INVESTIGATION How long was it before the effects of the surgery started to wear off?
thinnerrugger
Posts: 25 Member
I was told that genuine hunger can return anytime within 6 months to 2 years. That's quite a range. And, I get that. Everyone is different. And, everyone handles post-op food different. I get that, too.
But, still, I thought, there might be a pattern out there somewhere since everyone is different. If you want to investigate this with me, add your stats to this note. I'll start. Add as much info as you'd like. Leave out anything you want. The more information, the more we might see a pattern. Thanks for being a part of this. Keep watching. I'm going to gather the data and post results. Everything helps, right?
12-15-2014
Female
Surgery Date - 7/2014
Wear-Off Date (approx) - N/A (means it hasn't yet)
Weight Lost to Date - 69
Start Weight - 225
Weight Today - 156
Height - 5'6"
But, still, I thought, there might be a pattern out there somewhere since everyone is different. If you want to investigate this with me, add your stats to this note. I'll start. Add as much info as you'd like. Leave out anything you want. The more information, the more we might see a pattern. Thanks for being a part of this. Keep watching. I'm going to gather the data and post results. Everything helps, right?
12-15-2014
Female
Surgery Date - 7/2014
Wear-Off Date (approx) - N/A (means it hasn't yet)
Weight Lost to Date - 69
Start Weight - 225
Weight Today - 156
Height - 5'6"
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Replies
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The trouble with us though is that differentiating between head hunger and genuine hunger is so problematic for us. If a pt is 2 yrs out from surgery and consuming more calories than they are burning it won't be from hunger. Pt's regain by medicating with food regardless of their hunger status.0
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I know about all the variables which is why this is not intended to be of any scientific importance. I just want to see what people out there experience. There might be a common denominator of some kind. Curious minds want to know. Please don't squash this before it has a chance to start.0
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I was sleeved on 9/18/14. I don't know if it is head hunger or real hunger, but I felt it relatively soon --- and was very surprised by it. I guess I thought I had "more time". I would say that after six weeks, I noticed it more so. I am working on coming to terms with this. But I do feel full quicker so sometimes I try to check and see if I need water or can wait it out ten minutes.0
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I was told that most people will regain their hunger by the end of the first year. Most, not all. I am 3.5 years out and I still rarely feel real hunger. My battle is with head hunger and yes, for me, they are completely different things/feelings.
Start weight 386 - Lowest weight (so far) 222 - 164 pounds off - height 5'7" - 58 years old0 -
Being only 5 weeks post-op I was wondering the same. When will the hunger return? Currently, I have no desire to eat and have to sometimes force myself to do so. I have no desire for sweets like I used to. I like this...LOL I am using this time to develop good habits and prepare for the hunger and head hunger when and if it returns,
Surgery date 11/12/14
Start weight 297.5
current 262.4
Wear-off N/A
Height 5'4"0 -
I will be a year out the end of next month. I started experiencing hunger again right around 2-3 months. What I find different than was the case pre-op is that I can easily ignore it for hours and I can also quell it with a cheese stick or a handful of nuts.
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I am now 8 weeks out. I do feel a kind of hunger. It is kind of like I know I need to put something in. So like Thaeda I can eat a cheese stick or a handful of nuts and be satisfied. I started feeling it around 6 weeks out. It is not the hunger that makes me want to eat everything in sight like before just a slight your empty and need something substantial. I always test it by drinking water. If I still feel it after 10 minutes I eat something and it goes away.0
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I'm not sure how helpful this will be, because I don't remember exactly when hunger returned. I'm 4 years out from surgery though, and can say that I have both real, physical hunger, as well as head hunger. The sleeve does still help me with physical hunger though, because a small portion still fills me up. And all the tools gained after surgery from my doctor's and nutritionists, as well as my personal trainer, continue to help me better deal with emotional hunger. Doesn't always work, I've gone through periods of weight gain (still working on getting off the 25 lbs I gained this summer) but I'm still satisfied with a much smaller portion than I ever was pre-surgery.
Surgery 12/20/2010
SW 320
CW 172
Height 5’7”
Hunger returned – don’t remember exactly, definitely not within first year.
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12-17-2014
Male
Surgery Date - 05/12/2014
Wear-Off Date (approx) - 11/14 (don't feel real comfortable saying it ever "wore off"...)
Weight Lost to Date - 97
Start Weight - 321
Weight Today - 224
Height - 6' 0"
About last month I began to get some hunger pains back...but also I am trying to learn to distinguish between the head hunger and the real hunger. I reach for the water bottle first and drink a good amount...often I am thirsty and not really hungry. If I skip a meal I am so very hungry by the normal time the next meal comes around...I think I can eat a huge portion like "the old days" but I can't. And I don't push it. I have learned to pay attention to the signals and quit eating immediately when the "comfort zone" just begins to appear. I practice very hard at MINDFUL EATING. And I work on it every day! I also go to support groups twice a month to get myself "refocused". It works for me.
Instead of a "wear off" date, I think it is more of being fully healed and feeling more able to eat without fear...if that makes sense. There is just no way I am going to "eat around my surgery" as I have heard it put...I am sticking to my guns and following the plan. Self monitoring is the key for me, meaning I have to pay attention (using MFP...and get to the gym on a regular basis). I not only pay attention to the scale but how my jeans fit....I can tell right away when I seriously need to get back in gear. I've worked much to hard to get where I am now, for me there is no going back.
Good luck on your journey.0 -
I am 12 weeks post op, and much like klcovington, I felt hunger pretty soon after surgery. I can distinguish between real hunger and head hunger, and I would say real hunger hit within a few weeks of starting soft foods. The difference since surgery is that a tiny snack will fill me up. There are days where I have no hunger and will realize late afternoon that I haven't eaten anything, then there are other days when I pretty much wake up starving and feel no restriction the entire day. It varies.
Surgery date: 9/22/14
SW: 260
CW: 198
Height: 5'7"0 -
I just posted about going out with the wife.
SD: 10-13-14
SW: 254 after liquid diet
CW: 225 (until I weigh in tomorrow)
Height: 5'8
I looked at the food tonight and while I had pounds of delicious foods in front of me, I hit the protein first with 6oz on my mind. We even talked about it on the way home. I told her that I wanted to continue to eat, and had I not cognitively realized what I needed to eat, I would have decimated that plate simply for the taste. We had a decent conversation actually about how 3 months ago I would have eaten all of it. Now, when i'm at home, it's so much easier to control since I make what I "need". So I guess the answer to the question is that when something tastes good, you want to eat it...and eat and eat until your miserable. That was me 3 months ago. If you like to read, pick up "Becks Diet Solution". It's not a diet book, but it's a book that actually approaches the cognitive side of eating. Very good read and it will help you mentally with food. It was recommended by my supervising physician during my 6 month supervised program.0 -
Hmm,, this is a hard question to answer accurately. I am 9 months out. I think within a few weeks I felt genuine hunger but only when I should have been eating anyway. It took a long time for me to recognise that even though the hunger feeling was identical to pre-surgery when it was meal time, my portion requirement was minimal for that hunger to go away. I would picture a full meal in my mind. But if your asking when did I start to feel hungry more often and eat larger portions that could start to push me towards calorie limits, then that was around 7 months. If I am not making good decisions I could easily exceed calorie limits. But if I am strict with my general foods, I would never be hungry enough to ever go over my limits. Hunger v head hunger. Hard to differentiate sometimes. I can go several hours and never think of food or I can want several small portions within rapid succession.0
This discussion has been closed.