Mental Block

When I look at or smell food, even food I love, I'm automatically having a physical response like I can't stand the food.  My stomach flips, nostrils close down and throat tightens.  I force a bite and it's fine, until the next bite.  Eating is becoming difficult.  Anyone have a suggestion about how to get over this mental block? 

Thanks!

It depends on where you're at in the sleeve process. If you're just starting solid foods, I'd say your reaction, though unusual, still falls within the range of sleeve surgery side effects. For up to 3 months post-op, everything smelled disgusting to me -- food, water, fresh air, the furniture, you name it. It's hard to describe the smell -- imagine feces and plastic scorched together in a fire -- sort of like that. Try enjoying food or anything else with that stench in your nose all the time. After the first 2 months, the smell began to fade, but even now I occasionally get whiffs of it. It was an olfactory hallucination caused by the stomach surgery. Don't know how they're connected, but they are. Your reaction to food will likely fade as you progress with your recovery from surgery.

If your reaction has nothing to do with an actual or perceived stimulus, and if you're more than 6 months post-op, you probably need to check with your surgeon.

psychoticparrot

Thanks for the information!

I had a period not long after surgery when the thought of food made me queasy.  I could hold the food down ok, but the thought of food was unpleasant.  It passed after a few weeks. 

It sounds like your reaction is stronger, so it might be worth checking with your surgeon.  Its important to keep getting your protein and water in every day to keep you healing and strong. 

best of luck,

Carol