Band to VSG...question about satisfied feeling after eating

I am still working towards making a decision on revising to VSG. Meeting with a surgeon next week. I read the boards all the time, trying to get answers without having to ask ALL the redundant questions, but I do have one that I haven't seen discussed before:

Sometimes, I would eat a small meal and would feel satisfied and be great. Other times, when I had good restriction with the band, I would eat a few bites and get that uncomfortable feeling, but would still want to eat more because I did not feel the satisfied feeling at all. Which led down a very slippery slope in the beginning of eating slider foods on occasion. Especially when I would eat 2 bites of chicken and vomit...then could only eat liquids...so then it was a choice to eat ice cream, etc. Not good, I realize... I didn't do that alot, but sometimes it happened. From those experiences, I think I have developed my eagerness to do things differently this time around if I revise.

So, my question is this. With VSG vs Band, do you feel more satisfied after your small meal so you aren't tempted to go to those things just purely based on hunger?... I know I will still have head hunger to deal with and I will falter at times, I am sure. I just remember having that feeling of wanting so badly to have something to eat, but the band wouldn't allow it. I am hoping the VSG will give me the satisfied (not saying stuffed) feeling and not leave me truly hungry after I eat.

I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

well my doctor said that the sleeve gets better results on women than the band if you want to lose more than 50 lb than go with the sleeve they say the band is better for men because they burn more calories than women.

Thanks for replying. I am actually already banded, looking seriously at revising to VSG. Trying to invision how the sleeve will "feel" different.

It sounds like you really struggled with head hunger and this is something you really need to deal with. With the sleeve at first you have serious restricton. Sometimes it only takes a tablespoon of food before you are too full to eat more, sometimes a quarter cup, half cup.

What I am getting at is eventually you will be able to eat a little more but if you have the urge to eat to be "satisfied" when  your sleeve is full then you are eating because of food addicition/head hunger and thus all the wrong reasons.

The struggles you faced will not go away with the sleeve. I would really considering seeing a therapist to face your food addiction and need to eat and feel "satisfied". Working on this before your sleeve will allow you to be successful with the VSG.
 
Your sleeve will probably be full long before you ever feel satisfied. So it is an issue you will most likely face with VSG also.

Thank your for taking the time to reply. I agree that some of what was going on then was head hunger. With the band, I couldn't eat breakfast, so I usually had coffee or protein shake (which I have learned to prefer this anyways now), but then at lunch, I wanted to eat my 1/2 to 1 cup meal that my pouch allowed. Well sometimes I ate something wrong, my band was being tempermental that day, whatever the situation was and after the first bite...it was over. So by 2 pm, I had only been able to have one bite of chicken all day. In those instances, I don't see how that can be head hunger. Those were most of the times that I made bad choices to have a milkshake or chocolate bar, where I should have had a protein shake instead or something better anyways. This wasn't an everyday occurence, I made lots of good choices too. I am just trying to get a feel for how the sleeve with "feel" differently than the band. I am planning to ask the new surgeon's office about their recommended therapists too...I know I totally have a food addiction and need to get help with that. Thank you again for your reply.

 Sassy's right, sadly. "Head Hunger," or your psychological cravings for food will not go away, even though you're not technically hungry. The sleeve feels much more "normal." At 8 weeks post op, I can eat anything and everything, just in 4oz quantities at a time. There's the kicker though: AT A TIME.

If you're at a long, big meal, you better believe your sleeve will eventually make room for more. And after years of being trained that three cheeseburgers at McDonalds is "normal," my head is always subconsciously telling me "Ah, you're not full yet. How about one more little piece of lemon chicken..."

So yeah, it takes a lot of discipline and well-timing of meals. It's a slow learning process and my loss has been great so far, but it's not easy.

I don't have a sleeve yet, but can tell you that I experienced those same things with the band. I would eat 2 bites, have pain, and not be full. I would have to wait till it "went down" to eat more.
I contributed that pain to esophageal spasms. I don't think my pouch was full.
What my understanding is, with the sleeve you do get that stuffed, full feeling.
When I had the band out I felt that full feeling I never had with the band.
It was weird. After 3 years I could say I was full and felt it!
Thats why I didn't attribute it to head hunger.

It makes you wonder too then right?? I am hoping to hear from some revisions from band to VSG...those are the only ones *****ally know how the band felt and how the vsg feels. I know some of what is going on has to be head hunger, but I am sure hopeful that lots of the way I felt was just due to the crap band. It will be interesting to see what others say. Good luck with your process with the VSG. Makes me nervous but excited all at the same time. I will know more after my meeting next week with my new surgeon, hopefully.