Question:
Does surgery change how hungry you are??

I don't know if it's just me but I can't get a specific answer to this question. I've read lots of profiles about how people feel once they've lost the weight but I have yet to find out exactly how this surgery changes your hunger level or ability to eat a lot. I need to know what exactly this surgery does that keeps you from overeating or feeling constantly hungry? Could someone please tell me in specifics does this keep you from being hungry? Is it physically impossible for you to overeat?? What exactly is this surgery doing that is causing you to lose weight?    — Holly R. (posted on May 24, 2003)

May 23, 2003
Holly, first let me say EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT! You lose weight via several ways, your stomach is reduced to the size of an egg and then b/c of the change in size of your intestinal track, you don't absorb everything you eat! With all that being said, the first few months, you lose by doing nothing more than existing. That is why it is important to get into good habits early! For me, the hunger returned around 4-5 mos, the only difference is now, when I am hungry, it takes a lot less to fill me up! However, now that I am 9 mos out, I don't feel full very often unless I waterlogg myself prior ro eating! I will say that even though I don't dump on anything, certain foods make me feel very YUCKY! So, I try not to eat them! I hope this answers some questions. Email me if you have any other! Heather (Open RNY 8/15/02 - 305/194/150)
   — heathercross

May 23, 2003
First let me say that Heather did a great job of explaining the surgery to you. Then let me go on to say that your hunger does return after a few months. Sometimes i think I am starved to death but when I get the food in front of me acouple of bites is all I can eat. You have to be careful tho, that you don't overeat . Sometimes when I am really hungry, I eat too fast and then am very uncomfortable. Also to thin that this does all the work for you would be to say it is a magic bullit. It is a tool that you have to learn how to use. You will not suddenly wake up and not be hungry and be thin. It doesn't work that way.
   — Delores S.

May 24, 2003
I was one that was not particularly hungry--rarely am today at 9 yrs. I do want flavors & textures, though, and I need "fuel", at least to keep my blood sugar stable. I think the main difference for me is that my doc insists on protein shakes right from the beginning. It's not optional (we sign a contract), and it's not "sometimes". I use it as a tool to control cravings, portion size, speed I eat. I am a volume eater, so I will use whatever tool I can get. Some have called it a crutch. Yes, and the problem with that is.....?
   — vitalady

May 24, 2003
Holly, each surgery is different, so specifically, they all have different ways of helping us lose weight. I had the RNY and stomach was transected (cut) so I have a small pouch, that is one way I am not as hungry and lost weight. Second, intestines were bypassed, so not everything I eat gets absorbed. Does it take away hunger completely forever? It's different in all cases, but most people do get hunger feelings again, usually after the first 6 months. I had no appetite for 6 months, then started feeling hungry again, but its not as bad as pre-op. And yes you can overeat, but you will feel stuffed and horrible all over and could vomit. Continuously overeating will cause you to stretch your pouch overtime (which it will a little bit anyway). It's often trial and error to find how much and what you can eat/ can tolerate. WLS, in any form, is a tool, so we have to work with it. You'll have to speak to a surgeon and nutritionist to find out more information that pertains to you specifically. Goodluck to you!
   — Lezlie Y.

May 24, 2003
A study at the Veterans Admin Hospital shows that people WLS Post-ops had a 70% drop in their gherlin levels. Gherlin is a hormone discovered by the Japanese in 1999 which regulates appetite. This hormone is produced in the stomache walls near the top. Bypass surgery somehow inhibits the production of gherlin. There's theories that the location of the pouch being on the inside curve of the stomach also bypasses the area responsible for gherlin production which also leads to nonstimulation of that area. <p> Here's the VA article: <p> Gastric bypass surgery decreases appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin A study led by a team at the UW and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound Health Care System is the first to document the effects of low- calorie dieting versus gastric bypass surgery on ghrelin levels. David E. Cummings, in the Department of Medicine's Division of Metabolism Endocrinology and Nutrition, is principal author on the study published in the May 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone secreted by the stomach, was first identified by Japanese researchers in 1999, and was shown by British scientists last year to trigger appetite in humans. According to the UW/VA study, dieting raises ghrelin, while gastric bypass surgery sharply reduces it, to almost undetectable levels. In the study, the researchers analyzed blood samples from 13 obese patients before and after a six-month low-calorie, low-fat diet and from five patients who had undergone gastric- bypass surgery within the past one to three years. Ten normal-weight patients served as a control group. The dieters lost an average of 17 percent of their body weight, and their ghrelin levels rose 24 percent. The surgery group had lost an average of 36 percent of their weight, and their ghrelin levels had sunk to 77 percent below normal, and 72 percent below the dieters? level. The very low levels of the surgery group did not show the pre-meal increases and post-meal decreases that were found in normal adults. Other UW School of Medicine researchers participating in "Plasma Ghrelin Levels after Diet- Induced Weight Loss or Gastric Bypass Surgery" include David S. Weigle, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism Endocrinology and Nutrition, and E. Patchen Dellinger, professor of surgery. http://depts.washington.edu/mednews/vol6/no21/ghrelin.html <p> Links: <p>http://www.upmc.edu/obesitysurgery/monthlySupportGroup.htm Webcast http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/11/60II/main543614.shtml <p> Take Care, Be Well, BE Happy!
   — John T.

May 25, 2003
To add one more answer to your question...it depends also on what KIND of eater you are pre-op. Are you an emotional eater? Are you a volume eater (not eating out of emotion, but eat a lot at meal times)? Are you a snacker...don't think about what your eating, just eat to eat or have something to do? If you are a snacker or an emotional eater, you may likely experience head hunger - you'll think your hungry when you're really not. If you're a volume eater, you'll likely find that you don't need the volume to get the same feeling of satiety you did as a pre-op. As for over-eating, that can be done more than one way as well. Like one poster said if you eat too much at one sitting (meal) you'll feel awful - usually. But you can also over-eat by grazing (snacking) all day long as well or eating your meal over too long of a period of time (generally longer than 15 to 20 minutes) OR by drinking while you eat - which flushes the food through quickly so you can fit more in. These are all things we learn by trial and error and watching what we do. The first six months are a great time of learning what we need vs. what we want. Use them to your greatest advantage! This is NOT a cure for an eating disorder or emotional eating, but it does help you to help yourself better than any diet I've heard of (or tried).
   — [Deactivated Member]

May 26, 2003
You've been getting great answers here!! My experience: I was a volume, eat-to-soothe eater pre-op and a member of the clean-plate club, and I had insulin resistance/PCOS, which made me feel like I was starving all the time. Now at 4 months post lap RNY, I can say that I have felt some hunger but NOTHING like pre-op. Sometimes it's "head-hunger" (like when I'm bored at work or thinking about an ice-cream sundae) and sometimes it's genuine hunger (like when I've gone too long between meals). However, because I had an RNY, the amount of food I can eat at one time is limiting. The key for me is to stop eating at the first sensation of fullness. If that means there is still food on my plate, so be it. I also drink 4-5 liters of water a day and get in some good exercise so that cuts down on the hunger feelings too. Post-op hunger is totally different than pre-op hunger, for me anyway. Not everyone has the same experience.
   — lizinPA