Will I Still Feel "FULL" With A Lap-Band?

I see this post almost every day, and I have been pondering "Full" for a while. I have a theory about the way that Morbidly Obese people experience the sensation that they describe as "Full". I believe that the sensation of "Full" is actually mis-identified pain. Most M.O. people eat very fast and very large quantities of food. They miss what we later identify as a "Full signal", i.e. hiccups, a sneeze, a shiver, running nose or watery eyes. (There are other full signals) Why is it that we recognize those signals as post-op patients, when we didn't notice them before surgery? So my theory is that what we used to perceive as "Full" was actually PAIN as we stuffed huge quantities of food into our morbidly obese bodies. Based on that belief, the answer to the question:  "Will I still feel "FULL" with a Lap-Band?"  would be "NO!"

Interesting.  I've been pondering this whole "feeling full" thing while I am investigating which WLS would be best for me.  I've also been trying to really pay attention to that moment when I actually feel full, even though I usually eat beyond that point until I feel I cannot eat anymore.  I worry about wanting that really full feeling and not being able to get it anymore.  But I also know that the reason I 'fear' this is because my experience has been that if I don't eat to this "full" point, then I tend to feel hungry within a couple of hours.  I've also been noticing that this hungry feeling is often "head hunger".

Does the head hunger feeling go away with time?  Is it like a bad habit, where you can eventually get over it?

Peace,
Rana

Yeah. The brain catches up to it's new reality, which is that over-eating is actually painful, as opposed to pleasurable.

Yes, head hunger does go away.  My claim to fame in my own world has been my change in thinking.  I don't think about food all the time anymore.  I don't want food all the time anymore. Example:  After surgery I would drive by Mickey D's and wonder how much sliming a burger would cause.  Then I found myself driving by Mickey D's and wondering what non carbonated drinks they have.  Now I drive by Mickey D's and think, Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Your body changes, your mind changes, and the way you think changes.  Food is no longer the number one issue on your mind.  This one change has shocked me more than any other changes combined.

You know this is a great....great question!  I used to be hungry all the time...........never really knew I was full.  Someone would say to me............."Haven't you had enough?"  Used to embarass me because I didn't get the full signals!!  I just had my 3rd fill.............been an incredible experience......I eat my 4-5 oz. solid protein and 1/2 c. fresh veggies or steamed veggies..............and I can't believe I am going to say this...............but...............I lose interest in eating....I have satisified my hunger and I'm done.  I'm not preoccupied anymore.  Now right after the surgery for a couple of months I had the head hunger thing..............now I've lost interest!  It is truly a liberating experience and since my 3rd fill on 1/18 I am down another 7.5 lbs.  Go figure?  I LOVE MY BAND!!  -Holly  (P.S.  I forgot the most important part for me...........I go 4-5 hours before even thinking about food again!!)  LOL  incredible.............I had no idea I would ever get to this point!!  Wonderful!!  I am hoping it lasts awhile!!

Oh I totally agree...very few MO folks have any idea what full actually is. Some of us had real satiety disorders...mine was physiological. I never had stuffed/pain/whatever no matter how much I ate. My vagus nerve didn't wander close enough to the top of the stomach to ever communicate any satiety signals to my brain so I had actual physical hunger pangs 24/7...banding actually fixed that for me. But there are satiety disorders that are not physiological...and you describe them...over time folks keep ignoring actual satiety and train themselves to eat to discomfort. Normal people don't do that. They stop eating when they're not hungry anymore. I wouldn't say, however, that the answer is NO...yes, folks WILL feel full post-op after getting properly adjusted...but they have to relearn what full actually means as part of it. They will feel what actual fullness is not their distorted MO pre-op idea of full was. Nancy

"Normal people don't do that. They stop eating when they're not hungry anymore" AMEN! I so totally agree. I'm still having trouble adjusting to actually putting on my plate the amount that satisfies/fills me now. I still put more on my plate than I'm actually able to eat. I guess it is years and years of mindless eating. I'm hoping the mind thing will catch up to me SOON! 

Days of eating to oblivion are gone, gone, gone! Let's do something else to oblivion. I am at 2weeks and sometimes I still don't feel full.  Most of the time do feel full after eating very little very slowly.  It must be I am missing the comfort.  This is a topic for meditation.  Eating to pain...not the what but the amount.  It is strange going from a stomach the size of a football to a teacup.  I used to eat enormously.  I would eat a very large meal and not eat again for 6-8 hours only to over-eat again.  Just the WROnG thing to do.  Intellectually, I know I did this banding to force myself to eat smaller amounts more often.  I still tend to go too long between eating and get so hungry that control (slow chewing) is difficult.  Eating slowly helps to satisfy with less.  I guess I am still mourning the BIG bites, and wolfing, and carbo-loading.  I try to remember how awful I used to feel for so long after  o so  brief pleasure of the act.  I miss it like a bad marriage when lonely.  It is hopeful to read how some others here achieve actual change in mind-set and taste.  I am hopeful.