Why am I so hungry, 5 days post op

[dejageel 0]

Banded five days ago and am still hungry? Could I need an ajdustment already or does this pass? I've only been taking in about a cup and a half of mushie food per day. Will I feel better after I move on to more solid food?

I also asked doctor about adjustment. He said everyone is different. Can't give me a time when I'll need my first adjustment.

I was banded 2/27.

Thanx all

[lisa 717 0]

i was banded feb 26 and am also hungry! i was on clear juices for the first week and supposed to add clear broths for week 2 and then pureed (can pass thru a straw) foods for week 3. I found a little relief with Protein Shakes and campbells tomatoes Soup with a little parmesan and cottage cheese added. Don't know if this is just "head" hunger. I'm struggling with the desire to eat for comfort. My doctor won't fill for 6 - 8 weeks so that swelling will be all gone. Good luck to you. Hopefully the fill will make this easier for us . .....

[Mel119 0]

I was banded on 2/27 (last Wed.).

My stomach has definitely "growled" a few times!! lol

I'm on the clear liquid and thin liquid stages.

I am looking forward to the pureed/mushy food stages in about a week.

My doctor will do my first fill 4 weeks from surgery. My post-op appt. is this coming Thursday morning. I'm hoping they will schedule my first fill appointment when I go!

We all have to hang in there, girls!!

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Dejageel, it is way too early for a fill -- you're still healing. I've not yet seen a doctor that allowed mushies five days post-op but they are all different. Are you following your doctor's dietary requirements? Are you allowed Protein Shakes? You're probably not getting enough Protein. I am supposed to get 60g a day and I find that as long as I hit that, I don't get hungry (except for "head hunger"). Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about feeling hungry. Good luck!

[cantweight2go 1]

I am 8 days post op and following my liquids only to the tee. I am also hungry. I am having 70-80 in Protein a day (as per dr). I got on the scale yesterday, 1 week post op, and I have only lost 1/2 pound. I lost 25 pounds in 2 months prior to surgery with diet and exercise so I thought that with the band the weight would "fall" off. My husband says it is because I had to stay extra with a IV and that I am retaining h20 plus I wasn't apple to exercise like I was prior to surgery. I am hungry and confused. Today I get to walk 1/4 mile for the first time since surgery, Maybe that will help.

[Kat817 19]

You are in what is referred to around here as "Bandster Hell". You have a band, but since you are healing, you cannot have food, and you are therefore hungry. We all went through it. It is not fun, and it is not easy. It IS however VERY, VERY important to stick to YOUR Dr.'s guidelines, not someone elses Dr.

There are serious reasons for the post op diet being usually VERY restrictive. I had 2 weeks Clear Liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks of mushies, then on to a regular diet. Your body needs time to heal!

It is compared to eyeballing the new car you want for months, finally getting go down and buy the new car, then you cannot go anywhere because you have no gas.....you have your band (car) but you have no fill (gas).

When you can begin the fill process, usually at 6 weeks post op, then you can start working towards some hunger control, and restriction. Then the band begins working with you.

The good news through all of this is.....IT IS WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hang in there, you CAN do this!!

As has been pointed out get in your Protein, clear liquid Protein drinks are available at places like GNC, they do help, with hunger, fatigue and healing! Try Zero carb Isopure--or some of the clear Liquid Protein shots they have. Also do not let yourself get dehydrated. Often diarrhea accompanies this stage, so you have to get lots of Fluid in. The loose stools are normal as well, liquid in= liquid out.

You can do it!!

Kat

[GreenChrysalis 1]

I am 8 days post op and following my liquids only to the tee. I am also hungry. I am having 70-80 in Protein a day (as per dr). I got on the scale yesterday, 1 week post op, and I have only lost 1/2 pound. I lost 25 pounds in 2 months prior to surgery with diet and exercise so I thought that with the band the weight would "fall" off. My husband says it is because I had to stay extra with a IV and that I am retaining h20 plus I wasn't apple to exercise like I was prior to surgery. I am hungry and confused. Today I get to walk 1/4 mile for the first time since surgery, Maybe that will help.

Hi Bugalu, I don't think I've heard anyone say that weight just "falls" off with the band. It still takes work, but you're doing it with a tool that you didn't have before. However, you should not expect to lose weight before your first fill. A lot of people do, true, but not everyone. At one week post-op it is possible that you are retaining fluids and are still bloated from surgery. Your body is healing, give it time. It will definitely help when you can exercise again.

Are you sure that you're really hungry and it's not just head hunger? It is definitely taking me some time to differentiate between the two. Good luck and hang in there!

[betrthnever 107]

I tend to agree - its part real hunger and part head hunger. Having to make food for my family when I can't eat it, or watch tv and see all of the food commercials, or go shopping and see all of those things that I use to eat - it is enough to drive anyone bananas. Notice the desire but don't act on it and it will pass. Then remind yourself why you got the band and it gets a little easier. Old habits are killers to break

[GreenChrysalis 1]

I tend to agree - its part real hunger and part head hunger. Having to make food for my family when I can't eat it, or watch tv and see all of the food commercials, or go shopping and see all of those things that I use to eat - it is enough to drive anyone bananas. Notice the desire but don't act on it and it will pass. Then remind yourself why you got the band and it gets a little easier. Old habits are killers to break

Oh man, I couldn't imagine having to make food for people that I can't eat. Luckily it is just my husband and he lived off frozen dinners and other stuff (he can cook basic things like spaghetti) for the past two weeks. Now I am in the mushie phase there are a lot of things I can cook and puree my portion.

I do avoid the food commercials on TV (hurray for DVR) and don't watch Food Network. I also stick to the perimeter of the grocery store (most of the junk is in the center) and my husband has to buy his own junk food. It has gotten easier. I remind myself that I haven't eaten bread, Pasta or rice in over a month (due to my pre-op diet) and I never would've imagined being OK with that before. But I am. We can do this.

[grace65 0]

I agree with the hunger part. My stomach is definitely growling. I am 4 days post surgery and the thought of food is on my brain big time! broth makes me gag! I can't wait until Friday when I can have thick liquids. Tomato Soup sounds so good right now! I have no idea how to fix head hunger... can someone comment on that PLEASE?? How in the world do I fix that? I, too, am cooking for my family. Torture!!! I have a teenage daughter and I didn't tell her I got the surgery so for me it has been put on a happy face and don't act like I feel bad. Thank goodness I don't feel too bad. Just the gas pain in my upper back. The only good news is I am losing weight. I might go nuts with all the stomach growling if I weren't dropping the weight. I do feel like it is important to follow dr. orders about eating. I have a huge fear of nausea and getting sick to my stomach. So that is motivating me. I am just trying to do things to keep my mind off of food. This website helps! It is so nice to see others that are having the same issues.

Good luck everyone!

:biggrin:

[ShellieB73 0]

My dr. had me on a full liquid diet for one week and then purees for two weeks and then to soft. They don't really specify what puree is...suck through a straw or run off a spoon or what. One section of my diet handbook listed things like cottage cheese, oatmeal, cooked veggies mashed with a fork, mashed potatoes etc. as puree. It is a bit confusing to me. I hope that I am not eating to thick of things....the diet that was full liquids included cream Soups, yogurt, pudding and such. To me the puree diet I am recommened is more like the mashies you all are describing. What do you all think...I hope that I am not hurting my band. I am not uncomfortable, gassy or anything. I only eat about a half cup at a time. HMMMM!!!!

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Hi Grace! I wish there were a FIX for head hunger. I think the number one thing is distract yourself. Find something else to do so you're no longer focusing on the food. I have a blog and have thought that maybe I should write in it when I know I have head hunger. I drink Water. I watch a favorite movie or read. Play with my cats. Daydream and think about how good I'll feel and look when I am at a healthy weight. Come here or find something funny to read online. Even cleaning! Just sitting there doesn't make it go away, that's for sure.

I did not tell my family either but my DH knows...can't imagine living with someone who doesn't know. That's definitely tough. I have had to tell him, "I am not hungry, but I WANT that." We still eat dinner together so watching him eat pizza and chicken wings while I was sipping broth or eating Jello was tough. It is so much better now that I'm in mushies. It'll get better, that's all I can say! :biggrin:

Shellie, I think that purees is pretty much the same as mushies. You can puree almost anything, which makes it so much easier. For example, tonight for dinner I am having some mashed sweet potato and a baked skinless chicken thigh pureed in my food processor with some homemade sugar-free BBQ Sauce. Sometimes my pureed stuff looks weird but when you are sick of cream Soups and pudding, you are happy to eat it!

[betrthnever 107]

GreenChrysallis, I have to agree with you again. One of the ways I've been trying to deal with head hunger is to "divert" my attention to something else. Sometimes is just walking & I've also been rediscovering things that use to make me happy (like sewing).

But the real hunger is there, too...no doubt about that!

And also about everyone eating in front of me. Suppose for me its just a fact of life with 2 kids - also making food for them, too. Saturday I made the Breakfast thing for them -pancakes, bacon & fruit and I didn't cheat. I drew the line at baking Cookies LOL! Sometimes I can eat with everyone but when it gets bad I take my food into another room but I'm sure that sooner or later when I can eat more normal foods it will get better. Thanks for your support!!

[cantweight2go 1]

I hear so much about head hunger. I know that at night I have this because this has always been a problem for me. I am fighting it now and not giving in because I want this to work so badly.

I do know that I wake up with my stomach talking loudly to me and it doesn stop until after dinner every day. I am now 9 days post op, I have lost only a 1/2 of a pound, I have not had a bowel movement since March 30th, and when I did it was not runny. I am sticking to this diet because I am died serious about this working for me. If it weren't for this site I would be more fustrated than I already am.

It is hard to read about people that lose right away and then complain because the are in limbo. I seemed to have started this thing out in limbo. What is saving me from madness is this site and the knowledge that I am doing this for my health and that losing the weight is just a side effect of getting healthy.

[grace65 0]

Bugalu: I am glad you aren't giving up! Hang tough because the rewards will be worth it. Don't feel alone. I just took some milk of magnesia to help me with the bathroom thing. It is weird not going. I have always struggled with having healthy bm's so I hope that this new way of eating will help. From what I have read we aren't eating too much so we shouldn't be too stressed just yet about that.

About weight loss, quite possibly you are holding on to Water weight and I will bet that in the next week you see some change if you keep at it. My nurse/contact from the place that I had surgery calls me every couple of days and wants me writing down everything that goes in my mouth. It keeps you on the program and they can tell right away what might be slowing you down. I can only imagine your frustration. But chin up! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

I was tempted to get LaMadeline Tomato basil Soup for Friday when I can have thick liquids. Now after talking to my nurse I think I will try to make my own Soup so it is healthier. Or do a brand with less calories. I do not want to go backwards and gain some weight. I paid a lot for this and by gosh I want good results!

Bugalu, see if your dr. will allow milk of magnesia. You will probably lose weight once you go to the bathroom! :thumbup:

Take care Bugalu

Grace