spiffikeen

Oh dear. I'm a self-sabotager too. When I get close to maintaining my good work, I backslide into the comfort of bad (but familiar) habits. I feel like because I know what to expect from myself and everyone else, it's better than struggling with new experiences, like seeing family and friends since your weight loss. Don't beat yourself up. The fact that you had the courage to make this change in your life, saw it through and are now 8 weeks post op is so inspiring to me. That's progress, the every day steps towards your end goal: healthy living. Stay positive! Focus on the war, which you're winning by getting this far, not the day to day battle. Don't let those 3 pounds dishearten you. To quote a commercial I saw: “All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come out of it” - Matt Damon, We Bought A Zoo *hug*

So I'm almost to getting cleared for pre-op, I just need to turn in a stool sample (yuck! any advice on how to get THAT done??) to make sure I don't have h.pylori anymore and lose 20 pounds. Since I've been struggling with losing the weight, the nurse practitioner for my surgeon prescribed me phentermine. I started out by taking half of the pill in the morning, but didn't notice much difference. After a week of being okay with half the pill, I followed the NP's instructions to try 1 whole pill in the morning, and that's knocking my socks off. I feel tingly and woozy. Is this normal?? Should I go back to only taking half the pill again? My heart rate is where it usually is, I just feel tingly and woozy and unable to operate heavy machinery at the moment. Advice?

Just got back from the lab; yes, there is a kit. (thank God) But where to put it in the freezer?! Lol

Ooh, that's a good idea; I'll ask my NP if I can take half in the morning and half later in the day. Thanks! And may I say congrats on your weight loss! You're almost there!

Do you get the kit at the lab? I got the paperwork from my surgeon's office but no kit. But thanks for explaining it!! The tingles went away 2 hours after I took it and there's residual woozy feelings, but going back to half; weighing in this friday, so I'll talk to my NP then. Thanks, and wow, congrats on your weight loss!!

I'm afraid of being hungry, too! And it's also not the first time people have said that being on the post-op liquid diet was sucky (they talk a lot about it in the support group I'm locally), so I'm trying to prepare myself for that. Thanks for all the good wishes, and best to all of us, looking to lead healthy lives!

Hello all! I joined because I needed a little extra inspiration to keep up with my WLS journey. I've been overweight my whole life. 5 years ago I lost 80 pounds through strict diet and exercise, only to gain it all back and then some, which is why I decided to look into the Sleeve procedure. I started my Sleeve process last year, and after all the testing, I'm just waiting on final cardiac clearance and the h.pylori all-clear ... And to lose 20 pounds. This is by far the hardest time I've ever had losing weight. I've got GERD, which makes good food choices (acidic foods are usually "healthier" - tomato soup vs. cream of broccoli, for example) difficult. Any suggestions appreciated. Just reading all your stories - the successes, the continuing hard work, the courage to persevere in the face of setbacks has already helped tremendously.

What an inspiration! Totally needed to hear this today, thank you, and congrats on your bundles of joy!

While the endoscopy prep looks scary - the IV line, the mask, the equipment they use on you, it was very anti-climatic for me. I got demerol for pain and I barely felt the soreness after the drugs wore off (though I'm told I was very entertaining to the Olive Garden waitress by Mom, who took me and picked me up since no driving). They took a look around, found a hiatal hernia, and cleared me for surgery on that point. Just relax and go in with a positive attitude. Here's to being closer to the goal of health!