What does it mean when you guys say, "My new stomach likes this but hates that?" I mean besides the obvious. example: my sleeve loves steak but hates hamburger.

How do you know? What symptoms do you get with it?

Thanks,

Vicki(Oma)

For me, my sleeve likes chicken and doesn't like spicy food. Rex also doesn't like milk products right now, except cheese. Milk makes my have diarrhea, spicy food makes me feel like I'm going to be sick. I've learned very quickly to avoid both, even though I loved them both before surgery. I miss cottage cheese, especially. I used to love to eat it with a lot of pepper mixed into it. Now, it hits BOTH bad buttons!

So, likes means that you can eat it without problems. Doesn't like means that you have problems if you eat that food. Some people immediately slime and bring the offending food back up. I haven't had the slimes yet, although I have been over full a few times.

Thanks Lissa. That answers most of my question. If it comes back up then it doesn't like it or if you slime it doesn't like it. I've heard of the slimes before but not really sure what that is in detail. Is it mucus that causes it to come back up?

For me, "likes" means I can eat it comfortably--as in, after I eat it, I am not hungry any more and there's no feeling of pain, nausea, or anything really. "Doesn't like" means that after I eat it, even if I have done all the right things--small bites, chewed thoroughly, no liquid while eating, eating slowly--if I've done all that but I can "feel" the food--as in, something hurts, I feel a little nauseous, I feel the food in my stomach--that's what "doesn't like" means for me. Sometimes I can eat foods that make me feel that way (for instance, I might try something new or try something again that didn't work the time before)--and they don't come back up, but it hurts for 15-20 minutes or longer. Sometimes when I eat foods that my sleeve doesn't like they really do come right back up, but that was mostly in the beginning.

So, "doesn't like" might mean that it just doesn't agree with you, that you "can" eat it, but you're going to pay for it with pain of varying degrees for a time, or some nausea, or feeling icky, or whatever. Very few foods will trigger an immediate throw-up for me (thank goodness), but plenty of them trigger the "oh, I shouldn't have eaten that" response, even healthy foods, so it's just a matter of trial, error, and learning your sleeve! It's a lot harder in the beginning and gets MUCH easier as you go.