Foxbins

Yes there are people for whom this surgery does not work or is not fully effective. The percentage is small, and there is usually an initial weight loss of twenty or thirty pounds but despite doing everything right, further weight loss does not occur. These people need the addition of a malabsorption component to make a greater change in their metabolisms. However, if you get a sleeve and cannot lose weight despite adhering to all the rules, a biliopancreatic diversion (or DS, duodenal switch) can be done. I don't know of anyone who hasn't lost after a DS, but it is a much more drastic surgery and malnutrition is a real risk.

Hi, BKMama- I'm a psychologist so I'll chime in here with my recommendation--find a general therapist with at least 10 years of experience. In that time, they will have treated people with food issues as well as other issues and will be well-equipped to handle whatever comes up in your sessions with them. BTW, pick someone you like and respect and who you can sense likes and respects you. The relationship between you has to work for therapy to work.

Sleeve all the way. Too many complications and generally poor results with plication as it's being performed now. Maybe in a few years it will improve like the sleeve did. If you don't want to wait, get a sleeve, I love, love, love mine.

I'm 19 months post-op, hit my health goal of a normal BMI at 160, hit my personal goal of lowest adult weight at 150, and achieved my dream goal of 140. I have maintained between 136 and 138 since January. I started at 232 and have lost 96 lbs.

I'm sorry you are not feeling well. I'd like to help, but I don't understand your surgery. Could you please describe what a sleeve fundoplication is? I know what the surgeries entail separately but I did not know they could be performed together and I'd like to know what was done. Thanks!

Doctors don't publish their complication rates, but a good one will tell you about the complications they have managed. For the bad guys, you can check for malpractice suits and complaints on your physician's state license board website.

The thing about plication is that your hunger hormone, ghrelin, doesn't go away. Not everyone that has a VSG loses their hunger, but many do, and most ot the remainder say that hunger is very much lessened. A plication is a restrictive surgery which has not been proven to be better than a VSG and it doesn't address your biggest probelm. Why not have a VSG? I was 56 when I had my surgery, and weighed 232. There is a plication forum at SleevePlicationTalk.com and I encourage you to check in there about people's experiences with it.

I'm in maintenance and I weigh myself every day. Ignoring the scale is one of the reasons I got so fat. Now I can adjust my eating if the scale is up a pound or two before the gain turns into ten or twenty.

I am so sorry you are struggling. Unfortunately, restrictive surgeries like the band and sleeve sometimes do not work as effectively with some people's metabolisms and they would do better with a bypass or DS, but since it sounds like you don't have the money to revise, let's try to make the sleeve work for you. First of all, you must log your calories, protein, carbs, and water. Seeing what you are eating and how it affects your weight is crucial. Second, you must make good food choices. You will never lose weight eating and drinking crap. Third, weigh yourself every day. If you are not losing an average of 2 lbs/week, you are eating too much. Fourth, measure your food, and eat no more than .75 cup at a time. You must stop vomiting and that means eating slowly--put down your fork and chew, chew, chew. Stop eating if you feel full, after 20 minutes, or when the food is gone, whatever comes first. Do not drink for an hour afterwards. You need to eat planned snacks so that you don't stuff yourself at dinner. I would faint if all I had to go on was a protein shake until a protein bar at lunch. You also must walk and lift weights to try and build muscle mass to increase your metabolism. You don't say how tall you are or how much you weigh now, but I promise if you go back to basics you can lose more. You can do this! Start now by empying your cupboards of all the slider food and sugar. We are here for you.

Congratulations! I was 55 when I had my surgery. I hope you have an easy recovery like I did, alhough the first couple of weeks I walked bent over like I was looking for something on the ground, but pretty soon I was fine.

What a great job! Congratulations!

Top weight 250, surgery weight 232, goal weight 140, current weight 137. I'm 5'8".

Now that I am thin and leaving the house more than I used to, I'm trying to update my wardrobe. The clothes part is going okay but I decided I wanted a pair of ankle boots to wear with jeans instead of my trainers or loafers. I have tried on ten or twelve pairs and all of them make my legs look like saplings growing out of a bucket. Am I trying on the wrong styles? Do I want a bootie instead (they all seem to have spiky heels which frighten me with their height). I don't want UGGs or western but something stylish with not too high a heel that kind of hugs the ankle but is loose enough to stuff in leggings or jeans. I am 57, 5'8" and weigh 137. I wear size 6 clothes but I have size 10 feet. I have come to depend on the stylish folks on this forum to help me make these puzzling decisions. Do you have any advice?

I deal with head hunger like this: If it's a trigger food for me, I don't keep it in the house. I can have loads of chocolate and cake laying around and I won't overeat it, but I can demolish a box of Triscuits in a day. For other types of head hunger (and you can always tell, can't you, I never crave a Protein shake or cucumber slices) I first have something to drink. Sometimes the liquid fills me up and I'm fine. If that doesn't work, I go for a fast walk outisde Sometimes just five minutes is enough to give myself a good talking-to and breathe deeply and muster my resources. Maybe do a few stretches and toe-touches. If walking doesn't help, I try to distract myself with TV or reading, or, best of all, embroidery or knitting or doing something with my hands. It's hard to eat if your hands are full of something else. After I have done all those things, if I am still craving whatever it is, and it's in the house, it's usually time to eat a regular meal again. I eat protein first, then have the head-hunger treat. The protein fills me up so I can't eat much of whatever else I crave. Hope this helps someone else.

I don't know what my capacity is for most foods. I stopped eating to "fullness" at about month 3; I set my portion size for dense protein at 2.5-3.0 ounces and for fish and seafood at 3.5 oz. As others have mentioned, capacity can vary from day to day. Some days I can eat a chicken drumstick, other days one or two bites and I'm done. Of course, I can eat loads of crap like chips and cookies that chew to nothing and slide right through. I've never eaten enough of them that I was full, thank goodness. It's probably a whole bagful.

Yup, tracking. As you lose weight, the calories you need for basic metabolism decrease so you need to eat less if you are at a plateau. After you reach your goal weight, you can add them back slowly so that your weight is stable.

You shouldn't have heartburn. If your surgeon didn't put you on a PPI, I suggest you go to the drugstore and buy some omeprazole (Prilosec). It may take a day or so to work but after it does you won't have heartburn anymore. You could take Pepcid now but it doesn't work as long as a PPI.

My ferritin was 7 at my six-month labs because I resumed giving blood after surgery. My doc said I can't eat enough to replace the iron from food, so I can only give blood twice a year and have to take a supplement. I took carbonyl iron (tender iron) for a while as it's gentler on my stomach but my ferritin only went to 22 after being on it six months. I switched to Bifera which is part heme iron and better absorbed than carbonyl or gluconate and I hope my next labs are better. I feel better than I did when it was at 7 for sure. If the Bifera doesn't raise the level enough, I'll switch to Proferrin, which is all heme iron. Taking iron with vitamin C helps absorption, too.

Low-sodium V-8 juice has the most potassium of any drink/food I've found. It made my muscle cramps go away when I had low potassium.

Mine was traditional. I think most world-wide are traditional, I have only seen spider from a few places and none in Mexico so far.

Every 7-11, QuikStop, supermarket and bodega has some kind of protein drink if you don't want to go to the trouble of making your own with the powder and all. Lots of times when I travel I just buy three and don't worry about food, pureed or otherwise, at all. It's so much easier (and cheaper) that worrying about what to order in restaurants.

I have hypothyroidism and my hair fell out a lot before my hormone dosage was corrected after a couple years ( I had a non-responsive PCP back then). So my hair was really thin. Then I had a VSG and at month three, more hair fell out until month 9. The crown of my head was really thin and my part was pretty wide, but it all starting growing back and now I'm 19 months post-op and it's growing well. It will take a few years to get it as thick as it was before all this, but it doesn't look thin now and there is new hair at the crown.

No, they don't taste like coconut to me but they are way too sweet. I pour them over ice and add skim milk to cut the sweetness. Quest protein bars taste like coconut to me no matter what flavor they are supposed to be.

Try cutting up a maxi-pad. The pad absorbs the moisture and padded where the bra band was rubbing.

I'd do it again in a second. Look at my ticker!