Gulping/Chuggin water

Someone posted the question below in blue on the RNY board and to be honest it has been one of my pressing questions but thought it might be too stupid to ask it. There were some interesting responses there and I would love to know the take of post op VSG patients:

 

Sometimes I feel I may be slightly dehydrated and have a dry mouth. If I don't mind the gas pains and want to get some extra liquids in are there any other bad side effects to chugging/gulping? ...sm14

 

I don't think you should gulp liquids whether you've had surgery or not.  Just drink steadily and you'll already be taking in as much as your body can handle...just like before surgery.

Jane

I'll tell you what side effect I get if I chug or gulp water.... I get a sharp pain in the middle of my chest (I'm guessing where the esophagus meets the stomach) and have to walk around a little bit to get it to stop.  Two days out of surgery I drank too much water too fast, and ended up throwing it up.  As time goes by it gets much easier, but it's still never a pleasant feeling to gulp or chug liquids!

I've "chugged" water a few times since surgery for the same reason. I was dehydrated that day and just wanted to get my water in. IT. HURT. I honestly don't know why someone would do that to themselves voluntarily more than once. Being a person who cannot easily burp on command, when I drink too much or too fast, I am stuck with discomfort that won't go away until the gas moves on through my sleeve. Honestly, I don't recommend it.

As far as "bad side effects" go, other than the pain, you aren't going to damage anything by gulping water - you'd vomit before damage was done - but I'd think that getting yourself used to the discomfort of stretching your sleeve out would encourage poor eating habits down the line (i.e. becoming accustomed to overeating), which is a pattern that, if we are going to be successful, we HAVE TO AVOID.

Thanks for the constructive feedback. was just curious as water is tough for me now and when I do drink it I tend to go pretty fast. On the RNY board there seem to be quite a few people who can drink water fast and it doesn't bother them and some have pain so I was curious as to the effects with the sleeve. Thanks again

It all depends on how your body responds. I WISH I could drink faster! I have trouble with straigh****er post op. It's strange because I used to LOVE a big glass of water, but now I have to use flavor enhancers to make it more palatable. 

I used to be able to chug 32 oz pre-surgery. At 10 months out, on an empty stomach, sipping steadily as opposed to chugging, I can get 16 oz down usually. Sometimes only 8 -10. Definitely don't take in air with it as I used to, that hurts. I doubt that consuming water which should basically pass through would stretch anything. But, I'm not a doctor and I do not play one on TV;)

I haven't tried "chugging or gulping" water since having surgery, but I can now drink 4-5 swallows of water at a time without pain. I have a little burp after that and a couple of minutes later I can do it again. It just takes some time. I have just slowly been able to drink a little more at a time over the last few months. I remember how hard it was to get in sip after sip of fluids in the beginning and it felt like an all day chore to get in enough liquids. It was probably around 3 months when I could take a real swallow then it's slowly gotten easier to get my fluids in. I didn't like the pain in my chest from drinking too big of a swallow and I learned fast not to do that, just like eating too fast or a little too much. I'm really a quick learner!

Thanks guys. I find that the closer i get to surgery the more questions i have any the simplest thing.

I'm a gulper. Always have been. Since the surgery I bet my water consumption has dropped to half of what it was. I'm now 3 weeks post op and can just in the last several days been able to drink without pain. I'm proudly drinking about 20 ounces over 30 minutes in the mornings and been able to drink consistently throughout the day. I'm still not able to drin**** water. That's my next goal :-)