I had surgery on 1/26. The worst part is the gas pains and shoulder pains. They are starting to ease up. I have no appetite at all. I have mostly just been drinking Water. I have had several episodes of nausea and dry heaving. The medication for nausea and the liquid pain killers are both soo sweet, I hate taking them. I am allowed clear broths and Protein shakes. the Protein Shakes taste extremely sweet too. Is this normal? I have to mix them with milk to take away some of the sweetness, but then I double the amount I need to drink for the protein. Any suggestions?

I also keep having a weird feeling in my esophagus when I lay down, I don't know if it is heartburn, or what. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. Did anyone else have this?

I also couldn't stand the fact that everything was so sweet. My nausea finally went when I was allowed proper Soups. They tasted like proper food and weren't sweet - far better than shakes.

I had made a batch of soups in advance and frozen them. Various veggies e.g broccolli or pumpkin or cauliflower and I added chickpeas, lentils etc for extra Protein.Some I spiced up, others were more plain.

For me, most beverages were too sweet. The gas was terrible for the first few days. The only thing I enjoyed was broth. I was banded on 1-16, and every day gets better.

I used gas x strips, they helped, but a heating pad did wonders. Also, have someone pat the area where it hurts. yeah, like burping a baby. This helped me.

The taste of sweet was also overpowering for me, even now, almost 2 years out and most things are still too sweet. Fruits, yogurt, etc.

Thank god, I believe the gas pains are over. I tried a heating pad and it made it even more excruciating. I finally got at least 60g of protein in today. It has taken all day. I have been mixing half the protein shake with half skim milk and then blending it with a frozen banana. It's not to sweet and is filling.

I know just what you mean! For me, hot tea and chicken broth tasted the best (especially the first week when I was on clear liquids). After that, soups were soooo good (I put a can of Campbell Chicken Noodle in the food processor with no Water and pureed it - tasted like heaven!)

Some of the Protein shakes are still too sweet (I'm on solid food now), but I got some Protizyme Protein powder (Amazon had the best price on the Peanut Butter cookie flavor) and if you mix it with skim milk and a few ice cubes, its pretty good for Breakfast. You can make smoothies with Dole frozen fruit (I use the mixed berries with a banana), 2 T of fat-free half & half, and a scoop of vanilla-flavored protein powder and its not sweet at all. You can add Splenda if you want it to be a little sweeter, but the powder is good for me.