Hi I am 3 days post op and I'm a bit confused on what times I should be eating/drinking shakes and soups. Will the soups and liquids digest out of our sleeve right away. How do I know if I'm drinking too much. Do we count shakes and soups as liquids? Is feeling bloated normal? ? or am I full? I feel so confused ? did anyone else have issues getting comfortable while trying to sleep.

I felt bloated. I didn't have any set times. The first 5 days it would take me all day to get my water down and protein shakes down. It gets better every day. I'm 7 weeks post op and now I can pretty much drink as much as I want.

Hi there, Jessica. Congratulations on having your surgery! Each surgeon has specific plans they want their patients to follow, but the 2nd stage (what you are on) seems to be pretty universal. All liquids is what you should be getting in. Soups (clear broth only at this stage), shakes, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, and juices are all counted as your daily fluid intake, so that helps a lot with getting in our fluids. I still have zero appetite, so I have to force myself to drink my shakes (still my most efficient way of getting in protein), and get my protein in. If you find you're forgetting to eat, just set some timers on your phone to remind you. Also, be sure to sip water or fluids all day a little at a time so you don't get dehydrated.

Due to not having any appetite, it took me a while to learn what full felt like in my stomach now. For me it's not that old pre-op feeling of fullness. It's now like a "ugh, ok I'm done" feeling. One sip I will feel fine. The next sip, "ugh ok, I'm done." It's so weird eating so little now, but awesome at the same time. You will eventually learn when you're body is telling you it's full. Just remember, we can only eat whatever we can eat. So, don't force anything down you feel is too much. And, of course, our surgeons and nutritionists are good friends of ours right now.

As for bloating, I felt bloated too for a good week or so after my surgery. Our bodies are still healing, and we still have gas trapped inside us from the surgery itself that adds to the bloating. Sleeping can be difficult too in the beginning. For me, the gas pain was so bad that sleeping was hard. I had to prop myself up if I was in bed, or just sit up in a recliner and recline just a little in order to get comfortable. It will get better, though, I promise! It just takes time for that gas to release (gas-X chewables are amazing for that), the stomach muscles that were cut to heal, and for our bodies to adjust to the new change in lifestyle.

Edit: Also wanted to add that for the first week I was only able to get down one 11oz Shake a day, and water. My nutritionist told me that was completely normal and to slowly work my way up. So don't stress yourself out if you can't get much down right now.

Edited July 30, 20214 yr by River Moon

I completely understand and felt bloated as well. Everyone moves at their own pace after surgery and no two cases are the same. My mom and I both had the surgery with very different experiences. Our doctors said take sips and until you recognize how your body feels. For my mom, it was a slow process with fluid intake and I was the opposite. Best advice...slow and easy. You know your body better than anyone else. Remember your body is recovering and learning something new along with your mind. It is not a sprint to your goal. It is a well paced marathon. You got this!

Thank you all for the responses! This has helped soo much! I will definitely take my time and adjust to such a huge incredible change in my life. I'm so excited for the future and I'm also so impatient normally I just need to slow down and take it all in and stay positive ?. Thank you all again.

I'm new to this so I'm not sure if I'm replying to all or not hahaa ??

I think a lot of that feeling of bloating is from the gas and inflammation ? I don’t miss that first week. You pretty much spend all day just alternating protein and water to get in your fluids. Day 6 was the worst for me. It took a lot of effort to get in liquids that day. Things improved afterwards.

i don’t think it’s possible to drink too much - even two months out, I really have to make an effort to get in 64oz minimum per day.

On 7/31/2021 at 5:39 PM, MistySkye said:

I think a lot of that feeling of bloating is from the gas and inflammation ? I don’t miss that first week. You pretty much spend all day just alternating Protein and Water to get in your fluids. Day 6 was the worst for me. It took a lot of effort to get in liquids that day. Things improved afterwards.

i don’t think it’s possible to drink too much - even two months out, I really have to make an effort to get in 64oz minimum per day.

Thank you for the response! I seriously thought I am going to drown in liquids lol