problems

 I was wondering if anyone else is haveing these problems. my surgery was 5/21/08 and i am still haveing a hard time drinking it feels like the liquid i****ting something in my chest. whenever I eat i feel nauseas. I am completely exhausted and want to sleep all the time. please comments and suggestions are appreciated.                                                                                            aggie

Agnes Is any food going down or are you throwing it all up?  If you are throwing it all up, it sounds like a stricture..  where the opening is too small, not allowing food through it.  But keeping in mind that you had pneumonia, could it be the chest pain from the pneumonia? I would surely call your surgeons office and tell him that something is wrong...  the exhaustion could be from dehydration which you recently had and was treated for...  but if you are still unable to get fluids in, it very well could be happening again.

melinda,                   the food is going down and liquids but feels like it is getting stuck. I dont throw up but I do feel nauseas after i eat. the pains in my chest from the pneumonia is when I breathed deep. so thats a different feeling.

To be honest,I really don't know...  is it when you drink really slow too?  Do you think you could be getting in too much liquid at once? I wonder...  if your lungs are filled up, would that cause a pushing sensation against your tummy? I dunno! I would call your doctor tomorrow though.  Please keep us informed....

Hi Aggie! We had our surgery around the same time. Mine was on the 19th of May. I feel the nausea all day every day. It's there when I eat as well. I've only had 2 throwing up episodes since surgery.  I know the most tenured folks won't like what I now say but... it is what it is. I go days without eating because of the nausea. I am right with you about the fatigue. I deal with it daily and it being tired makes me just wore out. I wake up tired. Actually, exhausted. Right now it's like a vicious circle.  The not eating makes me being fatigued worse. And, because of both of those things my mental capacity for work and every day life has suffered. Then those things make me feel slightly depressed and then that affects my getting out and about.  Right now, I don't want to say I'm questioning my WLS decision but I'm just wore down. The good definitely outweighs the bad. I've lost 43 lbs in a little over a month. The diabetes and swollen ankles gone. But, I'm having a very very hard time eating and getting in liquids. My surgeon told me to expect nausea and not wanting to eat. But, the people that my life affects don't want to hear that.  And, I don't want to be griping so I just suffer silently mostly.  With all that said, I understand completely what you are going through right now. You are not alone!

hi chandra,                              I am so glad that i am not alone but so sad for you. you have had a really big wow moment with 43 lbs in one month. congrads on that. I have lost 22 this month. I started at 225 and am down to 203. everytime I try to eat or drink i feel like there is a brick in my chest. what phase of the diet are you on?                                                                                           Aggie

Chandra, It might be a bit soon, but you might want to have your labs taken to see what your iron and B-12 levels are.  When I felt as if I had hit a wall and had no energy, completely exhausted and was having concentration issues, I talked with the doctor.  They decided it was probably a bit early for labs, but that I could go ahead and increase my iron and B-12.  I take Foltrin which is a B-12/Iron supplement and in addition, I take another Iron supplement and a sublingual B-12 daily.  Once I started doing that, things improved immensely.  I'm not saying that is your problem; however, it could potentially be a part of it. Hope you get to feeling better soon and I agree with Melinda.  I know you are nauseous, but you have to get your protein and fluids in.  Without those, the battle will certainly continue.  Take care and let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Chandra and Agnes The exhaustion is a side effect from anesthesia.  It comes with any surgery but for some reason it seems that the exhaustion from wls is longer lasting it appears.  I had it with my breast reduction too but nothing like with wls.  BUT...  if you don't get those liquids and proteins in, wow that exhaustion will kick your tail really bad.  Make sure you get your liquids because dehydration is serious.  Actually it can cause the nausea also....  you both may need to talk to the surgeon and let him know what's going on.  While these symptoms are often "normal", they can, in more severity be side effects of another problem. Take care of yourselves...  gotta get that protein and liquid in. 

Please talk to your dr. about this. I went through this too and I finally had to take anti-nausea meds and it made me feel so much better. Chandra you're not alone in questioning the surgery, I did everyday for about 5 wks. because I had a couple of complications and felt horrible. It does get better and now I'm soooooo happy about my decision. I hope y'all both get well soon.