Mogwaicat

I'm six days post-op, supposed to be transitioned to full liquids and use Protein shakes to get at -least- 40g of protein in. Right out the gate I took three sips of a Premier Protein shake and five minutes later felt like I was gonna die. Flushed in the face, shaking, salivating, nauseous, rapid heart beat...oh joy. It only lasted about half an hour, but it wasn't good for my confidence. There's only 5g sugar in the whole 11oz shake, so I thought maybe it was just that shake. I can tolerate sugar free pudding ok now, so I tried mixing unflavored Protein powder into it. A few bites in and I felt bloated and nauseous. UGH! Such a gross feeling. Finally I've tried the whey protein in Water. Aaaannndd...still felt sick from it. I'm going to call my doc's office tomorrow for their thoughts and ideas on it, but has anyone else run into this?

Success! Ish... I finally found a protein drink that I can mostly tolerate. New Whey protein shots. 42g of protein in 3.5oz. Sounds awesome, right? Lots of protein, little bitty drink...but it's like drinking liquid jolly ranchers. Sickeningly sweet and a little syrupy thick. I was unsure about this drink, it's got mixed reviews, but my nutritionist says it's good and acceptable for us. Now for the real fun...I have to plug my nose to drink it and it still makes me feel all gassy and weird. But...but...I actually hit my protein goal for the first time since surgery!

@@395Ron The chicken sausage was something I found in my local Kroger's near the hot dogs. They also do turkey meatballs, apparently, and I tried their pineapple teriyaki. @@60&goin4it I'm not as moody as I was, but girly issues continue to plague me. It's a good bit frustrating. I'm not struggling to get through work nights anymore, but I still nap a bit on my nights off. Getting close to hitting my liquids goal, I can hit 62oz three out of five days. I get all my vitamins in. Protein...I'm not so good with, still. On a really good day I can hit 40gms. I've learned that if I try something new and it doesn't agree with me/makes me feel sick, I don't feel like eating anything else the rest of the day. Sooo...now I only try new things as the last meal of the day. That way, if I end up not feeling good I'm only out that one meal.

Mood swings come with the territory, I'm afraid. As we shed the fat we're digging up hormones. I doubled down on the, erm, lady problems this month as well as being cranky/sad.

My nut doesn't approve of dry cereals/granola this early out, not until I'm at least at 4mo so Kashi's out. Ketosis, other than the breath/mouth taste issue, doesn't really bother me. One of my previous diet 'attempts' was Keto, so I spent five months in ketosis...lost 30lbs, gained 35 when life happened and made things difficult. I'm wondering if the nausea/light-headedness is mostly just not eating enough. I can only get 1/4-1/2 cup at a time, depending on what it is, and I struggle to eat three times a day because of the nausea/lack of hunger. I've tried to have a string cheese or a light babybel when I can, to fill in. I'm having more 'good' days than bad this week, so hopefully this phase was just temporary. I might manage four meals today! Breakfast was a chicken sausage made with roasted garlic and gruyere. 14gms protein for one, though I could only manage half of it. I'll have the other half later. Syntrax nectar is a no-go. Three sips, waited ten minutes, and had a horrible heavy feeling in my stomach and moderate nausea to the point where I went and laid down for a while. I give up, my body has apparently declared that whey protein isolate is somehow poisonous. No issues at all with yogurt or cheeses, so who knows... I have my six week appointment coming up, if the trend of better days doesn't keep up I might ask for something for the nausea or see if they have any ideas why it's so persistent.

I'm feeling rather down and grumbly, so given the holiday I'll start with what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful I can tolerate any sort of meat I've tried so far without any issues (even if it's only very small portions). My insurance paid the lion's share for my surgery and has given me the opportunity to change myself into a fitter person. Yay. I have a good job, nice house, and reliable vehicle. All good things. Today I'm just not feeling it, though. Case of the blues, nothing serious enough to seek help and this too will pass. Last week I had a few days where water (WATER...the same stuff I drink every day!) was too sweet. No explainable reason behind it. I ended up brewing herbal tea extra strong and drinking iced tea all day to get my fluids in. I've had a horrible taste in my mouth (Side effect of ketosis...unpleasant, very unpleasant) ever since a few days out of surgery, but lately it's just so gross I brush my teeth four times a day to try and keep it at bay. This week I've had absolutely zero interest in food. Nothing looks, sounds or tastes good at all. I've been low-level nauseous all the time and while I haven't felt like throwing up the idea of food makes me queasy. I try to push past it, but I know I'm not hitting any goals there. Now for the real kicker...protein. Trying to find some sort of drinkable protein that doesn't make me dump, bloat, gag/vomit...I haven't found one yet. Premier protein is an absolute no-go, Isopure is vile, Protein 2O makes me feel sick to my stomach after a few sips, Protein Water, even diluted, makes me bloated and I can't get it down. Pea protein actually made me physically sick (no idea why, I can eat peas just fine...I use them in my chicken salad), Egg white protein I couldn't stomach either. Soy protein is gritty and horrific, it put me off food for the rest of the day. I've got samples of Syntrax Nectar coming in the mail...so we'll see how that goes. I don't want to sacrifice my muscles, hair and health over something that I had hoped would be simpler. If it were just taste I'd hold my nose, put on my big girl panties and just deal with it... Sooo...yeah. Sorry for the vent. On the upside? My grocery bills are phenomenally small.

Blech. I've spent all day feeling nauseated by the sight or smell of food and forcing myself to still get some protein in. Nothing sounds, smells or tastes good at all today. I have a fridge full of lovely things I can eat, healthy things. And yet...all I want is a freaking dorito-shelled taco from Taco Bell. Really, belly? Stupid cravings...it's a good thing I'd have to drive to get one, makes it much easier to talk some sense into myself.

Be soooo careful with the tortillas! Chew chew chew and make sure you take it slow. Being stuck is such a yucky feeling!

My coworkers know about mine, but two or three of them have also had the surgery so they understand. I finally went back to work on Tuesday and -ugh-, it was so much harder than I expected! I'm a nurse and I work 12 hour night shifts. I definitely get my walking in, but getting my water in is just so difficult! I had to make a 'rule' for myself, take a few sips of water every time I get back to the nurse's station (not sure what I'll do during JCAHO survey time...probably just make a point to swing by the break room more often) and at the very -least- stop and eat a little snack (I like the light babybel cheeses) every 3-4 hours.

I'm over the first of my two weeks of liquid diet pre-op, and I'm SO DONE with chocolate and vanilla. I'm picky, don't even really like milk at all to begin with and I don't like chocolate, so this has been the hardest hurdle to jump over. I drink them as fast as I can as I don't like the taste, but there's obviously no getting past that issue post-op. That being said, I've been trying to get creative and see what I can dream up that I like. So far, I really like carbsmart milk (11g Protein in 8oz) with vanilla Pure Protein (25g protein) with a few splashes of blueberry lemonade Mio. Tastes kinda like a blueberry muffin! What things have you tried or found that worked for you?

@@1041mom My scale hasn't moved in nearly two weeks! I'm never hungry or thirsty...ever...which is actually a bit of a problem. I've had to set alarms on my phone reminding me to eat and drink or I just forget. You'd think that'd be a nice problem to have, but it's so very easy for us to get dehydrated now. I have to tell myself daily that weight loss is not a linear thing and that I can't compare myself to others, so believe me you're in good company! Try putting the scale away and only weigh yourself weekly. It's keeping me sane! Get the water, protein and exercise in and the goods will come in time.

I can only eat half a quesadilla at a time, and I like them pretty heavy on the chicken. I sprinkle a little taco seasoning in while it's melting. I think I might just take the chicken and cheese and melt them in a custard cup with the taco seasoning and leave the tortilla for a while.

Ooog...consider this a cautionary tale. Today I learned what it means to get 'stuck' and it was my own damn fault. Per my doc's instructions, I'm allowed to make a chicken quesadilla with low-fat cheese so long as the tortilla is done up crispy. So far so good, I've had this several times now with no issues at all. Today? I was dumb, was playing around on the internet while eating, and all of a sudden I get a sharp 'uh oh' kick behind the sternum. It's not like the 'full' feeling I get just under my ribs, this more like a strong squeezing discomfort that comes and goes as my esophagus and stomach try to push my mistake through. Even better (and fair warning, this is pretty gross...), I ended up salivating like crazy and vomiting up clear saliva several times. It doesn't really help, which was terribly annoying, but getting up and walking around the house with a bit of a bounce in my step helped. Riding it out, I was pretty uncomfortable for a little over an hour. Pretty sure I was overdue for this, haven't really had any issues so far other than being unable to handle whey protein. Lesson learned, I hope. I really don't want to repeat this! I've heard that taking papaya enzymes when this happens can help, I think I might get some and stash them in my purse just in case...

I am. Northwest Ohio.

I still can't tolerate whey protein. It just makes me feel so gross after I try to drink it...no real explanation as to why. I've had much better luck with soy or egg white protein.

Oh, today was such a relief! I'm feeling so much better today than I have. No dizzy spells, I haven't felt overly sleepy, and I went for a long walk around my neighborhood...and found out my lovely red peacoat is getting baggy! I was able to tolerate 3oz of tuna salad for lunch, and I found some herb and garlic tilapia in the frozen foods section that my belly seems to like. Getting in more protein and pounding down Powerade zero the last day or so has really made a difference.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/reactive-hypoglycemia/faq-20057778 Talk to your surgeon, I've heard this can happen to a lot of us after surgery.

Oooh...lucky me. Scale hasn't moved in a few days...guess it's time for me to step awaaayyyy from the scale before I make myself crazy. Logical me knows it'll move eventually and my body's just playing catch-up. Impatient and perhaps slightly crazy me? Nope...time to panic! My doc is having me take an extra week off work (3 weeks total) because I'm still having issues with fatigue and dizziness and my job requires 12 hour shifts with a lot of walking. Otherwise at two weeks I'm feeling pretty good. Steri-strips are still clinging (so itchy!), but my incisions are healing without any issues. No pain at all anymore, just a lingering need for too much sleep and I get dizzy if I try to do too much too fast.

I'll share the most bizarre thing I've done so far. I -really- wanted a taco, or at least something spicy. I put taco seasoning in plain Greek yogurt. A few tablespoons hit the spot, and I bet it would taste awesome on chicken.

I live in scrubs most of the time. It's like going to work in really comfy pajamas but it's hard to see any change in fit until it's pretty major. I put on jeans today for the first time in a long time and I couldn't tell you if they fit any differently. BUT...oddly enough...my bra fit is weird now. Comfy, and the 'girls' don't look any different, but looser...

That is wonderful!!!!! I still fit in my same jeans ;-( ! Oh well its coming off just slower than most!! Same here. The numbers are changing on the scale, but I don't see it on my waistline yet. Looking forward to having that -horrible- problem of flying through sizes!

Well...it's weird. I can drink milk fine, can tolerate small amounts of low sugar/low fat greek yogurt, but even the unflavored powder which only lists whey protein isolate as an ingredient makes me ill. I was fine with it before surgery.

My doctor said to wait 2 weeks to try the premier shakes, so you might try again later on. He only wanted me to use the bariatric shakes like unjury those 1st 2 weeks, probably because of the sugar. That's probably the case. I have other Protein options, it just threw me for a loop how quickly I felt sick! Otherwise I'm ok, I can get the Water in without too much trouble.

OOF! I didn't think I'd run into dumping so soon. Supposed to transition to full liquids and protein shakes. Two sips of a premier protein shake and BOOM, shakey, nauseous and racing heart. Apparently lactose is no longer my friend, there's only 5g sugar in the 11oz pre-made shake.

Wishing all of today's surgeries as much luck and easy recovery as I've had. I'm almost two days out now and while I can't say I'm completely pain free, it's nowhere near as bad as I expected. I was discharged from the hospital after just the one night. No nausea at all, and I'm working on the tedious 'sip sip sip' that'll keep me hydrated. I should've learned, though...I fell asleep on the couch and needed help getting up again. Silly me, it's a ilttle early for situps!