New experience

[mr97]

The first week of my pureed stage was a doddle as I had no appetite at all so I just ate a little every few hours and concentrated on get at least 2lts of fluid in.
The start of week 2 has been different. I am getting feelings of hunger even though they're not strong. The trouble is I'm not feeling full when I eat or drink, I haven't eaten much in fairness and what I have eaten is soup like in texture, but I am concerned about how much I can drink. I can manage a litre of NAS juice in an hour easy, even though I’m just sipping away. This did not concern me until I read a few posts on various sites of others recently sleeved and not so recently sleeved folk who struggle with 500ml in that time scale

I'm currently treating my sleeve as if it were glass whenever I eat pureed food, but I'd hate to think I was inadvertently stretching or over doing it with liquids. In the past any 'full signals' I received when eating were so faint that I must have just filtered them out of my mind. The only time I knew when to stop was when I'd eaten everything or I'd 'hit a wall' and become painfully full and uncomfortable.

I'm terrified of stretching my sleeve and returning to my old binging rituals and as all this is so new to me, I'd be devastated if I was jeopardising my sleeve unknowingly.

I'm so excited about the journey ahead and for the first in years I'm feeling positive about the future, but being someone that is so self-destructive at times and is armed with a hair-trigger for worry, I'm also waiting for the bubble to burst too.

Should I be feeling discomfort drinking - well sipping really - so much fluid in such a short time?

I'm so glad I no longer have those powerful hunger pangs, where my stomach felt like it was trying to metabolise itself, but I wish I could feel a true full sensation when I'm eating and not just stop out of fear of stretching the sleeve. I appreciate my stomach has gone through an almighty trauma (11days ago) so I’m wondering if my experience is a cause for concern? Some tips and advice re. what to expect later down the line would be great?

My questions will have no doubt been asked and answered on here and other sites, but I'm struggling to find the info by searching alone and overload has now kicked-in, resulting with my getting on my own nerves so I thought I’d better just ask the question.

 

[fjsinc]

I'm afraid I can't comment regards the sleeve, but if its any consolidation I'm the same with the bypass. I can drink and eat very well, Drink a mug of tea in 5 mins, way before its cold. This seems unusual at 6 weeks out. But I had my first check up on Thursday, and they seemed to think it was a positive thing. They thought I had just healed fast, and the swelling had gone down. I also spend half the time thinking I'm eating too much! But my team reassured me that everyone is different, and I wouldn't be consistently loosing if I wasn't eating appropriately.

 

[tealovingsleever]

I think initial restriction is to do with swelling only so you may not have much. I am sure you will feel restriction once you are on proper food. It's like a solid rock on your chest, you can't miss it! As for stretching with liquid I don't think you'll do this if you are sipping. Gulping should be avoids early on. Sounds like you are doing great to me so don't panic. We are all different remember.

 

[mr97]

Thank you. Sometimes I think I'm just hardwired to worry about stuff!

 

[JoJoTGirl]

As Michael Winner might say "calm down dear!" I think you are doing fine and in very little danger of stretching your sleeve this early on if you are sipping. Well done to you for managing to get your fluids in is what I say! I have always been able to sip at warm drinks and get them down easily and relatively quickly but not so comfy with cool drinks etc. How much puree are you eating at a go and how pureed is it? I was told thick, smooth apple sauce texture after week 1 and around 3 level tablespoons. Sometimes I could eat all of this amount and others I had to stop 2/3 of the way through as I felt full. However, lots of people say that they only felt the full feeling when they moved onto soft solids at week 4-6 and I have to say that it definitely moved up a gear then for me too. Pushing yourself to learn the full feeling seems futile if your happy with the amount your eating but as you are feeling a bit hungry, maybe up the portion a teeny bit and see if you feel "full". Take it really, really slowly as you don't want that horrible, painful feeling........I've done that once in 9 weeks and it was mega horrible! Hope I've been at least a little bit helpful, good luck with it all. x

 

[pooh71]

The first week of my pureed stage was a doddle as I had no appetite at all so I just ate a little every few hours and concentrated on get at least 2lts of fluid in.
The start of week 2 has been different. I am getting feelings of hunger even though they're not strong. The trouble is I'm not feeling full when I eat or drink, I haven't eaten much in fairness and what I have eaten is soup like in texture, but I am concerned about how much I can drink. I can manage a litre of NAS juice in an hour easy, even though I’m just sipping away. This did not concern me until I read a few posts on various sites of others recently sleeved and not so recently sleeved folk who struggle with 500ml in that time scale

I'm currently treating my sleeve as if it were glass whenever I eat pureed food, but I'd hate to think I was inadvertently stretching or over doing it with liquids. In the past any 'full signals' I received when eating were so faint that I must have just filtered them out of my mind. The only time I knew when to stop was when I'd eaten everything or I'd 'hit a wall' and become painfully full and uncomfortable.

I'm terrified of stretching my sleeve and returning to my old binging rituals and as all this is so new to me, I'd be devastated if I was jeopardising my sleeve unknowingly.

I'm so excited about the journey ahead and for the first in years I'm feeling positive about the future, but being someone that is so self-destructive at times and is armed with a hair-trigger for worry, I'm also waiting for the bubble to burst too.

Should I be feeling discomfort drinking - well sipping really - so much fluid in such a short time?

I'm so glad I no longer have those powerful hunger pangs, where my stomach felt like it was trying to metabolise itself, but I wish I could feel a true full sensation when I'm eating and not just stop out of fear of stretching the sleeve. I appreciate my stomach has gone through an almighty trauma (11days ago) so I’m wondering if my experience is a cause for concern? Some tips and advice re. what to expect later down the line would be great?

My questions will have no doubt been asked and answered on here and other sites, but I'm struggling to find the info by searching alone and overload has now kicked-in, resulting with my getting on my own nerves so I thought I’d better just ask the question.

I had my sleeve 25 Feb and I can drink loads too, and have done since leaving hospital. The hospital said it was good to drink plenty so don't worry! As long as you're not downing pints of liquid in one go, and just drinking normally, that's all good. I just drink tea and water like I did before the op. My mugs of tea are big too. I've never felt any restriction with liquid.

Food I can get in fine too. I'm now on soft food stage and I've never eaten to feel really full. When I spoke to the bariatric nurse, they said between 4-6 tablespoons of food should be enough. Everyone is different, some people get restriction with a small amount, and some can get a reasonable sized portion in. You have to remember whatever you get in is still hugely reduced from what you had before. You have to find your own limit as we're all different. I seem to manage on the 4-6 tablespoon rule and i feel fine with that. Im not willing to try to fit more in at the mo even though i don't get a 'full sensation'. You need to make sure you're getting enough food in though. As one as you follow the rules with the stages you'll be fine.

Just to say when I was on purée I could manage about 3-4 tablespoons of purée per meal, some days a bit less.

Good luck! x

 

[mr97]

JoJoTgirl - Re. my puree diet - I have a vitamix blender so whenever I blend a soup or stew its very smooth. I'm only having very small pureed meals aprox. 1-3 spoonfuls. I'm hitting my daily level of protein with the help of skimmed milk protein shakes. The dietician at the hospital where I had my surgery suggested first 2days post op were to be fluids only; 1 -4weeks pureed diet; 4-6weeks soft food and 6-8weeks normal solid food. There seems to be as many variations of this as there are hospitals. lol
Thank you for sharing your experience. It's strange but a part of me wants to feel what being full with a sleeve feels like and part of me wants to never experience it. It's early days for me and all of this is so amazing.

Pooh71 - Thank you for your post, it has really put my mind at rest. You are so right about the amount of food and getting enough food. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd struggle to eat enough food, but if it wasn't for my protein shakes, I'd get no where near the amount of protein I need.

thank you guys

 

[Samsara]

JoJoTgirl - Re. my puree diet - I have a vitamix blender so whenever I blend a soup or stew its very smooth. I'm only having very small pureed meals aprox. 1-3 spoonfuls. I'm hitting my daily level of protein with the help of skimmed milk protein shakes. The dietician at the hospital where I had my surgery suggested first 2days post op were to be fluids only; 1 -4weeks pureed diet; 4-6weeks soft food and 6-8weeks normal solid food. There seems to be as many variations of this as there are hospitals. lol
Thank you for sharing your experience. It's strange but a part of me wants to feel what being full with a sleeve feels like and part of me wants to never experience it. It's early days for me and all of this is so amazing.

Pooh71 - Thank you for your post, it has really put my mind at rest. You are so right about the amount of food and getting enough food. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd struggle to eat enough food, but if it wasn't for my protein shakes, I'd get no where near the amount of protein I need.

thank you guys

Hi - can I ask about your protein shakes? Have you bought protein powder to make your own and has your dietician approved this? I'm just asking as I was thinking of doing the same, as like you, I'm not sure how else you'd get in the protein needed at the beginning. My dietician has said no to these when I asked her. I just wondered if other patients dieticians had said yes?!

 

[pooh71]

JoJoTgirl - Re. my puree diet - I have a vitamix blender so whenever I blend a soup or stew its very smooth. I'm only having very small pureed meals aprox. 1-3 spoonfuls. I'm hitting my daily level of protein with the help of skimmed milk protein shakes. The dietician at the hospital where I had my surgery suggested first 2days post op were to be fluids only; 1 -4weeks pureed diet; 4-6weeks soft food and 6-8weeks normal solid food. There seems to be as many variations of this as there are hospitals. lol
Thank you for sharing your experience. It's strange but a part of me wants to feel what being full with a sleeve feels like and part of me wants to never experience it. It's early days for me and all of this is so amazing.

Pooh71 - Thank you for your post, it has really put my mind at rest. You are so right about the amount of food and getting enough food. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd struggle to eat enough food, but if it wasn't for my protein shakes, I'd get no where near the amount of protein I need.

thank you guys

Glad i could help. Yes you're on the same stages as me. I had my sleeve at Sunderland which run the same routine. I reckon once you're onto soft stage where you can eat meats, cheese and fish, etc, you'll start being more confident with food and will be able to get more protein in. Having the protein shakes won't fill you up, but more solid foods will go towards satisfying you more.

 

[mr97]

[FONT=&quot]Samsara - there's so many schools of thought re. protein shakes. Bottom line for me was do I want to get between 60-80grams of protein daily or do I want to struggle getting 30g. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be perfectly honest, the amount of information given to me and other patients re. diet after surgery was very poor and very basic. After a catastrophe with the management of my diabetes prior to my surgery and a very enlightening talk with a diabetic specialist, I have now become very proactive with my treatment and I am learning to ask questions and not just accept everything as gospel. My dietician didn't recommend protein shakes also, but was unable to give any reason for not using them. I thought this odd. If a reason was given and if wls post op advice wasn't so random, I'd stick to the pamphlet given to me like glue.

I use Syntha 6 protein which has a mix of slow and fast release protein and I mix it with skimmed milk. There's around 30g of protein in a shake. My first week I had 2 shakes a day but now that I'm managing larger amounts of pureed food, I'm down to 1 shake per day. My aim is to comfortably get all my nutrition from food alone, but I hope to use shakes from time to time if I'm ill or cannot eat enough for whatever reason.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I’m not advocating that you go against the recommendations of your dietician, but please ask questions as good post op nutritional info appears to be a post code lottery.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[mr97]

Pooh71 -Thank you. You're just up the road from me - small world. I'm finding it all quite an adventure and I'm feeling very positive about my new sleeve. Good luck on your journey.

 

[Samsara]

Many thanks! I'm always asking questions and "why" and probably drive my team nuts with my endless quizzing! So when I asked about protein powders the most recent answer was because they are not regulated by the food industry therefore we cannot be sure what is really in them. But that argument now seems to fall a bit flat on its face what with the recent horse meat scandal (and goodness knows what else in our regulated food industry!). I do hope to be able to get all of my protein from food eventually but I know this is likely to be difficult in the beginning... Thanks again

 

[novamay]

Am I the only person not counting protein intake? I know what foods are proteins and try to eat all the protein element of the meal, not always eating the carb element - but I'm not sure how much I'm getting and haven't been given advice on how much protein there is in foods. Have had one call from the team to see how I'm doing and if there's any pain, etc, but nothing else since the op. How do I know if I'm not getting enough protein?

As for feeling full - it took me to normal foods stage to get this. The first couple of weeks on puree I thought they hadn't done the op as I didnt have much restriction, or much hunger either thankfully. I know I have a problem eating slowly - I'm used to bolting food, not chewing properly or giving my body or brain time to realise when its full. I found last night I'd overeaten slightly by eating too fast and having an 'afters' of SF jelly - it was too much and I felt terrible for a good half hour. Gonna have to seriously try to slow down as I dont want to experience that again. Not nice!

 

[chrisa]

Hi Nova I have never counted the amount of protein etc but know how many oportions of it i need to eat each day to keep a healthy balanced diet since my op 6 protein a day. 1 egg is 1 protein, you would ahve to look at your diet sheet to see exactly how much ham you could have for 1 portion poss 25g, cheeses may be 20g, I measure meticulously for the first few weeks n months till i knew what i was doing now I JUST HAVE A ROUGH COUNT AT HOW MANY PORTIONS I HAVE ATE. Much easier xx once you get it into your head xx

 

[chrisa]

Will sounds like you are doimng just fine keep sipping, the water helps keep your insides clean and allows the wound to heal the protein helps the healing. Keep up the good work. Have you lost any more weight??

 

[Yvessa]

Dietitians don't want you to become reliant on protein shakes for protein. Secondly if you stay too long on liquids you risk allowing scar tissue to build up causing strictures or intolerances. Lastly at this stage a bypasser is highly unlikely to feel full. I don't know about the sleeve but the nerves in the stomach are not yet healed under about the first month or 6 weeks post op. that is when you will start feeling fullness. Unfortunately there are a lot of myths out there. Rest assured your pouches/banana bellies will let you know with a vengeance when you get it wrong. And you can only know you're getting it right when you get it wrong once lol.

 

[mr97]

It's so good that we have these forums so we can help each other out.
Chrisa - my next weigh-in is on 20.4.13 but I do know that I've lost a fair bit of weight as even people who see me a lot have noticed.
NSV - Bought a pair of jogging bottoms in a regular high street store today. Chuffed to bits.

 

[chrisa]

Fantastic Will am really chuffed for ya xx You have had a long haul losing so much by yourself then the surgery you are doing amazingly well, good for you, can't wait to see the new Will. xx

 

[mr97]

Thanx Chrisa, looking forward to hooking-up on Saturday.

 

[chrisa]

Will we recognise ya?????? Ya'll hav to take to wearing a red rose in you lapel ha x n carryn a paper under your arm so we know its you x