DoOver

As soon as I moved to mushies I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It got easier. For me the first week back on real food was tough. Your stomach has been on vacation and you're puting it back to work. But a week or so later, it was moving toward great. I'm a slow loser but I love my sleeve. You will too. Just remember you only have to do this once and then it's over and moving forward. Good luck!

I bought some strips this weekend and have been testing myself for ketotis. I was just curious. I have been losing so slowly it's amazing. Who'd have ever thought that 750 calories a day would NOT produce decent weight loss. Well, the even bigger surprise is that I am deep in keotis. The strip tests positive all the time and it's been as dark as the burgandy color which is as strong as it can register. I find this amazing. For anyone who might not be familiar, this is a strip that measures ketotis and that's a guage of how much fat your body is burning. In the last month I lost about 5 pounds. I wish I could say I'm blancing this by building muscle w/ exercise but I'm not. My Mom is terminal and has been moved to hospics care so I'm spending more time with her and just do not have the free hours for much exercise. And I've been doing great on my diet. It really does amaze me that as things get more stressed w/ Mom, I'm not missing reaching for food. At least not horribly. So it's a mystery. I'm staying well hydrated so everything flushes out. But it's enough of an oddity that if they don't pick up in the next week I might be going to see the doctor. Somehow this doesn't seem right.

That really wouldn't surprise me. My hair is starting to thin. However, on that topic, I'd love to know why the hair on my head is falling out while the hair on my legs and pits continues to flourish. TMI? Maybe, but it's the truth and you'd think it would all grow from the same source of nutrition.

Me neither. But the first 3 weeks back on real food it was wicked bad. For me, it calmed pretty fast. Sound a lot like what you are describing. The worst was waking a couple of night with the ick taste in my mouth. I noticed my boyfriend backed away from the kisses for a while. Didn't blame him a bit.

My insurance does not cover PPI's. I was going to have to pay $158 through my coverage company for a 3 month supply. I checked around and Target had it on their reduced cost list. Through them, it was $30 for a 3 month supply of 40mg per day of omerprazole. There may be others who have this or versions on their reduced cost plans. I was very happy I found this and saved myself a fortune. (Actually I spent the diff in Target.....and felt fine about doing that!) Here's the good part: I had to have it filled as 2 20mg pills per day to get that rate and, by doing that, I learned I only need 1 20 mg. per day to control the acid reflux. Big win-win. That 30 day supply might take me all the way to weening off! If you are self pay or have insurance like mine, just wanted folks to know there are options.

Are you taking anything? My doc said cold and alergy meds were okay...just be careful they don't contain any extras for pain that we can't tolerate. I took sudafed and chlortrimeton to dry me up and clear my head. I didn't have any issues with them. I was concerned they would aggravate the constipation but that's such a crazy issue with me already I didn't see how much worse it could get. Talk to your doc if you are not taking anything and would like to be. They could guide you to something. Maybe if you take something at night so it's not draining while you sleep it would be a benefit.

Put me in hospital garb upon arrival. The next day I changed into my button up the front duster. it worked fine and the wash before changing, then clean clothes made me feel pretty good. I was no longer on an IV and had only to deal with my drain so the button up duster worked well. I wouln't have minded staying in their stuff, mine was just better.

I think most of us have been told to avoid NSAID's completely or only in case of real need. Does anyone know of any others meds that are advised against? Any you've been told in your program to avoid or not take?

For 4 weeks out I was at about 350 calories a day but I think it depends on your source of Protein. I was using the EAS drink that has 17 grams of protein in 110 calories. And it was hard for me to get things down so 3 of those drinks was enough of a battle. But I agree that you are doing fine. I've lost very slowly and I really believe a part of that was because my first 2 months were less than 500 calories a day. I know how bad I felt and I think it's unnatural. I'm at 700 ish a day now and feel much, much better. Still losing slow, been in a long stall, but I feel much better so I can wait this one out. I didn't get to move to puree until week 5. You may be moving through the food groups faster too.

Thank you! You know what's interesting..... My place doesn't seem to know this. I'd love to share it with them, but they don't really care for common folks to help them learn. If I were to start this journey over again, I would look for a place that has at least one person who'd have WLS. No one who works with my program has so they'd not been personally invested. It makes a difference.

I've been using My Fitness Pal but not that happy with it. Are there any good alternatives? Would appreciate any suggestions.

There's another thread about blood pressure. If you take BP meds, make sure it's not dropping too low. But I was also weak and exhausted for the first couple of months. It was a combo of BP, blood sugar and the extreme caloric restriction.

Miralax has no taste???? I think it's horrid. To me, it makes everything taste like spoiled milk. I was reading this to see how people take it. I've decided to go for a full whammy tomorrow evening by putting miralax in prune juice. If that doesn't work, nothing will. I'll just chug it and hope I don't gag. I am also going to try the pro-biotics but thought I'd wait until after my next doc appt. just to be sure.

Yea, there's technical failure and your expectations. I've always been a very slow loser. When I'd do Weight Watches I had to undercut their "points" by about 20% to lose 1 pound a week. Now that my body is sleeved it's fighting me tooth and nail to stay fat. I know I will never be thin but I think this surgery will save me from being morbidly obese for the rest of my life. To me, that's success. Although I will agree that my sugeon does not see it that way and that's difficult. I think the real answer is the standard answer. It's a tool. You still have to watch your diet to win completely.

Just as a side bar comment, I have a good friend who has lost 65 pounds using low carb. Now, at about 155 pounds she has settled in on 140 carbs a day to maintain. I think that falls in line with the above comment about a husband who can still lose at 150 carbs what with the difference between male and female bodies. With her story the devil is in the details. That 150 carbs are good carbs. If she takes in crap carbs, she starts to gradually gain and typically sees this during the holidays. We need good carbs. She's been at this for about 8 years now and has convinced me that veggies and whole grains are nothing to fear. Especially if you are only taking 700 claories a day and having those little things helps to make this an easier ride.

My program is a bit whacky on this one. I've recieved no less than 4 different answers. The most generous was 90 days out. The tightest answer was never. I'm 4 months out and I get a coffee about once a week. 1/2 caf 1/2 decaf. I find I tolerate that level in a large coffee. If I just get a small, I get full caff. What I have noticed is that even the decaf coffee ( I drink it black ) increases my acid reflux. It's one of those things I drank by the gallon pre-surgery. At this point I really don't miss it much but it's nice to be able to occasionally have a cup but that's good enough.

I agree that if it works for you, you feel great and are losing, have at it. On the other hand, my people also said no liquid Protein after moving to mushies. Frankly, l only get about 650 calorie a day on average so 250 of them from liquid might be a bit too much for me. When I did get wild and drink one, I used EAS Carb Control which was 110 calories and 17 grams of protein. Usually that 17 grams pushed me over my 60 for protein for the day and was enough. There are stats about how much of any one thing your body can absord at a time so I just stuck with the 17 gram drink that I found palatable.

This thread is good information. I had no idea so many people went back to drinking carbonated drinks. Diet soda is the only thing I miss. I always drank cafeine free so if I go back to the soda, it's not a double whammy in terms of any possible negative, acid and caffeine. I saw a Dr. Oz recently where he said one of the issues was the salt content., that you lose when you stop drinking it because you are cutting sodium out of your diet and dropping Water. But the person he was talking about drank a huge amount of diet soda. I was a one drink a day person. Eventually I will try it again. But I would like to hold off until next summer. But it's nice to know giving it a try won't make me drop over dead. Honestly, sometimes you'd think things like this were fatal to listen to my program people. ( Doesn't chewing gum mean you will swallow it and block yourself and die??? )

I've only lost about 5 pounds in the same window of time. I stopped comparing myself to those who are dropping faster, slower or whatever. I hope to be occasionally posting here in 3 years and at goal. That will be my test of success, not how fast I get there. And, by the way, a pair of all cotton capris I bought around that time are too baggy on me now. So I'm not sure pounds off and inches off happen in the same window of time. Put on a pair of baggy pants and smile. You're doing things right and the weight will come off.

I've tried everything. I've taken up to 4 softners WITH Miralax. Can you imagine? And I get a pretty balanced diet in these days. Little bits, but balanced. I even went to complete committment by removing cheese from my diet. It has not been fun. :mad2: That's what I look like when working the issue....lol

Yep, I had about 8 weeks of feeling like I was dead. Ditto what he said above me. My program is not anti carb either. The other day I read a post that said "follow your program: high Protein, low carb..." Just for those who read here for data, not all program diets are high protein and low carb. Mine is high protein, moderate carb. As stated above, the idea is healthy carbs. My NUT loves blended foods (something like Speical K protein cereal) where get both protein and carbs. I lean toward vegetarian so I get a lot of protein through soy. I might be losing a bit slower than others, but I really do believe it's a healthy slow since I added carbs back in upon having my diet smacked by my NUT at about 2.5 months out. I could not do high protein, low carb for the rest of my life. So I need to learn now how to eat healthy and for me that does mean carbs too. As you go forward you will find what makes you feel good. Right now give those mushy or full liquid carbs a try. It's not going to hurt. You are in the very first days of a long journey.

I'll trythis. How do you take that tbls? Is it mixed into liquid? I live in a small town but this would be worth a drive to the big city and a health food store. Closest thing we have to a health food store is a Dollar General!

Good luck. Don't spend too much time concerned about the actual surgery. It was a breeze, It's the next 5 or 6 weeks that can be a challenge, but we all survive and go on to thrive.

Did this part change over time? At 4 months out adding anything just seems to take up more space. Especially bread seems to really take space. When my boyfriend and I go out to eat together, I will typically get baked unbreaded fish. Then I take 2 bites of something he has to test it. Those 2 bites really impact how much of the fish I can eat. When I'm alone and only get the fish, I can almost eat the whole serving. Those 2 bites can impact being able to take as much as half of the fish. But I do love being able to test the foods and get a bit of variety.

What about your blood sugar? Do you know where it's at? When mine is low I feel weak and shaky. It's not fun but you could also try buying some individual pills. If you can't take a major Multivitamin, could you take an individual potassium supplement, an individual magnesium? Along that line? I have several different types that I take. I mix it up. I could not tolerate the actual barriatric ones but after healing to where I can tolerate pills, I've not had any trouble. How long have you been feeling this bad? I'm very glad you are going to your doctor. It can feed off itself. If you are feeling bad, it's hard to force yourself to eat. And if you don't eat...well, you know how that goes. Good Luck. Please post how you do over the next few days.