Any suggestions need HELP!!

I am having a big problem and my surgery is scheduled 03/15/12. I am one of those people who could never tolerate Aspartame because of massive migraine that it gave me so I thought I would try the others like splenda and stevia but so far I have not found one thing that I like that does not have an after taste or it just doesn't taste good except SF Edy's fruit pops. If I am having this much trouble now, what is it going to be like after surgery. I heard that peoples taste buds change after surgery so hopefully I will like them then.

Any suggestions!!!

It's true your rate buds change & you'll have a nice honey moon period where you won't necessarily even be hungry so I wouldn't worry about that right now. Just be excited that you have made a choice to live longer! Congrats!

Thank you!

I was worried about the same thing and then something just clicked....  i realized that this journey is the begining of the rest of my life and that I am willing to adjust and adapt to the changes this surgery will present.  Currently I am on day 3 of my Pre-Op liquid diet and doing terrific.  I had alot of anxiety about this pre-op in terms of how the heck i will make it through my days without chewing on anything.  Believe it or not, i am doing great.  At the end of day 1 I suffered from a light headache...  but went to bed and slept if off.  My sugery is scheduled for 2/28 and i'm very excited.  Excited to really be good to myself and find foods and drinks that i will enjoy, not just tolerate.  Afterall, it will be for the rest of our lives.  I've been told by many that our  taste buds change and i'm wondering what i might actually enjoy after this surgery.  It's an exciting time...  anxious and nervous...  oh yes...  but also very exciting...  :) 

My taste buds never changed one iota. I hated sf drinks because of the aftertaste before, and I still hate them. Before going into this, rather than ask myself what I don't like, I asked myself what it is I do like. I like water, coffee,  skim milk, and some herbal teas (sorta). I can also kind of handle a a few sf drinks if they are really, really, really cold on a rare occasion. The next question I asked myself was would I be willing to make the trade off to just the things I liked for my lifetime. As you can see the answer is  obvious. I found I really enjoy water a lot and often choose it when I have other options. I adapted to sf iced tea with a lot of lemon juice squeezed in it. I drink coffee on a regular basis when I used to have a caffeinated soft drink before. I found I can pretty much handle Vitamin Water Zero, and I often doctor it up by diluting it with water and mixing 2 flavors together. On a rare occasion I add a splash of POM juice which makes for a nice summer treat. I'm lucky in that I don't mind gum, sf puddings or protein drinks, so I still have options there.
 
I did notice I have a time lapse of when that foul chemical like aftertaste kicks in, so if I eat a sf Popsicle, and then as soon as I'm done, pop a piece of gum in my mouth it pretty much eradicates the foul chemical taste of the Splenda or aspartame. 

I wish you well because getting in enough fluids is an important aspect of this surgery.

Kat
PS: I'm going to check out the Edys pops...thanks!

ok, i do not do the asparteme either, MAJOR migranes and i mean major, i am very sensitive to sugar acohols too..sorbitol is a laxative and i get very well acuatinted with the bathroom with this....but at this point with the constipation, i may use it..

but i am 11 months post op, i have lost 105 pounds and doing great, i have never dumped, i have only had 3 minor stuck episodes if i could even call them that, i had some pain after eating and had to blow my nose like 10 rigth after one another...i did not like those feelings and if i had felt like that every time i had ate, then i would defentilay had a different thought process i think...
but anway, i do not drink or eat anything sugar free due to the asparteme, but i eat fresh fruit only, i try to find no sugar added things, i dont do puddings,just dont do them, i have had a couple bites of my hubbys banana pudding i have made him, but only a couple of bites..i dont drink crystal light products, i do make my own fresh squeezed lemonade at home, i juice up lemons all the time and have them in the freezer, i put 1 cup of lemon juice in baggie and freeze, then i make my lemonade with 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup of stevia, splenda and a small bit of raw sugar, i use more stevia than splenda, for some reason when used together they cut the others bitterness...so for the cup of this mixture, i use like .25 if that of raw sugar, and then split the stevia and splenda..i have used some truvia, and i like that better so i am looking for that the next time, i add water to my pitcher and mix with wisk to get it all mixed together....i have this in frideg most of the time for when i want a little something different than water....i also some times have some of the calyspo lemonade in a bottle, it is made with real lemon juice and real sugar, but the bottle is like 2 servings and i only add some of the different flavors to my lemonade to give it a bit of a different flavor..so far my favorites are, the peach, black cheery, raspberry pink lemonade, and triple melon...this bottle lasts me over a week in the fride even if i have some lemonade every day as i dont use that much at any time...i get like a 20 ox glass fill it with ice and then add my lemonade and some of the flavored clayspo...otherwise i just drink plain old ICE cold water, it has to be full of ice or i dont like the taste of the water..i have tried the different syrups that people have suggested and they are nasty, i have some un opened so i will give them to my daughter, they make coffess alot...
pre op, i usse to love the sweets and cakes, cookies and breads..i am missing some of my breads, but dont really miss the cakes and cookies much, as when i really get a craving for one, i take a bite, small bite or 2, and i am good to go....they are sweet and most dont taste like they use to...so i am fine...
so far things have been just fine with me..the first couple of months were the roughest i think, trying to get into a routine for the vitamins and such, you just need to find what will work for you...
it can be done with out using all the fake sugar substitutes, but then i dont dump, and most dont, i eat full regular cheeses, mayos, and the such...i do eat mircale whip and not regular mayo, i use to do the real mayo...i dont do the fat free or sugar free miracle whip..just reg. miracle whip... because when they take out the fat or the sugars, they put in chemicals, and i dont want to eat the chemcials...not sure if this helped or not...but so far i have done pretty well...i have been in a major stall and not lost alot of weight since september...but i am fine with where i am in weight wise, and if i loose more, fine, if i dont, fine too...
life is just good so far
have a great day
debby

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I am glad there are others out there that are going through the same thing and don't like the artificial sweetners. I will just stick to my water and unsweetened tea- guess I will have to buy decaf now.  I will just eat real fruit and fine other stuff for post and pre-op solutions. I don't start me 2 week liquid pre-op until 03/05/12.  I will just have to take one day at a time. 

Thanks again for everyone on this forum!!!

You'll be fine.  I don't like artificial sweeteners, either.  The only crystal lite I found I liked was the lemonade one they gave me in the hospital.  Have tried all kinds, just don't like them.  Didn't eat Jello pre-op or post-op.  I just find it gross, especially the SF kind. 

I found I can drink Fruitopia w/lots of ice and a couple slices of lemon.  I limit it to one 8oz serving a day at most, though.  Usually water and skim milk are my drinks of choice.  Though, I have had a couple of decaf hazelnut iced coffees w/milk and splenda from Dunkin Donuts and those were fab. 

Good luck! :)

Try agave nectar.

I wonder is this an option. It really is a fructose (92% fructose, 8% glucose) and spikes blood sugar levels later than sugar and honey which is why it can be misconstrued as being low on the glycemic index.  Also, it has 16 grams of carbs per tablespoon and 60 calories.