1 month post-op; rarely feeling "well"

Hi All,

I’m new to this forum and am almost 4 weeks post-VSG. The surgery seemed to go well and I’ve lost 46lbs as of last week but I’m not feeling well at all.

I’m having a very difficult time adjusting to post-op life so far. My surgery overlapped with a large chunk of time off from work, so I am at home taking care of my 6-month old until January. This leaves me with very little mental stimulation and/or distractions from constantly thinking about the surgery.

So far, I am sad to say, I have buyer’s remorse. Lately I’ve been having lots of problems with nausea, which makes it difficult to do basically anything else, even eat soft foods (which I was doing fine with until 4-5 days ago). I’m going to be talking to my PA today about this. I’m terrified it is a sign of something serious or chronic. 

I’m so far from feeling “normal” that I am scared I never will again. Has anyone else had these problems? How did you get through it? I’m struggling and it is making my life fairly miserable. 

Thanks for reading.

Are you drinking all of your fluids?  At least 64 ounces a day?  Are you getting in all your protein?  Are you exercising at all?  Do you log what you're eating/drinking using My Fitness Pal or some other app?  Are you eating small bites and chewing everything to mush?  Are you eating slowly, at least 20 minutes to finish a meal?

The first few weeks are an adjustment.  You just have to endure.  It gets much better.  Your stomach is still in healing mode and learning how to adjust to your new routine.

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, I'm getting in all my fluids and protein and am logging everything in MyFitnessPal. I've been walking every day (even jogged a bit yesterday - which was amazingly easier than I remember). I'm not on solid food yet, but I do chew the eggs and cottage cheese a ton. Slow eating is a challenge, but I'm getting better. I do feel full all the time which is an ... odd feeling. Slow drinking is actually my biggest issue right now, but I'm working on it.

I did have a talk with my doc's PA and they suspect it is the Ursidiol medication that I started taking last week to prevent gallstones. Apparently it can cause temporary nausea until my body adjusts to it. I'll try to counteract that with some anti-nausea meds and see how that works. Either way it is a relief to know that those meds are the likely culprit and it probably isn't something chronic or serious. 

Thank you for your support. I know in my head this must get better, because everyone seems to love their sleeve after a while. (heh - this reminds me of what my wife and I told ourselves while dealing with our crying infant in the middle of the night - it must get better people have more than one kid). It's just difficult to believe in this when you're feeling so bad. But, again, at least I think I can see the end of this particular struggle, so I'm relieved.

Thanks so much!

This is super advice.  

OP - I think it's also worth remembering that you're only a month out!  Your body is still healing.  Normality will return once you're fully healed :D

Sounds to me like you are feeling normal...just not before surgery normal.  Healing takes a long time and the waiting sucks.  But have heart that it will get easier and better and in time you will forget that it seemed to take forever!

Congratulations on your loss to this point.  You are doing wonderful!

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I wanted to write a follow-up in case anyone else runs into some of the issues I was having.

It turns out that the medication I was taking to prevent gallstones (Ursodiol, or "the poison" as it is now called in my household) can cause severe, debilitating nausea if not taken with food. The "food" part there is important and apparently water plus protein powder does not qualify. Once I started taking it after or during actual food (mostly greek yogurt) the nausea became much more manageable. And it became even less once I started taking it after or during a solid food meal. I was able to go without any anti-nausea meds today for the first time in a while. 

We also discovered my blood pressure was really low, which can also cause tiredness, nausea and a host of other bad things. After talking to my PCP I have halved my medication for that. My BP has started to move back to normal which has also helped improve things.

So I'm happy to report that I am doing much better physically. My energy levels are low, but my PA said to give it a week with the right BP meds and without the constant fear of nausea and it'll likely improve.

Mentally, I've still got a ways to go until I'll be able to accept the things I've given up and fully enjoy this new life. I'm working on that, but it is a slow process.