Day 4 Post Op and confused!!!

I'm into Day 4 Post Op Lap Band with 3cc fill.  I'm bloated, gassy and dealing with tons of anxiety.  Is anxiety normal?  I get full with 1 oz of fluids right now. But feel hunger pains.  It takes me 8 hours to consume 200-300 cal a day.  Is this normal does it get better everyday or NOT!! I'm trying really hard to keep myself hydrated. 

Hello my name is Brenda. I had gastric bypass in 2004. I had the same anxiety after my surgery. Believe it or not it is from not being able to eat.  For most of us food was our crutch, especially during difficult times. Your going through a change a difficult time and don't have your drug of choice "food" lol...

Hang in there, you will be able to drink more and eat eventually. keep sipping your water. Take a hot bath or shower. Take deep breaths to clear out all the anxiety. It gets better and it is normal for some, some people don't experience this most do however. Chew flavor gum if you feel like you need your mouth refreshed, that helped me during my dark times. Remember to relax and breath deeply it will be ok.

It will get better, just take it slow. Right now you are very swollen inside from the surgery, that will go away in a few days and it will be easier to get even liquids down. Try some gas x strips they helped me alot altho some folks say they didn't help them. They pump your stomach area full of air to make room to move around in there during surgery so walking is the very best way to get the gas moving out.

You will still feel hunger pains until you have a few more fills so that won't change for awhile. I always still had them no matter how full my band was. I have to disagree with the other poster and say NO GUM. At least that is what most surgeons tell us because it is too easy to accidentally swallow it and get stuck making us want to throw up and we sure don't want to do that this early out so I would say avoid the gum. Maybe use a little mouth wash or Listerine has little strips that dissolve that would help freshen your mouth.

I'm a long way out post op but do remember being anxious and wondering what I did to myself. It got better day by day. I was sipping out of a small medicine cup a little at a time. Sip sip sip. You have a lot of post op swelling that will get better. Good luck on your journey!

 

Thank you all for your replies. Having a good morning.  I'm using my 1 oz fluid cup. Taking 1 oz every 15 min.  This seems to help. I want to get my protein in.  Hopefully today will be a good day.  

Just keep walking, I was told 10 minutes every hour that you are awake. Also keep sipping your 1oz fluid every 15 minutes that you are awake.  Keep hydrated and work you way up from the 1oz to 2oz over the next week or two.  The 3cc fill is just a "prime" according to my surgeon and more or less just fills the tubing going from the port to band.  The restriction you are feeling is the swelling from the band and surgery itself.  It will get less every day until the swelling is gone and than you WILL be hungry.  Take care, anxiety is very normal.

Thank you Pineview01, I've been practicing this today.  It seems to get better everyday.  Is it normal to burp even with 1 oz of fluid every 15-30 min?  Is the burping a side effect of  surgery. Is this how Im going to feel from now on.

The burping you are doing is normal from the surgery.  Keep burping it helps get that air/gas out.

Just a silly story from when I had the surgery;  I was walking every 10 minutes round and round our living, dining,kitchen,great room every hour thru the night while I was awake.  Burping non stop to get that relief and walking sure got me burping.  I have parrots and they are covered during the night, the book says this is the best time to teach them to "talk".  You got it, to this day my Blue and Gold imitates my belching out.  Sounds just like me belching after surgery.  Not pretty.

I don't know about anxiety, but I do know from having a variety of surgeries in the past that the general anesthesia and narcotic pain meds can mess with your moods.

Getting full with 1 oz of fluids sounds normal to me. Just keep sipping. As swelling from your surgery subsides, you should be able to drink more easily.

I was starving hungry the day after my band surgery. Liquid calories don't have much staying power.

It does get better - hang in there!

I agree with everyone! I think anesthesia and pain meds made me crazy...and I lost all my coping tools...eating, drinking, and exercise. As soon as you start to get back to life you'll start to feel better. You will have to explore new coping mechanisms though. You're off to a great start posting here for support.

Best of luck!