I am 11 days post-op. I cannot tolerate Protein substitutes. I’ve tried everything and all of it makes me sick. Even Genepro... I can smell it, taste it, it gives me horrible gas & makes me nauseous.

I’ve only averaged around 30g of protein a day since surgery. Yesterday I had to get IV fluids for dehydration because the protein makes me so sick. I can drink Water just fine until I start trying to get my protein in. Staying hydrated needs to be my priority right now & the protein is affecting my ability to do that.

So what are the consequences of not getting enough protein at this point? I’m starting soft foods next week & I feel like it will be easier to get my protein from food as time goes on.

Other than the protein issue I’m starting to feel semi-normal again. Most of my pain has subsided & I feel like I have a lot of energy today.

6 hours ago, soccermom2 said:

Thank you for your recommendations. I’ve actually been using fair life milk & chocolate milk it just doesn’t seem like I can get to the number of Protein that I need since it’s a smaller amount of protein per serving.

As far as hair and muscle loss... is that something that will happen from just one month of not getting enough protein? Once I’m eating solids if I’m able to get enough protein then will I be good or will I have done a lot of damage?

I think you are over estimating your ability to eat enough protien. It will be a couple of months before you can fit 70-100 grams of protien in throughout the day. I am a month out and i still need a protien drink to make up for what I cant eat.

6 hours ago, soccermom2 said:

Thank you for your recommendations. I’ve actually been using fair life milk & chocolate milk it just doesn’t seem like I can get to the number of Protein that I need since it’s a smaller amount of protein per serving.

As far as hair and muscle loss... is that something that will happen from just one month of not getting enough protein? Once I’m eating solids if I’m able to get enough protein then will I be good or will I have done a lot of damage?

I think you are over estimating your ability to eat enough protien. It will be a couple of months before you can fit 70-100 grams of protien in throughout the day. I am a month out and i still need a protien drink to make up for what I cant eat.

Try protein water, I feel ya in the protein shake crap. I’m using the slim fast advanced shakes they have 20 g of protein and I also drink the protein water which is 15 g of protein plus your water at the same time. I’ve tried lots of them and the best so far is protein2o grape flavored is best

https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/bariatricpal-15g-protein-shots-pink-lemonade

I got 4 flavors of this in my bariatric pal box & I was hesitant but... I've had the pink lemonade & orange & they're actually really good. They can down the tiny bottle like a shot, but I dump it into a bottle of water & liked it.

I wasn't as bad off as you my first two weeks with the protein- it didn't make me sick but mentally the taste of most all of it was just gross. I enjoyed the premier protein shakes prior - first 2 weeks after I didn't really want to drink them. (Now that I'm farther out they're good again).

I also liked the premier protein clear drinks prior. I STILL don't want to drink those & now I've got 20 of them piled up in my pantry. Whomp.

Try Bob’s Red Mill Whey Protein (Amazon/Whole Foods)... you can mix it in water or tea or food (eventually)and it really has no extra test, tongue coating or gritty flavor. I’m preparing for my procedure and stocking up on options. I hope you find something that works for you.

I never drank a protein shake one. I tried many, but couldn't get past the smell. I drank fairlie milk and high protein yogurt starting the second week. I'm 4.5 months out and get enough protein from food. Good luck!

Just stopping by to recommend bone broth. Good luck!

I had an issue with nausea after a week and a half. It was awful. I couldn't get anything down. I took acid reducers and that helped a lot. Also, the problem I had, and you may have this as well, was smell. Your sense of smell is super hyped up, so smells can set you off easily. I drank peppermint tea. That really helped calm things down, and it's caffeine free. It can be strong, but it helps with the nausea. I use legion protein powder. it's a little expensive, but it's all natural. Most other protein powders use sucralose, and that can give you nausea as well. When I started out, all i could have was water, because everything else gave me issues because sucralose is in so much. Anyways, I would make a thinner protein shake with lactose free milk and half of a scoop, and it would still give me a good amount of protein. But, yeah, try the peppermint tea, and try to avoid sucralose if you can, and try to take antacids.

Getting your fluids is the biggest priority. Then protein. I boost mine up by adding unflavored protein powder to Greek yoghurt and soups. Once you start the soft/pureed stage, you should be able to add it and not even notice it, but go slowly so you don't get nausea. As far as hair loss, I believe it is related to the absolute starvation stage you are in now. Even those of us who got all our protein from the get go have hair loss. The hair follicles just shut down. Once the new hair starts growing, it pushes the old dead hair out. That's why the hair loss starts around 3-4 months - because by they you are getting enough nutrition to actually start growing hair again. When it happens, just think, "Out with the old, in with the new!"

Did you doctor give you a prescription for Zofran to help with nausea? Zofran won't stop nausea once it starts, but can prevent it is you take it 20 min BEFORE you try to eat.

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