question please

i am 4 weeks out and have started eating different foods. chicken, shrimp, fish with no problems at all unless i eat to fast. However, i am having trouble with the no drinking before and after rule. i drink a lot a lot of water. i have a refrigerator bottle that is 64 oz, fill it each morning and drink all through the day. But i forget to stop eating 30 minutes before i eat and have a hard time NOT reaching for tha****er bottle before the 30 minutes after has passed. Can someone tell me again what exactly this rule is for? I have read it is so the pouch stays full longer (i have no problem feeling full, seldom feel hungry). Is there another medical reason I should be watching this more carefully. I am considering buying one of those little oven timer type things to keep at work to help me with this. thanks

Kelly, My doctor says to stop drinking 15 minutes before eating and no drinking 30 minutes after eating. Water/fluids can wash the food out of our pouch not allowing us time to digest it and absorb the nutrients from it. Also when you wash out the pouch, you can become hungier much quicker. If you drink while eating, you will allow yourself to eat more as the food is being pushed thru. Mary

The other reason my surgeon gave for not drinking within that window is that depending on what you eat, if you flu**** through the pouch too fast, it's possible you may end up dumping, which is no fun It's not uncommon for the 'not feeling hungry' at this stage, but "they" (surgeon, nutritionist,etc) want us to relearn how things are going to be from now on from the beginning... It becomes even more important not to drink after eating later when you *will* feel the hunger if the pouch empties too fast.. (or so I'm told ). I'm also considering a timer as well, but in my case it's because I'm not waiting long enough between bites... and ended up having an issue because of it yesterday where everything decided that it needed to come back up (It also was some particularly dry salmon, so could also have been that as an issue.. I'm pretty sure I chewed it enough... but definitely ate too fast). I don't know what your 'rules' from your physician are, but at some point out (I think it's maybe 6 months), I'm pretty sure that my surgeon (or it could be the hospital nutritionist) wants us to wait at least 2 hours after eating to drink... which is going to make getting water in a lot more difficult.. Of course, at that point, you can use the 'rules of the pouch' that have been posted elsewhere, whi*****lude water 'loading' before a meal...

Is this what you are referring to: http://www.wlsfriends.com/pouchrules.html Mary

Mary - Yep - them's the rules BUT.. in general (except where noted) and as they state, they don't really take effect until 6 months out. Slightly different format than I saw before, but it's all the same information. ...Nick

According to my nutritionist you not only want to use the 30/30 rule in the beginning so that you don't wash the food from your pouch, but the other reasons are that you will also stretch your pouch possilby causing problems with a stricture, not allowing your staple line to heal properly (tearing it open), stretching your osmosis and finally drinking while you eat will cause you to gain weight in the long run. So if you ask me, it's just not a good idea no matter how you look at it!! Now I'm 6 weeks out and the rule has changed for me, I'm on a 15/30 rule. It does make things go a little more smoothly. Just hang in there and you'll soon be on the same rule. Besides, do you really want to do anything to ruin this life altering procedure you just had done? I find that I have to put my water back in the fridge or out of sight while I eat... Out of sight, out of mind!!! Good luck and I hope you are able to figure things out for yourself! Milissa Taylor

I'll be 7 weeks out tommorrow and I'm also on the 15/30 rule. I have been having a tough time with it also. I try to schedule things to do right after I eat. Sometimes I do my walking, get on the computer or craft. Anything but TV. That seems to be the hardest time for me to avoid water. If I can take my mind off of it it seems to help. I was told that it was so my pouch will have enough room for the food I also find it painfull if I drink with food or too soon afterward. Lately keeping food down seems much harder than earlier in the process. I seem to get sick about every 3 days. I chew everything to a pulp and eat slowly, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it. My surgeon said that this is not unusual at this point. Eileen

I was told that if we drink too soon after eating, all the nutrients are flushed out before they are absorbed into our body. Also, if you drink too soon after eating, most people get the dumping syndrome. Laurie

thank you all for your wonderful responses. i just had time to read them all this morning. i am really trying to pay close attention to the clock now for the before and after drinking. i am having skim milk for breakfast this morning. For some reason i thought scrambled eggs sounded good for dinner last night. i made scrambled with cheese and some diced canned mushrooms....i was nauseas all evening. it has been a couple of weeks since i have felt that bad. i am still a little queasy this morning so may be doing water most of the day...