I was just sleeved on Tuesday morning. I am able to get up and walk around with minimal pain, but whenever drink anything I get a horrible feeling like someone is stabbing me in my chest. After a few seconds the pain in my chest goes away but I can feel the liquid like gurgle down through the rest of the pouch.. I am able to eat some warm Cereal like coco wheats, but liquids just refuse to go down easily. My doctor says it is probably just swelling, but I don't know how I'm supposed to avoid dehydration until the swelling goes down. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. The temperature or sip size doesn't seem to matter much. I knew the first week was gunna be hard, but I really want to prevent going into the ER for fluids if at all possible.

Thanks for any responses in advance.

I also forgot to mention, when I feel the pain, I feel like I need to burp but i just cant seem to get a burp out.

Ask your doctor of you can have Tums. They help me tremedously!

I had that problem with liquids going down I would stand and walk around take small sips then pat my chest and burp myself... It has eased up now I can sip more with out getting that feeling but I have to keep burping myself like I'm a baby... Hope you get some answers welcome to the losers bench......

I was sleeved yesterday and I have the same problem. What's been helping is just taking smaller sips and taking more time in between them.

It happens to me too...less now (7 days out) than before. I find hot drinks work better, but like andkel30 said, I sip then pat my chest to burp myself. The little air that precedes the liquid seems to get trapped and hurts like hell. It get better though. I avoided drinks and stuck with sugar free popsicles to get my liquids in during the first few days. By day 5 it was better, but I still can't do cold drinks...those just hurt too much.

DEAR ANXIOUS, pls do not fret.it will pass .i am now in 3rd week.i faced similar problems.they all finally subside.the mantra is sip,sip,sip. n that too v.slowly.purchase a baby sipper

It is from the swelling. The top of your sleeve is very swollen, the opening is small.....so liquids build up at the top and then "trickle" in. This should only last a day or two....and well....you just have to deal with the pain. That is part of the reason they give you meds.

I had the same feelings! Mine felt like someone was grabbing and twisting my insides is how I explained it. I found that drinking warm liquids helped, or room temp. And thank God I have always been a good burper!

Small sips and make sure you are sitting straight up will help as well. Mine passed by day 5 and now I am good to go! Feel great. That feeling should pass soon. Blessings~Melanie:)

I had this problem, it does go away. It didn't matter if it was warm or cold liquid for me. It did matter if it was thick or thin liquid. I had a harder time with thin liquids. The only thin liquid I could have was frozen otter pops. The rest had to be yogurt drinks or thick juices like v8. Best wishes

I had/have this problem too. I started taking gas x and it has helped tremendously. I'm 8 days postop and I was terrified when I couldn't get anything down without pain. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!!

I am 4 1/2 weeks out and I have this problem too. It was worse in the very beginning. Walking helped a lot. It happens less frequently now but if I take a big gulp, the stuck burp feeling come back and I get nuseaus.

I spoke too soon. I'm having a horrible day. So I came back to this thread for more advice. I'm so weak and I can't tell if it's from lack of food, or from the meds, or the surgery, or what. My favorite protein shake pre-op is so sweet post-op it's not even funny. Couldn't drink it. Isopure is ok, but it hurts. Warm broth seems ok so far but don't I need calories? Or is it too soon to worry about that? It's only been 2 days. I just want to be sure I'm doing what I need to do.

I don't think the calories or protein really matter in the first few weeks. That's why they have a lot of people on a clear diet. I was allowed protein shakes as soon as I got home but I was only able to really get them down starting today (day 8). From what I hear the first 2 weeks are bad and then the clouds move aside and there is a chorus of singing angels. That might be wishful thinking...

Update: I have noticed this morning that the pain seems to be going away (knock on wood). I have basically been living on Popsicles because they don't really hurt going down as long as they are sugar free (I accidentally grabbed a normal sugary Popsicle from the box my family eats from.....never doing that again, it made me so nauseous).

VAcookey, my surgeon told me liquids are way more important than calories in the first couple weeks. He said as long as you are taking your Vitamins, you can basically forget about calories until you are able to get more liquids in.

Thanks again for everyone's responses, they really helped!

TrueBlood, I was scared to take my vitamins because I have to chew them up. What if I don't chew them up good enough? But I'll take one now. Let's see how this turns out.