Dobeigh

lol you're right!

Oh well! I guess I'll just have to take these things for the rest of my life, lol. It's better than being fat.

Do you take it daily? How often do you take it?

I finally went. =) Mag citrate did the trick! Tastes awful but works. I'm going to make an appointment with my doc.

I just realized it was actually 2 weeks.

Has anyone had blood in their stool? If so, what was going on? I'm making an appointment on Monday (because its not a lot).

I think it is hemmroids. I showed it to some nurses at work, lol!!! I've been very constipated too so that makes sense.

Thanks guys

I had to go off my Enbrel 2 weeks before surgery.

No, I don't exercise at all. But, I'm starting at the hospital as a Registered Nurse and will be on my feet, soon, 12 hours three times a week. So that will be plenty of exercise! I noticed during clinicals I lost a lot more weight as well because I was on my feet for 36 hours/week. So, hopefully my weight loss will go faster.

I'm eating between 1200-1500 calories daily. I know it's a lot but my surgeon told me that I wasn't eating enough at 1000 calories. I feel like I should be losing more weight than I am. But my surgeon told me to eat between 1200-1500 calories. I'm so tempted to eat 1000 calories because everyone else is losing so much more weight than me! I'm losing like 2-3 pounds a week now.

I have ankylosing spondylitis and fibromyalgia (caused by my ankylosing spondylitis). I take Enbrel injections weekly. I'm also on a number of other medications to manage my pain. I had my surgery February 26 and was off all my meds for about a month but had to go back on them because my pain started to go back to the way it was before. For almost a month, I was able to live without my meds. I've lost 56 pounds and I thought my pain would get better but right now I'm flaring and having the worst pain I've had in a very long time. So losing weight for me hasn't helped. I still have a lot of weight to lose so maybe losing more weight will help my pain. My ESR is normal though! So that's good!

I drink diet soda all the time. Everyday. Several a day. I'm not saying you should do it but I do.

I cannot believe it. Today, I got on the scale and I weighed 247 pounds! May 26 is my 3 month surgery-versary! I've lost 50 pounds in less than 3 months (I didn't have to do a pre-op diet). How amazing is this? I can only imagine where I will be in 6 more months. This surgery has been life-changing for me. I feel soo much better. My clothes that were too tight fit me now and clothes that used to fit me are hanging off me. I can actually work 12 hours on my feet and not be in a ton of pain, unlike when I was almost 300 pounds. I still have a long road ahead of me but This Feels Amazing! My goal is to get to, at least, 170 pounds. I would like to weigh 150 pounds though. We will see how I feel when I get there. =)

Tomorrow morning, I'm going hiking! I've been thinking about it all week and now that the rain has stopped, I'm definitely going hiking. I love to hike! It is so beautiful and invigerating!

I had my surgery February 26, 2013. My starting weight was 297. I didn't have to do a pre-op diet so that was my surgery weight. Today I weigh 251. =) It's been great! People are treating me different. Men are noticing (I'm married by the way). Still feels good to be noticed!

Me too! It is sooo nice! I went by myself though, which kinda scares me. I have it ingrained into my head that I shouldn't go by myself but no one wanted to go with me! But in the morning my hubby is going hiking with me. =)

It is supposed to shrink your liver. My doc didn't make me do it because he said, in his experience, he didn't think it shrunk the liver that much and it just makes the patient feel like crap. My doc actually did the diet and he said it was too hard so he wasn't going to make his patients do something that he couldn't do when it didn't really make that much of a difference.

I've heard that it stretches your stomach over and over but I've never seen any evidence of this. They cut the stretchy portion of your stomach off. The portion of your stomach that you are left with is not very stretchy (though it does stretch some). If anyone can show me an evidence based article about it stretching your stomach, show me. I don't feel like the Coke Zero has stretched my stomach. I still can't eat very much.

You don't need to sleep now. You will sleep during the surgery and plenty afterwards. You'll have a nice morphine PCA that will keep you sleeping just fine.

You will be so much happier in a week. This will be the hardest week of your life. But you will come out the other end so much happier. I was very depressed my first week after surgery. And emotional. I grieved food. BUT! This surgery is so freeing! I feel like I can eat anything I want, just in moderation. I eat and drink whatever I want. I don't feel guilty because my stomach is so small that I cannot hold onto the weight, even if I tried.

I did too. You will be okay. Just ask for something for your nerves when you get there. Tell them you're about to freak out. Rightfully so! Your best friend is food. And you are getting rid of your best friend! But really, your best friend is stabbing you in the back. She is trying to kill you.

Me! I have an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. My surgeon told me not to take my naproxen any more but I've been taking it anyway, along with my prilosec. I used to take it twice a day. Now, I just take it once a day. I also take Enbrel injections weekly. I have fibromyalgia too so I take neurontin and zanaflex for my muscle spasms. I wouldn't worry about it until after your surgery. I started taking my naproxen about a month after my surgery and it hasn't bothered me at all. I'd say the Coke Zero bothers my stomach more than the naproxen does. Depending on what kind of arthritis you have, there are a lot of options for pain control after having the vertical sleeve.

Don't worry about it. It will come off. Quit weighing yourself everyday and try to focus on other things, like getting in enough fluids and protein. Maybe weigh yourself once a week.