Clear Liquid Diet and terrible taste of Nexium - Advice?

Meri224
on 10/12/15 5:49 am - Lexington, KY
VSG on 10/07/15

I got my sleeve last Wednesday (10/7) and I have been experiencing minimal pain (mostly gas pain) however I have already started to become crazy hungry. I need to be on a clear liquid diet until this upcoming weekend and I have a couple questions:

  1. What is SF Jell-O actually fine? I have never considered Jell-O a liquid so I was worried I wasn't understanding that.
  2. How do you get the Nexium down in the morning? I was told I had to open the capsule and then put the granules in water and eat that - which would be fine if it didn't taste god awful. It always results in a 10-minute dry heaving ordeal. It just tastes terrible. Does anyone have any tricks for that?

Thanks VSGers and keep on keeping on!

Billy D.
on 10/12/15 7:51 am

I got my surgery the same day and I too was hungry but I think it was in my head. As of yesterday I have no hunger or desire to eat anything. They consider jello a liquid on my diet but haven't really had much. I was prescribed Nexium but my insurance wouldn't cover it and they switched me to Omeprazole but the pills are identical in size and I have not had any problems swallowing them whole. They even gave me some decent sized pills in the hospital and I had no problem. I guess everybody's surgeon gives them different advice but mine said as long as it wasn't a horse pill that I could just swallow it. I can't imagine breaking some of these pills up as they smell horrible so the taste is probably just as bad. I also take Ursol for gallbladder protection and that capsule is pretty large. Good luck!

mindthump
on 10/12/15 8:18 am, edited 10/12/15 1:19 am
VSG on 09/14/15

My surgeon told me the coating on the generic omeprizole (Costco!!) was too tough for my pouch to dissolve effectively so I needed to crush them. Even crushing those pills leaves the "skin" almost intact. He told me I couldn't swallow pills whole until 2 months. (See my post below for how I get the meds down.)

mindthump
on 10/12/15 8:13 am
VSG on 09/14/15
mindthump
on 10/12/15 8:22 am
VSG on 09/14/15
mindthump
on 10/12/15 8:24 am
VSG on 09/14/15

I'm still in the crushing/opening meds phase as well. I have found an answer that works for me (YMMV):

  1. Go to the grocery store and get those little squirt bottles of flavoring for water, sometimes called "water enhancers". I personally have the "Mio" brand Fruit Punch and "Crush" Grape flavors.
  2. I put 3-4 ounces of water in a small cup, add the powdered meds and a squirt of flavoring then I stir the heck out of it. I got a small battery powered drink-stirring gadget on Amazon to help get it all well mixed.
  3. Then, I drink it in a couple of quick shots with a separate cup of water as a chaser. A lot of the meds sink to the bottom, so drink it all! I sometimes pour a little water into the meds cup, swirl it around, and drink that too to make sure I get it all.

The flavoring is very strong since it is normally intended for 16 ounces, but to me it's like taking some of the heavily flavored liquid meds.

And yeah, the "Jello as liquids" surprised me too, but just go with it :) I think it's because the gelatin dissolves so fast; still, take small bites. I found it a nice break from the other foods, and they have very few calories and zero (or almost zero) carbs and fats.

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