Low Energy- Please help!

5,8", HW- 340, SW- 319, CW-224

I am 7 mo post op, RNY.

I get 60-90g of protein a day. I drink over 64oz water. I have no energy and I often don't feel well enough to exercise. I am so drained all the time.

My labs are all normal and my Dr says everything is fine when I don't feel fine. I've lost close to 100lbs, I should have tons of energy. I can't keep up with my 4 kids.

Please help!

Thank you ?

How are you doing with taking your vitamins and minerals? Did your surgeon have you get new bloodwork at six months to check your levels? It?s vital to be consistent with them always....if you are not, please get yourself organized to take them daily.

ETA. I see you added to your post about labs after my reply, good your labs are ok. How are your sleep habits, might be as simple as needing more than you get now.

Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea? A lot of folks that deal with that get much less sleep each night than they think they are getting. Which can make you tired.

When you say your labs are normal, do you know what your actual numbers are? The ranges for some of those lab numbers can be huge.

For instance; Ferritin (Iron) lab numbers are "normal" between 13 and 279. That is a huge swing. Many people become symptomatic with iron deficiency when numbers get below 50. I had numbers fall to 10 and felt like absolute crap. Fortunately my PCP ordered iron infusions for me right away, but many WLS peeps have had their doctors tell them they are in normal range at 13, even when they come in and complain with all the iron deficiency symptoms.

For this reason it is essential for WLS patients to keep track of vitamin trends on a spread sheet. Then you will notice any downward trends and you can correct them before you get deficient. You can not trust your doctor to do this. They look at the number before them and nothing else. If it is within "normal" range, they let it pass. Your bodies "normal" might be much higher than what the charts say. As a WLS patient I want to keep my numbers on the high end of the chart because our vitamin lab numbers can tank really fast.

Call your nutritionist through your bariatric clinic or even make an appointment. They are a great resource and will know what to tell you to eat. She'll be able to look at your food log (if you aren't logging food in some manner, do so. It really is important) and see where you might not be getting enough of certain nutrients.

You may still need more protein. Remember, with RNY there is the malabsorption issue so even if you are eating 90 grams of protein you may not be absorbing that much. My surgeon said you only digest 60 to 80% of what you digest so you may only be getting 54 to 72 g of protein if you are eating 90g of protein so perhaps, up your proteins over 90 grams. For your weight, you need about 80g of protein (.36g of protein per pound which is what I found when I checked it).

Also, bodies are different. One person does fine without a lot of carbs and others don't, there is no such thing as one "diet" fits all. You might try upping your carbs, just be sure they are complex carbs, not bread or pasta made with white flour. I love quinoa and brown rice which in addition to carbs have a pretty good protein content. So does farro, barley and freekeh (weird name). I haven't been able to get to someplace like Whole Foods cuz they are an hour's drive away so I've ordered those online. Also, there is something called nutritional yeast which I know they have in a lot of places. It is 20 calories for a tablespoon and has 3 grams of protein and it has a lot of B12 which is good for energy.

Also, how many calories are you getting. At 6 months, I was getting around 650 to 700ish calories and my nutritionist said, "You aren't eating enough. You need between 800 to 1000 calories a day," Freaky for me, never thought I'd ever hear, eat more.

Most of all, you might want to check with your surgeon or PCP. Your lack of energy may not have anything to do with your diet. Perhaps your blood pressure is to low or you have thyroid issues. I'm having problems with a low heart rate and I just found out that biotin which most of us take for hair loss can cause thyroid issues. When the cardiologist checked my labs, one of my thyroid levels was too low and said to stop taking biotin and my PCP will do another blood draw in a month to check if my levels are still off.

Take heart. This too will pass. {{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

By any chance do you have allergies/hay fever? That can really sap you of energy, but since it's unconnected to WLS they might not have thought to ask about it.

Good suggestion. I didn't even think of that (along with a gazillion other possibilities) and I should have considering when my allergies are kicking in, I can get so, so sleepy. I'll tell someone, "I feel liked someone slipped me a mickey". I will feel positively drugged sleepy.

When you had your labs done did they check your Iron and B12?. If they are low even if close to the lower end of normal range. You can feel like what you have discribed. Always consult your doctor. Good luck