Tired and occasionally light-headed

I am 8 days removed from surgery and I am feeling very tired and occasionally light-headed, especially if I stand up too quickly.

I am checking my blood pressure and it is fine. I think it might be the extreme reduction in caloric intake but I am not sure.

Did anyone else experience this as well?

This is fairly normal - you just had major surgery! The light headedness when you stand is likely "orthostatic hypotension." You can help to alleviate it by pumping your legs before you stand, making sure you're getting enough salt in your diet (which tends to be a problem with our new way of eating), and supplementing with a sports drink. Moving your legs in general will also help venous return, so make sure you're walking as much as you can.

So glad to hear about salt! I can't stop using it (in moderation).

Check your blood pressure again. Check it at rest, lying down, and then right after standing. If you get dizzy and your bp drops, it's orthostatic hypotension. It's very common that first year or so after surgery.

It's not a calorie issue. When our bodies kept griwing, we actually grew miles and mikes of additional blood vessels to support our extra mass. As we shrink, al those extra blood vessels are too much, and our bp can drop.

I actually ended up with extra major veins in my legs, and had to have some closed, and some removed. I had passed out a few times from the rapid bp drop. Most of the time it was fine. It was just the rapid standing that temporarily caused the quick drop.

Drinking extra helps with the bp. My docs told me to add extra salt to my diet as well. This soon after surgery, it's likely been a while since you've taken in much sodium.

It is exactly what Grim and Gwen said. Be advised that you're a walking bag of calories, so as long as you keep up on your hydration and take it easy, you'll be all right! Anesthesia takes a surprisingly long time to get over. It took me around six weeks to feel back to myself, so don't expect to start doing cartwheels for a while yet. :D

Jen

Up your liquids, if you can. Protein drinks count as liquids, but dehydration and hormone changes (yep, even guys) will make you a bit light headed.

Just take your time getting up. And at 2 weeks out you'll feel so much better :)

I made my own electrolyte drink, which I found helped a great deal with headaches, fatigue, and sluggishness.

• 32oz water
• Mio lemon flavouring
• 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
• 1/4 tsp potassium (ie salt substitute like Nusalt)
• 1 tbsp magnesium citrate (in liquid form in the laxative section)

At almost 6 weeks out, I don't drink it anymore as I can have salty cheeses and deli meats. But when I was eating nothing but protein shakes and Greek yogurt, it was a godsend.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

You are dehydrated! I had vsg 5 days ago and I been eating my life away with sugar free Popsicle ( the actual brand popsicle) it's counts as your daily fluid intake!! And it's doesnt harm you at all!!! 5 days straight just popsicles lol 2 weekend will start to introduce protein. I felt like that at first and it was cause I wasn't drinking fluids as I needed to. Popsicle did more than just hydrated my body. Gives that relief that you it's not only water and broth you gotta intake lol