeon's office about my overeating, and she said not to worry about it. My diet is about 95% protein at this point, so she says that overeating won't hurt me. It's nearly impossible to stretch your sleeve in the beginning, and most people have issues with overeating for the first two months.

@@Hisbrowneyedgirl To be honest, I'll probably switch even if he says no. My body has decided it doesn't like swallowing the capsules anymore.

@@Hisbrowneyedgirl My surgeon told me horror stories about people taking the wrong OTC Vitamins. Someone else on here said they were taking Flinstone's Children's Chewables with Iron. I love those, so I'm going to ask my surgeon tomorrow if I can start taking those instead. I'm sure he'll say no, but it never hurts to try. I'm taking Bariatric Advantage right now. The chewables quickly became unbearably nasty to me, and the capsules are like taking horse pills. Definitely not something I would ever want to voluntarily take, but man if you heard some of those horror stories. lol

@@Hisbrowneyedgirl Because I take special Bariatric vitamins, biotin, Amino Complex(which is about $30 a month on its own), and calcium. It all adds up.

I wish I would have been told that post-op is super expensive if you are private pay and don't have decent insurance. I'm not talking about the surgery itself. Vitamins and supplements run me about $60/mnth, and my blood tests cost a little under $900 on average. That's a lot to factor into costs that I didn't take into consideration before the surgery.

Breakfast this morning was 1/3rd of an Isopure shake. lunch was 1/2 cup of low-fat egg salad. (I probably should have only had 1/4 cup) dinner was a Louis Kemp crab leg and a slice of reduced fat Provolone. I'm 5 1/2 weeks post-op, by the way.

There's a lot more to "hunger" than just ghrelin. Many of us didn't get to be morbidly obese by just eating when we were physically hungry. There was a HUGE psychological and emotional component as well. As people on these forums often say, they perform surgery on our stomachs, not our brains. Post-op, even if you are physically incapable of eating your favorite foods, you still WANT them. You still wish you could turn to food for comfort. You still smell something delicious and want to eat it. That doesn't just go away like some magical switch is flipped. On top of that, it's a whole learning process about the physical limitations of your new stomach as well. Even if you somehow, miraculously, aren't "hungry" anymore post-op, you still need to eat to live. You still need to get all your protein in. And sometimes it's hard to judge what and how much you can safely eat and not have physical consequences like pain, gas, vomiting, etc. You are like a baby learning to eat for the first time all over again and you will make mistakes and you WILL overeat a few times. You will eat too quickly. You will eat too much. You will eat things that your stomach just doesn't like one day, but is perfectly fine with the next. It will be a lot of trial and error until you learn all about your new stomach. This could not have been worded better. I think I've felt physical hunger once since the surgery. Generally, I don't get hungry. Going back to a day of only liquids after I ate something too spicy showed me that. I had no issues going from 400 calories to 0 calories. The urge to eat bad things is definitely still there though. I crave things I know I can't have. And when I am stressed out or depressed, the desire to eat is still there. It's not hunger at all. It's habit. Unhealthy habits that I built up over years of creating self-destructive coping mechanisms. The restrictions from the surgery are supposed to help retrain you. Even if you want to do those bad things anymore, you can't. Going out to a restaurant to use food for comfort would be a complete waste. For one because ordering what I'd want to would make me sick. And for two because what's the point when you can only eat a tiny fraction of what you could before. I think that after the surgery, you have to relearn a whole lot of things. Eating is a big part of it. You can eat too fast. Eat too much. If you're early out and the nerves in your stomach haven't regained feeling yet, it's really hard to tell when enough is enough. And beyond that, you need to relearn how to cope emotionally with your relationship with food. Prior to the surgery, food was a friend. It comforted us. We got that high from too much sugar. We could sleep off life's problems for a little while after a carb crash. That doesn't exist post surgery. Food isn't an enemy, but it can't be there for you anymore to help you through the hard times. You have to learn to turn to something else, and that has been extremely difficult for me. As far as hunger in relation to eating, since I don't physically get hungry anymore, I schedule my meals. Just because you're not hungry doesn't mean that you can't eat. You need calories for energy. And you need to get adequate protein to combat hair loss, which is super common from the surgery. Plus, it helps build muscle, which will make you lose fat faster. I've never thrown up either. I get the same feeling as JamieLogical. And believe me, there have been several times that I have prayed to the sleeve Gods that I could throw up because I literally thought I was going to explode. On a non-related note, not all spicy foods are created equal. I accidentally had a bit of jalapeno during my liquid stage and my stomach was perfectly fine. I've had peppers since then and been fine. A few days ago I had buffalo chicken with sriracha sauce, and my stomach was in pain for two whole days. I called the surgeon, and she confirmed that pain from eathing something you're not supposed to can last for up to 3 days. If it's something spicy, you might want to back off to liquids for a day to give your stomach time to recover. Just an extra tidbit. This was supposed to be a multiquote post, but I screwed it up, so you get it all at once. :-p

@@LipstickLady I could start eating solids at 2 weeks out. Basically anything my stomach would tolerate. There isn't much I haven't had at this point(in the realm of things I'm allowed).

Yeah. I am currently in I-think-I-have-a-leak-mode. I overate yesterday . . . by a lot. Two one cup servings of vegetables and chicken. Had a cup for lunch, which made me full. Then the second cup for dinner, which has had my sleeve hurting ever since. I never got a fever or the urge to throw up. Just pain all the way down my sleeve. I'm on liquids today, hoping I'll feel better within the next two days. Three days seems to be the magic number for stomach pain going away.

I've noticed this too. After surgery, my surgeon said that if you go out to eat, try to eat off of the lite menu or kids menu. I have yet to go to a restaurant that had anything healthy on their kids menu. As you said, it's all burgers, fried chicken fingers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and carb loaded mac and cheese. No wonder there's a child obesity problem in America. Unless you're cooking for them at home, you're basically shoveling fat down their gullets no matter where you eat. @@LipstickLady I'm 4 1/2 weeks out. For the most part, I've gotten the over-eating thing under control, and despite eating a few things I probably shouldn't have, I've managed to lose 3lbs this past week.

@@JamieLogical I have noticed that a lot of surgeons put forth different diet requirements for their sleeve patients. My surgeon is very adamant about following a low-fat diet. He recommends fat free and low fat versions of everything. It's even in the book that he gave me post-surgery, stating that high fat foods make you lose at a dramatically slower rate. To be honest, I think a lot of what we're told is just scare tactics to keep us on a healthier path. I'm like you in thinking that I'd rather have full fat versions of things(at least pre-op), because when they strip the fat out, they strip the nutrients out and also add in stuff that's not really good for the body. I want to try to follow my surgeons directions, but it is difficult when you eat out a lot, as I tend to do. Of course, cooking for yourself is always the best option, but not all of us want to make the time for that. And I do realize that's a choice. Somehow, someway, we can all make time for cooking and exercise. Anything else is just an excuse. And the habit of making excuses for such things is hard to break, especially when you've been doing it for 20+ years.

@@proudgrammy Now that the sushimi is out of my fridge, I've gotten the over eating back under control. Now my issue is eating things I probably shouldn't (spicy foods, full-fat versions of foods(though still low carb), and quite a bit of fruit), plus snacking occasionally(not on anything too unhealthy, unless you consider pickled okra and cantaloupe unhealthy). I had a tortilla chip for the first time today. Just one with some salsa. This was after I'd gotten all of my Protein in. My stomach didn't seem too happy with it, so I'm going to keep avoiding them. As far as support groups go, we only have one that meets once a month here. I really think they should be meeting once a week, but I obviously have no control over that. I attended the first one right after surgery, and I plan on continuing to attend them. Hopefully, that will help me get back on track as well.

Glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I was diagnosed with ovarian cysts a while back, and since the surgery, I'm pretty sure they've returned with a vengeance. Every other day, my ovaries feel like they're rioting inside of my body with little pitch forks. It's definitely something I plan on discussing with my surgeon once I see him again.

I LOVE Flintstones vitamins. I think I might talk to my surgeon and see if he'll approve them for me, because I absolutely loathe the bariatric vitamin I'm currently taking. It's called Bariatric Advantage and it's fruit punch flavored. They're huge, and every time I eat one, I just want to vomit.