what a nightmare!

I am 7 weeks post-op today and I have never regretted anything more than getting this surgery. I am totally miserable. The first few weeks weren't so bad. I was doing well with my liquids and getting in lots of protein shakes. I was also losing some pretty good weight, even though I had a bit of a stall around the 3rd week or so. But then some things started happening once I was given the go-ahead to start eating regular foods. 1. Nothing tastes good 2. Most everything makes me nauseous 3. Everything feels uncomfortable once it hits my pouch. 4. I am ALWAYS thirsty. I am almost positive that I'm dehydrated. 5. I am ALWAYS hungry. And its not head hunger, I am genuinely, physically hungry almost all the time. 6. I am ALWAYS tired. I can hardly keep my eyes open. 7. I have not lost 1 pound since before Christmas. All these things are causing me to be very depressed. I feel like I am on the verge of a breakdown. I dint get this surgery to feel like **** all of the time. I didn't get this surgery so that I could spend the rest of my life eating soup. I have no patience left for anyone or anything, which really sucks when you have a 17-month-old child and a husband. I feel like I have become the mother and wife from hell. I feel so trapped. I feel so hopeless knowing that I can't do anything to reverse this. I am going to have to live like this for the rest of my life and that really, really scares me. I knew this wasn't going to be easy but I also didn't know that I was going to feel so terrible either. I am worried that I am going to be malnourished and dehydrated with in the next week or so if things don't change; if I'm not already. I can't remember the last time I had a piece of fruit or some veggies. How good can that be for me? I am so miserable. What was I thinking? I wish I could go to sleep and wake up from this bad dream.

I'm sorry your going through so much right now. Have you talked to your surgeon about this? Maybe he/she can make some suggestions for you. Maybe you have a strictor? (sp) If your hungry all the time maybe there is another under lining problem.Talk to your surgeon. I know it's normal to get depressed. I know it's normal to feel tired also and it takes a while to adjust to new foods. There are times I want to snap my sons neck right off and even my husbands. Donna

Annie, I just found this post... You are not alone.... I had surgery the day after you and I gotta admit that things are a little tough right now.... mainly because I knew things would be bad right after surgery but I expected them to be better by now.... I also thought all would be well once I could eat anything I wanted to... I now have the drs OK to eat...but hell, now my real sickness begins to show!!! I am so glad that you posted so that I could know that everything was not roses for everybody. I am about sick of those people who have lost 40+ lbs already. I am not going to give you any advice about what to do, or what you are doing wrong.... god knows we get enough of that from everyone *****sponds.... funny how everyone is an expert when it is someone else. I have even had people advise me to ignore my doctors advice - cause why?... after all, they are experts after visiting this board so much in the last 6 months!! (one person, not even a year out was telling me what I should do or take). So much of this I am learning is the luck of the draw. No two people seem to react exactly alike. I have been a slow loser and of course everyone has come up with reasons.... most of which are my fault of course, as to why I haven't lost as much or as quickly. I have had everything criticized.... including the way my stool comes out!!! (I'm sorry its not like everyone elses). I was hungry.... genuinely hungry the week after surgery too!!! I am exhausted most days by 11:00 am if I am up doing anything.... Disability check was late so I am not sure how we are going to meet the mortage this month. I am supposed to get cleared to go back to work next week???!!!! Well, let me let you know what my doc says to me when I go in with a lot of these same complaints: EVERYTHING IS INDIVIDUAL. Some people are constantly nauseous up to 6 months after surgery... no way to predict... nothing to do but wait it out and take meds.... luck of the draw Fatigue is very individual as well, some people take much longer before they can be up and about and functional.... he advises me to do what my body says to do.... don't try to push or exercise through it... sleep. this too shall pass.... again, luck of the draw. Being at a standstill is also normal at this stage in the game... again luck of the draw Everyone loses at different rates.... chances are slower losers wll tend to lose longer.... in other words their window of opportunity seems to last longer....again, luck of the draw. Focus on getting the fluids in first.... anyway you can... if its no****er, then any fluid will do.... this is the one thing I cannot treat you for at home! and this early out... we are giving you goals to aim for.... keep trying each day to get better at the water, supplements, protein. Please believe I am not trying to lecture or advise you right now.... you are where you are..... but you are not alone....and by the way, I am sure that I could give you serious competition for "worst mother of the year" award.... and the only reason I am not snapping at DH is because there is no DH around!!!!! Hoping it gets better, Hoping the scale moves again soon B

Honey, I know all too well that things are tough the first few MONTHS after surgery. I did become dehydrated and had to go to the hospital and be rehydrated. Then I became malnourished and had to back to the hospital and have a PICC line set up to feed me. I also had gall bladder surgery 3 months post op. My case was unusual because my gall bladder went bad after surgery and then I developed an ulcer in my pouch. So I know what you are going through. I PROMISE it gets better! I am now one year post op and I have lost 218 lbs. I went from a size 34W to a 12 or 14 depending. I have plateaued a bit but I am still losing very slowly now. I eat normal meals - just smaller portions. I didn't even eat or tolerate solid food until about 4 months post op. Now, keep in mind that it was a bad situation and it should never get to that point. I neglected it because I was scared to go back to the hospital so I would lie to my doctor. But when they drew blood, it told the story for me. Also, it is perfectly normal to be very hungry. I remember crying at my sisters house 2 weeks after surgery becasue she cooked dinner for her family and then brought me 2 ounces of chicken broth. I was severly depressed and felt like I was going to break down. Also understand that for most of us, we are breaking a food addiction. You are in detox. Of course your body is freaking out and your old stomach is still sending messages to your brain that it is hungry. This will stop once your old stomach learns its new function. That is what my surgeon told me and it really is the truth. Please don't be discouraged. I promise that it will get better and once you begin to really see the results, you will not regret it. Also, know that you will plateau sometimes. You may go 3 weeks without losing anything and then you will drop ten pounds a week for a few weeks. Your body is going through a starvation period and these plateaus are normal. Hang in there, sweetie. If you need me, email [email protected] Jami 400 to 182 so far

YOU SOUND ALLOT LIKE ME AROUND THIS TIME I LIVED ON APPLESAUCE.LOW CARB YOGART.GRITS,SOUPS VERY SOFT FOODS BUT IT TURNED OUT THAT I HAD A SMALL ULCER IN THE BOTTOM OF MY POUCH THE MY DOC GAVE ME LIQUILD CARAFIT FOR THIS AND IT HELPED ME ALSO THE MEDS THAT YOU ARE GIVEN IN THE HOSPITAL MAKES FOOD TASTE BAD FOR AWHILE BUT THIS WILL GO AWAY TRAY TO DRINK SOME HOT TEA IT WILL RELAX YOUR POUCH AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO EAT BETTER

I hope this helps you....I am four years post op. I have had alot of complications but I will tell you that after about 2 years you get that normal feeling back and you start to wonder if you arent gonna gain all your weight back.. I weigh around 130 and I have to discipline myself daily not to eat too much....but it DOES get better I promise. Your stomach adjusts and so does your body. You are able to eat more and a wider variety. I still get sick to my stomach. Lay on your left side when this happens. Another thing.......DO NOT DRINK 30 before meals, during meals, or 45 minutes after. THIS MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE......IT ONLY GETS BETTER I PROMISE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hang in there sweetie your body is STILL healing it takes at least 2 months. The 3rd month and usually 3rd week (for me) you hit a plateau...or 2nd month... what happens is that your body goes into a sort of shock... it pauses to adjust to the major surgery that it went through. A catch up phase. My plateau lasted for 3 weeks and NOTHING you do can really break it because its not so much a plateau as it is your body changing and adjusting. The 3rd month (towards the end) you will start to feel a bit normal again. Actually the 3rd and 4th month was nice because we really could feel the pouch which helps control the amounts that we eat. Yes there are emotions to that but just know that you will loose! One thing you should definitely not do is compare yourself to others...it will drive you nuts. It drives me crazy and I have to catch myself and just put it out of my head and know that I have to focus on me and no one else. Hang in there... just remember that you will also be on an emotional rollercoaster...you are comming off of the anesthesia which will put you through a bit of a withdrawl and your hormones are all whacked out from the procedure. I cried at the stupidest things at that time... oh forget about those sappy commercials on tv! Hang in there...you are loosing girl! be happy! whens the last time you lost so much in such a short time! Dont think "oh I should be loosing much faster" its not like that... its only like that the first month and then thats it. The rest is a slower more consistent loss...but its comming off! better down than up!! Hold strong! ((hugs)) Elizabeth M

hi. i just read this board. i was just wondering how you're feeling now? i hope at least alittle better. and try not to take it out on the baby. your husband can handle it. sue

I certainly know what you are going through. I am 3 years post-op. I had so much post-op pain it was incredible. I couldn't do anything for myself -- needed help wiping my backside which was totally humiliating. I choked all the time. I was worn out, hungry, nauseous and couldn't bear all those people who were so happy with their surgery. I couldn't bear going to support group meetings. Anything I tried to eat would cause incredible pain in my chest. I had muscle spasms all over. It was horrible. It was a full 3 months before I began to get a handle on things and even start to feel like I wanted to survive this. I felt so angry because there were so many things that had been glossed over. I had my surgery in late May and it was sometime in September before I began making a recovery. It took me a whole year to get back on my feet. During that period, I got to where I didn't eat hardly anything solid. And i couldn't stand protein shakes, etc. I literally lived off of chicken noodle soup with the noodles drained out and vegetable beef soup with the vegetables drained out, warm and sipped slowly. I found that I was unable to tolerate cold foods or liquids at all. So the warm -- not hot -- items were it. I don't know why it took me so long to recover. I still cannot tolerate cold foods or drinks. But I do eat nearly anything I want except beef -- I don't even eat ground beef like in tacos. I don't eat any fried foods. I stay away from lettuce which totally upsets my GI. I really watch the fat intake because it causes explosive diarrhea. I lost 185 lbs. I don't know if I could/would do it again. But I am very glad that I did it. I want you to know that this is an incredibly difficult time for you. There is no easy answer. And I don't want to be one of those people that tell you to "just hang in there." Just realize that this is probably the most difficult thing you will ever have to overcome in your life. And understand that there is hope. No one told me about a lot of things -- I never dreamed that I would not be able to tolerate cold foods or that I would choke and muscle spasm from trying to eat PROPER things I was SUPPOSED to be able to eat. I don't think there's any blanket answer. I think it is a tremendous test of your personal coping skills. And I wish you the very, very best. I wish I could help. Does it help at all to know that you're not alone and that others have been right where you are? I hope so. Best wishes.

Hey there...I have not seen you around. How are you doing? Feeling better?