Need Positive Encouragement

[Sweet160 4]

Hi All,

I'm newish to the forum and have enjoyed reading through the threads. The one thread that asked about would you do it again, really helped me. Just about everyone said they would do it sooner. I hope I get to this point.

I had my gastric sleeve on Jan 23. I freaked out a little in the hospital because I tried to turn on to my side to sleep and my stomach muscles went into spasms and I could not breathe. It was awful and scary and it happened a few more times while I was there.

I came home yesterday and continued with the clear liquid diet. Felt just awful. It's hard to sleep, I have sooooooo much painful gas gurgling around in my stomach. I just have a general feeling of unease.

Today is better, but standing and moving is very hard. My blood pressure drops and I get close to passing out every time. My heart beats funny and I'm scared. Another problem I'm having is trying to drink the Protein Shakes. I just can't. I gag and gag. I've tried different flavors and brands. Luckily, my doctor said i could drink the shakes with skim milk, so I've been drinking just the milk (mootopia) without the Protein Powder. That's going to make it difficult to get my 80 grams Protein in, but I just don't know what else to do.

I don't mean to sound so negative, but I'm cranky, and want some normalcy in my life. I've been suffering through pre-op and post-op diets and then the day before surgery diet. At one point I had only had 200 calories within a 3 day span.

No matter how "ready" you are for your new life style, this is drastic and not good for anyone.

Sometimes when I read these threads I get the impression that everyone feels great after the surgery with just a few issues here and there. I don't feel great at all. I don't like taking my pills, I want to eat something that isn't diet flavored, I'm tired of getting up and getting dizzy and scared that I'm having a heart attack, I'm sick of the bloating and gas. I'm just a miserable pile of mush.

I do understand that I'm only two days out from surgery and things will get better, but I need to know, has anyone else felt extremely yucky after the surgery? And what am I going to do about those protein shakes?? I just can't...

Oh, one more thing. My doctor only gave me Tylenol with Codeine for pain. Is this about right? Should I still be taking it? Nothing hurts until I start moving around. Anyway, I'm rambling...so sorry.

Thanks for any replies!

[Walter.Sobchak 978]

You have just had major life altering surgery, of course you are going to feel like S**t

Have you tried Quest Protein? That is my personal favorite, you can get it on Amazon for sure not sure where else. As far as normalcy goes, you wont have that in your life for a while so you need to buckle up for the long haul. I would say probably by about the 3rd or 4th week. You have to remind yourself why you had the surgery in the first place, stay focused on that.

[Sweet160 4]

1 minute ago, Walter.Sobchak said:

You have just had major life altering surgery, of course you are going to feel like S**t

Have you tried Quest Protein? That is my personal favorite, you can get it on Amazon for sure not sure where else. As far as normalcy goes, you wont have that in your life for a while so you need to buckle up for the long haul. I would say probably by about the 3rd or 4th week. You have to remind yourself why you had the surgery in the first place, stay focused on that.

What flavor do you like with the Quest Protein. I'm desperate to find something I can stomach...and I liked your buckle up metaphor.

[Walter.Sobchak 978]

No worries, you have to stay focused on the positives and remember why you chose the surgery you did. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, this too shall pass. This pain and discomfort you are in is only temporary. As far as the Protein, my favorite is the Peanut Butter. I have also tried the chocolate shake and the strawberries and cream. Peanut Butter is the best, then chocolate and then strawberry. I make mine with almond milk and it is really good, they also mix really easily and you can make them in a Blender Bottle.

[elcee 3,343]

I think those feelings of unease are quite common after major surgery. I had a major drop in BP after my surgery and was convinced it was lights out for me. I was very happy to wake up in ICU a couple of hours later. The next day I was given more blood and couldnt control the feeling of dread whilst that was happening. Move forward a couple of days and I then had breathing issues. It sounded like I was hiding a mouse under my pillow. Again it was hard to control the feeling of fear and dread and doom. All these things are normal after major surgery. The GA and the procedure combined with the VLCD play havoc with your emotions. We tend to second guess what we have done especially as it was an elective surgery.

But like most things this will pass. Make sure you are getting in your fluids. Take your Vitamins. Take your prescribed meds. And if you have any real concerns call your medical team.

Now if only I could shake this pesky light headed feeling.............

[notmyname 593]

Totally normal. And if you're relying a lot on milk for Protein - have you tried fairlife? It has 13g protein per cup vs. regular that only has 8.3g.

In case you haven't tried them, I also like the Syntrax Nectar protein powders. They have lots of flavors (my favorite are the lemonade and fuzzy navel). They have a sample pack you can buy.

Good luck. And if you're still having drops in blood pressure and heart palpitations, it may be worth a call to your surgeon.

[GradyCat 3,697]

It gets better each day, it really does, you just have to trust the process and keep the faith that you made the right decision. I'm six weeks post-op and I got lucky and had zero pain or problems and am liking the Protein Drinks, but every single person responds differently. It all works out within the first three weeks and then you feel sort of normal when you start on soft foods, then transition to regular foods. It's a marathon, not a spring. It's going to take time. You've got this, you can do it! 😃 I like the premade Protein Shakes better than the powder ones, so I buy GNC Lean shakes in chocolate that have 25 g of Protein per shake. There's also clear protein shakes by Premiere Protein that you can get at Sam's Club. I also drank a lot of different liquids to keep things interesting including Gatorade Zero, diet peach tea, regular diet brewed black tea, sugar-free popsicles, and sugar-free pudding during the Liquids stage.

[ldawn 178]

I’m not sure if I read it here or on another site. One lady would drink “double milk.” She would add milk powder to her skim milk to get extra Protein. Maybe that would be an option?

[Sweet160 4]

1 hour ago, notmyname said:

Totally normal. And if you're relying a lot on milk for Protein - have you tried fairlife? It has 13g Protein per cup vs. regular that only has 8.3g.

In case you haven't tried them, I also like the Syntrax Nectar protein powders. They have lots of flavors (my favorite are the lemonade and fuzzy navel). They have a sample pack you can buy.

Good luck. And if you're still having drops in blood pressure and heart palpitations, it may be worth a call to your surgeon.

On your advice I'm trying out the Syntrax Nectar. Just ordered the sample pack. Thank you so much for the support!

[kygirl68 58]

I'm not crazy about the Protein Shakes myself, they all seem to leave an aftertaste however I came across a "recipe" on Pinterest for a Butterfinger Protein Shake that is delicious! I use one vanilla Premier Protein shake, one tbsp. sugar free butterscotch pudding mix, and one tbsp. PB fit Peanut Butter powder...mix together real good and allow to chill so the pudding sets up a bit...DELICIOUS!!!

[rs 1,473]

The first week was so was excruciatingly hard for me too. Hang in there. Try Fairlife Core Power Protein Shakes. You've got this!