Pain While Eating

[Tiff187 14]

I'm 5 days post-op and I find that if I eat anything remotely cold, my stomach hurts with every bite. Almost like a gas pain, but worse. Is that normal? I take a bite, pain, pain subsides, take a bite, pain, pain subsides, repeat. With warmer food it doesn't seem to hurt as bad. I'm terrified of life ahead being like this. Right now I'm totally regretting getting a sleeve. I'd rather be overweight for the rest of my life than be in constant pain. When did your pain go away?

[thedogsmommy 16]

5 days out, what are you eating ??? Cannot imagine any Doctor letting anyone eat any food 5 days out ??? You have a lot of healing to do. You can't regret your surgery already you have no idea how you are going to feel 6 months from now. Remember you cannot rush anything. Be patient and stick to the correct diet for your 5 days out.

[Tiff187 14]

I'm on the clear liquid diet, only eating broth, popsicles, that sort of thing.

[gustavo52974 369]

My surgeon wouldn't even let me have popsicles...or Jello for that matter. Are you taking bites out of the popsicle, or are you just licking it?

[enigmachik 403]

Hang in there, It's common for some people to not be able to tolerate cold foods (and liquids) this early out. You will enjoy them again in time, but for now your new tummy needs to heal and it's telling you it isn't ready for cold stuff yet. Give it time, you will heal and you will grow to love your sleeve in time. The healing process is long, longer than most of us realized even when we read up and researched it...being in the situation suddenly makes it seem longer, but it will happen. Hang in there.

[Tiff187 14]

@Guatavo--just licking the popsicles. Or taking small bites of Jello.< /p>

@Enigmachik--Thank you for being so supportive. You're right, I did tons of research before my surgery and thought I was going into it pretty well educated, but now I think I went in blind. I had no idea about cold stuff bothering me. Now I worry about switching to the heavy liquid diet on Tuesday--I don't know how I'm going to drink my Protein Shake warm. Yuck.

[bethL 48]

Hold up. It frustrates me to no end when some one posts something and every one acts as though he or she is doing something wrong. My doctor allowed me unlimited Popsicles (bites included) and other clear sugar free liquids including low sodium broth as soon as I was discharged from the hospital on day 2. I was only on Clear Liquids while in the hospital and was instructed to begin adding milk to get to full liquids as tolerated. Please remember that every doctor is different. To answer your question, Tiff187, I am 1 week out and also get the pain. At first it was with everything (even water). Now, it's only with heavier items such as my Vitamins and milk. When we put things in our stomachs (anything - Water, etc), it naturally causes contractions of the muscles to push the food and liquid through the stomach into the intestine. Normally we cant feel this, but we can feel it post-up. Every one is different. Some people have more pain with hot things, others have more pain with cold things. Just do what you can tolerate so long as it is on the plan that you have. You'll be great!

[Tiff187 14]

Thank you so much, BethL. I guess in my first post I wasn't clear enough and gave domommy the impression that I was eating actual food? I really appreciate the support. I guess I'm starting to doubt my decision because I didn't expect to feel this way. But if you guys have been through it, I can get thought it too, right? I'm looking forward to being 2 months out!

[Lissa 2,631]

I loved broth while I was on liquids. I drank it lukewarm and it soothed my tummy. It's got a little Protein and I did try to either make my own or buy low sodium broth, but that was my lifesaver back then. It DOES get better!

Good luck!!

[gustavo52974 369]

Hold up. It frustrates me to no end when some one posts something and every one acts as though he or she is doing something wrong.

Well it frustrates me to no end when people say that their surgeon allows them to eat things like this and then they post here that they're having problems with it. No, it's not their fault that they're having problems if they were allowed to have it. I'm just always taken by surprise by what others are allowed to eat.

[DEZ1975 170]

I could only tolerate warm tea for 7 days then all of a sudden I was ok with cold liquid and Popsicles. I had the same pain as you, and it gets better.

[traceyinflorida 499]

Tiff187, from a surgical perspective, I felt great post op. But "eating" my full liquids and drinking my Water was really rough in the beginning. There were several times that I questioned why I did this to myself. I thought, I do not want to have to put this much thought and effort into eating and drinking all the time! Just trying to drink 64 oz of water when only sipping and having pain and nausea accomany that was such a challenge, but combine that with not drinking at least 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after my Protein Shake or broth made it a downright 18 hour JOB! I seriously thought I would be faced with that the rest of my life. It is definitely not the case. Each day got easier and easier to drink more water. I also finally followed my doctor's advice to just focus on the fluids and not worry so much about the Proteins in the beginning. Little by little I was able to get more and more Protein shake down. The pureed and soft food stages brought on new challenges, but were easier to deal with. You will start to learn your body. You will learn when you need to drink more fluids, or eat some protein, or when to take the last bite. You will have some trial and error and will make some mistakes. You will also have to plan ahead some times....but this will become second nature and will become much easier. You've already learned that cold things are not working for you, so focus on warm for now and try a little cold in a few days to see how you do. I promise you will not be relegated to warming all of your meals and drinks for the rest of your life! I too felt a little unprepared for how difficult the first month, especially the first couple of weeks would be. It seemed like my support group (two friends who had bypass operations years before) either had amnesia about that part, or did not experience it since their operation was different. Thank goodness I found this forum! Hang in there. You are going to rock your sleeve and start seeing all of the benefits before long and probably have amnesia about this part some day too!!

[NDN_RN 527]

Just on a perspective of the cold bothering you: cold causes vasoconstriction ( blood vessels contracting) and muscles to contract. It may just be that that is causing the pain. Stick to warm or room temp liquids and little sips should help a lot. (not sleeved, just an RN perspective)

[annab 6]

I agree with BethL. I was on pureed foods before leaving the hospital. People really freak on here. Each surgeon has a different post op diet and lots of experience with it. I'm grateful that I'm on purees and I'm only 3 days post op.

[Tiff187 14]

@Lissa-Thanks for the support! broth is what I'm doing most of the time aside from Water. I haven't had any trouble from it yet.

@Guatavo-I can understand why it might be frustrating, but I think the others have a good point. Each surgeon has different "rules", and some are harder to tolerate than others. I'm sure 99.9% of us stay on our prescribed diet but still have issues that arise.

@DEZ1975-Thank you for your post. It's nice to know I'm not alone!

@Tracey-OMG thank you so much for responding. I'm having a difficult time taking everything in too. I really have no appetite so I force myself. Odd, because I thought I would be really hungry! Is there a way to "friend" people on here? I would really love your guidance as I progress through this.

@NDNRN-Thank you for your perspective. I'm a logical thinker and that makes sense to me.

@annab-Thank you for responding. I have noticed that some people have quick tempers on here. I wish I'd had your doctor!