Hello everyone. Many have heard about my story and complication with my Surgury I had in December 2015. I have lost more weight than should have. I was on TPN for 6 month getting iv fluids for nutrition. I been off of it since a few months. I am following up with a nutritionist, Gastro and surgeon. Now I am underweight. I am suppose to consume 1200 calories a day and can't hardly consume that. I still vomit a few times a week and I am very depress and worried something is going to happen to me. I saw the nutritionist and she told me to have ensure enlive 3 times a day. I started vomiting it and not sure why. I do know that ensure enlive has 350 calories and everything y body needs but has a lot of sugar. Now I am trying premier shake but have a hard time drinking it as well and will have to have a lot of them a day to consume my calories. The reason I am losing more weight is because I am. It consuming enough calories. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I constant feel full and feel lots of reflux or indigestion after each mean and I a taking Prilosec. I need all the advice I can get. I don't want to die of malnutrition but I am very concern.

I'm very sorry to hear about these troubles {Hugs}. Hopefully someone here can give you some good tips.

My take on things.. ensure and other liquid meals are chalk full of strange ingredients, of which one or more may not be agreeing with you. I would love to see you take it back to basics, and do a start-over, testing different things to see what agrees with you.

How do you do with milk? Whole milk has 150 calories per cup, so it adds up real quick. Lactaid might work if you are lactose intolerant. Milk is a buffer, which means it is typically soothing in the presence of acid.

Nuts are a very good, concentrated source of energy.

Fruit has lots of excellent nutrients, and if you find a mix you like, blended in a smoothie, you are drinking plenty of calories. Bananas might be better tolerated than the more acidic types.

A runny oatmeal can also be a healthy slider. Add plenty of extras that taste good, including cream.

Avacados

Whole milk yogurt or cottage cheese. Don't shy away from fruity add-ins if they help.

Dried fruits are a concentrated source of calories, just be sure they are softened and chewed well so they don't hurt your pouch. Dates are pure sugar, so if you use them, go slowly in case they cause dumping.

If you notice, I'm not listing meat. By now, you are aware of the importance of protein, and are probably aware of the easiest protein types for you to consume.

But, even though protein is important, you don't need as much as you did during the weight loss phase, and you shouldn't be filling up on it. You probably can get by on 40-50 grams of protein a day, and if you can get that in dairy, eggs, beans, nuts.. then you are going to have more room for carbs and fat, which will help boost your caloric intake.

Does any of this sound reasonable?

Hello Berry78

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post. I do good with milk. I will definitely try that. Yes I really think the ensure drinks have things that may not be agreeing with my stomach. I will definitely follow your advice regarding the foods and fruits you mention. I think I am better off doing my own shakes. My stomach is very sensitive and realize that the ensure has a lot of ingredients that may not be agreeing to me. Thank you so much ?

You are quite welcome!

I also forgot to mention that I been burping so much frequently. Is burping a lot normal? Not sure why I burp so much.

Of course burping is just air coming up from the digestive tract. The question is where does the air come from.

Swallowing air.. you swallow more air if you eat quickly or use a straw. I had a banana tonight, set me to burping quite a bit. I must have swallowed a ton of air while eating it.. weird.

Carbonated beverages of course are full of air

Sometimes burping is from the type of food. Cucumbers and watermelon are both known to cause belching. Any number of other foods may do this, based on your own tolerance.

Hopefully your issue is to do with the above. (Carbonated beverages, if you are drinking them, are best not consumed).

U could also try fairlife milk , it's higher in protein than regular milk and less sugar too. Expensive,

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Hello Berry78

I think it's because I eat too fast and forget to slow down. I stay away from carbonated drinks and never use a straw. I have to keep in mind and practice to eating slow. Thanks again for your advice.

7 hours ago, carolynjackson said:

U could also try fairlife milk , it's higher in Protein than regular milk and less sugar too. Expensive,

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using BariatricPal App

Thank you Carolynjackson

I will look into fairlife milk as well.

I had a change of heart. I mentioned 40-50g of protein would be enough, but I think I was wrong. That may be enough for a typical person of your height that doesn't exercise intensely, but that's not you. Because you have the malabsorption component of the surgery, you have higher protein needs. If you exercise, you also need more.

I'll revise my recommendation to at least 70g of protein.... or whatever your team recommends (of course!).

Hello Berry78

I agree with you with the 70 grams of protein a day. I am trying my best to consume this. Having a hard time enough trying to eat throughout the day and drink in between to increase my calorie intake. I hope I can do this. I also going to do my own shakes at home and add fruits and protein powder.

In your situation with the struggle to gain and get in enough calories, I would ask a dietician if they would recommend upping your carbs. Carbs like bread, crackers, chips, etc go down easily and are higher calorie. Since you are a special situation and need more calories, I think I would consider asking my dietician if that would be ok to try.