I am still hungry after surgery!?!?!?!?

I am 6 weeks post-op and it seems as if I am always hungry! I never had this problem before my surgery and not even my surgeon(Dr. Hoddinott) can give me a clear reason as to why I am feeling this way! It is like I have hunger pains very often and my stomach grumbles! Is there anyone who has experienced this or knows of anyone? I would love to know the remedy to cure my hunger pains or at least know the reason why this occurs!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please let me know! Cathy Skorochod

Hey Cathy, I hate to hear that your hungry but now I don't feel all alone. My surgery was 8 weeks ago and now I am starving all the time. My stomach keeps grumbling too and feels empty. I try to drink more water and that helps some but I am shocked to physically feel this hungry. It was a few weeks before I felt like this but now all I think about is what to eat. I'm scared that i have stretched my pouch. I've only lost 44 lbs. and only about 12 of those in this month. I am really getting discouraged. I do feel that i'm not getting enough water, but it makes me feel so bloated almost to the point i need to throw up. Let me know if you figure this out and i'll do the same for you. Good luck. Amy

Hi Cathy...now I don't feel so alone and wierd. I too, am experiencing hunger pains and my stomach literally makes a lot of noise! It STARTED after week 5 for me. I keep a protein bar handy and nibble on that to take the edge off until time for snack or meal. What is up with this? Any anwers back yet? Keep in touch, my RNY was 7/15/2003 also.

Ok girls, i might have an explanation, but not that it makes me happy to say it. I read on a yahoo support group, about someone who experienced the same complaints and she couldn't get any answers from her doctor and switched doctors. The new doctor explained to her that her opening from her stomach to her intestines was very big and basically the food empties quickly from her pouch and then shes hungry again. He said it often can be corrected(with surgery) but in this poor persons case it couldn't and she only lost about a fourth of her weight. SCARY!! Now she also complained that she never felt full even while eating so there was no limit to what she could eat. She lost the little bit of weight while on the liquid diet at the beginnig but that was it. I hope to high heaven that is not what anyone is experiencing, but atleast it would explain so we wouldn't blame ourselves. Good luck. Amy

Before anyone pushes the panic button, I'd try adjusting the diet first. I'm six weeks post op and this week I've felt like I'm starving on a daily basis. I put a lot of time into over analyzing my issues and problems and paying attention to details and this is what I've found. This weeks diet (for me) consisted of more carbs than I'd had in the past. The carbs can make me feel a quick fullness (ie. I eat x amount, feel full, but then half an hour later, I'm raiding the kitchen again). Another thing to consider is hormones. I get hungrier during the pre-menstrual week to ten days and that's what time of month it is. Perhaps your cycles are similar? Or maybe for you it's post-menstrual? It's at least something to consider. I wouldn't expect this to change with the surgery. What I'm trying to do is to make sure I'm getting enough proteins and always keeping my drink at hand. If you feel hungry, eat something, but make it a protein based food. I think we need to remember that as time goes on we WILL be able to eat a bit more at one sitting. I'm not saying it's ok to binge or overeat, but my diet says that at six weeks I can increase my liquid and food intake (per serving) and this has helped somewhat with the hunger. I just needed a bit more. Anyway, I'm rambling on and on but my point is this: Don't over react or panic. I think feeling hunger is natural. Consider how little you are actually eating and how much of an adjustment this is for your body. Feeling hungry, to me, has been associated with recovery. I assumed it was a healthy sign. My hunger pains aren't severe or overwhelming. If they are for you, then maybe there is some underlying problem that needs to be addressed and you should always discuss things with your doctor. But if it's just a normal sort of hunger, I'd try to see if your diet and lifestyle can compensate a little. You are human first and WLS patients second. It's ok to feel human and want to eat from time to time. Double check your diet, try some new foods or combinations, everyone is different and maybe you just need some fine tuning to conquer that hunger.