Advice/Help Appreciated: Is this normal? 9 Weeks PO

[Loz77 12]

Hey Guys,

I just found this site after a hopeful search looking for someone who has or is going through something similar.

I had RNY with a Minimizer Ring on the 18^th of February 2020. I am 43 and 5ft 9In. My surgery weight was 296 pounds and I am now 238 pounds. A loss of 58 pounds so far.

I had been planning/researching the surgery for 5 years and after my last failed attempt of maintaining, went ahead with surgery with full knowledge of what to expect (well so I thought).

For full disclosure, my weight problems I think were based on years of yo-yo dieting. Mainly extreme calorie cutting and exercise to get to normal weight. However, when off the ‘diet wagon’ I would only eat a huge meal once a day after not eating all day and being starving when I got home. Usually meals were very much carb based with heavy sauces. I would eat normally on the weekend, but overly big portion sizes. I am not a sweet tooth or an emotional eater, nor am I a fussy eater. I also loved coke zero, which I have just found out is apparently a trickster. Anyways, I think I ruined my metabolism and losing weight was no longer working like it used to!

What I expected:

• · 5-10 days of a Keto kind of flu whilst my body adjusted to fat burning mode

• · Minimal appetite, but still some kind of signal I needed to eat

• · Being easily satiated with small amounts of food

• · Having to chew my food 20-30 times

• · No Water 30 mins before or 60 mins after food

• · Protein first, avoid simple carbs

What I did not expect

• · Persistent nausea

• · Aversions to all meat/poultry/fish and eggs (physically make me heave) and other random things (sour cream, mushrooms, pumpkin Soup, cheese that has been grilled)

• · Complete and utter exhaustion to the point where my personal hygiene is embarrassing because sometimes I can’t muster enough energy to have a shower for days

• · Dumping sometimes trying food for the first time, sometimes after having food that did not make me dump last time (for me it is sweating, heart racing, severe cramps and diarrhoea within 30 mins of eating)

• · Being so uncomfortably full even if it is just water, or a couple of tiny bites of food. I get less than 1000 calories in a week

• · That chewing the food so many times would make most foods unpalatable and having to spit it out or throw up

• · The amount of times I belch, heave and bring up thick saliva……all day…..its disgusting and embarrassing!

I had read many stories before the surgery, some positive and some negative and was always quick to judge people thinking they were just negative Nancy’s or hypochondriacs and like attention. So it hard to write this post knowing a lot of people will think what I did.

I have had scans with contrasts and there are no issues. I have been hospitalised for dehydration, low potassium and high blood ketones. Ketones are normal due to weigh loss. Dehydration and potassium easily fixed with IV Fluid.< /p>

I have a gastroscope tomorrow morning to check if there is scar tissue etc causing my issues.

BUT WHAT IF THEY FIND NOTHING???? WILL THIS BE MY FOREVER??? HAS ANYONE DEALT WITH ANYTHING SIMILAR OR IS IT JUST MY BODY FREAKING OUT AND TAKING LONGER THAN NORMAL TO ADJUST?

Thanks if you read this far, it really means a lot. I would love to hear from you. I am open to all feedback.

Best,

Laura (Alice Springs, Australia)

[catwoman7 11,212]

I'm not sure what to make of this. Some of it could be due to a stricture, which the gastroscopy will find - and that's an easy fix (I had to do it twice - at 4 weeks out and again at 8 weeks out). I'm not sure about the rest of it. You're right in that what you're going through (other than stricture-related stuff, which happens to about 5% of bypass patients) is pretty rare - but I'm so sorry you're going through that!

EDITED to add: you know, I just re-read this. I suppose this COULD all be related to a stricture - the extreme exhaustion could be due to the fact you're unable to take in very many calories (due to the stricture - if in fact that's what it is). A lot of this other stuff is similar to what I experienced when I had strictures. Please keep us updated - I'm curious to see what they think is going on.

Edited April 16, 2020 by catwoman7

[Loz77 12]

Hey MsMocie and catwoman7,

Thanks for your replies! I was given 5L of PlasmaLyte and 3 bags of potassium before the anaesthetist would put me to sleep yesterday. Unfortunately but fortunately, they found nothing to explain why I feel this way........although today I’ve felt better.......but then again I always do a bit after receiving fluids. I try to keep on top of it but the fullness and nausea hinders me and I get back into this viscous circle. I just want to be my old self again!

MsMocie, has was your GP visit?

catwoman7, I appreciate your thoughts, it’s good to know I’m not alone!

L x

[Loz77 12]

13 minutes ago, MsMocie said:

My GPs visit ended up with me beeing sent to the hospital so we didn't get a chance to talk about the medicine. Next visit is schedueled to take all labs and discuss my road forward, so I'll talk to him then. What is really funny, is that because he wanted me in the hospital - he took some standard labs; Bloodsugar, hemoglobin, CRP. All of them were fine, even though my bloodsugar was at 6,1!! 6,1 I expressed my concerns about it beeing to high, but got brushed of because I had some battery energi drink with sugar that morning. I just gonna stop drinking them

Also labs in the hospital were just fine besides my leucocyts beeing to high and BP to low. Both GP and hospital think most of my issues are because of low BP and the ody adjusting to this very low weight which it hasn't had since I was 10 years old. It might be, but still doesn't explain why things get stuck in my throath and why food has this awful smell and the aversion to eating things that have a wrong consistency. I am certain that there is a stricture or something like that. It can't be only adjustments and the likes. As I say when the docs ask me to tell what wrong, I can't actually put my finger on one thing, but there is SOMETHING that isn't what it should be, and I don't think the surgery and it's anatomy is to blame on its own - I love my surgery and would rather have a few spoons of food than ALL the food

What I have learned on the journey since this began around newyears:
- I need to keep hydrated. If I go below 1 liter EVERYTHING gets worse. So I drink, and yes I cheat a little - I drink sugarfree lemonade very often to make it taste better. I also started drinking energy drinks even though I never liked them B.S (before surgery).
- Eat things that require less chewing. Raw carrots is a thing I can't eat unless chewed to mosh, so I just don't bother. Youghurt and cottage cheese doesn't need to be chewed 30 times, so these are staples on days I feel like I will eat it.
- Because I have cerebral palsey I learned way before surgery to "distribute" my energy to the correct places on days I had less to give. A shower was a big deal 3-4 months ago for me, now I have learned some tricks to make it less exhausting, like washing the hair only when needed to. I try to keep up with hygine because it creates less dirty clothes than poor hygiene.

I have faith most issues will get better day by day, and taken this food aversion thing as a blessing. I think you are lucky to have this at 9 weeks instead of 4-5 months out suddenly. Maybe it is just post traumatic stress on your body.

Yes! The chewing makes everything so unpalatable! What is a normal blood sugar result? Mine was 5.1 after not eating for nearly 24 hours, I thought abnormal was like 12 or something, does this mean you may be diabetic too? Not that it would explain your food sticking and aversions. I think as long as you are eating/drinking whatever you want in moderation it shouldn’t be a problem...... Everything to me tastes different since the surgery, it’s so weird, I can only think it is because of this awful taste in my mouth that doesn’t go away despite brushing/flossing/mouthwash!
I really like my Water cold so have it with ice, I sometimes dilute it with cold pressed apple juice for energy, especially during the work week otherwise I would just be a mess. Luckily it’s a completely sedentary job that I don’t need to expend any thought into at the moment.
I only wash my hair once a week too and end up sitting in the shower most times if I don’t get in and out in 2 minutes!
What a legend for having a secondary issue plus this, I really shouldn’t complain! It’s true, I’ve only been feeling like this for 7 weeks and it sounds like you’ve had it for a while, I just need to toughen up!
Sending you lots of positive vibes,

L x

[Zom B 16]

On 4/15/2020 at 10:59 PM, Loz77 said:

Hey Guys,

I just found this site after a hopeful search looking for someone who has or is going through something similar.

I had RNY with a Minimizer Ring on the 18^th of February 2020. I am 43 and 5ft 9In. My surgery weight was 296 pounds and I am now 238 pounds. A loss of 58 pounds so far.

I had been planning/researching the surgery for 5 years and after my last failed attempt of maintaining, went ahead with surgery with full knowledge of what to expect (well so I thought).

For full disclosure, my weight problems I think were based on years of yo-yo dieting. Mainly extreme calorie cutting and exercise to get to normal weight. However, when off the ‘diet wagon’ I would only eat a huge meal once a day after not eating all day and being starving when I got home. Usually meals were very much carb based with heavy sauces. I would eat normally on the weekend, but overly big portion sizes. I am not a sweet tooth or an emotional eater, nor am I a fussy eater. I also loved coke zero, which I have just found out is apparently a trickster. Anyways, I think I ruined my metabolism and losing weight was no longer working like it used to!

What I expected:

• · 5-10 days of a Keto kind of flu whilst my body adjusted to fat burning mode

• · Minimal appetite, but still some kind of signal I needed to eat

• · Being easily satiated with small amounts of food

• · Having to chew my food 20-30 times

• · No Water 30 mins before or 60 mins after food

• · Protein first, avoid simple carbs

What I did not expect

• · Persistent nausea

• · Aversions to all meat/poultry/fish and eggs (physically make me heave) and other random things (sour cream, mushrooms, pumpkin Soup, cheese that has been grilled)

• · Complete and utter exhaustion to the point where my personal hygiene is embarrassing because sometimes I can’t muster enough energy to have a shower for days

• · Dumping sometimes trying food for the first time, sometimes after having food that did not make me dump last time (for me it is sweating, heart racing, severe cramps and diarrhoea within 30 mins of eating)

• · Being so uncomfortably full even if it is just Water, or a couple of tiny bites of food. I get less than 1000 calories in a week

• · That chewing the food so many times would make most foods unpalatable and having to spit it out or throw up

• · The amount of times I belch, heave and bring up thick saliva……all day…..its disgusting and embarrassing!

I had read many stories before the surgery, some positive and some negative and was always quick to judge people thinking they were just negative Nancy’s or hypochondriacs and like attention. So it hard to write this post knowing a lot of people will think what I did.

I have had scans with contrasts and there are no issues. I have been hospitalised for dehydration, low potassium and high blood ketones. Ketones are normal due to weigh loss. Dehydration and potassium easily fixed with IV Fluid.< /p>

I have a gastroscope tomorrow morning to check if there is scar tissue etc causing my issues.

BUT WHAT IF THEY FIND NOTHING???? WILL THIS BE MY FOREVER??? HAS ANYONE DEALT WITH ANYTHING SIMILAR OR IS IT JUST MY BODY FREAKING OUT AND TAKING LONGER THAN NORMAL TO ADJUST?

Thanks if you read this far, it really means a lot. I would love to hear from you. I am open to all feedback.

Best,

Laura (Alice Springs, Australia)

Hi,

Very curios if you have an update? Did you need further procedures? Did your body eventually acclimate?
thx

[tarotcardreader 196]

On 4/15/2020 at 7:59 PM, Loz77 said:

Hey Guys,

I just found this site after a hopeful search looking for someone who has or is going through something similar.

I had RNY with a Minimizer Ring on the 18^th of February 2020. I am 43 and 5ft 9In. My surgery weight was 296 pounds and I am now 238 pounds. A loss of 58 pounds so far.

I had been planning/researching the surgery for 5 years and after my last failed attempt of maintaining, went ahead with surgery with full knowledge of what to expect (well so I thought).

For full disclosure, my weight problems I think were based on years of yo-yo dieting. Mainly extreme calorie cutting and exercise to get to normal weight. However, when off the ‘diet wagon’ I would only eat a huge meal once a day after not eating all day and being starving when I got home. Usually meals were very much carb based with heavy sauces. I would eat normally on the weekend, but overly big portion sizes. I am not a sweet tooth or an emotional eater, nor am I a fussy eater. I also loved coke zero, which I have just found out is apparently a trickster. Anyways, I think I ruined my metabolism and losing weight was no longer working like it used to!

What I expected:

• · 5-10 days of a Keto kind of flu whilst my body adjusted to fat burning mode

• · Minimal appetite, but still some kind of signal I needed to eat

• · Being easily satiated with small amounts of food

• · Having to chew my food 20-30 times

• · No Water 30 mins before or 60 mins after food

• · Protein first, avoid simple carbs

What I did not expect

• · Persistent nausea

• · Aversions to all meat/poultry/fish and eggs (physically make me heave) and other random things (sour cream, mushrooms, pumpkin Soup, cheese that has been grilled)

• · Complete and utter exhaustion to the point where my personal hygiene is embarrassing because sometimes I can’t muster enough energy to have a shower for days

• · Dumping sometimes trying food for the first time, sometimes after having food that did not make me dump last time (for me it is sweating, heart racing, severe cramps and diarrhoea within 30 mins of eating)

• · Being so uncomfortably full even if it is just Water, or a couple of tiny bites of food. I get less than 1000 calories in a week

• · That chewing the food so many times would make most foods unpalatable and having to spit it out or throw up

• · The amount of times I belch, heave and bring up thick saliva……all day…..its disgusting and embarrassing!

I had read many stories before the surgery, some positive and some negative and was always quick to judge people thinking they were just negative Nancy’s or hypochondriacs and like attention. So it hard to write this post knowing a lot of people will think what I did.

I have had scans with contrasts and there are no issues. I have been hospitalised for dehydration, low potassium and high blood ketones. Ketones are normal due to weigh loss. Dehydration and potassium easily fixed with IV Fluid.< /p>

I have a gastroscope tomorrow morning to check if there is scar tissue etc causing my issues.

BUT WHAT IF THEY FIND NOTHING???? WILL THIS BE MY FOREVER??? HAS ANYONE DEALT WITH ANYTHING SIMILAR OR IS IT JUST MY BODY FREAKING OUT AND TAKING LONGER THAN NORMAL TO ADJUST?

Thanks if you read this far, it really means a lot. I would love to hear from you. I am open to all feedback.

Best,

Laura (Alice Springs, Australia)

Hi laura this is just a quick note to say that so far yeah ive experienced all those things. I hope tek replies to your post because hes 17 years out that gives a good idea of whether it can be permanent