It took about 5 months for me to lose 70 pounds of body fat then muscle mass.
I believe it was April 2020 when my stomach stopped working altogether because the pyloric sphincter at the duodenum end of the stomach was scarred shut. Food could not get into the bowel to be digested from the stomach. And bear in mind – neither could water. It’s not just starvation – it’s dehydration as well.
In order to facilitate a bowel movement – you need food going in to push the feces out. If you don’t have food entering the system, the bowels pretty much shut down and everything stays put – rotting in your belly. Rotting for 5 months. That first movement wasn’t pleasant at all, I can’t even describe the smell.
If I recall, it took about 2 weeks for the hunger pangs to stop altogether. At this point, the body starts eating itself to survive. Yes, your body will literally kill you to stay alive. The pain and stress that eventually comes from starvation isn’t pretty either.
Between April and August 2020 when I had the severely botched operation, I lost 70 pounds – purely due to starvation. My typical body weight is 180 and I’m not at all overweight at that number. You can see the pictures at the bottom of “https://roberthynes.ca” main page. Losing that much weight isn’t pretty – but that’s how the body survives.
You get weak – to the point of passing out. The brain capacity goes down, can’t think properly, don’t have the energy to move very far. Exercise? Yeah, not much chance of that.
After the bypass operation – I still couldn’t eat and that’s all explained on the main page. But once the bypass was forcefully opened – and I could eat? What an interesting experience.
The first bowel movement occurred roughly 5 months after starvation happened – and it was a doozy. Had to flush the hospital toilet 3 times to avoid plugging it. I have pictures, but I’ll refrain from posting them. But I wish I could explain the smell – all that now fully rotten feces in the bowel flooding out of the system.
And I’ve only managed to put on some 25 pounds since that operation over 2 years ago. And I can only eat enough to maintain that weight – not exceed it. Still can’t stand looking at myself in the mirror.
I’m still starving in a sense cause I don’t absorb food or water the normal bowel works. I have Bariatric surgery – the gastric bypass – but nothing gets through the pyloris. And most absorption takes place in the very upper GI. Mine is blocked off, no access.