Not eating.. - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

Baja Big Dog · 07-02-2008, 09:55 AM

OK..Im gonna have to read this a few times because I thought I would never mention this subject...but I just cant eat!!!

Typical day is lots of water, IDS 42 gram protein in the morning, maybe some cheese crackers in the afternoon, a protein shake with a banana and soy milk, and at night peanut butter and crackers, or a small amount of grilled turkey thigh, of maybe a small amount (2 tablespoon) of tuna. Some occasional fruit, tried some napa salad and it went down great, Thats it, Im getting my protein, but not eating anything else.
My meds consist of about 8 vicodin a day and thats it, no more blood pressure pills, nothing!

Walking on treadmill daily.

Its been 10 weeks, only threw up once, thats it.

Drinking over 100 ozs of water a day, nothing else.

Anyone else deal with this?

Amandazon247 · 07-02-2008, 10:18 AM

ME !

3 Months out and I still get most of my protien from Shakes... food is just not appealing to me .. and when I do eat its very little.... MY Doc is on me about getting back to eating solid foods... but its hard... I got blood work done and my sugar level was 40.. they werent happy .. but I checked it after she called and it was 84 so it must have just been a bad day... dont know.. I feel great though and dont miss eating at all..... I will try and do better... thats all I can say ...

CiCi · 07-02-2008, 10:28 AM

8 vicodin a day?

SimplySamaria · 07-02-2008, 11:11 AM

Can you poo with such little food and so many Vicodon?!?!

Hum... I had to experiement with foods.. I am on the puree stage.. but boil chicken and add lemon pepper, or I make a tuscan (rosemary, woshtishire sause and balsalmic vinigar) chicken. I lots of no calorie flavoring. I love to come up with new things for myself.. that sort of excites me to eat. I have to have a timer set up on my cell phone to remind me to eat. when it goes off.. I MUST eat. So I just do.. even if not quite in the mood. I hope it goes better for you and you get a lot of ideas!

MiladyB · 07-02-2008, 11:25 AM

My surgeon really frowned on the use of protein supplements the further out I got. I have to admit that I certainly didn't feel like eating either and I would have MUCH rather drink a couple protein drinks a day and call it good but he was pretty adament about me trying to get as much protein in as possible in regular food. So I pushed myself as much as I could with the regular food. Did it taste good? NO! Was I hungry? NO! Did it make my pouch ache? YES! Was I throwing up? NO!....so I pushed it a bit. I had found that I did better with solids as the day went on. So mornings were protein smoothies that I made up myself, lunch was often soups or chili and then supper was solid food that was within the guidelines of my surgeon's plan. When I didn't get in my protein with those things then it was a protein drink before bed.

Personally I think you need to push it a bit with the solid food. Not if it is making you throw up but push past the desire of not wanting to eat. Your pouch is still healing but it also need to get used to the feeling of having dense food in it. It's almost like the need to exercise your pouch to build up tolerance, if that makes any sense at all.

Amandazon247 · 07-02-2008, 02:04 PM

I love reading our posts Beth .. you are right I need to find some things that work for me .l but alot of things make me throw up... but I am going to make a effort to eat solids at least once a day .... I really only do it 2 or 3 times a week....

Godsblessedme · 07-02-2008, 04:16 PM

wow i gotta say why 8 vicodan? you should NOT be in pain still and dont worry so much about the food intake as the fluid / protein intake.

I wish i had that problem. I eat and eat and eat

i'm 6 months preop and i'm scared that if i dont get the grazing and snacking under control i'll fail and end up the same as before. i think your doing fine

MiladyB · 07-02-2008, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amandazon247

I love reading our posts Beth .. you are right I need to find some things that work for me .l but alot of things make me throw up... but I am going to make a effort to eat solids at least once a day .... I really only do it 2 or 3 times a week....

Manda, this surgery has such a HUGE learning curve. That's for sure. You need to find what works for you but I do feel it is important to push yourself a bit. It has to be especially hard for you since a lot of things make you throw up. Thankfully I didn't have much of that. I did a little but usually it was just a gut ache. I felt like I swallowed a bunch of rocks.

It's hard.....it really is...but your pouch is a muscle and it does need to be exercised. If all you take is liquids, the liquids just kind of go pretty much right threw your pouch and it doesn't work it much.

Hang in there lovely lady. Just keep slowly trying things. When you find some things that work for you, stick with it for awhile. I pretty much ate the same breakfast and lunch forever and would just change up supper a bit. But breakfast was always really hard for me, lunch was a wee bit better and supper went the best, though not great.

Like I've mentioned. I honestly felt more like sending the plate flying against the walls, but I didn't think the family would appreciate that. *L* So instead the dogs learned to camp out at my feet, because they always got some food.

Phoenixfire · 07-02-2008, 11:05 PM

Unlike others, I completely understand that there are chronic pain issues and conditions that don't magically go away with WLS. Some never go away. My pain was reduced but my condition didn't disappear. It's worsened gradually since returning to work full time in a well-paying job I can't afford to leave and go back on disability and suck of the state.l

It's not necessary for you to be asked to or even to defend your prescribed painkillers, and it's presumptuous of others to judge Vicodin as "wrong" or unnecessary or that you "shouldn't be taking it." If your doctor prescribes it, then you should be taking it. Period. Deborah, who are you to say that he should not be taking pain management medication?!

Others should be a little more realistic and realize and respect the reality that SOME of us are dealing with LONG-TERM AND CHRONIC pain issues that you fortunately cannot comprehend. Lucky you. The don't magically disappear by losing 170 lbs. Not for me at least. Some got better, but some of us still have serious medical issues that are LIFE LONG. And that's where there are pain management clinics all over the country. God bless these doctors for taking care of us so we can WORK.

Some people have their pain go away. Others, like me, do not. It's the way life goes. It DOES NOT mean that I (or the original poster) are bad people or losers because we have a doctor that manages the treatment needed for conditions that requires pain management.

It offends me to read this sort of thing from people here. Or anywhere. I say that you count yourself lucky you aren't in that position and god help you one day if you are and your words come back and bite you in the ass. You'll remember what you said to others and you'll feel like a jackass. Trust me, I've seen it plenty of times.

And this is why I don't even post any information about my pain management. Most people judge it and condemn it and criticize it. That's just plain insensitive and ignorant.

On the issue of eating, it sounds to me like you ARE eating. Now one thing is that the vicodin can decrease your appetite. So you may have make yourself eat a couple more times a day. I had to do that. From what you wrote of your food intake, where's the problem? You're eating, and eating right. And isn't that the goal?? So I'm confused about what your worry is. Are you comparing to what others can eat or are you feeling malaise from lack of caloric intake?

It sounds like you're doing GREAT because you're not grazing, stuffing yourself with food, and you're listening to your body and using the pouch to help you take the weight off during the period it comes off the fastest. Nothing wrong with that at all. That's what works BEST. So keep it up, and bump up a small meal or a couple protein snacks per day. Even if you're not hungry, get some fuel in. Protein shakes can continue as long as you like, and some use them on and off because they are GOOD FOR THE BODY and they go down easy and get healthy calories in. It's not all about FOOD, it's about fuel for the body. Protein shakes are good for that. Period.

And I empathize with the pain, and I hope it's a condition that can improve. Some can. Some cannot. I understand those that cannot. Others don't. Ignore them.

Baja Big Dog · 07-03-2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenixfire

Unlike others, I completely understand that there are chronic pain issues and conditions that don't magically go away with WLS. Some never go away. My pain was reduced but my condition didn't disappear. It's worsened gradually since returning to work full time in a well-paying job I can't afford to leave and go back on disability and suck of the state.l

It's not necessary for you to be asked to or even to defend your prescribed painkillers, and it's presumptuous of others to judge Vicodin as "wrong" or unnecessary or that you "shouldn't be taking it." If your doctor prescribes it, then you should be taking it. Period. Deborah, who are you to say that he should not be taking pain management medication?!

Others should be a little more realistic and realize and respect the reality that SOME of us are dealing with LONG-TERM AND CHRONIC pain issues that you fortunately cannot comprehend. Lucky you. The don't magically disappear by losing 170 lbs. Not for me at least. Some got better, but some of us still have serious medical issues that are LIFE LONG. And that's where there are pain management clinics all over the country. God bless these doctors for taking care of us so we can WORK.

Some people have their pain go away. Others, like me, do not. It's the way life goes. It DOES NOT mean that I (or the original poster) are bad people or losers because we have a doctor that manages the treatment needed for conditions that requires pain management.

It offends me to read this sort of thing from people here. Or anywhere. I say that you count yourself lucky you aren't in that position and god help you one day if you are and your words come back and bite you in the ass. You'll remember what you said to others and you'll feel like a jackass. Trust me, I've seen it plenty of times.

And this is why I don't even post any information about my pain management. Most people judge it and condemn it and criticize it. That's just plain insensitive and ignorant.

On the issue of eating, it sounds to me like you ARE eating. Now one thing is that the vicodin can decrease your appetite. So you may have make yourself eat a couple more times a day. I had to do that. From what you wrote of your food intake, where's the problem? You're eating, and eating right. And isn't that the goal?? So I'm confused about what your worry is. Are you comparing to what others can eat or are you feeling malaise from lack of caloric intake?

It sounds like you're doing GREAT because you're not grazing, stuffing yourself with food, and you're listening to your body and using the pouch to help you take the weight off during the period it comes off the fastest. Nothing wrong with that at all. That's what works BEST. So keep it up, and bump up a small meal or a couple protein snacks per day. Even if you're not hungry, get some fuel in. Protein shakes can continue as long as you like, and some use them on and off because they are GOOD FOR THE BODY and they go down easy and get healthy calories in. It's not all about FOOD, it's about fuel for the body. Protein shakes are good for that. Period.

And I empathize with the pain, and I hope it's a condition that can improve. Some can. Some cannot. I understand those that cannot. Others don't. Ignore them.

WOW Phoenix, I was reading some of the posts and thinking, maybe 8 Vicodin is too many, (according to the doctor, he prescribed up to 12 a day!!) but your right, nobody knows the pain level of any other person, and I have what I consider a high threshold for pain, but after breaking an ankle, walking on it for three days, having pins inserted, and having surgery on both knees for ligament damage, breaking a leg, knee and having 16 screws, metal plates and a surgeon that was happy when I woke up after surgery that he saved the leg, can lead to some rather severe pain, and I got most of my relief from Motrin, but since the surgery and the elimination of said wonder drug, I am forced to attempt to deal with pain in any way I can, will the pain go away with more weight loss? Time will tell, Im down over 120 lbs now, and it is no better!!

It was interesting that Vicodin will reduce the appetite, I didnt know that.

SimplySameria....To answer your question, it is somewhat laborus to "POO" as you call it, prior to WLS, I was quite proud of the ability I poses ed to "POO", it was somewhat of an irritating issue with the girlfriend!!! Yes, she was jealous, but now...much different, Im considering stool softeners, if anyone has tried them let me know, because get NO sympathy from her!!

I had blood work done two weeks ago and didnt have any problems except for a slightly low iron count, everything else was fine.

I never heard about weining yourself off of shakes or supplements after a while, but I am finding out that if you ask the same question to 20 surgeons, your gonna get 20 answers, and they will all be different!!