Changes in amount of food you can eat post surgery

[djkinkead]

Okay, it's been five weeks post surgery and I know the pain meds and my once a day med for spasms is suppose to affect my appetite, and they did in the hospital (especially when I was on the Oxycudone (sp?), but not so much with the Hydrocodon-Acetaminophen.

I do get hungry on a regular basis, but I can only eat very limited amount of food at one sitting. I'd say I can eat about 1.5 cups of food total. If I slowly, I realize when my stomach is feeling "full" and I stop eating and I feel fine....of course, then I am hungry in two to three hours again, so I am constantly eating about 6 mini meals a day.

Once I just ate quickly, not waiting for my "stomach" to register "fullness" and I was miserable for a while.

Do you think that my stomach just got so shrunk from barely eating in the hospital that 1.5 cups does it or if maybe my stomach changed from more room?

Just pondering. Probably worth a call to the surgeon's office...

Wondering if anyone else post-surgery had these kind of eating habits.

Thanks!

[Elisa]

Maybe it's different for teens b/c shortly after my son's surgery he was famished. The problem we had, was that we stayed for so long in the hospital that he got tired of the food, even the different things I brought in. When we got home five months ago, he has NOT stopped eating and seems slightly obsessed with food. Must be a teenage boy thing. I think he needs a job to help out with the grocery bills!

In your case, eating smaller meals more often seems like a good plan. Actually, I've read that all of us should eat smaller amounts throughout the day as opposed to three large meals.

Edit: Just got Elias to step on the scales and he is now 123lbs. He's gained 13lbs. in 5 months.

[sarahcant]

me too!

Im almost 7 months post op and I feel like I had a gastric bypass! I actually went to a gastro guy and he gave me a cat scan and nothing was wrong. The surgeon told me that in order to get a natural curve he had to push my organs forward and that might have done it. I have since gone off gluten and dairy and that helps with the bloating but I def get sick if I over eat or eat the wrong things. Its sure been a forced weight loss program!

[djkinkead]

Thanks!

Thanks for relaying your experience, Sarahcant!

My husband has been mentioning how I have nicer curves now--and the fact that you mentioned how your surgeon had to push your organs forward to get a more natural curve has a definate familiar ring to it.

Otherwise my digestive track is fine--it's just that I can't eat a lot at any time...well, maybe I'll stick close to my 120 lbs...it's becoming more habit like knowing the amount of food I can eat and feel comfortable. I end up only using the smaller plates from our dinner set for my meals.

Yep, surgeon fixed my back and helped me find a way to control my eating. What a deal! :-)

[leahdragonfly]

I definitely had this same situation for months after my surgery. I slowly recovered my natural appetite (and slowly gained back the 13 lbs I lost after surgery).

Take care,

[Marina63]

Eating after surgery

I lost about 9 pounds in the weeks after my surgery. I found it difficult to eat fast at first. Breakfast might take an hour. I was alarmed at the weight loss but when I talked to my surgeon about it, he wasn't concerned. I have since gained four of those pounds back and would love to stay where I am.

Until I started working, I would have days when I would want to eat a lot and days when I had to force myself to eat. I've been working for 7 weeks now and it has been the best thing for my recovery.

[Singer]

Yes, this happened to me as well....feeling full very quickly into a meal. I felt great eating several mini-meals a day for a couple of years but now I'm back to my old pre-surgical appetite, eating anything that's not nailed down, haha.