I was sleeved 6 weeks ago. I had heard when I was considering bypass surgery that you cannot drink for 1/2 hour after you eat. Is this true for sleevers? After I eat, I always want a sip or two of water to "wash it all down". I usually take them but I feel guilty. If we cannot drink for 30 mins after eating, can someone please explain to me why??

Thanks so much!

Laura in Onderland

You can, but shouldnt. A few small sips if your mouth is dry are okay. Anymore than that and one of two things happen, imagine your food sitting happily at bottom of stomach. In comes a gush of liquid, either the liquid wont go through like a clogged drain and you will back up (vomit), or, the liquid will help push your food down the "drain" and you no longer have that satisfied full feeling. Now you are hungry or you have thrown up your food. Either way, not a good outcome.

my surgeon and doctor both advised me i could take small sips after my meal but they advised waiting if possible for the same reasons Griselda mentioned about backing up in your stomach and causing some form of acid reflux or gag reflex. I do not have my surgery until 7/6/11 so I can't say from personal experience just yet.

My surgeon's instructions say not to drink after meals, and I can say from personal experience that if I do, it hurts and I'm more liable to be sick, and when I observe the 30-minute post-prandial rule, all is well. It is really hard to get used to not enjoying an iced tea with my meal, or even Water, but the payoff is that more of my food actually stays down and I feel better.

I think it's also due to the fact that your stomach is producing fluids to help digest your food, and those fluids need room in your stomach, too--if you drink after eating, you "fill in the cracks," and something has to give.

Meg

I try not to because I was advised by my surgeon and dietician not to- but sometimes I make take a sip or two which I feel really guilty about but I would definitely try not to drink 30 minutes before or after, it really helps keep you feeling full longer....

I never feel hungry...ever. Occasionally I feel "empty" in my upper abdomen and I guess that is what others call "hunger". It's not nearly so bad as the old hunger pains I would feel on the rare occasion that I stopped eating long enough to actually get hungry!

I am grateful for the advice and comments you all left me. Thanks!!!

Griselda speaks the truth! Sadly for me, the outcome is the drink backs up and I get sick. I just posted about this very thing in another thread. I miss drinking during my meals more than just about anything.

I take tiny sips during meals but only enough to wet my mouth and throat really. I've never drank enough that it backed up (and don't want to! ) or made me feel sick. Tiny sips are different than a gulp!

I drink fluids right up until about 5 minutes before I eat. I do not drink during or for 30 mins after. Did that once and vomited. Won't do it again. Plus you don't want to wash the food. As soon as I'm done eating, I pop in a piece of gum. It really helps with thirst. Then the 30 mins flies by. I am almost 6 months out and it is not a big deal anymore. You will get used to it!!

I also would get sick still after 7 months if I drank after a meal. Its such a habit in our house not even my kids drink when they eat.

I was a big drinker with meals before surgery so it was hard to not drink after surgery. About 8 weeks in, I started sipping with meals. Now, I don't drink with meals but I do drink before and after and don't pay any attention to the timeframe. It's just not comfortable to drink with meals, but if my body asks for a drink afterwards, I give my body a drink. Mind you, it's not a big guzzle of about 8 oz at a time, but a good swallow and then maybe another 10 min later. I try to listen to what my body is saying.