JavaKnut

Liver reduction - no, post op clear liquids - no, post op full liquids - yes, as long as you strain out all the solids. Once i was on full liquids - Miso soup was a welcome change to flavor town with the liquid diet. I strained out the tofu and seaweed, but had the miso and other floaty bits in there (not solids). Liver reduction is not a ton of fun, but just remember - if you cheat it, you could risk having your surgery cancelled. My reduction was 2 weeks. First week was 3 bariatric advantage liver reduction meal replacement shakes a day, 2 bariatric advantage snacks, and one "green" meal (basically a salad with some chicken). Week 2 was 5 shakes a day. I didn't tend to be too hungry, and if I did have some sort of craving, I removed myself from the situation that caused it and did some sort of distraction. One of the best choices was to not sit and eat with my wife and child (it sucked to do that, but it made things a whole lot easier on me). Occasionally I would sit with them for 5 mins while I chugged my shake, then would go once it was just me watching them eat.

Ok, that is the difference with the procedures we had. They pulled my parts out - no going back. I had the sleeve with a duodenal switch. They took out 80% of what i had from the way I understand it.

Myself and others that I know in the area have all been told no alcohol for a year. The reason not being completely on the intolerance, but more on the higher likelihood of alcoholism and addiction since it takes so little to get the buzz. Take a look at how and when you are eating. If you are grazing on stuff throughout the day, then that could be why you are only tolerating small amounts of non 'real-food.' I was told to eat at least 2-3 hours apart. No liquids 30 mins before or 30 mins after. To each their own. I hope you don't get any major complications from your current path.

I went through a similar path. Make sure you stay on the liquids. The constipation stage was horrible for me. Brought out roids and I won't even get into that. I ended up taking daily probiotics and adding them to yogurt or pudding, and every other day had probiotics that had added fiber. I think the brand was Culturelle? I stole some from the supply for my kid - but the adult version is just taking 2 of the kid doses. I started with kid doses (one packet of powder). Just make sure you get those liquids for sure. I have heard the biggest contributor to readmissions and complications ends up being dehydration. Back in the day I would just chug a bottle or two of water and catch up, gone are those days!

I don't think it would be in the dead end, as I am not sure there is an open loop for it to get that way. One thing I just ran into where i thought my food/diet was adding the gas to my diet - it turned out to be from my CPAP at night. I never had my pressure adjusted, and in doing so - it was pumping air into my stomach and intestines. Every morning I would wake up due to gas pain and would evacuate gas from both ends like crazy. Sometimes the pain would be right away, others, it would be later in the day. Are you on CPAP? If so, have you adjusted your pressures since losing any weight? My technician told me that some people see their numbers change just after losing 5lbs. I have lost over 65 in less than 3 months...and no one had told me of this hazard! Just an unlikely source in my mind, but thought I would present it to you since it sounds like you went through something similar. I ate something familiar and was doubled over in pain from gas. I kept going back and thinking it was the food's fault, or I ate it too fast, or I didn't chew enough - but did not feel that was really the source.

I went into surgery having lost 20lbs on the 2 week liver reduction diet. I came home from the hospital 3 days later, and 11lbs heavier!!! It took a good 3-4 days to shed those lbs before I started losing new lbs. You have a ton of swelling, water weight from the IV's, etc. The first week is rough and starts getting better in week 2. You will see the weight come off, do not worry!

So a couple of weeks ago I was feeling great, had another good day as usual. Ate some good food, had a little bit of a cheat by having some Dol Hua (Taiwanese soy based pudding like food with some sugar in it). That night I had a whole (small) bowl of chicken tortilla soup and most of the innards of a wrap from Chick-Fil-A. It was honestly the most dinner I have eaten in one sitting since surgery, and felt ok. The next day, I was in so much pain. Almost like what I had post surgery. It seemed to be gas, but was through my whole system. It definitely moved around throughout the day, and I knew I was not blocked as I pooped 3 times that day (normal just once). I was also passing gas and burping like crazy. I could not get relief. It took about 3.5-4 days before I started to feel normal again. I even had to go back on liquids only for a day to reset my system (or so I thought). So I was trying to troubleshoot whether I ate too fast, ate too much, ate some sugar, had a couple carbs, didn't chew enough - all those types of debates internally. All for nothing! Let's step back to just after surgery. In the mornings I would wake up, because I needed to pass gas. I would shake the walls with my gas in the mornings, over and over. No smell at all, but just sheer volume was crazy. Loud enough to wake my wife in the night and in the morning. That was daily, and thought it was going to be my new normal because of my stomach and intestines being so much smaller (sleeve and switch done). So back to a couple weeks ago. I was going to bed a few days after my pain weekend from hell, and noticed that I felt what sounded like my son's whoopy cushion being filled, in my chest...and immediately felt I had to burp, but my machine was forcing air in my mouth, so I couldn't. I started to put two and two together. Sure enough, it happened again. I started to noticed that I could feel my machine forcing air into my stomach. I know my mask doesn't fit as well because of all the weight I have lost in my face, but didn't think anything about the pressure being a problem. I ended up trying to sleep without my machine for a night, and I did. First time in over 8 years I have ever slept without my machine...and I didn't snore either! It wasn't the best night of sleep, but I slept. I also didn't wake up because of needing to blast the sheets off. No immediate blasting of ass, or burping my brains out, and no stomach or intestinal pain...nothing!! I finally got an appointment at the sleep study place to have them adjust my numbers (without doing a sleep study). The technician told me - they usually see people bump their numbers after even just losing 10 lbs - WHAT THE !$%*&!!? Why had no one told me this???? I am down over 65lbs!! I about punched the technician when they told me it would be another week before the doc could see me and adjust my numbers. I wasn't going to have another day or hour of pain like I had been through the previous week from this fricken machine. Power of persuasion led the technician to opening my range of pressures. Sure enough - now I have had a few nights on my new lower pressure, and wake up with no excess gas, no pain, no problems at all. So the moral of the story? If you are on a CPAP - you need to make sure you keep up with your sleep center so they can help keep your pressures under control. I have an auto-cpap, which can adjust itself. The problem is, they had set my range from 9-12. I haven't even come close to 9 since they changed the range from 5-12. I was told that normal titration settings for a machine like that is to set it from 5-20, and let the machine do the work. I am just shocked that in all my calls with the surgeon, doctors, nurses, dietitians, and every other professional around my WLS - NONE of them ever thought to mention anything about CPAP and the pressures from that being the source of my gas and discomfort.

Have you met with a nutritionist since you surgery? I am shocked you can have cream of wheat and rice based products. I avoided all carbs completely for the first 2 months until I was cleared. Even today (just shy of 3 months), I still avoid them almost completely. They take up too much space, and provide little value. You need to be focused on proteins for recovery and sustenance. It gets easier for sure. I had my doubts a few weeks in when I was still in pain. Once the pain goes away and the inches and pounds start peeling off, you will lose that regret as well.

My wife threw chicken in a pot, with chopped carrots and celery, some salt, and some whole peppercorns (makes them easier to filter out). Once boiled for a while, she let it cool. Then took all the fat that solidified off the top, strained the broth out, then we would rewarm it for me to drink. It was so nice to have a savory type of flavor. It was just a nice change of flavors more than anything.

I was told the protein numbers were a minimum with no max. Also no counting calories. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

You need to call your doctor. Not going to the bathroom from either end is a problem and not normal. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I stuck to my pre-op like a champ as well, and was fortunate that I did not have any major hunger problems. I forgot that first week I also had the bariatric advantage snacks twice a day. The driving reason for me to be such a stickler was something that my surgeon said. He told me that if I did not reduce my liver enough, they would not be able to get my gall bladder until about 6 months later. He said it very likely could be a painful few months as my gall bladder would shrink and the tiny stones grind, etc. I wanted no part of a second surgery, I wanted to be one and done! That was enough motivation for me to not cheat it at all. I lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks pre-surgery.

Wow 2 weeks of clears - sorry to hear that. I only had to do 3 days of clears, then was allowed full liquids like protein shakes and soup broths. For clears I did homemade chicken broth/stock, jello, water, isopure protein drinks.

Pre-surgery I was only doing bariatric advantage meal replacement shakes and water. 2 week pre-op, I was allowed 1 "green" meal a day. Lean proteins and veggies, no carb and 3 shakes a day. The final week before surgery was 5 shakes a day and water - that is it.

My surgeon took me off everything the day before surgery. All my numbers fell in line in less than a week after surgery. I was on blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and gout meds. I have not had a single one since. I was on a total of 9 pills and shot a day.

For the first week I used the medicine measuring cups they gave me at the hospital. They gave me a stack to come home with. I used those to measure every drink and broth I consumed every 15 minutes. It was tedious yes, but it helped me recover quickly, and kept my large sipping tendencies at bay.

Using baby spoons definitely helps early on. Smaller bites and slow down. Pause between bites - like 30 secs to a minute depending on the consistency of what you are eating. More solid or thicker stuff eat much slower. It is especially hard when you are excited to eat something after it has been so long. Even broth can be painful that early when eaten with a big spoon.

Mine went away completely by week 4. My pain was localized to be near my incision on the right side. I was told it was the inside stitches pulling at my belly wall under where they did the glue on the incisions. Previous to that, severe pain I had on my right side was due to constipation and being backed up pretty bad - that was constant pain though and not a sharp short pain due to movement.

Are you having bowel movements or passing gas? I had this when I was not drinking enough water and got stopped up. Not fun! Drink more water, take some stool softeners if you need to and its ok with your doc. Definitely check with your doc about the pain.

Did you get glue or stitches? I heard some people had adverse reactions to the glue. Mine were itchy with the glue, but not severe. Just had to be on my mental game and distract myself when itching came up. Most of the time it was at night.

I graduated to soft foods right before Christmas with all the holiday office parties, etc. That was tough, but I was able to find stuff to eat at restaurants. The immediate people sitting around me found out I had the surgery, and it was a nice conversation. When we had a different dinner with a different group - they had a buffet set up with all appetizers. Everyone was standing around with cocktails and grazing on the apps. After a little while, I took a plate of apps I could eat (cheese, hummus, some chicken skewers, olives) - and made that my dinner. When everyone went back to standing around and drinking, I left. I didn't want to sit around and watch everyone eat, and my 30 mins to eat was done. The hardest part of the big group meals is the timing of when to eat. You can't do the apps, and then wait for dinner when trying to make sure you don't drink anything 30 mins before food, or 30 mins after, and then also not to eat for more than 30 mins. One major kickoff dinner a few weeks ago was the hardest as they did the buffet style again - but were soooooo slow to go between them. I made the choice to have some caprese as an appetizer because I was starving - as it was an hour and a half past my normal dinner time. Luckily I waited long enough before having some and was able to get some fish and chicken to get some decent proteins before my 30 mins were up. Again, after that, I just got up and left before desserts. The timing of the 30 mins before and after for drinking, and extending meals to 30 mins are what tend to be the bigger limitations for me. The real trouble is, my family will wolf down meals in 10-15 mins and be ready to leave and I am still eating (none of them are even close to having weight issues).

I waited a month after surgery before going back to leaded coffee. I only do one cup a day right now, and no adverse issues.

I hated the chewables as well, and sucking on them ended up helping me get through them for the 2-3 weeks I had to take them. As soon as I was cleared for capsules I switched over and have not looked back. Going with capsules, I have to supplement with calcium chews, but those actually taste good. I take 3 capsules a day, and 4 chewables a day. Interesting to read about the liquid form, I will have to look into those!

Concentrate more on your weekly loss than daily loss. I can hover the same for days, then all the sudden drop 2 in a single day. It's crazy. Once I moved to solid foods I felt the same way, but week after week I am still losing, and most importantly dropping inches. Have you been measuring and taking photos? I find the photos to be the best motivation. I have the same outfit I wear week to week, then take a series of facing each direction with only my underwear on (not publishing those). I also have the mandatory shot in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and I have already been able to do the obligatory both legs on one side of my jeans photo. Crazy! I am only 2.5 months post-op.

Try slowing down your intake - smaller sips. You should start off with 1-2oz every 15 mins (sipping over the 15, not taking shots). After a few weeks, you should be able to do 1-2oz sips...and then a few weeks later maybe more. I am 70+ days post op, and if I take too big of a chug, or eat too quick, I get a knot in my gut, some pain, and feel nausea.