Everything changes..

Hello all,

fairly new to this forum. Caught a cold while down in mexico for my surgery. (so dealing w/ that) stupid cold just seems to cling on.

my findings so far.

Everything smells different. (not intensified, just different) most of it I don't like. I don't like the smell of myself , despite using deodorant (Suave i think?)

really dont like room temperature water anymore. Used to drink it all the time prior to surgery as that it was easier to drink a lot when not cold. Finding that I don't like drinking anything than ice cold flavored water.

having to switch up flavors of water, as that I get easily bored w/ one flavor (even in one eight hour period) It seems so dumb and I feel almost ashamed of myself.

Can't take long hot showers anymore... i think it's dehydrating and I had an episode the other day that i thought i was going to pass out.

Almost all of those things happened to me (except the cold - feel better soon).

I couldn't drink regular room temp water for the longest. I can now, but still find that cold flavored water goes down easier. It's ok. Drink up. I drank Propel for the longest time.

I almost passed out a few times after my shower. It gets better!

I had the same thing happen with water. It took quite a while to readjust for whatever reason. Like you I added flavorings in for a long time. I am back to plain water again without issue, but dang... was super sensitive to needing some type of acid in the water to lighten it up for quite a while!

A lot of these things could also be amplified by the cold which screws up our taste buds and sense of smell.

Please don't feel ashamed of yourself for wanting different flavors! My liquid diet was sooooo boring and I also wanted different flavors.

Most of these things happen after surgery, and are temporary. You're normal.

The dizziness after a hot shower is low blood pressure, and can happen to anyone, WLS or not. But we ARE prone to low BP after surgery, so be careful.

I had the Same experience with smells post-op couldn't tolerate many, made me feel icky. That has improved.

and same with water- preferred room temp pre-op, can only do ice cold now.

I had RNY, but OMG the smell thing was the WORST. I'm 2 months out and I still have it occasionally. The cafeteria smell at work still makes me sick every time I walk in.

I don't take long hot showers anymore either. Same reason. But I figure it's better for the environment and my utilities bill anyway.

I know sometimes looking at all the "can't do this anymore" or "don't like that anymore" can be depressing and irritating. But keep pushing through. Soon you will be at the "wow I've never been able to do this before" and "look at all these new things about myself" stage. It's exciting! The life gains are coming, I promise!

How is your blood pressure? A hot shower can lower your blood pressure and if its already low it could cause you to pass out.

Agree abou****er. It's weird. I was always a person who drank lots of water, cold. I really disliked water if it was even a little warm, and plain cold water always "tasted" really good to me.

How crazy it seems now that I can't stand cold water. It tastes funny and smells funny. Same Poland Spring I always bought.... now I drink room temperature water and electrolyte drinks. And the electrolyte type drinks I would never have drunk before, with their weird artificial colors etc. I expect this is temporary. I'm looking forward to plain cold water being good again!