Question:
Has anyone experienced pain/cramping when drinking water?

I had no problem with water pre-op. Now, 3.5 weeks post-op, I seem to cramp every time I drink water... even at room temp. I can barely get in 20oz per day and I know that is not good. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!    — Angela D. (posted on January 15, 2003)

January 15, 2003
Same thing happened to me at about the same time. The thing that worked for me, decaf coffee and tea. Not too hot but warmer then room temp. At 11 weeks out I still cannot tolerate cold stuff to drink. Luckily it is winter! And I also learned that Crystal Light etc made me dump, no clue why but they made me so sick.
   — Wendy H.

January 15, 2003
Hi, i had the same problem with water, I'm now 3.5 months out and only for the past month or so i have been able to drink water without the cramping. what i used to do to help get the water in was put a tiny bit of lemon juice and a packet of equal in a big glass of icy water. also, hot teas went down soooooo easily (Make sure it's decaf tea though, caffeine will further dehydrate you), and if you can handle fructose (sugar from fruit) then you can have 1/2 cranberry juice 1/2 water .........that's what i did and it truly helped me with getting my water in. email me if u have any more q's!
   — Iris B.

January 15, 2003
Angela, this exact same thing happened to me too - I'm supposing it is quite normal - but I didn't drink my fluids because it hurt - and ended up spending 3 days in the hospital due to dehydration... Our bodies HAVE to have the fluids now.. we dont' get it out of the food we eat anymore - so unless you want to be in the hospital.. which isn't FUN at all... drink water -try it at room temperature! This works best.. also, try Gatorade, my surgeon starts us on Gatorade when we are still in the hospital - this tends to help with the dumping too.. becuase your body gets used to the little bit of sugar! But it has electrolytes in it.. which is what you need. THere is also a great product called SMARTWATER.. it is WATER and Electrolytes --I buy it at my HEB grocery stores... in the healthfood section! This is essentially the same as gatorade just NO SUGAR!! OR TASTE.. drink it at room temperature for a few weeks... ANOTHER thing -- you can try things like hot chocalate(sugar free of course) - hot things seemed to sooth my pouch so much better than cold things during this time frame... But it will pass if you just KEEP DRINKING!!!!!!!!!! REALLY!!! Endure the pain for a bit...it will be OK...
   — Tammy T.

January 16, 2003
I was the same way for the first two months, then it stopped. It seemed to help to use a straw (strange, but true) and crystal lite went down better than water. Everything is sore and swollen and it takes time for it all to heal, until then even the pressure of water hurts. I had the flu not long ago and the swelling from vomiting started the whole painful process over. It hurt so bad to drink I ended up dehydrated and had to have IV fluids. Try room temp, cold, warm, whatever works. You have to get the fluids in. But this WILL pass. I can now take 'swigs' of water and no pain. Sugar free de-caf tea (if you like them) might also help. I found a recipe on-line for sugar free friendship tea, and that went down good. I hope things get better soon! Good Luck!
   — Dana B.

January 16, 2003
Hi, I'm ten months post op. I also had a really hard time drinking water. The pain was incredible. I was terribly dehydrated, but kept thinking it would get better on it's own, but it didn't. I finally had a scope done and turns out everything was fine, but my pouch was really irritated. (gastritis) The doctor started me on previcid, which helped tremendously. I've noticed that when I'm on certain medications, my tummy acts up again. Just recently the pain started again, so the doctor doubled my previcid for a couple of weeks, and now I can drink again. Previcid really calms it down, because dehydration can cause other problems, you might try asking your doctor. Maybe something like that would help. Good luck! Leigh
   — Leigh P.