What's the deal?

[LauraD 8]

I am per surgery. I was told by my surgeon and from research that hungar is not an issue after surgery. With the smaller stomach and the grelin hormone gone. But I see it coming up over and over that people so "SO HUNGRY"!! What gives? So am I going to,go through this and pay so much money for........hunger? I have that for free now! Please advise.

[MelissaGG 9]

I have had a lap band for 10 years and yes, you get hungry with it but I will say that I never felt hunger pangs and bad as before. I am considering revision to sleeve and I know for sure that there is a head-hunger that is in no way related to my stomach. It occurs when I have any kind of anxiety such as a deadline at work or even when I an anticipating something good. I have no idea how to rid myself of that and it may be what others are experiencing.

[JuliannaJ 83]

A lot of it is head hunger, the psychological feeling of hunger versus the real physiological/physical hunger that comes from hormones and the brain/nervous system when your brain gets the signals of hunger.

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

Many people eventually realize that what they think is "hunger" is actually acid, myself included. Taking PPIs will help.

[No game 14,437]

Well I think what happens that is in the early days after surgery people are dealing with

"head hunger" and sometimes acid in their stomachs that can mimic hunger.

I'm 3 months out and I don't get "hungry" so much as an "empty" feeling

That's not to say things don't look or smell good though

[VSG_me 184]

I think everyone's experience is different. I'm 12 days post op and the first week having to stay on Clear Liquids even though I felt fine was hard for me. After about day 4 all I wanted was something with a little substance!! After I moved on to my mushie food stage (week 2 for me) I felt tons better and my 'hunger' or wanting something more than broth, Water, etc. was satisfied. Other than that, I haven't been constantly hungry. I sip on water and Protein Shakes throughout the day and at meal times I eat. I don't feel hungry all the time, I think for me, it was more of having limited items to choose from until I reached a point where I could have more. Also I don't crave foods like a I did before, even when the hubby eats them in front of me. I would have never thought it, but it's true! Just my experience

[joatsaint 2,814]

I haven't had any hunger feelings in the 6 weeks since surgery. I do get grumblings from my stomach that tell me it's empty, but I don't have that old feeling of my head saying, "Hey we need to eat, hey we need to eat."

Sometimes I catch myself eating out of habit, but it's just that a habit, not head hunger. And with the sleeve, I don't eat more than 4 oz. or so over a 15 - 20 minute period.

[johnlatte 1,232]

The feelings of hunger can be pretty subjective. Initially there still some grelin hanging around, so there can be some hunger associated with that. Gas can cause something that feels like hunger and a lot of folks take a ppi to handle that (I take nexium). Some of it is mental and old habits are just hard to break. I haven't felt hungry at all, but I do know when I need to eat. It isn't a hunger thing, more like, I need to eat. If you are trying to eliminate hunger all together, I don't know that is completely realistic, but I think you will see that it is very controllable.

[No game 14,437]

Sometimes we vent, and say things like "I want to go crazy on a giant cheeseburger"

It's not that we are hungry, its more of a longing for an old habit of self comforting.

Does that make sense?

The thing is, is that I can't do that anymore so I am using this time to work on my relationship with food...

I say this as I'm trying to get through my dinner because I just don't want it... But I need it because yesterday I only ate 428 calories and that's not good!

[lilbearzmom 584]

I am 8 weeks out as of tomorrow, and I definitely have not been hungry, at least not like before surgery. Like Laura-ven said, it's more of an "empty" feeling than a hunger "pang". The absence of ghrelin in my system seems to be working like a charm. Because the "hunger" with the sleeve is less uncomfortable, it allows you to either power through the periods of "emptiness" or be able to resist bad choices in order to make better ones. I agree that I have a hard time believing that when people say "I'm SO HUNGRY" they are truly hungry. I think either they are having the head hunger and don't realize it, or are having acid problems which can be treated. I have been on pepcid since day one.

-Kendra

[Sassygirl06 962]

In the beginning when I was hungry it was due to to much acid in my tummy. Once I realized this and took my meds when I was supposed to that extreme hunger feeling went away. As far as head hunger goes...yes it does exist. I see things all the time that make me salivate! I want it bad....but if I eat it I will feel down after...so I don't. I am now 18 months out and I still do get hungry....but not where I am eating all the time...every 2-3 hours I have some little snack...usually a piece of cheese, or 2-3 slices of deli meat. That's all it takes to fill me up, and then food is no longer on my mind. Don't let your mind talk you out of this....having this surgery has changed my life! I am so thankful for the sleeve!

[Nicolanz 1,484]

I personally still get hungry. Your stomach isn't the only organ that makes ghrelin. It's definitely no where near what it was before. If I haven't eaten in 4-5 hours, I get hungry. But I get full really fast! The sleeve works!

[SoCalDixieGal 172]

Another way to look at it is how much food do you eat NOW to not be hungry? Full is going to happen a heck of a lot sooner! The big issue think many of us deal with is eating while not hungry. No or one is going to remove that!

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

I didn't think that I would not be hungry after the surgery. My expectation was just that when I do get hungry it will take only a few bites of dense Protein to fill me up.

[Kansas1965 54]

I get Hungry a lot,.i had Surgery on 6/12/12 And I am worried I'm going to gain all my wt. back