When I made the decision to have this surgery, I was so lucky to be supported by my husband, family and friends. Now that it is done, I am so scared of food. I hear these horror stories about throwing up all the time. It makes me afraid that later on when I can eat I won't be able to go out since I may throw up. Someone who is either going through it or went through it please offer some sort of positive thoughts. I am hoping I did not make the biggest mistake of my life. P.S. I am going to seek psychological help since I used to think of food as a comfort. :-( Thank you for anyone that responds.

When did you have your surgery?

January 18, 2012

I didn't get to eat until I was 2 weeks out and it was only mushie foods. I started out with thicker soups and soft cheese like laughing cow. If it feels uncomfortable wait to eat more. Start slowly and learn what your body likes. When I go to eat out I often just order soup so I don't have food drama.

You may throw up if you are at home also. We dont know how our bodies are going to respond to various foods. That is why they tell us to take one food at a time and then add another food in a couple of days. I usually can tell after the first bite if I am going to be sick, which happened last night to me after eating something that disagreed with me. I am glad you are seeking therapy, it does help to talk about our comfort in food. You didnt make the biggest mistake in your life, we all have those thoughts in the beginning. My advice would be to called your doctor if you have any concerns, however I feel you will do fine and should not be scared to eat. We do need food to survive and this is an adjustment to our bodies. Good luck

Yes, I am going to start mushie foods on Wednesday, I think I have just heard so many horror stories that I am almost afraid to get to that point. I think I will take your advice with the soup. Thank you :-)

Thank you Precious. Yes, I think I just have to get over the thought of throwing up. I guess some people will do anything to throw up lol. Thank you.

Chrissy,

Try to think positive. You're going to be fine. Even if you do throw up, it will pass. And guess what? I had surgery Aug 8th and haven't thrown up yet. Although I'll admit there was a time when I really WANTED AND PRAYED to throw up. My husband and I were on vacation and I had gone about 6 hours without eating. Needless to say, I was starving. We stopped at a deli and I ordered an egg salad sandwhich. The bread was homemade and really thick. Well, I ate 3/4 of that big behind sandwich in no time. It hurt so bad I wanted and prayed to throw up. But did I? NOPE. So try not to worry so much and stress yourself out. From someone who is almost 6 months out I would say this: eat small amounts of protein at a time. Don't eat the bread or other white carbs for a long time. That's what really made me sick. And drink your water (fluids, crystal light, whatever). You're gonna make it chica. And life is really, really good on the other side.

I also wondered if I made a mistake as this is for life. I am 3 mos. out and have lost 50 lbs. and no longer think I made a mistake. I am to the pointe that I can eat what ever I want but it is only about 2-3 oz. at a time. You still have to be careful what you eat, I try to stay away from sweets and bread takes up too much room. Early out I learned the hard way to just eat very small amounts at first. I am telling you if you take one bite too much the pain is not good for about 20 minutes. I also at the bigining did not really feel hungrey so you really have to strive to get your protein in every day. I love tuna and cottage cheese and even now that is a good staple for me. Just go slow and it gets better every day and soon it will not be such a focal point in your life. There was only one time I got nauceous and that is when I took that one extra bite. Also down the road I eat wht ever I fix my husband for meals, just 3 bites. I am done before he even gets organized. Now I am losing 2-3 pounds a week and that is fine with me. Sorry to say I do not exercise at all, hopefully come better weather I will be out more and that will increase the losing. One day at a time....

I got sleeved two days after you and am having mostly liquids with a few mushies. I haven't thrown up once. Even if you do, it won't last long since there isnt much in your stomach at any one point. Stay positive! You're doing great.

Chrissy, I get what you mean about not wanting to throw up. I absolutely hate to vomit, even when I know it will make me feel better. One of my good friends had GB back in the 90's and she had horrible reflux problems. She's be eating and fine for a couple of bites, then one tiny bite too many and she'd be running for the bathroom. I thought that was disgusting and my exact thought was "I'd rather be fat then getting sick all the time". It was one of my real worries about having the sleeve cause I sure didn't want to be sliming or getting sick all the time.

I was sleeved Aug 30, 2011 and have never slimed. I really work hard to under eat my sleeve, take small bites and chew very well. I also have been sure that I take a tiny bite of a new (after sleeve) food and let it sit for a few minutes before I try any more. That's how I found out I can't do very spicy food yet. I have vomitted once and that happened recently. I went to Carraba's with friends and we all shared a couple of appetizers. I even ate a small piece of their bread with olive oil and spices, yum! Right before we left, I took a quick sip of my drink because my mouth was dry. By the time we got to the car, I had to find a bush and be sick. Luckily, only the drink and bread came up (sorry, TMI?), but I learned that I REALLY cannot drink immediately after eating, especially if it's carbs.

Don't be afraid of food. Once you're back on solids, make sure you try something new at least every few days, even if it's only 1 or 2 bites. Be adventurous so that you don't end up in a rut of only drinking Protein shakes or eating Protein Bars. You had this surgery to improve your life, so take advantage of the opportunities it will open for you! I know that right now you feel bad and you're probably frustrated by not being able to eat much and have very little variety. It will get better.

May I say that I think you are very brave to seek therapy for food issues! I think it's even braver to admit that you know you need help and are asking for it! I believe that most obese people could use some therapy to deal with our food issues, but I think it's especially important for WLS surgery patients to deal with those issues to prevent regain. I'm sure you'll talk to your therapist about your fears about being sick as well. I hope that the therapist is well-versed in bariatric issues and can give you some real help there!

Good luck and please stick around so we can watch your journey to a new you!!

Hi Chrissy,

I am almost 12 weeks out from my gastric sleeve surgery and have just started going out to eat with my husband. I feel absolutely wonderful and do not regret my decision at all. I am down 51 lbs. and feel 20 years younger (I'm 54 yrs. old). You will learn to think totally differently about food. I was a comfort eater too and was so terrified about "after" the surgery as well. You learn to eat just what you need. It is a process and sometimes you screw up and don't feel to great, but it's all part of learning. When you slowly introduce new foods you do it at home in very small quantities. Hopefully your doctor's office has given you good guidelines. Please stick to them and call your doctor's office if you need help. The only problem I had was learning to recognize the feeling of my new little stomach being full. You really have to pay attention to that. But things get easier and life gets great when that scale starts dropping. I am off two medications already and down four clothes sizes. Great payoffs. Hang in there and we are here to help you as well.

Robin

Hi. I was sleeved the same day as you and I am having no major problems. I started eating cottage cheese and discovered I might be lactose intolerant, so I took a Lactaid and now I'm fine. I haven't thrown up once. As a matter of fact, because we eat such small amounts I feel like I'm eating all day now. I'm not over- stuffing myself: I stop when I feel full and then eat more when I feel like it again. I'm really enjoying the weight loss ( I'm down 20lbs) and looking forward to the weeks ahead.

I never used to drink tea before but they served me peach tea at the hotel after my surgery and now I'm in love with it. I'm eating small punts of oatmeal , yogurt, cottage cheese and scrambled eggs. I never, ever feel nauseous.

I hope you read some of the success stories on this forum and the other ones on Gastric Sleeve. Another resource would be Dr Alvarez. He's on twitter. Go to his website and look up his YouTube videos. He answers everyone's questions. Not just those of his own patients. You can also email him. Endobariatrics.com

Keep us posted. I'm sure you're not the only one who feels this way. You'll be just fine!

Hey there, I wouldn't worry about it happening. If it happens, then just deal with it. If you worry about it, your creating anxiety for yourself when it's not necessary. You might not even have that problem. This beautiful sleeve that we chose to have is the most awesome tool to help us with our disease of over eating. Sit back and watch the lbs just melt away, get all your fluids and Protein is always first! Protein is a key component that helps our cells in our body heal. You are doing great right now and visualize in your mind the lbs just melting right off! It will happen!

You will feel better really soon! I promise!

I also want to commend you on your honesty and action to deal with this.

One thing to note, though, is not everyone has throwing up issues. I think it might be like the review of that new plasma TV. It looks great to me, but all of the reviews are TERRIBLE!! Of course, only the people who are having problems are going to post about the problem. People who are happy and content with their TV are not going to take the time to post their happy thoughts, although, of course, some do, but by far not representative.

I have not thrown up, and I guessing the majority haven't either. Might I suggest a trip over to the Success stories for some inspirational reading?

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/forum/14-gastric-sleeve-surgery-vsg-success-stories/

Um, just so you know I am 15 months post-op and I have not ever thrown up since being sleeved. Not once. And that includes post-anthesia nausea...(thank you scope. patch to ward off nausea that my surgeon gives his patients!)

So there you have it. My hubby is sleeved and threw up approx. twice. Both times he was about 6-7 weeks out and was at a restaurant and trying to eyeball his food (vs. mesauring it at home) and it wasn't a big deal.

I have an almost un-natural fear of throwing up. It is the biggest single reason that I didn't pick the band (seems like a LOT of bandsters have medically band-induced bulimia!) No. Thank. You.

So PdxMan is right, not everyone comes on here and says "guess what? Today I didn't throw up!"