Dreams postop

Ok I'm just over two weeks post op and really couldn't be happier with my choice to have surgery. During the day I do great! I'm able to follow the diet plan and even when I'm out in public and smell food that I normally would have eaten I can walk away and forget about. It's just since my first night after surgery I've been having these dreams..... nightmares where I can't stop eating. I'm usually standing in front of the fridge or cabinets and just shoving food in my mouth. Or just eating nonstop and never feeling full. I usually wake up in a panic and it's happening 4-5 times a night. It seems to be getting better. I told my psychiatrist and he just said it was interesting...... It's funny I  never really ate like that before surgery. I ate a lot but it was usually sitting on the couch while watching TV. 

Did anyone else experience this or similar after surgery? 

I know I post a lot on here but, I don't have any support groups nearby (I went out of state for surgery). So I will probably have a lot of questions. 

I am obviously not qualified as a psychologist,  but my first impression is that these are anxiety dreams.  Maybe your fear of failure is manifesting in your dreams?  Hopefully,  as you become comfortable with your new lifestyle,  the dreams will go away.  

I was actually just thinking that right after I posted my thread. That maybe I just don't trust myself yet. 

For at least the first two weeks post-op, I dreamed about food nearly every night. Not necessarily BAD dreams, just food figured into things heavily. Makes sense, given that my life revolved around my relationship with food at the time.

I also had food dreams - not every night, but every so often - following surgery. Not even foods I "missed" or even foods I liked all that much, but food was part of the dream nonetheless. They've pretty much ended now (almost 7 years out!)

I have had very similar dreams, just a handful of times though. Just a week ago or so I dreamed that I was eating a supersize french fries and just kept stuffing them in my mouth. I figure dream food has no calories, so I might as well enjoy it!

Your likely to have vivid dreams after surgery. Pain meds, recovering from anesthesia, drastic change in caloric intake can all lead to changes in your sleep pattern. We all dream but usually we are too deeply asleep to remember them. 

You won't get fat jamming food in your mouth while you are dreaming. I'll bet its a great way for the mind and body to deal with the changes.

Post away.

Deb T.

I didn't have food-related dreams after my surgery, but your post brought up a memory.  Years ago, decades actually, after I quit smoking i had dreams about smoking.  It was about thoughtlessly lighting and smoking a cigarette and realizing, when it was almost gone, that OMG, I've quit, and now I'm going to have to quit all over again!  Just an anxiety dream, and I think that's what you're processing in your subconscious right now.  That food for you is going to be very different now than it was before.

That's a really good point and I think you are right. I totally have problems with anxiety to begin with so that has NY helped much (-: but, I can actually tell that I am feeling more confident in myself each day and the dreams seem to be subsiding. 

Post as often as you like!  As for local support groups, EVERY Bariatric Center of Excellence has a support group (requirement for becoming one).  You may be in a remote area, but you might want to consider checking to see if there is one near you.   Going in person has also helped me.

As for your dreams - I have had a few of them... It took awhile for me to recognize that I was only dreaming -and what a relief.   I regret that your sleep is interrupted so often by them - this may be the anesthesia working it way out of your system, which can take 3 months.  Another reason to keep up with your fluids.