mednar

Hey travel, I think I'm probably somewhere in between in all this. I'm only a little over 8 weeks out from plication, but I try to avoid artificial sweetener when I can. I can say that I really appreciate the taste of fresh seasonal fruit without added junk (natural sugar or artificial sweetener now). There are a few things I can't stand to eat without added sweetness though (plain Greek yogurt being one). I use a pack of Splenda added to that instead of honey, though I do prefer honey. I've been really trying to watch my carbs again after getting a bit lax with them, and that helps me keep that down. Lately I've been missing soda a lot, mostly the caffeine hit since going back to work, but I also love a cold drink with some ice in it. I have to admit that I've had a couple of occasions where I've broken down and had a small diet coke. It hasn't hurt my stomach, and I've really enjoyed it. As far as it affecting me, given our modern life with so many random exposures to chemicals in our homes from detergents, fabric softeners, herbicides and pesticides on produce, hormones in meat and dairy, trace hormones and medications in drinking Water, etc., I'm not going to deny myself a soda or stress out over carbs in a yogurt. If it helps me on this particular journey, then I can live with the risk. My overall pattern of losing weight hasn't stopped, but I can't explain some of the ups and downs. As far as Stevia goes, I had it in something the other day (blanking on what it was now), and didn't realize it until later. I'd had it once before and thought it was foul, then didn't notice it this time. Maybe use natural sweeteners sparingly for a bit then try reintroducing a preferred artificial sweetener or sugar substitute if you previously had one to see if you can tolerate the taste. If not, then I'd say use the natural ones when you really need them on something and avoid them otherwise if you can.

I think I had similar symptoms after drinking something with a lot of sugar in it after not having something like that for 4-6 weeks after surgery, but I don't think that qualifies as dumping syndrome as I understood it. I drank a beverage from Starbucks that had a lot of sugar in it, then about 15-30 min later felt cold, sweaty, my heartbeat increased rapidly, and generally felt like I might be sick. I actually never became vomited or had diarrhea though. It soon passed, and I assumed it was because I ate a lot of sugar after not having any for a prolonged period and it was my body saying "what have you done?" I hope you're feeling better.

I appreciate that all the people on this board post their experiences. I found this when I was considering plication, read their stories (good, bad, and otherwise). That people who had a procedure that was still considered experimental by most and would post their ups and downs along their journey made me feel more at ease. As far as being different, or having different eating habits from others, that wasn't a concern for me. I've always had different eating habits. It's just that in the past I was more likely to appear to eat normally in public and then overindulge in private at home. That idea that I can't easily do either with plication was an advantage. I never felt like this was a gimmick. The idea that you physically restrict food intake plus exercise a moderate amount is a physiologically sound way to reduce weight. I've just never been able to be successful at doing both at the same time for a consistent period of time. I needed some type of tool to help me reduce my calorie consumption. It seemed very similar to the sleeve gastrectomy, but without the removal of stomach tissue. I was worried about complications. It was why I was researched my options for someone within the US, and fortunately in the same city where I live. I investigated procedures two years ago and both had disadvantages that were greater than advantages for me. The surgeon I used also had complication insurance (Bliss I think) that offered financial insurance for common complications after surgery. Since I was self-pay, I knew that my regular health insurance would leave me in the dark if there were complications. I attended two seminars held by the physician that had patients who had procedures (not the plication though) where we could ask questions of the patient. After meeting my doctor and questing him twice, I felt comfortable making the decision to go ahead. A large part of that was just that I felt it was the "right time" and "right procedure" for me. Other than brief pain after surgery while recovering from anesthesia, there was almost no pain afterwards. There was "weird" feelings in my stomach for a couple of weeks when I tried to lay on my side or stomach, but that's passed. I looked on the web, looked through many, many pages of Google links to different searches (gastric sleeve plication, gastric plication, gastric imbrication, etc). There were not a lot of published results (in peer reviewed medical journals) to rely on. I do still have lingering questions that aren't answered. I wonder what the life expectancy for these stitches in my stomach are. The sutures used are supposed to be "durable". No one I've asked has answers for how long "durable" is. Also, we learn more every year about the role that hormone interactions play in influencing hunger (ghrelin/leptin interaction, etc). There's so much we don't know, it could turn out that these surgeries are great at reducing weight, or that they might just be a temporary stopgap. As more and more long term results are compiled, hopefully the options for people become easier. For me, at this point in my life, I wanted to make a decision, and plication was the best choice for me. That was really long winded. I hope that you research the options available to you and make the decision that is best for you.

Hey Grandma. Glad to hear you're doing well. The whole not drinking with meals has been difficult for me also. It helped me to read the VSG boards and to realize that not drinking during meals can also mean "not more than 1/2 cup of water", depending on which physician or nutritionist you talk with. I've slowly allowed myself to sip Water (rather than gulp it while eating like I used to do). I try to keep that to a quarter cup or less, but the need to occasionally sip isn't something that I've been able to completely give up. That helps while eating. I do stick with not drinking afterwards for an hour. It often hurts if I don't, and I've made myself sick a time or two when I ignored what my body was telling me. Also, I tend to get hungry again sooner if I don't wait the full hour. I hope you're visit with the Dr. goes well.

I went to visit my sister this past week. Exercised somewhat regularly (bit less than normal), but felt like I also ate badly. She didn't have a scale at her house. It was weird not knowing what was happening to the numbers. Got home and was down about 3 lbs. Which makes no sense at all to me, but not complaining. After today's weigh-in, I officially get to join this club.

There are definitely more people who read these forums than post. As I write this message, there are 4700+ registered users. There were 47 guests and only 4 registered users viewing it at the moment. That makes me believe there are lots of people who are reading it, but aren't actively posting. I would suggest to you that you also read the forums over at the VSG board and the lap band board. If you spend the time reading enough posts you can see for yourself if the advantages and disadvantages for the plication make it more attractive than the other procedures. I personally researched the band and VSG two years ago and wasn't satisfied with the tradeoffs of each surgery. The plication satisfied my concerns. You can read the individual posts on the board here and get a sense of what people have experienced. Personally, I had mine done a little over two months ago. I've lost nearly 40 lbs. It's involved changing much of my life (diet and greatly increased exercise). There have been days where it's been easy, and there have been days where the mental struggle to break 36 years of terrible eating habits has been hard. The weight hasn't come off in a perfect line toward my goal weight, but the overall trend has been one of weight loss. There are no guarantees for any of the procedures. Research your options and make the decision that you feel best about if you elect to have surgery. I wish you luck in your journey.

I don't crave sweets much. My problem is generally salty/crunchy/fatty foods. I haven't made any of the high protein/low carb ice creams, donuts or cakes on the world according to eggface, but the pictures sure do look like something that would satisfy a craving for something sweet. I know I posted about her before, but apparently people love this stuff. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2010/02/protein-ice-cream-101.html I often mix splenda in with greek yogurt and some fresh fruit if I want something sweet, which is generally Breakfast for me. I've tried it with some of the sugar free jam you can buy too. Both those are pretty good.

In my babbling, I forgot to ask if there are certain foods that set off those cravings? Is there something that you like that you could substitute for those that align more with the eating requirements that you know work for you?

I use the Walmart brand of dual action acid reducer. It's the store brand of Pepcid Complete. It has Active Ingredient (In Each Chewable Tablet): Famotidine 10 Mg-Acid Reducer, Calcium Carbonate 800 Mg- Antacid, Magnesium Hydroxide 165 Mg- Antacid. They work pretty well for me.

The last week has been tough for me as well. I hit my lowest weight last Monday, and since then, all I've wanted to do was eat carbs and I've been craving soda like nobody's business. I've been less diligent about exercising each day, and I've not been consistently tracking my food intake. I've gained a couple of pounds back . As a teacher, having the summer off to focus on eating right and exercising was great, but I've returned to work now. It's harder to make the effort to prepare food at home, especially during the evenings when I'm tempted to pick up something bad from a restaurant. I didn't have cravings much either until recently. I think it started when I at a BBQ join with family and there was grilled Texas toast served with the meal. I should have given it to someone immediately. I ended up eating the whole thing. As far as controlling the cravings, I think I just need to eliminate what little temptation I have around and resist the urge to stop at the drive through on the way home. I think I probably need to have two or three meal prep nights a week at home so I have Protein ready to eat. I'm bad about being hungry and only having frozen protein. The idea of waiting for chicken to thaw when I'm hungry often leads to a bad decision for me. That seems to trigger the junk food cravings, especially since I have a handful of fast food places within minutes of my home. I also need to enter my food intake soon after each meal. If I do that, I do a much better job of making decisions because the calories, protein, carbs, etc are right there and I can adjust my next meal based on what I have left for the day. I was doing well, but then started letting little things go, which snowballed into a bigger problem. I think there are just going to be times when this is harder than others. We can't beat ourselves up when we make bad choices, but we also have to remember that we made a significant (and expensive) decision to change our lives. The only thing we can do is move on and refocus on why we had the plication to begin with. I think part of my frustration is that I also feel like this should be happening faster and that it should somehow be easier. The reality that this is a longer term goal and doesn't work exactly like I want it to is also settling in with me now. I'm not entirely happy that it's not happening on my terms. I acknowledged that going into this, but living it day-to-day, meal-to-meal, requires real mental work and dedication. Changing mental habits has to be the hardest thing I've ever tried to do. Even when you think you're doing well, the old issues I've had resurface easily for me at this point. Remind yourself of the weight you've already lost. You've stuck with this through the stalls you wrote about before. Keep at it. You've been frustrated before and moved through it. I hope something there is of help. I wrote most of it to talk through my own issues, as well as reply. All the best.

One of the tests I had to have before my plication was to do a GI series where they x-ray you while you drink the barium solution. I wonder if you could have one of those done to at least visualize what's happening with your stomach? I'm not sure that would work, but something like that might give you more information. You could then present that to the surgery center and see what they say. It definitely sounds like something isn't quite right (at least compared to my experience). Have you had anything looked at since? I had to make sure that I used reflux as an excuse for the test since my insurance won't pay squat if it's related to bariatric surgery.

I'm wondering if you guys find that your scale fluctuates up and down pretty consistently, and if so what's the typical amount for you? In the last few weeks, it seems that I'll randomly hit a low weight point, then have the scale bounce up from anywhere to 2-6 pounds in the next couple of days. Considering how hot and humid it is now in the South, my brain tells me that it's to be expected with the amount of Water I'm drinking, how much I'm exercising, and my salt intake for that day. However, it's still frustrating. Part of my problem I think is that I weigh every day and there seems to be no logical connection between my diet and activity and the numbers on the scale. I do take comfort in knowing that my "low" number is still consistently going down and that I can see and feel changes in how my clothing fits, but the upswings are driving me crazy. What's been your experience?

Congrats. Keep losing!

Surgery - $9600 Pre-surgery consultation fee - $250 Bariatric Advantage Protein shake powders - $100 Pre-surgical testing (bloodwork) - $366 Total - $10,316 I did not have money saved, but did have my car paid for. I used it as collateral at the local credit union to obtain a loan. Going that route got me a great interest rate.

I was reading posts over on the VSG forums and came across http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ Under the links and resources, there are some recipes that looked good, particularly the "BITES" section. I've always had a hard time eating a nutritional Breakfast. Mostly because I never get up in time to make something before heading to work. The idea of using a muffin pan to make scrambled egg "muffins" seemed like something I could accomplish on the weekend and have ready for the week without too much hassle. There's all sorts of stuff that looks good on there. Just thought I'd share. I'm almost two months out, and I've about reached my limit with just plain dairy Protein (string cheese, plain cottage cheese, plain greek yogurt), etc. I've been eating a lot of that since surgery and have been trying to find ways to fix things that are simple but different.

I hope everything goes well on Monday. Dr. Ponce was also my doctor for my plication in Dalton. Let us know how you're doing.

Yeah. I only began reading posts on here around the time I had my surgery and remember your frustrations with stalls. They kinda made me wonder if I had made the right decision. But they also gave me a reality check about what to expect, and I was really glad to see you break through and start losing again. It's made my frustration with the slowdown from my first month more tolerable knowing it's probably to be expected.

Grats to you! Glad you met one of your goals and it made you feel better. At least one of us is losing at the moment. I've been stuck at the same weight for a little over a week after I increased my exercise. Makes no sense whatsoever. Keep at it.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/ That's the website/forum hosted by the same group that hosts this website/forum. There's a lot of information about the sleeve gastrectomy there. I believe it's searchable as well which is nice because there are so many posts there. There are several physicians offering this procedure in the US at this point. As you evaluate which procedure you'd like to have, you might want to investigate those that offer it here (Cleveland, OH clinic, Chattanooga, TN clinic, one in Utah, and at least one physician in California I believe). At least for me, the plication was the most affordable option that I could have done here in the US, alleviated my concerns about other procedures, and still have the comfort of having the physician in the same town. It also presents a problem though if you don't live near a location that offers the plication if you're required to do follow-ups with the physician. I'm required to visit mine for three years for follow up, which would not be convenient and/or possible if I lived very far away. I hope that helps.

I'm a little over a month out from my surgery day. I started out the week after surgery walking 15-20 min, went to 40 the next, and have been walking an hour each day this week. The actual walking part isn't much of an issue other than blisters on my feet. During the normal day this week though I've been exhausted. It's summer break for me as a teacher, so I can sleep if I'm tired, but this has been a pretty abrupt change from how I've felt the last two weeks. I know its still close to surgery date, my body is still adjusting etc. Has anyone else experienced this?

Don't let one bad day in the store get you down. Focus on the positive that you found two new shirts and that you can feel the difference in your old clothes. Surely it can't have been any easier before right? Plus, you'll have that money when you do find some new things you do like. The thing I'm looking forward to most is losing enough to never have to find another big and tall store or try to pick through the crappy selection that is the big and tall section in department stores. I despise shopping for clothes, and looking through the garbage that big and tall manufacturer's make doesn't make it easier. I'm not sure finding things will be any easier, but at least you have a whole lot more to pick from.

It's always encouraging to read your posts. I appreciate you sharing your information. Each time I get tired and think "I won't walk today. One day won't hurt." someone usually posts something on here that motivates me to get off my butt and do it anyway. One question for you. How did you set your final target weight? I'm a male, 5'7", and the highest weight on the charts for me to not be considered obese is 154. Which means I still have a little over 110 pounds to lose. Every time I see that chart in the doctor's office it seems so far off. Thanks for sharing.

That's great! That has to feel good.

Hi Anne - For me there was no physical pain except coming out of the anesthesia the day of the surgery. They gave me pain meds once I'd completely come out of the sedation, and that was pretty much it for me. I had liquid pain meds to take as needed. I was on Clear liquids for a week after the surgery with no pain. Then pudding/instant potatoes, etc for a week. No pain at all for me during that process. However, I had significant nausea for 3-4 days, regardless of an empty stomach or having had something to drink. That was with a nausea patch behind my ear, oral nausea meds, and this weird bracelet that mildly shocked the skin on my wrist every few seconds. I think it was to designed to "distract" you from the nausea or stimulate some nausea acupressure point or something. It might have helped a little, but I won't be buying stock in the company anytime soon. That was over in 3-4 days though and other than the slowly fading scars on my stomach, that was the extent of my discomfort (other than being careful not to lie on my stomach too soon). I'm also a teacher and am glad to have had the time to recover. Hope that helps to some degree.

Hi barbi. I had my gastric plication June 6, 2001 in Chattanooga, so we're close in terms of start date. I'm moving toward regular foods (eating "soft" foods now). If find the "soft" foods pretty unclear. Anything's "soft" if you chew it well enough. Chewing very well and slowly is where I find that I struggle at times at this point. If I don't eat slowly and chew very well I can eat too much before my brain/stomach realize I've eaten too much. I then end up with with a "backed up" feeling in my esophagus that might lead to a trip to vomit. It's only happened twice, but it's pretty uncomfortable. I'm trying to get in 30 minutes of exercise by walking outdoors each day, but living in southeast TN, that has to happen early or late in the day due to heat/humidity. The weather's been unusually rainy/stormy at those times of day this month, so I went yesterday and bought a recumbent bike (an inexpensive one). I figure if I can't walk due to weather, I can use it. My plan is to use it for at least 30 minutes each night to supplement my walking so I get an hour in each day. I'd be sitting on my fat butt reading or watching TV, both of which can be done on the bike. I too was worried about soft drinks and missing them. Not been an issue for me either. I gave up sugared soda about 2 years ago and lost nearly 20 lbs by drinking diet drinks. I just knew that I'd crave the diet drinks, but really haven't. I did have a weird issue yesterday with sugary drinks. I had a gift card in my wallet for Starbucks, and I used to love their iced Chai tea lattes. This was the first drink I've had since the pre-surgery diet with any real sugar content. I got the small one and as I drank it, I thought it was way too sweet. Almost disgusting. I went on to another store and within 15 minutes I was jittery, having cold sweats and was afraid I might be sick. Don't think I'll be having one of those again anytime soon. I haven't had any real issues with food cravings. For me, not being able to have a lot of the junk/fast food for several weeks seems to have made me crave them less. I'm definitely on dairy Protein burnout since I've had so much dairy/milky stuff lately. I've been trying to keep an electronic journal on my iPad to track what I eat each day, and I think I'm struggling to get in enough calories. I've seen people mention 1200 calories on here as a goal, and I'm lucky to be hit 800-1000 on a good day. The nutritionist at my physician's office didn't give me a calorie target. She gave me food group guidelines (always eat protein first, protein should be about 3 oz, then eat veggies etc). I'm going to take what I've been doing to the office and see if she can give me more concrete guidance about number of calories I should be consuming. I know it's possible to eat so far below your basal metabolic calorie requirement that it makes it more difficult to lose weight. I wonder if that's an issue with me. My food tracking app is suggesting that. I've lost about 10-12 lbs since June 11 when I began tracking weight/food daily depending on the day and the scale, but the scale has been stuck for me the last few days (which I also know typically happens about this time). I also have to make myself stay away from the scale. One day I think I was on it five or six times. I realized I could make myself even crazier and now limit myself one trip to the scale daily. I'd love to hear any generalizations you could make about your visit to psychologist turns up in terms of things that might be helpful. I've no idea if any of that rambling is helpful, but it's where I am at the moment. Hope something might be of use.