4months post op and struggling with water intake

Hello friends,
I am just now at 4 months post op.  I've lost 46.5 lbs since surgery day and I am feeling pretty well.  I still REALLY STRUGGLE with getting in my water.  Seriously, I am lucky to get in 12-16 ounces of water a day.  I do drink a chai tea made with about 16 ounces of water and 4-6 ounces of soy milk every day, but I sometimes don't drink all of this.  I recently discovered that ice tea goes down pretty easily.  I have tried crystal light and although I like the taste, it doesn't help with the feeling that the water sits in my esophagus and at the back of my throat for 3-5 minutes after taking a drink.  I am drinking only about one ounce per swallow, so I don't think I'm overfilling my stomach. 

So for the vets, do you have any suggestions?   Is it OK to drin**** tea that is decaffeinated to get my fluids in?  I really need to try to get in 64 ounces of fluid a day because I think it would help tremendously with my weight loss, and help with the constipation issues that I struggle with.  Anyone else having this problem or had it in the past?  What did you do or are you doing to solve it?

Julie

 decaf counts!!  Start drinking more- no clue how you have made it this long on so little!

Me either, but I think it contributes to my energy levels.  I hate getting the aspartame in the diet decaf iced tea....gonna make my own and maybe sweeten with agave syrup so it is a little healthier.  Hopefully this will help!  I think I am lucky to have not gotten severely dehydrated.....I was drinking water, it was just very uncomfortable.  If it hadn't been for my chai tea every day, I think I would have ended up in the hospital. 

I'm not a vet, but I also look for lots of ways to get my water in.  I don't really care for plain old water. 

It sounds like you're having a hard time drinking a lot at once? 

I have recently become addicted to this concoction.  I bought this SF spiced apple cider mix.  It had 15 cal per package and 4 g carbs but it was so GOOD.  Then I found a Kroger brand that was also good that only had 10 cal (cheaper too).  I'm made a whole pot (32 oz) using one Kroger pack, one bag of Celestial Seasonings' cinnamon apple spice herb tea and one bag of Bigelow's apple cider herb tea.  I am so addicted that I even bought an electric kettle for work - I'm drinking about 3 liters a day this way.  For some reason I can drink oodles of this.  I think I do well on the hot liquids.  Good luck!!

That sounds heavenly Happy.  I will have to try that!

My new sleeve does not like cold liquids. and I struggle to get in all my fluids too but here is what is working for me. I have decaf (sometimes up to 3) everyday sweetened and creamified with Protein shake.
I also drink Crystal lite but I only make it with luke warm water and while lukewarm is not the best way to drink crystal lite I can seem to drink more of it at a go.

I've also started drinking quite a bit of decaf Chai tea. I make it into a latte with protein shake.

my problem with fluids seems to be that EVERYTHING make me belch. water, coffee, crystal lite, I'm burping like crazy. and first thing in the morning my stomach makes these crazy loud gurgling noises when I drink or eat anything. It's kind of embarassing.

I live on Powerade Zero, drinking one and a half to two 32 oz. bottles per day. If I had to drink only water, it would be a huge struggle.  Crystal Light or other flavored drink mixes help, but I really prefer the Powerade.  It's delicious and zero calories!

I'm over 2 years post-op and I struggled for a LONG time with water.  At about 1.5 years I was able to drink more than a few swallows at one time.  BUT plain water STILL sits heavy and fills me fast, especially cold water.  At your point, just drink whatever you can (low/no calorie) to get your fluids in.  I found hot tea worked best for me and I counted my coffee.

To this day, I no longer enjoy drinking plain water the way I used to, but it's an okay trade for being healthy!

I get you. The only thing I don't mind is brewing my own decaf teas (green, chai, herbal flavoured kinds...), adding a few drops of liquid Splenda, and chilling to drink cool. Crystal Light is too chemically and weird tasting I think.

I do fine with water during the day, but come evening I can't stand it! I switch to herbal teas in the late afternoon and evening. My sleeve doesn't tolerate lemon (yet), so I sweeten with splenda or SF torani vanilla syrup. My favorite is a hibiscus and rose hip tea. It is awesome, warm and soothing.

Oh, the agave syrup is super high in carbs and I read an article a few months back that said our bodies process it the exact same way as high fructose corn syrup. Here are the stats on it:

• Blue Agave Syrup 1tbs 60 calories 16g carbs 0g protein