Does Gastric Sleeve Surgery Help With Hunger ?

[carbgrl 119]

Does the sleeve REALLY help with hunger because of the hormone thing?

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Hi again! Yes absolutely positively, it has slayed the hunger dragon for me. When I was banded I had the worst feeling in the world where after only 2 bites I'd be sickly full. BUT...I'd still feel hunger pangs... yes real hunger pangs - growling stomach. Not head hunger, I know the difference for sure. Especially now that I never feel physical hunger but extremely rarely. It's usually because I ate something carb heavy in my last meal and once its burned off I'll get hunger pangs. But, if I stick to the Protein first rule and make sure I don't drink anything for about 45 minutes after eating, I really don't feel hungry. I have to remember to eat... how amazing is that???

[PdxMan 4,292]

I didn't have a revision, but as far as hunger post sleeve goes, it truly is amazing. I was the worst snack-monster you could ever find. After eating a huge stir-fry plate, an hour later, I was eating 20 crackers and cheese and then a Peanut Butter sandwich and then ... Now, after dinner (a medium tuna salad), I may have something of a snack, but that is mainly to try to get enough calories in. It is not my mind or body telling me, "FEED ME!!". It may be 3 crackers and cheese, or 1/4 of an apple. I still get hungry, but it is a different hunger ... a good hunger. As my surgeon explained to me, the body will learn the new signals in absence of the gherlin, but it will take some time to learn them.

[carbgrl 119]

Thanks. With the band even though I couldn't physically eat I still felt hungry all the time. Everything (chicken, veggies, salad, most meat ) made me sick so, I guess I started gravitating toward slider food because that's about all I could eat.

[*susan* 1,709]

At 2 1/2 years out, I don't honestly think I can say I have once experienced actual hunger pains. I hadn't really given that much thought, but I haven't. Oh, I have had head hunger, and given in to it, but in terms of actual physical hunger, I just don't experience it anymore.

[LVbigmom 19]

Yes, the removal of Ghrelin hormone really does work. It does not bother me when coworkers are eating Subway, pizza, McDonalds, etc. I definitely have more will power not to give into temptation.

[Lissa 2,631]

I'm 4 months post op and I've only felt mild hunger a few times. Usually, it's because I haven't eaten anything during that day and my hunger hits several hours after lunch time. Then I know it's time to eat that Protein Bar I carry in my purse.

[MegInNOLA 531]

I do feel hunger, but it's different--it's less a physical sensation and more a sense of irritation and/or "being at the end of my rope." I never had "head hunger" issues, and now I really don't have physical hunger issues, either. I can just tell from my mood and mental fuzziness that it's time to eat.

The sensation of fullness is radically different now, too. It comes VERY quickly. If I get truly full, I get the sensation that food won't go all the way down--ick! I tend to undereat my sleeve to prevent that icky "too-full" feeling.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

HELP

i said the below in a different forum, but i'm gonna say it hear if you missed it:

i read all the boards saying above, that you don't feel hungry etc. I'm just afraid that won't be the case with me as with you guys.

To reassure me - tell me i'm wrong - it sounds like everyone else feels it, the sleeve is great etc. thats all i hear, i'm just concerned cuz i'm so early in the game. Less than 2 wks post op - liquid diet. i'm worrying over nothing, right?

like i said, need a little reassurance that the sleeve will work for me too (i know i have to work with it completely too) i don't want to be the lone ranger.

kathy

[thebionicbroad 127]

I'm two weeks post-op and on mushies and full liquids. I forget to eat. Will this change after the stomach heals? I don't know. All I do know is that this is 1,000% better than the Band.

[DebiC 181]

Like Meg I get more of an irritable type thing. Not really hunger, but I can tell when it's been about 4 hours since my last meal. 6 weeks out and my doctor is one who stresses 3 meals and no Snacks. I have no desire to eat between meals and if I try to eat before 4 hours have gone by, it is uncomfortable. Still having to deal with the head hunger tho. Seeing something that looks good, or more often feeling full, but still seeing a few more delicious bites on my plate.

[M2G 1,836]

I am also not a revision, but I'm 14 months post-op and my hubby is 10 months post-op and neither of us ever experience true hunger. But I want to say that there is no 100% guarantee that YOU will lose your hunger. I know of a couple (in real life) sleevers who have not lost their hunger and I'm sure there are some on this board. I don't know what the percentage is but be aware that you may not lose your hunger.

That being said, I think that having no hunger is the best gift of my sleeve. I wish I could "gift" it to anyone who wanted to experience life with no hunger. It is simply amazing!!!

[kimmr 5]

This is a very intersting topic for me. Through this whole WLS journey, I've come to realize that I experience hunger differently from a 'normal' peson. This has never really occured to me...why? I have no idea. Of course I experience hunger differently from everyone else, othewise I wouldn't be 100 lbs overweight (I'm not that far overweight right now, but that's where I was when I started w/ the band).

So, before I was banded, if I didn't eat when my stomach started growling (ok, I could put it off for a few minutes...maybe 10 or 20), I would get weak. Literally, I would feel like I might pass out. If I bent over and stood back up, my vision would be black for a a couple of seconds. Also, my hands would shake. That was normal to me, that's how I've been my entire life. I thought it was how a person experienced hunger. Naturally, I've stuggled with my weight my entire life.

So when I got banded, that went away. It was bliss. Prior to banding, I struggled timing my being hungry with meal times that I want to have with my family. If I was hungry, I ate (cause the weakness crap sucks, and it's hard to work through that), but then it would be dinner time an hour later, and I don't want to miss out on that, so I'd eat again. With the band, if I was absolutely starving (a whole different type of starving), and it was an hour before dinner, I could literally eat 1 or 2 bites of something, and that would fend off the weakness crap. THEN, I could eat a bigger meal at dinner time, end up being full, and then I was happy.

Now that my band is mostlly empty, the weak/shaky feeling is back. If my stomach starts growling, and I don't do anything about it (my coworkers can hear my stomach growl....is that normal?) quickly, I'll start getting shaky and lightheaded. So, of course I'm gaining. In today's world, if I'm starving an hour before dinner time, 1 or 2 bites WILL NOT tide me over, I need to eat a decent amount. So I do, then eat dinner later. Just like the old times.

Mornings are particularly bad for me. I eat a Breakfast at home at maybe 6:40, come to work, stomach starts growling at 8:00-8:30, so I have a second Breakfast. By 10:45 I'm starving for lunch, so I eat lunch early, maybe 11:00-11:15. I do better in the afternoons, I don't start growling until maybe 2 or 3. But for some reason, I'm need to eat 3 times in 4 hours in the mornings.

Anyway, if the sleeve actually takes away hunger, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I felt hunger with the band, for sure, but I could squash it with a couple of bites. Now, it takes significantly more for me to not be hungry any more.

Thoughts?