Same old problem--cannot eat, no appetite

You said in your next to the last paragraph that maybe the fear of getting sick makes you hesitant to eat. I agree with the 1st response. You may have no physical problem. It may be a psychological problem caused by early problems with eating. If you want to spare your son, I suggest you find a counselor, especially one with experience with bariatric patients, and seek help with that route. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

Thank you. I will check if my insurance would cover that. I have seen two different therapists for grief counseling after my husband died. Other than charging me $35 for each visit to listen to me talk, they had very little to offer. I described my food issues to them. They were more interested in my sleep patterns. One therapist quit on me because her father died and she was dealing with her own grief. I understood.

I don't know if there are therapists with experience with bariatric issues in Las Vegas. I will have to research that. Thank you for your kind response.

My RNY was 9 years ago. I had issues with nausea for years before my RNY and continue to have them now. I have found that eating, for me, is something I have to do so my body has nutrients it needs to function.

I am gluten intolerant and have reactive hypoglycemia. I can't eat anything fried. My pouch is 2-3 ounces as measured on my last endoscopy.

December 22, 2017 I had surgery for ruptured discs in my cervical spine at C4-C6 (neck). Since then I have not been able to swallow whole food. Xrays show a lot of swelling and doctor told me it may be two more months before I can swallow whole food. I was discouraged but decided I had to get 100 grams of protein in a day one way or another.

S0 - I have a hot liquid protein drink for breakfast (I use chocolate whey isolate protein with some Sugar free syrup. Currently I'm adding peppermint syrup but I use many other flavors. Lunch is 1/2 c. fat free cottage cheese and Carbmaster yogurt with 1/2 scoop vanilla whey isolate powder stirred in. I have maybe 10 blueberries but sometimes they won't go down and I have to cough them back up. Supper is oatmeal. I mix 1 scoop of vanilla whey isolate powder and 1 ounce of sugar free vanilla syrup and a little water. Stir the protein mix and then pour it into my oatmeal. I then add some sugar free pancake syrup on top.

I've ate this same meal plan for 5 weeks now and looks like I will need to continue it. I do have some snacks. SF jello, SF popscicles, Fage 0% greek yogurt with SF syrup or SF dry pudding stirred in. I have some raspberry Fit Joy protein bars (I eat 1/3 at a time) small bites and chew very well and sometimes have to spit it out or drink tea to get it down. Kay's makes a gluten free cereal. I buy mine in individual bags and eat the vanilla one (looks like little cheerios). These help if I want crunch. Would be much healthier and more protein than peanut butter crackers.

I drink lots of hot and iced tea throughout the day, easily 120 ounces. Before bed I have a cup of hot tea (often add some organic half and half) and eat 2 squares of Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt - that is 1/2 serving. I break each square into four pieces and let each peace melt in my mouth.

Eating is something I have to do. Just like I have to shower, brush my teeth, etc. Unlike you - sometimes food does sound good, but it's usually something that is not healthy.

I am 10 pounds above my goal and eating like I am these past 5 weeks, I've not lost any weight. I think my body is adjusting and metabolism is reset.

Best wishes

Penny

Thank you Penny. I understand your issues better than most. I will definitely take your suggestion about the hot tea (particularly since I am traveling to a very cold Ohio this week). Everyone has been right. I am dehydrated and I know it and need to start forcing liquids more. Living in Vegas, it just seems to be a condition that I have gotten used to. Not good I know.

Everyone on here has been helpful. I know that the calorie numbers don't add up. But when you take the size of my pouch into consideration (similar to yours), I don't find it surprising that I can't eat a great deal. Add to that lactose intolerance and what I suspect might be an allergic reaction to soy because the protein drinks and protein bars make me so sick at times, and it is easier to understand my situation. I wish everyone would go back and read my posts from 2007 and forward. I have had the issues with what I can and cannot eat for a very long time.

One dear friend has noted that if I sit and talk with her during a meal, I seem to have less of a problem with getting more food in. I still need the Tums but at least I get it in.

So to END this discussion I am going to try the following: try to get in more fluids every day--at least get up to 64 ounces which would be four of the bottles of diet tea. I think I can do that. I am going to concentrate on a minimum of 800 calories a day with a goal of 1200. Even though the soy protein makes me nauseous, I will get it down. I find that if I have the drink over crushed ice which dilutes it, I can get at least one in a day. I am going to research Ayurveda--a holistic approach to increasing appetite in addition to my medical marijuana. My doctor has promised we will do blood-work again in a few months and pay particular attention to the thyroid since he has had me at the same dosage now for a year and a half.

This most recent post has opened my eyes to more methods (Ayurveda) and that there are others out there like myself who find eating to be a real issue even when years out from surgery. Thank you everyone.

Thank you everyone. I promise not to bring this up again.

I read through the whole thread and I feel you getting defensive. I just wanted to pipe in to say that I think the frustration you feel from the other posters is not that you can't eat. Lots of people feel incredibly lethargic about eating, and lots of people have dumping and RH and IBS, and other complications that make eating hard... Also some of the things you are saying are abnormal sound perfectly normal. 800 calories a day and only a few bites of an appetizer? Yep that's everyone's new normal here.

But I think the frustration you feel from the other posters is that there are so many people here who are fighting everyday to be healthy despite complications. Your posts seem the opposite. Like you've come to complain but have excuses for all the reasons why nothing will work for you.

I think that's why so many people assume it is a psychological issue instead of a physical one. You'd think someone who developed post op physical isssues would be eager to try every solution offered. But you are convinced all these ideas are not for you.

Whatever your issues end up being, I hope you start getting back into the fight for your health.

There could still be physical reasons why you're having discomfort, you need to have a WLS doctor. Or at least see a gastroenterologist. You shouldn't have to suffer like that. I had my surgery many years ago in another state, and when I got tired of going out of state to see my Dr, no one would see me here either. My family Dr said that she could handle things, but when my vitamin D got low she was unable to handle it. I was finally able to get an app't with the WLS Dr by going into his office and making an app't there instead of calling. So you might try that, or if you see a gastro Dr and he/she doesn't find a problem they may refer you to a WLS Dr. There are medications available to help with the problems you have and it could be an easy fix. Good luck to you.