Satiety & Appetite Questions

So, now that I've been approved for band removal and revision to VSG (just waiting for a surgery date now), I have some more questions about living with the sleeve - specifically in regard to portion control.

1. With the sleeve, do you experience early satiety?
When my band was properly filled, I experienced early satiety. After eating a very small portion of food, I would stop because I felt like I couldn't take another bite. It wasn't because of discomfort, but because I suddenly knew I was done. The food I'd been enjoying a minute before just didn't appeal to me, so I had built-in portion control.

2. Does the sleeve affect your appetite?
I mean appetite as the desire to eat, versus hunger or the need to eat. When filled, I just wasn't that interested in food. Some foods that I loved pre-op just didn't seem as tasty. I even wondered if food manufacturers had changed their recipes - for example, Wheat Thins tasted bland and sweet. Now that my band is empty, everything tastes fabulous again, I look forward to eating just for the pleasure of it. When I eat now, I want bigger servings and 2nd helpings.
 
Thanks,
Jean

Yes to both for me.

Satiety or my feeling of satisfaction or fullness is nothing like it was when I had a regular stomach. I had to relearn the full feeling all over again and it was not with out a few rounds of very uncomfortable feelings as I over did it and the stretchy part of the stomach is gone.

As far as appetite I am usually not hungry at all. Now 10 weeks out food is delicious again, but I try to eat a controlled portion as there are strict limits, but that is what it is for. it is a learning process and mind and ha*****anging way of life. I never has a band so I cant say either way if it will be the same.  Good luck.

Yes and yes, but I measure my food anyway just b/c sometimes I stink at listening to my body LOL

sometimes I stink at listening to my body LOL

Me, too. My body's messages tend to get shoved into the wrong number category.

The phone rings. I answer it and hear: "That steak is at least 8 ounces, way too big. Eat three bites and put it away, okay Jean?"
 
I say, "Jean? There's no one here by that name."

Yes to both for me, but more so the first and less so the second.

At 11 months I am still satisfied with a little under 2 oz of food. So very satisfied very early. I do have more of an appetite than you describe, but not ravenous like mine used to be. I have yet to experience real physical hunger.

Hi Jean and welcome, I am sorry you are losing your band, but I truly believe that you will love your new sleeve. 

The answer to your question is not simple and varies a great deal from one person to another.  In addition, you will most likely go through a sleeve maturation process and where you are in this process will effect the answer to these intelligent questions.

This is my experience, and you mileage will vary, so take it for what it is.

Early out, I did not wait for a full signal from my body as my program was very specific about weighing and measuring my foods and not overeating in order to allow my sleeve to heal.  I would eat 1/4 of cup worth of food, chewing each pencil eraser sized bit 30 times or more.  I would stop at the very first sign of fullness.  Later, three months or so after surgery, I would still weigh and measure, but I would eat closer to 1/2 cup and eventually, more like 3/4 cups.  I learned that my full signal was congestion and sneezing and if I ever felt that, I had already gone a bit too far with my food.  Now that I am almost three years out, I can eat about 3-4 ounces of dense meat and a few bites of veggies.  I stop if I feel comfortable, not full.  I can pretty much eyeball my food now and I don't weigh and measure anymore.

I lost my appetite completely during the first six to eight months after surgery.  This made losing weight quite easy for me.  Later, the huger and cravings returned but in a much lessor form.  I now get hungry every two to three hours but I eat every three to four hours, that hour or two in between where I feel some hunger is very manageable.  When we were kids, we would run in the house and ask our mothers for a snack, and remember what they used to say to us, " Wait until dinner, or you will spoil your appetite".  Mothers don't say this anymore, hunger is now seen as an emergency.  I find that experiencing mild hunger is natural and not a cause to eat immediately.  I will not starve, just have to wait another hour or so to eat.  They still have these believe systems in most other parts of the world, I think our country would be greatly helped if we returned to them. 

I hope I was able to answer your questions a bit, or at least show you that the answers are not cut in stone, they are different for all of us and we learn how to adapt to our new sleeve as it heals and matures.  Good luck to you and to all of us on this never ending journey.

Elina, that is such a good way to look at it......" I will not starve, just have to wait another hour or so to eat."  I do remember getting snacks, but only if dinner was at least a couple of hours away. 

1) Yes.  Between restriction and triggering of the ileal switch, I am satisfied with a little over 2oz of anything dense.  I can eat up to 4oz of cottage cheese, but that's it. I haven't seen an increase in the volume of food I can or want to eat in 11 months. 
2) Yes.  I have little actual hunger. I get low blood-sugary if I go too long without eating, for example, but no hunger per se.  I am up to 1300-1500 calories a day as I transition into maintenance, and I have to work at it to get there without just adding empty calories.   I tend to skew toward calorie and nutritent dense foods, now, in maintenance while keeping carbs relatively low (less than 90g/day). 

What do you mean by triggering of the ileal switch?