Am I drinking too fast?

I'm one week out and I've noticed that with water, I can drink a lot faster/more than I expected. Is it bad if I'm drinking fast or if I drink bigger sips? I only feel the fullness when I'm drinking protein, maybe since it's more viscous and stays in my tummy longer. Any thoughts? I'm a little afraid of the whole "overstretched pouch" thing. Thanks.

As long as it does not hurt, and the water does not start to back up into your esophagus, you are not drinking too fast!  Yes, it takes protein drinks a bit longer to flow through the pouch because they are thicker than water (or Crystal Light, etc.).

You CANNOT stretch your pouch with liquids! (Even with food, your pouch is not a fragile balloon-like structure that will easily stretch, so don't waste any energy worrying about it.  Your pouch will stretch normally over time (it has to... we would all starve to death if we could only eat 2 oz at a time for the rest of our lives!), but it is NOT common for a pouch to be stretched to an abnormal size.  Stoma stretching is more common, but as long as you do not eat too much on a regular basis, even that is not as common as people's fears lead them to believe... less than 20% of the people my surgeon has scoped because of serious weight regain actually have a pouch or stoma that are larger than they should optimally be.)

Lora

Thanks Lora. I thought I could stretch it with anything- liquid or solid. Thanks for the info. I feel better and it's nice to be able to drink more easily. :)

i asked the same question at my one week post op appt. they said as long as i tolerated it, go ahead, keeping hydrated is important.

I was very surprised that I could drink normally soon after surgery.  4 months out and I drink pretty much like before.....can drink 24 oz in an hr sometimes.  NO WORRIES!!!  I think we hear so much about sip, sip......for those that struggle, they need to do this.  For those that us that don't, drink away!!

~~Jennifer