Violet S.

I am one of the ones struggling with hunger. My surgery was mid-July and I have been in starvation mode since day 1. It can happen and is difficult to deal with. A lot of us that have this problem think that something went wrong with the surgery but it's not. I've been reading a lot on the net and it does happen. Are you getting sick when the hunger pain sets in? The best thing I found is to eat all the time. I literally eat a small something every hour. I have to have little candies in my purse if I'm out and about and the sensation sets in cause then I have to suck on a candy to stop myself from getting sick. As long as I get something in my stomach, I feel ok. No amount of Water or Protein drinks helps me and sugar free anything just makes me more nauseated. I don't have diabetes or anything like that but the sugar from a candy helps me feel better. I've even started mixing vanilla Protein powder with orange juice and that sustains me a lot longer then protein and water. I know you're on the liquid part now so eating is more difficult, but try regular Jello instead of sugar free, see if that can help sustain you a little longer. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips everyone. I am pretty much trying a lot of these things already. My Protein is very limited as I'm lactose intolerant and even most of the shakes that say "isolate" on them still have milk Proteins in them and it makes me have to run for the bathroom and I have to be careful cause I have ulcerative colitis as well and lactose can trigger my symptoms. I use nectar brand Protein drinks but they are getting boring. I have four different flavors and I'm over them yet when I try a different brand I react to the ingredients so I keep trying to get the ones I have in. As for a stricture, I'm not 100% sure I know what that is and after googling it, I don't think that's me, cause I the only symptom I have is throwing up and I'm getting certain foods down, but not others. My docs were super concerned at my one month post op but not so much now since I'm consuming food now, where as before I couldn't get anything down and I was literally starving to death. Now I'm just hungry every hour and if I don't eat right away I get sick. After googling that a few weeks ago, it seems to be a common complaint amongst people with complications. Part of the reason I'm so angry about this surgery is that I'm hungry all the time. I have a top notch surgeon in my state and in none of the seminars I was required to attend was this side effect mentioned when it's more common than you think it would be. I've always been told, you wont be hungry and I was starving from day 1. As for the acid, I'm on Pantoprazole and it only works half the day. Docs told me to take it twice but my risks for CDiff infection jumps thru the roof and if you don't know what CDiff is then you're lucky. I've had it multiple time due to my ulcerative colitis and even had it the day I was released after my surgery no thanks to antibiotics I had taken 3 weeks prior to my surgery due to a cat bite. Lowering the acid in my stomach means less acid to my intestines which can cause the toxin to grow. So I'm trying really hard to limit the amount of antacids I take and it's rough at night. I know... just take the med right, however, with my history of bowel issues, I'm not trying to give myself any reason to get hospitalized anytime soon. I appreciate people saying it'll get better. I'm really struggling with being happy with this. I'm seriously getting pissy when people ask me how I'm doing and how much weight have I lost. I want to scream that I hate this and I'm miserable, but instead I just say "I'm fine, I've lost 30 lbs" and I try to change the subject. I know I'm super touchy right now and usually I'm pretty patient and mellow and willing to share whatever, but I think lack of being able to take my "happy pills" due to it making me sick and always being hungry has me extra pissy these days. Not to mention, I feel like my kids are on the worlds longest summer break and are driving me up a wall. I work from home and they are home so I'm with them all day every day except for every other weekend and I'm ready to explode. School starts the 9th here!!! I'm gonna need a looney bin soon! Ugh. Anyhow, thanks again... any suggestions on Snacks? no to pudding and applesauce and things like that. I'm so over eating out of my fridge with a spoon.

Hi All, So I bawled my eyes out today for the first time since I did this surgery a little over 6 weeks ago. I feel like I am living in a walking nightmare and the only person that can relate is constantly telling me how great she feels and what her experience has been like and I'm just getting madder and madder that my dream is turning out horribly. I love my friend to death, but I seriously don't want to hear it anymore, which brought me googling support groups and of course brought me here. Like I said, I'm 6.5 weeks post op and I'm miserable. It gets a little easier to eat each day but I'm so tired of throwing up. I'm tired of constantly being hungry. I hate eating every hour and if I don't, I get sick. I have been starving since I opened my eyes after the surgery. My docs looked at me like I was insane when I told them I had that sensation while I was still in the hospital. I was throwing up every half hour for the first 24 hours and ended up having to stay an extra night cause I couldn't even get Water down. I now have to suck on candies like peppermint to curb the starving sensation. I started being able to tolerate solid food like two weeks ago but it's limited. Was able to eat chicken at first, now everytime, I throw up within 5 minutes of starting to eat it, so no more chicken. I basically eat string cheese all day or crackers. Protein shakes only sustain me for a little bit and then I'm back to starving again. My weight loss at first was 29 lbs in 3 weeks. I've only dropped 3 lbs since and it fluctuates. One day I'm down, next day I'm up. At first I stalled at the same weight for 10 days. Doc's sent me to get IV fluids and gave me a B12 injection. Said I was in starvation mode and my body shut down. I am better now and eating way more, but still no loss. I am to the point where I'm not even excited about this anymore. I'm hungry, sick to my stomach and seeing very little as a reward. I'm seriously thinking I made a huge mistake even though I've been wanting this for over a decade but until this last Feb, my insurance wouldn't cover it. I wish I could just wake up and have a good day. Just needing encouragement right now cause my breakdown today was too much for me right now. Thanks in advance!