Questions for those 3-12 months out. Warning: some TMI in here

Looking for some feedback from some of you a bit farther out than me.

First question: I suddenly feel like my new sleeved stomach is working in hyperspeed.  I get full very fast, on 2.5-5 ounces of food depending on what I am eating.  5 is pushing it.  Most meals I eat 3-4 ounces and am full and completely satisfied.  But I have noticed for the last two weeks that while I get full very fast on just a little food, I don't stay full long.  For example, just before 7am this morning I had 1/2 of one of those sandwich flatbread bun thingys (50 cals, 2.5 protein), 1 slice of swiss cheese (50 cals, 7 protein), 2.3 ounces of lean turkey breast (80 cal, 15 prot), and 1 tbsp of low fat olive oil mayo (60 al, 0 prot), and a couple pickle slices.  Total for sandwich 240 cals, 24.5 protein, about 6 fat.  I couldn't eat it all.  I ate about 80% of it and my son ate the rest.  I had that at 6:45 am and got done with it about 7:10.  By 8:45 this morning at work I was starving again and had a half a Special K protein bar.  So my question: why do I get hungry again so fast?  It is this way every day.  Is it becuase I can eat so little at meals and it empties out fast?  This has been going on for about 2 weeks.  I mentioned it to my NUT and she just said eating/snacking between meals was ok as long as I am choosing the snacks I am (part of a protein bar, milk, string cheese, carrots, pickle, healthy, low fat high protein stuff like that).

Second question, and here is the TMI.  I have noticed since starting mushies and now on to full foods for almost a month a strange correlation.  The first 3-4 weeks after surgery I lost 29 pounds and had diarrhea the whole time.  Not "pee out the butt" loose, but lumpy and wet, much wetter than usual.  But I was losing weight, not getting dehydrated, so didn't really care.  Then I hit my 2 week stall.  Stools firmed up and were "normal" like before surgery.  Last week I noticed the wet **** coming back, and my stall broke.  So to sum it up: normal, "log" style **** = stall (sorry, I know this is kinda gross, but I am trying to make it at least laughable) and wet, loose, nasty, half-assed squirts = losing weight.  Is this weird or what?  Docs office said as long as it is somewhat formed (like lumpy and wet isn't really diarrhea in their mind) and not just **** out the ass, then I'm good.

Thoughts please?  I'm losing so not complaining.  But changes from pre-op, so thought I'd see if others have had similar experience or if I'm a freak.  :)  

I would kill to be able to go normally again. For me it's been constipation since before surgery. I'm pretty well convinced it's the vitamins I started doing when I joined the program in September. It's a constant battle.

Gotta love OH...which "normal" friends could you discuss this issue with? We all can sympathise!!

Heidi

Dont have an answer about the defecation thing, except the obvious "if you are having diarrheal stools, make sure you stay extra hydrated" sort of thing.

The food - this is *my* experience.

Dense protein ALONE.  Stay full for the whole 3 hours.

Dense protein PLUS (plus pickles, plus bread, plus veggies, cooked or not, plus fruit, plus oils, plus anything that makes is slippery) I get hungry faster.

Bready things, even those thins, I can eat MORE with comfortably than I could dense meat alone, same with veggies.  Its like those things make it soupy in my tum and shuffle everything down further.

So, while I can enjoy a ham pickle cheese on a flat thing and be satisfied - around the 2 hour mark I am going to be HUNGRY again.  If I had a bit of juicy fruit with that?  its going to be closer to 1-1/2.

*shrug*  Its just how my tum works.  Experiement and see if its true for you too.  It might be, or maybe not! 

Then you just have to learn to use it to your advantage and not let it make you hunger's ***** again!

*whapow*

Re hunger - are you on a PPI (acid blocker)?  If not, get your doc to recommend one.  Excess acid feels just like hunger.  So does dehydration, so make sure you're getting your liquids in.  One other trick I learned - the longer I hold off drinking after eating (and I assume you're not drinking with your meals), the longer I feel full.  I can drink pretty fast now, so I concentrate my drinking in shorter windows of time and make sure I stay away from liquids at least a half hour before I eat and an hour to hour and a half after a meal.  See if any of this helps you!

Don't know about the poop issue.  Could be that when you're in ketosis and losing fat, it's exiting in your poop - result, looser poop.  After all, the fat has to leave your body somehow!

I am on Prilosec for about 2 more weeks, then will switch back to Prevacid (works better for me, but they are so damned expensive I might as well use up the Prilosec).

I get plenty of liquids now.  Once I started purees and mushies I didn't every day, and I got INSANE painful leg and foot cramps, and quickly learned to get more water in.  Ever since I've done great, getting 70-100 ounces a day consisting mostly of water, but some electrolite water like the calorie free gatorade propel zero, and some milk each day too.

You are correct, not drinking with meals.  I actually find this part the hardest, so what I do is use a stopwatch app on my phone.  I eat meals at the same time each day, and start it when I start eating to make sure I take 20 mins to eat and no more than 30.  Once I swallow my last bite I restart the timer at 30 mins, and wait for it to go off before I drink anything.  Works out perfectly.

Good thought on the ketosis.  I hope you're right, and if you are, I hope I have this issue for another 125-150 pounds.  :D

Prevacid is alot cheaper at Sam's Club, or maybe ever Costco if you have one in your area.

Heidi,
I had the same problem for the first 2-3 weeks. Not so much constipation I think, just that I never had to go because I wasn't hardly taking anything in. It was exit through the front door once or twice a day at most, and exit from the rear once every 3-4 days. Now its much more normal in terms of frequency (3-4/day front, 1/day rear), but the "texture" of the backdoor exiting is surely different. LOL

Thanks for the feedback Brandilynn. That all makes perfect sense. even when I snack when I get hungry I still get full fast. But I think you are right, because one of my snack foods is beef or turkey jerky. And when I have just 1-2 ounces of jerky, I am good for much longer than if I have a serving of fruit, veggies, or even almonds or something like that.

The nice part is that the restriction is SO good, that I phsyically cannot eat much anytime, which i LOVE. I just want to be careful not to snack too much or get in the habit of eating all the time because I'm hungry. Want to limit it to either 3 squares a day, or 3 samllish meals and one small, healthy snack between.

Thanks again!

Hey Wildfan - I am just over 3.5 mos out and I can relate.  So here is how it works for me....

I need to really focus on dense protein otherwise like you mention I can get hungry again.  If I do have some carbs I do it after the protein or for breakfast maybe a piece of Pepperige Farms thin slice bread with egg & cheese on top (I get about 1/2 - 3/4 down).  I ashamedly admit I have had some "carb days" in which I grazed and was amazed at how hungry I could get and how crazy the eating could be if I let it.  I had to nip that sucker in the bud.

As for the TMI - you gotta ask or you don't know.  I struggle in this area.  I alternate between constipation and diarrhea.  Seems like I get constipated for days and either pass a rock or I turn into a goose and peeing out my butt (chunky) like you say. 

Here is what seems to work best for me... Protein - Water - Fiber - I do all my protein, I drink my water - and I add Benefiber to everything I can.  Coffee - Shakes etc.  When I get it right - Well then my bathroom experience is right too.  Seems to be a bit of a dance.  Ironically today is a "crappy day"  started with constipation pain - droped a little rock and then changed to squirts....  

I would make the sandwich, cut it in half. Eat half of it, put the other half in a zip lock, and eat it in 2 hours. That way, you are not over stuffing your tummy, and you know exactly what you are eating, and not over eating. You might try adding a bit more dense protein to the sandwich -- a couple more slices of turkey might do it.

I eat 2 lunches every day ! (L1 and L2) I am a social worker and often am traveling between homes to see clients. I keep a soft sided cooler in the car with blue ice. I too like those sandwich thins, as it's hard to eat tuna with a fork when driving ! I make my sandwich up, cut it in half, and half for L1 and the other half for L2 !!! Drinking my water inbetween ....

One thing is that your body will fight too rapid of weight loss both by slowing your metabolism (if you eat less than 85% of maintenance calories) and by making you hungry. Having less ghrelin helps some people a lot with the later and others not so much.

One other thing that can effect how hungry you are is your blood sugar levels.  It may be that going low fat is too high carb for you and your blood sugars are swinging around and affecting your appetite.  This is very much a matter of different people are different, but if you've investigated everything else, consider looking at your carb tolerance.