Hi Everyone!

I had my surgery in March 2022. I am about 4 months post op and have lost 36% of my weight since my last doc visit. I have talked to my doctor about how I dread eating because of how it makes me feel afterwards. I feel exhausted, my body feels weak and gross. I am more than grateful to myself for having the surgery but the discomfort after eating meals makes me dread eating. I try to eat 3 times a day but the feeling after eating has made me go to a graze type period where i have a few almonds every few hours & I even dread eating the almonds. Another thing I have is this dry clenching of the stomach as if its a desert trying to suck any fluids into it. I thought the clenching feeling may be due to dehydration but I have been monitoring my urine color to make sure I am hydrated. I even drink water or tea when I have that feeling but it still stays with me. The thing that has helped me tolerate eating is having an edible but then if I have an edible and get high i tend to eat a little too much so I am trying to figure out why I am having this body feeling after eating..... Is my body in starvation mode or is this just a side effect? I thought it may be due to not chewing my food up long enough but I have read that will make you feel nauseated - I never feel nauseated after eating. I would love to avoid eating all together but I know my body needs energy........ Any advice, similar stories or suggestions would be greatly appreciated - just trying to figure out what to do to avoid the feeling and to have a healthy relation with food

If edibles make the feeling go away to where you can actually over eat, I'm thinking you're stressing over eating which is mucking up your eating which spawns stress over eating.

I had a similar issue when I had a couple bad experiences eating out. For a year after I stressed over eating out which caused the exact problems I was stressing about. Something of a circular problem. I actually still actively avoid eating in public even though I haven't really had a problem that often. Still when I eat out I have to focus on what I'm doing so that I don't create a problem for myself.

Can't you do a smaller portion of edible to take the edge off but not get totally high?

Good luck,

Tek

I didn’t experience this so I don’t have first hand advice but one thing you can try to rule out that you aren’t chewing enough is to go back to a purée meal and see if it makes you feel the same way. You could also be eating too fast? Are you waiting plenty of time between bites?

Try eating smaller portions throughout the day. That’s what worked for me. Big meals make me feel sluggish and tired. Also, protein heavy meals make me feel exhausted after.
Maybe see about getting some labs drawn to see if there’s an issue there. I know if I skip my thyroid medicine even once then I’m exhausted for days afterwards.

I found it hard to eat for several months after surgery. I learned that it really depends on what I eat. For example, ground meat and fish/shellfish are very easy for me to eat, but chicken breast is impossible. I can only eat 1-2 oz and it sits like a lump in my stomach and hurts.

Try different things: beans, deli meat, cheese, etc, to see if that helps. Try taking smaller bites, slowing down, chewing more.

Try keeping a food log to see when you have these problems more - see if it's after certain foods or certain times.

Talk to your nutritionist and surgeon, and maybe even a bariatric therapist.

Good luck!