Hungry ALL the time
This is really freaking me out. I had 2 things happen that I was really concerned about.
one was after my last PS procedure I felt like I had a big lump in my throat, like if you swallow a big horsepill and it gets stuck in your throat. around the same time I started feeling t like I was starving all the time. I wanted to eat constantly. Now, I am fairly dicsiplined and this freaked me out. I actually gained a couple (or 4) pounds. This has went on since January.
My PCP said she thought the "lump" feeling was reflux and I was doubtful, but took the Prevacid for a month as instructed with no relief. i decided enough is enough and went to an ENT and he looked down my throat and saw that I have a lot of irritation consistant with reflux that is irritating me all the way up to my vocal cords causing a muscle in that area to spasm and giving me the Lump feeling. He put me on Nexium, high dose twice a day for a month then once a day for a month and said if I am not completely resolved by then he wants me to go to a GI Dr and be scoped. (yuk)
I never had heartburn or actual pain just the funny feeling in my throat that is not painful at all just a pressure.
I have been on the Nexium for about 3 weeks. The wierd thing is I am no longer starving all the time. I have heard that an ulcer can give you a gnawing hungry feeling and I am wondering if the reflux would have caused the same thing or if I had an ulcer that is improving and didn't know it.
Anyways, I posted this mostly to say that if you suddenly feel very hungry all the time check it out, there might be a physical problem causing it.
( I have dropped 4 pounds I gained over the past 3 weeks!)
Willow,
I just experienced the EXACT same thing this past month. I'm two years out, and I have not had one single problem as a post-op. I started feeling like I had a big pill stuck in my throat. When I ate the pain would radiate out around the hollow of my throat (right about where something would be "stuck"). It hurt most when I drank water, so I started to avoid that. Just what I need to do!
I made an appointment with my surgeon, but in the meantime I was at my PCP for something else and asked her about it. She said it didn't sound like heartburn (I had heartburn a lot when I was pregnant and it didn't feel the same****il I could see my surgeon she put me on Aciphex. In about five days it was gone! In the meantime, I had so much going on that I cancelled the S.O.S. surgeon appointment knowing I had a routine one coming up next week. Without much instruction from the PCP I stopped taking it after the second week. Within the week it was back! I started back on it and now it is gone again.
I'm glad you wrote, because the feeling wasn't what I had experienced as heartburn before. I feel like I have a pretty good confirmation that for me that is what it was. Now my question for my surgeon.....why am I getting heartburn now? I suppose there could be some obvious suspects in my diet, but not things I haven't been eating for the last year. Aren't most ulcers caused by the pelori bacteria? Does our new plumbing make us vulnerable to ulcers or acid reflux. I thought it cured a lot of people's ARD?
I'll share any advice my surgeon gives me next week. I have been awfully hungry, but I thought that was just getting further out.
Patty
It is really wierd, I am 3 1/2 years ppost op. I know H pylori can caiuse ulcers and who klnows how you get it and why now. Also stress, and I have had enormous stress with family situations, plastics and issues with plastics as well as needing revisions. I have had Includign my WLS 5 MAJOR surgeries in the past less than 4 years as well as a couple minor procedueres, 2 hospitalizations with bowel obstructions caused by the hernia I had repaired and an illeus. as well as illnesses in my family, with a couple hospitalizations for one member who is Bipolar and very unstable.
The ENT did say if I am not significantly improved to see a GI dr and maybe get the biopsy for H pylori.
Very wierd that this crops up NOW!
Huh?!?! I thought the discovery that H pylori was the main culprit of ulcers debunked the idea that stress causes them.
Yep you've had stress! Hang in there! I have had incredible stress in the last two months (father-in-law died, funeral to plan out of state, son rear-ended - car totalled but he's O.K., daughter hospitalized with spinal tap and another one next week, amongst other things!) so is this why we've experienced this acid stuff?
I'll let you know what my surgeon says next week.
Patty
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/peptic-ulcer/DS00242/DSECTION=3
H. pylori is a common gastrointestinal infection around the world. In the United States, one in five people younger than 40 and half of people older than 60 are infected. Although it's not clear exactly how H. pylori spreads, it may be transmitted from person to person by close contact, such as kissing. People may also contract H. pylori through food and water.
H. pylori is the most common, but not the only, cause of peptic ulcers. Besides H. pylori, other causes of peptic ulcers, or factors that may aggravate them, include:
* Regular use of pain relievers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can irritate or inflame the lining of your stomach and small intestine. The medications are available both by prescription and over-the-counter. Nonprescription NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and ketoprofen (Orudis KT). To help avoid digestive upset, take NSAIDs with meals.
NSAIDs inhibit production of an enzyme (cyclooxygenase) that produces prostaglandins. These hormone-like substances help protect your stomach lining from chemical and physical injury. Without this protection, stomach acid can erode the lining, causing bleeding and ulcers.
* Smoking. Nicotine in tobacco increases the volume and concentration of stomach acid, increasing your risk of an ulcer. Smoking also may slow healing during ulcer treatment.
* Excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol can irritate and erode the mucous lining of your stomach and increases the amount of stomach acid that is produced. It's uncertain, however, whether this alone can progress into an ulcer or whether other contributing factors must be present, such as H. pylori bacteria or ulcer-causing medications such as NSAIDs.
* Stress. Although stress per se isn't a cause of peptic ulcers, it's a contributing factor. Stress may aggravate symptoms of peptic ulcers and, in some cases, delay healing. You may undergo stress for a number of reasons -- an emotionally disturbing cir****tance or event, surgery, or a physical trauma, such as a burn or other severe injury.
Willow,
I had a little of the same thing after my ps. I felt hungry and had that "stuck pill" feeling. A friend said it could be throat irritation after being intubated for surgery. For a few weeks I sucked on SF hard candy or sore throat lozenges alot and it eventually went away so I figure my friend (a nurse) was probably right. However, if it had continued much longer, I would have scheduled a consult with my surgeon to get it checked out.
Vickie J.
Willow: Thanks so much for sharing this information with us. I have had issues with pain/pressure feelings a couple of times since surgery, although not recently. The first time was probably 6 months out of surgery, then it happened again 6-8 months later. Both times my doc prescribed Nexium for 2 months at a time, and it took care of the issue. At that time, I did not have the "hungry" feeling though. I will watch out for that in the future. I do believe these occurrences were related to ulcers, as I think we are more prone to them after surgery, and that is probably why we are told not to drink caffeine drinks and no smoking (both of which I was doing and have since stopped). THanks again for sharing.
Carlita
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