Not Eating Enough

I have a question. Is anyone finding that they just don't eat? I'm 6 weeks post-op and am finding I'm not eating very much and by not very much I mean I'm consuming 300-500 calories a day on good days. I'm never hungry and have pains when I eat so I'm just not getting in the food I need. I get nauseated anytime I even drink water. Any suggestions or concerns? Help.

It's pretty normal not to feel hungry at 6 weeks. I know I went through about 3-4 weeks of hungry feelings I couldn't explain. Then at about 2 months I stopped feeeling hungry at all. I still have to schedule my eating times. I can sometimes go an entire day without a meal. I always try to eat a little something though. If you are getting pain you might want to dicuss that with you surgeon. If you are chewing well and eating slowly then you should not have a problem. The nauseated feeling with water is completely normal. I had such a hard time with water. It was BAD!!!! I started refusing water, now I am doing better. Please email me if there are any other concerns you have. I hope I can be of help. The best advice I can give is to see you surgeon. He would now what is going on. Good luck to you. We should keep in touch. I am moving to the Phoenix area in Dec. You take care. Celeste

You may well have a stricture. I'd definitely call the surgeon. 300 to 500 calories is at the very low end of what your body can tolerate for more than a short period of time. If most everything but broth seems to come back up, you should get checked out. Good luck. - Stephanie

Hi, It is kind of normal to be eating small amounts right now, The hunder doesn't really return till about 8 months out. Than watch out, because, you can eat just about anything & you have to really be sound in your eating 3 meals a day & no snacking. You should have the problem looked at for safety sake, make sure there is nothing wrong. Waiting too long is the reason some patients have bigg problems. If you are getting mostly protein when you do eat, that is O.K. if you are eating carbs, than you need to change what you are eating. It will get easier, just hang in there, You should be having a 6week check-up coming up anyway, so ask your Doc about it. Marilyn, the Bearlady

I would give a call to your surgeon. I was doing great until the 3rd week post op. I would get pain and nauseated when I would even try to drink liquid and I ended up having a stricture. I had to have an endoscopy and then it happened again 1 week after the first endoscopy. It is a common side effect that many of us get after surgery. Good luck!