Rainydayz #1

[Rainydayz]

When I take phentermine I have to make myself eat. Food is not attractive to me because I simply don't feel hunger for it. So how can diet pills control "head" hunger but people say that the band does not? And it's not like I'm one that doesn't have head hunger. I can gorge then 30 minutes later I feel like I "need" something else to eat. But diet pills take all that away. But I can't stay on diet pills forever which is why I'm looking at the band.

[reverie]

Diet pills, such as phentermine, mess with the neurotransmitters (catecholamines) in your brain that control hunger as well as the hypothalamus. Diet pills work, but not forever, as you do build tolerance to them.

http://www.phentermine.org/how-does-phentermine-work.phpGood read.

Simply the band doesn't control and/or alter the parts of the body responsible for hunger and it isn't the answer for head hunger; truly only you can do that.

[ShrinkyDinkyDoo]

You know that "sick" full feeling you get.....like how you mentioned the first meal, then 30 min later eating again....after that, where you are simply stuffed, and even though you walk past a donut place, or an ice cream place (my evils) you just dont want it because you are so full you are gonna pop? I think that is supposed to be the concept of the band when it is working properly, and you have the correct amout of fills. I dont have mine yet, im still waiting on my psych eval. But that is how t the nutritionist described it to me. When you eat something high in protein and it gets "stuck" in your pouch, you will have that full feeling and instead of wanting or "needing" to eat again 30 min later because of head hunger, you wont want to because you will still feel stuffed. Thats how it was explained to me, and I sincerely hope that that is how it works.

[poop on this site]

i wish i could find a book or something about how to deal psychologically with head hunger. i bought one on ebay and it was terrible. if anyone knows of anything, please post. talked to my therapist about it and she didn't have any ideas either how to deal psychologically with head hunger (it is psychological, i believe. not chemical).

[Rainydayz]

reverie, on March 25, 2011 - 1:15 PM, said:

Diet pills, such as phentermine, mess with the neurotransmitters (catecholamines) in your brain that control hunger as well as the hypothalamus. Diet pills work, but not forever, as you do build tolerance to them.

http://www.phentermine.org/how-does-phentermine-work.php Good read.

Simply the band doesn't control and/or alter the parts of the body responsible for hunger and it isn't the answer for head hunger; truly only you can do that.

Since the sleeve actually cuts out part of the stomach that produces the hunger chemicals do you think the sleeve is a better treatment for head hunger?

[Rainydayz]

ShrinkyDinkyDoo, on March 25, 2011 - 1:16 PM, said:

You know that "sick" full feeling you get.....like how you mentioned the first meal, then 30 min later eating again....after that, where you are simply stuffed, and even though you walk past a donut place, or an ice cream place (my evils) you just dont want it because you are so full you are gonna pop? I think that is supposed to be the concept of the band when it is working properly, and you have the correct amout of fills. I dont have mine yet, im still waiting on my psych eval. But that is how t the nutritionist described it to me. When you eat something high in protein and it gets "stuck" in your pouch, you will have that full feeling and instead of wanting or "needing" to eat again 30 min later because of head hunger, you wont want to because you will still feel stuffed. Thats how it was explained to me, and I sincerely hope that that is how it works.

Me too!

[Rainydayz]

PaminL.A., on March 25, 2011 - 1:19 PM, said:

i wish i could find a book or something about how to deal psychologically with head hunger. i bought one on ebay and it was terrible. if anyone knows of anything, please post. talked to my therapist about it and she didn't have any ideas either how to deal psychologically with head hunger (it is psychological, i believe. not chemical).

Maybe I'll find a psychologist who can help with head hunger if that's still a problem after the band. I've read a lot of books too that really don't translate to real-world practice. I can know in my head that to eat that ice cream is not the answer to my problems and will just make it worse, but I can't convince my cravings of that!

[nallygirl]

Rainydayz, on March 25, 2011 - 3:05 PM, said:

Since the sleeve actually cuts out part of the stomach that produces the hunger chemicals do you think the sleeve is a better treatment for head hunger?

From what I've learned at my support groups, with sleeve and bypass it is only temporary that the hunger hormone is reduced. The hormone itself is called ghrelin. Eventually your body will begin to produce it again and with that the hunger will come back as well. Just passing along what I've been told by the hospital's nurses/nutritionists.

[mattie7632]

To some degree, the band DOES control my head hunger. Not always, sometimes especially when stressed, my head takes over and I still make poor choices or eat too much. But MOST OF THE TIME I have control whereas before, I did not. And I am losing, slowly but steadily.

[Rainydayz]

nallygirl, on March 25, 2011 - 3:51 PM, said:

From what I've learned at my support groups, with sleeve and bypass it is only temporary that the hunger hormone is reduced. The hormone itself is called ghrelin. Eventually your body will begin to produce it again and with that the hunger will come back as well. Just passing along what I've been told by the hospital's nurses/nutritionists.

Good to know.Thanks! I'm just about decided on the Band but some days when I'm craving everything that isn't nailed down, I begin to doubt if anything will ever work for me.

[muelle]

I took phentermine and lost 60 pounds in 5 months, great right? The problem was that by the 5th month, I had developed a tolerance to it, so I quit taking it and gained every pound I lost back over the next year. That's when I looked into getting the band. I was banded almost 4 months ago and am so thankful I did it. I am one of the fortunate ones that has never regained my hunger. It's great to have not felt any hunger pains for 4 months I think of head hunger as cravings, and yes I do still get them from time to time. The difference is that with the band, I can eat a bite or 2 of what I am craving, and feel completely satisfied. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

[CheckYes]

PaminL.A., on March 25, 2011 - 1:19 PM, said:

i wish i could find a book or something about how to deal psychologically with head hunger. i bought one on ebay and it was terrible. if anyone knows of anything, please post. talked to my therapist about it and she didn't have any ideas either how to deal psychologically with head hunger (it is psychological, i believe. not chemical).

I am really surprised your therapist didn't have any ideas on how to deal with head hunger! I assume she is helping you with the issues that led to being overweight in the first place. If she isn't, then I would suggest you consider finding a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and nutrition (not that you have an eating disorder - they just seem to know more and understand more about food issues). I have a therapist too that I can't imaging leaving for someone else, but I really feel that she should have several ideas on how to work on this issue with you. Sorry if I come off as judging her, I'm not - I just feel that my food issues are so central to my life that therapy would be worthless for me if my therapist couldn't help me with head hunger vs. physical hunger.

There are hundreds of books on amazon about emotional eating. I wonder if the reviews of those books might be helpful to you.

I wish you all the best - and sorry if I come off harsh about your therapist. I really don't mean to be.

[mattie7632]

That is absolutely correct. I won't say it hasn't happen since being banded, but what you explained below is now a rare occurrence. I simply CANNOT eat that much, even with a mere fill of 2 cc's.

It's odd, but what they tell you about protein is exactly right. If I CHOOSE to have a piece of chicken, I will get full pretty quickly and not even think about gorging or wanting that donut. But if I helped myself to a plate of pasta....well you can forget it, I'd be jonesing for the donut too.

Don't get me wrong, I CAN cheat, and I CAN eat too much if I really want to. But stick to protein most of the time and that, at least for me, is the key

ShrinkyDinkyDoo, on March 25, 2011 - 1:16 PM, said:

You know that "sick" full feeling you get.....like how you mentioned the first meal, then 30 min later eating again....after that, where you are simply stuffed, and even though you walk past a donut place, or an ice cream place (my evils) you just dont want it because you are so full you are gonna pop? I think that is supposed to be the concept of the band when it is working properly, and you have the correct amout of fills. I dont have mine yet, im still waiting on my psych eval. But that is how t the nutritionist described it to me. When you eat something high in protein and it gets "stuck" in your pouch, you will have that full feeling and instead of wanting or "needing" to eat again 30 min later because of head hunger, you wont want to because you will still feel stuffed. Thats how it was explained to me, and I sincerely hope that that is how it works.

[Rainydayz]

muelle, on March 25, 2011 - 4:47 PM, said:

I took phentermine and lost 60 pounds in 5 months, great right? The problem was that by the 5th month, I had developed a tolerance to it, so I quit taking it and gained every pound I lost back over the next year. That's when I looked into getting the band. I was banded almost 4 months ago and am so thankful I did it. I am one of the fortunate ones that has never regained my hunger. It's great to have not felt any hunger pains for 4 months I think of head hunger as cravings, and yes I do still get them from time to time. The difference is that with the band, I can eat a bite or 2 of what I am craving, and feel completely satisfied. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

That sounds wonderful. I too, took phentermine for a few months and lost 30+ lbs. but it all came back after I quit taking it. I'm glad to hear the band is working for you. It gives me hope that it will work for me too. It would be wonderful to be able to take two bites of something and be satisfied. Instead of eating 1/4 of the whole cake maybe I could eat a normal person serving and be done with it. I've already started not having goodies in the house and my cravings are going crazy today. I'm really trying to tame the carb monster during the supervised diet and it is really, really hard.

[Rainydayz]

mattie7632, on March 25, 2011 - 4:54 PM, said:

That is absolutely correct. I won't say it hasn't happen since being banded, but what you explained below is now a rare occurrence. I simply CANNOT eat that much, even with a mere fill of 2 cc's.

It's odd, but what they tell you about protein is exactly right. If I CHOOSE to have a piece of chicken, I will get full pretty quickly and not even think about gorging or wanting that donut. But if I helped myself to a plate of pasta....well you can forget it, I'd be jonesing for the donut too.

Don't get me wrong, I CAN cheat, and I CAN eat too much if I really want to. But stick to protein most of the time and that, at least for me, is the key

Good to know. I'm out of protein powder and just don't have the motivation to go get some today. But I will try to keep that around for those cravings. I just can't get into a piece of chicken when what I want is chocolate cake though. But maybe a protein shake would do the job.

[mattie7632]

Yeah I know what you mean about the chocolate cake, but really it is easier to make better choices now. While you read a lot of bad stuff on the forums, and you will undoubtedly have bad days or stages, even when I cheat and eat "too much" of bad choices, I still can't eat as much as before

[poop on this site]

CheckYes, on March 25, 2011 - 4:54 PM, said:

I am really surprised your therapist didn't have any ideas on how to deal with head hunger! I assume she is helping you with the issues that led to being overweight in the first place. If she isn't, then I would suggest you consider finding a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and nutrition (not that you have an eating disorder - they just seem to know more and understand more about food issues). I have a therapist too that I can't imaging leaving for someone else, but I really feel that she should have several ideas on how to work on this issue with you. Sorry if I come off as judging her, I'm not - I just feel that my food issues are so central to my life that therapy would be worthless for me if my therapist couldn't help me with head hunger vs. physical hunger.

There are hundreds of books on amazon about emotional eating. I wonder if the reviews of those books might be helpful to you.

I wish you all the best - and sorry if I come off harsh about your therapist. I really don't mean to be.

well, we explored the reasons why i overeat when i'm stressed or depressed but beyond that it didn't really help much. i have bought 3 books on amazon about emotional overeating (they had good reviews) but one said that i should eat whatever i want and then i would eventually get tired of it. haha! yeah, right. the other one told me i needed to go for a walk and distract myself. thanks. since being banded last week though, i am definitely aware of the differences between head hunger and real hunger. so that helps. my hope is that it will just get easier with time.

[Humming Bird]

For me, after being banded for a period of time, the band does take away my head hunger. Most of the time food just doesn't appeal to me anymore. The bad things, like fried food, I used to eat all the time before being banded just don't even sound good now.

[mattie7632]

Yeah, I agree. Most of the time just satisfying true hunger is enough. I've passed up cheesecake in the fridge for a week now...and I LOVE cheesecake. I probably need to throw it away now.....Now bandsters tell me...before banded, did your favorite desert EVER sit in the fridge until it was too old, just to be thrown away???

Humming Bird, on March 25, 2011 - 7:21 PM, said:

For me, after being banded for a period of time, the band does take away my head hunger. Most of the time food just doesn't appeal to me anymore. The bad things, like fried food, I used to eat all the time before being banded just don't even sound good now.

[Jachut]

ShrinkyDinkyDoo, on March 25, 2011 - 1:16 PM, said:

You know that "sick" full feeling you get.....like how you mentioned the first meal, then 30 min later eating again....after that, where you are simply stuffed, and even though you walk past a donut place, or an ice cream place (my evils) you just dont want it because you are so full you are gonna pop? I think that is supposed to be the concept of the band when it is working properly, and you have the correct amout of fills. I dont have mine yet, im still waiting on my psych eval. But that is how t the nutritionist described it to me. When you eat something high in protein and it gets "stuck" in your pouch, you will have that full feeling and instead of wanting or "needing" to eat again 30 min later because of head hunger, you wont want to because you will still feel stuffed. Thats how it was explained to me, and I sincerely hope that that is how it works.

The band did work for me like that for about the first year and then that sort of fadcd away and my appetite returned to much more like normal, only I was satisfied by small amounts of food. i had to learn to deal with the head hunger and constant grazing. For me personally, the ONE thing that keeps my appetite in check and stops me grazing all day is to have an absolutely unbreakable rule that I DO NOT SNACK. Not even a little bit, not even a chip when the bag is passed around. Once I start, I have enormous difficulty stopping and then I get that "oh, well, I've blown it now, may as well really enjoy it". I never ever ever snack. So it worked for me to have less fill to eat slightly bigger meals to get me through.

Overall, though, I've been unfilled totally now for five months and havent greatly increased what I eat. I think I've learned a lot of new habits, and whilst I do eat more at a time, its not enough to cause weight gain at all.

I think the thing is, the band's effectiveness does wane a bit over time, and you'd better be sure to take an active part in learning a new lifestyle, or weight gain can creep on over time. Who knows though, perhaps if I do decide to get refilled, I'll find the band a lot more effective again? Diet pills are just not the answer though, so risky for your health and they dont work long term anyway. I decided to just accept that I was cursed with this damned appetite and it was my lot in life to have to work to control it. And over time, I really have become a lot different, its not so hard anymore.