BalGirl

For some reason I seem to always have a sweet taste in my mouth. It happens when I wake up in the morning and even after I don't eat/drink anything for a couple of hours. I don't think it's food related because I haven't had any sugary things since the surgery. The food that I eat consists of mostly protein (meats, cheese and eggs). Anyone else experience this and know the cause of it?

Hi everyone!! I'm a 28 year old female who had the VSG this past February. I'm looking for someone similar (close in age and weight) who I can talk to about all the challenges and things that we face on a daily basis. I hope we can email/text each other and be able to support and motivate each other.

I was sleeved in February and since then I've had a few periods but they were normal/light. I got my period 2 days ago and I've never imagined it could be like this. I'm bleeding non stop and I don't know what to do about it. I went through 4 pads and 2 tampons while at work yesterday. It's insane. I'm not on any type of birth control but maybe I should be so I can get this regulated. I was bleeding so much this morning that there was no way I could go to work today. Has anyone experienced this before? I called my surgeon's office but the nurse said that while it may be normal due to the hormone changes, I need to talk to my obgyn. Unfortunately, I don't have one yet, as I'm relatively new to the area. I guess I will call around and find one today. I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this, especially since it has been 4.5 months since my surgery.

Thank you ladies. I made an appointment with a new obgyn to get checked out but I do hope that this is not what things are going to be like from now on. Ugh!!

I only had to pay the $150 copayment. Everything else was included. I have the basic option. I did previously pay for my nutrition appointments and all... but the actual surgery was only $150.

I got my final bill about 2-3 months after the surgery and it was $150 copay (I had switched to the Basic plan for the surgery). I did not have to pay for anything else (except my initial copays for my appointments with the surgeon and my copays for the nutrition visits).

I am almost at the 2 month mark and I average about 500 cal per day (a little more on the weekends because I have the time to eat more throughout the day). I have been feeling low on energy as well and thought about finding a way to increase my calories a bit.

No problem!! Good luck to you in your journey as well!!

Look into it - I found it really weird b/c you pay twice as much for the standard option than the basic option so you would think that you'd have better/cheaper care. In reality that may not be true (at least that's how they explained it to me). Most people that I've talked to had to pay $150 copay with the basic plan and a little extra (couple hundred) for the hospital extras (medicine they administer, etc). With the standard plan, you're responsible for 15% of the surgery cost (I think). Basically, I was told it would be much cheaper for me to go to the basic plan. That's the reason I switched. There's been a lot of talk about this here and on other message boards. Do a search for it and see what you come up with. Good luck!! Like I said, I haven't gotten my bill yet, so I can't tell you exactly what I had to pay.

Wow!! That's awesome!! Congrats!

I have the BCBS Fed. I actually had the Standard plan and switched to Basic so I could have my surgery under Basic. So far I'm still waiting for the bill but it shouldn't be much. Oh and to answer your question, yes, I only had to do the 3 month supervised diet and was approved in 3-5 days from when my doctor's office submitted the paperwork. I also had to have a letter of medical necessity from my PCP (basically stating she recommended the surgery to me and stating that she feels I needed it in order to lose weight) and the psych evaluation. I also had one group nutrition class and a one on one nutrition class (not sure if those were my doc's requirements or the insurance requirements).

Thank you!! I just wanted to make sure it was 'normal'.

That's awesome!! Congratulations!!

I became lactose intolerant right after surgery as well but a month later it seems to have resolved on its own. I talked to my surgeon and nut about it and they've both said that it usually does go away with time. Maybe you should try a different protein drink. I drink Isopure (the flavors I like are cookies and cream and the strawberry). I buy them at the Vitamin Shoppe and they are both lactose free. You should probably try different ones until you find something that works best for you. Good luck!

I had one inserted while I was out and they took it out the next morning at 6am. It really wasn't that bad at all but I too was very nervous about it in the week leading up to surgery. I was pretty out of it after surgery due to the pain meds and anestesia, so it didn't bother me at all - I actually didn't even think about it.

I was having a lot of diarrhea in the first 2 weeks due to becoming lactose intolerant. Try cutting out milk products for a day and see what happens. It only took me a day to see a huge difference.

Good luck!! Wishing you a speedy recovery!!

Congratulations!! You will do great! I'm so happy for you.

I used to have the standard option and changed to basic this past January so I could have the sleeve. I haven't been billed for it yet but I know it will be much cheaper under the basic program.

Wow!! Thanks for posting this. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It's really good to see that this will be a tool for the rest of our lives.

You look amazing!! Keep up the good work!

Hi everyone!! I was sleeved on 2/9 and I believe I have become lactose intolerant. My doctor's office has told me to look into finding soy based Protein products but I don't even know where to start. I know that this may not be permanent and it will hopefully resolve itself in the next year but I wanted see what you guys did to handle this? Any tips on what Protein drinks worked for you? On another note, yesterday was the start of my puree diet and I was really looking forward to eating a lot of cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. Oh well. Thank you!!

Thank you for the suggestions ladies. I will continue to do some research and some shopping.

Congratulations!! That's awesome and you are doing AMAZING!! You'll reach your goals in no time.

I hope you feel better!! Glad to hear you're back home.