Bufflehead

Your vagus nerve may have been irritated during the surgery. The vagus nerve can do all sorts of things like make your nose run, make you hiccup, make you burp -- and make you produce lots of foamy saliva. You may want to check in with your surgeon just to see if there is anything you need to be concerned about. I have seen a few other people post about this happening to them after surgery and they all seemed to get better within a couple of weeks.

You need to ask your surgical team. I wasn't allowed any raw vegetables for six months, but my team has a more conservative plan than most. Also, I know you didn't ask this, but this is a great time to learn to put cravings aside and eat to satisfy nutritional needs rather than random cravings. Good luck!

Here is a link to a post I made a few days ago about how I get back on track when I find myself dangerously slipping away. It works really well for me. Good luck to you! http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/364228-im-having-cravings-and-snackinghelp/#entry4115707

My surgeon rarely performs the band and thinks it is the least effective weight loss surgery out there, so I guess I am biased against it. For me, it was not a consideration at all. My surgeon would not have done it for me since my BMI was too high for the band under his personal guidelines (plus I didn't want a band). I also had acid reflux before the sleeve. My surgeon had me do an upper GI series before the operation. This showed that I had a hiatal hernia, which he could fix during the sleeve surgery. Because he felt that the hiatal hernia repair would likely cure my reflux, he thought the sleeve would be a good option for me. If my reflux hadn't been caused by the hernia, he would have recommended gastric bypass for me, as that virtually always cures reflux -- and I would have followed his recommendation. So, do you know what is causing your reflux? Have you had an endoscopy or upper GI series to see if you have a hiatal hernia? For me that was the key question.

Yes, I had that -- it's very normal, as per the bariatric nurse at my surgeon's office anyway. It took 2-3 weeks for mine to go away completely. If you still need pain meds, don't be shy about taking them. I was able to stop taking them during the day very quickly, but taking the pain meds at night really helped with pain caused by lying down, rolling over, etc. and helped me get the sleep I needed.

I was walking less than a mile. Be easy on yourself -- you came through major surgery and your body needs to conserve its energy to focus on healing. You'll get back to where you were eventually, I promise.

Will it change? Probably, but not necessarily. Take advantage of these months free from cravings and delighting in all things food and work them HARD. You'll miss them when they (likely) go away, so use this period to establish and commit to excellent eating habits and to lose as much weight as you safely can. Enjoy!

I had severe hair loss even before the sleeve -- just bad luck and bad genetics. One thing I did and want to suggest for people who feel like their hair is noticeably thinning but don't want to go all the way to a topper or a wig is scalp concealer such as Toppik or Nanogen. You just sprinkle them over your thin spots, pat into place, and apply some hair spray. They work really well! You get a color that matches your hair (my advice is when you are buying, get one canister that you think matches your hair and one canister a shade lighter -- for some reason the lighter usually works better). Another thing you may want to consider is a new hairstyle. Long hair and center parts make hair loss more visible. Try a shorter hair cut, layered in back (like a wedge) or a bob, with a side part. These styles are flattering on lots of people and they help hide hair loss very well. Good luck everyone! I feel your pain and have been feeling it for years

If any of you have seen the show "Skin Tight" on TLC you've had the opportunity to see the results of Dr. Now's plastic surgery efforts -- he may be a fantastic bariatric surgeon but his plastic surgery results are terrible! One poor guy ended up with nipples that looked like pepperoni pizza slices and they were completely misaligned, one way higher than the other. Frankly, the other surgeons on this show -- the ones who are plastic surgery specialists -- also do crappy work. I have seen a lot of post-weight loss skin surgery results, both in real life and in online pictures, and I have never seen such shoddy work as I see on Skin Tight. I'd rather keep my saggy skin

My program says yes to coffee and no to sugar. Does your program have rules to follow?

I haven't had to very often (maybe twice since surgery) but when I did, I followed my surgeon's instructions for stool softener (Dulcolax) + Milk of Magnesia and it worked like a charm.

I never had to crush pills.

I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, because clearly I know better than my bariatric team with all their degrees and decades of experience.

Yes, I have been there! Here is what has helped me get back on track: Six day carb detox. For the entire six days, I only eat unprocessed meat (no bacon, sausage, lunch/deli meat, jerky), eggs, green veggies, and healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter): days 1 & 2, I let myself eat as much as I want, whenever I want, and do not record on MyFitnessPal. Days 3 & 4, eat as much as I want but record on MyFitnessPal. Days 5 & 6, set calorie maximum at 1,000 Protein goal at 100 grams, weigh all my portions and record on MyFitnessPal. Stay within my goal ranges. After that, keep logging and gradually integrate in fruit, legumes, nuts, and dairy. No grains, starchy veggies, or sweets at all. They trigger cravings for me. Plan my eating every day. When I will eat and what I will have. When cravings strike, look at my food plan and remind myself of when I get to eat next. Get all "bad" food out of the house. I look at the times and places that give me trouble. I was struggling to resist buying candy and sweet breads (pumpkin bread) at our snack shop at work, and struggling to avoid the vending machines there. So I stopped taking money and credit and debit cards to work with me. I can't buy something if I have no way to pay for it.

You might want to ask your surgeon for an anti-nausea prescription if this lasts more than a couple of days. Zofran is one that is prescribed to lots of people post-op.

I love April Fools Day

I wasn't surprised -- obesity is such a hard struggle, even with surgery -- but the show still made me sad. It's hard to watch women (on this episode and on others I've seen) who are so willing to put up with men who treat them like absolute shit. It's also hard for me to watch adults who have been through super morbid obesity and learned how to eat healthy insist that they have to feed their children crap like biscuits and fried sandwiches slathered in grease. Children don't need biscuits and fried greasy sandwiches any more than adults do. It's like these parents *want* their children to grow up to be 600 lbs too. Children of obese parents have a very high likelihood of ending up obese themselves, and IMO those parents have an extra responsibility to teach them healthy eating early on. Disclaimer: I don't have children so my parenting thoughts should probably be dismissed out of hand.

"I'm trying to lose weight and my doctor has me on a strict eating plan, so I can't have that" (true) "I'm trying to lose weight, so I filled up on super healthy food before I got here so I wouldn't be tempted by that, it looks delicious!" (declining but complimenting the food pusher on the food they made or brought) "I've been feeling sick to my stomach, you wouldn't want to see the results if I ate that" (possibly true but maybe not the best choice since people will be alarmed that you're spreading something contagious around)

I had my surgery when I was 47 and it was the best health decision I ever made, hands down.

It just took time for me. Those pains from moving finally went away somewhere between weeks 2 and 3 for me.

Could you have developed a stricture? It sounds to me like you should get in touch with your surgeon if this problem persists.

The bypass is a great surgery and I think you are very wise to consider it. That said, no surgery will permanently cure your head hunger issues. To be successful, IMO you need to work on ways to deal with emotional and behavioral issues other than having surgery on your insides. Whether that is therapy, or committing to regularly attend support groups, or even just to start by reading a lot of books on how to get over using food as a source of comfort or entertainment or something like that. Surgery is a great tool but for many of us, it alone is not enough. Don't feel like a failure. Please don't. Obesity is one of the toughest health problems in the world to face -- it really is -- and medicine and science are just starting to come up with the tools to help us. For many people, the lap band is a step in the right direction (for others, it is just what they need) but not enough. It sounds to me like you worked incredibly hard and were very successful for a long time. Now you are being smart and considering further options. To me that sounds like someone who is determined and tough, not someone who is a failure. Good luck!

I hear you, that was my story completely. I won a toddler prize for "biggest tummy" at a fair when I was 2! So yeah, it takes some getting used to. The first time I went into the "Misses" section at a department store (Kohls) I kept expecting some saleslady to come up to me and say something like "are you shopping for a gift?" or "the women's department is just around the corner over there, you must have gotten lost on the way." I felt like an imposter! But everyone treated me as if I really were able to comfortably fit into normal sized clothes -- and I was! I am not kidding you, when I took clothes into the changing room and they all fit -- or were too big -- I almost started crying (happy tears). For a long time I would forget that I wasn't fat. So, I have this horrible habit of peeking at what everyone has in their shopping buggy at the supermarket and being silently super-judgy about it. Even when I was morbidly obese I did that. And I tend to assume that other people do the same thing. At one point, after I was wearing a size 10 I think, I found myself looking at my buggy and thinking "I'll bet other people looking in my cart don't expect a giant fat person like me to have such healthy food in her buggy" -- and it took me a few seconds to remember, I am not a giant fat person anymore! The freedom to just move around in the world without wondering about where you will fit (restaurant booth? airplane seat? turnstile at the arena? amusement park ride?), whether people are looking at you or judging you . . . it's really hard to explain. I truly feel like a psychic weight has been lifted off my mind and personality as much as physical weight lifted off my body.

Are you checking your blood pressure? If this dizziness and lightheadedness happens mostly when you stand up or sit up, it could be orthostatic hypotension, which is something that a lot of people deal with in the first few months after weight loss surgery.

What kinds of thingd do you struggle with now that you've had your surgery? The only thing that comes to mind is that I realize I am treated better now as a "normal" size person than I was as an obese person, and that sometimes makes me feel sad and sort of question my self-worth. That's pretty rare that I go down that path though. How do you feel about your body? I love my body! Sometimes I love it so much I can't believe it is mine Do you need to have surgery to remove excess skin? Define "need." Could I benefit from it? Yes, definitely. Can I afford it? No. Does it make me feel bad about myself? NO. I don't love the way it looks, but I accept it as a reminder of how far I have come and how hard I worked to get here. It wasn't easy -- I fought for it! Do you have other body image issues? No more than before, in fact, far fewer body image issues than before, understandably. What about hair loss- if you experienced that, how long did it take for it to start growing again? I had severe hair loss issues before the sleeve, just due to bad genetics, so my experience with hair loss really isn't even close to normal (I was wearing cosemtic fake hair to cover my loss well before surgery, for example). So, my response on this isn't going to be pertinent to your situation.