Hi guys. Im about 2 months post op from gastric bypass and finding it SO difficult to get in my daily water requirements (64oz min). I've tried different water bottles, flavoring the water, ice in the water, no ice or flavor, everything, it seems! I'm just not that damn thirsty, lol! Plus, I can no longer chug water (u know, to just get those ounces in and over with) because anytime I take even 1 semi-big gulp, it fills my pouch so full that it takes like 5-10 minutes just to empty!! It's so uncomfortable.

Even prior to surgery I never drank that much liquid in a given day. Heck, I really only drank when I was eating (and now that's against the rules, so can't do that anymore)! As much as I try drinking all day now, I only seem to be able to get in about 18-24-32oz a day, regularly. I'm getting frustrated -and nervous- because I know lots of water is critical in helping shed the lbs, plus I don't want to get dehydrated.

To make it even harder, my team says I have to drink a minimim of 64oz of water daily, and I'm not allowed to subtract any other liquids I have during the day (like protein shake or coffee or whatever) from the 64oz minimum water requirement. (I know, bummer!)

Anyone else have, or had, this issue and conquered it? What did u do? Im all ears to any ideas!

Thanks for any feedback!

I have the same problem! I tried to drink a lot of water but I can only drink about 40 punces a day and I my surgery was 8/14/2017. This week I decided to have a bottle of water or crystal light near me all the time to see if I can do it better...and I can!! My intake go to almost 60 ounces! But I was drinking little sips all day! I stop only 45 minutes before meals to be able to eat!!!

My Dietician set a 1-2L (33-67oz) expectation daily with 500mL (17oz) of that being nutritional supplement like a protein shake or something. I’m finding it difficult being 4 days Post Op to even get 200mL (7oz) in! First few days I’d legit vomit if I had more than 30ml which is like a little medicine cup! I just feel so disgustingly full and I’m someone who use to be able to drink bottles and bottles of water.

It’s super frustrating cause I know I’m dehydrated (breath gets bad, tongue gets coated and I have a gross taste in my mouth and lips get cracked). I’m hoping this is post op swelling and a week from now I’ll be hitting this no worries.

Anyone else find in the early stages it was really tricky???

arcwls said, "I’m finding it difficult being 4 days Post Op to even get 200mL (7oz) in!"

Your body is in a major heal mode right after surgery. Many people find it difficult to meet their protein and fluid requirements during the first couple weeks. Just keep trying and you should be able to get there soon.

Amburmist said, "Hi guys. Im about 2 months post op from gastric bypass and finding it SO difficult to get in my daily Water requirements (64oz min)."

My discharge directions read "Drink 64-80 ounces of water or a low calorie liquid daily. This includes any protein supplement in liquid form." Since I was drinking 3 protein drinks (48 ounces of water) each day, it was not difficult to reach this goal.

Amburmist said, "To make it even harder, my team says I have to drink a minimim of 64oz of water daily, and I'm not allowed to subtract any other liquids I have during the day (like Protein Shake or coffee or whatever) from the 64oz minimum water requirement."

From my perception after talking with my nutritionist - The fluid requirement is met by a combination. It is not only the water that you drink each day. But also the water you drink when you take your vitamins and medicine. It is the milk you drink. It is the fluids content of the protein shakes. It is the water component of the soups you take. It is met by flavored water such as Crystal Light. It is met by sugar free popsicles. It is met by tea and decaf coffee. It is a combination of all the fluids that you consume during the day.

It is common for your taste buds to change after surgery. Be willing to experiment. After surgery, my taste buds changed dramatically. Even water changed. In the hospital it tasted excessively chlorinated and I could not drink it. So I experimented. Sugar free popsicles became my best friend. Some individuals find hot or cold can help with fluids. For me, I found that I could tolerate flavored water. So I began using Crystal Light. I also found a new drink Bai which I liked cold. In the winter, I found that I tolerate hot drinks such as piping hot cocoa. But you have to use the "No Sugar Added" variety. Also fine English teas were very good.

On ‎11‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 0:14 AM, Amburmist said:

My team says I have to drink a minimim of 64oz of water daily, and I'm not allowed to subtract any other liquids I have during the day (like Protein Shake or coffee or whatever) from the 64oz minimum water requirement.

I have never heard that. My nutritionist and nurse practitioner said I that fluid is fluid and to absolutely count broth, tea, shakes, etc. towards my total daily intake.

Same here. My surgery team told me to subtract the liquid ounces of my shakes and /or broth from my total liquid ounces.

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On 11/4/2017 at 11:14 PM, Amburmist said:

Hi guys. Im about 2 months post op from gastric bypass and finding it SO difficult to get in my daily Water requirements (64oz min). I've tried different water bottles, flavoring the water, ice in the water, no ice or flavor, everything, it seems! I'm just not that damn thirsty, lol! Plus, I can no longer chug water (u know, to just get those ounces in and over with) because anytime I take even 1 semi-big gulp, it fills my pouch so full that it takes like 5-10 minutes just to empty!! It's so uncomfortable.

Even prior to surgery I never drank that much liquid in a given day. Heck, I really only drank when I was eating (and now that's against the rules, so can't do that anymore)! As much as I try drinking all day now, I only seem to be able to get in about 18-24-32oz a day, regularly. I'm getting frustrated -and nervous- because I know lots of water is critical in helping shed the lbs, plus I don't want to get dehydrated.

To make it even harder, my team says I have to drink a minimim of 64oz of water daily, and I'm not allowed to subtract any other liquids I have during the day (like Protein Shake or coffee or whatever) from the 64oz minimum water requirement. (I know, bummer!)

Anyone else have, or had, this issue and conquered it? What did u do? Im all ears to any ideas!

Thanks for any feedback!

My nutritionist said 48 oz min was great! Yes 64 oz if you can but if not (right now) it’s ok!!! She’s said it dozens of times & it’s in all the printed info from my bariatric team, (“A Center of Excellence”) plus I’ve read the same thing online in several places so I know it’s true.

I have the EXACT SAME ISSUE!! As a matter of fact that’s why I was looking at the latest forum postings! I havn’t been able to get in any water & I’m 3 wks post op. Yikes. But I really need to work on it. So I read today (online as well as when I got out & read in my nutritionist handouts) that all liquids DO COUNT toward the daily intake amount!! So if you can choke down broth, tea, flavored waters, even your protein shakes count! It made me feel a sigh of relief. So protein shakes are 11 oz a piece & I can drink two per day so at least I’ve been getting in 22 oz a day. Not great but it’s something.

Today (because I’m very unhappy with my wt loss results so far of 6 pounds since surg day), I choked down 20 oz of water. It’s about noon so I’ll make myself choke down more later today but it’s a chore to me!! I sympathize w/ you!!

On 11/5/2017 at 1:06 AM, arcwls said:

My Dietician set a 1-2L (33-67oz) expectation daily with 500mL (17oz) of that being nutritional supplement like a Protein Shake or something. I’m finding it difficult being 4 days Post Op to even get 200mL (7oz) in! First few days I’d legit vomit if I had more than 30ml which is like a little medicine cup! I just feel so disgustingly full and I’m someone who use to be able to drink bottles and bottles of Water.

It’s super frustrating cause I know I’m dehydrated (breath gets bad, tongue gets coated and I have a gross taste in my mouth and lips get cracked). I’m hoping this is post op swelling and a week from now I’ll be hitting this no worries.

Anyone else find in the early stages it was really tricky???

Your feeling normal at this point! Your going to be just fine, just sip as your comfortable at this point. Your going to be feeling very different week by week at this early stage and the most imp thing to do is to listen to your body, (aside from getting protein in). You’ll get into the water routine again, esp since you were a water drinker before!!

Your protein drinks counts towards your water intake too, but try & sip as you can-& if you think your really dehydrated, then you truly need to call your Dr for a possible liquid infusion if the tongue is this dry after a week post op (unless it’s anti nausea patch/meds or something causing it?)

Edited November 8, 20178 yr by RNY-Fall-2017

I’m 6 months out and don’t get all that fluid in. I may hit 40 oz on a good day. Just being honest.

My dietitian said roughly 2ltres per day. I bought 2 one litre bottles and fill them when I'm working and I know that's what I need but all the other drinks count too including clear broth protein shakes or protein water. I don't always get it all in but I try. It makes it hard when you can't eat and drink at the same time and have to time it. Some days there's just not enough time

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I’m 6 months out and don’t get all that fluid in. I may hit 40 oz on a good day. Just being honest.

Thx for ur honesty. How did ur weightloss go? Are u at goal? Did u lose quickly or are u a slow loser like i am? My doc said im a slow loser because i cant get in at least 64oz of water, so i keep tryping. But ya, it seems like an unrealistic expectation for the long haul. Not many people drink that much on a regular basis, right?!

I’m very unhappy with my wt loss results so far of 6 pounds since surg day

I totally sympathize with you on this! I am also a slow loser and it is unbelievably frustrating! Yes, I know, 'don't let the scale get u down' or 'don't weigh urself so often', blah, blah, blah. The fact of the matter is that we are all here to lose LBs and get that scale number to go down, down, down and when u are doing everything according to the teied and true post-op plan, ingesting only 600 or less calories a day, walking/exercising daily, NOT eating what u really wanna eat, yet the scale STILL doesn't move [much], it's so demotivating, ya know?! The scale numbers going down day after day or week after week is the BEST motivation! Without that, what's gonna help me power forward?

I guess i can say the only thing giving me hope to not completely give up, like i sure would have prior to surgery, is that I feel the loss in my clothes. I don't see it in the mirror, or in the scale numbers, but I DO feel it in my clothes. Thankfully! It's something! Also, I keep telling myself that my body can't possibly maintain all this fat and weight if I'm consistently only feeding it 600 cals a day, when it needs a minimum of 2, 000 (on average) cals just to maintain. It's "simple" math and biology - cals in vs cals burned/out, right? So I have to be patient. No quitting now, not after changing the piping!! I can't! I won't!

Good luck to u! Keep going! Stay on track! The fat will eventually come off! (right?!?! [emoji6])

I was never able to drink the water either until 1 year post op. But I kept up with protein shakes on ice.