lack of energy/drained/weepy

I had complications with RNY performed 2/22, and received 3 units of blood in the hospital. Have a very low hemocrit and hemoglobin and feel so drained all the time, sleeping a lot;a 5 hour nap is not unusual. I've hardly been driving because I don't feel "with it" enough. I'm seeing my primary physician for her eval on Tuesday. Frankly, I'm so tired of being tired! Now I'm becoming weepy. I am struggling to take in sufficient fluids, nutrition, meds/vitamins. I have a bad attitude towards crushing meds/vitamins and eating these foul tasting things. The liquid iron I take is horrid horrid horrid, and I'm supposed to be careful to not get it on my teeth. On top of that, I can't take calcium and iron within 3 hours of each other. I am so tired of having to watch the time to make sure I am following the rules of the pouch, prepare and ingest meds/vitamins, prepare foods, protein drinks, etc. I don't regret having the surgery, and I know that I WILL recover and regain my energy, zip. I'm just impatient! Already I notice that I can do stairs much more easily than I could pre-op. Suggestions? Thanks in advance, Deborah

Dear Deborah, I didn't have any problems with my lap RNY on 2/10 and still felt much the same way you do now. I was so nauseous and tired for the first 2 and 1/2 weeks I did care much about following the program. I just did my best each day, often not getting all my vitamins and water in, but then things changed and I feel so much better. Are you taking B12? that seemed to help me with some energy. I still am not perfect and try my best at getting everything in each day. Each day things do get better. Hang in there. Mary M

I have been fortunate not to have any problems including lack of energy. I found that taking in protein mixed with water or even Isopure premade in the bottle kept me full of energy. I also walked slowly around my livingroom during commercials. Exercise itself gives you energy, just don't move too much. Dehydration and lack of calories could be the culprit if are really struggling. I did have a problem one day with lack of calories. Using trial and error, I was able to come up with a plan. I had little 1 oz cups and I set up 4 in front of me to drink up every hour. I filled up each cup with water, isopure, or broth. I broke the hour down into 15 minute increments, and finished one oz during that 15 minutes. Meanwhile I charted what I actually drank, that way I could see how little I was actually getting and set goals to solve the problem. One of my friends uses bariatricadvantage.com vitamins. They have a chewable iron in strawberry flavor. I have tried their calcium and they tasted pretty good. I don't crush mine either, I just use a sugar free childrens chewable twice daily. I really hope that you start feeling better soon.

I too felt really tired - even posted about it here. I upped my B12 intake and now most days I have energy. But there are still some bad days when my body reminds me that it wasn't 3 ago that I had surgery. Saturday was one, where I was soo tired I didn't make it out of my bed or easy chair for the day. Probably slept 15 hours that day - but then on Sunday I was back to normal. Weird. Keep going, Deborah! Brian

Deborah, I had surgery on 2/21 no complications and felt fantasti****il last Wednesday when Bam the tiredness came with a vengence. It scared me as I wasn't expecting it so I called my surgeon. It is very common and usually last between 2-6 weeks. I also had a very tired weekend and stayed on the sofa and in bed most of the weekend sleeping 12+ hours at night and napping during the day. Today was much better, we can only take it one day at a time and do our best with vitamins, meals, water and exercise. It will get better, have faith. Hugs, Dana

Someone compared it to having a new, sick baby in the house. It is a lot of work and you don't always get it right. Sleep and fluids are very important. The protein will sometimes get put aside. It's a fact. Do the best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you aren't perfect every day. You will get there eventually. Be gentle with yourself and your new baby. Jeanie