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I have no desire to eat or drink.

I

I-Did-WHAT

May 2012 was my surgery date for a gastric bypass. My personal reason for having the surgery was a longer life with my husband.

Until this week, I haven't been taking my protein shakes because I couldn't find a way that my tastebuds could tolerate. I've fixed that, thanks to my husband's resourcefulness, with something called Torani "Real Fruit Smoothie Mix." I started a test at the start of the week with raspberry, ice and unflavored protein scoops—and we went back to Cash & Carry today and bought one of each of the six flavors they stock there.

I am not getting all the liquid I need either. I make (caffeine-free) tea. I put an eighth of fruit juice the corresponding amount of water. I try warm broth—beef, chicken, vegetable—with a toss of finely minced green onion for aroma.

Before the surgery, sugar-free alternatives and artificial flavors were okay. After the surgery, nope.

I'm not taking all my vitamins twice each day. I'm not taking the twice-a-day iron I need to take because it makes a scheduling mess with the calcium tablet of the vitamins (gastric bypass requirement on vitamins).

I'm fed up with myself and the amount of time and energy this process is sucking from my life. I'm tired of admonishing myself for not having done the right things during the day.

I dunno. I suppose I'm hoping I'm not the only one with these troubles FIVE months after surgery. Open to anything you've got.
 
Sandra-Unless I'm misunderstanding you, you are having an issue with not liking the taste of things anymore. If this is the case you may have become zinc deficient. Have your nutritionist double check your last blood test results (3 month testing?). You should be due for more blood work at the 6 month mark. Zinc is potentially toxic at high levels so you need to be under the care of a medical professional if you start to take a zinc supplement. You are at a higher risk of deficiency since you aren't taking your vitamins.

I find that setting the alarm on my cell phone helps me take my vitamins and other supplements in a timely manner. I just make sure I carry a days supply with me wherever I go and also a beverage. I don't fully understand the time conflict regarding not being able to take all of your vitamins and other supplements. I take my vitamin D3 and calcium tablets all at the same time, usually in the afternoon. I take 1 dose of multivitamin in the AM and 1 in the PM with a meal or snack. I work in the B50 complex (2 caps) sometime in between.

Don't beat yourself up over not taking your supplements, just set yourself a schedule and follow it. It will soon become a habit and you won't mind doing it as much as you do now. The bonus is that you will feel better :) :) :)
 
I use my cell phone alarm too because I have no feeling of hunger - typical w/the sleeve. My nutritionist told us that if we don't get our protein in the weight loss will slow down substantially as your body will go into starvation and hold on to your fat.
I could not tolerate protein shakes anymore except for Atkins Advantage dark chocolate. Then I became afraid they might make me crave chocolate so I stopped those but was not eating enough to meet my protein intake.
ISOPURE is what makes things work for me. It is liquid protein that is like Koolaid. Fruit punch is my favorite. It has more protein that any shake and counts as liquid too. I get it at dietdirect.com but it is available at many health food stores. My nutritionist w/the hospital program suggested it. Many of had problems w/shakes partly because of the six weeks pre=op when that is all we were allowed.
Skipping vitamins is not an option. You are risking your health, and that longer life you wanted.
Take care of yourself.
 
I appreciate your phone alarm suggestions. I have done that already, but I am inconsistent in keeping liquid available. Pat, I'll certainly check into the zinc levels.

The scheduling trouble is IRON supplements, which you cannot take within 4 hours of Calcium supplements, so when I'm inconsistent, I'm more likely to throw up my hands and "try to do better" the next day. My ferritin levels have always been low but they fell 21 points after the surgery and I'm getting the "IV or shots" promise from my doctor if the iron doesn't come up dramatically. I'm trying!

I'll look into Isopure, too. Thank you.

Yes, kick start me. I know I have to take these things. I know it is undermining the whole point of the surgery. Just keep kick starting me until I do it. I've reminded others to take their vitamins on here and I need the same sometimes. It doesn't feel like self-pity, but perhaps it is. I'll have to think on that. Thank you.
 
How about taking the iron first thing in the day? That way, you can go ahead and take everything but the calcium, taking it four hours later. Anything else you need to take will fit right in wherever you want it to, as the iron will already be out of the way.

I bet it'll work.
 
That would be good, and I do start the day with iron (after thyroid); however, I take iron twice daily, just as the vitamins twice daily. : (
Keep up the suggestions everyone. I'm certainly working on it and doing better today on vitamins than yesterday.
 
Sandra-One more suggestion about your iron supplement. Take it when you start to get ready for bed each night. By then you should have already taken whatever supplements you intended to take that day. Make it a habit of getting those into you at or before dinner time so that you have at least a a 4 hour lapse between the iron and calcium. It won't take long to develop a habit of taking everything but you have to start trying now before you become seriously ill. It took me a while to be able to take everything and once I learned it was doable it wasn't a problem anymore. Just set yourself a schedule and stick to it.
 
Thank you, Pat. You're right. I can take iron at the start and finish of the day and do the vitamins between. I'm not sure why I thought it best to do iron-vit-iron-vit! Thank you again for your help. You're always here with good words.
 
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