The Fickle Pouch

[bloreorbust 286]

Some days it wants a bowl full of food, and some days just a few bites. Today it's a few bites, and heartburn all day. Blah.

[1Day1Life4Now 882]

Oh I can relate. I have the worest reflux and heartburn. Drives me insane.

[Iambeautiful 100]

@bloreorbust I hear ya..... Same here!! Today at eight weeks post op.... I'm feeling terribly nauseated and I actually vommited a small amount today. I ate some raw veggies....which i was told I could try now.... And it totally disagreed with me...... i had yoghurt for dinner... that's it for me today.....ughhhh...... I thought this would get better by now but i see that you are further out from surgery than me..... I don't think I can ever eat a 'bowl' of food yet....I hope this all works to my advantage.... I just can't weigh myself every day..... it's causes too much anxiety for me but everyone tells me i look like I'm really coming down and I have lost almost 35 lbs but haven't weighed myself again.

[bloreorbust 286]

Granted, a bowl full is still only 1/3-1/2 cup, I couldn't even manage that today. Everything I tried I got 4-5 bites and felt stuffed to the gills. Hiccups and all.

It gets better figuring out how much of everything you can handle, but there's definitely still days like this.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I am 11 months post-op. I lost 20 pounds pre-op and 80 pounds post-op. I am now down to 160 pounds and at the bottom of my weight loss. It took me 6 months to reach a happy state. Part of this was figuring out a meal plan that works for me. I figured out that when you mix food groups together, they can make eating enjoyable again. At week 9 after surgery, I had enough volume in the meals and enough ingredients on the approved lists to do just this. Since then I have been eating Soups or chili for each meal and loving it. These are homemade and contain around twice the Protein of store bought Soups and chili. The interesting thing about this approach is that I do not have any pain (heartburn, nausea, dumping) when I eat as I initially experienced with solids.

[DarlaHood 7]

Just wondering if you guys take preventative heartburn pills - like Prilosec? My doc has me on that.

[Blue614 133]

My doc has me on protonix, and I've had no issue with gas or heartburn.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Just wondering if you guys take preventative heartburn pills - like Prilosec? My doc has me on that.

My doctor prescribed Omeprazole (20 Mg) which is also sold over-the-counter as Prilosec to me (and I suspect all his patients that undergo gastric bypass surgery) once per day for the first year following surgery. He did this to allow the stomach to heal. It's a good question because Prilosec is used to treat heartburn caused by acid-induced inflammation and ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.

[ajustice 484]

I took Pepcid 2x a day for 11 months. My dr has now moved me to Zantac twice daily.

[relief57 53]

My biggest concern is finding the right foods and amounts without getting ill.

James, thanks for the info. How were you able to pick the right foods from the beginning?

Iambeautiful: keep in mind that loosing fat and building muscle may not register on the scale the way we want it to so, if others are seeing you must be doing something right.

[James Marusek 5,244]

My biggest concern is finding the right foods and amounts without getting ill.

James, thanks for the info. How were you able to pick the right foods from the beginning?

Iambeautiful: keep in mind that loosing fat and building muscle may not register on the scale the way we want it to so, if others are seeing you must be doing something right.

I wasn't able to pick the right foods from the beginning. All foods lost their taste. I like scrambled eggs before surgery and they were tasteless after surgery. Everything was a pain. But I experimented a lot and finally found things that would work for me. Although we are conditioned to believe we will die if we do not eat, right after surgery foods are not so important, its the Vitamins and Protein supplements that are the drivers. Around the time I reached a volume of 1/3 cup per meal, I stumbled into chili which I ate for 3 meals per day. Later I added high Protein Soups to add a little variety to the menu.

[Carol P 29]

I go into for my 12 week checkup tomorrow and agree that I still have a fickle pouch. Like my NUT said, many patients name their pouches because they have their own personality. :-) I'm trying to figure out what it likes and what it doesn't and what makes me nauseous and what doesn't. Like bloreorbust said, some days I can be stuffed to the gills and other days I'm hungry and feel like I can eat anything. My doctor prescribed Omeprazole too and I take that once per day. He mentioned being on it for about four months to help with the healing. So every day is a new experience. I have great experiences the last two weeks trying lots of new foods without much adverse reaction. I'm thrilled about that as I travel a lot for business and it isn't fun to be at a dinner table with clients and have to constantly excuse my self or feel like I'm turning green. Keep up the great work all! I really am blessed to have the support on this site.

[KristinaRnY 455]

Mine too! Somedays I feel like I have a lot less restriction... Other days the thought of food or act of eating makes me want to gag... And some days I just want liquids. So weird.