Hunger pains

I get hungry.  Much of the time it goes away just by drinking.   When I am really hungry, I eat, but the hunger doesn't go away until I hear and feel gurgling in my lower stomach.  Odd, but finally used to it.  Been like that since surgery. 

You know they say a lot of times people confuse hunger pains with being thirsty, that might be my problem because I'm having a heck of a time getting in my 64oz. Maybe I need to focus more on my fluids instead of being hungry. Eating is more of a mental thing. I feel like I have to eat to survive but in reality fluids is what my body really needs. Wow, I think I just had a revelation. Lol. 

Getting proteins early in the day helps me, and if you use a protein shake, it counts as both!  Then a little later I can have water to get a jump start on the liquids AND the protein.

I will try that. I have been eating an egg for breakfast but I'm also off work right now so I can cook, once I go back to work I will have to hurry in the mornings so protein shakes will probably be my go to from that point forward. 

The first six months after surgery, I no longer could tell the difference between thirst and hunger.  They seriously felt the exact same to me (as hunger).  In addition to the excess acid, you really could be thirsty and mistaking it for hunger. 

You probably do this already, but make sure you wait before drinking after eating - or you will wash all the food out of your stomach and be hungry even sooner!!!  Plus, my stomach did not like it, so I wait an hour between eating and drinking. 

I do try and wait but have a particularly hard time doing so. I get so thirsty when I eat. But like you said, my stomach hurts when I do it so if I do need a drink I take the tiniest sip and it helps dampen my mouth. 

I suggest you spend some time reading the boards here, especially the general Weight Loss Surgery and RNY boards, along with the information contained in Research on the blue heading at the top of the page.  Also use the Search Feature (the magnifying glass at the right at the top of the page) when you are looking for specific information such as stalls, vitamins, PPIs, hair loss, dehydration, constipation, diarrhea, hormones, vitamins, gaining weight and losing weight, etc. There's so, so much to learn and you should be proactive and read as much as you can.  Also, check out Eggface's site - she has loads of information and recipes.

Good Luck on your journey - it's going to be very "interesting" to say the least.  The more you know, the better you'll do.

Mary

Thank you so much! I will definitely check out the boards and eggface. I'm still learning to maneuver on this site. ?

The portion of the stomach sectioned off (not removed with RNY) does initially produce a majority of the ghrelin (hunger hormone). BUT. The human body is the perfect machine. So in time your RNY pouch will be able to produce more ghrelin (not quite as much as you produced before surgery but still more!).

Ono your hunger. What are you eating? Do you eat your proteins first? Are you eating HARD proteins or soft ones? Do you eat starch? How much fat do you eat? All these things factor into how your body processes food.

In general, carbs are the easiest thing for your body to burn for energy, so if you eat a lot of carbs, especially simple carbs, you tend to get hungry more frequently. Protein is hard for the body to break down so when you eat it, you stay fuller longer. However, soft proteins (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.) tend to pass through our systems very easily which can also promote hunger. When I eat only soft proteins, I get hungrier faster. But if I eat a chicken breast? No hunger for HOURS. 

So in summary, there's a bunch of factors that can affect your appetite after WLS. But you can certainly still experience hunger, even physical hunger. Many folks will say "oh it's just head hunger." It can be hard to tell. That's why it's important to tell your surgeon when you are feeling hunger. There can be a variety of reasons. Some of them you may be able to fix, but some may require medical intervention.

If you're hungry, tell your surgical team. They should be able to help you.