Ladies: Anyone have a menstrual cycle within a week of post-op?

[RachaelEM 1]

Hello!

I had my surgery on 6/11. I'm not going to lie, so far I'm really regretting getting this surgery...

My pain is fine. Walking fine. It's when I swallow anything is the problem.

I have a lot of gas/bubbles in my whole esophagus that I can feel down to my stomach. EVERY time I sip something. And sometimes the pressure really bothers me. The pressure gets so strong like I need to burp and sometimes I do or it goes away slowly. The pressure ends up in my upper esophagus/throat area.

I haven't been able to get in hardly any Protein. I'm still trying to concentrate on getting fluids in...

Last night/early this morning, I felt I found something that really helped me with Fluid intake! I tried drinking fluids with a straw and I'm not nearly getting as much gas/pressure drinking with one. huzzah!

Well, with that little victory my menstrual cycle decided to make its way to me, middle of the night mind you... and yes, this was expected as I'm taking birth control pills. Woke up very early this morning with bad cramping but that's kind of normal for me.

Well after my successful fluid intake with a straw from this morning, I decided to heat up some broth for lunch. Mind you, this broth I had last night and thought it was delicious. I took two sips and my pouch/stomach didn't like it at all. My stomach started gurgling and there was even a small pain. Nothing major, but I could tell my stomach felt "sick" drinking that. Now ever since then, my stomach has been upset feeling and I have a nausea pressure in my throat. Thing is, I'm pretty sure this is because of my stupid period that this is all happening.

Did anyone have any similar experience to me? When you get your period, do you get similar symptoms?

Also... for menstrual cramps... did anyone by chance drink Pickle Juice so soon from surgery for cramps? Want to try it if I have a cramp attack again.

I've ordered some Protein Drink fruit mixes from the BariatricPal Store to see if I can handle them to get my protein in...

[Repeatingthoughts 77]

Hey there. i am sorry you having a tough time. i felt that way with my first surgery. Please remember that we are discouraged to use a straw. please reach out to your surgeon for support and guidance. Feel better soon!!!

[ms.sss 14,782]

Period: I got mine about 2 weeks or so after surgery. It was the first one I had in months. And it was like a deluge, and lasted for over a week (which is really long for me as when I was regular pre-op, it used to only last 3-4 days, and very light, at that). I did have cramps (which I don't normally get), and I took a Midol or two. I think it helped. P.S. since surgery, I have been period-ing like clockwork, every 4 weeks almost to the day, lasting 3-4 days.

Pressure in chest: This may or may not be associated with your period. It may just be a normal result of the surgery. I still get pressure in my chest, but I've learned (for me) that it is my new sign of fullness, as I don't feel the same stomach-area fullness anymore. It also means (for me) that I may have eaten too fast. Are you taking an acid reducer?

Straws: My surgeon also said to refrain from straws. The reason being that one will end up sucking up a bit of air that is in the straw before the actual liquid. Nursing over a drink, doing this over and over again, results in a large amount of accumulated, sucked up air (which is not your friend). Like you, I also found drinking with a straw much easier, soooooo....I made sure that my straw was always as submerged in the liquid as possible to reduce the amount of air that is initially in the straw before sipping. Sometimes this meant continually re-filling my glass so the liquid level was way up there. Worked for me. Oh, and I also used sport-water bottles with spouts. Made sure to tip it up before I took a sip (again to reduce the amount of air sucked in).

With all that said, do have a chat with your team to get some professional guidance. Especially about the chest/esophagus/nausea thing.

Good Luck!

Edited June 18, 2020 by ms.sss

[rjan 163]

I didn't have my period until 3 weeks after surgery. I used to have bad cramps/heavy bleeding when I was young, but that has tapered off as I've gotten older.

However, I definitely had that same pain and pressure you describe right after surgery, that sort of feels like you have to burp when you swallow anything. That has mostly gone away now that I'm 3 months post-op, although if I swallow a lot of air and actually have to burp, I still feel a similar pain. But that only happens sometimes.

I know you're miserable right now, and it's very, very normal to regret the surgery in the first month while you're still recovering. But that gets a lot better pretty quickly for the vast majority of people. You know those little ~1 inch incisions you can see on your tummy? You've got a fricking 12 inch incision on your stomach that you can't see! So your whole stomach is super swollen and can only hold about 1/4 cup right now. Anything you swallow is only going to trickle slowly into your stomach. Most likely the straw is helping because it's helping you drink only a very small amount at a time so it doesn't put so much pressure on your poor stomach.

Most of the swelling will go away in a month. You'll be able to take larger sips at one time, and it will barely hurt at all. And you'll be able to reach your Protein and fluid goals pretty easily. It will get better!!!

[NovaLuna 710]

I got my period 2 days after surgery... I was still in the hospital that the time. And I noticed the cramping is worse since my surgery and they were never pleasant to begin with. Also, yes there have been some oddities with my cycle post op and my stomach is more sensitive around that time, so I'm more careful with what foods I eat when that time of the month hits. As an example: I have to avoid salads and nuts around that time. My stomach protests me eating either around that time.

Oh, and as a note: my surgery involves a sleeved stomach.

Edited June 18, 2020 by NovaLuna

[havethree 14]

I had mine the day after surgery - and it was at least a week early. I'm guessing it had to do with the 2 week all liquid diet (I lost 11 lbs), and then just the stress of surgery? or it was just a fluke. We will see what next month brings.

[CindyGH 1]

I got mine 2 weeks after surgery - but I hadn't had one for 18 months!! I was a little shocked.

[angryspice 31]

I got mine 6 days after surgery which was odd because my previous period was only 12 days before surgery, so an 18-day cycle. I have pcos though. and I have heard that my cycle will stabilize once my weight goes down to a more normal bmi range. the thing is that I hadn't really eaten anything by day 6 except one Jello on day 6 and was only consuming Protein Water and Bone Broth up until that point. I didn't have any noticeable pms symptoms, and I was extremely pms-y pre-surgery. I'm talking about bloating, cramps, fatigue, acne, food cravings, Migraines, etc..... usually some or all of these symptoms on any given cycle pre-surgery.

Edited June 24, 2020 by angryspice

[Aurelia 2]

Mine came 2 days after surgery. Fun times.

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,898]

My surgeon and nutritionist stressed the importance of just getting in liquids post op for the first couple weeks.

I ended up getting my period around a week after surgery. Now that I’m back on birth control it’s not as bad but I had horrible periods before birth control.