As y'all know with the smaller stomach comes limited room, so how do y'all deal with being thirsty and hungry?? I still have the issues with being unable to drink and eat at the same time (~14months post-op). I try to sip on water before I eat, but I still feel like it occupies space and I'm unable to eat my meal fully and absolutely can't drink after eat as I feel too full.

Anyone else who had this issue and was able to solve it?

Can’t give you any specific advice only share what I experience & honestly it can be erratic. Sometimes it’s easy other times not so much. It takes about 15 minutes (+/-) for water to pass through your tummy. I find I can sip up to about 5 minutes before I eat but it does depend upon what I eat & drink and I am still a slow eater so that likely helps. That’s water but say champagne I have to wait longer (the bubbles). The more dense the food the longer I need to wait too. Right now I’m sipping a mug of green tea and eating multigrain crackers with labneh. It will take me about 45 (sometimes longer) minutes to eat the 6 crackers & fillings & drink my 350ml mug of tea. Sometimes I can get a bit tight in my chest but a few minutes wait & it’s okay. I can eat soup without issue and that liquid & solids.

It may be a matter of finding out your sweet spot time wise, the volume of liquid and the food & liquid combinations you can tolerate within the time window. I am 5 years out and I wasn’t doing this at 2 years. Think it may be another one of these things that just takes time.

I usually drink if I'm thirsty and wait 5-10 minutes to eat, but if I eat, I need at least 20 minutes to have a sip of water again. So I always start with water before my meal.

I was very envious of people who could gulp liquids early out. I was about 18 months out before I found I could gulp drinks again. It depends what I am eating as to how I can drink.

For breakfast I drink a long milky coffee before my fruity overnight oats. I can not drink after this for at least an hour

For lunch I make my own soups, todays was cream of cheese and celery and although its thick, I can drink as well

Our main meal of the day is in the evening. Today is a roast chicken dinner with 2 veg and for the family roast potatoes, I still cant eat carbs to any extent. I put my portion into 2 bowls. I eat one, wait 30 minutes, drink loads and an hour or so later, I will eat my second bowl and for some reason this bowl goes down easier than the first one. Wait about an hour and drink without a problem all evening.

I wake a great deal in bed. I drink all night. I am so thirsty then, I usually get through 500mls/ 1 pint a night.

seems everyone's experience differs from person to person!

i can drink any amounts (including bubbly and by gulping) right up to the moment i ingest anything "solid". once there are solids in me, i need to wait maybe 30-45 mins before i have any liquids to avoid that over-full feeling (at best), or vomiting (at worst).

i don't have liquids and solids together if i can help it. this includes soups. i drink all the broth first before i eat any chunky bits. chilli and stews are hit or miss, depending on how watery/loose they are. i generally eat slowly so i can put the brakes on if i start feeling icky.

aside: because of this way of eating of mine, i tend to get a little tipsy-ish at dinners out and parties, cuz i like to drink my alcohol before eating...and the combination of being a cheap drunk and and an empty stomach results in me being and EXTREMELY cheap drunk, ha!

10 hours ago, ms.sss said:

i don't have liquids and solids together if i can help it. this includes Soups. i drink all the broth first before i eat any chunky bits.

I found out I can't have soups. So if the soup is clear broth I will have the broth first and the protein after (albeit it not being comfortable at all) so I only do it if I'm under the weather. But if the soup is not clear (lentil, rice based or even cream based) then I can't have it with anything else so it's either soup or solid food so I just avoid it all together because who wants to go out to have soup?

21 hours ago, Lilia_90 said:

… because who wants to go out to have soup?

Me. My hand’s up. I do. I love soup. Make it often too. Easy and nutritious. But I do get not being able to eat solids and liquids at the same time. I used to do what @ms.sss said and drank the liquids first and then slowly ate the solids of a soup. Also give yourself time, it may be something that gets easier as time passes.

This is something I'm still pretty strict about, almost 3 years after my sleeve.

I can drink pretty quickly now. I can (and do) drink right up until I eat with no problems.

But after I eat I don't drink anything for at least an hour - normally much longer. When I drink my stomach seems to empty out my last meal too and that leads to getting hungry sooner and eating more than I would otherwise.

I know some folks find it really hard to get enough fluids. I still find warm drinks much easier to drink in quantity than cold. I have an insulated mug of tea beside me all day at work. Flavoured water goes down quicker than plain. Similarly sparking drinks better than still (I don't have bubble issues).

Otherwise revert to actually setting a timer every 15 minutes to remind you (if you can stand it)?

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by Spinoza
typo

16 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Me. My hand’s up. I do. I love soup. Make it often too. Easy and nutritious. But I do get not being able to eat solids and liquids at the same time. I used to do what @ms.sss said and drank the liquids first and then slowly ate the solids of a soup. Also give yourself time, it may be something that gets easier as time passes.

sAme! im a soup lover as well:

pho! yum!

ramen! yum!

shrimp dumpling noodle soup! yum!

new england clam chowder! yum (in spite of the fact im lactose-intolerant!)

my own homemade chunky potato soup! (so yum, ill share recipe if anyone wants )

cucumber gazpacho! yum!

dessert soup! (like tapioca or red bean!) yum!

basically, i'll eat soupy anything EXCEPT tomato based soups, which for some reason is just not my thing.

but yeah, if im having soup, im rarely eating anything else, which is a low-key bummer cuz i love a ton of variety when i eat....so its important to me that said soup is effing delicious!! ???

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by ms.sss

On 9/25/2024 at 8:40 PM, Spinoza said:

I know some folks find it really hard to get enough fluids. I still find warm drinks much easier to drink in quantity than cold. I have an insulated mug of tea beside me all day at work. Flavoured Water goes down quicker than plain. Similarly sparking drinks better than still (I don't have bubble issues).

Interesting!

In the early days post-op I had such a hard time with hydration. The only thing that helped a few months later is using a large (48 oz) Stanley and filling it with ICE, so much ICE that the water is practically freezing, this has helped me drink much more. I really can't do any warm drinks unless it's my morning coffee and that has to be scalding hot.

Edited September 29, 20241 yr by Lilia_90

On 9/26/2024 at 12:30 AM, ms.sss said:

basically, i'll eat soupy anything EXCEPT Tomato based Soups, which for some reason is just not my thing.

Another interesting piece of info.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE tomato soup. One of my favorite meals pre WLS was tomato soup with a side of Gruyere grilled cheese slathered with butter. Oh YUM!

1 hour ago, Lilia_90 said:

Another interesting piece of info.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tomato Soup. One of my favorite meals pre WLS was Tomato Soup with a side of Gruyere grilled cheese slathered with butter. Oh YUM!

speaking of grilled cheese, i recently watched a cooking show where a contestant slathered mayonnaise on the exterior sides of the assembled sandwich and pan fried it in butter.

had to try it at home, and omg it changed my world.

?

10 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

speaking of grilled cheese, i recently watched a cooking show where a contestant slathered Mayonnaise on the exterior sides of the assembled sandwich and pan fried it in butter.

had to try it at home, and omg it changed my world.

?

Yaaas I do that! I slather spicy mayo on the outer side of the bread and butter inside the bread, it is truly life changing.

For one thing that may help you a little bit I have a proffee for breakfast (just protein shake with coffee over ice) I mix in my fiber powder and have my my multivitamin after I finish it so every morning I’m well hydrated. My tummy feels satisfied and I have my protein and vitamins off to a good start for the day. I didn’t eat actual food so I have no problem drinking afterwards. everyone’s stomach reacts a little differently and some can’t handle a lot of fluids, but mine can. Maybe something like that would help if you had that or soup maybe for lunch so you could drink more with it?? Just thinking out loud.