Three Week PostOp

Hello everyone,

I am three weeks post op as of tomorrow and I have not had the smoothest ride so far. I am nauseous pretty much from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed. I am getting about 40 oz of fluids per day if I'm lucky because of the nausea and today I got in about 40 grams of protein between a protein shake and 1 egg and part of another protein drink - I had to stop drinking because it was making me more and more nauseous as I went. 

I guess my question is this - is this normal? Other people out there still nauseous at three weeks out? I had to go to the ER a few nights ago due to dehydration and they gave me Zofran, this seems to help a smidge, but I don't feel that it lasts long enough. Everytime I drink my stomach seems to be more upset. Also, is anyone out there bothered by their vitamins? I'm just trying to figure out what this could be. I saw my doc last Wednesday and he told me these feelings are normal and they will go away. My first week or so after surgery seemed to be so easy and now this i****ting all of a sudden. I have not thrown up once since my surgery - just the constant nausea. 

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. 

I know the feeling. I found i couldnt drink my premier protein anymore, it made me nauseous. I have switched over to pure protein and nausea decreased. I would take the zofran every eight hours for a few days to cut the cycle. 

I have never been a pill taker. I take chewable multivits but am going to try patch. I take the gel viitamin D twice a week. I take chewable caramel calcium. 

I hope this helps.

Sue

My RNY was the same day as you. I too, still feel lots of nausea, but I power through it. The only thing my pouch wants is cold water. Nothing else. I do my best to get in all of my protein, but most days I barely finish half. 

One suggestion for you, some pouches are very sensitive to temperature early out, I know mine is. Pay attention to see if changing to room temp, ice cold, or very warm makes a difference. It was the culprit for my surgery buddy. 

I also have zofran and it seems to work well enough, but I'm just trying to move on and be normal again.

One last thing, don't beat yourself up over this,  do the best you can and get help when you need it. We'll get through this. :)

I would switch to the vitamin patches and see if that helps any. Also temps as Lykapal suggested. Lastly some people can't tolerate eggs, especially that close to surgery. I know they are on lots of surgeons post op lists including mine. But honestly I used to love eggs and now don't care that much about them. Try eliminating things one at a time and see if that makes a difference. Best of luck! 

Part of the nausea is BECAUSE you are dehydrated. You need to find a way to get a lot more fluids in. You won't ever feel better until you do.

Are you taking a daily PPI for acid?  Between dehydration and acid those could be the culprit of the nausea.  Try drinking water with a flavor in it and at different temps. 

Right now drinking enough water to stay hydrated should be your biggest concern with protein your second. 

If you have to hold off on taking your vitamins for a few weeks it will not be the end of the world.

Grim is right, the dehydration causes nausea..it is a vicious cycle. You need to find what fluids work for you... hot, room temp, cold...flavored, unflavored. Try chicken broth, herbal tea, regular tea,..... ...sometimes warm works better. I also make decaf green ice tea and put Torani SF peach syrup in it for peach ice tea. Use decaf only because I figure with ice tea, you are drinking a greater volume...and don't want to go overboard on caffeine...

I had nausea for quite awhile, more than 3 weeks... and what helped me as crazy as it sounds...were peppermint tic tacs. I would bite them and let them dissolve in my mouth, and the mint really did help.

I am three weeks today as well. I seem to do OK with fluids most of the time, and as much as I'm starting to truly hate these milky sweet protein drinks, I at least get 2 of them down a day.

This weekend I found Isopure water-based protein drinks Isopure lemonade and I really think I'll have this for lunch instead of the milky ones... there is 40G of protein in 20ounces... so if I break it up and drink 10ounces twice, then I'm getting plenty of protein for a meal.

I have had two episodes of issues with food... both resulting in 'the foamies' (which I had wondered what that was, but once it happens, oh, you know!). One lasted about 1.5 hours... then last night was awful and lasted over 6 hours, and finally culminated in me having my first (and hopefully last) puking session... suffice to say, yesterday I neither got my liquid or my protein. I will work hard today to make up the fluids!

I have decided to take a step backwards in food. Cottage cheese and hummus. That's it. For a few days anyway. Seems that meat doesn't sit well, no matter how shredded/chopped/chewed it is... Fish does OK though. I've had salmon, cod, and packaged tuna.

We are still new to all of this, and 3 weeks isn't that long.

I'm sorry about your nausea. I don't really have that, so I have no good ideas about that. I do know that real ginger helps, so maybe picking up a hunk of ginger root and putting a piece in your water might help? (You could probably mix a lemon wedge and a ginger piece together). Also, I do better with just slightly chilled water... not Cold. Try different temperatures to see if your pouch prefers one over the other :)

Early out, Isopure was a huge help to me even though they didn't taste super great to me. The alpine punch was the most tolerable flavor for me. I'd still water it down a little and add a little Mio to change up the flavor.