To the guys with at least a year out from surgery.. feeling full? I can't tell!

I'm about 5 weeks out from surgery ( RNY), and I swear that I can't tell when I'm full. Don't get me wrong, I'm losing weight like mad, but I usually stop eating just because I know I should stop at that amount. Sometimes I feel like they put me under and made some insicisions on my belly but didn't do anything inside. Sounds crazy i know, but when I drink liquids, then I know something is different because sometimes my stomach hurts or does flip-flops.  But I haven't ever really felt full, but I know there's been times that I probably put in a little bit more than I'm supposed to, and never got a warning or signal that I was full. Does this change in the long run? (I hope)  I've never thrown up or even came close to it. I did have the runs as soon as food hit my pouch a couple of times during the second week out, but not since. Do you guys 2 years out eat until you feel full? Is feeling full suppose to be a totally different feeling now?  I'm puzzled.                                                                               Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I'm 16 months out. Feeling full is definitely different. I usually try to stop before I'm full or it is very uncomfortable. For me a feeling of full is just a feeling of tightness. One bite more and I know I should have stopped sooner. It is definitely a learning process and it is different for each of us. I could usually tell when I was full with liquids and at times would even hold water in my mouth until I could feel my pouch empty then I would swallow. It was interesting you mentioned your stomach flip flopping. I felt that way. It seemed that it took awhile for my insides to figure out where they belonged.

I also had the placebo operation. I had the incisions in my stomach, but otherwise I had a hard time telling I had surgery. I felt great and have still never vomited.

You will do fine. Congratulations on your rapid weight loss.

Life is great, Rick

I feel full pretty fast (like Rick says, "tight" or maybe stuff getting close to the esophagus), but only stay full for about an hour max.

 

I can relate to that feeling of tightness..and that's when I stop. Usually I don't want to go even that far, but **** happens. So I guess that's what feeling full is going to be like from now on. Kind of a bummer. Also, it's like a ball of tightness on the left-front side of the upper abdominal region, indicating to me that it's where the pouch was stapled off.  Okay, learning experience!  Thanks guys!

and I forgot to mention....  I agree with the poster who said that you don't stay full for very long. Maybe 2 hours or 3 for me...  even sooner if I had a good work-out that day.

I'm actually still working on achieving that full feeling successfully. In the before time I knew hungry and bloated. Full is a new sensation I'm working on embracing. Some days I can eat more, but try to stop before I get uncomfortable. It''s a balancing act. I still sometimes have to stop myself from eating too fast. Old habits die hard. Good luck figuring it all out.

I'm mirrowing your post.  I feel the same way at 2-weeks out.   I too sometime think that all the surgeon did was make a couple of incisions...  Like you except when I drink...   At two weeks out if I have three small spoons of somthing I'm ok.  At four I get somewhat cramps.   All in all not bad at two weeks out.  Looking for 5 so I can compare notes.  Best of Luck on your fullness journey. Mike

I am 16 months out and have no concept of "feeling" full. I don't feel hungry, I don't feel full. I never really had any of the feeling symptoms the others were talking about in group after the surgery. I guess I just wasn't put together that way. Mostly I eat when it's time to and try to eyeball what I'm having to keep it close to the amount I should be eating.

A good sign to watch for, that a friend who had the surgery told me about, is hiccuping. If you hiccup, stop eating. Something about not getting enough air because foods up in your esophagus (?). No, I don't hiccup often, but when I do, I let it be my signal to stop.

Thanks guys!  I can see that this is a permenant state of being from reading the responses from veterans. Quite the bummer, but food isn't everything!  Right? At least it isn't anymore.