Headaches = lack of water OR food??

 OKAY...for all you "pros" as this stie, can someone please tell me if my headaches are stemming from a lack of water, or is it just because I am on day 5 of the shake plan for Dr B in Moncton?????

I normally would drink alot more water every day, but seeing as I am not eating, for some reason I am not drinking as much either.....I try to get in 2 full bottles of water a day in a "Poweraid" bottle size, but again today at 4 am I am up with a spilting headache....????   

I am not the type of person to be taking any pain products on a regular basis, but thank god Monique went over all the you can and can't take prior to surgery and told me to use "T...." instead of "Adv..." otherwise I would have all this screwed up.....

I do go back to see Monique on Wed to check how my weight is going, so I can double check with her about the pain if I am still having them.....

Speaking about the weight...how much is good enough???  After 4 day I think I might be down 4 lbs...and I HAVE NOT had anything else except for the 3 shakes and 1 bar a day.....by about 9-10 pm my stomach is growling up a storm and the kids think it is real funny...but it is all I can do...the weather has been so cold the last 4 days...even had some snow on the weekend...not too keen to get out for a walk even??  Should I be worried??  I try not to get on the scales every day, but some people keep asking me daily...how much have I lost NOW.....suggestions....

Hi Islandmomma,

I do believe you were in my information class last fall/winter and since I just went through the shakes/bars and surgery figured I would pipe in (although not necessarily a pro as only play a doctor with my kids, lol).

I didn't really suffer the headaches.  My first day was hard with the stomach/intestines gurgling and feeling very hungry but then I started drinking tons, let me repeat that TONS of water and had no issues.  Perhaps giving up most sugar/gluten products for lent helped although chocolate chips helped me before the shake period, lol

So my suggestion is to drink lots and lots of water!!

On the weight issue ... when I weighed in at the clinic before the "liquid diet" I had already been down about 4lbs from consent signing (2 weeks between) but then went up 3.5lbs before starting the shakes.  I stayed true to the letter during that 2 week starvation (lets be real, lol) and lost 18lbs which was exciting!  It was not easy, especially at the family Easter dinner, and had no birthday celebration = although I was simply glad to be alive as it was also my surgery day.

When I was released from the hospital on Sat I went to my moms for recovery and weighed myself on the Mon and my weight was up 7lbs compared to presurgery morning weight.  Although it was a different scale they are very close to mine.  Quite unnerving but I contributed it to being pumped with saline and body shock from surgery.

I have been recovering quite well.  Done alot of walking and my mom follows the diet menu to the letter - getting tired of mush and do not suggest you puree tuna with gravy = yuck!!  But everything is working and the gas pain is getting minimal now.  Weighed myself couple days ago and was back down 6lbs past my surgery morning weight =  25lbs down from starting the liquid diet, even with the raise from surgery trauma.

Next advice is to not weigh yourself so often as water flucuates and you don't need any extra stress/worry before the surgery day.  If you follow the diet it will work.  Trust in that and God.

Well good luck to all.  My mother says it is time for me to be productive now so off to shower and fill in some paperwork for work, lol

Michelle

 Thanks...I knew you were in my group, but was confused as you don't have Dr B listed....anyway..yeah...I had been doing the Atkins plan since the first of March, so my surgar level was 0...and fron the signing date to my pre-surgery date...I was down 6 lbs...so that broght me dowm a total of 18lbs before the shakes.....I have had at least 1 major headache every day and it is not normal for me at all.....ANYWAY....day 5 of the shakes is going well...I am NOT getting on the scales daily...weekly sounds better to me...and I am back in Moncton on Wed, so that will do...

I do think I need to drink more water though.....so I am starting to leave a bottle in the freezer as I love it extra cold.....

Have you seen any postings from anyone else from the group??

Glad to hear you had your surgery and it all went fine...good to hear...I hope to have a good recovery and to be able to get out walking soon if the weather warms up at all....ANYWAY...

keep in touch..

 I hope your days are getting better with the shakes. Happy May 1st, the month of your surgery is here! 

 SO far so good today...no headaches today....and YES the days did get much better past day 2...the trick for me is to totally save my bar for the evening.....vanilla shake for B'fast with a little coconut flavoring...choc with almond flavor for luch and supper and frozen cold is best....then I can have the bar in the evining and enjoy it......I also have a few bottles of water with some Crystal light  during the day and it has been almost easy....down 10lbs in 6 days so far...but Friday is my Mom's 70th B-day and we are having a big party....It is going to be really hard to just stay away from the steak and chicken...that is all I really would love to have.....Oh well...theat time will come and this time is too important for be messing with the shake plan.....

Thanks to everyone with their support and advice...I am really getting excited about the 10th of May and looking forward to it.....

Thanks

I remember that I had some head aches when I first started the shakes but I don't recall them being all that severe or anything. One thing I did was breaking up the shakes/bars. I would have a full shake for breakfast but only half at lunch and then half about two hours later. At supper I usually had the bar and then the final shake I broke into two servings a lot of the time as well. I am up early with little ones and I wor****il 11pm so I really had to make them stretch. I found that was my best defense against hunger.

I am out of surgery now and about 1-2 weeks afterward I found that I was getting severe headaches then. Initially I was told it may be lack of water intake but they have persisted. I've been to see my family doctor and he advised he thinks it is reaction to the change of intake in calories.

I think that both suggestions were essentially a guess but they could apply in your situation because that shake is a drastic change in calorie intake for most anyone I think. I don't have very exciting news to tell you though because my headaches have continued. They are easily cured with a Regular Strength Tylenol... but I've NEVER been a person to get headaches or take medicine for them so it is discouraging to be dealing with. That said I am super happy about my results after surgery and I feel so much better in many other ways that I am okay with them for now. I will definitely be pushing to find out more about them if these headaches keep up though. Take care of yourself and I wish you the best of luck.

 Thank you for your words of encourgement....every little bit helps...as of yesterday my headaches have stopped and yes I agree about breaking up the shakes.....I do find that they fill me up fast, so I don't always drink them all in one sitting....I have my last weigh in with Monique today...so keep your fingers crossed.....

Tracey

The headache is from sugar withdrawal. Most people get a persistant headache that last for 3 to 5 days.  You would get the same headache on the Atkin Diet.

From what I see online, once your body uses up the sugars it turns to stored fat.  This is called ketosis.  One of the side effects of ketosis is headaches.

Can someone tell me what shakes Dr B makes you take for the pre surgery two weeks?  My friend had to do optifast with nothing else and I tried it.  It tastes absolutely gross, no getting around it.  She wasn't allowed anything else, like crystal light.  I was trying to see what you take with him, but his secretary said that the dietician tells you and she didn't know.

 The shakes are called "SlimTime" as of right now...and I liked them....you can add an extract to them too like almond or coconut, and there are bars too that are like peanut butter flavor.....you get 4 a day in whatever combo you like...toward the end I was only getting in 3 a day as I was not hungry at all and it was okay...I actually have a box of bars left over..might eat them in a few months once I can .....but really..they are not bad at all...the first day I went to bed at 10 pm and my tummy was rumbling...but by day 3 it was smooth sailing.....Choc or vanilla the shakes come in and you order them from Que.


Hope this helps...but YES I did have some headaches from them and heart burn too....I am now post-op 1 month...