Jenniferlynangel

I really like the Celebrate Calcium Citrate Chews (chocolate) and the Celebrate Multivitamin Soft Chews (Orange). They taste great and meet my Calcium, D3, and Multi-Vitamin needs.

My surgeon had me on clear liquids for the first four days, full liquids for a couple of days, pureed foods for five days, soft foods for a week, then regular foods as soon as I could tolerate the soft foods and get at least 700 calories a day. So I began regular foods about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks after surgery. I haven't had any problems with food -- I just need to be careful of sugar and sugar alcohols, especially on an empty stomach.

I felt hunger immediately upon waking up from surgery ... or what seemed like hunger. Who knows! All I know is that it felt like major hunger pains. Paid meds made the feeling go away. The night I got home from the hospital (and just off paid meds), the hunger pains came back. And they were ferocious. It gave me a panic attack. The hunger lasted about 10 hours, then slipped away after I finally fell asleep. I am now 4 weeks post-op. Hunger returned about two weeks ago, but it is different than the hunger I felt pre-op or even immediately post-op. It is a "light" feeling, easily forgotten about if I dismiss it, but it does remind me to eat and not forget about food. I like this light hunger feeling I get now. I do wonder if my hunger will increase as I go along, but I'm no longer very worried about it. Things are going well for me and I am feeling comfortable with my post-op tummy. I feel confident that it will all work out.

I'm 3 days post-op. In the hospital I was served diluted fruit juice, which I was too afraid to try. I simply don't understand how diluted fruit juice would not cause dumping. Apple juice has 24g of sugar per cup. Even if I dilute it with 50/50 with water, that's still 12g which seems like WAY too much. This morning I attempted just 4g of sugar in my protein shake and had what seemed like early dumping symptoms. I am similarly concerned about milk, which I am allowed to have beginning tomorrow. Skim milk has 11g of sugar per cup. Again, won't this cause dumping? Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!

If I have anything with sugar, even sugar alcohol, in the mornings I have issues. This morning I had oatmeal made with 1/2 cup of milk, and I had mild dumping. Later on in the day it is okay. I haven't even attempted juice yet. I have no issues drinking water, so there's really no need to do that anyway.

I'm currently 9 days post-op. After a rough first day at home after surgery, things have mellowed out a lot and I find I am better with each passing day. Like, a LOT better. As in, if I didn't have healing incisions, the memory of surgery, and a lack of normal hunger sensations, I would not know I had surgery. My energy levels are at 100%, I have no pain, I can exercise fully, and nothing hurts when I attempt any activity. I am meeting all of my Protein, Fluid, Vitamin, and exercise goals. And my pouch seems happy. My nutritionist advanced me to pureed foods yesterday and I'm having no issues with anything I've tried. I have the sense I could eat more, but of course I am not. So ... what gives? I had major surgery last week, and I can barely tell now? Is it all the protein I'm consuming (about 90g a day)? I'm worried I am feeling too good, and I will forget to drink/eat slowly, or push it and harm myself. Did anyone else experience this?

Thank you for the response! It feels better just to know I'm not alone and this can be normal.

Greetings! I had my RNY surgery on Tuesday, three days ago. Things went well and I came home from the hospital yesterday around noon. I did okay at drinking water, but when I attempted a protein drink (unflavored Isopure), it was exceedingly difficult to get down due to smell/taste. A few hours after that, I began getting a lot of rumbling and gurglings in my upper abdomen that I associate with hunger, and then an hour later the hunger began. This was not head hunger -- this was physical hunger. I didn't think I was supposed to feel hunger at all, and the panic began to build. The feeling continued all evening, getting stronger, and I ended up taking a Xanax just to calm down -- my monkey brain was terrified at the prospect of unrelenting hunger that could not be satiated. It took more than an hour to fall asleep because I was so uncomfortable with the physical sensation of extreme hunger, or whatever it was. I was woken up every hour or so with it (along with crazy, hunger-associated nightmares) until about 4:00 am when it seemed to subside. I was able to sleep for a while and I am feeling okay right now. Are you supposed to feel hungry so soon after surgery? Could it be something else that mimics hunger? Does it go away? I am having a hard time dealing with this, I will admit. I was in a very dark place last night and I felt completely unprepared for these feelings. This morning, upon feeling better, I got up and tried my Isopure again. This time I mixed it with 4g of sugar (one teaspoon), because my dietician said I could have up to 5 g of sugar in my protein drink and that would not be an issue. (I cannot tolerate the taste of artificial sweeteners, and that intolerance has only gotten worse post-surgery.) It tasted tolerable, but about 15 minutes after having the first ounce, I began feeling weird -- my heart beat faster, I felt sweaty and lightheaded. I stopped drinking and it gradually went away. This couldn't be dumping syndrome already and so fast, could it? Or was it something else? What did I do wrong? I dumped a bunch of my water into the protein drink and the feeling has subsided, but now I have to drink a lot more just to get this first batch of protein down. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Jennifer

Thank you for your reply! My understanding is that head hunger is cravings, wanting to eat when you're not actually hungry. I recognize this, I've experienced it many times, but I'm not having it right now, which is good. What I experienced last night was very visceral, very physical. Sharp pangs, at sometimes pains, in my upper abdomen. It was accompanied by long audible gurgling and bubbling, the typical things I get when hungry. It was indiscernible from my pre-op hunger. Even though I felt these hunger pangs, I did not actually want to eat -- I had no cravings, other than an overwhelming desire for relief from the feeling. Just a really intense sensation of hunger. And I've never had head hunger wake me up at night or give me nightmares. I would not have considered putting any amount of sugar in my protein drink at all, except the dietician said it was okay. She advised against using artificial sweeteners at all, especially in my case. Keep in mind my protein is JUST protein -- I'm using Isopure unflavored 100% protein. There is nothing added to it at all. And all my documents say that an acceptable protein drink should have less than 5g of sugar, which mine did even with the sugar added. Because it was nothing more than Isopure 100% 20g protein + water + 4g sugar. I'm just surprised I would have an issue on so little sugar even though I was told it'd be okay. Since I added the water to the protein shake, the weird dizzy/sweaty feeling has not come back. I've now managed to finish one. I consider this a win. I will simply keep adding more water and hope it continues to work.