post surgery question

It's been 6 days since my lapband surgery.  I am a little sore and still can't sleep all night in my bed.  I am still taking pain meds, but only at night.  My question lies with the diet I have to follow for the first 3 weeks..... liquids (water, SF kool aid, SF popcicles, decaf coffee & tea) and 2 oz. protein drink every hour.  After 5 days of this, I am hungry!  I feel like I am just dieting.  I know I need to exercise and eat responsibly and the lapband is supposed to help me with hungar.  But, I son't feel like I am using the lapband. I am doing a more stricter diet than I have ever adhered to.  Why did I have the $21000 lapband surgery???

Is your body truly physically hungry... or is your head/mouth hungry? More than likely you are suffering from head hunger... only eating very small amounts of a few bland and liquidy foods... you want to chew something and eat something more substancial... your eyes want to see a plate of food in front of you and now a protein drink with a straw. You are only 6 days out from a pretty major surgery... it will take time for your body to adjust to everything - it will take time for your mind to adjust to everything as well. I suggest you sit back and ask yourself if your body is really physically hungry right now or are you just wanting to eat something.... also consider are you wanting to eating out of bordem? stress? etc. You are technically not on a 'diet' right now - you are allowing your body to heal from a major surgery and need to follow guidelines so you dont end up back in the hospital. Thats the way I viewed it... you really dont have a 'choice' like you would with a traditional diet right now - you are on these limited foods to allow your insides to heal.

Thanks for your words of knowledge and encouragement.  I agree with all that you have said.  When do you get your first fill?

I had the RNY not the LapBand... however head hunger is a common issue across the board!

I haven't had the band, so I can't speak to the changes you would feel with that surgery, but I know that I had a hard time with the first few weeks post op with the RNY with feeling hungry. So many said that they don't feel hungry, I was disappointed and frustrated. I have to say that it finally did get better.

Also, I wanted to suggest that you consider checking out the LapBand and Main forums to see if they have any suggestions there too.

Hang in there. It will get better and it will be SOOOOOOOO worth it.

Barb

Unfortunately, I had to delete this post because of privacy concerns.