I Hate The Way It Feels When I Eat. Does It Get Better?

[CoffeeAndMagazines 2]

I'm 7.5 weeks out and have a 32 sleeve by Dr. Cirangle. I feel like everyone is eating more than me, and with less discomfort!

I'm drinking two Protein drinks a day and eating (barely) two 2 oz food meals (cheese, cold cuts, chili, Greek yogurt, etc) a day. I chew for ages and eat slooowly (40-50 minutes generally). But afterwards it feels like the food is just stuck there at the bottom of my esophagus for an hour or two. I HATE IT! :-( Will it always be like this?

I feel like my sleeve is too small. It freaks me out. I'm fine with eating small amounts, but I don't want eating discomfort for the rest of my life! :-(

[andersonlj 32]

I have no idea what a 32 sleeve is.....I assume that it refers to the size but my doctor never said anything to me about the size of my sleeve. Just wondering if anyone else out there was told any information about this by their surgeon.

I just wonder if you are chewing your food good enough. I know that if I am not paying attention I can get an uncomfortable feeling. Being that you are not that far out from surgery it is easy to slip and chew a couple of times and swallow. I know I have caught myself doing this and I am on week 6 post op. Just a thought. If you do not see any improvement I would talk to the surgeon.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Do you mean a 32 Bouchee? That is the size of measurement they use as a guide to where to place the staple line. I have a 34 bouchee and I had to ask the PA what size they used. If you go to youtube.com, you can see Dr. Alvarez giving a demonstration on the size of the stomach. It is really informative. He also talks about the sleeve procedure also. I learned alot from him. Hope this helps.

[CoffeeAndMagazines 2]

Yep, a 32 bougie

[ShellBear 26]

Most likely there is still some swelling and your tummy still needs time to heal and relax. Don't fret my dear, it will get easier. Just try to relax and not over think this. You will get the hang of all this eventually and it will become part of your every day routine. You are doing evrything right so just give it time.

God bless you!

(HUGS)

Shell

[CoffeeAndMagazines 2]

Thank you Shell -- you're very sweet. Relaxing about my stomach and esophagus is definitely something I'm having a hard time doing. I hope I can look back in a few months and feel relieved that it's gotten better. My nervous disposition is trying to convince me otherwise. :-/ I literally have felt at times like I made a big mistake. I've been so stressed about how uncomfortable it feels to eat and feeling like I've condemned myself to a lifetime of discomfort.

[MegInNOLA 531]

CoffeeAndMagazines, me too. Super small sleeve, really picky, couldn't eat much volume/variety, etc., etc. Yep. Took a long time for my sleeve to calm down. I was frustrated and frequently felt like I had maybe made a bad decision. HOWEVER, at around 6 months, things improved dramatically. I don't know how and I don't know why; I do know that now, I'm thrilled that my sleeve is still really small and pretty picky, since I've had GREAT results in terms of weight loss and I have learned how to manage and how/what/when to eat.

That feeling of stuff being hung at the bottom of your esophagus is from slightly overeating--and yeah, I know you're probably only eating a few bites at a time. We super-small sleevers have to manage differently from other people. Try eating a bite and see if you're still hungry; don't worry about eating until you're full or until you've finished whatever food is there. Measures don't really help until you know how much your particular sleeve can tolerate comfortably. Eat for loss of hunger, not for fullness; this took me a long time to learn, but it's been key to being able to eat comfortably--that and figuring out which foods Sleevie cannot tolerate. If I can "feel" the food in there, I don't eat it again for a few months, if that makes sense.

And yeah, it does get a lot easier as you go. I promise!! I couldn't eat chicken or turkey until literally this month, and now I can. So you can see that I'm still healing and making progress, and I'm 9 months out! I can eat a little more, but not much more, probably around 1/2 a cup--less if it's dense protein--and about a cup of thin Soup (1/2 c. of thick or creamy soup). You know what, it's okay. I eat small, frequent snack-size meals, and I'm doing just fine. :-) You will, too.

[lulublu 7]

Hang in there... it DOES get better!!!

I remember feeling the same way. The first month was terrible, then it (very slowly) started to improve. I couldn't eat anything for about two months. The worst part of that was the fatigue I experienced. As time goes by, you will notice that it gets easier to eat and you dont have that super bloated feeling with every bite. I am now 6 1/2 months post op, and have just started noticing I am able to eat much more than I used to. Still tiny servings of food on a small plate, but it is larger portions. I also notice that the type of food makes a difference. I can eat cheese sticks, lunch meats and fruit every couple of hours, but if I eat a roll or Pasta, I feel terribly full for hours.

[Jeanie Sleevy 3]

I have a 32b too & feel the same way. I feel like something is stuck in my throat. hopefully it will get better.

[CoffeeAndMagazines 2]

Thank you so much, MegInNOLA and lulublu!! That is REALLY helpful to hear. I've been a bit despondent and haunted by this. I'm going to plow on and assume it will improve down the road.

I really appreciate your feedback and insights!!

[MegInNOLA 531]

CAM, a couple of "live and learn" tricks for small sleeves:

1. Think about eating in terms of fueling--try eating more frequent, smaller meals, snack sizes. I probably eat 6 times a day now, but volume-wise, each meal is between 1/4 and 1/2 c. of food.

2. Investigate lots of Protein options--my sleeve prefers dairy and veggie Protein, although I can eat hamburger and shrimp with minimal problems. Most animal protein is still hard for me--right after I posted to you yesterday, I ate some ham that came right back up--and I'm 9 months out and have eaten ham before with no problems. It's an ongoing, sometimes frustrating process, I guess, but there ya go. I think we small sleevers just sort of learn to deal.

3. Carry "safe," tolerable food and utensils with you. In my car, I have a couple of packs of almonds and some plastic spoons--that's in case I want some yogurt, which I can find almost anywhere, or some Soup, which a lot of groceries are starting to carry hot and ready to eat.

4. I use a standard fork to measure portion size--careful in restaurants that use those huge forks, though. Since I can handle between 1/4 and 1/2 c. of food by volume, I realized that I could cut out a portion of food that is a fork-full long, a fork-full wide, and a fork-full high. I confess I usually poach off my husband's plate--it looks to the rest of the world like I'm getting a big bite of his food, but it's my entire meal!! Some things I already know my limits on: I know I can eat 3 good-sized boiled shrimp and a couple of shreds of lettuce. I know I can eat 1-2 TBS of taco-style (loose) hamburger meat, maybe mixed with a bit of refried Beans. Etc. You'll get to know your favorite foods and how much of them you can tolerate. I can almost finish a regular carton of yogurt (6 oz?) but no way could I eat that much of most other foods, for instance.

5. Include a protein food every time you eat--cheese, milk, Peanut Butter, hummus, bean dip, nuts, whatever--for satiety and help meeting your protein requirements. If your sleeve likes dense protein (tuna, chicken, steak, whatever), celebrate! and include that frequently. I definitely eat fruits and veggies, just in super small amounts, and usually blended up or chopped up in Soup. But I also love salad. When I eat veggies or fruits, I also include protein in the form of milk or cheese or nuts or whatever else is in the soup (beans, always, and sometimes zapped up chicken, depending on what kind of soup it is). I also can't tolerate the Protein shakes, but if you can, those might be a great option longer-term for a small sleeve.

So yay for small sleeves! They can be the most frustrating things ever, no question about it, but in the end, they perform their job beautifully--mine is really doing exactly what I wanted my sleeve to do, even though of course it makes me crazy sometimes. I also feel like I'm going to have the tool in place long term, and it's teaching me to eat in a healthful way that I can continue in the years to come.

[CoffeeAndMagazines 2]

This is so helpful -- thank you!!! You have a great attitude and that inspires me, too.

I look forward to being able to eat veggies again... oh man. I guess I need to learn to be patient and tiptoe into trying different things over time.

Thank you Meg! :-)

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I had the same problem at first! It was terrible! Very depressing in fact. It did get better for me, and hopefully it will for you as well keep the faith!