Question:
10 weeks post op and plain water is still giving me problems

I was a big water drinker preop, min 2 qts a day, loved my water! Loved drinking water! I hardly drank anything but water. (do you get that I loved water!) Now post op, water makes me feel sick to my stomache, feels heavy, no matter what the temp of it. If I add a small amount of juice to it (3-4 ozs to 12 ozs water) then it goes down fine. No problem. What is this about? I am now 10 1/2 weeks post op and this has not changed, I had hoped this would pass by now. I think I would feel better if I could get more liquid in, but I can only manage about 1 qt now. Everything else is going well physically (mentally, emotionally, that's another story!) Doctor does not know why this is, I have asked. Any others have this issue, any ideas?    — potterylady (posted on August 14, 2001)

August 14, 2001
I suffered with the same problem with water. I folowed up each glass over water with a healthy dose of Lortab (liquid vicadent) I was so dehydrated the first few weeks I was only urinating 1-2 times a day. I can only say it does get better. Around week 8 I was able to tolerate hot teas. I bought a variety pack of fruit flavored herbal teas and was able to drink 24-32oz of hot tea per day. Gradually handeling water got easier. Today I have no problem with cool/warm temperature water. However, ice cold water (which I really miss) still can double me over in pain. My Doctor had no answers for my water issue either. Hold on it will get better.
   — Valerie J.

August 14, 2001
I had this problem for 3-4 months. My doctor had me take pepcid twice a day , it helped. I guess this COULD be a symptom of ulcers.Anyway If I put something in my water especially Crystal lite Body quenchers the water went down a whole lot easier , it seemed to make it slippery. Plain it was like I was swallowing razor blades! I understand this weird phenomomen can go on up to a year! I can drink it plain but if I want to drink more , I still add the body quenchers.
   — Rose A.

August 14, 2001
Hi - I am 11 weeks post op and still can not drink plain water....I can drink tea with a little sugar - crystal lite...but just the plan water makes me nauseas!! I hope it goes away soon - I had a real problem with dehydration this summer!! Good luck, Karan
   — chance2lv

August 14, 2001
I'm 14 months post-op and still can't tolerate plain water. I drink Gatorade and Crystal Light for the most part.
   — PrettyHotAndTempting

August 14, 2001
Hello. I am in no way an expert but I did want to share something that I heard at my doctors support group. Many women shared their experience with plain water; one woman suggested DISTILLED water...people seem to agree it works! I know it sounds weird, (especially to me, my mother used to tell us kids that the distilled water that we saw her putting in the iron could kill us if we drank it), but maybe you should try it and see if it works...but not from the iron!
   — Kristin R.

August 16, 2001
Thanks to those who responded, it's certainly not a fun thing, but I was happy to find that I was not the only one. I just wish it made sense, it would seem that plain water would be the easist thing to put in our new pouches, not one of the hardest. I do hope that it stops being a problem at some point (soon!) It's really rough to hear that it goes on for more than a year for some folks.
   — potterylady

August 16, 2001
Now you tell me! I had the hardest time swallowing water for a good ten months after surgery. It seemed to be too dense and heavy to fit down my throat. I had always been a great water drinker before, careful to get my 64 oz. a day. I really thought I was the only one who was having this problem and never thought to post it as a question. The good news is, at about ten months this went away just as mysteriously as it came and I am having no trouble getting my water in now.
   — Anne G.