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So I feel kinda silly asking this question, but really my doc never talked to me about this much. I have been reading posts and a lot of people are really worried about streching their stomachs out and of course it's crossed my mind, but I'm a little usure about how common it is.
Could someone enlighten me on what it takes to stretch your stomach out and is it possible for it shrink back? Does it happen often and if so, what can be done about it if anything?
you will stretch your stomach if you over eat. By having the sleeve it constricts your stomach to a few ounces. So if you can only have 3 oz but have 12, then you will stretch your stomach, and feel sick! :( bottom line- know how much you can eat
...and can the stomach ever shrink back?
I think to stretch your stomach out you would have to overeat for some time--it wouldn't happen just from one meal. I worried about this and asked my doctor, and he said to quit worrying about it. It took years of overeating for us to stretch it out before surgery. My doctor basically told me to focus my energy on getting well and eating healthy, not on worrying about all the things that could go wrong. :)
If you eat according to the guidelines you won't over-stretch your stomach. My surgeon's practice gave us a binder with all we need to know. It tells us exactly how much we can eat TOPS during each stage. At your stage my doctor says 2-3 oz of pureed food per meal with protein supplemented in between. What does your doctor want you to eat?
Angela....this is what I suspect. So the fear we might have of overeating and stretching the stomach would have to be considerable amounts of food for some period of time. Not one meal or something. I'm coming out of the liquid phase and starting soft foods, but I actually like the liquid stage. It's easy to control with no need to make decisions about food. Moving foward is a change I know I need to make, but I'm definitely a believer it getting enough liquid these days and really don't have any longings for food or food cravings. In fact, I don't think I've felt hungry for these past 3 weeks. It's been great and liberating....food just isn't a focus any more!
Thanks for the reassurance...and I'll talk to my doc again just to educate myself more.
most surgeons take the stomach down to 2, 4 or 6 oz. The part of the stomach that is removed is the "stretchy" part. With in one year the stomach will stabilize @ 9 oz. or approximately just less than 1/4 of it's original size. So your stomach went from approx the size of a cantaloupe to the size & shape of a banana.
Thanks bobbybeegood...Very good to know!
I had my surgey the same day you did. My doctor said that a little stretching is natural. I've started eating some soft foods, scrambled eggs, tuna... I really didn't like eating the baby food meats, they were just too gross going in. They don't taste bad. With some garlic salt, they actually tasted ok. But the texture is yuck. But as I've moved to more solid foods, I've foundI have to be very careful to eat slowly and gauge my fullness. The first time, I ate like I was still eating pudding or soup which move through quickly. Not so much with scrambled eggs. I only ate an ounce and a half of them tops and was MISERABLY full. I learned my lesson. I'm ready for the transition. I feel like a chewing fool, getting the food to applesauce consitency, but I'd rather do that than puree everything. So far, no vomitting. Started losing weight again consistently, feel great, no more meds for borderline diabetes, great blood pressures. I LOVE my sleeve!
Thanks kimfj2....sounds like I'm experiencing the exact same thing you are. I moved on to soft foods yesterday and tried to ate, I didnt' gauge it right. It was not fun and I felt so uncomfortable for at least an hour. I want to go very slowly now. "Applesauce consistency" are the words for the week or so now!
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Originally Posted by kimfj2
War Eagle Kim!!