I am 1 week out since RNY. I have had a horrible headache since I got home! I think it’s because my calorie intake is SO LOW!
Any suggestions how I can increase my calories intake while drinking only liquids without drinking a McD’s shake?

Between this headache & the pain in my shoulder I am ready to go beg for a shot of Demerol!

were you drinking the current shakes/liquids during your pre-op diet? A lot of people get headaches either in pre-op or post-op from caffeine or sugar withdrawal, or from additives in the liquids they are drinking (I can't have optifast stuff because aspartame and MSG in its many hidden forms are terrible headache/migraine triggers for me).

if you are having any form of store-bought stock/broth/soups you are consuming MSG (even in the "no added MSG stuff, it's just a marketing ploy as they still contain yeast extract, or hydrolysed proteins or "natural flavor" or any of the other 129 hidden forms of MSG they can use while still stating "no added MSG 621").

Most diet drinks/products contain either aspartame (sweet) or MSG/hidden MSG (savoury/soups).

I had to find meal replacements that were stevia sweetened instead, and can only eat my own soups made with home brewed chicken stock.

It's normal and called carb withdrawal or keto flu. It sucks, but is something that must be endured. I tell people, it's much better to get the pre-surgery act together and go through this hell BEFORE you're also recovering from surgery. It should get better in a week or two.

Dr. Westman (low carb diet doc at Duke) says to take 1tsp MOM daily, 1-2 cups of bouillon daily, and make sure you're very hydrated. It's caused from rapid dehydration in the cells and also from switching from burning glucose to fat.

Prior to surgery, I gave up caffeine and carbonated beverages - my 6 diet coke per day habit. I suffered through a week of caffeine withdrawal syndrome with severe headaches and body aches. After that the headaches disappeared. If this problem in your case is caused by the same problem, then be a little patient and the headaches should go away soon after they run its course. So if you had a caffeine habit prior to surgery, this might account for your headaches as Taoz has mentioned.

The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight.

Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes.

Just make sure you are meeting your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Comply to the meal volume given by your surgeons office. Forget calorie counting.

Regular dehydration can give a horrible headache regardless of all this other stuff mentioned. Check your fluid intake. I still get nasty headaches if I don’t drink enough water, it’s unfortunately weekly or twice weekly for me still at almost six months out.

Whatever fluid you can drink, get it down.

I haven’t had coffee in 2 weeks. And I wasn’t a daily drinker and I’m not a soda drinker either. So I find it hard to believe it’s a caffeine withdrawal headache.

5 hours ago, toodlerue said:

I am 1 week out since RNY.

Between this headache & the pain in my shoulder I am ready to go beg for a shot of Demerol!

Pain in the shoulder can be an indication of a leak. I would contact your surgeon ASAP.

Played phone tag with the dr today.
I did speak with a dietitian from Cigna today. She recommended I have some strained cream soup. I tasted so good! It seemed to help also!
Watered my plants in the back yard, that little bit of activity seemed to help my shoulder feel better too!

I'm glad they were able to provide you with a solution!

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