Am I Doing This Right?

[sher0929 17]

Sooo I'm 3 days post op and still struggling with determining when I'm full or not. Every time I swallow a sip of anything, I feel tightness just below my sternum. In between trying to drink my Protein supplements my stomach growls as if I am hungry (the feeling of hunger pre op). I know I have to learn to recognize the new full feeling, but it seems like I can't settle into a routine of how much to eat (or drink, I'm still full liquid), when to stop, or if I'm feeling hungry. There have been a few times where I took a sip to take meds and I immediately begin heaving but never actually throw up. That in itself is scary too because I'm worried about my incisions splitting or something. Any advice for a fresh sleever??

Thanks!

Sherry

Sherry

[GreenTealael 25,610]

Hi!

Try much smaller sips to see if that helps or varying temps in liquids. But because your surgery is so new time will likely help the most.

Gauge liquid and eventually food amounts according to the schedule/instructions you may have been given ( e.g. 15ml every 15 mins, 1 oz every 30 mins, 1/8 cup in 30 mins, max etc) if you aren't certain about hunger and fullness. Stop when you feel tightness because it just may be your indicator of being filled.

As always contact your team for more instructions even if you feel like your bugging them, it's ok to get clarity when you need it most.

Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS 💜

[med28thmed 118]

Hi Sher,

Congratulations friend! This is going to be an exciting journey for you.

Yes, lots of learning and identifying what your stomach is telling you. My first month was trial and error pretty much for me. I threw up about 5x on my first month, I still do 😞 but not as much anymore. I learned to eat slower... very slowly. Sip. Sip. Sip in small quatities. Try hot broth, I add ginger and garlic to mine for extra flavor.

[Jobber 321]

3 hours ago, sher0929 said:

Sooo I'm 3 days post op and still struggling with determining when I'm full or not. Every time I swallow a sip of anything, I feel tightness just below my sternum. In between trying to drink my Protein supplements my stomach growls as if I am hungry (the feeling of hunger pre op). I know I have to learn to recognize the new full feeling, but it seems like I can't settle into a routine of how much to eat (or drink, I'm still full liquid), when to stop, or if I'm feeling hungry. There have been a few times where I took a sip to take meds and I immediately begin heaving but never actually throw up. That in itself is scary too because I'm worried about my incisions splitting or something. Any advice for a fresh sleever??

Thanks!

Sherry

Sherry

Go very slow the first couple weeks. You'll know soon enough. One bite too many will be slightly painful, so go slow and look for signals. For some it's a little burp, some its a tightness, ever increasing, some it's pain. You'll be fine.

Good luck to you

[sher0929 17]

Thank you all so much for your advice! I think my sips are definitely too large and I'm trying to consume too much at once. I actually just got a check in call from the nurse and she said that having a bowel movement may help relieve some pressure as well. Which I haven't had since the day before surgery. So Miralax it is! (sorry if it's tmi but we all gotta deal with it, right?)

[FluffyChix 17,418]

You need to "go". So start the plan to fix that pretty immediately. LOL. Seriously. Don't wait.

You won't feel "fullness" for a while--maybe weeks to months before your sleeve can really be trusted to talk to your brain with good information.

Right now, it's way too soon for it, so like Greentea said, it's important to follow instructions for your precise point of healing. If they say: 1oz per hour, you do 1 oz per hour. Right?

Varying liquids helped a lot. Also, if Protein Drinks are too thick, thin them down with Fairlife milk, decaff coffee, decaff tea. .See which temperature works best for you. I needed warm liquids and lukewarm temps for my fluids. Hot ones hurt and cold ones made me not be able to drink as much.

Try ice chips, popsicles, etc if you need help getting liquid down. It will trickle better.

Congrats on surgery and being on the losers' bench!