Hunger?

Ann Becker · 12-22-2006, 07:17 PM

I don't fully understand how the band works....mainly doesn't the bottom part of your stomach (below the band) feel hungry all the time? I asked at a seminar how that works....Dr. responded that he didn't know, but that it works. Anyone know the answer to that? Thanks, Ann

**Jack** · 12-22-2006, 10:30 PM

....most of the mechano-stretch receptors in the upper stomach wall tell us it is 'full'. When they are stimulated one way, we 'feel full'. If they are not stimulated, we 'feel NOT full'. The lower stomach does not have so many of these types of cells.

A researcher told me the emitter sites for the recently discovered enzyme 'ghrelin' are located there, and mechanical stimulation increases that output, which is registered in a portion of the brain that recognizes 'NOT hungry'....the 'SATIETY' reflex many of us seem to lack.

I had long followed the basic theory out of Guyton's Physiology that the ventromedial hypothalamus monitored basic blood sugar level and regulated the sensation of 'hunger' or 'satiety'.

In any case, I never actually experienced "satiety" until postOp.

Whichever model is the closest approximation, undoubtedly further research will bring forth even more models to attempt to answer such questions.

I do not hold these models out as 'absolute truth'.....but taken as a group, they represent a sampling of the most prevalent theories of today.

NJChick · 12-23-2006, 06:09 AM

Its strange...the bottom part tells me when I'm hungry and the top part tells me that I'm full. Partners in crime I guess you could call it.

mitrjain · 12-23-2006, 09:04 AM

It actually makes sense.

Pre banding-

If there is nothing in the bottom part of your stomach (i.e. it's empty) then I suppose you should be hungry.

If there is something in the top part of your stomach well obviously your stomach is full so therefore it lets you know that it is.

Post banding-

I suppose the problem comes post banding when you are getting a signal from the bottom part saying "Hey I'm empty" and the top part saying "Stop it- I'm full"

Ann Becker · 12-23-2006, 09:41 AM

Thank you for your responses. I guess you all agree with the Dr. that it does work....so you're not feeling hungry all the time?

marjon9 · 12-23-2006, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann Becker

so you're not feeling hungry all the time?

I'm not banded yet and obviously no expert but just from reading a lot of posts for a while I think that the answer to this question is different for different people. Some people feel almost no hunger ever, starting right after surgery. Others report that they are starving all the time for months and months.

So, why get a band, you may ask? You can be starving all the time without the band, so who needs it?

Good question. And I think this is the answer. The band is a tool that needs adjustment and calibration. If you keep working at this process by getting the fills you need (and sometimes the unfills), you can eventually find the "sweet spot" where even those who are hungry all the time after surgery can eventually find a balance where this goes away. Some people are lucky and reach this point quickly. With others it takes a long time. A few people report that they just can't ever seem to solve this problem. Rare, but it does happen.

And also, from what I read here, many people seem to report that food just gradually becomes less interesting. It's not that they don't enjoy a good meal, but it's more of a mindset that happens naturally, without "will power," that food gradually becomes less and less of the central feature of people's lives. They get busy with other things. They are more active physically, more social, more interested and more interesting.

So, from a complete newcomer who has no first hand knowledge, that's how I see it from reading posts by the experts and experienced people here.

**Jack** · 12-23-2006, 10:39 AM

.....postOp, for the first time in my life I can remember clearly....I DON'T feel hungry all the time....

For the first time, MOST of my behavior is not driven by eating, by food, by plans to eat, by activities of cooking, shopping for, tasting, or the fantasies of finding that next magic morsel that will satisfy my hunger....

When I do get hungry, it is a slow and predictable onset, with none of the immediate **EAT*NOW** demands that shorted out any other thoughts until I shoveled enough in to temporarily preoccupy the Dragon Within...

And the nature of hunger itself, no longer is a dreadful and horrific controller-of-my-destiny...at times, it in fact is rather pleasurable in the way it begins small and tiny, like the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun...and it responds very nicely to a Normo size meal...another First in my life...

There are entire days I don't care whether I ever eat again.

It is so nice to not have the Obsessive/Compulsive Food Dragons controlling my life.

Merry Christmas one and all....

juliegeraci · 12-23-2006, 11:42 AM

I agree with Jack. The sensors are at the top of the stomach where the band is placed. My stomach barely growls now. Good luck.

transformer · 01-01-2007, 10:16 AM

I'm not sure when you were banded, but I know a lot of folks have written about being extremely hungry just like they used to be from the post-op mushies stage until their band started being filled. The small pouch formed when the band is filled appropriately will fill up when you eat much smaller amounts and tell you that you are full!

You have to be sure to eat and drink at the right times, though, if you want the band to work correctly. Be sure to follow your doctor's recommendations.