Struggling with eating and water intake

[Angelica Pena 6]

Hey everyone! So I am 1 week and 2 days post-op, time feels so slow and it feels like I had the surgery forever ago! This week I am in my full liquids stage and I've been having a hard time ingesting cream Soups, broths, and cream of wheat. I don't eat much and let most of what I pick up with the spoon fall off and I just eat/sip what's leftover on the spoon. My stomach hurts fast and I get pains in my chest and lots of gas while trying to eat. Is this normal? It has been so hard for me to take in my 50-64 fl oz because of the same reason. Please give me advice and tell me im not crazy!

[Sunnyway 344]

Tiny, tiny sips of everything. Pause between. If something isn't agreeable yet, back off and return to the prior step, then try again in a few days.

I find Water is more palatable if I add flavoring, such as sachets of sugar-free Crush, Hawaiian Punch, Wylers, Snapple, etc. You can use an electrolyte drink like Gatorade Zero or Propel instead of water. Again, stick to tiny sips until you can comfortably take bigger sips. Do the best you can and keep trying. If you can get at least 32 oz, you can build on that. If getting less, talk to your dietitian or surgeon's office.

[ShoppGirl 3,424]

One thing I didn’t know and wish I had is that you can go and get fluids as an out patient. You don’t have to go back into the hospital to get them. Try your best, tiny sips and try different flavors and various temperatures of drinks but if you start to see signs of dehydration contact your team and they should be able to arrange for you to get fluids. It’s not the end of the world. I was SOoooooo anxious about not getting enough fluids in because I was worried about having to go back into the hospital. I had to go a couple days out just to get me over the hump but each day I could drink a little more so after that one time I was good to go.

Edited December 17, 2021 by ShoppGirl

[Arabesque 6,565]

The cream Soups & cream of wheat may be a little too heavy for your tummy at the moment - we all had different things we could or couldn’t tolerate at each stage. I agree with @ShoppGirl: don't be afraid to go back to clear fluids stage for a few days. We all heal & recover at different times & there’s nothing wrong with going back a step or taking longer to move to the next stage.

My surgeon was ok if I didn’t meet my daily Protein & fluid goals at first as long as I was actively working towards them. Remember all liquids count towards your Fluid goal - broth, Soup, shakes, etc. Try room temp Water or herbal or green tea. I found warm drinks much easy to drink & more soothing. I even heated some of my shakes.

All the best.

[lizonaplane 1,605]

Congratulations on your surgery!

What you are experiencing is normal, but it's still unpleasant.

Try different temperatures of Water (I had to keep mine super cold), flavor packets, hot decaf/herbal tea or coffee, broth from different Soups, etc.

Also, I found I drank more when I kept a bottle of water in my hand or right next to me.

Good luck!

[csrouse 16]

Hi there. My sleeve was Dec 9th, and I find myself having lots of issues with cold things. Just seem to stop in the middle of my chest. Room temp works, but warm broth or herbal tea works best for me. Still working up to my 64 ounces, but hitting Protein goals for last 4 days. Slow and steady. We got this.

[Angelica Pena 6]

Thank you everyone for the great advice! I’ve been reading them as they’ve been posting and I definitely started to progress from figuring out when to slow down and been more mindful of taking steady sips instead of rushing out of thirst😭 I haven’t been feeling too much pain now. I think i do get a bit of acid reflux when I do ingest too quickly but im only learning more from here. Thank u all!

[Angelica Pena 6]

On 12/17/2021 at 20:21, csrouse said:

Hi there. My sleeve was Dec 9th, and I find myself having lots of issues with cold things. Just seem to stop in the middle of my chest. Room temp works, but warm broth or herbal tea works best for me. Still working up to my 64 ounces, but hitting Protein goals for last 4 days. Slow and steady. We got this.

Hey! I would love to connect since our process is very close in timing… I been trying to find someone to share my experiences with and not feel like im doing everything wrong loll. We could even share pics and recipes as the process continues!

[Angelina1210 49]

On 12/16/2021 at 7:13 PM, Sunnyway said:

Tiny, tiny sips of everything. Pause between. If something isn't agreeable yet, back off and return to the prior step, then try again in a few days.

I find Water is more palatable if I add flavoring, such as sachets of sugar-free Crush, Hawaiian Punch, Wylers, Snapple, etc. You can use an electrolyte drink like Gatorade Zero or Propel instead of Water. Again, stick to tiny sips until you can comfortably take bigger sips. Do the best you can and keep trying. If you can get at least 32 oz, you can build on that. If getting less, talk to your dietitian or surgeon's office.

Thank you for that feedback. I think we subconsciously take bigger sips than we can tolerate right now. I actually love water and since surgery, I crave it.

[Mimi0705 0]

Hi Angelica, I had my sleeve on 12/7 too. I had same issues you had when I started full liquids so I backed off and stayed mostly with clears and added Protein Shots (which are only 3oz and 25g protein) because I just couldn’t do 2 full Protein Shakes. This week I’ve been feeling good and finally getting over 64oz of Fluid each day! Christmas Day I can start puréed foods and I’m wondering if I will have trouble in the beginning like when I started the full liquid stage. How are you doing this week?

[GradyCat 3,692]

It's easier to get the daily Water requirement in if you add a sugar-free flavor enhancer like Crystal Light or even the Kroger or Wal-Mart versions of powder or liquid flavor water enhancers. I use the Peach Tea flavor from Kroger. Also, the sugar-free popsicles count as water, you know.