Hello all, My wife is 4 days post op and has been having sharp cramping with most every sip she takes and sometimes randomly when she is walking. She says it is above her belly button just left (near the bottom of where the actual stomach would be). She managed 40oz of liquids with 57grams of protein yesterday, but is hating it today.

She called her surgeon’s office and they said that it could be a few things and that as long as she wasn’t vomiting, running a fever, rapid heart rate, or any of the other signs of a leak, then it is nothing to be worried about and part of the healing.

She also had a hiatal hernia repair.

I’m worried about her and was wondering if anyone else dealt with this post op with the sleeve.

Edited October 28, 20214 yr by Fross

1 hour ago, Fross said:

Hello all, My wife is 4 days post op and has been having sharp cramping with most every sip she takes and sometimes randomly when she is walking. She says it is above her belly button just left (near the bottom of where the actual stomach would be). She managed 40oz of liquids with 57grams of Protein yesterday, but is hating it today.

She called her surgeon’s office and they said that it could be a few things and that as long as she wasn’t vomiting, running a fever, rapid heart rate, or any of the other signs of a leak, then it is nothing to be worried about and part of the healing.

She also had a hiatal hernia repair.

I’m worried about her and was wondering if anyone else dealt with this post op with the sleeve.

Really pretty standard to have some discomfort this close to the surgery. The important thing is to get water in as much as possible by sipping slowly and near constantly. Every day will get better and by the second week the improvement will be very drastic. Hang in there, it gets much better.

I found that cold water caused the worse cramping for me. I needed hot or warm. 40 oz & 50 of protein sounds good. Just little sips all day do add up. I found it got easier as the days passed. Good luck

I had bypass with hiatal hernia repair. That same spot hurt for the longest time. The doc said that’s where they moved around so much to correct the hernia and muscle is cut there. I had terrible cramping too. It’s normal and will eventually go away. Like others said, keep up the water. I still like LF warm chicken bone broth for something soothing and liquid.

Sorry your wife is struggling but she has had pretty major abdominal surgery. Pain, discomfort, spasming, swelling, bruising, etc. is to be expected. If it gets worse or she has any of the symptoms the surgeon’s office identified (vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, etc.) go to the hospital ASAP. She should find it improves a little every day.

I found warm liquids much more soothing than cool/cold too. A warm compress will help too. And ensure she is sipping slowly.

Hope she feels better soon.

Thanks all, just looking for some peace, I can’t stand to see her hurting, but you are right, she is doing a little better each day. She is really missing eating right now. Told me this morning that she would kill for an omelet, lol.

Glad to hear she is doing a little better each day. She is lucky to have your supporting her. Head hunger is a VERY REAL thing and even though most of us lose the actual hunger immediately post surgery the head hunger remains. Usually one can tell the difference because real hunger you want to eat anything (even fruit and veggies sound delicious) while head hunger you crave something specific (usually things you shouldn’t have). If the head hunger remains and is a problematic many of us benefit from talking to a bariatric therapist. I eat when I am board and emotional eat and am trying to find a therapist to help with this. I am still losing weight and working the program but worry if I don’t get the head hunger under control I will gain it back at the first real stressful circumstance. I hope this helps.

Warm herbal tea helped me a lot when I was having trouble getting down water (you can add a little splenda or something if you like it sweet)...avoid green/black/white tea at this stage because of the caffeine, but things like peppermint, chamomile, ginger, etc can be very soothing. Be careful with fruity herbal teas, though: some of them have a lot of acid in them from the fruit pieces and those were sort of irritating to my stomach personally (I've had a lot of problems with acid reflux, though.)

7 hours ago, pintsizedmallrat said:

...avoid green/black/white tea at this stage because of the caffeine…

I was allowed green tea because it has low caffeine content - less than a quarter of the caffeine in coffee & about half as in black tea. Watch matcha though as it has a higher caffeine content than black tea. There is decaffeinated green tea available too. Check with your surgeon to see what you are allowed.

On 10/29/2021 at 9:47 AM, ShoppGirl said:

Glad to hear she is doing a little better each day. She is lucky to have your supporting her. Head hunger is a VERY REAL thing and even though most of us lose the actual hunger immediately post surgery the head hunger remains. Usually one can tell the difference because real hunger you want to eat anything (even fruit and veggies sound delicious) while head hunger you crave something specific (usually things you shouldn’t have). If the head hunger remains and is a problematic many of us benefit from talking to a bariatric therapist. I eat when I am board and emotional eat and am trying to find a therapist to help with this. I am still losing weight and working the program but worry if I don’t get the head hunger under control I will gain it back at the first real stressful circumstance. I hope this helps.

Pre-op I definitely had an issue with differentiation between head hunger and true hunger. The first day my body most certainly was not hungry; every sip felt like a stabbing pain. Head hunger hit the first day and that’s helped tremendously to keep identifying the differences. I feel my surgery has helped me truly feel the difference between the two. Now when I want something I stop and ask myself does my stomach want this ; if it says nothing I know it’s head hunger. Emotional eating I have seen is almost unconscious. I get upset and if I have something in front of me I just reach out and put in my mouth. Thank god I have to slowly swallow now to avoid pain as it’s given me the time to identify what I am doing and spit it out.

soo saying all that I believe I can safely assume her craving for an omelet is head hunger. If her stomach. Hurts that much, it probably doesn’t want an omelet.

glad she is feeling better.

On 10/30/2021 at 10:17 PM, Arabesque said:

I was allowed green tea because it has low caffeine content - less than a quarter of the caffeine in coffee & about half as in black tea. Watch matcha though as it has a higher caffeine content than black tea. There is decaffeinated green tea available too. Check with your surgeon to see what you are allowed.

I always forget when making statements on here like that how very different every surgeon's rules are. Mine have me on zero caffeine for six months, but I know I've seen people on here who were served regular coffee in the hospital so I'm sorry if I made a "definite" statement that was inappropriate. I'm still new here so I hope you won't hold it against me.

Thanks all, just looking for some peace, I can’t stand to see her hurting, but you are right, she is doing a little better each day. She is really missing eating right now. Told me this morning that she would kill for an omelet, lol.

Today I am 4 days post sleeve and am going through the same thing. How is your wife going now? Can anyone else who has had a similar experience share when this issue resolved for you?

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17 hours ago, louloulemonsquid said:

Today I am 4 days post sleeve and am going through the same thing. How is your wife going now? Can anyone else who has had a similar experience share when this issue resolved for you?

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@Fross this is why I love this forum as I was ready to post the topic boom ? I ran into this thread. 1st of all I am happy your wife is doing better, and omg ? I started having this symptoms today sipping and crippling cramping. I did vomit but it was because I felt pressure in my abdomen area and that really helped. Likewise I spoke to my dr and he stated to be on clear liquids and sip slowly. This give me hope thank you for sharing

On 10/29/2021 at 9:47 AM, ShoppGirl said:

Glad to hear she is doing a little better each day. She is lucky to have your supporting her. Head hunger is a VERY REAL thing and even though most of us lose the actual hunger immediately post surgery the head hunger remains. Usually one can tell the difference because real hunger you want to eat anything (even fruit and veggies sound delicious) while head hunger you crave something specific (usually things you shouldn’t have). If the head hunger remains and is a problematic many of us benefit from talking to a bariatric therapist. I eat when I am board and emotional eat and am trying to find a therapist to help with this. I am still losing weight and working the program but worry if I don’t get the head hunger under control I will gain it back at the first real stressful circumstance. I hope this helps.

@ShoppGirl I found Overeaters Anonymous helps me a lot with the same issues you mentioned above.

On 11/8/2021 at 4:47 AM, louloulemonsquid said:

Today I am 4 days post sleeve and am going through the same thing. How is your wife going now? Can anyone else who has had a similar experience share when this issue resolved for you?

Sent from my SM-G985F using BariatricPal mobile app

I can officially say that she is BETTER! The cramping faded slowly, as did the radiating shoulder pain. She is now 2 weeks post op and already on soft foods (per her surgeon’s rules). She had a breakfast burrito this morning and is stoked to be eating “real food” again. I am meal prepping for her and myself and she is already down 22lbs. She feels great, we went on a short trip on Sat and she put in 15,000 steps. She is killing it!

I will say, she still gets pain if she eats too fast, she forgets and is quickly reminded to SLOW DOWN! She is learning why it feels like to be full. We think it is crazy that she is able to eat so well now… we weigh everything and all of her meals are 4oz total and she does not drink anything 3.0 mins before or after meals. Low fat, no sugar and she is doing awesome. She is able to get down 60-80grams of protein and 4-5 bottles of water (with GENEPRO protein powder in 2 or 3) with no issues. God is good!

Thanks all for the kind words.

Edited November 9, 20214 yr by Fross

I have a question - on the subject of taking small sips and eating slow and smaller bites - I was told to get a kids soppy cup and use a baby spoon to control portion size. Has anyone done this and if so does it help?