Too much water?? Feeling hungry but not really eating

[NanaG67]

I feel water logged today...lol....I am on a medicine for a bacterial infection from the recent procedure I had done. It leaves me with a severe dry mouth and all I want to drink is water, water, water...I am eating but just barely, I drink my protein as I can, and usually am too full at any given time except first thing in the morning but cannot manage to drink it later in the day.

If I drink one more sip of water today, I feel like I am going to explode! Any suggestions??? I feel like I need to be drinking to make my mouth feel better, but nothing seems to help.

 

[TwoMas]

Have you tried surgar free popsicles in stead of wtaer? Tom

 

[Pat99]

Nana-Biotene makes a line of products for dry mouth. There's a mouthwash, toothpaste, sugar free gum and a gel. WalMart carries this in their oral care section. I have an issue with dry mouth during the night because of my CPAP and have to use the Biotene products; they do seem to help. I would try the gel first.

 

[NanaG67]

Tom, yes I have tried sugar free popsicles and keep them on hand. Not that they help all that much. Pat, thanks for the tip, I look into this week. I know this is a side effect from my medication, but I only have a few more days of taking them, another side effect is loss of appetite...so I guess that solves why I am having the issues.

 

[Pat99]

Nana-The Biotene products are pricey, even the gum. Any sugar free gum will help with dry mouth. My mouth gets dry from antibiotics and also from some of my maintenance medications so it's a never ending battle. Night time is the worst though since I already have a hard time staying asleep. It may take 2 or 3 days after you stop the antibiotics for the dry mouth to go away. You still need to keep yourself hydrated even if you are feeling water logged. You don't need to end up in the ER for something as preventable as dehydration.

 

[NanaG67]

Thanks Pat. This has been a rough past week. I am dealing with the after effects from my procedure last week. So I have to deal with constipation this week, and I was in horrible pain this morning, my daughter asked me if I needed to go to the ER, but I told her no. I took some Milk of Magnesia and it helped, but now that I am done with that mess, the pain is back. I barely ate anything tonight, a few bites of very tender steak, a spoonful of cheddar broccoli macaroni and a spoonful of steamed broccoli and cheese. Now I am in pain again, took some GAS X strips and the helped for a bit, but now they are not helping.

Is there anything else I can do to help the pain? And why is it this bad?? I have tried to be careful with my food choices and I am hardly eating at all. Please, I could any advice I could get.

 

[Pat99]

NANA-I sometime get bad pains from gas. If I am going to eat a meal with ANY dairy I take a lactase caplet as I start my meal. If after eating I feel any gas building up I immediately take 1 or 2 generic Gas-Ex gel caps. I let the gel cap soften a bit in my mouth then chew it. It's a pleasant minty flavor even though it's not sweet or meant to be chewed. I then take a few small sips of water to get the contents into my pouch. This is what my routine has been for about 3 months. Just recently I found a homeopathic OTC called Charco-Caps at Walmart. I added one capsule to my routine and it seems to help give some extra relief. Swallow, do not chew, the Charco-Cap, it's just finely powdered charcoal with a few other natural ingredients and will be gritty and turn your mouth black if you bite into the capsule.

Constipation will also cause pain and gas, really bad pain at times. It can also cause headaches. I was told by the surgeon to take 1 to 3 Colace stool softeners daily, spaced out with meals. 3 was way too many for me and most of the time 2 works. If I eat fruit or veggies I only need 1 stool softener daily. I buy the generic of Colace. It is EXACTLY the same except the price at Costco is less than 1/6 th of Colace. I have also seen a generic at WalMart. The surgeon told me if I need a laxitive to use ONLY Milk of Magnesia or a generic equivelant. I keep it on hand but have only needed it twice since surgery. I think it works the best if you take it just before bed time.

There are going to be times when nothing helps gas or gas pains except to figure out which foods are causing the problem and avoid eating them. A diet high in protein will cause gas but certain proteins are far worse than others. And those of us who have lactose intolerance have to be extra careful when we make our food choices.

One more thing to consider is gallstones. I can't remember if you had your gallbladder removed. Gallstones frequently occur after rapid weight loss and cause a lot of pain. Your doctor can order tests to determine if you have them so don't be hesitant about asking for help.

 

[NanaG67]

Pat, for the gallbladder, no I still have it. It was my daughter that got hers removed a week before my surgery. I took the generic milk of magnesia and that did the trick as far as the constipation and pain. I have had some shoulder pain, but I had some severe knots around my shoulder blade cause I was lifting trash and my granddaughter...not at the same time though...lol

 

[Pat99]

Nana-Believe it or not soulder pain can be a result of gas that is trapped in your intestines. There is a nerve that runs from the intestines to the shoulders and this is why the pain can travel way up to there. While I was in the hospital my left shoulder hurt unbelievably bad. The milk of magnesia does work but the stool softener will prevent you from having to take the MOM and should also keep you from having the pains you were experiencing. If you can manage to stay "regular" you will probably have less pain and less gas. Using too much MOM can cause you to become dependant on it.

 

[NanaG67]

Pat, I have an old injury to my left shoulder. I injured it back in 89, then again in 99, then again in 2001 and 2002....I had a slight tear in it back in 2010 and have a 6% permanent impairment to this shoulder. So I know the pain I am experiencing is from doing things like lifting my grandchildren, or moving things around that I am not supposed to be moving...but life goes on.

I am on a very modified regular diet now...I can't hardly eat at all, and sometimes I notice when I take my meds, I will start getting sick to my stomach and end up throwing up the water but not the pills...very weird. My blood sugar is still great and now that I am back on all of my blood pressure pills, that is great too.

 

[TwoMas]

Hi Gloria, I am glad to hear your blood surgrs are regulas still maybe your blood pressure will slowly edge down over time, we are all different and just like our weight loss we dont all experience things in the same time frame. Hopefully the nausea goes away the further out you get from surgery, hang in there. Tom

 

[Pat99]

Thanks for clarifying things. Based on your posts regarding gas and other issues I thought you were asking for suggestions.

 

[NanaG67]

Thanks Tom and Pat. I was looking for suggestions. I feel all bloated this morning, but no pain, other than over working my arm and had deep tissue massage to help with the pain. I'm stressed out and taking things one day at a time. I am finding slowly that I can eat a little more, still trying to stick with the soft foods cause my pouch won't take much else, I can just eat more than I was. I still can't hardly do proteins, they don't sit well with me. I bought 2 protein drinks that come in the tubes at Walmart and it was the grossest thing I ever tasted... blah!

So I am just trying to hang in there. The weight loss is going...and I have had lots of compliments about how I look. I am even making changes to my look....had my nails done, bought a few new things and am trying to get into the exercise thing.

 

[Pat99]

NANA-Good job on your weight loss. You might try mixing the tubes of protein into a cold beverage that you like, even just part of a tube to help disguise the taste. Or use part of a tube in place of some water in sugar free Jello. I don't like the protein tubes either but I'm eating almost enough protein now where I don't need to use them anymore YEAAAHHHHH!!!

 

[NanaG67]

Pat, what kind of foods are you eating now and how much protein are you getting daily?? I could use some advice on that