Pre-op Diet and Headache

[Jnfinney 513]

Hello all. I started my liquid diet yesterday and I felt pretty good as far as not being hungry (I craved regular food, but my stomach told me it was full of liquid). I drank almost a gallon of Water, had some Jello and a few popsicles, 12 oz fruit juice, and exceeded my Protein goal in Protein Shakes. However, toward the end of the day (early evening) I started getting a headache. I went to bed thinking that would help, but I woke up and my headache is even worse now. Is this normal? How long will it last? What can I do to help it? Thanks in advance!

[Recidivist 1,141]

Is it possible you are going through caffeine withdrawal? That happened to me for the first several days of the pre-surgery liquid diet, because I quit caffeine cold turkey!

[Jnfinney 513]

It’s possible, but I don’t always drink caffeine daily.

[WishMeSmaller 1,270]

It is not uncommon to have “flu-like” symptoms as your body goes into ketosis. This typically goes away around day 3-4. Hang in there!

[Creekimp13 5,838]

I'm surprised you're drinking fruit juice on your liquid diet. Unless it's the sugarfree kind. For my group, the whole point was to eliminate carbs to shrink our livers... and whole sugar fruit juice would sabotage that. That said, I realize all plans and doctors are different!

I genuinely hated my liquid diet and felt horrible all 14 miserable days. Headache, felt light headed, bad Keto breath, irritable. I used to time the one food item a day we were allowed to eat an hour before I had to drive, cause I felt really foggy and had a hard time concentrating....wanted every advantage to drive safe. MOST people do not have this experience, but some do. I hope you don't.

[newyorklady20 97]

4 hours ago, Jnfinney said:

Hello all. I started my liquid diet yesterday and I felt pretty good as far as not being hungry (I craved regular food, but my stomach told me it was full of liquid). I drank almost a gallon of Water, had some Jello and a few popsicles, 12 oz fruit juice, and exceeded my Protein goal in Protein Shakes. However, toward the end of the day (early evening) I started getting a headache. I went to bed thinking that would help, but I woke up and my headache is even worse now. Is this normal? How long will it last? What can I do to help it? Thanks in advance!

Ive had this happen when I do pressed juice cleanses in the past (I know, I know, they're bad) and I find that after day 1-2 I will have a headache, but then you actually hit a nice point of euphoria once your body starts working through it. They do go away - maybe some ibuprofen or something might work for now.

[Jnfinney 513]

@Creekimp13 Yeah I'm allowed to have regular fruit juice, popsicles, and jell-o. I generally choose sugar free jell-o and popsicles, but I think the fruit juice gives me a tiny boost that I need and I'm not normally a juice drinker. I am feeling really foggy and fatigued, but I'm only on day 2, so I have hopes it will get better.

@newyorklady20 I am super fatigued and my head is pounding! But knowing that it should go away is helpful. I feel like I've been run over by a truck and haven't slept in days... that is crazy considering I've been on liquids 1.5 days! I am looking forward to some "euphoria" feelings haha. Also, I am not allowed to take ibuprofen anymore per my surgeon's orders - no ibuprofen 2 weeks before surgery.

[Lahela 82]

On 3/2/2021 at 10:45 AM, Jnfinney said:

@Creekimp13 Yeah I'm allowed to have regular fruit juice, popsicles, and jell-o. I generally choose sugar free jell-o and popsicles, but I think the fruit juice gives me a tiny boost that I need and I'm not normally a juice drinker. I am feeling really foggy and fatigued, but I'm only on day 2, so I have hopes it will get better.

@newyorklady20 I am super fatigued and my head is pounding! But knowing that it should go away is helpful. I feel like I've been run over by a truck and haven't slept in days... that is crazy considering I've been on liquids 1.5 days! I am looking forward to some "euphoria" feelings haha. Also, I am not allowed to take ibuprofen anymore per my surgeon's orders - no ibuprofen 2 weeks before surgery.

@jnfinney how are you feeling now? Any better? I keep getting dizzy and headaches but they come and go. My doctor has me on an 800 cal diet and allows 2 Protein Shakes in the day, a cup of fruits or vegetables in the day and the 3oz chicken, 1 serving of a whole grain and 1 cup of vegetables for dinner.

[Jnfinney 513]

@Lahela my headache has gone, and I have a little bit of head hunger. However, that’s the least of my worries. I definitely thought fighting off head hunger would be the worst, but I am so exhausted. I really can’t remember the last time I was this tired. All I want to do is sleep. I’m starting to struggle with Protein Drinks - I get nauseous drinking them, probably because I’m so sick of them. My surgery is a week from Monday and I lost 5 pounds since this past Monday. I hope everything gets better for you as well!