I am on day 4 of the two week pre-op liver shrinking diet (my surgery date is Dec 18th) and I feel like I have been hit by a train. I am sluggish and tired and starving (we are only allowed 3 protein shakes a day and then two sf jellos and two sf popsicles. I am taking all my supplements and drinking all my water, but I have no energy.

Is this what is feels like post-surgery when I will also be eating this little in calories? If so this is horrible, I can barely function. I need some reassurance that this will get better post-surgery. Especially on the energy front. The hunger I could handle but I know many people say you aren't hungry anymore post surgery. The sluggishness is brutal though, I'm freaking out and worry I've made a terrible mistake.

Please reassure me that post-sleeve life is better then this.

Sorry. It's called carb flu. Better to have it now than after surgery. Stay the course. Do drink the bouillon cubes cuz it adds really good sodium that may help you feel better. We were allowed 2 bouillons or broths with sodium.

I was allowed to have vegetables (non-starchy) and 4oz of protein on top of my two shakes a day.

With that said, I think the reduction in calories set up my immune system to be compromised and is one of the reasons why I got sick.

In the meantime, during my pre-op, I suffered from pretty gnarly nausea. . . and just feeling under the weather. Some chicken broth (like the above post) will help out a lot. Also, lots of sleep if you can manage it.

Honestly, (after getting over the surgery itself), I feel less tired after the surgery than during the pre-op diet. Stay the course and it’ll get better.

Pre-op for me was 4 weeks of the Optifast 4 per day plus 2 cups of non starch steamed vegetables with a balsamic. I only ended up with 4 weeks as my surgery date ended up later than we had anticipated but the surgery went extremely well and my surgeon said it was easy. So, I'm not sure why you are that restricted in the shakes. I found having one every 4 hours worked very well. Each surgeon is different, obviously, but my liver shrank quite nicely on 4 a day.

The two weeks before surgery were horrible. All I could do was work (from home) and sleep. No energy. Nothing. It was terrible. Definitely better after surgery (after the nausea subsided on day 5)

I am on day 4 of the two week pre-op liver shrinking diet (my surgery date is Dec 18th) and I feel like I have been hit by a train. I am sluggish and tired and starving (we are only allowed 3 Protein Shakes a day and then two sf jellos and two sf popsicles. I am taking all my supplements and drinking all my Water, but I have no energy.
Is this what is feels like post-surgery when I will also be eating this little in calories? If so this is horrible, I can barely function. I need some reassurance that this will get better post-surgery. Especially on the energy front. The hunger I could handle but I know many people say you aren't hungry anymore post surgery. The sluggishness is brutal though, I'm freaking out and worry I've made a terrible mistake.
Please reassure me that post-sleeve life is better then this.

It will get better promise!.
Hang in there the first days are the worse.
But its a stage. It will pass, just set ur timer and take everything planed on time.[emoji4]
You will feel weak, tired, stress, worried..ect
Entertain your mind with positive things. As for me i would go on youtube and look at all successful wls patients and i would get so happy and stronger to keep going.
You can do this!

I'm on day 5 of 8 pre-op liquids. It isn;t great. I'm tired and I'm sorta hungry, but not really. More like just not satisfied. Bone Broth is my savior! Something warm and savory in my tummy makes a HUGE difference. You got this, lady!!!

So I feel fantastic and I'm on day 7 of 14 of my liquid diet but I think I might be ingesting a few too many carbs.-.

Yeah, this post-op diet doesn't give me a whole lot of energy but I'm dealing. I am just really grumpy at everything. I'm (slowly) getting over a cold, so there's that too.

34 minutes ago, Myhorseisfattoo said:

I'm on day 5 of 8 pre-op liquids. It isn;t great. I'm tired and I'm sorta hungry, but not really. More like just not satisfied. Bone Broth is my savior! Something warm and savory in my tummy makes a HUGE difference. You got this, lady!!!

Bone Broth has a really weird taste to me. I hope maybe post-surgery I'll like it!

Also, hey guys. Did anyone else not lose a whole bunch of weight during the pre-op diet? I've been following it pretty well and the weight loss has been about 5 lbs (like, I had some honey for a few days to help soothe this sore throat/tickly cough I've been having for the last few days.) Granted, I AM short (5'1") and so the caloric deficit that I'm currently at isn't the worst in the world.

My pre-op diet was Protein shakes for breakfast and lunch, then a sensible meal for dinner. No sugars, low fat.

By day 3 or 4, I was big time into carb withdrawal. I felt just like you describe. I was sluggish, foggy brained, grumpy, and had a headache that would not quit. It only lasted a couple days, then I felt much better.

Hang in there. After surgery, it doesn't feel like such a hardship. In fact, the opposite was true for me. I had little or no appetite and had to stick to a feeding and fluid schedule.

PS: I lost less than 5 pounds in the pre-op diet. Some people really lose, but I sure didn't.

Edited December 8, 20187 yr by S@ssen@ch
grammar correction

Ive only lost 5lbs at a week of preop diet but i am also small (4'10")

What’s funny is that I followed the diet perfectly. I only had to do it for a week. I lost 10lbs. However, my liver was still fat ? I know it’s hard but you can do it!!! Try to become a hobbit and have no social life it makes it easier