Help from post-opers ASAP

I had sleeve almost 1 year ago and I am down 100 pounds. I had an amazing experience. No complications. My husband had sleeve last Monday and can't even get enough water  down to stay hydrated and hasn't been able to work. What could this be from? I didn't experience this so I am no help! Anyone please advise! Dr appointment tomorrow to see what's going in just looking for anyone with a similar experience to help ease his mind. He is having buyers remorse. I never had that either. 

 

Julie

Has he tried warm water? I still prefer it to warm (almost hot) as cold makes the tummy spasm so feels uncomfortable. I lived on warm water, or very cool diluted cranberry juice for the first 3 weeks.

Has he tried gatorade or any other liquids?

Water was a *****allenging for me for quite awhile. I drank gatorade, milk, green tea, cranberry juice a lot. I also ate lots of SF tropical posicles and ate lots f broth. That with the protein shakes of course. But it took long time, to drink water easily.

I couldn't ge****er down either, but I do great with power aide zero

Hey may just be more sensitive to the tightness of his stomach than you were. Everyone responds differently. I would try extremely cold water or warm water. Early out I found it easier to drink warm herbal tea than cold water but then cold water can help to reduce the swelling too. With water small baby sips. I have heard of some people drinking from baby spoons. For me it helped to take a normal sized sip and hold it in my mouth and swallow a little bit at a time.

Dehydration is not good. Try getting some sugar free gatorade or pedialight into him because that will help replace electrolytes. He could end up hospitalized with IVs if he doesn't get some fluids in him.

I second the Power Aid Zero.  But drink it at room temperature or better.  The electrolytes in the drink will help with dehydration.  If you cannot find Power Aid Zero then Gatorade will work as well.  Also Walmart sells a Sports Drink that is their version of Power Aid Zero.  

If you cannot for some really odd reason get to Power Aid Zero, Gatorade, or the Sports Drink at Walmart, then go to the baby section of a grocery store and get Pedialyte.  This is yet another drink that has the electrolytes.

As for what it is from you should be able to find out tomorrow at the doc appointment.  To me if the issue is not the coldness of the drink, then I would start to think it may be a stricture.  This is a narrowing at the top of the stomach and means very little can get through. 

I am hoping that your doc appointment tomorrow is with the surgeon and not the PCP.  Either way they will likely do a upper GI to determine if there is a physical reason things are not going down.  If your PCP (if you are not going to your surgeon that is) isn't sure you could ask him/her about the possibility of a stricture.  

I think that it is a fairly easy fix and can be done non surgically.  Of course I am not a doctor but I think all they do in these cases is to send a little balloon down the throat into the area that has harrowed and then inflate the balloon.  This will open the passage and allow for things to pass on through.

If your husband starts getting really light headed or having a lot of trouble, then you may need to consider heading to the ER for hydration.  They will likely start an IV to get fluids in.  

Hope this helps.

Like others have mentioned, for some the start can be very challenging.  Have your husband experiment with different temperatures and different liquids.  Some people do well with warm decaf tea.  Others do well with cold water.  SF popsicles are what works best for some people in the beginning.  A lot of people don't do well with plain water - something about the ph of the water doesn't set well with a sleeve.  My sleeve loved really cold stuff - water with Mio went down well.  Powerade Zero is great - it helps with the electrolytes...  

The more dehydrated your hubby gets, the harder it will be for him to get anything in - it become an ugly cycle.  have him sip sip sip once he finds something that will sit ok. 

Once he gets past this - things will start going much better!  Give him hugs for us!

My first 3 days were tough in getting anything down. I found that the gasses in my system were swapping places with the water. It took awhile.

I had revision and had a lot more swelling than most.... so I had this issue also!!  I actually had complications for several weeks. If he tries the things suggested and isn't better - call his doctor!

 

I had problems the first 7-10 days too.  I'm 4 weeks out now and am lucky to get 64 oz daily. I find if I drink with a straw and take small sips it help get them in.  Good luck to him!