Question:
I am 7 days post -op and have almost constant dizziness and blurred vision.

I have spoken with the practitioner at my surgeons office on two occasions, only to be told to drink more water, (she basically blew me off). All that I am supposed to be taking in are broth, diet jello, and water at this point. I have consumed over 100 ounces each of the past 3 days. I feel water logged and sick, but am still dizzy and obviously dehydrated by the appearance of mu skin. However, my urine output is fine. Could it be that my body is just not "holding on" to anything I'm taking in? I dont want to go against the wishes of my doctor, but being a nurse myself, I am beginig to fear electrolyte problems. Any suggestions? By the way I have dropped 21 pounds in 6 days.    — Nancy S. (posted on January 23, 2003)

January 23, 2003
Congratulations on your weight loss! That is great! I too had a lot of dizziness at first. I found that protein helped tremendously. They make protein jello (sugar free of course) and protein kool-aid. You can order it over the internet. I've read on here that there are also some over the counter clear protein drinks. I couldn' stomach the proteinex. Best of luck to you! RNY 11-19-02 -61 pounds. Lisa
   — Lisa W.

January 23, 2003
hi there :) very new post op, i too suffered the blurred wision and the dizziness, it passed within a couple weeks. best of luck to you. now, im 11 mo 2 weeks out and have been getting dizzy if i stand up too fast or bend down, ive got a docs appointment friday to have blood work done again and all just to be safe . ive heard dizziness this far post op could be, low iron, low bloodpressure or even dehydration so ive upped my water and seems to be helping with it so ill find out which of the 3 it is soon. other than that. im great! best of luck to you and the blurr and sizzy should pass. :)
   — carrie M.

January 23, 2003
Hi, I too had dizziness my first 2 weeks being a postop, especially getting up from the bed or couch. To me sounds like 100 ozs. of water is way too much. Overdoing the water can deplete your electrolytes. I was told to try to get in at least 45oz. of water. Get some Propel fitness water..it's like 2g sugar but has sodium, potassium, etc. I'd also start trying some thicker soups, cream of chicken thinned down but not just liquid. I found that after starting to add soft foods I felt so much better. My body needed more than just liquids. Also, the broth, diet jello, stuff like that counts as liquid too in the early days. I think some of the dizziness is also from withdrawals from caffeine and sugar. Your body needs tiny bits of everything to feel normal. Try some thinned down apple juice to give you a tiny amount of sugar and see if that doesn't even you out also. Lap RNY 08/15/02 -71lbs Melisa
   — mbradley35

January 23, 2003
OK Darlin, welcome to the post op experience. Your body is going through major shock still & the anesthesia mixed with whatever pain meds, coupled with the lack of calories and your body doing overtime to heal....honey, sleep. Relax. Make your surgeon talk to you directly. A good way of doing this is calling after hours when you know they'll be on call. Or calling & bawling to the nurse. No shame in insisting on talking to your surgeon. If something is wrong, he/she should know & it'll make you feel better if you hear it from them. Nevertheless, I don't know anyone who didn't experience that freaky weak, dizzy, blurry feeling. Take care of you & SLEEP!
   — LionGirl2k

January 24, 2003
Nancy, There are a few possiblities for this feeling. One is dehydration (which I am assuming your practitioner is thinking.) Second is low blood sugar. Third is called orthostatic hypertension. When you stand your body does not have enough time to adjust to the demands of your blood sytem. If this is the case, when you stand, sit on the edge of your chair and take your time standing. You can check this at Walmart. Take your BP sitting and then take it standing. If it drops, then this is the problem. Lastly, it could be too much water and you could be effecting your electrolytes. Check them all until you feel better. There are other causes, but these are the main ones. Good luck and take care. Oh, to check for dehydration, pinch the skin on the top of your hand. If it bounces back rapidly, you are within normal limits. If it elastic and holds or goes back slowly, you are probably dehydrated. This is called checking for skin turgor. It is one way to check. Stephanie Teal
   — Stephanie T.

January 24, 2003
Nancy - I am still 1 week pre-op so I'm not sure if I am barking up the right tree but, here it goes...it sounds as if you are able to take in plenty of fluids so what I would suggest, and am going to try myself, is going out and purchasing several bottles of the clear protein supplement sports drinks. The three brands I have are: Designer Whey, which has 1g of carbs and 40g of protein in a 16oz bottle, Zero Carb Isopure, which has 0b carbs and 40g protein in a 20 oz bottle and Muscletech, which has 0g carbs and 40g protein in a 16oz bottle. All of these are mostly clear and would still meet the "clear" liquid diet requirements and come in 10 or 12 flavors between all of the brands. These drinks are a bit spendy ($2-4 per bottle) but, I would think that by consuming even one bottle per day you would increase your protein intake by nearly 100% and find that your body is getting some of the amino acids it needs to heal itself...and hopefully give you some strength back. Hope it helps! Best of luck with your recovery and weight loss!
   — eaamc