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Does digesting food cause you pain?



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Hi Everyone I am 20 weeks post op and am very pleased with the 60 pounds I have lost. The Dr is telling me at this point I should be eating about 1/2 cup of things like canned tuna, chicken, cottage cheese, 4 oz of dense Protein meats or 2 eggs. However it seems like whenever I eat any dense Protein meals like eggs, pork, ham, tuna and even cottage cheese I get terrible pains under my left breast area that lasts for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I am only eating the protein as I can hardly ever get to the vegetables. When I eat lighter protein like chicken, ground turkey, cheese and turkey sticks, Greek yogurt, Protein shakes, Soups, hot chocolate, Protein Bars, nuts I do not get the same intensity of pain but there is still some mild pain and horrible noises which I am assuming is associated with the food being digested.

I have had pain all along since week 3 and I have mentioned it to my surgeon at the 1 month and 3 month marks. He keeps telling me this is my sign that I am full and should continue what I am doing. At 20 weeks I still have that pain and I am barely getting in 700 to 900 calories a day, however I am getting in my 60 to 80 grams of protein at this point. I don't see him again until the end of July. The pain is really getting to me and I hate being sick each day. The last two painful episodes when I ate 1/2 cup of Tuna for lunch on Thursday and 2 hard boiled eggs for lunch on Friday where really bad and forced me to stretch out on my bed to try and relieve the pain. Thank goodness I was home and not at work.

My questions are these: Do you also experience the pains associated with the eating of dense Proteins or is this just unique to me?

If you do or did experience this when if ever did or does the pain stop?

Would it be a good idea to try and eat the lighter Proteins for awhile and come back at a later date to the denser proteins?

Or should I still try to continue to eat the dense proteins but maybe reduce the amount?

Replies to my questions would be appreciated as you have always been here for me since I came on board last June.

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what did the doctor say could be causing the pain?

I do not have this pain -so I am at a loss to advise you, but I sure do feel for you. I am sure it makes every day a challenge for you.

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I could understand having this kind of pain for the first month or so, but not at 20 weeks. I am 17 weeks out and have not experienced this. It seems a little unusual. For your health and safety my advice would be to call the surgeon's office and tell them of your concerns again and insist on a follow up sooner. Sorry I can't be of better help, please keep us posted on your progress.

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Christianamo7

I have mentioned it to my surgeon at the 1 month and 3 month marks. He keeps telling me this is my sign that I am full and should continue what I am doing.

What signs do you both have that you are full? Is it pain and rumbling noises?

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I just stop eating when I do not have an empty feeling now. On occasion if I eat more than I should I get burpy and that post thanksgiving dinner feeling. but not pain. I'd guess I eat 3-4 ounces of Protein and some veg and fruit limited carbs.

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Try eating less, especially of the dense Protein, and see if that helps the pain. That sounds to me like you are possibly eating too much. That would have been far too much for me at 20 weeks and I don't doubt trying to cram all that protein in would have caused me a lot of pain.

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I agree. Eat less. At 5 months I was still at 550-650 calories and could only eat a half a chicken breast at once.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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