3 years post op. Cant stop purging.

Had the sleeve 3 years ago and I went from 350lbs down to 170lbs and have been here happily for a year now. The surgery saved my life.

My problem is the feeling of fullness... and I feel like it happens too easily. My wife and I had the surgery a month apart. She can eat way more food than me and doesn't feel full like I do as quickly.

Examples... 3 chicken wing flats.. full feeling. 4 raw oysters... full. 4 slices of zucchini.. full. half a bowl of salad.. full. My wife can eat double what I eat and it really gets under my skin when I gotta push the plate away and I get the stare from her. Really???? that's all you can eat?

The reason for posting this is because I am creating an unhealthy habit. When I feel this way.... I sneak upstairs, turn the exhaust fan on.. and purge so it doesn't hurt anymore. It has nothing to do with weight gain guilt or any of that psychology.. I need to gain weight and muscle mass. I do this prob 4 dinners out of every 7 days. I can see that my muscles are getting smaller and I am getting weaker.

Just curious if anybody else has experienced something similar and has advice.

I am also the type where when I get full... instant pass out to sleep. I eat dinner and go straight to the couch.. if im not sneaking purging. lol my kids call it sleepy daddy.

Please talk to a professional - maybe your medical team. Could it be you are feeling full quicker because you are not chewing and eating too fast? Are you drinking while you are eating? The loss of muscle mass is a medical concern and there are other complications which come with purging - please talk to your doctor as soon as you can.

Please talk to a professional about your purging. Eating disorders are no joke and you deserve to limit or end this behavior.

Have you checked in with your surgeon lately? If you suddenly can't eat as much, I wonder if a stricture might be a possibility. You can get your pouch checked out using imaging like an upper GI and they can see what's going on.

It's also possible that your wife's sleeve is much larger/looser than yours, which is determined by how the surgeon performs the procedure.

You have an eating disorder. Please get help.

Biggest problem than even muscle waisting is mineral and vitamins deficiencies that can kill you if not corrected. I.e. potassium deficiencies, B1 deficiencies, B12, etc etc. .

Please see professional help.

Some of the deficiencies could cause permanent damage, like permanent nerve damage that can't be reversed once they happen.

Please please get help.

Bulimia can lead to all kinds of problems. Your teeth could rot and fall out, you could have a heart attack, the acid can erode your esophagus and lead to esophageal cancer, etc.

Please get help.

None of us are medical professionals, so if you're at the point where you're having trouble getting enough food in, then definitely go get help. Go back to your medical team, or if they or you are no longer in the same area or they are not available then find a new group.

I definitely know that even close to 10 years out that some foods make me feel full more quickly than others. I don't know what a "chicken wing flat" is but 4 zucchini slices should not make you full to the point of wanting to throw up. You said that you only feel the need to purge about 4 dinners out of 7. Do you notice anything different about the foods you're eating when you *don't* need to purge afterwards. It's possible that you have some inflammation going on in the lining of the stomach (e.g. gastritis) that's narrowing your stomach area. Whatever is going on you need to get it checked out.

Good luck!

I am not thinking he has bulimia. He not only knows he has to gain weight, He wants to gain weight. Thats not the behavior of a person with bulimia. He is puking because he is eating to the point of feeling so full he feels like he has to purge. Could it be Binge eating disorder? It could..especially if he had it before the sleeve and never addressed it.

I would like to know if he is:

1.weighting out his protein at every meal

2. Eating protein first

3.chewing to applesauce consistency

4. waiting at least 30mins to drink water after a meal. Might have to weight longer than 30 because today I ate some deli meat for my first meal and I ate more than 3oz..I felt so full I knew i couldnt drink water 30mins after. Well i waited 2 hours and I was really thirsty because the meat was salty and I drank the water too fast and nearly Puked. I was getting ready to go out too and had to run back inside the house because i thought i was going to puke. Turned out to be the foamies..I didnt puke but i had to get out alot of phlegm. Took me 30mins before i felt good enough to go out to the car to leave.

I am kind of skeptical he has BED though because the foods he listed as eating don't sound like the types of food that people with BED would choose to binge on. Also From what he typed it doesnt seem like he is eating around the clock which many people with BED tend to do.

At 4 months out from VSG I can eat considerably more food than what he says is getting him full. I am with what others said for him to make an appointment with his doctor. If it was me I would have probably made an appointment with my WLS Medical team 2 years ago.