recovery and feeling hungry

hello RNY-ers,

i just recently had bypass surgery this past Monday (11/17/14), and came home from the hospital on Wednesday and have been feeling quite well since.  I went into the surgery at 5'10" and weighing 275 lbs. Since I've been home I've been drinking fluids virtually nonstop: for example today and yesterday I drank two liters of water two protein shakes and incidental amounts of broth and jello but today I'm ravenous. what I'm wondering is if anyone else has experienced this same phenomenon or if there's a chance that my surgery was perhaps not done correctly? I just find it odd because everything I've read pre-op and everything that I was told post-op led me to believe that my tastes would chance dramatically and that I'd be lucky to be able to hold down even just a few ounces of fluid. I don't have es f/u appr until 12/03/14, and I just want to ensure that I'm not shooting myself in the foot, as it were. any help and or advice on this topic or maybe some war stories of your own would be, at this point, greatly appreciated!

thank you,

Joel

Is your stomach hungry or do you think it could be head hunger?  I experienced the worst head hunger for 2 weeks after surgery.  Once on solid foods, the littlest bit will fill you up, I promise.  Liquids pass right through, but it's a necessary phase to help you heal.  Hang in there!

The first thing I said when I awoke from surgery was " I'M STARVING! Who the hell wakes from this surgery hungry???"  I agree when you go to full liquids, you'll feel much better and more satiated. When I get that kind of starving feeling (which is very rare for me now) I have a thick protein shake like Atkins. Seems to do the trick. 

After surgery I have never been hungry again.   I might have starved to death if protein shakes were not available.  I now enjoy food and eating, but am full after a few bites of most food.  What you are feeling now might be head hunger. 

The true feeling of fullness comes with dense proteins.  I never counted calories early out, just protein grams.  I did not have to worry about calories for the first few years.  I was able to drink about 12 ounces of fluid at a time after the first week.  I was afraid something was wrong because I had been told that people could only sip slowly.  It was just that I healed quickly.

One of the things that I have learned after having this surgery is that we all have very different/yet similar individual experiences. I was so afraid that I was not going to be able to go home after the surgery because I could not seem to get more then two sips of fluid in! I struggled to get my fluids in but man the head hunger the first couple of days after surgery was outrageous. I was on this forum "begging" someone to tell me that it was okay to eat a scrambled egg (who does that?)  Thank God everyone here talked me down off the ledge!

What you are feeling is normal and it will all change in the next few days. Hang in there!

thanks everyone- I sincerely appreciate the feedback; though I've quite literally been out of the hospital for a few hours I'm getting the impression that this whole endeavour is like bringing home your first puppy or child: you research endlessly for months ahead of time to makes the most informed decision possible, then once you've crossed that threshold you find out that nothing (yet everything) is as you thought it would be! 

Again, thanks to all you "seasoned" members what have been down this road before. 

Hi Joel,

i arrived home from the hospital yesterday after RNY and it sounds like you and I are in a similar boat! It has been simple for me to keep liquids down. I have easily stuck with sugar free Popsicles, broth, hot tea, and water and have well-exceeded the minimum recommended daily. I thought there was something wrong with me! I mentioned this to my surgeon and asked, "this isn't normal, is it?" because I had read so much about so many people struggling to get the liquids down post-RNY. He was very happy to hear it and said it's great that keeping liquids down has been super easy! I've slowly incorporated a tiny bit of low-fat plain cottage cheese (this is included in my doctor's "stage one liquid diet" for 2 weeks) and about 3 full medicine cups worth finally made me feel full. Keep up with your liquids- it's a great thing and nothing to worry about!!

Keep in mind that you still have a "remnant" stomach hovering just below your pouch.  It will still be aching to be fed.  (Think Audrey--"FEED ME!)  So yeah, you'll have grumbles and hunger pangs, but it will stop soon.  You can only put so much into your pouch, and it will NEVER get into the rest of your stomach, but your action of putting food into your body will soon overcome that remnant.

I never had trouble getting my fluids in either.  I had the same worries.  I also didn't have taste changes that others talk about.  I think that we have all had the experience of diets failing us over and over and over... that deep inside we fear that this is just another "diet" that we are going to fail again.  My advice to you is this: have faith, follow your plan and know that this isn't a "diet" -- and you will succeed.  Your analogy to bringing home a newborn is so apt -- but you know, other than extreme idiocy or abuse, babies tend to live.  In much the same way, unless you are doing something stupid, you will lose weight and work your tool.  You are doing amazingly getting your fluids in.  Keep it up!

I've set my mind to thinking that it's as others have already diagnosed, or suggested: "head hunger" which I'm assuming is like an amputee experiencing phantom pain. That said and with my new-found mindset, today is already better. Though I am planning on supper and a movie tonight with my partner and friends. It'll be the first foray into movie sans popcorn and diet coke and supper consisting of only clear liquids. Should I start to feel as if somehow 'missing out' then I should hope that everyone gives me a stout dose of that matronly tough love. Though, even I type this, I am thinking that it'd be crazy, to feel like I'd be missing out on anything: isn't the point of dinner & a movie with one's significant other and friends to simply enjoy the pleasure of each other's company and conversation...(who am I kidding it's really always been about the food and the popcorn!) don't tell him I said so ;)

thanks, all, for the thoughtful replies!

Joel