Quick question for everybody

[boxerlover7 0]

I'm a newbie, just got banded on monday. I'm just wondering if any of you experienced basically no hunger at all after being banded...I know it's only been a few days, but I honestly have no desire for anything. I've only managed to get down a single shake a day since the surgery and I know I should be getting more than that. Any tips on how to force myself to drink more shakes?

[Redheada 0]

I can hardly drink anything. I have had some cream of wheat and cream Soup but really only a few bites. I feel tremeadous pressure at the base/middle of my rib cage so when I drink or lay down it feel like someone is pushing my diaphram up into my chest. I guess that is normal right after surgery. I have added the protien powder to the cream of wheat and that was no biggie. I am not sure if it is the "gas" pressure or the swelling at this point.:thumbs_down:

[boxerlover7 0]

I've had the same feeling, but it's starting to subside now. So I am feeling better, but I still have no desire to eat anything

[U_go_gurl68 0]

I had my band placed on June 30th. The first few days I didn't even have Protein shakes. All I could get down was sf popsicles, ice, Water, crystal light, etc....

I think it is a combination of the gas bloat and the swelling. I still don't get too hungry, but I am able to get Soups and shakes down just fine. I still have to be on full liquids til next Monday, but not feeling like I am missing anything.

Good luck to you both.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

[boxerlover7 0]

Thanks guys! It makes me feel better knowing it's not just me.

[GayleTX 1]

Very normal.....the swelling keeps your stomach from feeling empty for a few days after surgery. Many people say their hunger comes back with a vegeance when it goes down, but that was not my expereince - I never did have any appetite - still don't after 2 yrs even though i haven't had any restriction for months. I think that is because after we get detoxed from the carbs in our system, part of our cravings go away - our glucose level stabilizes and we don't get 'false hunger signals' from a drop in sugar. That's why I keep my carbs low (eat only good carbs like greens, Beans, etc....no white refined foods - they don't have food value anyhow).

Best wishes to you!!

[Kat817 19]

Lack of hunger post op is very common. In some cases your actual physical hunger may not come back, however that is unfortunatley rare!

Stick to drinking, try to get some clear Protein drinks in, it will help with the healing, and the fatigue you will experience from lack of feeding your body. GNC sells Protein Shots, a test tube type of thing with a heavy Protein count (like 40grams), they also sell Zero Carb Isopure which is a clear kool aid kind of drink with 40 grams a bottle. None of it is something I would choose to drink today if given options....but when I was post op they made a world of difference in how I felt and my energy level!

Hang in there, sounds like you are .....dare I say it.....normal!!!

Kat

[boxerlover7 0]

Ok thanks guys! :biggrin2:

[Mrs J.J 2]

I experienced a pang of hunger for the first time last night after surgery which was last Tuesday. Although I don´t know if that was just me craving for something other than Soups and liquids. I had a chicken sausage that was in the fridge (chewed it till it was really broken down) and wham there went my craving. I´m fine again today, no hunger pangs or anything.

[Kat817 19]

No matter how well you chew food, if it is solid and not on your Dr.'s approved list, you risk complications from having it.

I wish it was not true, and that we could eat when we want but while our bands are seating themselves and our insides are healing, we simply have to deal with the hunger and cravings.

When the band was placed around your upper stomach, the lower pouch of stomach was brought up and stitched in a few places to hold the band secure while scar tissue forms to hold it securely in place.

When you eat even teeny tiny particles of food, the stomach senses them and begins digesting. It kneads and squeezes to break the food down, to mix it with the digesting acids, and to push it through to the intestines. Whenever the stomach churns like that it disrupts the formation of the scar tissue. So rather than getting a snug secure fit of the band it can create a pocket for the band to sit in as opposed to being tight. You might not feel a problem today, but it possibly sets you up for risk of slippage down the road.

If the food is on your ok list from your Dr. then I aplogize and will get off my soap box---but if you are still supposed to be on liquids, or full liquids--please adhere to the Dr.'s orders---there really is a reason for them.

The best thing I found when serious cravings hit----was just to get the hell outta Dodge! I had to go take a walk or something to get past it! I still sometimes have to make myself physically get away from the kitchen when cravings hit and I KNOW I am not really hungry!!! The brain is a powerful thing to fight!!

Kat

[Mrs J.J 2]

I hear you Kat, I really tried to resist that damn sausage. It was late last night around 10:30 and I seriously couldn´t sleep, I kept laying there thinking about it, wanting it, wanting it even more, got up drank Water, went back to bed, tossed around another 30 minutes or so, kept thinking about the damn sausage, knew I had to get up early to go to work and by around mid night I thought f*#k it! Got up and ate the thing and went to sleep.

I hope it won´t happen again. chicken sauages are now banned until I am allowed to eat something solid again. :-)))

[Kat817 19]

LOL! sometimes that is the only way---keep it away!

When I was banded, someone mentioned something they ate that was absolutely horrible, no nutritional value at all!! But once they planted the taste thought in my brain----I was haunted by it!! Notice I am being kind and not passing on the evil thought!!!

This too shall pass, and soon you will be back to food---and have the band, a healthy band there to help.

100+ pounds later.....it was worth the few weeks of denying myself without a doubt!!! It will be for y'all too!

Kat

[Kathy JB 0]

Kat,

You sound so nice! Thanks for the encouragement for those of us who are just beginning on this journey. I was banded 7/3, and I'm a week out, feeling very tired. Your pep-talk helps!

[Kat817 19]

What a sweet thing to say!!!

Are you getting in enough Protein? The week after being banded, I was so fatigued, I thought I was being a drama Queen! I did not hurt much, but had zero energy!

Someone reminded me to get my Protein in, so I drank Zero Carb Ispopure from GNC---it is clear liquids---kind of like kool aid in different flavors, and has 40 grams of protein per bottle. It turned me around! I felt better almost immediately! They also sell Protein Shots, little test tube shots, where you pack a wallop of protein in little bits.

It is harder to get your protein in before you can have shakes---during the Clear liquids. So you might try that, it sure helped me!

Feel better soon!

Kat

[Peacedove 0]

I am so angry with myself right now I don't know what to do. And I'm scarred.... Like you all, right after surgery I felt bloated, full all the time and never hungry. For two weeks, anything I put in my mouth made me feel overly full...I wasn't eating much of anything, but did manage to get the Protein Shakes down. I was on full liquids for one week and then toward the end of the second week I had to go to Vegas on business. I was still a good girl and ate very very little, and tried to stay on soft foods. By week three, I was beginning to eat normally, and was slipping a few bad things in, here and there, due to the extensive traveling. It was that week that I started to slowly gain back the weight. I had lost 26 lbs in the two weeks of pre-op dieting and the two post op weeks of feeling bloated and full all the time. Week three I gained back 2 or 3 lbs. Week four brought back another 2 or 3, and now, I'm afraid to step back on the scales. I didn't eat any red meat until this week and I had a small steak....really small... not even the whole thing. Then yesterday I had a hamburger from wendys. I did it again today, and I'm not having ANY kind of restriction, fullness, overfullness, bloating, puking, NOTHING. It's like I never had the band put on. I have not had time to get back to the doctor, because he is 2 hours away and I have been traveling constantly for the past 3 weeks. I am traveling again all next week and I will have 4 days at home the following week. I am going to go see him then and tell him how hungry I've been and how I can eat ANYthing!! I went through all this to succeed!!! Not to fail!!!! Someone PLEASE tell me that they went through this and that after the first fill I will start feeling full and loosing again!!!!!