Regrets after Gastric Sleeve Surgery, is this normal?

[Heidi Anderson 8]

So thankful to have this post! I am two days out and the psychological stuff has beat me up badly. Of course that is what I dwell on instead of the positive things. Thanks to all who have posted here. It has helped!

[Disney24fan 11]

I am 3 1/2 weeks post surgery and am having similar feelings. I struggle getting 60 oz of Fluid in a day and ended up in er for dehydration. I have now learned to sip Water every 10 minutes. The hardest part for me right now is watching my family eat "normal" food while I can't. This is so depressing. Tonight I was crying wondering why in the world did I do this?? I reading posts about depression after surgery helped me feel like I am not alone with my feelings and they are normal. I have to remember and focus on the positives... I'm losing weight, I'm off one of my blood pressure meds, and my cholesterol is now in the normal range. Find something positive and hold on to that and take one day at a time.

[snwitter 3]

I am 5 days post - op and have felt this exact same way. I "feel" hungry and want so badly to just eat food. My doctor has his patients do a full liquid diet for 5 weeks after surgery. I cannot fathom how I am going to not "eat" for that long. I feel alone and have so many regrets. The sad part is I live with someone who went through this surgery and is doing GREAT. So you would think I could push through the mental stuff. But it is killing me right now. I miss food and cannot wait to feel normal again. Whatever "normal" is anyway. I see my husband and know that it will get better. I just have to convince myself of that fact!

[Wmc1231 16]

I bet living with someone who has gone through it will help in time. This website is giving me a great deal of strength and support. My colleague, a psychiatrist reminded me tonight that we are all grieving after this type of surgery, there is loss along with the tremendous gains. The trick is to focus on the positives, which feels difficult right now.

[kathybudzicki 8]

I should first start out that my husband is and has been extremely supportive through all of this. However, this morning I wake up to oreo Cookies (one of my favorites) on the kitchen counter. I started to get annoyed and think what the heck is up with that!! Thank goodness he is still sleeping because after I thought about it, he has never had a problem to stop eating when he is full, He can easily "pass up" food without a problem. After realizing this, I know he didn't intentionally leave the oreos out on the counter. He simply just doesn't have the food issues that I have so it's not the first thing on his mind. I will, however, remind him when he wakes up that it's just plain not helpful:-))))

[haleytrim 244]

Thanks to all of you who have posted!!

[4me4them 381]

At my final class with the nurse coordinator she told us about "buyers remorse". She said almost everyone has it the first couple of days...some dwell on it longer than others. Hang in there...you can do it! I once had a personal trainer who said "You can do anything for a minute" of course this was while she was trying to get me to run at 5mph while weighing close to 300 pounds but that is another story.

You.Can.Succeed.

[Disney24fan 11]

Thanks to all who responded. It is very helpful ton now this feeling is "normal" and I am not alone!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Just FYI, my buyers remorse (more like astonishment that I'd done something so permanent to my body) hit on Day Two post-op.

That was also the last day I took any hydrocodone, which was having a VERY weird (and not positive) effect on me. Happily, I was having a very easy physical recovery, so it was easy to stop taking the medication.

In other words, I thought the depressive effects of hydrocodone contributed to my 24-hour remorse .

That may not have anything to do with your situation, but am just offering this observation about my own experience.

By Day Three I was Pollyanna again. That's not to say that I didn't find the first week challenging, especially learning how to swallow again. But by Day Five I was hitting 60 grams of Protein (with Protein shakes, of course).

I've been so fortunate and am grateful for that.

[Wmc1231 16]

We're you able to get 60 oz Protein and 60 oz liquid in? Tight now day 2 post op and I can't get all the liquid down, it feels very much nd omfortable. I hope this gets better.

[EmmaKathleen 28]

Just wanted to offer some support. And I'll echo what everyone is saying. Feeling regrets is totally normal, and I bet you'll start to feel differently once you start losing the weight and feeling better. Good luck!

[gottagonow 82]

I did not read others' comments b/c I wanted to be real. You are not far out at all. I am 6 months out and I do have regrets. There are those that everything is spectacular and then there are others. I simply cannot eat much at all and it is obvious. I am tall and frankly, too thin. I did have my Vitamin levels checked and all is fine there. My problem is that when I eat I experience pain in my stomach. I know I will have to address this. For the time being, I am enjoying my pre-made plans and I will deal with this later.

I never had any desire to be skinny; as I was never really obese. More than that, socially it's obvious. I have literally wrapped food in napkins to avoid comments.

For those who date, I recommend tapas restaurants.

[Disney24fan 11]

We're you able to get 60 oz Protein and 60 oz liquid in? Tight now day 2 post op and I can't get all the liquid down, it feels very much nd omfortable. I hope this gets better.

My Protein Shakes count towards my 60 oz of liquid per day. It was hard in the beginning, but it gets easier. My make sure I am sipping something every 10 minutes. The first few days home I set a timer and drank each time it went off. Did not want to end up dehydrated in er again!!! I also started to drink Vitamin Water zero which tastes really good!

[Unstoppable 15]

YES!!! What you are feeling is completely normal. Hang in there before you know it you will start feeling so much better. Cheering for you.

[dsmith_rn 186]

IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL TO FEEL THIS WAY!

It really hit me at about 2 weeks out. I made an appt with the psych in my surgeon's office. He told me to remind myself WHY I did the surgery in the first place, and to focus on my goals and the future. It helped a little, not a lot. BUT....it does pass on its own!

Now I love, love, LOVE my sleeve and I'm so grateful I did it! At 6 months out I've lost 60 lb, only 15-20 more to go! I wear a size 14/large, which is getting loose on me already. I'm off my BP meds and my lipid panel and all other labs look fabulous, I'm healthier than I've been since I was a teenager (I'm 49 now). I constantly get compliments about how great I look and several people call me "skinny" (wow!). So it's definitely WORTH IT.

The first 2 months post-op were really hard (mentally). I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be. I recall now how miserable it was not being able to eat solid food, but now that's nothing but a distant memory. I eat normal food now (always protein-focused, very low-carb), I collect bariatric recipes constantly and feel like I eat healthy AND eat well (meaning, sleeve space is at a premium, so whatever goes into my mouth has to taste fantastic!).

Don't stress over the Fluid and Protein intake in the beginning. Mine was very low in the beginning. My sugeon told me that our bodies have enough Protein stores to get us through a couple of months. I don't know what my protein intake is now as I don't count grams. I just make sure every meal and snack is protein-focused and don't worry about it. My Fluid intake at 6 months out is about 40 oz/day which is absolutely fine. It took me awhile to get to 40! But I'm very healthy and my doc and I are both very happy.

Hang in there, trust me it gets WAY better!