Sydney Susan

What's "Take 5"??? A magazine?

What's "Take 5"??? A magazine?

Is it a CPAP or an APAP? If the latter you can set it to a lower "constant pressure" knowing it will ramp up automatically when needed. I find this much easier than trying to sleep with a higher constant pressure set close to my max need (which is pretty high). Other things I find that help: 1. Humidifier - nothing worse than drying out 2. Heated tube from humidifier to face mask - some (like Resmed S6) have a "climate controlled" tube with a heating element that runs directly off the power if the unit itself. I keep mine on 26 degrees C all year round and my tech says that is pretty common for users to do. Others don't have that capability but making a "cover" for the tube from a warm fabric can really help. 3. I go through periods of having problems with sinus headaches and Eustachian tube problems, usually (I think) due to higher pressures. The APAP really helped for this 4. Keeping your mouth shut while asleep is really important - you might need a chin strap. It improves the airflow dramatically and you immediately feel better after sleep. 6. Be sure to check your mask and tube are fitting together well - even a small leak can reduce your access to air and make it hard to sleep well. Check your mask is the correct fit for you. My partner is often more aware of leaks than I am. I hope this helps. I was lucky and didn't struggle too much to get used to my APAP machine - it transformed my life! My brother also. Our father died young of undiagnosed sleep apnoea, so we are both v conscious of sticking with our machines and trouble shooting problems. I wish you all the best with it.

Is it a CPAP or an APAP? If the latter you can set it to a lower "constant pressure" knowing it will ramp up automatically when needed. I find this much easier than trying to sleep with a higher constant pressure set close to my max need (which is pretty high). Other things I find that help: 1. Humidifier - nothing worse than drying out 2. Heated tube from humidifier to face mask - some (like Resmed S6) have a "climate controlled" tube with a heating element that runs directly off the power if the unit itself. I keep mine on 26 degrees C all year round and my tech says that is pretty common for users to do. Others don't have that capability but making a "cover" for the tube from a warm fabric can really help. 3. I go through periods of having problems with sinus headaches and Eustachian tube problems, usually (I think) due to higher pressures. The APAP really helped for this 4. Keeping your mouth shut while asleep is really important - you might need a chin strap. It improves the airflow dramatically and you immediately feel better after sleep. 6. Be sure to check your mask and tube are fitting together well - even a small leak can reduce your access to air and make it hard to sleep well. Check your mask is the correct fit for you. My partner is often more aware of leaks than I am. I hope this helps. I was lucky and didn't struggle too much to get used to my APAP machine - it transformed my life! My brother also. Our father died young of undiagnosed sleep apnoea, so we are both v conscious of sticking with our machines and trouble shooting problems. I wish you all the best with it.

Why OTC? Sounds like you need a prescription med. I take Nexium, 40mg a day and sometimes I double up - 1 in morning, 1 before bed. . Incidentally boring old bicarbonate of soda in a glass of Water works wonders. Tastes foul though. Try raising the top half of your bed slightly - pillows under the mattress eg. Can make a huge diff in the morning.

I agree with both of Arts posts here - symptoms and how liberating a CPAP machine can be. I chose to have sleep study at home and like Art didn't think I had Sleep apnoea but do (and even though my BMI is now only 28 I still have it!). If you find you struggle with the CPAP machine, an APAP (variable pressure - responds to your breathing doesn't use constant pressure to control your breathing) might help. In Australia the APAP is a bit dearer than than the CPAP but worth every cent to me. The other thing that I find really useful is a humidifier and a heated tube (from machine to mask) - reduces the drying out that many experience. Good luck with it.

And if/when you do run into her again, perhaps try to stop her in her tracks with a short, sharp "I'm not defined by my weight so let's just change the topic" and do. You've been as good a friend as you can be by taking her by the hand and explaining why she needs to change her behaviour. The rest is up to her. Good on you for all you've done. Rest easy with it.

Could well be acid/reflux. I get that quite a lot (reflux that i initially interpret as hunger) but reflux meds seem to reduce it heaps. Worth trying something over the counter to see if it helps and go see your dr if it does. If you're already on something, try it twice a day for a while and see how you go.

There are a lot of posts about this so try to search for it and perhaps PM some of the posters. Aussie Girl only recently had it done - I read about it on the Aussie Sleevers thread, but there are thousands of posts in that and it might be hard to find those specific ones. Good luck with it. Must be exciting.

I'm an info junkie but other than this forum and the factual info about the sleeve I didn't read anything else - not sure that there is anything else. What has struck me is that there are a lot of bodily changes initially (appetite, aversion to some foods) and these change how you react to what happens (you can't imagine right now what it's like to have NO appetite for an extended period of time) and, somewhat contrary to this, a thousand people have a thousand different reactions to being sleeved. And even at 5 months out my experience (of hunger and fullness, for example) is v different to how it was just a few months ago. And I expect that will keep on changing. You won't be able to eat a lot, and as a former big portion eater I can say that that (probably) won't worry you. But you will still like food and drink and have to deal with not just feeding your face because that looks/sounds/smells quite nice. If I'd only eaten when I was hungry before I wouldn't have needed the surgery, so removing hunger is only a small part of the problem solved. Good luck!

I had pretty bad GERD before my surgery but it had only come with my weight so surgeon and I hoped it would disappear with weight loss. Straight after surgery I was so much better that I was able to drop from 40 to 20mg Nexium. Around 4 months out and 22kg lighter (2/3 of my total excess weight) it started getting worse. I am currently taking 80mg Nexium with poor control of symptoms - very painful and affecting my oesophagus, throat and Eustachian tubes (ears!). Seeing the surgeon tomorrow and hoping he has some "magic" suggestions. I also wanted the simplest possible procedure and am not at all keen on bypass, but I know there can be serious health consequences if my dr and I can't get these symptoms under control. Knowing that a bypass revision is always possible, is it worth talking to your dr to see about doing the sleeve in the hope that you are amongst the lucky ones whose GERD is not made worse by the sleeve? It would be nice to keep it simple if you could - ongoing need for vitamin/mineral supplementation is something I'm keen to avoid.

Edited: deleted accidental double post.

I'm nearly 5 months out so not the Veteran you are looking for, and I hope some of our long termers like Lauraven, Gmanbat and some of those very eloquent long term "slow" losers (whose monikers i cant recall right now) wade into this with their words of wisdom. Thanks to Ntvtxn for her response (although I am dead jealous of someone who doesn't struggle). I know you're not asking us why we did this or why you should do this, but rather why do this if long term the outcome is the same. It's a good question, particularly for younger people, that should probably be considered more before we throw ourselves into getting otherwise healthy bits of our body chopped out.... often at great risk and cost. I lost 20kg in 2 months without really trying, and another 2 kg in the 3 months since, so I think it's fair to say I'm struggling. I've just had a load of blood tests so am hoping to find out there's something medical going on that can be rectified. I'm also suffering from really severe reflux now, and that makes me want to eat "slider foods" that soothe my very sore throat and oesophagus. All in all, life isn't super fantastic right now, but I hope my dr will be able to solve these problems. Do I regret my surgery? NO WAY. I feel amazingly better 22kg lighter, though still need to lose another 10kg. I feel like I've "re-set" myself - which is not the same as feeling transformed I hasten to add. My head is still my head, and I like food and tend to comfort eating when I'm down, same as before. I badly needed restriction and to get my appetite under control, but I think the latter is more about low carbs than the sleeve per se (for me at least). My dr and dietician also say it seems I need to eat less than 800 cal/day to lose weight and 1000 to maintain - far lower than most and than I'd have believed, but I've since noted on these posts that I'm certainly not alone in that. If I had known the calorie restriction I should be on and the power of a low carb diet on my appetite I might have tried harder - I did lose weight with these mechanisms before but always regained quickly. That this still happens now has made me realise there really is no way out of these strategies for me - a useful but hard won insight. I can see that I've changed v significantly in terms of my expectations of portion size, and that's terrific. Eating a whole pizza was so easy to do before and now the thought is distasteful on so many levels. One or 2 (or more likely a couple of bites of a second piece) is more than enough and there's no lack of satisfaction as I watch the family tuck away more, whereas there used to be when I tried to restrict myself even a little. I feel more in control - not completely under control - and have great hope for the issues I have being resolved and those next 10kg getting the attention they need. I don't expect it to be easy but previously I felt helpless, and trapped inside a body that didn't feel like mine anymore. I think that's the key to deciding on drastic action like this. Now hopefully more vets will tell us how it is to struggle 2, 3 and 4 years out, and whether it still seems worth it to have gone through the pain, costs and risks of the sleeve. Thanks for asking such a pertinent question. It's of value to us all, even to those of already sleeved and struggling, as we try to work out strategies to shift us from "unsuccessful" or "somewhat successful" to "successful and satisfied". Good luck with your decision and your weight loss journey, however you decide to embark on it.

There are so many different drs recommendations that its impossible to know just what is right for YOU at any time. I suggest erring on the side of going slow - it's not a race and hopefully you have v little appetite, so this is as easy as it will get to ignore food. I had a v conservative dr according to what ive read here - didn't even drink Water till day 4, in hospital and on a drip till then, as part of his routine mgt of all his sleeve pts - but from memory even I had tasted a little cottage cheese, yoghurt and custard by day 9.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Some just sail through this op - and until recently I'd thought I was one of those - and others really struggle, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it. Why do you have to wait 5 weeks for the EGD? Is that an insurance requirement or a medical recommendation? Insurance is v different in Aus to USA so I don't get all the details of your system. At least if your reflux/acid is reduced your ulcer shouldn't get worse, and will perhaps have a chance to heal. Is that right? I have made an appt with my surgeon for Monday and am hoping to get some answers then. Perhaps different meds will help too. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm 5.5 months out and my reflux has gotten MUCH worse than pre-op in the past few weeks. It had been thought I had a HH pre-op (though not confirmed) but dr said that wasn't the case when he operated. My reflux had only started when I gained weight and it had been thought it would go when I lost the weight,but so far that's not so... Quite the opposite in fact.

I can't see my sleeve surgeon till Monday but saw another dr re something else and mentioned problem to him and he suggested I try taking Nexium 40mg twice per day, so I am. So far no relief but I'm not sure now if I'm feeling current reflux or the pain of internal acid burns - painful though. Anyway, drs words were "you can take these meds twice a day". Nexium is stronger than omeprazole - I was moved from omeprazole to Nexium to try to control my reflux pre-op (though it was nowhere near as bad as it is right now), but they essentially do the same thing.

Nailsbyinki, how are you going post bypass? I am scared to consider this at present but my reflux is sooo fierce and the pain is hard to bear. I feel completely burnt throughout my throat, oesophagus and stomach. Still waiting to see the dr...

I'm taking 40mg Nexium and just lately it's barely touching it. Sometimes I take 2 a day and still have burning in my chest and throat. Can't lay flat or even close to it or i end up "choking on acid". Bitter taste in my mouth. Even my ears are aching now (acid affecting Eustachian tubes, perhaps?). I feel completely rubbish and it's affecting my ability to do so much. I am 5.5 months out and at first felt really good and halved my reflux med, but this is awful... And scarey. Has anyone else had reflux this bad and been able to get it under control with meds alone? I fear what is happening to my stomach and oesophagus and where this could lead me. Help need!

I'm hoping by pushing this thread some more people will respond with how they managed severe reflux. I had reflux before being sleeved and was on Nexium 40mg. Immediately after I was able to drop to 20mg but now at nearly 5.5 months out I feel my insides are being ripped out. I'm back on 40mg plus topping up with OTC meds like Zantac. My throat is really sore and I'm coughing a lot. I can't lay flat anymore. Has anyone had this happen? And if so, were you able to get it back under control? With prescription meds or naturally???

Beachlover, your message is a gift to the poster in question. Very generous of you, and I hope she appreciates it. She's got quite off lightly here, but try that attitude on in some places and it will cost her friends, respect and opportunities.

I had it before surgery and immediately after it improved. The past week though its been beyond fierce - my throat is sore and my teeth have been affected too. On higher meds now and that seems better.

I think this is really true for me - I have had small small amounts of bread and pizza and found I ate more after. Some people seem to be able to just eat smaller amounts of the foods they ate before, and others have to restrict the types of food they eat too.

That just isn't the case for me at all. I have NEVER eaten till I've experienced pain or thrown up, but I have gained a half to a whole kilo from time to time. food choices matter, as does the frequency of eating - perhaps more for some than others. I find I eat more (frequently) when I'm tired or stressed, and I have insomnia so tiredness is an ongoing challenge. I'm 5 months out and struggling with many of the same challenges as the OP. I'm sure we could all do with a little therapy to fine tune out approach to life, but there can be other things that need sorting out too. I'm going to get some blood tests done this week and hoping this reveals something helpful. OP perhaps that might worthwhile you doing too. And if you can, get a great night's sleep. I'm sure it makes a huge difference. Good luck.