What am I doing wrong?

Hey All,

I am 13 days post op and am feeling worse than I was a week ago. I have a constant headache and feel very light headed and weak every time I am on my feet. I am getting in as much protein as possible (35 grams a day, mostly from premier protein shake), getting my 64 oz of water in daily, and taking my multivitamin everyday. Am I missing something? I went back to work pretty quickly after my surgery (5 days). I'm a teacher, so I don't have to lift or anything, but I do move a lot. Perhaps I went back to work to soon and didn't let my body heal properly and that is why I feel so fatigued and weak. However, I don't have the option of taking more time off. In short, any suggestions on why I am feeling so run down and what I can do to get my energy levels back up?

The dizziness and light headedness could be  a sign of low blood pressure.  It would make you dizzy, this happened to my husband a lot, he starting drinking some Powerade zero every day and it helped.  It doesn't hurt to check with your doctor too.

It will take a number of weeks to not fatigue easily.  I had dizziness and my blood pressure was low.  The immediately took me off my bp meds and I improved that next day.  See your doctor for the best results.

you need more protein.  drink lots of water.  stand up slowly.  your body went through a major surgery & now you are starving it.  You need to give it time to adjust & heal.

I understand needing to go back to work early.  Try to rest as much as you can aside from work.  

Well you're definitely not getting enough protein.  You should be aiming for at least 60 grams a day, 80 is even better.  And, of course, you're still recovering from major surgery and that takes longer than 2 weeks for some people.  

I'd suggest calling your surgeon on Monday morning.  

Agree with the protein comments -- my doctor (who is fairly strict about such things) demands a minimum of 70g of protein, but wants me to get 85g to 90g.  He says your body needs the protein to heal and you can't heal without it.  That's MY surgeon's opinion - but follow what YOUR doctor says.  

The other thing he mandated was walking 10 minutes every hour (light walking, but walking nonetheless) to get my energy up.  He says it helps you get more protein down, too.  I wasn't walking 10 min of every hour, but I walked about 5,000 steps per day, and it helped A LOT.  

I know it's rough.  Get your protein and you should be good!

Can I ask what you are drinking/eating to get that much protein? I am in the full liquid stage right now and I'm finding it very difficult to even get the 30grams in/

2 Premier protein shakes will give you 60 grams of protein in a day.. just sip sip sip on those throughout the day. I rotated between bottles of water and shakes in order to reach my liquid phase protein goals. 

Isopure Zero carb has 50g protein and 50% DV of most vitamins per serving and tons of different flavors.

No problem!  I've been drinking 3 of the Syntrax Nectar protein shakes (23g of protein), and another 15g soup (protiWise from Amazon.com) or fruit drink that I got from my doctor.  I tried the Isopure Zero Carb (50g of protein per shake), but I couldn't do it.  It's not the tastiest thing...

You're doing much better with water than I did, tho!  My surgeon said I could use the water from the protein drink towards my daily water alottment -- not sure what your doctor recommends, but maybe replace some water with a shaker?  I like the Syntrax Nectar Lemon Tea flavor because it's a bit more watery than some of the thicker shakes.  

It will get easier!  I swear...just hang in there! Please take care of yourself and let me know if you need help finding the fruit drinks or soups.