Hunger pains?

[CelestialNyx 1]

I have been having severe nausea for over a week. I was given nausea Patches. Now I have a new symptom along with the nausea, hunger pains? I eat and it still doesn't go away. Mind you its been hard to eat or drink period. So I have this horrible empty feeling in my stomach like hunger pains. I also seem to have a lot of gas as well. I was in tears when I searched the deep Web for explinations. The general consensus is that it is excess stomach acid/reflux. I'm already on Nexium. I tried taking some Tums that I had at home to see if it help....sort of not really. Has anyone else experienced this?? What did you do to get relief? It's hard for me to even function. I have left several messages for my doc and was even promised a call early this afternoon bit still nothing...help!

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Normal. Welcome to the club. My guess is your Dr. will probably up your acid-reducer, but wait for them to tell you what dosage. Remember, your HEAD still wants food, and, unfortunately it always will. It is one of the biggest challenges of WLS. Even though I am out 9 months, my head and my stomach DO NOT concur about hunger. You have to learn to really FEEL your stomach. Is it REALLY hungry, or is it your head? You have to really think about it. More often than not, your stomach will say it is full. Successful surgery.

Your HEAD, however, is NOT convinced, and it has been in charge for all of your life. So now you have to overrule your head with your stomach. Not easy. You will always have to evaluate the stomach by thinking about the fullness of it. My trick is to FEEL with my mind the fullness of the stomach, then once I determine the fullness, either eat, or if it is full/content, think of something else, and immediately DO something else - to get my mind off of it.

This will always be a challenge - remember, you have permanently altered the stomach, but the head doesn't get it. And it never will. Your body was meant to have a regular-sized stomach, and thinks it still does. You will have to manually alter your eating plan, everyday, for the rest of your life. Once you get the hang of it, it is not so hard, but it WILL take time.

Good luck to you!

[MrsSugarbabe 727]

I concur with @CanyonBaby.

Stomach acid can mimic/feel like hunger. Try drinking some Water or even about 2-4 ounces of fruit juice which may be just enough natural sugar to stave off what you're feeling. Although don't make juice a habit because it's way too easy to drink too many calories.

Head hunger is real and can be a true beast. Occupy your mind with other things besides food and eating. I, too, am struggling with the beast now and am working diligently to get it tamed....again. It resurfaced with a vengeance about 6 months out for me.

Hang in there and keep checking in with BP for some great information and support. You are not alone!! There are several BP posters who offer the best, and trustworthy, information and great encouragement and support. It's helpful to learn from their experiences, but always follow the plan prescribed by your surgeon and NUT, first and foremost.

[KarenLoh 128]

I'm 32 days out and hunger has reared its ugly head. And it is NOT head hunger, it is stomach growling, in the belly hunger. I am convinced it is just acid. I take omeprazole for it (takes it from a 9 to a 7) and Tums (not really helpful at all). I'm hungry one hour after a healthy (3 oz) meal. I use small Snacks but it seems like I'm hungry 70% of the day. They already doubled the omeprazole and oddly enough that worked pre-surgery. It's not working now.

I'm looking for any suggestion too. Thanks for starting this thread. :-)

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

@@KarenLoh

You have the issue many of us deal with daily: taming the tummy! Since it doesn't take long for the meal to digest, you want to eat again, right away. Same here!!! I have to tell myself that I just ate, and immediately DO SOMETHING ELSE!!!!! Otherwise we are grazing, which will derail our success. Like Mrs. Sugarbabe said, drink your water!!! This helps enormously, and gets in our hydration.

I don't know if you've noticed, but lately a lot of the posts are focused on this very subject, and all seem to link together. If we can weave together all the input, we should be ok if we follow it, huh?! Elode has a post on hydration, and WOW, who knew all about that stuff? So much to learn, and so much more that is being put out there for us to grab onto, that will help us through this. Good luck to you all!!!

[CelestialNyx 1]

Thank you all. I know it's not in my head though. I don't have a problem saying no to food. My issues with weight is related to PCOS and auto immune issues. I just want that pain to go away because it causes waves of nausea and discomfort. I don't eat more than I should but it doesn't go away when I do eat. That's what bothers me. I have an appointment on Monday for my doctor who hasn't answered my calls. I'm pretty sure it's just reflux but I just wanted to know what I can do on top of nexium. The Internet has conflicting suggestions.