Am I normal???

I would appreciate some input from y’all. I had surgery 7 weeks ago. Some of the things that I’ve been experiencing I think are normal for someone at this stage but want to ask you experienced people.   I can go a few days in a row with the same morning routine of drinking my protein drink before I eat something for breakfast. Then some days after the drink is gone while I’m waiting my 30 minutes before I eat, the saliva and foam starts erupting….so much that I cannot eat anything the rest of the morning. Is this normal? I've tried switching the routine a bit, but that doesn't seem to make any different.   The syndrome of “I ate this yesterday and it was fine – but I can’t eat it today because it feels stuck and I have to barf it up" seems to be my daily life. Is this normal?   Many times when I begin a meal, after the first couple of bites (which I make sure I make it small, chew chew chew, and wait in between bites) I have to do a “retch and gag" then all seems fine to keep eating. Some days I feel my finger is down my throat at each meal! Is this normal?   I weigh myself on Tuesdays. The last two Tuesdays on the scale have shown NO movement whatsoever! I certainly understand stalls – I’ve dieted my whole life so I know they happen, but I didn’t think this would happen so early! I have lost 20 pounds since my surgery on 6-24. How can I have not lost any weight in 2 weeks when so many meals end before they even get started? Is this normal?   Thanks for reading my “woe is me"…..!!!!

Sue

I had my surgery on October 30th of 2008.  I am just now experiencing the same things you are with not being able to eat.  I have not had my band filled in atleast 4 months and have still been losing weight, but it seems that almost everything I try to eat will come back up at some point.  Sometimes if I can resist making it come back up, it will eventually go down.  The feeling of it being stuck is just too much sometimes and I end up making it come back up just to get some relief.  I have been trying different things to eat and it seems that the things I used to could eat I can no longer.  It's really weird.  I go back to the doctor on the 21st and I am afraid that something else is wrong with my band.  I know they say that if it's too tight then you won't even be able to drink water,  and that does happen sometimes too, but not every time.  I have never heard of a band getting tighter this long after I have had it filled.  Who knows if such a thing even exists.  I am thinking there is some kind of a blockage from my throat down to my band somewhere.  Everything feels like it's in my throat all the time.  Every time I notice that it's gone, then what do I do???  I try to eat something else.  Well usually that is a big mistake unless it's ice cream.  I can't live on ice cream and I don't even try, but something has got to give.  I have done really well up to this point.  I have lost 85 pounds.  I am scared to death of gaining the first pound back so I am really fighting going back to the doctor any earlier than my scheduled appointment.  I have suffered with my weight all my life and it feels so good to have energy and actually know that I look better.  When I do get sick, it's mostly slimy, yucky, nasty stuff that comes back up.  Very rarely is it food.  What's up with that?  If you or anyone has any suggestions of what could be going on, please voice them.  I feel like that nasty stuff could be acid, but I don't have heart burn.  I just don't know what's up with this part of my journey.

Greysay69,

I had band over bypass (affectionately know as BOB) in October '07. Until BOB came into my life I did not really understand "sliming" because I didn't really have that effect from my RNY. I do get stuck WAY more than I used to, and I can NOT drink when I eat. I could NOT cheat if I tried. Before, with RNY only, drinking would wash things through my pouch and help relieve that yucky tummy feeling. Now BOB slaps me pretty hard if I even attempt a sip too early. Drinking forces food down and clogs my stoma, which causes pain nausea and vomitting. Needless to say...cured me of that bad habit!!!

I have had some odd experiences lately. I would say that it has to be related to my body's need for water. It always coincides with allergies or a virus or something. When I up my fluids significantly it helps with my food tolerance. Why? You got me... but it does seem to work. I just got over a 2 week stretch of time where everthing I ate made me feel nauseus and I'd throw up after a couple of bites. It had nothing to do with mechanics of how I ate...it was something else. This made me review my WLS log I kept from my original RNY and look for patterns. Water seemed to be the answer for me. Maybe it will help you, too.

Oh, and I also take a probiotic supplement with every meal. and this helps my digestion.
Hope some of my rambling helps!
Cheryl

Thank you so much for the info.  I know that I am not getting enough water right now.  I used to not have a problem with drinking lots of water until I had my surgery.  I could always drink it through a straw and basically "suck it down".  Now with no straws, it's just not as easy to get what I need.  I am going to make sure from now on that I get lots and lots of water.  I was doing better at first with the water than I am now and that's probably where my problems come from.  You have made my day by just giving me something to try.  It gives me hope that I can fix this without there being any major problems going on with my band.  I have done really well until the last few weeks and it just seems to be getting worse.  I guess somehow it does make sense in a way.  I will be sure to let you know the outcome for me.  I will check into the probiotic supplement too.  I have been trying to eat lots of yogurt, but it's not been settling too well either.  I am going to start with the water and then go from there.

Again, thanks so much for your input.  I just found this site today and I am very pleased to have gotten a response so quickly.

Anything else you can think of, please pass it along also.  I would really appreciate it.

Hope you have a great day.

Kristy

I can only talk from my experience....I didn't have anything like this happen to me.....Except for a stall......I had many stalls, it's the bodys way of catching up I think....

You may want to call your Bariatric nurse and explain this to her.......Having to retch and gag, etc. just doesn't sound right to me....

Good luck, Kelly

Sue,

I had RNY September '04 and had many of the same types of experiences. I would eat something one day and the next there was NO WAY it was going down. It gradually changes as your pouch heals and matures, and you get better at eating slowly, chewing well, etc. I've found that dehydration and my allergies can effect the volumn my pouch will hold from day to day. I try to start with room temp or a warm beverage first. This gets water into your system and help to wash out some of the accumulated mucous from post-nasal-dip over night. Then I am able to drink a whole protein shake. If I don't "clear" my pouch before I drink my shake I CAN NOT begin to fini**** If I try I would slime and foam because there is just too much gunk in there.

Keep a log. I did this and I'm so glad I did. I just created a spread sheet and tracked my weight, food and water intake, how I felt (both emotional and physical), daily exercise, measurements, TOM, etc. This helped me to see patterns in what was going on, and kept me a bit calmer when the scale didn't seem to move. I would always stall out on the weight loss when my body would be dropping inches. I don't know why, but it never seemed to happen at the same time.

The best thing I did for myself was to realize that many of my issues were related to my body needing water! I found that I did much better when I got in a minimum of 90-120 oz. per day. It even helped with the stuck feeling and food tolerance.

Know that you are doing well and keep believing in yourself and working your tool.
Cheryl

How long are you waiting between drinking your protein and eating? My NUT told me to think of the protein shake more like a meal.. meaning that its going to fill up our pouch and hopefully take more time to go thru than other "clear" liquids.. It is a liquid protein meal of sorts after all!

She suggested I eat first thing in the morning... I get up at 5am.. then I get ready for work... Then when I leave for work, I drink the protein shake on my way to work (6:15-6:45). I tried drinking the shake first thing and I had NO room in my pouch for food for at least an hour if not two... it just gets too "full" from the shake... and I got the foamies too when I tried to "force" breakfast... lol

I'm at 8 weeks and I totally hear your frustration about how somedays you can eat something and be fine or follow a routine and the next day that idea is totally out the window. Some days I can eat a food and be fine.. and then the next time I eat it.. well hello pukers!

Don't get frustrated with stalls.. believe me I know it totally sucks. 7/27 I was at 205.. yesterday I weighed again and was only down 3 lbs! What the hell? !!!  I'm so right with ya. And of course when I'm this close to the 100's (5lbs last week), THIS is when I stall again? 

Keep in touch Sue.. since we're only a week apart in surgery dates!