Hunger, have you felt it?

 Hi,
I'm fighting with my brother with his obesity. We're considering banding, but have some doubt. Will he feel hungry after it? 

Please write about your feeling after banding. Of course it's changing your style of eating. But does it make not feeling hungry after eating a little bit of meal?

First off I want to tell you that you are a great sister, wanting to help your brother.  However, HE needs to be the one looking into a solution.  This is not something that can be done for us, especially if he is considering a band.  It takes a lot of work, dicipline and self-reflection to be successful with a band.  It is not a "passive" weight loss surgery, where it is done and you are along for the ride...BANDING REQUIRES ACTIVE PARTICIPATION to be successful.

My brother had banding a bit more than a year before I did.  He inspired me to look into it and risk failing at weight loss AGAIN.  He could not do it for me, I could not do it for him...we have both been successful so far, in much different ways.

I would encourage you to have your brother create a membership on this website and ask whatever questions he might have and make an informed decision for HIMSELF.  If you push him, he could make a choice that he regrets and blame you, damaging your relationship...don't fight with him over it, give him information, encouragement and unconditional love and let him find his own way.

Good luck!

Stephanie

That's a really difficult question to answer because there is so much more to it than just reducing hunger.  But, in my case, yes, it does reduce hunger.  Others may have other experiences to share, but the main thing you need to understand about the band vs. other WL surgeries is that it's generally a slower weight loss and it takes maintenece. 

Having the band around the upper part of your stomach does put pressure on the nerve that signals the part of your brain that signals your body that you are hungry.  So in that sense, it does help with hunger.  The band itself requires fills, to determine the level of restriction (how quickly food will pass from your new small stomach into your old large stomach).  The longer food stays in your pouch, (smaller stomach), the longer you will feel satisfied with the food you eat.  The trick is to find the balance where you have restriction but don't get to a point where you can't eat anything.  That's where the maintenence comes in.  Especially for the first year you will need regular fills on average I'd say about every 6 weeks.  Some need more, some less.  Then over time, as you lose weight you'll need to continually adjust the fill level in the band.  Eventually you may come to the point where you don't need to change the fill level for long periods of time but until then you need to go in to the dr.'s office to get the fills.

Now, that's the mechanics of having the band.  The other piece you need to understand is that having a band is usually the slower method of weight loss because it is a restrictive method, not a malabsorbtive proceedure like Gastric Bypass.  You will lose faster with GB but there are other things that may be a negative for you.  It's a more serious surgery as they are cutting and re-routing your intestines, etc.  With that said, the GB is a very effective WL surgery and absolutely is the right choice for many.

I hope you have or will go to a respectible surgeon's introcution seminar.  This is where you will begin the process of choosing which surgery is right for you and your brother.  It's a very personal question and you will hear a lot of opinions here on OH.  You may end up more confused than ever.  So much of it depends on your current health and your personality type.  All of the surgeries are tools that we can use to lose weight but ultimately we have to do the work by controlling our food choices and working on the issues that are at the root of our overeating histories.

Whatever you two decide, know that you are taking the first step in changing your heath and therefore your life!  I have no regrets for making the choice to have the band.  It has been a great tool for me to help in my WL efforts.

Keep asking questions and we'll do our best to help.

Best~
Lisa O.

HI there,

Everybody is different what I might feel your brother might not feel so it all depends on the person.

This is me and my experience only !!! I have been one of  the very very lucky ones that great restriction right when I came out surgery .  I had my surgery on 11/22/10 and my band has been empty since then.  I just came from my doc appt today and refused a fill .

I can sit down and eat a cup of food and it can last me anywhere from a good 3 hrs to almost 6 hrs . It really depends on how much protein I eat to be honest.  If I eat under 20 then I'm hungry within 3 hrs if I eat my normal amount of 20-30 per meal I can go as long as six hrs not being hungry .

Some people need fills right out the door when they can get them but I'm not like that .  The band alone around my stomach , will power, determination and self control keeps me from getting them fills right now.

Your brother could be the total opposite and be starving a week after surgery and cant wait to get that first fill . Like I said it all depends on the person.

Some people it only takes one fill , some people it takes many fills and there is some people say they never feel that restriction or there is a select few like me that dont need to have anything done with them after surgery .

My doc dont go looking for this so called sweet spot, he dont mention the word restriction so I have never obsessed with them two words and dont go looking for them.  I know that I can go at least 3-6 hrs of not wanting ot eat and that is all I worry about.

Head hunger and physical hunger is two big things and he will need to learn the difference between the two.  With me being 4 months out I'm starting to learn the difference :o)

Good luck !!

I agree with Stephanie.  This surgery of all of the surgery requires a lot more work, patience, and will power. 

Do I feel hungry....well not that much now but I did for a long time.  See with the band you have go in for regular fills and most people don't feel the band working till about  3-5 fills.  With me it took 8 fills!!!  Untill you get the right fill you are really on your own.  I struggled for a year before I got into the right mind set.  I am successful now and have lost 140 lbs.  But....  I also work out 90 minutes a day, 6 days a week.  I eat only eat 1200 calories a day and limit my carbs to only healthy complex carbs.  This surgery doesn't take away your urge to want food and I can easily cheat (yep that's right even with the band I can pig out...maybe not as much).  I was just talking about peanut butter cookies 5 minutes ago.  The band has been my saving grace but I work really hard to make it work for me. 

Important things to think about

If he's a volume eater
If he's willing to go by a strict set of rules for the band
If he is willing go by the diet his surgeon and Nut set for him
If he can change his lifestyle for good
If he can change habits (like not drinking while you eat)
If he can exercise
Then he might be able to make this Band work for him.

I always tell people that the Band did 20% of the work and I did 80%.

 

 

 

My experience has been that I feel every bit as hungry now as I did before banding. It hasn't changed a thing as far as hunger goes. If he wants to lose the hunger feelings he should check out the VSG surgery as it removes the portion of stomach where grhelin is produced and that is one of the hunger hormones.

Everyone is different. Some have extremely wonderful band experiences. Most...............not so much, lol.

For the first 2 wks. after the band I had NO appetite at all! Was wonderful to go from being hungry all the time to not even thinking about food. From then on it all went down hill! The hunger returned after the swelling from the surgery went down and have been hungry ever since. I have had 16 fills and still no restriction.

I completely wasted $15,000 on the band, and I would NOT recommend the band to my worst enemy!!!

I would strongly suggest that both you and your brother read on the revision forum about all the bandsters that have revised or are wanting to revise FROM the band. If the band was that great all those ppl wouldn't want to put theirselves through the pain and expense of yet another WLS now would they?!

Good luck to both of you in whatever direction u choose!

If the only reason you or your brother eat is because you're hungry, then there's a very good chance the band will help tremendously once you have reached proper restriction.

However, I got to 300 lbs because I ate all the time - hungry or not.  I ate because I was bored, tired, angry, frustrated ... or just because food was THERE.  I ate because I had an addiction to sugar which, when I consumed it, just made me want more and more and more.  I was never satisfied and, if I ever did feel full I would just wait 10 minutes until I could eat more.

Since being banded I have eliminated sugar and bad carbs from my life entirely and will never be able to eat them again if I want to get to goal and then maintain my weightloss.  I also move a heck of a lot more than I did 100 lbs ago and will continue that trend as well.

I am at a great level of restriction after 4 fills and as long as I don't let the demons in my head take over, I am easily satisfied with very little food and don't feel hungry again for 3 to 4 hours, or sometimes more if I've had a particularly protein-dense meal.

Yes, the band will make you feel satisfied sooner and longer than if you didn't have one, but if you eat for any other reason than being hungry and are not willing to conquer those demons, then no WLS will help you.

Hi there,
Hope all the information above is helping you.  I am over a year out now.  As far as hunger goes, I was not hungry at all during the postop recovery while everything was swollen and healing.  After that, I did have hunger.  Once we started the fills, I started feeling help with that hunger.  And once I hit my sweet spot (I'd have to look at my journals, but I'm guessing it was about month 4), I usually had to remind myself to eat. 

Occasionally I do get hungry - especially if I was eating "fluff" food and not the protein my body requires.  The other time I get hungry is when I forget to eat for too long.  When I feel hungry thought, I have to stop and think - is this real hunger?  Or "head-hunger"?  As a bandster, you learn to tell the difference.  If you're "hungry" for a certain food, it's usually head-hunger.  If you're having a really crappy day & you know you're not usually hungry at that time - may be head hunger. 

I absolutely love my band.  There are not as many long-term bandsters on the boards at times because they're happy with where they're at and are busy living their lives.  I've been off the board for a month or two because I've been out living the lifestyle I was hoping for... kayaking, taking karate, playing with my nephews, walking the dog... couldn't do any of that before.  I'm back to the board because there are some great people on here who I've missed the last few months.

LapBand is not for everyone.  But no surgery is perfect.  I know a bandster who had problems, a few by-pass patients who have had problems, and 2 sleeve patients who have had problems.  BUT... those are the %'s the surgeons talk to you about.  It's a really personal decision as to which surgery your brother has.  I recommend he look at some of the books on the market... Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies (hate the title) reviewed all the options and was really helpful for me.  There are others out there.  If he decides on the lap-band, I recommend he look at obtain Jean M's book (she's a member here on the Board), "Band Wagon". 

All in all, I could not be happier with my Band.  And my surgeon could not be happier with my results so far.  You're going to get out of it what you put into it.
Take care!

I almost never get physical hunger but nothing stops head hunger!

Kate