Hey all. I have a confession- I am 8 days post op and on the liquid diet. Yesterday and today my family had pepperoni pizza and I took a pepperoni off, chewed it up, then spit it in the trash. It’s like I just wanted the taste. Today I chewed up half a chicken nugget to get the taste or chicken then I spit it out.

has anyone done this? I need to stop, I know. I am looking forward to the puree stage so I can have variety of tastes

My Doc warned specifically not to do this. Once it's in your mouth, it's easy to accidentally swallow then you've created a problem which is no fun to get resolved, unless of course you enjoy a getting a scope down your throat after a ton of pain and wretching a fresh surgery.

I'm also not sure that you should be chewing such greasy foods at all. When you hit the puree stage, eating will be tough enough without adding grease.

OK, I'm not big on telling early post ops how to not follow their plan, but as you seem intent on doing it:

Puree the damn things. That way, if you screw up you won't kill yourself. You can still taste and spit, or whatever.

But, really, focus on following your plan.

Good luck,

Tek

Hey all. I have a confession- I am 8 days post op and on the liquid diet. Yesterday and today my family had pepperoni pizza and I took a pepperoni off, chewed it up, then spit it in the trash. It’s like I just wanted the taste. Today I chewed up half a chicken nugget to get the taste or chicken then I spit it out.

has anyone done this? I need to stop, I know. I am looking forward to the puree stage so I can have variety of tastes

I did that and it helped me through the liquid and pureed stage. I did it very infrequently though because I wanted to embrace early post op and not get used to the flavorful unhealthy foods again.Those liquid and pureed stages were rough for me, as I still cooked meals for my family, so I get it. I say as long as you're careful about it not slipping into the back of your throat and u don't do it very often, do what u need to do to get through. The stages feel like forever when you're in em but time passes and ull be just fine!

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Oh gee. My doctor did not warn against it. I will try not best to refrain from it because things have went so well thus far and I don’t want to ruin anything!!! Purée food is only 6 days away so I will try to hold on.

I did it at the beginning with beef jerky. I was so tired of sweet stuff and just wanted something different. I chewed it really well, made sure not to swallow any, and spit it out when I ran out of flavor.

Watching others eat in the first weeks out can be challenging & very tempting.

You may be craving salt - from habit or need. Try dipping a finger in a little salt & having a taste & see if that helps. If you haven’t yet, try chicken or beef broth as alternatives to protein shakes for a ‘meaty’ taste. Or sip on some warm/hot chicken or beef stock.

I'm 14 days post-op and last night I opened a can of beans to puree them. I feel normal now so without thinking I popped a bean in my mouth, chewed it, and swallowed, without thinking. I almost freaked out but calmed down. I have to start paying attention to what I'm doing.

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On 10/21/2020 at 4:12 AM, NetNet254 said:

I'm 14 days post-op and last night I opened a can of Beans to puree them. I feel normal now so without thinking I popped a bean in my mouth, chewed it, and swallowed, without thinking. I almost freaked out but calmed down. I have to start paying attention to what I'm doing.

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I did that too shortly after surgery!! I don't remember how far out I was or what it even was that I ate, but I was doing my "chew and spit" thing and by habit I swallowed it. I was scared for just a second and then I was like " well...I seem to be okay. It isn't hurting or anything...let's just not do that again". Lol.

On 10/17/2020 at 12:10 AM, Lovely2020 said:

Hey all. I have a confession- I am 8 days post op and on the liquid diet. Yesterday and today my family had pepperoni pizza and I took a pepperoni off, chewed it up, then spit it in the trash. It’s like I just wanted the taste. Today I chewed up half a chicken nugget to get the taste or chicken then I spit it out.

has anyone done this? I need to stop, I know. I am looking forward to the puree stage so I can have variety of tastes

I have done this more than 4 times now...i am 11 days post op

I am sure this is not good practice in the immediate days post op when the stomach is healing most. However, I am almost three weeks post op now. I still do it and find it helpful. I will lick a Taki or chew a pepperoni and spit it out. It actually helps with the in the moment cravings and I don’t even consume it

My mom had her gastric sleeve in 2015; the recovery process for her was different than mine at the moment. She was on liquids for a whole month before starting purée foods. She was doing the same as you - chewing the food for the taste and spitting it out. I’m only three days post-op and I want nothing more than to eat a piece of chicken. I nearly considered chewing on a piece for the flavor and spitting it out. Since I start purée food next week, I’ll wait til then to do it. Best of luck!

One thing to bear in mind about chewing food and spitting out is the the stomach starts to prepare for digesting foods, stomach acid is stimulated. The stomach acid doesn't have anything to digest and the excess stomach acid may cause acid reflux or an ulcer.

Obviously once or twice isn't going to do do much, if any, damage, but ongoing chewing and spitting may.