Question:
I am SOOOO hungry! Help!!

I am now 8 days post-op and will be on liquids for the next 2 to 5 days (my nutritionist says I can add some pureed foods 10 days post-op). I am VERY hungry and hoping for some advice. Would it be okay to add one more cup of milk with Sugar-Free Carnation Instant Breakfast? It seems to help, but I'm not sure if it's wise. Also, is being hungry 8 days post-op a good or bad thing?? Thank you as always for your help!    — LaRayne H. (posted on March 21, 2002)

March 21, 2002
You are drinking NSA CIB with 1 C milk now? So that gives about 19g sugar. If you add another cup, that'd give you another 12g sugar, which would be slightly more than one Milky Way. The problem with sugar is that it MAKES you hungrier & hungrier. I was not hungry (as in hungry) for weeks after surgery, but we had NO sugar at all. And we had lots of (real) protein supp, so that also wards of hunger.
   — vitalady

March 21, 2002
Michelle Curran and I have "agreed to disagree" on the milk issue. Milk was one of my main food sources for the first 12 weeks after surgery, and I still have 2-3 cups per day now. My surgeon said it was a great food source and had lots of good stuff like calcium, vitamin D, etc. It does have some sugar, true, but it doesn't react the same way in your body as sucrose (the kind of sugar in a Milky Way). At least for me, if I were to eat a Milky Way, I would dump like crazy. I can drink 2 cups of milk, though, and be just fine. My personal opinion is that drinking milk is fine. I have lost 171 lbs. drinking milk every step of the way, and I continue to think of it as a great food source. Best of luck to you!
   — Terissa R.

March 21, 2002
When I came home at 6 days post op I was put on pureed and found myself filling up on juices, lowfat hot cocoa with peanut butter in it. I too was soo hungry and told it was head hunger but beleive me it wasn't. I discovered that the pain med was syrup based and if i ate a tablespoon of peanut butter or cottage cheese before my meds, started drinking water instead of juice (at very least tomatoe juice) I pretty much eliminated the hunger problems. I'm sure you've heard of carbs increasing hunger, protein was my solution. (not protein drinks, they gave me the runs)
   — Brenda F.

March 22, 2002
I have to agree with Terissa. I drink 8oz of skim milk EVERY DAY. Hey, it's got like 9 grams of protein! My nutritionist recommended drinking a glass of milk every day and trying to buy Skim Plus for the extra protein and calcium. Sugar booger.
   — PT LawMom

March 22, 2002
I found, even very early post op, the more protein the less hunger. Sugar and carbs can increase the appetite so much by altering the insulin levels.
   — Joelle B.