Excessive weight loss during first week?

I'm a newbie here, this is my first post.

I'm mildly freaking out by the number on my scale, trying to find out if others experienced the same.

I had surgery just Monday, on 11/16. Morning of surgery, I weighed in at 287.  I left the hospital at 290 (all the fluids).  So you can image my shock when my scale today read 269.8!   Yesterday I was 274, and the day before, 278. (Though I'm not sure where those 17 pounds went, since my too-tight pants before surgery are still too-tight!)

My office did not require me to lose any weight before surgery, nor did I have to do the 2 week liquid pre-diet, I just ate normally.  I did lose about 13 pounds before surgery, but that was over the course of 5 months.

I'm not pleased by this number, I'm alarmed, as I expected this number after a MONTH not a week.

Had a check-in call with my nurse on Friday, nutritionally I seem to be doing well.  I'm getting 40-45 oz liquid, about 40 g of protein, which she said was "very good for this early stage."   She didn't ask about calories and said I shouldn't worry about them during the liquid stage, but I know I'm only getting about 200-300 calories per day.

Physically, I feel like crap.  Utter, draining fatigue.  Doing a few laps around the house is all I can muster.  After I took my shower today, I had to lay down for 10 minutes to rest.  I've never felt so utterly drained and weak in my life.  I would even say I felt worse today than yesterday, I was very lightheaded and weak when I woke up.

I have another follow up call on Monday with my doctor's office, but as I said, I'm kind of freaking out now. Should I not be concerned about such a drastic drop?  As for energy, maybe it's low blood sugar, but how do I combat that since we're not supposed to have any sugar?  Did anyone else worry about calories during that first two weeks?

Advice welcome!

I would guess its mostly water loss and I wouldn't worry too much about the weight loss, but do be careful that you are not getting dehydrated.  Its important to get your water and protein in every day for your health and healing.

best of luck,

Carol

I'm very happy for your weight lost and I'm sure that you'll do fantastic. Enjoy the journey of weighing less every day.get your fluids in and protein and you'll do fine. Good luck!!!

It's probably a combination of surgical fluid loss and your body going into ketosis.  I lost about 15 lbs the first week after surgery, and it slowed to 3-4 lbs a week after.  Since you were eating normally you may have been retaining water before surgery, as well.  When we go into ketosis we lose a lot of water weight the first week (5-15 pounds) and then it tapers off.

Protein raises your blood sugar, too, so you never need to eat sugar to raise blood sugar (if you are non-diabetic).  Carbohydrates spike it faster, but protein causes a gradual rise.  In fact, your body can make carbohydrate from protein via a process called gluconeogenesis - technically we can survive without any dietary carbohydrate at all.  Regarding low calories, keep in mind that you have loads of calories already in your body which are the reason you got the surgery in the first place.  Eating low calorie will not hurt you or damage your metabolism.  The biggest thing the first weeks after surgery is to avoid dehydration.

You are fatigued because you had major surgery that altered a central body system.  Your body is healing and so you are naturally tired since that is a divergance of energy.  It's perfectly normal to be fatigued after.  Your body is basically running marathons to heal up after having most of a major organ removed. :)

I was a bit lightheaded myself, and it was just recovering from surgery in my case.  We are all different and it's impossible to say online what something is or is not.  If you are worried, call them preemptively.

Hang in there, and heal well! :)

see your doctor. get your blood pressure checked.  drink drink drink water. up your protein drinks if you can.  gl   diane

Main concern post op is hydration and ambulation.  You can't walk very much if you are dehydrated.  You might try drinking broth.  Salt might help with dehydration.  Drink, Drink, Drink,  walk, walk, walk.  

Thanks for all of the responses.  The dr was not concerned on Friday, she felt I was getting a decent amount of liquid since it's so early (obviously I need to keep trying to get to 64 oz, but that's hard when I sleep most of the day) and also protein.  Of course I will keep trying to increase it next week!    Not worried about dehydration, as I have no signs of it (except the fatigue which could be caused by many things--like having major surgery!)

That's a big weight drop, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. The extremely limited amount of nutrition you're taking in often causes the pounds to fall off, especially in the first 6 weeks after surgery. Most patients consider this a good thing!

You're feeling like crap because you had most of your stomach removed -- that's major surgery. And the aftereffects of general anesthesia often linger on for a while, adding to your woes. Major surgery isn't supposed to tickle. You can expect to feel like crap for a while yet, but you will start feeling better, although probably not as soon as you would like! You're doing great to take a rest after your shower. My husband had to buy me a collapsible footstool so I could sit down and rest during my shower.

Your lightheadedness may be caused by a drop in your blood pressure, which often happens after surgery. If you're on BP meds, check your BP or have it checked. You may need to either discontinue or reduce your BP meds, or if you're not taking any, maybe a little additional salt in your diet may work. Check with your surgeon before doing anything.

Take it just an hour at a time for now. Recovery may take longer that you hoped it would, but you will start feeling better soon. Keep working on those liquids! Take care. I know exactly how you feel.

psychoticparrot

I wouldn't worry about it either, my brother did the RNY and lost 50 lbs each month for the first two months. Also the feeling like crap part is because you are in carb withdraw and possibly caffene withdraw if you hadn't already purged yourself of that prior, when I did my pre op liquid diet, the first 5 days were hell, but then like a switch being flipped, it wasn't as bad. Hang in there, as long as you are getting your protein level and your fluids, just run with it and enjoy the ride.

I don't think it is anything to worry about especially because you didn't have a strict pre-op diet. Lots of times people lose slower out of the gate when they have lost a lot on their liquid diet... you are having the opposite, No liquid diet and quick weight loss.

While building your protein up is important, get your fluids in. It will make you feel better, and right after surgery you can get dehydrated more easily than normal.... Dehydration will make you feel terrible. Make some of those fluids protein and you can get it all in. Good Luck.