weird hunger pains

[katyana 1]

Hello all,

I got banded last Thursday (9/1), and in the last day or so, I have been starting to feel hunger pains. I know that's not abnormal in and of itself, but they are *really* weird hunger pains.

Basically, I start to feel a little hungry - generally 2-3 hours after I last ate - and if I don't eat something in the next 20-30 min after that starts, it progresses really rapidly to extreme hunger that is verging on nausea... that then becomes heartburning and crampy. A couple bites of Soup or yogurt... maybe an ounce or 2 (still on the liquid diet) quiets it up really quickly, but the extremity of my reaction is concerning me. That was never how I was before banding... I was the person who would go all day without eating and then binge eat like crazy after work. Now on the one hand, that's a habit I have been working hard to change, but... feeling physically sick every time I start getting hungry is a bit extreme. Is that normal? Should I be concerned?

[BaileyRose 13]

I'm 5 weeks out and I still get nauseated if I don't eat when I'm hungry. And in the beginning my hunger pains were intense! My doctor said to think of it like I have the stomach of a newborn. When babies get hungry they cry because their hunger is so intense. And just like a baby we start with fluids then slowly progress to solids. I never thought of it like that.

[cheryl2586 3,053]

Its not uncommon to feel nausea when you hungry because your blood sugar has probably dropped tremendously. Dont wait until you get to that point eat before this happens

[katyana 1]

Whew! I feel better knowing that it is not abnormal, and the baby analogy makes a lot of sense. It was just shocking to me. Especially because I had thought that I would be able to go more than 2-3 hours between meals. Maybe that will be better as I am healing... right now, 4-6oz has me filled up, and I guess it doesn't last very long.

Thanks!!

[Jachut 487]

Early on hunger felt similar to that for me too - no longer an almost pleasant emptiness and rumbling (pleasant because satisfying it was just round the corner) but crampy and painful.

Nowadays (six years out), I will get mild hunger that feels like ordinary tummy growling, but if I dont eat and I get really hungry, I start to get really bad heartburn. Its the only time I get heartburn with my band. Once that's happened, eating can actually be unpleasant - acidy and painful, so I try to avoid it. Which, given I've always been a strict 3 meals, no Snacks kinda eater since banding, is not always easy, coz I do tend to go long periods without eating.

[katyana 1]

I have been trying to keep it to things like ... a Protein Shake or a glass of juice between meals. I'm not a big snacker either, but I have been snacking in the last couple days because the painful heartburn + nausea is just terrifying.

[SM73 0]

I got my band on 9/9, had intense hunger pain in the hospital and now at home! A bottle of Water and tea crustal lite with a few crackers has helped me. But they do keep me up at night!!! I hate it! Thought I wasn't supposed to feel hungry?