Can't get the protein shake down

 I had my surgery two weeks ago.  I had both a gastric bypass and gall bladder surgery at the same time.  Since then I have been having a difficult time getting into the swing of eating.  The first week all I could stomach were a few diluted juices.  I tried a protein drink with Lactose Fat Free milk and was sick all night and the next day.  I went to my surgery follow up and they suggested I try full liquids.  I had about 2 Tbsps. of yogurt and maybe 1/4 c. V8 - from my list.  Again I got really sick.  So 2 days ago I tried scrambled egg and banana. Went down great. Since then I've also successfully had potato, soft cheese, green beans and chicken noodle soup (minus the chicken).  So what's the problem?  This morning I again tried 1/2 a protein drink with water and had intestinal cramps for a good hour or more.  I'm assuming the gall bladder may be complicating things as I read off the internet that dairy and protein can be difficult to digest after gall bladder surgery.  I'm prepared to wait it out and keep trying, but it's painful and I need to get in more protein than I'm currently able.  Any suggestions?

You might be experiencing some lactose intolerance.  What kind of protein powder are you using?  Is it whey protein?  If so, it has lactose in it.  Whey isolate protein actually does not have that much lactose in it so many people can tolerate it even they can't tolerate regular milk.  But you might be one who can't.  Especially if you are saying that yogurt made you sick as well.  You might want to try a soy protein isolate powder.

Also, if you are tolerated pureed foods like potatoes and green beans and soup, try adding unflavored protein powder to them.  But again, I would try a soy protein isolate powder, not whey.

You can also focus on foods that have protein in them, of course, like cottage cheese (if you can tolerate that, it is dairy), refried beans, and pureed meats. 

Kelly

i am really only replying for support cuz i am 8 weeks out and i cant stand the thought of any protien drink or anything like it. i have had trouble with food personally. but if you can eat, eat your protien, its better to get it from food anyways. you might also try snacking on nuts, string cheese too. i changed to soy milk, but cant even stand the thought of it right now. We just gotta keep on trying!! Thats what everyone is telling me, and really we have no choice!!  Keep sipping your fluids and keep trying different stuff, talk to your nut and see what they recommend. im sure lots of people around here will have great ideas for you to try.

Good luck,
Robin

Try eating Yogurt. you have to be careful though since flavored yogurts may have too much sugar. Try plain Greek yogurt, which is a thickened yogurt and high in protein. You can add sugar free flavors, sugar free syrups, or even sugar free preserves to make it taste much better. If you can digest yogurt and not shakes the you can bet that you have become lactose intolerant from the bypass. It may not be permanent, so in time you may become more tolerant of milk.

I have used the unflavored unjury and put it in  warm chicken broth and it is not bad at all.I buy tne broth by the box.also Kroger's has a carb control yogurt that is good.My surg was Oct12 GBP and i was  on clear liq.for a week to give my stomach a change to heal and start adding foods slowly.So far i'mdoing ok.Hope the broth helps.

 Thanks for all the suggestions.  I meant to say I used Lactaid milk as I do have a bit of a Lactose intolerance problem normally - although nothing like this.  The protein powder I used was the GNC Max and Click espresso.  I didn't know the whey had lactose in it.  I hope it's temporary as I stocked up on 3 flavors before surgery since I liked them and they aren't cheap!  I also forgot to mention (sorry) that I tried a liquid soy protein drink with no ill results other than the taste makes me want to gag. I didn't mind it before surgery.  Guess my tastes have changed.  My dietician has me reintroducing foods very slowly and meat other than fish is a few weeks away.  Is Unjury not whey based?  I have some but have been afraid to try it after my disastrous results with the other.  

Yes, Unjury is whey.  Many people who are lactose intolerant can still tolerate whey isolate protein drinks, though, if they are mixed in water or soy milk or Lactaid milk.  Whey isolate does have lactose in it, but not much.  So you might want to try it again.  I saw you were able to eat cheese without problem, so apparently you can tolerate some lactose.

Kelly

poet_kelly below is correct. If you supplement is made ONLY from Whey Protein Isolate, it doesn't have enough lactose to cause you problems.

But be careful if it has some whey protein *concentrate*.
Some whey protein concentrate can be as low as 35% protein...or lower...and as high as 50% lactose. That would likely cause you trouble.

Kind regards
Jerome
UNJURY (R) Protein

Thanks again to all of you for taking time to help me with this.  Eating is getting better, but is still iffy.  It feels like my stomach is pretty raw at times.  I seem to do better with solid foods than liquidy things.  Not sure why, but each day seems to bring small improvements.  I will keep trying new things and will keep trying the protein, especially as I feel that rawness begin to disappear.