Before surgery, I was told to sip, sip, sip my fluids all day long.  I thought it was to make sure I got enough water in.  Now I'm confused.

I have no problem drinking liquids.  In fact, I can drink the same size mouthfuls as before the surgery.

Do I really need to take tiny sips or can I drink normally?

Sipping is a good rule to stick to after surgery along with not eating or drinking with meals. That said, now that you're post-op, you can start "sipping" larger amounts. You're barely post-op, though, so stick to the slow sipping for a while. You don't want to make yourself sick.

You have a newly healing staple line.  IF you drink too much, too fast you can rupture your staple line.  Take tiny sips.  Only 1 ounce every 10minutes for the first week, then 2 ounces every 15 minutes the second week.  I was given little 1 ounce medicine cups to take home from the hospital so I could measure my liquids when I got home.  Good luck and keep sipping.

I don't understand how drinking could rupture your staple line.  After RNY, you no longer have a pyloric valve so liquids don't stay in the pouch.  They run right through into the small intestine.

Kelly

We have discussed this before. According to my surgeon and it makes sense to me, if you take big gulps of liquid, it applies a great deal of pressure on a newly healing staple line while going down and can and will rupture the staple line.  You need to take small sips and let the liquid do down slowly.  Hense the need to only drink once ounce at a time the first week and 2 ounces the second week.  I am sure some people do drink more but they are playing russian roulette with there pouches.  Your pouch is only the size of an egg at the beginning and over filling it, even with liquid is not a good idea.

I was never told this either.  They gave me regular size glasses in the hospital and never once told me to only drink an ounce every 10 minutes.  That's very odd I was never told this...  Wish I would've known... oh well...

You can drink normally.  Many people find it causes discomfort if they take big drinks for a while after surgery, but if it doesn't bother you, it's fine.  You can't damage your pouch or stretch it or anything by drinking.

Kelly

Thanks so much for asking this question and thanks to Kelly for your response! I'm just shy of two weeks out, and I sipped very slowly my first week post-op, but soon noticed that my ability to drink was pretty much the same as it was before surgery. I'm noticing that taking slightly larger than normal sips (like gulps) will make me cough and I avoid them (and I couldn't imagine taking huge gulps - it feels like there's too much pressure/air) - but it's great to know that I'm not alone in my ability to drink pretty much normally. My nutritionist and surgeon tell me it's okay but hearing the same thing from other patients is so reassuring. 

Same here.  I can drink pretty much like normal, but can't chug water anymore :( 

One time, about a week or two after surgery, I took too big of a drink with my meds, cause they wouldn't go down, and I felt that.  It was the air/pressure feeling.  But honestly, since that time, I have been fine with drinking, as well.

i too am able to drink normally... and i drink with a straw..i dont feel it takes in too much air and im able to drink more protein during the day using a straw.