When did you start feeling restriction?

I'm 5 weeks post-surgery, and for the past couple of days I've been feeling a new sensation in my chest when I eat. It's a "full" feeling, like tightness, slightly uncomfortable but not painful. Once or twice I've had some squeezing discomfort like a throbbing sensation after I've eaten and not chewed as carefully as I should have.

I feel I can't eat as much as I could have a week ago- I'm often leaving a few bites of my meals uneaten, whereas last week I was cleaning my plate and felt I could have easily eaten more.

I think this might be me feeling my sleeve restriction? If so, I'm ecstatic because I was getting worried I wouldn't feel any restriction at all! It was freaking me out that drinking and eating has been so easy for me, and part of me wondered if surgery wasn't going to make any difference for me.

I know some folks struggle with restriction right from the start, which is also probably partially due to post-surgery swelling.

When did you become aware of your sleeve restriction? Is it different for everyone, or is there a time when the majority of patients come to feel it?

This is totally normal. Even after 6 years, I still have "big pouch" and "little pouch" days. For some inexplicable reason, I can eat more in one sitting some days than others. It's not a big deal, unless I ignore it.

But, eating too fast, or not chewing well enough, will always have an effect.

Thanks, Grim. Pouches and sleeves are weird and wonderful things.

Sometime I think I've figured out a pattern. And then the opposite happens. It's just constant adjustment.

It's definitely different for everyone, but during the healing process it's even more different! Many people don't start to feel restriction until they're fully healed (around 6ish weeks) and until they're eating solid foods. So it seems like you're right on track :)

Thanks, Gwen. It's silly but I'm so excited about it (I was worried my sleeve was like the size of an elephant trunk or something). Feels like I've entered a new stage.