Things going too well? (6 days post-op)

[Jaguilar 6]

Hey all,

I just had my surgery let week and this is my first post. It sounds awful, but I'm a little disconcerted by how well eating and drinking are going. I use a shot glass to measure my fluids and I can pretty much drink one of those continuously, or at least every 30 seconds/minute or so, seemingly indefinitely. The "food" part for Protein is also going the same way. Being full liquid, I drink most of my food right now, but I generally have 1 cup of skim milk at a time, later maybe a Protein shake (8-11 oz) for a second meal, which I can drink at one sitting using the same shot glass every 30 seconds/minute or so method I do with the drinks (although sometimes I break it into two sittings), and then a 5 oz greek yogurt, which I nurse for about 25-40 minutes. Nausea is non-existent and I never feel hungry. I push for the recommended 64 oz of Fluid and 60 grams Protein a day and generally come close, though never over (no hunger means I don't see the need to exceed the recommended).

Part of the problem is that I never feel full either. All my information from the Dr. says eat until you feel full or satisfied, but I don't ever really feel "fullness", I just eat and drink the recommended and stop. My concern is that I'm actually eating too much or maybe splitting my staples or stretching my stomach without knowing it. All the stuff I read says you should be able to "eat" 2oz of food or a 1/2 cup at a time but I can do the 5oz yogurt or a cup of milk with no problems at all and no fullness. It's like the restriction isn't there at all doing what I'm doing now and considering the risks and possible complications with such a new sleeve I'm not about to go beyond my current regimen to see how far I could go. I guess I'm just new and nervous, but I really would like to hear from anybody about their experiences, whether it happens that people can eat so easily and so "much" (in comparison to what I've read) this early in.

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

By a week out I could drink much more easily than I thought I would. Even now at almost 11 weeks out I feel like my restriction is "less" than what others report. I say "less" because who knows? Believe me, it is there. I finally figured out that if I could eat 4-6 ounces comfortably that was really okay. We are not talking about 2 cups, after all...

Count yourself lucky. Continue to measure things. If you have hunger, ask your doctor about a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) to attack the acid buildup. Your stomach is still creating acid for a large stomach.

Good luck.

[medicyn 32]

I am in the same boat and just posted about it last night. Sounds like we are the lucky ones! I agree about the PPI totally!

[Thick'n'Thin 171]

Same here, but I would say this is a good thing- ideal even. Perhaps we don't have as much post op swelling as some do. I'm glad to not have the challenges some people do with getting fluids and food in, and without pain or discomfort.

[staceyp 29]

Count me in...I'm 3 weeks post op and I have experienced the same. As my food options increase, I just keep measuring. I do find that as I combine foods (2oz egg whites with 1oz cottage cheese), I find that as I get closer to finishing, I am starting to feel a little "fuller" and by fuller it doesn't really feel like that. More of like a stuck/blocked feeling in the lower chest/upper ab area.

I was getting paranoid though thinking the surgeon made kinetic too big or that after all I went through I would still fail but countless ppl told me that a lot of it has to do healing, swelling internally and decreased nerve response. Some people said the whole full restricting feeling came at about 2 months post op.

So I think your pretty normal for those of us who are really lucky to have an easy recovery .

Best of luck to you.

[gomekast 559]

Your nerves will slowly come back to life soon. Mine came in stages..felt significant changes in restriction a couple of times.

First at around week 3ish...then again at about 6-7.

Before these nerves came to life again, I could easily drink anything liquid in just minutes.

Then the nerves came back to life.

Now, I'm lucky to get 2 oz of any meat down in 30 minutes. I can do 4 oz of yogurt or cottage cheese as of a few days ago. But everything else is weighed by the ounce.

Hope this helps. Just keep measuring until you feel it kick in.

[Jaguilar 6]

Thanks for replying, guys! It's good to know there are others out there like me. I'm a still a little concerned about the lack of fullness though. It seems like the fullness feeling is the way you're supposed to know when to stop so you don't burst your staples and cause leaks and a bunch of other nightmare stuff I've read about. If you don't feel full, how do you know when to stop? Even right now, I'm technically "over stuffing" my pouch at 5 oz for the yogurt, when most sources say 2 oz should be the max. Should I just cut it back to 2 oz or 1/2 a Protein Shake to be on the safe side or just continue on with what I'm doing since there don't seem to be any adverse effects so far?

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

That's why we're recommending you measure right now. Try two ounces, if that works well, go for four. Don't go over four for a while.

My best example is the bariatric pudding/shakes. I like them better as puddings (and at the point you are it was nice to have something different.) I could just about finish 4 ounces of pudding. 1/2 cup. So that's what I did.

Then one day I realized that my construct around finishing food was all wrong. Just because it's there and measured, doesn't mean I have to eat it. So I experiment a little. I leave a little on my plate. I mean, if I'm hungry I eat it. But I don't keep eating it.

11 weeks out this is still the hardest thing for me to work on. Unfortunately for me, I don't have Gomekast's restriction, so there is no way to know right now if you will. Therefore, measuring is king.

I will sometimes eat my 2 or 3 ounces, wait 20 minutes. If I am still unsatisfied, I will go measure out another ounce or 2. It works better than starting with 4 or 5 ounces.

[McButterpants 2,846]

Fluff is right on...You may not feel restriction right away. I didn't. I'm still trying to figure out what full feels like and I'm almost 2 months out. I measure and weigh religiously.

Another thing is wet food vs. dense food. I was surprised to find out a couple of weeks ago that I ate 1/2 cup of chili (I was allowed to eat as much as a 1/2 cup, but had not done so to that point). I panicked - did I eat too much? How could my sleeve allow me to eat that much? Then I realized, the chili is wet and some of it probably slid thru the sleeve. The next day I experimented with chicken - I ate only chicken and could only get 1/4 cup down before feeling the restriction. The chicken was much more dense. You're probably seeing the same thing with yogurt - you'll probably be able to eat more yogurt than say scrambled eggs.

My doc made of point of saying, "Eat what's on the plan in the portions you're allowed. Remember, you don't have to eat it all. Stop if you feel feel or restriction."

I have found that there are times I will do a hiccup and burp at the same time, that's a clue that I'm getting full. Other times I my nose will run. Sometimes I feel a "poke" not a pain, but a feeling in my stomach. Once I feel any of these things I stop eating.

You guys are doing great - it's all a learning process. Just listen to your body and stick to your portions.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

Things going too well?

Jaguilar

Don' look a gift horse in the mouth

be happy that things are going along smoothly

i think people sometimes question their "good fortune" because they have heard others saying they are having trouble with this or that

the one thing we have in common, is that we're all different

good for you that you are able to drink and drink without problems

drinking alot is great - you can never drink too much

just make sure you are not gullllping, least not right away

you will start to feel your restriction as time goes by when you are on soft foods and solids

you are doing great

don't look for trouble

good luck

kathy

Edited January 7, 2014 by proudgrammy