Hydration early out

[Fluff of Love]

Hi, I'm 8 days post op. I'm trying my hardest to keep hydrated. I can drink some water, but after a while it tastes funny to me. I don't drink crystal light because sugar free drinks taste bad and have bad after taste to me. Obviously sugar isn't the best option right now, but is it that terrible to rely on gatorade and regular popsicles/freezes as fluids for now?

[sherbearmama]

OK, I totally get you!!! I was there two just a few weeks ago. My doctor said to go ahead and drink apple juice. I wasn't eating enough to keep my blood sugar high enough anyway, and so I started with ICE-COLD apple juice. Then I started using 1/2 apple juice 1/2 water (plus ice). At some point, my mouth just couldn't stand the feeling and flavor of apple juice so I switched to regular gatorade. I drank iced gatorade with half water for several weeks. I still lost tons of weight. I got protein where I could, but i found that the only way for me to get my fluids was to drink either juice or gatorade--and I think diluting it with water was a good idea to keep some of the carbs at bay. If you like the cold feeling (of popsicles) then you really might be able to work with the juice or Gatorade. And now (I'm 8 weeks post op) all I seem to be able to drink are things with fizz. I drink lots and lots of sugar free sparkling water (flavored)--I guess it's just a phase for me.

GOOD LUCK! It gets better, it really does.

Sheri

[loulou7]

I got tired of the sweet things and enjoyed either plain water with lemon, or chicken broth.

Never have gotten used to the artifical sweetners. Now I prefer unsweetened tea, water with lemon, or herbal teas.

[meredith123]

I found warm drinks went down much better very early out. I was drinking a lot of sugar free alpine spiced cider. Also a nice cup of hot tea was good with lemon. For some reason they sat better in my new tummy and I could drink them faster.
My surgeon also had us on these protein soups. It was a powder soup that you added to hot water. Those are not bad and help you get in more fluids and protein at the same time. Each packet had 15 grams of protein. You can get them online at lots of places if you google bariatric soups.

[loulou7]

I'm 2 plus years out, and warm drinks still sit better in my tummy than ice cold drinks or popsicles.

[annaleigh]

Sugar free fruit popsicles were a staple to me early on.

[reynolds4]

I will be 2 weeks post-op tomorrow and for the first week I could only do warm water. Then SF Popsicles were helpful to try colder temps. It takes a while to get that funny metallic taste which I believe is from anesthesia.

Try Gatorade 2, it's low sugar and tastes like regular Gatorade. Be careful with regular hot tea as its really acidic.

As long as your staying hydrated.

Good luck,

Alisha

[Kyra]

Staying hydrated is your most important job. I mixed apple juice in water as one poster has already mentioned. It didn't slow my weight loss down. You won't need to do it for very long because your tastes and ability to tolerate things will change, but at this point in recovery you just have to sip, sip, sip. If you can't do water, drinking anything that hydrates you is better than drinking nothing.

Good luck.

[renegadeorange]

I had to experiment with different water temperatures and different bottled brands. Some waters had a funky taste to me, and some even had a sweet taste. I found Smart Water to be the cleanest tasting one, but it's a bit pricey for the amount we need to drink a day.

Diet Snapple is very good, and there are a lot of different flavors. Unsweetened tea with lemon is also something I enjoy now... and being a true southerner, I never thought I could do unsweetened tea! I went through a lot of SF popsicles. Good luck on finding the right combo for you! You definitely don't want to get dehydrated. It happens fast and isn't always too easy to fix.

[bb212]

I became an apple juice connoisseur post-op, I could taste every damn chemical in everything and it drove me nuts.

Only bottled water would do, I could taste chlorine, metal, etc, in tap water and I just couldn't choke it down after a few sips.

Switch to spring water or distilled water. But even that gets hard to drink sometimes and you need electrolytes without a chemical flavor from sports drinks.

For apple juice, there were TWO winners in my taste test: simply apple (BEST!) and mott's apple juice. I tried tropicana, ocean spray, apple and eve, martinellis, seneca, minute maid, juicy juice, and purity organic... All of them tasted like chemicals or ASS to a certain degree except for simply apple and mott's. Those two were the most clean and "pure" apple tasting of the juices.

Simply apple was very close to apple cider- it's unfiltered. Motts was strangely clear and golden, but had clean apple flavor. Simply apple wasn't as sweet as Motts, but it was pricey. Either are fine if you need to water them down.

Post op apple juice was the most delicious thing in the world to me... Until I healed up enough to eat oat meal, I though that was the best thing since rain... Then I tried ricotta cheese... You get the idea

[Fluff of Love]

Hi, sorry, I posted then took a long nap.

Thanks for the ideas! I did try the apple juice, which helps. Broth has been good too. I also have the strong taste/smell for chemicals it seems. I have some no sugar added fruit bars too. Tolerable, even though they still taste chemical-y. Next week should be easier as I am able to add more to my diet.

Thanks for the input, very helpful. Trying my best to sip all I can

[Sandra C.]

Smart Water has electrolytes just like gator aid. I liked warm protein beef broth, drank it on a 2-3 hr schedule for weeks, till the metallic taste wained. Now I prefer protein fruit drinks. funny how the taste buds are affected by the surgery. At 5 months, I still can taste odd flavors in bottled water. I use a lot of distilled water for mixing into drinks.

[Fran]

Oh boy do I remember how you feel! I had a hard time at first with things tasting off also. I found that if I strained the noodles out of Campbells chicken noodle soup the broth was heaven to me. I also thinned down tomato soup and mushroom soup. I, per Gina's advice, made a pitcher of lemon water and fell in love with it. I would slice up a nice size lemon in 64 ounces of H20 and added 1 cup of splenda.

[teachmid]

The first few weeks out I drank war drinks and plain Dasani water. Warm tea, broth, tomato soup taste really good. I've never been able to go back to any crystal light drinks

[Girlrocker]

Feb 2, 2012 20:07:22 GMT -5 teachmid said:

The first few weeks out I drank war drinks and plain Dasani water. Warm tea, broth, tomato soup taste really good. I've never been able to go back to any crystal light drinks

Ditto for me. The savory alternatives really helped, I never got tired of chicken broth (and often cooked an egg into it for egg drop soup) and tomato soup. Totally relied on sf popsicles and jello.

If you like tea, that might be a good one too - decaf/herbal only or it won't count as fluid (caffeine dehydrates). Hot or cold, so many nice fruity, floral flavors. I'm not a tea drinker, unless I have a bad cold, but I actually like the fruity teas cold, much better than Crystal Light.

Hang in there, your sooo new and it takes awhile to just recover from major surgery, for your body to rid itself of all the anesthesia and other meds. It will get better week by week, that icky, metallic, nauseous stuff will fade.

[Joanne]

I couldn't drink plain water until about 6 months out. My surgeon told me many people find it too harsh early on.

For the first few months I lived on Diet Snapple, LifeWater (the zero calorie ones), Zero Vitamin water, things like that. Unsweetened Honest Tea....You have to find what works for you.

I also found chicken broth, beef broth, and warm tea to settle well for me.

[Fluff of Love]

I get to start full liquids this weekend, so that will give me more options. Tomato soup sounds so wonderful.
I don't drink tea, but may try the snapple. Thanks everyone, all this is appreciated.

[susan1219]

I am almost a month post op and I am still fighting to stay hydrated. My taste buds have definitely changed and pre-surgery I mostly drank carbonated fluids and coffee. Now I am drinking Powerade Zero and tea. But my problem is I fill up too quickly and can't drink anymore. I only get down about half of my protein shakes. I only have one kidney so staying hydrated is especially important so I am fixing to start trying other things.

[hoosiermama]

I hate Crystal Light as well (well, they have a new appletini one that I can handle). I use the Great Value brand SF drink mix from Walmart. It doesn't have that horrid aftertaste (especially the grape one).

It will get better hun, just gotta stay hydrated through this.

me

[Joanne]

Feb 3, 2012 7:40:31 GMT -5 susan1219 said:

I am almost a month post op and I am still fighting to stay hydrated. My taste buds have definitely changed and pre-surgery I mostly drank carbonated fluids and coffee. Now I am drinking Powerade Zero and tea. But my problem is I fill up too quickly and can't drink anymore. I only get down about half of my protein shakes. I only have one kidney so staying hydrated is especially important so I am fixing to start trying other things.

Filling up too quickly was a problem for me, too. Try drinking your fluids when your stomach is empty. If you try to put a thin/clear fluid like tea on top of a protein shake, it's just going to sit there and fill you up. Drink the tea first, then the shake and you should do better.

Early out I couldnt finish a whole shake either. I'd make single scoop, or even 1/2 scoop shakes and drink them more frequently.

Dont worry, your stomach is swollen from the surgery, you will start to be able to fit in more, gradually, and soon.

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2012 7:40:31 GMT -5 susan1219 said:

I am almost a month post op and I am still fighting to stay hydrated. My taste buds have definitely changed and pre-surgery I mostly drank carbonated fluids and coffee. Now I am drinking Powerade Zero and tea. But my problem is I fill up too quickly and can't drink anymore. I only get down about half of my protein shakes. I only have one kidney so staying hydrated is especially important so I am fixing to start trying other things.

you need protein that fits - try Syntrax Nectars - or anything else that tastes good mixed with water so it goes down easy. I also liked Whey Gourmet for "shake" flavors - it also tasted OK with water.

[newsabrina]

It gets better and much easier! I found that I had an easier time getting my water down first thing in the AM. I still drank it slowly, but I was able to get in a lot more in the morning than I could throughout the day.

[Sandra C.]

Warm protein broth- beef and chicken helped my stomach relax so I could drink more, covered fluid and protein requirements at the same time.
Order individual packets on line- Diet Direct, or GHP store Grand Rapids, Mi.

[pandykorn]

I drank sugared drinks first few weeks, i didnt care. If it went down and i could drink a lot of it i did. Anything with splenda gave me horrible stomach pains, so real sugar drinks were easier. I just diluted them.

Then i had a huge tea phase. I made TONS of tea and i used sugar, then i used sugar+stevia. Then i just went to stevia b/c it wasnt giving me the issues splenda was. But finding Stevia sweetened mass market drinks is difficult.

[Fluff of Love]

I just hope I can find a sweetener that doesn't taste horrible. My latest find is truvia, and that was a no-go.

[Gail R]

Try soy milk. I didn't care for it before surgery, but it went down very well during those difficult weeks after surgery. Eventually your tastes will return to normal so do what it takes to stay healthy for now, knowing it isn't forever.

[Fluff of Love]

I just may try that too, Gail. I have some lactaid milk in the fridge that I want to try too. I was lactose intolerant pre op, but was able to tolerate yogurt and cheese just fine. Hoping that if I dont like the different milks that my middle one will finish them off. Id hate to waste them.
Does anyone know if lactaid have a distinct taste? I want to make protein shakes with it but worried it will have an "off" taste.

[reinventingangela]

I went to my local "scratch n dent" store yesterday and since they have a bunch of open boxes of those little drink mixes you add to water (crystal light, g2, etc etc), they sell some of the singles for 10/$1 (mix and match) so I was able to pick all different flavors in case my tastes change after surgery. I just hope I can handle sugar free.

Oh, and that IS one cute baby!!!