37 days post-op Sleeve

[CJ Porter 93]

Hello everyone! My name is CJ, and I had a VSG done on August 31, 2015. Recovery was uneventful. Doctor wanted to send me home next day since I was keeping things down and I passed the gas test, but, I felt I was too unsteady on my feet. I stayed another night and went home to begin my clear liquid diet.

I started this process at 298 pounds, 5'3". I began low-carbing when I first met with my surgeon in June and right now I'm at 251 pounds. I'm a type II diabetic and was on 4 diabetes medications before surgery. One medication has been discontinued. I'm still taking metformin and the amounts of insulin (long and short acting) are significantly lower.

I do believe this is the best decision I've ever made. I'm working in the exercise and sticking to my post-surgery diet. There are just a few things that are bothering me right now and was wondering if anyone else experienced the same things.

No matter how much Water I drink, I get incredibly hungry in between meals. I've been doing 3 small meals and 3 small Snacks (and still consuming about 800 calories a day) but I wasn't expecting to feel so very hungry all the time. Anyone else experience this? I saw on the FAQ that it often is heartburn but I'm on prilosec twice a day, so, I can't imagine that wouldn't be helping to combat that.

The other thing I'm experiencing right now is just stomach discomfort. It's not really pain, and it's not after I've eaten. It's just a persistent uncomfortable feeling. I've got a doctor's appointment next week and will mention it to him, however, I'd like to hear from other bariatric patients too. I figure no one knows what I'm going through better than you all.

Thank you in advance for your replies. I'm looking forward to meeting people here!

CJ

[Trinn 139]

Is your Water flavored, or plain? Does it happen if you have flavored water? I mean, with Mio drops, or sugar free Torani syrups or whatever. I am on a PPI too, but I have similar symptoms -- my tummy sometimes feels "growly" a while after eating, as if I'm hungry again. So, I don't think of it as much as heartburn, but as ...well, healing. Because I know that when I have wounds or injuries, they go through a period of feeling achy. If you are bruised, the bruise can take a while to heal, and when it's doing that, it can feel sore. And also, I know when I'm healing from a wound (like the incisions) sometimes it itches.

So, I sometimes think, "Wow, that feels like hunger, but it might just be the feeling of healing." My surgery was the day after yours, so I'm in about the same stage of healing. And yes, I sometimes feel discomfort. When I do, I think of it like using a muscle too soon after an injury, and I give it something more gentle for the next meal. A Protein shake instead of some chicken breast, for example.

I hope this helps a little.

[CJ Porter 93]

Thank you Trinn! Your response helps a great deal.

I'm giving the flavored Water a try today. Also picked up some Decaf coffee. It's not the same but I miss coffee so much... So we'll see how it goes.

I find I'm also a little impatient - I expect I should be fully healed, and the weight should be dropping off without me even thinking about it. I think that may play into my expectation of not feeling discomfort.

CJ