Surviving the Fluids Phase!

[more2adore]

I suspect that the answer to this question is "Just suck it up, it's five days." But I thought I'd ask anyway in case any of you had ideas I hadn't thought of.

So my surgeon mandates "free fluids" post-hospital for two weeks. I'm allowed to have basically broth, soups (blended if there are any chunks), and smoothies made with milk, yogurt & fruit. Oh, and protein shakes, of course! My problem? One by one, every single thing I've been eating has started making me nauseated when I even think of eating it. Bleh. Even before surgery I got sick of having the same food over & over fairly quickly, but this is beyond that. I've gotten to the point where I don't want to eat ANYTHING now. Even my unflavored protein powder I got really froths up when it's mixed with things I can tolerate, and the taste/texture make me sick. I'm still managing to force myself to choke down two double-scoop protein powder shakes a day but it's getting harder & harder to do that. I only managed to get in one protein shake yesterday, and about 60g total protein. I scolded myself about it and when I woke up this morning the first thing I did was make myself drink a shake. I never thought I'd have the problem of not wanting to eat, heh.

Anyone else go through this? Like I said in the beginning - I've only got about 5 days left of having to do this. It just feels really rough right now. I know, I'm a whiner.

 

[robs477]

I went through similar stuff, you may want to go back and read some of my previous threads....I went through the same thing and just figured some stuff out just this week. PLUS, what worked for me last week might not this week, as everything has been in a state of flux, BUT it is getting more stable as I learn to just listen to my body. IMHO...60 grams of protein is TWICE the amount you should be ingesting at this point and it is making you nauseous. PLUS, drinking it all at one time in the morning was a HUGE problem for me as it would saturate my body with protein and initiate some kind of a turn off trigger in my body that would NOT let me eat or drink anything else, ALL day long. I moved my shake to the late afternoon and it helped a lot....SLOW DOWN on the protein and vits...lol Hydration, water, broth, some juices are all you need for the next week or so. ONE 30g protein shake in the late afternoon and make it stretch until bedtime.

 

[more2adore]

I've read all your posts, Rob. I don't think it's twice what I should be ingesting... the goal is supposedly at LEAST 30g at 30 days, 60g at 60 days, 90 at 90 days. That's a MINIMUM (as I understand it), not a maximum. 90+g is our goal, as far as I understand it, and I can do that most days. Why would that be bad? In fact, that's the number I should have been taking in even BEFORE surgery based on my weight. So no doubt I need more now that I'm healing, even. Obviously it will be HARDER to get this amount in once I'm eating actual food, but why not take advantage and get all the protein I can, while I can? I'm not only nauseated when I drink protein drinks, but when I drink just about anything, including water, broth, tea, etc. It's a mild nausea, and it seems to be just an ongoing state of existence for me right now. I have nausea medication, but it's tablets, and it makes me nauseated trying to take it, ironically. I may try to get a liquid one if I can find it. Harder to find things like that here.

I've talked to my GP about a different PPI but he just suggested over the counter Mylanta, which is obviously not what I want. He said I'm already on the best PPI there is, and the maximum dose (I had reflux pre-VSG and this always worked well for me). Doesn't mean it'll work for me post-op, though - if I keep having issues I'll go back and see him and insist on a different one. Wish docs could call in prescriptions here! Oh, and I HAVE been drinking protein shakes in the evenings mostly because I've been putting them off. Today, when I drank one in the morning, I've actually felt better all day, and done better getting in fluids. And for my evening one, hubby mixed a little nondairy (fat free, sugar free) chocolate coffee creamer in with my protein shake tonight, added some sugar free chocolate Torani syrup, and froze it for an hour so it was nice and cold and it went down MUCH better. I drank it nice and slow... took me almost 2 hours. But I got it down. I also melted some cheese on the soup I had for lunch and it made it much more appetizing and added a little protein while still keeping it liquid. So, I think maybe I just need ideas for making liquids more appetizing for the next several days? I don't know.

But today I got in: 60 oz. liquids, 1/2 c. cream of mushroom soup with melted cheese slices on it, syntrax tropical cooler shake (double scoop), optimum nutrition caramel toffee fudge shake (double scoop). Total: 26 g. fat, 23 g. carbs, 111g protein.

I guess I'm just really confused by the concern about how much protein I'm getting - my goal was to do exactly what I was supposed to be doing post-surgery, and I honestly thought I was doing that. I understand I'm having an easier time with fluids than most, but I understood that that happens from time to time with good surgeons and is not necessarily something to be worried about. If it's taking me at least an hour (sometimes two) to drink a full protein shake, and I'm not causing myself pain or discomfort, is there in fact something wrong? Now you guys have me worrying that there was something wrong with my surgery that's allowing me to get in this much protein/fluids.

 

[robs477]

I've read all your posts, Rob. I don't think it's twice what I should be ingesting... the goal is supposedly at LEAST 30g at 30 days, 60g at 60 days, 90 at 90 days. That's a MINIMUM (as I understand it), not a maximum. 90+g is our goal, as far as I understand it, and I can do that most days. Why would that be bad? In fact, that's the number I should have been taking in even BEFORE surgery based on my weight. So no doubt I need more now that I'm healing, even. Obviously it will be HARDER to get this amount in once I'm eating actual food, but why not take advantage and get all the protein I can, while I can? I'm not only nauseated when I drink protein drinks, but when I drink just about anything, including water, broth, tea, etc. It's a mild nausea, and it seems to be just an ongoing state of existence for me right now. I have nausea medication, but it's tablets, and it makes me nauseated trying to take it, ironically. I may try to get a liquid one if I can find it. Harder to find things like that here.

I've talked to my GP about a different PPI but he just suggested over the counter Mylanta, which is obviously not what I want. He said I'm already on the best PPI there is, and the maximum dose (I had reflux pre-VSG and this always worked well for me). Doesn't mean it'll work for me post-op, though - if I keep having issues I'll go back and see him and insist on a different one. Wish docs could call in prescriptions here! Oh, and I HAVE been drinking protein shakes in the evenings mostly because I've been putting them off. Today, when I drank one in the morning, I've actually felt better all day, and done better getting in fluids. And for my evening one, hubby mixed a little nondairy (fat free, sugar free) chocolate coffee creamer in with my protein shake tonight, added some sugar free chocolate Torani syrup, and froze it for an hour so it was nice and cold and it went down MUCH better. I drank it nice and slow... took me almost 2 hours. But I got it down. I also melted some cheese on the soup I had for lunch and it made it much more appetizing and added a little protein while still keeping it liquid. So, I think maybe I just need ideas for making liquids more appetizing for the next several days? I don't know.

But today I got in: 60 oz. liquids, 1/2 c. cream of mushroom soup with melted cheese slices on it, syntrax tropical cooler shake (double scoop), optimum nutrition caramel toffee fudge shake (double scoop). Total: 26 g. fat, 23 g. carbs, 111g protein.

I guess I'm just really confused by the concern about how much protein I'm getting - my goal was to do exactly what I was supposed to be doing post-surgery, and I honestly thought I was doing that. I understand I'm having an easier time with fluids than most, but I understood that that happens from time to time with good surgeons and is not necessarily something to be worried about. If it's taking me at least an hour (sometimes two) to drink a full protein shake, and I'm not causing myself pain or discomfort, is there in fact something wrong? Now you guys have me worrying that there was something wrong with my surgery that's allowing me to get in this much protein/fluids.

I am in NO WAY an expert!!....or even a VET...all Im trying to say is thats what happened to me and it sounded very similar to what you were describing. Not saying its the protein amount per se, but again, FOR ME...doing 60g all at once in the morning completely ruined me for the rest of the day AND....I just figured this out only 4-5 days ago and Im 8 weeks out. What works or did not work for me, may or may not work for you. I just kept trying different things to try to get in sync and I think Im just now starting to get there.

 

[DianaCox]

You're both right - yes the numbers are minimums, and the more the better - UNLESS trying to get more than the minimum is making you ill. There's no reason to do that when you can catch up later. Stress inhibits healing; feeling sick causes stress; the good you do with extra protein is undone by the stress it is causing.

 

[southernlady]

And @more2adore just because HE says it's the best PPI does not mean it is the best FOR YOU. If it still isn't working, remind him we are all different.

 

[star0210]

Girlfriend...I think you're doing amazingly well. No, there's nothing wrong with your surgery. I, too, never had problems drinking and getting in protein...neither for my VSG or for my revision.
I wouldn't stress at all if you can't get in much protein every once in a while.
And just wait till you're back on regular foods and the food aversion hits you. It happens to most everybody. I have never had problems with eating or getting sick or nauseated but I go through periods where I'm just not hungry at all and NOTHING is appealing.

Keep on keeping on.....you're doing great!

 

[JackieOnLine]

I've talked to my GP about a different PPI but he just suggested over the counter Mylanta, which is obviously not what I want. He said I'm already on the best PPI there is, and the maximum dose (I had reflux pre-VSG and this always worked well for me). Doesn't mean it'll work for me post-op, though - if I keep having issues I'll go back and see him and insist on a different one.

already on the best one? gah, even I know better than that: the best one is the one that works.

dunno about maximum dose, either, I take twice the dose every day. (had to when I started drinking coffee again - durp) hope you have something that works.

when I was immediately post op besides nexium I used gaviscon which works much better than tums, IMO

 

[hilary1617]

Okay, @more2adore, just for you I'm going to reveal one of my deepest, darkest secrets online.

In truth, I'm a freak who likes to put popsicles in the blender and grind them into a slushie/icee/slurpie equivalent (have to add a touch o'water or let them melt a bit to get the perfect texture so as not to get completely stuck on the blades). I also like chewing on ice cubes, so sometimes I freeze lemonade into perfect cubes of sweet/sour icy deliciousness and chomp on them. Maybe one of these would hit the spot?

 

[more2adore]

@DianaCox I don't think it's the protein that's making me nauseated though, since all liquids do it, even before I've had any protein at all that day. I've taken your advice (and @robs477's and @star0210's) to heart, though, and I won't stress if I can't get it in on a certain day. Fluids aren't optional, though, as we all know, and since those are all making me nauseated, I just have to suck it up. My line of thinking so far has been that as long as I have to deal with feeling sick to get fluids in anyway, they might as well be protein fluids, but I won't worry so much if I don't get them all in now. I think I'm going to try starting my day with the anti-emitic today, before I do anything else. We'll see if it makes a difference in my day. If not, I'll try starting the day with an OTC anti-reflux med tomorrow... if that helps, then I'll know for sure it's the PPI that's the problem.

Thank you ALL for your support and advice! And thank you @hilary1617 for the idea - no such thing as sugar free popsicles or American-style lemonade (here, "lemonade" is clear citrus soft drinks like Sprite!) in grocery stores here, but that doesn't mean we can't make some of our own!