Feeling horrible

But I'm able to drink about a litre of water a day? It's probably the only thing I CAN do, so how could I be dehydrated?

That is only about half of the minimum amount of fluids that you should be getting each day.

A liter of fluid a day is not enough. You need to be drinking at least 2 liters a day or more. The biggest cause of nausea after surgery is dehydration. Remember that you are hardly eating anything and, therefore, are not absorbing any fluid from food. WLS patient can easily become dehydrated.

Make sure you are chewing everything to an apple sauce consistency and that you are taking tiny bites. If this keeps up call your surgeon. There are anti nausea meds that they can prescribe.

How many times are you urinating, in a 24 hour period? What color is your urine?

Is your skin dry?

Are your eyes dry?

Are you finding it hard to swallow?

Are you thirsty?

ALL these things are indicators of dehydration.

Why challenge people who are taking the time, to try and help you?

I'm so sorry you're having such a rough time recovering from your surgery; it truly sounds miserable. It sounds like your surgeon has ruled out the most common problems, like a stricture. Since your surgeon hasn't been able to solve the problem, I would seek a second opinion.

In the meantime, I completely agree with what everyone else on this forum has said: you're not drinking enough water. You need 2 litres a day. You need more water than someone who hasn't had VSG. As my surgeon explained to me, the stomach normally holds a reserve of fluid that your body can draw on when it needs hydration. After VSG, that reserve is gone. If I don't get enough water, I feel queasy. I also thought I was doing fine drinking 1 liter of water per day, even though I was told to drink more by my dietitian and everyone on this forum! But then I got hit by the "cluebat" and got acute dehydration while grocery shopping. Not an experience I want to repeat.

You may have other problems (like reflux), but drinking so little water certainly isn't helping. Drinking more water may even relieve some of your symptoms.

As for eating, the only advice I have to offer is to take things one step at a time. Find one food you can tolerate, and stick to that for a few days before trying something else. A lot of people find protein shakes cause nausea, so you'll probably have to avoid them for now. Protein is important, but your job right now is to drink more fluids and get some food (any food) into you.

I hope this gets resolved for you soon, so this can all be behind you and you can enjoy the benefits of the surgery.

I keep a 20 oz water bottle with me and fill it at least 5 times a day. We get dehydrated quickly.

I sometimes have problems with acid reflux and nausea. I take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed into eight ounces of water for quick relief.

Have you tried broth? You could probably increase your fluid intake by adding a few cups of broth throughout the day. I'm guessing your electrolytes are off. Try to increase your fluid intake and electrolytes. And as others suggested get a second opinion.

Dehydration sucks. Makes you feel very sick. Only one liter a day, especially with vomiting is not sufficient. Sorry your going through this. I hope your able to get this resolved and start enjoying your weight loss journey.

I do know what your going through KayVee91...I went through it and I felt the same way for almost a year after surgery. I didn't have VSG I had Gastric Bypass Revision from a Gastric Stapling. I felt like I was dying every morning when I woke up, I would go through this nausea routine, dry heave and then I would be semi okay but had no strength to get out of bed. On the good side of it, I lost over 100 lbs in 6 months. Bad side of it, I was no where near my surgeon and I went to see a surgeon in Oklahoma where I was living. He told me he was sending me to have it revised if I didn't start eating. He put me on a regiment of eating 16 bites per day. I eat a bite, an hour later eat a bite, an hour later, eat a bite. All day long, after about a month I was able to eat small meals. Problem with this routine is you get used to it and voila your over eating again. Just try eating 1 bite, even if it's a bite of bread or cracker, broth with a noodle in it. I felt like it had something to do with the acids in my stomach, but this has been over 20+ years ago. But I do know what your going through.

Let me know how your doing? Have they done post op X Rays? I'm also wondering if they made your pouch a little too small?

Janie Rolfson

So sorry to hear. I would echo what others have said. I have had reflux since soon after my surgery 8 mos. ago. My surgeon sent me to a GI specialist and it did help some.

One of the things that helped a bit was getting more aggressive with my colon. I wasn't exactly constipated before I saw the GI doc, but wasn't having bowel movements often enough or of enough quantity. Since you are probably a bit dehydrated, and aren't getting a lot of solid food, that can also contribute to a sluggish colon. Even though your stomach is at the other end of the GI tract, a sluggish colon just makes reflux worse.

I also found that plain water made my reflux worse, so now I drink Mio water or Bai water instead.

I was already on a PPI for reflux, but the GI doc split it into two doses and that helped some too. You might want to see if a PPI helps with the reflux (Zantac and Nexium are not PPIs).

Hang in there.