Raging Hunger --AHH!

It is coming back.  That feeling that I have to eat NOW.  I am still able to stave off the need to get the bad stuff, but I am fearful b/c it seems to be growing.  

AH!

This happens to me every so often. I take a PPI for two weeks and all is well again. 

do you use an over the counter PPI?  or perscription?  

I've found that Nexium OTC works for me.

I take a PPI daily.  Doesn't help with the hunger.  Some days I am so hungry I could eat the wood off of the house.  Just saying...  But since I stopped carbs.. I am LESS hungry.

What is a PPI?  

I'm about 18 months out from surgery, lost 110 lbs, but have gained 6 lbs back and now I'm having the severe hunger feelings that I haven't had since before surgery.  

It's a proton pump inhibitor - like Nexium or Prilosec.  Lots of times hunger can be acid, especially immediately post-op.  

Couple of things:

1. It's not that uncommon at 16-18 months for hunger to return for some people. Question is, is it really raging? If it is, I'm going to suggest that maybe you're spreading your meals too far apart. I find that when I eat something every 3.5-4.5 hours I never really get that hungry. (I will also admit that I have not had a super strong return of hunger - but I never had a super strong hunger before VSG either. I was always full!)

2. I often will still mistake thirst for hunger. Whenever I feel like I "need" to eat and I know that normally I wouldn't be hungry yet, I have some water or something warm to drink.  If I'm really hungry the hunger will return 10 minutes after drinking. If it was merely thirst, I'm good to go.

3. There is no reason to fear hunger. Hunger is a normal biological response when the body needs energy. You get to choose what you eat when you're hungry. Most bodies don't really crave a high sugar, high carb meal. Bodies want nutrition. If your hunger is screaming for crap food, perhaps it's really a craving, not hunger at all.

4. Like Gwen mentioned, you might consider a PPI and see if that helps. Try Prilosec OTC. That's one that I had good success with until I moved to Potonix (which is Rx and is therefore a lot cheaper for me as it's covered by my insurance).

Good luck!

In addition to the excellent advice from Gwen and Kairk above, whatcha eating? In my experience fat, not just protein, really helps with satiety. And as we know, carbs, especially sugar, can cause you to feel way hungrier than you ought to. 

Just as an extreme example, at my absolute heaviest, I was eating 5000 to 6000 calories (I added up a typical day once) and I was absolutely starving all the time. How could I possibly eat that much food and still be hungry? Because it was all carbs and sugar. The day I went high fat, low carb, I could eat 1500 calories and not be hungry at all. What we eat really matters, because it has an impact on how much we eat (or just want to eat)!

Thanks guys.  I haven't changed too much of what I've been eating, but a little more white potato than normal, so that could be stimulating it.  I have also been running around a lot so sometimes and pushing my dinner a solid 4 hours after lunch or snack, which is when the ravenousness tends to hit.  My cardio is getting intense again, so that could be playing in.  

I'm not scared of hunger, but I'm scared of the monster in my head that comes with raging hunger and makes me get take out thai food -- and way too much of it and not the good choices!  Gotta go to OA meeting tomorrow for sure.