Almost three months and still can't eat food!

Hi all,

I have not posted here for a while, need some help. Please no negative comments, looking for support not criticisms.

I am almost three months out and still not able to choke back any more than 1/2 a banana, 1/3 cup of yogurt or 1 1/2 eggs without throwing up. I am not talking quantity I am talking consistency and digestibility.

I am barely eating, I can tolerate things that dissolve in my mouth only or slide like jello.

I am only managing two protein shakes and my water and a cheese slice, or baby cookies or baby cheesies or protein ice cream or popsicles.

My calories are between 400 and 600 on any given day.

I have been treated for ulcers (not sure I have them, I believe they are trying to cut down on the acid production by doubling up my Prevacid). I have spent days in emerg getting hydrated after boughts of vomiting after attempting to advance my diet. I have tried ground turkey and beef and puréed it - no joy.

Has anybody been here, faced this challenge and found a solution?

What has your bariatric team said?

Help needed.

Hi I'm not quite as far out as you are by surgery was May 4th so I'm just coming up on my two months now. When I spoke with Dr. Reed about my inability to eat things he was happy with the fact that I could swallow yogurt and eggs he wasn't concerned about the ground meat. I actually ended up going back to full fluids for a little bit because I wasn't able to tolerate anything not even cottage cheese.

I'm not sure where your Center is at but on the Guelph program we aren't allowed beef until 6 months. That's beef, pork, or veal. They say that it's very difficult to digest those things. I am doing okay sort of on ground chicken but it's still very hard and I do end up with the foamies vomiting up saliva. Actual chicken breast is a complete no go it doesn't seem to matter how well I chew it it will not digest. I also tried a little bit of pasta in the form of spaghetti noodles and those just came back up. I think the problem was that I couldn't chew them small enough.

Right now I'm eating pureed cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, refried beans thinned with Greek yogurt, cheese, low fat peanut butter on Melba toast or Wasa Bread or Brohgie crisps. Tonight I tried something different and it worked really well it was a Brohgie crisp with pizza sauce on it an ounce of shredded part-skim mozzarella and a little bit of very finely diced turkey bacon. It went down just fine. I found it easy to chew and the Brohgie crisp basically just melts in your mouth.

I have supplemented a little bit with protein drinks. I bought the revolution brand fuzzy peach flavoured clear protein drink and I've had a couple of those in the last week. It helps me get my water in as well as some extra protein. But they're so sweet that I can only do half a scoop in 750 mL of water. I'm trying to get my calories up to 900 a day but right now I'm hovering around the 600 mark too.

My only suggestion is it if things don't get better quite soon I would contact your surgeon and insist on a scope to ensure that you don't have a stricture. Strictures and narrowing of the opening at the base of our pouch. If you do have a stricture it will cause food to get stuck and then come back up. When I spoke with my surgeon about the possibility he wanted to give it a little longer before he made that call. But you're a month past where I am so I would be asking about it.

I am so surprised by the disparity between centres and would love to know who has the best results and if the dieticians have ever been over weight and struggled as we all have.

Thank you for your post, I have hope for the up coming months and eagerly await my 3 month appointments.

i also have a psychologist appointment in September, maybe that will help me wrap ,y head around the head hunger and lack of patience.

Hang in there

There are others who had slow starts to eating. I could tolerate everything but still only ate 4-600 calories for the first 6 to 8 months. So not that different then you.

You are just going to take longer. Keep your two protein shakes per day to ensure your protein needs are met. Keep trying new sources of protein. Many have trouble with eggs. How about tuna salad? Chili. Ensure your food is very moist.

please avoid "baby cookies". They are still cookies with no value. How about cottage cheese?

Keep trying and don't slip to non essential foods.

Good luck

Ugh, tuna was a disaster of titanic proportions and earned me my first night in hospital post surgery for rehydration.

Who knew three or four well chewed pencil eraser bites chewed like a cud chewing cow could cause so much misery!

I arrived at emergency at 10 pm that night after trying tuna for lunch moistened with pickle juice (someone suggested that - tasted ok) but 10 hours of acid, foam and saliva and I would almost pass out over the sink I was there for almost 24 hours.

Prior to that, someone suggested chili at the one month group appointment and with the dieticians blessing I decided to try it. Boy, was I excited! I puréed it with my mini chopper and spent the evening at the sink as well.

At this point Iam resigning myself to premier protein chocolate shakes for life.

Three months isn't very long. I'm almost a year since my surgery and only recently could I tolerate beef. I've eaten mostly chicken and shrimp since my surgery. It took me 7 months before I could drink protein shakes. The clinic wasn't happy about that but the smell of a protein shake would make me sick. Listen to your body. Don't force things. It's a long and steady race. As long as you're not starving yourself you're ok.

I feel starved, purely the mental component, it must be.

If I listened to my body alone I would not eat at all, the hunger is not there, just exhaustion.

The the length of the race is also a problem, I am not long on patience :(

I could only start eating more in April so about 3.5 months out and still 300-500 Cals a Day depending on the day. It freaked me out. I was eating 1/4-1/2 cup of anything. My dietician said some people are just slower than others. Now at 5.5 months out I can eat 1/2-3/4 cup at a meal but there are days when it's only 1/2 cup. I aim for 800-900 cals a day now. Finally. I focus a lot of my meals around protein... premier protein, chicken and I really enjoy tenderloin but once or twice a week because I have left overs.

I remember posting the same thing. I saw others a month behind me eating everything and more than I could and it was frustrating. I think something was wrong. I just needed more time.

Itll come.

Thanks for making me feel normal!

i will focus on the it will come!

That doesn't seem unusual for less than 3 months. I really couldn't eat much solid food until 4-5 months. Don't try to advance your diet too quickly.