Search the Community

So sorry to hear about your father's passing. When my dad passed away about three years ago, it was expected, but still had a profound effect on me. So be gracious and forgiving with yourself in the coming days and weeks.

I'd contact your clinic and let them know what's going on - maybe they'll make some modifications in your diet. I had the same thing - all liquids for two weeks - so I know it's tough - but your reaction to it sounds pretty extreme. I'd call.

Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to, but I also had a hiatal hernia repair, so my post-op pain was pretty bad and lasted a good two weeks. You might be fine though - it's definitely a case-by-case thing. I flew interstate a week after my gallbladder removal (not as intense a surgery admittedly) and the turbulence and landing was a bit unpleasant, but it was doable.

Hi. I need a safe place to post my feelings and I thought of posting here. I hope I can be as raw as I need to be without getting criticized or judged. I'm on day 6 of the all liquid diet. I'm not doing well emotionally of physically. My mood prior to the all liquid diet was me always happy, active, healthy and on top of my game in all senses. Prior to the all liquid diet, I was working out and eating right and losing weight to the point that the surgeon's team told me I could stop eating right and stop working out because I had showed them I'm fully capable of following the plan and succeeding on it. I didn't listen to them telling me to stop because I was feeling great on my new routine and seeing results, so why would I stop eating right and working out? Now that I'm on the all liquid diet, I get sudden bursts of extreme anger, extreme sadness and I feel depressed. I feel like I'm hurting myself so much. I've had six days of extreme diarrhea. I feel sick. I don't think this all liquid diet is normal or healthy. It's actually making me feel like this is not worth it. And, again -- that is not like my normal self. My normal self is the complete opposite of how I feel and sound right now. I feel like this all liquid diet, because of how harshly and badly my body is reacting to it and my mood, it's making me not even want to try to drink anything, because we aren't eating anything to begin with. This is complete and utter torture. I don't feel like helping myself, and again that is NOT my normal self. I feel so sad and angry and I just want to throw and break things and cry nonstop. This isn't me though. I'm so displeased with this right now. I absolutely hate this and right now -- to be honest, I hate anything and everything. I'm so triggered. I feel like calling out of work tomorrow and taking a day to just be more miserable and see if I can somehow bring myself back up. But I feel so broken, physically and emotionally. I called a 24/7 nurse hotline and they urged me to go see a medical doctor ASAP. I'm probably getting 300ish calories in a day. I feel like someone pushed me, and I don't even want to pick myself back up. Realistically, I know some patients are put on a full liquid diet for 2-3 weeks. I know others are put on an all liquid diet just ONE DAY prior to their surgery. I know others are allowed one solid meal a day. My head is fighting the facts with reasons. I've followed the diet to a T 100%. But I absolutely hate everything right now. And no, it's not a carb or sugar crash. I wasn't eating carbs or sugars prior to the all liquid diet. I've been extremely healthy for the past 2 months...I'm just shocked at how differently, in a very bad way, I feel right now. I just feel...sick.

I would not have been able to do that especially if I was by myself. Most of my pain after abdominal surgery is the pain in the left shoulder from the gas used to inflate your stomach. Mine is always almost unbearable for 3 weeks after any surgery. But every one is different so no one here really has the answer for you, we can just share our own experience with you.

Xylitol is a natural Sweetener and many Keto folks use it as stage substitute. But for some, it acts like a laxative and not tolerable. I am one such person. A spoon of xylitol is all is takes for my inside to start running. I was super constipated and my daily docusate didn't help. I tried miralax but it ended up giving me cramps and felt not so good. So decided to try xylitol and bam it did the trick. I keep using fiber supplement, do eat veggies/fruits (mostly pineapple) but milk/yogurt/cheese high protein diet does it for me and I continue getting constipated. I don't know what else I can do to have normal bowel movements since I do all I can along with walking most of the days 🤷🏻‍♀️ Any other means of solving this issue? Have you tried xylitol? I am sure daily use of xylitol isn't advisable but may be once a week use may be fine to get you the needed relief? May ask my nutritionist on my next appt but that's more than month away.

Good luck! Do you suppose anyone else finds it weird how many different sets of preop and postop instructions there are out there? Like, you say you have a 1 week liquid diet. My surgeon wants a 2 week liquid diet, with one small meal a day allowed. I've seen people on here who only had to do liquids for a couple days before. It's so varied, it's wild to me lol.

That was my wake-up call, too, and almost exactly the same BP reading when I went to the ER. I was on two anti-hypertension drugs (losartan with the water pill, and amlodipine). I took the last dose of losartan the day after surgery (my GP wanted me to take it mostly to get the surgery fluid moving). Within three weeks I was on a half dose of amlodipine, and three months after surgery I was off BP drugs altogether. I ended up in the ER last week (cellulitis) and when they took my blood pressure, it was 111/67, seven months post-op. My resting heart rate is 48. My A1c went from 5.9 to 5.1 almost overnight. I haven't used an inhaler since surgery. Do it for yourself.

I'm seven months out and eat "normal" food that I pre-prep. Each day last week I ate between 20-30 g of sugar, in a diet of 1600-1800 cal per day.

And I just now roasted three peppers/capsicums and peeled them and put them in my egg bake for the week.

But you've recognized it, and you're here because you're thinking about doing something about it. I will tell you, I wish I'd done it fifteen years ago. I look back at pictures from a year (and 110 lbs) ago and it's like I have a different life now, one that's not ruled by food. I don't plan the next meal as soon as I put the fork down from the one in front of me. I don't plan vacations around restaurant scenes. It's... liberating. You can do it. It is a hard journey, but after the first week post-op, it gets easier. A lot easier.

My obesity was a major cause of my depression. I was able to move from 300 mg a day of Wellbutrin to 75 mg. When I tried to drop the WB altogether, I started feeling the symptoms again. I don't have any need to up my dose at all. You will want to find a therapist, because binge eating is in the head, not the gut. You will simply not be ABLE to binge eat for a while, but if you keep trying, you will eventually fit more food in there. I will say that I have a totally different outlook to food now. I meal prep and just eat that, and if I do snack it's not the diet-busting binges I once went on. Initially (immediately post-surgery) the gas was painful. That lasted 2-3 days. After that, it was the loss of strength from eating so little—some of my work is physical and I was no longer able to do it for a while. That also passed. Also, the bariatric diet from my clinic was written for sedentary people, and I am most definitely not sedentary. I got in a huge fight with the bariatric nutritionist (she tried to shame me for eating 800 cal a day instead of 400-500 at three months out), fired her, and hired a nutrition coach who now has me eating 1600-2000 cal a day depending on activity level, and I'm still losing.

From Healthline https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stomach-ulcer-remedies#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9 : Licorice may stimulate the stomach and intestines to produce more mucus, which helps protect the stomach lining. The extra mucus may also help speed up the healing process and help reduce ulcer-related pain. Researchers further report that certain compounds found in licorice may prevent the growth of H. pylori. However, studies are generally based on the use of these compounds in supplement form. (Why I was looking for a means to take this as a supplement) ... In one study, aloe vera consumption significantly reduced the amount of stomach acid produced in rats suffering from ulcers. In another study in rats, aloe vera had ulcer-healing effects comparable to omeprazole, a common anti-ulcer medication. However, few studies have been done in humans. In one, a concentrated aloe vera drink was used to successfully treat 12 patients with stomach ulcers. In another study, taking antibiotics with 1.4 mg/pound (3 mg/kg) of aloe vera daily for six weeks was as effective as the conventional treatment at healing ulcers and reducing H. pylori levels.

My 1 week liquid diet starts 4/29! Very close to yours. Can’t wait.

In 1 month, it will have been a year since my surgery. I have gone from 286 lbs to 168 lbs. I like how I look and I feel better in some ways. However, my energy level has not improved much and I am still soooo tired. Also my pain issues have actually worsened and I cant go a day without sucking childrens liquid ibuprofen straight from the bottle! But I was hanging in there and doing ok. But for the past 2-3 weeks, I constantly belch and feel icky for 15-30 minutes after eating. Any ideas as to what may be going on? Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Hello, Im new to this group, just joined today. My surgery is set for May 11. I start my two-week preop diet on April 27. Im nervous and excited, but mostly ready to get this journey underway and get healthy again!!

Has your surgeon had you work with a dietician yet? My dietician was WONDERFUL. She worked with me on discussing my personal food preferences and established goals. I've almost lost 50 lbs and haven't started the liquid preop yet. I'm on a very high protein, low fat, low carb diet. Lots of baked fish, chicken, and green veggies. Also supplementing protein shakes to get to my protein goals for the day. I found the first week was the hardest. But the carb cravings stop.

I was able to sit up and be pretty much normal by the 3rd day but as others have noted, everybody is different. The pain I felt throughout the week was mostly incision pains which would've been doable for a 4 hour flight. The long walks at the airport though is something I would hesitate to do but then again the next morning after my surgery when I went home I had to walk a long way to get to our car (huge hospital and parking lot), and I was okay. Good luck and congrats to your upcoming surgery.

I’m 17 months out my starting weight was 245 and now I’m at 155 and this past week I lost 5 pounds I’m drinking water now a lot . I’m a caregiver and I sit with people in there home . So I do take tuna for lunch with ritz crackers any suggestions I need then I do take a small orange and I do drink 2 shake a day to get my protein in . I’m planning to get skin surgery in 6 months

Hi Marianne hope you're well, I might be postponed due to a iron infusion, we'll find out on Tuesday as I had it done on the 14th and I was told it that iron-transfer does not settle before 4 weeks even if there's a blood test it won't give accurate results, the surgery is due soon the results wont be accurate to get the all clear I'm assuming. So it's really up to the hospital to decide what the decision will be with this situation they may postpone they may not I'm just waiting for Tuesday to call them find out but will definitely keep you posted.

I love tofu! I wasn't sure if it was alright during puree as it's listed on soft food on most things but if others have tolerated at 2.5 weeks I probably will. I've tolerated everything I've tried so far (limited as it may be) I do have PB powder from Naked Nutrition. It's a little grainy never blends to smooth but that's ok cause my brain interrupts it as like crunch PB in a drink lol

Day 3 y’all! My surgeon and nutritionist have both told me I should be feeling better daily and I’m so blessed in my case this is true. No throwing up today everything is staying down! My water intake is better and I’m currently having some strained cream of chicken soup that I thinned down with my water to make it easier on my tum! Today I’m focused on trying for more protein the thick premier proteins Im waiting for the 1 week mark to try again but I have found these alternatives! V8 has little baby cans that have 10g of protein I found at Walmart and also Gatorade has sugar free with 10g of protein. I also heard of this brand called BiPro that carried protein water that has 20g of protein! Premier protein also has a clear liquid drink that’s high in protein but very sweet, I’m hoping to have some success today with protein intake and get some more walking in! How is everyone else? Anyone want some reviews on the two drinks I’m picking up today? Lots of love ❤️

I had Dr. Mun at the South Bay Kaiser location. I know some doctors outside of Kaiser don’t require weight loss, but I’m pretty sure all doctors within Kaiser require it. They want to make sure you’re serious, and they want your liver to shrink down enough to do the surgery. I was not thrilled about doing the weight loss before the surgery, but share your concerns with your care team. They are there to help. The Options class does everything online, but they keep your weight confidential. They will not disclose your weight to other members in the class. I think I only had to submit my starting weight, then progress weigh-in on week 5, then final weight on week 10. Hope this helps! Doing this with Kaiser is a journey. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but I’m really grateful that they made me do these things before the surgery.

Have you tried different types of protein? There is one powder made from eggs instead of whey protein. I had vomiting for weeks. I wasn’t able to get enough protein all that time, and I survived, so hang in there and hopefully it will get better.

Constipation is very common. But the dosage you’re having all sounds too extreme & are suffering as a result. ☹️ It may take a little while for your body to actually get back into some sort of routine after this & also to have anything to excrete. You’ve basically cleaned yourself out. I took benefibre every day & only a single stool softener when needed. Usually after three days of no movement to keep on top of it like @catwoman7. It wasn’t an every week thing. I also had rolled oats most morning from purée stage - good fibre. You’re not consuming much to begin so your movements tend to be small & you may not go every day until you are eating a greater volume of food each day.