Post Op Questions....

Today on the main MB someone posted that it's ok to drink water/crystal lite etc. up to the time you are going to eat because - A) it will help you with the feeling of being full and B) it will limit the amount you can eat. Well, I'm confused...I was told that 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after - I should not be drinking anything....Which, by the way, is VERY DIFFICULT! What do you post-ops do? Additionally, I was wondering, does this "30 minute rule" apply to protein drinks since -- it is a drink anyway? Also, I find myself getting very thirsty throughout the night, is this a common occurance for you posties? But, even though I wan****er to quench my thirst, it makes my pouch hurt. I try crystal lite, but that doesnt really sit well either, but it is better than water. Any suggestions? Overall, I think I'm doing ok, I worry that I am able to drink normally and not have to sip - now, I can't "gulp" like I used to, that hurts...but I don't have a problem just drinking normally....does that sound right to you guys? I appreciate any input you can give me. I go to see Dr.Wynn for my 2 week check in on Friday - my first official weigh in - I think, by my scale, I have lost in the neighborhood of 20 - but I really won't be sure until I get the official read at the Dr's office. Thanks All!! ((hugs)) Carla

Hi CJ, I used to be thristy alot too during the night. I would put a water bottle in the freezer and then at bed time put it on the stand. That way I could sip a little when I woke up during the night. I can only handle partly frozen water and I drink a lot of it. I am almost 4 mths post-op and still am thirsty alot. The drinking 30 minutes before or after is difficult to get used to. Now I wait about 20 minutes but I will take a tiny sip after eating. Just enough to rinse my mouth out. Crystal Light never was favorable to my pallet. I would drink decaf tea a lot. Use some splenda and lemon and it is wonderful. It will all get easier as time goes on. A lot of things used to bother me in the begining but now it doesn't bother me. You have a lot of emotions going on right now. It will get better I promise. way to go on the weight loss! You will get the hang of this soon!! Good Luck!!! Hope

Carla, Hang in there sweetie, although I'm not a 'postie' yet, I know that at the PMRI meetings we were reminded to be careful of 'other information' that we read that was not from PMRI. Try to stick with the PMRI instructions and not put a lot of stock into what everyone says on the main message board. I'm sure it's hard, but I really don't think that all surgeons have all the pre-op requirements and information that ours have. I know I'm going to struggle with the thirst issue too because I'm thirsty all the time now. btw.. they had said the protein shakes can be considered a meal and towards your liquid requirements. Take care ! T

CJ, Sounds like you are doing it okay. Everyone does it a little differently. When in doubt, go with what PMRI says. Then at your DR.'s appointment make sure you ask what their opinion is.Then do what feels right for CJ. LOL I drink tons of water everyday, with and without my meals. During the night I get up 3/4 times to go wiz & drink water. I am gonna try stopping 30 minutes before & after. How's the protein going for you? Are you able to get it in? Let us know how you are doing? You know we all care sweetie. ((HUGS)) Elissa

i drank raindrop size sips the first couple of weeks, then at two months i took small sips and at 4 months i drink normally. remember it takes a couple of months for your new pouch to being to function the proper way. it was very hard for me to tell when i was hungry or full for the first 8 weeks. at walmart in the kids section they sell these icey machine. you could try crushed ice....maybe crystal lite flavored?? the advise to drink up untill the time you eat to fill you up is for longer term post-ops. that info came from the pouch rules for dummies someone posted. if you look in the library i'm sure you can find it. the reason you treat your protein shake as a meal is because it needs to stay in your stomach longer. when you drink something it flushes anything in your stomach out too quickly making you hungry. sugar free fruit ice pops really helped with my thirst early on.

Carla, Please be very careful of what you read on the main board. I read some stuff on there there the other day that caused me to really scratch my head wondering where they got their information. Carla, this is the way I finally looked at it ... our doc knows EXACTLY how he/she preformed the operation on YOU ... They have done this many times over and have much experience with it and have had excellent results!!! They have an understanding about it that we simply can not have. When you read a post from someone else ... remember, you are only reading one persons experience. Where as your doc has a multitude of experience. I liken it to the the Bible, where it says, that our ways are not His ways. He (God) has an understanding that we simply do not have. He sees the entire picture, while we only see our slice. That is how I feel about Dr Irgau and Dr Wynn, they see the bigger picture, while we really only see our slice. They are aware of exactly how small/large they made your tummy, how much of your intestines that were bypassed, exactly what function those intestines do ... etc ... etc ... etc. Drinking right up to mealtime can cause you some major problems ... You can STRESS your pouch and staple-line which ultimately "could" cause a leak. You could fill up on too much liquids causing you to not get any real nutrition in. You could dump by adding the fluids to a full pouch. You need to do everything you can to keep your food in your pouch for as long as possible for nutrition sake and then where you are further out to help keep that feeling of satiety longer to help ensure that you don't overeat your pouch. I read a post the other day about a gal who at less than a couple of weeks out was eating over three as much as I am. I followed the post and found that finally she realized that she was drinking with her meals and thus allowing more food to pass through. Not a good thing if you want to maximize your weight loss and/or allow a good heal of your new tummy. You want to do everything you can to make sure that you don't put stress on it, especially when it is healing. I have spent the last couple of weeks really studying about this surgery, nutrition, protein, etc ... and have learned so much that I wish I had truly known before. Please, please, please, listen to the doctors orders ... they really do know best. And please do everything you can do to stop drinking 30 minutes before you eat. And then don't drink for that hour afterward. You know that this truly has been one of my biggest struggles, as we talked about it. I have always been a meal drinker. I so wish I had worked on that pre-op. Everything that I gave up pre-op has been so much easier for me, the drinking with meals was my hardest thing. I count myself very blessed that I didn't really mess something up, I really didn't realize just how important that rule was until just recently. Like I said, I am so blessed that I did not mess everything up, although I really do believe that I could have lost more weight by now, had I not ever sipped with a meal (sigh). I have just started (the past month) to be able to go without that little sip after I eat. I have found that if I stay hydrated through out the rest of the day, that it is easIER (not easy) for me not to want/need that sip when I eat. Also, a little further out, you may want to try something like a fresh fruit slice at the end of your meal. That has seemed to help me also. Just a little side note ... I got pretty sick the other day after I took ONLY one little sip after I ate. Carla, I want to do everything that I can to ensure that those behind me learn from my mistakes and not make the same ones. It would break my heart to see you get or any of our new posties get sick, especially with a new, healing pouch. Take extremely good care of it ... remember to BABY it ... truly baby it ... it is a brand new tummy that needs the same kind of babying and care that you gave to your newborn baby. Remember, how you had to start out with breast milk or formula ... then proceed to very thin rice cereal (very slowly) ... introduce one new food at a time. Offer a bite and then take a couple of minutes to see how it sets on babies tummy? You know the drill ... well anyway, I liken our new pouch as a new baby. Take it slow and follow the doctors instructions. In the beginning, I found that I was able to do crushed ice better than most anything else. Plain water sat hard on my tummy (even though I LOVED water pre-op). Some flavors of crystal light worked for me, some have been really hard on my tummy (trial and error) ... I almost always made my drinks extremely weak ... more like a flavored water. The thing that worked best for me in the very beginning was the Propel (lemon flavor). It truly was the only thing that I could easily drink everytime. I don't drink it often now because it has 3 carbs per serving and I am able to do the crystal light and etc... I have now found a new favorite ... heat a cup of water then add a little crystal light lemonade and a spoon of splenda. This sits so well with me ... YUMMY, and it helps to warm me up ... a huge plus these days!!! Carla, this is the roughest part ... but it will be over so soon. I am only 2.5 months out, and sometimes I almost forget that I have even had the surgery. The eating and drinking has become a new way of life for me. When I sit at the table with someone eating "normally" (the way I ate just three months ago), now that seems totally foreign to me. Hang in there and remember that your hormones are likely going to be all over the place ... so things are going to be out a whack for just a bit longer ... but I promise you that it will pass and soon you will hardly even remember any of it. Again, sorta like a newborn baby ... at first it is kinda hard going without sleep, then you get used to it ... then all of a sudden, baby sleeps through the night and you forget all about ever being tired. Take care Carla, call me if I can help you in anyway. Hugs, Tammy

Hi Carla, My appointment is Friday as well. I have the same problem you do. I wake up at night with my mouth dry. I put a bottle of water in the freezer and keep it next to me at night. I love sugar free tang and freeze that as well. Sometime I take a sip and feel a gargling in my pouch. The drinks sometimes don't sit well with me either. I just try to take little sips. I called PMRI and told them I was worried because I felt like I'm starting to be able to drink more. She told me that was normal, and that extra sips, not gulps is fine. I will not stretch my pouch. The problem I am having is not being able to realize if I am full. I'm still following the ounce rule, but wonder if I am eating enough. I think the absolute worst part of this is the medicine. I am having such a tough time with the actigall. It seems I can still taste it in anything I try to disguise it in. I actually gag. I'm wondering if we will be able to swallow these pills after a month. They seem kind of large.

Debbie, I was given permission to swallow pills at one month out and that was such a relief for me (I hated the crushing and chewing of pills). My problem was that I had an alergic reaction to the actigal and had to be pulled off of it ... and unfortunally there is not another drug to replace it. I am truly hoping I do not have problems with my gallbladder. Oh and by the way, I am still always thirsty. I carry a drink with me constantly. The frozen drink at night sounds like a great idea. I do that in the day time, but never thought about it at night. Another thing that I found to be pretty good is a "punch" that I make 1 container of SF Tang 1 envelope of cherry kool-aid (sugar free) (DONT use the color changing cherry - talk about an UGLY green ... it tastes great but I can't drink it because it turns an ugly avacodo green - YUCKY) Sometimes I need to add Splenda, other times, I don't ... depends on my taste that day. Add one galon of cold water and stir. My whole family likes this one. I hope it may help you guys as well.

Tammy, I found Kool aid packets, but they say to add sugar. Is there a separate sugar free packet?

Debbie, Just use the one your found without the sugar. That's what I use. Like I said ... sometimes I like it tarter and don't add any additional splenda ... other times I want something really sweet and add up to 1/2 cup of splenda per gallon. My tastes change almost daily. Will be glad when they level out a bit. Sure hope you like it. But understand if you don't *grin* Been there, done that!!! Tammy BTw, you can buy kool-aid with sugar free sweetener added ... but it is pretty expensive and I have not found a very big selection in the flavor department ... as a matter of fact, all I have found so far is grape and grape is not my favorite flavor unless it is REAL grapes *grin*