I had my surgery on thursday and its been hard for me to get in my liquid. Every sip of water felt like a swallowed a ball. I am now trying to warm my water to see if it will go down easier. Im worried dont want to get dehydrated. Any advice?

Plain Water tends to sit heavy in the very beginning. Drinking decaffeinated sugar free tea might help or putting sugar free water drops in cold water.

Explanation from member maharet111;

Okay a little science here as told to me by my surgeon. Water has a high surface tension, meaning that its barrier to allow it to be broken down is hard. Think of a steel paper clip that floats on the surface. Now your stomach is like the size of a coffee stirrer at this point due to swelling etc. because of the high surface tension it is hard sometimes for the water to be absorbed and gets kind of backed up if that makes sense. So when you dilute water or mix it with something if breaks that high tension and thus can be absorbed faster. Not everyone experiences it but it is one of those side effects that can happen.

How about ice chips? They saved me at the beginning

Good luck, it does get better

Okay i tried to warm it and it did go down a little better. I had some crystal light i had brought with me going to try that. I haven't tried any ice chip. Thats something im going to try and see if it works. Thanks for all the helpfull suggestions:)

Explanation from member maharet111;

Okay a little science here as told to me by my surgeon. Water has a high surface tension' date=' meaning that its barrier to allow it to be broken down is hard. Think of a steel paper clip that floats on the surface. Now your stomach is like the size of a coffee stirrer at this point due to swelling etc. because of the high surface tension it is hard sometimes for the water to be absorbed and gets kind of backed up if that makes sense. So when you dilute water or mix it with something if breaks that high tension and thus can be absorbed faster. Not everyone experiences it but it is one of those side effects that can happen.

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Thanks for reporting this. I had problems drinking water and couldn't understand.. Before surgery I drink water all day long. Now I drink Gatorade.

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I had to use Crystal Light too. I use the powder packets because I think the Crystal Light liquid drops are terribad. I actually still have to use them. I've been trying recently to just drink plain water, but I find at almost three months out, it still just goes down kind of rough.

Yeah i didnt know a person could feel this horrible from drinking water:)

And now is this headacheeeee. ive been having this pounding headaches since yesterday.

I hate to tell you this, but there's a good chance the headache is from dehydration if you're having trouble getting your liquid in. If you really can't get the water in no matter how much you try, and the headache persists, then it may be time to call your surgeon's office. The main symptoms I had when I got dangerously dehydrated for a bit after surgery were headache, nausea, fatigue, dark urine (sorry, gross, I know.), and rapid heartbeat. Don't let it go too far. Dehydration is a real and serious dangerous for us post-op. We can survive for weeks without food, but water is of utmost importance.

Ice pops were my friend.

I lived on sugar free Popsicles until I could drink enough..I drink Crystal light all day, hardly ever plain water. I too used to drink alot of plain water before surgery but things have changed and I need to change with them! Its a matter if figuring out what works for you.

Good luck- hope you feel better soon

Thank you its seems when i heat the water it goes down a bit better not the best but something i could try to tolerate. My surgeon suppose to come by and remove my staples today. I am going to mention to him my headaches. Thanks katikati for the headsup:)

Hey confidence.... its misty and I can't drink water either.. have you tried sugsr free popsicles for fluid intake they help me

Hey Misty i havent tried any sugar free popsicle. To be honest I dont like the after taste of sugar free products. That artificial sweetner leave a bad after taste in my mouth. What i ahve been drinking is coconut water which goes down real smooth and taste yummy to me:). I cant over do it though because it contains 9g of carbs per 16 oz and 100 calories. That after taste ughhh!!!!

I had my sleeve on the 22nd, I also have MS, so I stay away from artificial sweeteners of any kind because of the correlation between artificial sweeteners and MS. I use the regular frozen Popsicles.i feel my calorie intake is so low, the amount of carbs are negligible.