[Nicole]

I have been having a really hard time with anything even close to being sweet. Even sugar free items are difficult and cause a lot of pain. I can tell it is "dumping" because I get really exhausted, have sharp pains just under my rib cage, feel nauseous, get shaky, and generally feel really crappy several minutes after I eat something that is sugar free or has any sugar in it. So this eliminates many foods for me and really limits how I can get my protein in.

I have been able to get my water in and some soups, but other than that, nothing else has been going well. So this morning I called my surgeon. I think my pain meds have made me constipated and wanted to know what I should take for that and if what I have in the house is safe. I also told him about the food issues. He said that at this stage it is not totally imperative that I get tons of protein in, and that getting water and liquids in is much more important at this stage. So we will just keep plugging along and see how things go. But at least now I don't have to stress about it as much right now. I don't really care if my hair falls out and things like that because I have too much hair as it is.

Hugs everyone and thanks for the encouragement and support.

[DocSanae]

(((HUGS))) Hang in there, it is hard especially during the first few weeks・

[not quite Barbie]

Many sugar free items are made with sugar alcohols which are worse that the real thing - at least for me. I even had to be careful with yogurt, the carbs had to be really low. Cheese and beans were the only safe carbs for me at first. Good luck!

[whyweight88]

If you don't mind me asking--what did your surgeon recommend for the constipation? Since surgery (I'm 10 weeks out), I no longer have a daily bowel movement, which has worried me on and off. What's been weird to me is that when I've eaten 'heavier' foods like sausage and lightly breaded foods with cheese (like eggplant Parmesan), I will have a BM about 10-15 minutes after I finish eating. Even though I've been on top of my fluid intake, I still have a hard time passing without a little discomfort.

So if your doc mentioned anything like a certain food to eat more of or a supplement, I'd love to know what it was and if you've tried it.

[sparkpeopleup]

My doc said 1 Colace stool softener a day(I got the generic for 4 bucks for 100something pills at Wally World), or sip on prune juice. I think the prune juice would make any of us ill, so I opted for the pills. So far they seem to be doing okay. I hope this helps either or both of you. The Colace takes a day or two to get working for you but the doc was right when he said you'll go once a day or once every other day which I know is a big relief for most of us because it's one less thing that can be wrong with us after surgery.

[Jayleigh63]

My doc put me on Colace morning and night. I have no more slow bowel/constipation problems.

Also, Sugar Free items almost always have some alternate sweetener, or worse, sugar alcohol. Even before surgery I couldn't stomach them (pun intended). I would get horrible gas and abdominal pain. Listen to your doc, but stay away from sugar free... can you drink Crystal Light? I have no problems with that. Feel better!!!

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by whyweight88

If you don't mind me asking--what did your surgeon recommend for the constipation? Since surgery (I'm 10 weeks out), I no longer have a daily bowel movement, which has worried me on and off. What's been weird to me is that when I've eaten 'heavier' foods like sausage and lightly breaded foods with cheese (like eggplant Parmesan), I will have a BM about 10-15 minutes after I finish eating. Even though I've been on top of my fluid intake, I still have a hard time passing without a little discomfort.

So if your doc mentioned anything like a certain food to eat more of or a supplement, I'd love to know what it was and if you've tried it.

He suggested Milk of Magnesia or any other liquid stool softener. He said use it only once and see what happens before you try it a second time. For me, one dose was enough to get things moving again.

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by not quite Barbie

Many sugar free items are made with sugar alcohols which are worse that the real thing - at least for me. I even had to be careful with yogurt, the carbs had to be really low. Cheese and beans were the only safe carbs for me at first. Good luck!

I am still on liquids only, so Sugar-Free means artificial sweetener like Splenda and others. So sugar free jello, Popsicle's, crystal light, or any other sugar free beverages are out. This also means that all my protein shakes are out. All protein shakes have either artificial sweeteners or a small amount of sugar in them. So I am barely able to get in 10 grams of protein. You can only put unflavored protein in so many things. So this is where my problem lies. Hopefully as I move into the puree stage I will be able to get more protein in again. But for right now, anything that resembles something sweet I have to avoid. I can't do anything dairy at all either. I hope it will subside a little as time goes on, but for now anything that has any kind of sugar in it, even artifical sweeteners, cause massive Dumping.

Thanks for the support everyone though. My dr saw me yesterday and said that everything is looking good. I am back to my weight the day I went in for my surgery, so that is good. My incisions are doing well. It was a short meeting, but he said as long as I am still trying to get protein in, I should be fine until I get to the puree stage. Then I need to try to get more protein in. So I see him again in three weeks.

Hugs everyone!!

[mj2903]

Nichole, Have you thought about trying kool-aid and adding your own sweetener? If I remember correctly, all of the things you listed come pre-sweetened, if you use the plain kool-aid then you could tone down the sweetener to something that may be more tolerable.

Ironically, the subject of kool-aid and sweetener just came up here when one of the teens that stay with us commented that the kool-aid didn't have enough sugar. I had made it according to directions but let her know that growing up we were only allowed to have kool-aid made with half the sugar.

It may not work, but might be worth a try.

Melinda

[Nicole]

That is a good idea, I wish I could. There is something about Kool-aid that gives me nasty migraines. I think it is something about the dyes they use in it or something. I think I will go to whole foods tomorrow to see if they have something that might work. Thanks for the idea though!