How did it feel to sip that first ounce of water after surgery? For some of you, it was fine. For others, it may have felt like you were being tortured. Plain water can feel heavy in your stomach pouch.
If you aren’t tolerating water after surgery, that’s called water nausea. It’s not really clear why this happens. Dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, the difference in acidity in the stomach or part of the surgery process have been suggested as reasons why plain water isn’t tolerated.
Why is water important? Water plays many important roles within the body:
- Water helps carry nutrients around
- Helps eliminate waste products produced in our bodies
- Fills the spaces inside and between cells
- Acts as a lubricant around joints
- Plays an important role in many chemical reactions
- Makes up most of the blood volume
- Acts as a solvent for a variety of things like minerals, water-soluble vitamins, amino acids, glucose and many other molecules
- Acts as a shock absorber for the inside of eyes, spinal cord, and the amniotic sac in pregnancy
- And helps regulate temperature
What are the symptoms of dehydration? Symptoms include headaches, tension, feeling hungry, fatigue, sleepiness, anxiety, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, difficulty concentrating, confusion, memory issues, lower energy and muscle cramps. Being as little as one percent dehydrated can impair cognitive function.
How can you increase your fluids?
- Put flavor in your water. Use flavored water enhancers or try infused water. Avoid water enhancers with caffeine. Find a water enhancer with five calories or less per serving. Sometimes the water enhancers can be very sweet after surgery. Put in just enough to make it a level of sweetness you can tolerate. You can also use infused waters. A splash of pulp-free lemon or lime juice may help.
- Sip on electrolyte drinks that are low sugar (less than eight grams of sugar per eight ounces) or no sugar. You can also dilute an electrolyte drink that is higher in sugar to lower the sugar amount that you will drink.
- Sip very small amounts of water. Try using an eighth to a fourth a teaspoon for your sip volume. Wait for 30 to 60 seconds between sips. Sometimes sipping too much water too quickly is the nausea culprit.
- Try a variety of temperatures. Really hot or icy cold temperatures usually don’t work right after surgery.
- Count in broth, sugar-free gelatin and sugar-free popsicles in your fluid count.
How much water do I need?
The starting point is 64 ounces. Your dietitian worked out a fluid goal for you during your very first meeting. Monitor the color of your urine. Keep the color clear or pale yellow. Golden yellow signals you are dehydrated. During the first couple of weeks after surgery, our recommendation is to get in at least 48 ounces of water-based fluids per day. This will keep you out of the dehydration range.
What is your fluid goal?
If you can’t remember look through the paperwork provided by your dietitian. You can always email or call your dietitian to confirm your fluid goal.
May you have successful sipping after surgery!