How to tell if something doesn't agree with me?

[spaceallthetime 0]

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well I'm new here so sorry if this is the wrong place.

I'm 4 weeks post op, and my surgeon and nutritionist have had me on soft foods for a week and said that I'm cleared to start testing more foods whenever I feel comfortable.

I've been trying things like scrambled eggs (as they didn't sit well in my throat in the early soft food stage) and chewing boiled vegetables up thoroughly.

The thing I'm having difficulty with is that I'm not sure how to tell when things don't agree with me? My "full" is the tenseness in my sternum area, and I get the hiccups. I stop at that point.

Sometimes my stomach starts making weird noises...is that when things aren't right for me yet? Sorry, I know it's probably a super basic question but I'd love to hear how you guys knew when things weren't right for you I don't see my surgeon much (next app in 3 months) and I have so much anxiety around just calling them for something basic. I know what dumping is but I haven't done that yet so I think I'm tracking pretty well?

Any advice you can give from experiences is appreciated! Thanks!

Soph

[ShoppGirl 4,777]

You may not have any food that don’t agree with you. I didn’t. I can eat everything I ate prior to surgery without issues. If you don’t have any pain or discomfort and you are following your plan then you are tolerating it fine.the weird noises are probably just your body digesting. I get them ALOT more than I did pre surgery too. And not all sleevers dump either. I am 11 months out and have had candy bar and still haven’t.

Edited February 9, 2022 by ShoppGirl

[spaceallthetime 0]

11 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

You may not have any food that don’t agree with you. I didn’t. I can eat everything I ate prior to surgery without issues. If you don’t have any pain or discomfort and you are following your plan then you are tolerating it fine.the weird noises are probably just your body digesting. I get them ALOT more than I did pre surgery too. And not all sleevers dump either. I am 11 months out and have had candy bar and still haven’t.

Thank you for the info! I've not had any pain with eating things, sometimes things feel a bit like they're going down slowly or stuck? But not painful. I guess that's normal since everyone is different. I'm just paranoid of ruining this after the money put into it, so I don't want to overlook something and continue eating something that upsets me but I've put it down to a normal side effect if that makes sense?

[suzannethemom 121]

41 minutes ago, spaceallthetime said:

I'm just paranoid of ruining this after the money put into it, so I don't want to overlook something and continue eating something that upsets me but I've put it down to a normal side effect if that makes sense?

THIS is exactly what I'm worried about (no surgery date yet). I don't want to find out the hard way.

[armartin98 103]

1 hour ago, spaceallthetime said:

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well I'm new here so sorry if this is the wrong place.

I'm 4 weeks post op, and my surgeon and nutritionist have had me on soft foods for a week and said that I'm cleared to start testing more foods whenever I feel comfortable.

I've been trying things like scrambled eggs (as they didn't sit well in my throat in the early soft food stage) and chewing boiled vegetables up thoroughly.

The thing I'm having difficulty with is that I'm not sure how to tell when things don't agree with me? My "full" is the tenseness in my sternum area, and I get the hiccups. I stop at that point.

Sometimes my stomach starts making weird noises...is that when things aren't right for me yet? Sorry, I know it's probably a super basic question but I'd love to hear how you guys knew when things weren't right for you I don't see my surgeon much (next app in 3 months) and I have so much anxiety around just calling them for something basic. I know what dumping is but I haven't done that yet so I think I'm tracking pretty well?

Any advice you can give from experiences is appreciated! Thanks!

Soph

Hello! I'm 6 week post op. I eat and drink most things I did before surgery and have never had a major problem. I was told to wait a couple months before I eat carrots and lettuce. I hiccup when I get too full as well. I have never "dumped". I usually can only eat 1/2 cup of food. Good luck to you.

[Arabesque 7,231]

Unfortunately, the only way to find out if your tummy will like a food is to try it & see what happens. Food one person can’t eat others easily eat. The temporary changes to your senses of taste &/or smell also can turn you off certain foods.

I liked to think of my tummy as a contrary, tantrum throwing 2yr old. One day everything is fine but the next you eat the same thing & your tummy throws a tantrum.

Best advice is to add new foods slowly & don’t give up. If your tummy says no today try again next week.

Don’t be too concerned by a growling, whining, noisy tummy. I asked my surgeon’s colleague about it $0& she said it’s just your digestive system doing what it’s supposed to: digest what your eating. Personally my tummy is noisier if I eat dairy, eat & drink to closely together or eat/drink a little too quickly. It also does it if I rest my iPad on my chest when reading at night - pressure on my tummy I think. I experience it every day - it’s actually squelching now! 😁

[spaceallthetime 0]

4 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

Unfortunately, the only way to find out if your tummy will like a food is to try it & see what happens. food one person can’t eat others easily eat. The temporary changes to your senses of taste &/or smell also can turn you off certain foods.

I liked to think of my tummy as a contrary, tantrum throwing 2yr old. One day everything is fine but the next you eat the same thing & your tummy throws a tantrum.

Best advice is to add new foods slowly & don’t give up. If your tummy says no today try again next week.

Don’t be too concerned by a growling, whining, noisy tummy. I asked my surgeon’s colleague about it $0& she said it’s just your digestive system doing what it’s supposed to: digest what your eating. Personally my tummy is noisier if I eat dairy, eat & drink to closely together or eat/drink a little too quickly. It also does it if I rest my iPad on my chest when reading at night - pressure on my tummy I think. I experience it every day - it’s actually squelching now! 😁

Thank you! That's the thing though... What defines it saying "no"? Is it just the pain/dumping? Or are there smaller signals that I should be paying attention to? I know it's a tough question to answer when everyone is so different but I appreciate everyone's tips!

[GradyCat 3,695]

I still, 3 years post-op, have a signal when a food isn't right for me. I get "the foamies." That's when you throw up mucus but not food and you feel extremely full up in your esophagus right away. I still can't eat bread or soft tortillas.

[catwoman7 11,211]

trial and error. You'll know when something doesn't agree with you. You'll most likely be heading for the bathroom.... Fortunately, you'll figure it out pretty quickly, so these kinds of incidents are usually only common during the early weeks....

[lizonaplane 1,612]

13 hours ago, spaceallthetime said:

Thank you! That's the thing though... What defines it saying "no"? Is it just the pain/dumping? Or are there smaller signals that I should be paying attention to? I know it's a tough question to answer when everyone is so different but I appreciate everyone's tips!

The stomach sounds are normal.

Most sleevers don't dump; that's more common with bypass, and even then it's only about 30% of people.

When something doesn't agree with me, I have diarrhea or vomiting. The diarrhea is often from sugar alcohols or too much coffee. The vomiting is usually from my Vitamin or sometimes eating too fast.

You're not going to "ruin" your surgery by eating something that doesn't agree with you.

[JDLane 140]

I vomit when my stomach says no thanks. For me this typically means I ate too fast but sometimes if it's just something that doesn't agree, and often these are things I shouldn't have eaten anyway like a few bites of rice or ice cream. But for the most part there aren't specific food types that disagree with me, just eating too quickly.

The loud stomach noises are just your new normal. The hiccups, chest pressure, runny nose are all good indicators of just fullness.