I Feel Like I Am Starving Myself...

[lilly11781 29]

I am currently 5 days post-op and I feel like I am starving myself. I have been on the liquid diet and drinking Decaf tea in the morning and Isopure pretty much all day long. Isopure is a high Protein juice drink 40gms of protein for 20 oz. I can get down about 12 oz. of Tomato Soup which is the best meal of the day. I never really feel full all day except for the Tomato Soup. This diet doesn't leave me with a lot of energy for the day and even getting a shower whips me out. I tried a slim fast yesterday but it didn't stay down. I was thinking about trying it again today but other than that I don't know what to have. Any suggestions?

[LeaveItToSleever 80]

I am also 5 days out, and I know why you feel this way: because you ARE starving! Me too!

I thought the hunger would go away. I am ravenous. Of course, eating is not possible, so that explains the dramatic weight loss.

So here I am, slowly sipping yet another chocolate Protein Shake (boy doesn't that get old fast) and dreaming of a philly cheese steak sub. I've never been so hungry in my life. I'm trying to stay focused on why I'm doing this!

[prettysleeved1 173]

It gets better. I never really felt like I was starving but I did experience the weakness. I'm 2 weeks out now and I would suggest getting up as much as you can and walking so that you gradually build up your endurance. This past Saturday, I was able to walk around the mall for a while, walk around the grocery store and even run some other small errands.

One of the things that helped me (I believe) is that I passed up lower Protein content drinks for higher ones.

It'll be over before you know it (as I sit here savoring an egg white).

[MinaT 669]

You are not starving. You are just coming down from the medications, the anesthesia, and the grumbling and stomach pains you are feeling are mostly the stomach producing the acid, which you will feel because the insides of your stomach are completely swollen as is the outside of your stomach. After surgery a lot of your system does go to sleep, your kidneys, your intestines, so does the acid producing hormone. Now it's starting up not sure what to do with itself.

When you cut your finger, it throbs and you can feel it. Your entire stomach was cut and a lot of the hunger pains you are feeling are healing pains too.

You are experiencing a lot of head hunger. You will notice once you get to full shakes (as opposed to isopure) you will feel that full feeling sooner and again once you get to real food, that only a few teaspoons will fill you up at first.

You are tired and weak because of the surgery. Between day 6-9 many people get a bit depressed too, that's normal as your body starts converting fat to energy (instead of using up the carbs you normally eat) that the fat has trapped hormones and it could make you a bit moody or sad. If you know what is happening to your body it will make it easier to deal with.

I promise you though, it gets better every day. I had some tough days in there about week 3 & 4, because I didn't like my shakes, but it gets better.

Sip, rest and walk is your best bet and let your body heal. I was still in the hospital day 5 and I took naps daily and my stomach did all weird types of things, like fluttered, I felt waves, twists and turns, but realized it was just healing it wasn't actual hunger pains.

Good luck to you all.

[Ijam75 102]

Keep up the good work.

As the others said, it really does get better. As the pounds start to shed and your food choices increase, you will become yourself, if not better, again. Isopure is nasty, but I forced that down too. While I never ever felt hungry until about week 4, my mind grew very sick of the broths and Soups. To fight this I must have hit 5 different stores looking for ideas.

Tip- hit the Soup and organic sections of the stores for ideas, then run like heck to the checkout. Wandering around the grocery store is like planting a mental ninja in ur brain.

[NCsleever63 53]

You are not starving. You are just coming down from the medications, the anesthesia, and the grumbling and stomach pains you are feeling are mostly the stomach producing the acid, which you will feel because the insides of your stomach are completely swollen as is the outside of your stomach. After surgery a lot of your system does go to sleep, your kidneys, your intestines, so does the acid producing hormone. Now it's starting up not sure what to do with itself.

When you cut your finger, it throbs and you can feel it. Your entire stomach was cut and a lot of the hunger pains you are feeling are healing pains too.

You are experiencing a lot of head hunger. You will notice once you get to full shakes (as opposed to isopure) you will feel that full feeling sooner and again once you get to real food, that only a few teaspoons will fill you up at first.

You are tired and weak because of the surgery. Between day 6-9 many people get a bit depressed too, that's normal as your body starts converting fat to energy (instead of using up the carbs you normally eat) that the fat has trapped hormones and it could make you a bit moody or sad. If you know what is happening to your body it will make it easier to deal with.

I promise you though, it gets better every day. I had some tough days in there about week 3 & 4, because I didn't like my shakes, but it gets better.

Sip, rest and walk is your best bet and let your body heal. I was still in the hospital day 5 and I took naps daily and my stomach did all weird types of things, like fluttered, I felt waves, twists and turns, but realized it was just healing it wasn't actual hunger pains.

Good luck to you all.

Why were you in the hospital for 5 days? Did you have complications?

[traceyinflorida 499]

I echo what MinaT says and want to add that once you get to the pureed and soft food phase, you will feel full. The first few weeks are really hard. liquids get old, you don't feel great, lots of ups and downs. The great news is that each week is better than the last until you eventually feel normal again. Hang in there!

[Cyntha DelTorrro 10]

I'm 2 weeks out as well. The hunger got a lot better when I started on pureed foods. Still experiencing weakness and haven't been able to go back to work full time yet. Also, still experiencing dramatic weight loss of about 2 lbs a day. I think that I'm probably not eating enough. I've tried eating a little more and have an appointment with the nutrionist in a couple days where I'm sure I'll get all straightened out.

Just hang there. It's been better for me every day. When I was on full liquids I was drinking broth & V8 juice as well as eating small amounts of sugar free Jello, pudding and popcicles. Maybe some of that might work for you too.

[cita 7]

Smothiee...with Premier Protein shake 30 g Protein , strawbery greek yogurt 18g protein. Some fresh strawberry and rasberry.. Its make me full all day.. Great taste. 48 g protein in the morning and 48 g afternoon.. I dink it twice a day..

[SophieJaneB 92]

Girl, I had a little mini-breakdown on day 5 post-op. I cried all day long, felt like I was starving, and felt like I was going to dehydrate, was having to take care of my kids and drive them places, so NO pain meds for me at all, just a very very rough day. But it DID get better, a little better every day. And try something other than the shakes, maybe some thinned out pudding, or thinned out creamy Soups (with no chunks) try to have something savory to help your taste buds out. You got this! You can do it, and it WILL get easier, Hang in there!!!

[samomom 19]

Also make sure that you aren't consuming too much sugar in all those Protein shakes. If you are drinking the fully sugar loaded Isopure, you are possibly hiking your blood sugar up and then crashing. Those Isopure drinks are death by sugar in my opinion! I had to stop drinking them. I stuck mainly with the Muscle Milk powder(can't stand the premade ones) mixed with 2% milk for the extra Protein. Just one scoop and 8 oz of milk is 28 grams of protein.

Try to find the powdered chicken Soup protein mix from either your doctor's office, online or at Rite Aid from the Lindora section. It's not great on it's own, but blended into your favorite cream of whatever Soup will break the sweet Protein shake grind and give you some flavor and fullness. I bought some chicken tortilla soup in a carton from Target, blended it with my stick blender and added the broth powder for protein It save many days for me.

The first two weeks can be hard. I gave in at day 10 to hard boiled egg and turkey slices. My doctor was really ok with that since I hadn't had any complications or pain. Today is 4 weeks for me since I had the evil CrapBand removed and the sleeve done.

[KS Fort Worth 86]

I'm still on full liquids, and my dietary staple is heart-healthy cream of chicken mixed with skim milk, one scoop of Protein Powder, mixed in the Bullet, strained, and allowed to settle. I have other things as well, but this is the most satisfying, and allowing it to settle helps with the burping.

[lilly11781 29]

Thank you so much everyone for the great advice! I knew I could turn to this site for some good advice and a pep talk here and there. It's also nice to hear that most of you experienced this at least once during your recovery. My follow-up appointment is on Thursday and I hope to graduate to purées then.

Thanks again! If anyone else has good advice please keep them comming.

[suzjag 107]

Also make sure that you aren't consuming too much sugar in all those Protein shakes. If you are drinking the fully sugar loaded IsoPure' date=' you are possibly hiking your blood sugar up and then crashing. Those Isopure drinks are death by sugar in my opinion! I had to stop drinking them. I stuck mainly with the Muscle Milk powder(can't stand the premade ones) mixed with 2% milk for the extra Protein. Just one scoop and 8 oz of milk is 28 grams of protein.

Try to find the powdered chicken Soup protein mix from either your doctor's office, online or at Rite Aid from the Lindora section. It's not great on it's own, but blended into your favorite cream of whatever soup will break the sweet protein shake grind and give you some flavor and fullness. I bought some chicken tortilla soup in a carton from Target, blended it with my stick blender and added the broth powder for protein It save many days for me.

The first two weeks can be hard. I gave in at day 10 to hard boiled egg and turkey slices. My doctor was really ok with that since I hadn't had any complications or pain. Today is 4 weeks for me since I had the evil CrapBand removed and the sleeve done.[/quote']

Muscle milk powder is Bomb!! I like the vanilla, toss in some ice, coconut Water, 1/2 banana and a scoop of fresh mango. I add my liquid Vitamins to it an Bam Breakfast is served very tasty.

[azquilter92 82]

The Isopure Protein Drinks that I drank had zero sugar in them. Which ones are you talking about