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I can not seem to eat enough calories one week after Nissen

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Posted 7/19/2017 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone! I had the nissen fundoplication one week ago and I feel as though I am healing well. All your posts have been so helpful. My concern is that I can not eat more than 2 or 3 ounces at a time or I feel miserable. Because of this I really haven't been able to get more than about 500 calories a day. I am concerned that this is not enough to help my body heal. I also noticed that swallowing pills is even more difficult than it was immediately after the surgery. I've learned that I need to crush them up or they feel stuck and cause a lot of pain. From reading some of the posts I am guessing that my wrap is swelling and that is why it is getting harder to swallow, but will I continue to heal if I am only getting a few hundred calories a day? I'm drinking ensure, but I have to drink half a bottle and then wait a couple hours to finish the other half.
Posted 7/20/2017 4:44 AM (GMT 0)
I'd give it a little more time and do your best. But maybe halfway through the week - I know it's never the thing we want to hear and sounds cliche at this point - you should contact your surgeon and/or your GI specialist about this. 500 calories a week sounds problematic, especially if this were one week farther down the road (2 weeks in) - Most people lose weight after surgery, but 500 calories a day for this amount of time could be dangerous (I'm not sure, it just seems that way).
Posted 7/20/2017 11:44 AM (GMT 0)
When you crush the pills, try taking them with some applesauce. Did your doctor give you a post-surgery diet to follow? My doctor gave me the UPMC post-Nissen diet to follow, and it work really well. It's common to only be able to eat very small portions at a time. That's why you need to continually snack throughout the day. If you are concerned about your calorie intake, you should call your surgeon. You might want to try making your own protein smoothies instead of the ensure. And, be careful with your sugar intake, it can cause dumping syndrome. Don't expect too much too soon, you are very early into your recovery and it's a difficult one.
Posted 7/20/2017 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, I will give it some time. My surgeon said to follow the soft diet, and I eat every couple hours, it's just that I eat very little before feeling full. I tried crushing the pills and using applesauce, but the taste is awful. It seems to be working to just break them into very small pieces and taking them with water now. I have been trying to watch the sugar, but most of the soft foods seem to have a lot. I am actually feeling okay, just concerned that I'm not getting many calories. You are right that it is very early yet, I'll give it a few more days. Thanks again! Did you have any recipes that worked well?
Posted 7/20/2017 6:15 PM (GMT 0)
You could just take vanilla ice cream (get one that is at most 14g of carbs per 1/2 cup), add some whole milk, and a scoop of protein powder. This will give you a shake that has a good amount of fat and protein, while not having too many carbs. Just sip on it for a while.
Posted 7/20/2017 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
That sounds delicious! I am lactose intolerant, but if I take a Lactaid I seem to do fine, I just have to cut those little guys up too. I will try that. Thanks!
Posted 7/20/2017 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
There's some ultra-filtered lactose free milk produced by "fairlife" that is high in protein and very easy to digest. I haven't had much regular milk or whey protein since surgery. Makes me feel ill. I put honey in my tea to add extra calories. Malt-o-meal is calorie dense and has some protein. Mix it with the fairlife whole milk and add some sugar if you want. I like a organic pure cane sugar. It's not as sweet as table sugar. I also used the PBfit peanut butter powder and Irish oats to create a calorie dense shake with either rice or almond milk.

I lost a lot of weight post surgery and didn't need to lose much. Being calorie restricted put me on an emotional roller coaster because I was malnourished. 5 months later I'm finally back to eating enough to stop the weight loss and start gaining some healthy weight.
Posted 7/20/2017 9:40 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, I'll have to try that, the shake seems to have given me heartburn, if that is even what it is. Its hard to tell what is causing what so soon after the surgery. I've lost 5 or 6 pounds since the surgery, but hopefully that is tapering off.
Posted 7/21/2017 11:45 AM (GMT 0)
I ate scrambled eggs, oatmeal, jello and a lot of popsicles. I used the UPMC post-Nissen diet and it gave a lot of ideas for meals during the day.
Posted 7/26/2017 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
Dear Hollandmaria I'm at eleventh week and still losing weight which for me is great my highest last year was 225lbs as of today im at 189lbs have not seen these numbers in ten years so I'm grateful for the weight lost I was working out to0 much my 1st week inn my seventh week in recovery so this week I cut it to only to 3 days now and seeing how it is going been eating healthier meals I have tried something within weeks of my recovery pancakes did not go will on my system have not had since. stuff with garlic I can only do a little bit now. in week 4 I was throwing up after trying to eat girts but just had them last weekend for two days with no problems now. Looks like you are doing well in your recovery I had doubts in my 6 week recovery I had to do a FLUOROSCOPY xray swallow test when I would drunk the milky stuff it was not going all the way down to my stomach some stayed in my esophagus and i still had inflammation but everything else look good so I still trying to figure out this as too what I can and can not eat in week eleventh
Posted 7/28/2017 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
I'm one week post surgery and down 10 pounds. I can't each much at a time and don't feel hungry much either. Swallowing is getting easier, but I cant eat much. No more than 1/4-1/2 of whatever I'm eating. I think it's all normal for this early. I crush pills and take with a bite of applesauce.
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