Struggling To Eat

Posted , 6 users are following.

Since having my gallbladder removed 4 months ago

I'm really struggling to eat. There are so many foods I can't eat

due to IBS and Diverticulitis. I'm only managing very small amounts , e.g. a small pack of low fat crisps , a banana, small

slice of toast or a small amount of sweet potato. I can only eat

one of the mentioned foods at a time as I become bloated and

get rib pains , flatulence, acidity . My GP doesn't think I need to

see anyone about it , I've asked 3 times. Meanwhile the weight

is dropping off me and I feel so exhausted through lack of nourishment. Anyone suffering the same ?Any advice please.

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Posted

    Linda yes similar here.

    im 6 months out now and I’m useing vega plant based protein and I make in a smoothie each day just to try and get protein and nutrition in me seems to calm my gut also , give it a try xx

    • Posted

      From what I've read I couldn't tolerate it due to my IBS .

      Thanks for the idea though .

    • Posted

      Linda

      ive had terrible ibs for 38 years that’s the whole point of the vega it’s designed for vegans and all totally plant based I also throw a handful of chia seeds in my smoothie and a couple of spoons of organic wheatgrass powder and I find it really settles my gut !!!!

      its worth a try ?

  • Posted

    before removing GB were you able to eat those foods with out any problem? 
    • Posted

      Hi , yes I could eat much more of the mentioned foods .

      My taste in food has changed too since removal , I now feel sick

      at the thought of some foods I used to like .

  • Posted

    Hi Linda! You are not alone! I've been working on getting creative with foods and it's a hit and miss for the most part. I'm one month post op and sweet potatoes are my friends too. I've made stuffed mushrooms with a tsp of bread crumbs, real crab, frozen onions, pimentos, etc. Roast them a bit and they're tasty. I also found a flatbread called Flatouts/Flipits. The pizza one I have been eating quite a bit and has one gram of fat. Picture one large glorified saltine. But, I put fresh spinach, seedless tomatoes, feta, mushrooms and a little fat free mozz on them and bake. I lightly splash fat free dressing when it's done for flavor. Their very versatile. I also freeze bananas and make a smoothie adding a little bit of cocoa. Another idea I had was in buying broccoli/cole slaw mix and making stir frys with a bit of soy. I've added small shrimp or baked chicken and have been ok with it. If you burn it in the pan a bit it adds flavor. I've been using a bit of soy. After not eating so long, that was heaven. My other solace is baby spinach in a salad. I bought the bottled bacon bits (1.5 fat/tablespoon) and add mushrooms, boiled egg whites, dried cranberries and whatever else I can find. I've watered down the light or low fat ranch dressing and tried that yesterday without much of a problem. For me, those are a few things I found that don't bother me but they're getting old and are not very filling. Since the surgery I chew everything fairly well and take my time. No more gulping down anything. I miss gulping. Ensure in the liquid form got me through the surgical date wait, but I was still completely drained. I completely know what you're going through in having a lack of energy. When I tried the stir fry, I was awake for two days and full of energy! I've lost 40 pounds through all this and am trying to find a balance between fats and low carbs to not put it back on.But, I haven't cared much once I found something that didn't put me in bed or bathroom with pain. I do hope this helps and that you feel better each day. If anyone else has low fat recipe ideas, I'm listening! God bless you dear. 

    • Posted

      Hi Sparkly & Linda,  I am 6mos out and would like to choke everyone that told me the surgery was “a walk in the park!”  It was more like a walk through hell. For the first 8 weeks I lived on graham crackers. They are filling and no fat. Then I progressed to fat free jello with fruit or any kind of pudding made with skim milk. I had sandwiches with low fat mayo, roasted turkey, any kind of white cheese thinly sliced and whole grain breads. I tried to eat 6 meals a day! Small ones. The diarrhea has slowly subsided, but the cramping and the horrific gas is still here. My internist gave me a prescription for Lomotil that I take as soon as the bad gas, lower stomach cramping and the bubbling starts and I seem to have a lesser bout of diarrhea and only one time instead of six to eight times a day. I have had roasted or baked white meat chicken skin removed, roasted red skin potatoes cut into quarters, sprayed with olive oil, salt and lemon pepper or some other spice. You can try pasta but I couldn’t tolerate pasta sauce so I used tomato soup with basil and mushrooms. Sounds crazy but if you sprinkle some cheese on it, it’s not to bad. I was shocked to discover I could eat a salad as long as it was baby spinach, shredded carrots,very thinly sliced cucumbers, cheese, roasted chicken or even roasted pork tenderloin which was left over from the night before. No beef as it is extremely hard on your gut and digestion is a problem. Do you like bananas and a low fat peanut butter or green apples with peanut butter?  Fruit really won’t bother youth tummy for some reason. Baked potatoes or sweet potatoes settle easy. I use butter made with canola oil and fat free sour cream on the baked potato and same butter on sweet potato and I mix up cinnamon sugar and put that on the sweet potato. I haven’t had any problem as long as I use butter with canola oil on toast, rolls or veggies I roast in the oven. Be creative with spices as your going to get tired of BLAND!!  Forgot you can crush up regular or chocolate graham crackers with a little melted butter and mak a pie crust and use fat free/sugar free pudding and have yourself a pie with fat free whipped cream. Hope this gives you some ideas of some new things to eat. Like I said before everything will be ok fore a few days then I still have a couple of days BAD TUMMY. Also I take B12 sublingual so it is devolved before it hits stomach and all other vitamins are gummies. Don’t worry to much about carbs as you need the energy. I, too, lost almost 40 lbs and Dr wants me to gain at least 20 back. I did explain to him you can never to rich or to thin!  LOL. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. Keep me posted on how you both are doing. 

  • Posted

    Hi there  I have a gall,stone trapped in my bile duct it's been since last year I have suffered pain and after recently been in hospital twice and had very high LFT's it took the 6th doctor to mention it might be gall stone ! she sad I didn't look like the typical women I said what's the typical women sh said over weight ! I have IBS and diverticuler also not good is it .Now I have gall bladder trouble and ive eaten a very good organic lean meat diet for years ! due to my husband's cancer I changed they way we eat to low fat even got organic milk .Anyway I have read so many horror story's on here and now I am dreading having the stone removed and more so having my gall bladder out .I am also very slim and cannot afford to lose any weight Hope your feeling a little better soon 💐🙏

    • Posted

      Barbara

      hi.

      from my research over the last 3 years I think it was probably the low fat diet that caused your initial problem !!

      see the body needs fat for it to run smoothly from what I’ve learnt and if it’s not getting fat the bile inside the gallbladder has no work to do and sits their and turns into stones !

      see the trouble is ,us that the medical world don’t really know what their doing , from one min to the next and all the  information is extremely conflicting!

      eat low fat , is better for you , then ,don’t eat eat low fat it full of sugar and your body needs it’s essential fats etc etc .

      worst thing I ever done was start listening to these so called doctors, their a joke in my opinion.

      the only ones worth their weight in my opinion are the actual surgeons.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.