Comments on: Needing advice

By: Tara Cathie

Tara Cathie — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 04:24:20 +0000

I got a different impression from the post than you did, Denise. She
said she was “making herself sick thinking about it” (i.e., thinking
about her worries about eating too much), which led me to believe
that she was throwing up because of her *emotional* state. I didn’t
get the impression that she was doing anything to deliberately induce
vomiting, but that she was so emotionally overwrought that her
emotional state was making her sick. Maybe Laura could clarify this
for us, so we can all be sure we are on the same page about exactly
what is happening. :o)
Either way, though, I think she might need some help from a
therapist. It doesn’t sound healthy to me to be so worried about
eating that you cause yourself to get sick to your stomach. Laura,
one thing you need to know is that you HAVE to consume a reasonable
amount of food in order to lose weight. If your calorie intake drops
below a certain point (sorry, I don’t know the exact number), sooner

or later your body will decide it’s famine time and your metabolism
will shut down and stop you from being able to lose.
Also, please remember that you are a recent WLS patient, and the
amount you are able to eat is TINY. You should NOT be afraid to eat
to the point of what you can comfortably hold. Please follow all the
advice others have given (i.e., eat more slowly and please don’t try
to eat a whole sandwich at a time…I’m 11 months out and still can’t
usually eat a whole sandwich, lol…I usually eat the filling and
*one* piece of the bread at most…and like someone said, bread IN
GENERAL disagrees with a lot of people in the early months, so you
might want to try omitting the bread entirely and see what happens).
Above all, please remind yourself that it is OKAY for you to eat, and
that you NEED to do so. Do this over and over, if that’s what it
takes to convince yourself.
If you still don’t feel better after following all of the above
advice, and if you are unable to convince yourself that it is OKAY to
eat, then I think seeing a therapist might well be a good idea.
Good luck.
Sharon

By: Adeline Babara

Adeline Babara — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 02:50:41 +0000

Leslie,
Since you responded to my post I just wanted to make sure you and everyone
understood I didnot tell her it was probably a mental problem. As a matter of
fact I advised her to get professional help and it is not healthy physically or
mentally. Maybe I should have explained professional help like her surgeon or
other type of doctor depending on if the problem is physical or mental.
I also wanted to make sure she knew there were people like her out there that
can eat a whole sandwich since it seems so far all the responses she got were
from people who can barely eat a half sandwich. She is not alone in her feelings
and what she can eat. I also have the same fears as her as far as eating wrong
or too much. The way some come across here it is like how in the world can you
eat a whole sandwich or you shouldn’t even be eating bread. As I said we are all
different in what we can tolerate and what we can’t, in how we will lose weight
and how much or how little at a time.
At times I have been very intimidated (maybe not the correct word) by how little

people say they eat on here or by how much weight they have lost. There have
been times where I have even wondered if I should stop reading here. This board
and everyone really helped me to prepare for my surgery but then after surgery
and I find out I am so different from everyone else’s success stories I wonder
about myself and my progress.
I know though that I am so very happy that I had this surgery and though I may
not lose as fast as others I am still losing and though I may be able to eat
different and more than others I am still losing and following my doctors advice
as much as possible and he is happy with my progress. Now if I could just make
my head believe that sometimes : ) I am 6 months out and I still can’t eat a
whole sandwich, I can barely eat a half of sandwich. I can’t even handle bread
unless its rye or whole wheat and very toasted.
As for the throwing up, a lot of people have dealt with that—unless she’s
doing it purely to avoid gaining weight, then it isn’t a mental problem, it’s a
pouch and/or eating problem. When I was throwing up all the time and I posted a
question to the list about it, I got tons of responses from other’s who went
through the same thing, so maybe instead of telling this poor woman that she
needs mental help–maybe she should be advised to see her surgeon and a
dietician so she can get a handle on her eating (and eating proper foods) and
see if there is anything wrong with her pouch or stoma. Just my 2 cents.
Leslie:-)Open RNY June 4th, 2002Cleveland Center for Bariatric SurgeryDr.
Sonpal283/170/where ever my body decides to stop

By: Merle Gregoria

Merle Gregoria — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 19:34:01 +0000

My concern with this was the person was making herself vomit because she
feared not losing or gaining weight. That is a bad sign to me. You should
not FORCE yourself to throw up because you are afraid of not losing weight.
It is different if you are throwing up because something doesn’t agree with
you but the original poster mentioned that she was afraid of gaining/not
losing and that through this fear she was making herself throw up. That is
what concerns me.
Denise Rasley
mailto: drasley@…
BTC, Columbus, 10/7/98

By: Kennith Booth

Kennith Booth — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 08:33:08 +0000

I don’t know about that—for months after my surgery I was puking every day
because nothing agreed with my stomach. And the thing is—I’d eat something
that DID agree with me and suddenly I couldn’t handle that anymore, either. I
was puking pretty much everyday, if I didn’t then I was in extreme pain or very,
very uncomfortable. I wasn’t eating too much—I still can’t, at six months
out, eat as much as they say I should be able to. I wasn’t eating too fast,
typically I take from 30 to 45 minutes for a meal, still.
I’m finally to the point where I can eat most things without discomfort now,
although yesterday for some reason everything made me sick. I might have a bug
or something but everything I ate, I threw up—even my spaghetti sauce I’ve
been eating since I had surgery! Who knows, I take things one day at a time, I
try to eat things that are good for me and I chew well and eat slowly and still
occasionally have problems. I’ll bring it up with my surgeon at my 6 month
check-up next week, but really, I’m not too worried about it.
Leslie:-)

Open RNY June 4th, 2002
Cleveland Center for Bariatric Surgery
Dr. Sonpal
283/170/where ever my body decides to stop!

By: Adeline Babara

Adeline Babara — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 02:41:07 +0000

Laura,
I understand your fear of eating too much though I have never thrown up and
hopefully don’t plan to. I had my surgery on Oct. 1 and I feel I eat more than I
should. Yes I can eat a whole sandwich myself. But I cut the crusts off for one.
I was having problems with bread feeling like it was balling up in my stomach so
I said something at my support meeting and the nurse from the doctors office
suggested I cut the crusts off and it really made a difference. I also only eat
wheat bread. Most of my sandwiches are peanut butter and diabetic jelly. I don’t
eat them very often though. Maybe twice a week. I think I got my fear from
reading how little some people on here say they can only eat. I do know when I
have reached my limit though when I am eating. I usually get a stuck feeling way
down in my throat and I say ok that’s enough. I can also eat 2eggs instead of
one. Alot of times it is only one and a half but I do get that stuck feeling at
the end of the second egg. My family though looks at what I eat now and what I
used to eat and they say that I am eating sooooo very little that I need to stop

worrying. If it was only so easy. My weightloss seemed to have slowed
considerably at barely two months out so thus also the fear of not losing
weight.
Someone on here posted the web page for www.fitday.com. I now use that and it
really does show me that I don’t eat alot. I know I shouldn’t even have to use
that because so many on here have said that we aren’t supposed to be stressing
over our diets now because we did that preop too much. But you know alot of
things are easier said than done and until the doctors scale shows that I am not
eating too much I will still probably think I am at times.
Laura, also you really need to stop the throwing up and if you need some
professional help to stop that then please get the help. That definitely is not
a good or healthy thing physically or mentally.
Try to remember that you are different from everyone else on here and that there
are those who lose a lot at a time and those who lose a little though it seems I
only see the ones who have lost big even though there are those on here who
haven’t either. It is just my brain trying to rule me.
You know after reading this over I know I will still go in there and eat my
breakfast wondering if it is too much or not LOL. I still also have a hard time
wondering what to eat because I am a picky eater and always have been. I have
always been a meat and potatoes pasta and bread person. Well I have cut out the
potatoes and cut wayyyy back on the bread. I don’t eat vegetables or beans.
Vegetables only if they are in soup. Thankfully I do like my protein drinks and
am getting used to the taste of protein bars.
Good luck Laura please let us know how you progress and if you want to talk to
me personally please feel free to email me.
Thelma
open rny 10/1/02
2/02 consult 307lbs/surg276.5lbs
276.5/244.5/239

By: Merle Gregoria

Merle Gregoria — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 22:25:38 +0000

For one you need to slow down. That may be what is causing you to burp up
food. You are not eating slow enough. As for making yourself sick, you need
to get over that. You can’t do that. You also might be eating too much at
one sitting which causes you to get sick later. So try eating half a
sandwich (1 piece of bread) with protein on it. and taking twenty minutes.
Throwing up is NOT good. NOt good at all. YOu need to quit doing that. You
probably should also talk to a skilled therapist who works with WLS patients
to help you overcome the fear of not losing/gaining weight. Talk to your
surgeon and see if he/she can suggest someone. Puking every night borders on
bulimia. Builimia is not a good mental state to be in. Please talk to
someone to help you deal with your fears. While we have all been fearful of
either not losing or gaining, very few of us have resorted to puking every
night after surgery. And I don’t think any of us is capable of helping you
past that hurdle.
Denise Rasley

mailto: drasley@…
BTC, Columbus, 10/7/98