Eating In General

Please any word of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I had surgery on 11/22/04, all went well, open RNY. My problem is I am not very happy with how I feel. I exist on oatmeal, tomato juice, soups and an occasional cracker. I also drink my protein powder religiously and take the necessary supplements. Will this condition get better? I have tried numerous meats, vegetables and starches on a one time basis and they just don't sit well. I am either vomiting or so uncomfortable that the mere sight of food just makes me cry. Now I know I should quit whining and I am very grateful for the surgery. I am losing weight at a steady pace and exercising daily. Do you think that since I had set such a great importance on eating whatever I wanted to, that now since that privilege has been taken away, I am somehow rebeling? How do all of you occupy your time?

I know this sounds like a pat answer but have you talked to your doc or nutritionist? Maybe there's something going on that causes the denser foods not to sit well. When something doesn't sit well for me I go back to the real soft stuff like eggs/cottage cheese/yogurt. hope things get better. diane

I feel quite similar at times. There are soooo many foods that I just can't eat! Sometimes I get sad, but then I focus on how far I've all ready come! And what is more important to me food, or this new found freedom and joy in other parts of my life? Food is just a fuel. I know it was my best friend, but it's time that I come before food in my life. So I just have to keep telling myself that.

I can appreciate where you are coming from. I too was miserable for a while... I told my doc.... he prescribed a drug called Reglan.... bottom line.... I don't sit there miserable anymore. The food does not sit forever or puke it up. I LOVE it! I now can eat just about anything... the only thing I have not tried is steak. Gone are the hours of feeling miserable. I do however have to take sips of fluid and some vegetables etc with my food.... otherwise it can be puke city at times. Please don't flame me about this.... after a month of this issue.... I have found that this improves things greatly for me. B

Everyone has different reactions to different densities of food. And one time it will set well, and the very next time you try it, it won't. That said oatmeal to me is too heavy...it ranks up there with beef for me...but then it can be made to be runny I know. A half a pack of grits in the very beginning was enough to make me think I was gonna explode as it expanded. The weight of the beef in a cup of dinty moore soup....Id eat 3 peices and think I was dying. I might suggest laying off the tomato juice, tomato products, citrus products and spicey stuff might be part of the problem. Do you take anything for acid....maybe food isnt sitting well cause of the enviroment in the pouch when it hits it? Meats are generally difficult for most, its a gradual reintroduction. My failsafe is dairy products...yogurt, yogurt smoothies, carb milk, swiss cheese, sf pudding with protein powder mixed in. Try some of the atkins granola based protein bars...not those rock hard bars they are too heavy. Or a Quaker Q-bar. How about nuts? Also watch the soups you buy, the sodium content in most are 600-900, and I read your sodium intake should not exceed you caloric intake...and your caloric intake isnt squat LOL. As for occupying my time....the best solution for occupying the hands and mouth to keep from eating or wanting to eat, is a bottle of flavored water. Its helps to fill you up, the other is exercise. Good Luck Mic

You could have a stricture (small opening in the passage from the pouch to the intestine). This can be corrected, you should call your surgeon at any rate and let him know what's going on. You should be able to eat stuff other than liquids and soft foods. Donna