I'm new here and I don't know who else to ask this or night understand... I have just started this journey. I'm scheduled for a barium test and endoscopy this month in preparation for surgery in the spring/summer of 2018 for a gastric sleeve surgery. I was so excited about it all, until getting scheduled for these tests. It's not the tests themselves that bother me too much... It's the not being able to eat from the evening before onwards. Why is this upsetting me so much??? I really struggle in the morning with blood sugar issues and needing caffeine. I HATE that feeling of being jittery, hungry, irritable, and tired, to the point to almost being panicky about it. I think this must be an emotional need for food maybe. I don't know. But I feel like I might cancel or postpone the whole thing, just over a few tests where I can't eat and drink my coffee in the morning. I'm so frustrated with myself. Has anyone else experienced this????

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Welcome and I want to reassure you that this isn't "mental" weakness or lack of moral pulchritude! It's a true physiological response. Honestly, the only way that I know to make this pre-surgery journey "easy-er" is to start getting healthy today--now--while a screw up will only cost you 3-4 days of semi-unpleasant back tracking rather than cost you a trip to the ER from a busted staple.

I'd switched from caffeine to decaff years before--very slowly. I did it by starting with a 1/2 cup of caff and 1/2 decaff and stepping it down. I limited my diet drink with caff to one per day. Eventually I mixed in more and more decaff to caff until it was all decaff. I switched to decaff diet dr. peppy. Then I gave the diet drinks up completely.

I went low carb Atkins diet a very long time ago. It's 2 weeks of misery to wean off of sugar, flour, grains and to get into the beginning stages of ketosis. But if you can do this now before your surgery it will make your blood sugar even out. It will make fasting for the tests simple and will make your pre-op liquid diet very do-able and without issue. And after surgery, you will only have to deal with the effects of the surgery rather than having to deal with the surgery, the liquid diet, the ketosis/carb withdrawal, and caffeine withdrawal simultaneously. Cuz 1 at a time is hard enough, but all of those at the same time feel like withdrawing from what heroine must feel like!

Hugs and you can do it. Pick one thing (the hardest one) to give up and start in the morning!

Edited November 5, 20178 yr by FluffyChix

It's definitely hard. But GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WORK HARD!!! I agree with FLUFFYCHIX. Start now and choose the one thing that you feel you will have the best luck with getting thru. Remember why you want to have WLS. Keep your eyes on the PRIZE!! Never give up!! And KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!

Just tell yourself you HAVE to do it. I agree on weaning yourself from the caffeine and starchy stuff.

At one time or another everyone has to do fasting for medical tests. You can talk yourself down from the ledge, it will be easier after you wean from the stuff - I never ever thought I would give up diet coke - but I did. I used to drink at least 6 cans a day when I worked in IT.

Gemini, I feel your pain. On my surgery day, I was told to not have anything by mouth until surgery from midnight the night before. I finally had surgery at about 6pm my time (live in Texas, & had surgery in Mexico). I was starving, and thirsty. I didn't have any withdrawals from coffee since I had switched to caffeine free three weeks prior. I also only went from about 48 ounces of the stuff per day to 16 ounces daily.

Yeah, I'm back up to 32 ounces of the stuff daily now, but I do drink half caff, so that's gotta count for something right?

All kidding aside. Do what you need to do now in preparation of your testing and surgery. The last thing you want to do is to skew test results and hide (or show) something that is incorrect. If you can't go a couple of hours in the morning without coffee, then you know there is a problem you need to remedy as soon as possible.

Maybe you could try the half caff now. Get used to that, and then switch to caffeine free after a few weeks. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Fluffy gave you a great attack plan and she hit the nail on the head. It's a physiological response, BUT one caused in a large part by the standard American diet (SAD). The quick starchy carbs cause the crazy blood sugar peaks and valleys. If you regulate your diet better then you won't have the blood sugar issues you age struggling with.