Question:
I am 4 weeks post op and have starting nausea and vomiting when drinking protein

I have had no troubles getting all the protein drinks in up until these past couple days. I am on the pureed diet and that is going along good with no nausea or vomiting from that or from the water. I am wondering if its possible for me to now be lactose intolerant after 4 weeks from the skim milk that is in my protein? I never had trouble before surgery with milk so I am starting to suspect its the milk. Any suggestions? Is it pretty common to have bouts of nausea after surgery? I have been lucky up until this started. Feeling pretty good and all. Thanks, Cheryl    — cherby56 (posted on April 23, 2003)

April 23, 2003
Try mixing your shake with water for a while to see if you feel better. If you do, then youwill know it is the milk. If not then you may have to try to switch shakes.
   — Pookie B.

April 23, 2003
This happened to me and I discovered that it was the flavor of the shake. I too drink Real Meals and had to switch from chocoate to vanilla and all was fine. I also find that if I mix it with water instead of milk it goes down so much easier and no nausea. I can do chocolate again at 3 months post op but ANYTHING chocolate flavored in the beginning was so bad on my new baby pouch.
   — Carol S.

April 23, 2003
Like the last poster, for me it was the flavor of the shakes too. I had bought some of those Atkins Advantage shakes (vanilla and Strawberry). I didnt really have any problems with the vanilla but when I tried the strawberry, oh man I thought I was going to lose it! You can try a different flavor or, in case it is the milk, you can buy some of the lactose free milk at the store. At our local store they come in those 1/2 gallon cartons. Good Luck!
   — Kris T.

April 24, 2003
My husband is about 2 weeks post op and was lactose intolerant before surgery. He used the Lactaid milk to make protein shakes, but one day he had 3-4 in one day and really felt bad for about 24 hours. Well, the protein we use is whey protein - milk based! He cut them out and feels fine getting his protein from animal sources for now. He may try some other types of protein mixes after he heals more, if he wants to use protein shakes now and then.
   — koogy

April 24, 2003
Hi, I am now 13 weeks post-op and I had problems with nausea and vomiting for about my 2 weeks post-op to about just a week ago. I was told that this is very common to have between your 4-6 week period. I also have problems with drinking milk and it is even skim milk at that. My doctor said that i could try lactose-free milk or soy milk. So you might want to do that. And, as for the protein, I still can't tolerate any of the shakes, so you're doing good to tolerate as much as you can. You might want to try though mixing your protein with water insteasd of milk and put ice cubes in the mixer to make it extra cold, that isn't so bad. Hope this little bit of information helps. good luck.
   — Melodee S.