5 days post-off - why am I so hungry???/

Hey! I had the sleeve on 12/29, and I have done very well as far as very little pain, no nausea, etc. But I don't understand why I am so HUNGRY. I thought having your stomach reduced by more than half would cut down on being hungry all the time. I have no problem at all with shakes, chicken broth, popsicles, whatever. I even added milk to my shake yesterday thinking it would add more protein and be more filling, but that didn't help either. All this stuff I read says to get down as much as you can until you are full, but it won't be very much. I have no problem getting anything down and then feel like I could still have more. I have looked forward to this surgery for months, and I was in tears today thinking this was a waste of time. I'm so frustrated. Has anyone had a similar experience??

Are you taking a PPI?  Stomach acid can mimic hunger and the PPI will help a lot.

are you drinking 64+ oz of plain liquids a day in addition to the soups etc? Dehydration also acts like hunger. You won't feel full on liquids and the sugar in the milk will make you more hungry. 

Take your prilosec or whatever acid reducer your doc prescribed. It will make a world of difference.

It can take a little while for the remaining ghrelin in your system to die down.  Also, you may be producing lots of stomach acid for a very tiny tummy - that absolutely mimics ravishing hunger.  If you aren't taking a PPI (Protonix, Prevacid) ask your doctor to get you on one.  Makes a huge difference!  

Also, you aren't going to get "full" on liquids at this point.  The nerves to your stomach have been cut and you won't get your normal "full" feeling...and you don't want to!  If you feel full then you way overdid it and may be injuring yourself unintentionally. No where in any of the doctor's plans that I read has it said to eat to "fullness".  Absolutely not.  

Eat exactly what your doctor's plan advises and in the amounts it advises.  Just because you feel like you can eat more doesn't mean you should.  

Good luck with new and wonderful tool!  You may be feeling buyer's remorse right now but it gets better - promise 

If you're still in the liquid stage, you won't be getting full on just liquids. I think my stomach kicked in when I started on the soft food stage. When I started to get in real food is when I had alot of restriction and no more hunger pains. I didn't have a problem with acid stomach, I was just hungry. Being on a diet pre-op and then only eating liquids post op, I was hungry! But trust me, it does get better once you start getting solid foods. Hang-in-there.

I had this and it freaked me out beyond belief, I thought they didn't do my surgery right! It's actually totally normal. You can get PPI for stomach acid, and one thing that helped me a great deal was simply eating ice chips a lot in the liquid stage. I got tired of all the drinking and chewing on ice chips gave me the idea I was actually eating something. I also drank a lot of broth to get some calories in, and that helped a lot with the hunger as well. Hang in there, once you are on soft foods you will start feeling better!