PATIENTS 8+ YEARS OUT--QUESTION

I am eight years out from surgery.  While I have always had to be very selective about what I eat, it is getting harder and harder for me to get nutrients in.

I live on yogurt, cottage cheese and fresh fruit, and canned soup pretty much 7 days a week.  I can drink protein smoothies I make with Muscle milk and yogurt--sometimes add almond milk too.  I try to boost calories where I can: chew on raw almonds, protein bars, even a few Hershey kisses for an energy boost.  But when it comes to REAL food like a burger, steak, chicken, pork chop--any dense meat that must be digested--I get nauseous and after just 4-5 bites it feels like the food is stuck and I get real pain around my pouch.

This morning I had an endoscopy to see if there was scar tissue or lesions at the surgical site.  The preliminary report was that there were none.  They did take biopsies as a precaution.  An upper GI has ruled out any issue with the esophagus. 

Is this a common problem when you are eight plus years out?  I am getting only 600-800 calories in a day because pretty much everything makes me at least a little bit sick to my stomach.  I have NO appetite at all--and sometimes just the sight or smell of food makes me sick.  Any help or advice you can give me would be appreciated. 

That said---still GLAD I had RNY because I would have been dead a long time ago if I had not.

No, this is not common.  Most people at 5+ years out have little trouble eating most things and, if anything, struggle with being able to eat more than they need to eat.

I sure wish I had some advice to give you. I hope your doctors can find something. 

Lora

If there is no physical/mechanical problem, maybe consider an eating disorder therapist.  Your problem is not a common one, most of us struggle with the opposite the further out we get!

Good luck with finding a resolution.

I really don't think an eating disorder is the problem.  I don't really think about food at all---sometimes I have to remind myself to eat.  I don't think about it or worry about it.  It's like brushing my teeth--just something I have to do to stay healthy.

I did consult with a nutritionist who said that eating less than one cup of food at a time was what the pouch was designed to do.  I just have been able to not stretch mine out like some people do.  Mainly because I was never able to eat more than 1/2-3/4 cup from the start.  The nutritionist felt I just needed to eat more often if at all possible or eat more calorie packed proteins like almonds, string cheese, and the protein shakes.  She felt I was on track with my food but needed to up the calories.

You might want to check out this video about long term post WLS food plan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yx97Ul2OV4

Tried o bring up video but page was "unavailable".  What was it about?

Sorry about that (and my delay in responding, it just discovered the little bell)

Here is the page that has a list of all of his videos.  The first 3 give alot of the info.

http://drmatthewweiner.com/surgical-weight-loss-video/

Here is the link to all of his videos

http://drmatthewweiner.com/    (the videos link is third tab from the left)  (Sorry for the delay in responding but I just saw the little bell and your question.

I think that I was referring to the How Weight Loss Surgery Works video, and How to Prevent Stomach Strertching. 

I have watched most of them and I find them inspiring. I hope they give you an new insight or so.  (My surgeon is a mostly that, but he understands the need for longterm support and I go to the monthly meetings run by his office's nutritionist.

I had similar problems post-op hernia repair and TT in that I could no longer eat more than a few bites of food at a time and the more dense the food was the less of it I could eat and the pain and nausea were off the chart.  I am not quite 2 years post-op revision so can't speak to the long term thing, but I will say that I was advised by my surgical team to eat 8 to 10x a day.  Tiny amounts of food of course, but to spread it out.  I also went back on a PPI for several months to help with the nausea.  I had all the tests - upper GI, CT Scan, MRI etc.  Finally I was diagnosed with an internal hernia and had exploratory surgery which cleared up that hernia and they removed tons of adhesions which were twisted around my pouch.  Since that surgery in March, I have been able to eat normally for an RNY and all those issues have resolved.  

It may be worth pushing harder and seeing your surgeon.  I was very specific about my pain and inability to eat when I went to see my surgeon.  I had noticed several patterns to the nausea and pain and when I explained it to him it was that information that pushed him into doing the exploratory surgery as all my tests came back fine or inconclusive.  So I always advise people to WRITE it down!  It may mean nothing to you but to the Doctor it can be the missing pieces of the puzzle.  That's why they get paid the big bucks :)

Hope you get to the bottom of things quickly.  It is no fun when you feel poorly and don't know why.  

I will be post op 13 years this Sept. I have no appetite and have to be careful what I eat because I can eat so little. I do take iron tablets plus vitamin D  50k oncea week. I don't get sick everytime I eat but I get full quickly. There is nothing wrong with my surgery I just simply eat to live.