I’ve just had my surgery on January 23rd and I am struggling. I can barely handle any liquids, I’ve been trying to get my water and protein goals in but failing miserably. I’ve only managed to have just 2 bottles of protein since I left the hospital and for the broth I love barely had any and it’s almost been a week. Has anyone else had this problem? My stomach is constantly in pain and of course the gas pains. I can manage some water but it has to be cold and that’s mostly it. I know I have to have protein shakes and the broth but I just can’t. I’m just feeling weaker as the days go by and I’m not sure what to do next. Any advice?

Hey

I think one of the best things you could do is just to contact your surgeon/Dr just to see what they would advise in this situation, especially with the pain you are in.

I am still pre-surgery so I am not too sure on how it should be straight afterwards, but I know that most people on here would advise talking to a medical professional if you are struggling

Big hugs. Contact your team ASAP. Do you have nausea ? vomiting ? You need your teams advice

You may have a stricture. If it is, its nothing major and is a quick fix. Or you could be like I was, really very swollen internally. I struggled for about 3 months and survived. I ate and drank very little but as soon as I could make the goals given, I felt so much better.

Try thinning your shakes, Add milk. just keep trying to do better every day. You will get there in the end.

Also try different temperatures of liquids. Some people can't handle cold and some people can't handle hot. You might have to play with it.

My cousin just had the surgery plus the hiatal hernia surgery 2 weeks ago, she still struggles with liquid intake. She still has to set a timer to sip sip sip. Try walking more for the gas pains, it helps get rid of them. Every hour walk for 5-10 minutes. I am 5.5 months post op and the first week was hard to drink anything, cold or hot. Even when I hit the puree stage it was hard enough to get liquid in let alone something with a thicker consistency. It will get better over time. I agree, contact your surgeon, see if they have any other options.

i had a bit of difficulty getting my protein shakes the first 2 weeks, i used protein powders and i had to water them down ALOT to get it down. i probably only consumed maybe the equivalent 1 cup of a pre-made protein shake the entire first 14 days post surgery.

it was a issue of aversion for me...it was just so unappealing and gag-inducing. that and i was just so exhausted that there just wasn't enough awake time to drink.

my water consumption wasn't that great either, probably sipped maybe less than 2 cups a day (warm/hot water cuz it felt better)...and i did this from a 1oz medicine cup all day long...soooo annoying omg.

first two weeks i probably had less than 400 calories each ENTIRE WEEK.

but magically (on day 13 to be exact), i accidentally found out i could could gulp down water...i was so thirsty that i forgot i was supposed to sip...and it was wonderful lol. so much more satisfying than those sad sips from the stupid medicine cup.

after that i was gulping down litres of ice water. and protein shakes cuz i just would water then down alot with ice water and down them.

solid food on the other hand took a little longer master...but that's another story.

now i drink lots and eat lots (avg 1800 cals a day) for a bariatric patient, but not quite like a "regular" person, lol....and im 5+ years out.

long story short: hang in there, it gets better by increments. keep in contact with your doc and team, and there is no need to worry of they aren't.

good luck ❤️

I had my surgery on Jan 18th and i can take a little more water then before but its STILL a pain in the butt because i still have pain (gas?) when im drinking. Im supposed to move on to pureed foods in a few days but how when im not 100 percent with these liquids. Its slow moving and it sucks. It seems like im going to be one of those cases where it takes forever to heal or get on track and it sounds like maybe you will be the same (hopefully not). I go to the doc for my 2 week follow up on the 31st i will let you know what he says about all this.

I agree. Definitely contact your surgeon. It could be just swelling. It could be a stricture. But you really shouldn’t be experiencing strong pain a week out (except from the surgical gas pain but even that should be reducing each day.). Most of us throw away our opioid pain meds by day 3 or 4 & often don’t need any pain meds after then either.

Yes, meeting those fluid & protein goals can be difficult in the beginning. I’m another one who struggled at first (one shake & a cup of soup each day from day 4 & really nothing before then except a few sips of water). As long as you are making an effort & slowly getting closer you’ll be fine. Be aware of possible dehydration though.

All the best. And push to get a response from your surgeon asap.

I agree with the others, contact your surgeon and let them know. It isn't unusual to have intolerances to protein shakes early on. I couldn't stomach them for the first several weeks. I could get in my fluids though, with diligence, but they had to either be very cold or very warm, my stomach didn't like anything in between, and even with fluids I would get this intense twisting pain with every swallow, like my stomach was trying to cartwheel inside me! But after the two week mark this started to ease. I was able to water down protein water and get it in. Then I was able to thin out protein shakes with milk and get them in. I was still nauseated daily until the 8 week mark, but meds helped with that.

My surgeon said this whole track wasn't unusual, I was one of those rare patients that got the side effect of stomach spasms post surgery and they usually calm down after a few weeks. He was right! By weeks 3-4 I could drink most things without pain, as long as I kept sipping rather than trying to gulp. I'm 3 months out and still can't gulp... But this is definitely a situation where you want your surgeon's office aware of how you are feeling so they can send you in for fluid infusions if you start to show signs of dehydration. Dehydration is the number 1 complication of bariatric surgery in the early weeks, plenty of people end up with hydration infusions until the swelling goes down in their tummies enough they can get their water in.

Is there any update on this? The post from OP has me concerned. I hope they contacted their surgeon and got some answers....