bikrchk

Sounds... weird. It seems like I bruise a bit easier now that I have less padding but nothing like you describe and I've been doing an hour on a stationary bike +upper body strength training and crunches for the last 9 months. Check with your doc. You may need to get blood work done to check your levels for iron, etc.

Multi- am and pm Biotin am D3 am B12 am fishoil am and pm probiotic am Iron at noon calcium time release at dinner

I buy vitamins at Vitamin Shoppe, (my probiotic) and Walmart, (multi, B12, D3, biotin, iron, calcium, fish oil). Early on I got everything I could in chewable form, now I just swallow pills. If it was recommended that you take extra iron and\or extra calcium, it is important that the iron be taken with no other supplements for maximum absorption.

Six weeks out and "throwing up everything, and I get nauseous at the thought of eating anything." GO TO THE DR! You could have a stricture or worse if you really can't keep food down and are headed for a bad place if you're not getting any nutrition.

http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html

I'm 1 year out and would not be able to consume "½ cup fat-free cottage cheese and a green salad with 3 ounces of canned light tuna" in one sitting. I could choose the cottage cheese OR the tuna, but would over-fill my sleeve. I use a scoop of chocolate whey in my coffee in the morning as "creamer" and usually take a solid bar of some kind between lunch and dinner. They allow me the flexibility to eat a better variety of foods rather than strictly a chunk of grilled meat or some tuna or 1 egg. I still choose protein first at meals, but supplements allow me to mix in other foods as well. Plus, I've found ways to take them where I enjoy the supplement its self and would miss it. The coffee makes a nice mocha latte and a PowerCrunch bar fills my need for a "cookie" with something that has some food value for me. If I get busy and miss a meal, at least I know I've met my minimums for the day.

I'm typically up front within 1 or 2 dates, as I am with most people about the fact I've had WLS. Funnily enough, I ended up on a date a few weeks ago with a guy who said "his thermostat" was broken since surgery... "Oh, didn't I tell you I had 85 % of my stomach removed"? I said nope, and I hadn't told you that I had 90% of mine removed! We LOL'd about it. Date never went anywhere, but that was one I won't son forget!

It doesn't "cause" alcoholism! However, sometimes patients have been known to transfer their food addiction to some other forms of addiction including alcoholism, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling, etc. This is one of the biggies the Psych is looking for when they do the evaluation required for most of our surgeries. It's something we all need to be cognizant of for sure.

Zipping was one of my "goal weight" list items and I made it happen over the weekend! Too much FUN! And they included me in the "small people" group for instruction how to "ball up" so you can get the speed you need to get to the other side. Will I ever get used to that?

The first thing I noticed was that I had an actual WAIST appearing! 1 year out the changes are so extreme I had to get a new drivers license as folks were starting to comment, "this isn't you", and last night my hairdresser didn't recognize me! Get ready for the roller coaster, 'cause you're goin' for a (wonderful) ride!

Could be some of everything you mentioned. I was also warned that for the first couple of months, as you're losing fat rapidly, all the hormones and toxins stored there have to come out as well so there's kind of a flood to the system of all that crap. Makes us moody, crabby and emotional. I'm NOT a crier, but I'd cry at the drop of a hat for the first couple months and my fuse shorter than usual. It got better! Come to think of it, it got MUCH better when I started a regular exercise habit! I'm positively PERKY now for the first time EVER! LOL!

Attend more than one seminar if there are multiple clinics\hospitals that do the procedure in your area. They should give you a list of questions on what to ask your insurance company, (at least mine did) so you can get all your documentation done up front and have the best chance of a first time approval. If you're hoping to be covered, one question you need the answer to is, "What are the BMI and co-morbidity minimums for approval"? We're about the same height and starting weight. At 5'6" and 230, you're near the edge of qualifying for some insurance plans with a BMI of 37ish, maybe under if you don't already have health problems associated with the extra weight. I know for my insurance, you have to have a BMI of 35 or above WITH significant documented health problems and 40 if you're otherwise "healthy". Lotsa homework to do for this. I sooo wish it was available when I was 17! Best of luck!

If all the right information was documented and your doc is willing to piece it together and document it for the insurance co, it might work. I was given a form by my center to fill out on each visit for documentation. If you can piece together the history you might be in business, but there can't be any gaps! Good luck!

It CAN work, but it's not an "instafix". You have change your behavior to make it stick. For me, the sleeve gave me the restriction I needed to stop over eating. That was it. I changed my relationship with food. I started a 5 day per week exercise habit. I started food journaling so I know whats going in vs what's burning off. I attend face to face support groups and have sought out friends in my life who support me, and I them. And I do it all with a mindset that I WILL succeed as long as I maintain the habits of the fit person I've learned to be. “If you always do what you've always done, you’ll always get what you've always got.” ― Henry Ford

I've also been told a single supplement with more than 25g is kind of a waste. I'm a year out and though I eat protein heavy meals, I still do 2 whey based supplements per day, (about 40-45g worth). I dump a scoop of chocolate whey in my coffee in the morning, (I'm kinda hooked on the taste now) and usually do a Quest or Powercrunch bar in the afternoon, (my "cookie"). The rest is spread out in meals. I typically get at least 80g per day. I'd only hit half that if I just relied on food.

Sounds like you're not absorbing what you're taking in. What does you doctor say about it? Maybe you need a bit more or a different protein source. I get 70-80g per day, (1-2 whey based supplements) as a part of a 1000-1200 calorie per day diet pre-maintenance and labs have been normal. Also, you can only absorb up to about 25g at a time, so you may need to spread them out a bit.

Docs advice needed but the "black outs" could be low blood pressure related due to dehydration, (this happened to me after running way high for years). Add some G2 to your fluid intake for the electrolytes. Pain at that stage could be gall bladder related. Get checked.

I learned to manage it like this, eat half of your mini portion, (1/4 cup or whatever that is) then stop for 10 minutes. If you feel like you can eat more at that point, eat half of what's left, rinse and repeat. Even one bite too many can send you into a place you do NOT want to be! For me, I can't feel "normal full" really so this is how I have to operate. "Over full" feels like something's stuck in my chest or throat. Really over full, and it needs to get out the way it came in which is never pleasant. It's a learning experience for sure!

For the program that I went though, they would make you quit smoking and test to make sure before hand. Not all programs are this restrictive, but my particular hospital considers it THAT important. That said, I was not a smoker pre-op, but had uncontrolled breathing problems and had been treated for asthma (unsuccessfully) for 10 years prior. They were concerned enough in pre-anesthesia that they sent me to a pulmonologist who determined after testing and after reviewing the results of my EGD that I didn't have significant asthma, the breathing problems were caused by silent reflux or GERD. I was put on the proper treatment and things improved immediately. So talk to your team. Be honest with them so they can help you have the safest procedure! Oh, and FYI, no more asthma, gerd, (silent or otherwise), normal blood pressure, cholesterol and sugars and I'm unmedicated for the first time in 10 years except for a PPI 2x per day. As far as I'm concerned, this procedure saved my life!

Sounds like a poor choice. There's no food in it and it's full of caffeine which you should be trying to wean off of. Caffeine leeches the calcium from our bodies. Post op, we already have a reduced capacity to intake and absorb the minerals we need. There is nothing in 5 hour Energy that you need.

I had a lady call to me form her minivan as I was filling my motorcycle at the gas station... "You don't look big enough to hold that thing up! You're a tiny lil thing"! ROTFLMAO! It IS a big (850 pounds) bike!

OM goodness! Then EAT! Choose protein, but if your body is asking for food, (not a craving or a want but real hunger) give it what it wants! I'm always hungry after I work out. I follow up my early AM work out with 1 egg, a slice of cheese and an hour later a scoop of protein powder in my coffee which seems like a lot, but it's a formula that's been working for me. An active body needs calories to function. If you're worried about eating too much, write it down. There are days I feel like "I ate as if there would be no more food tomorrow", then I go back and look at my journal and see that I've met my protein goals and stayed UNDER my calories for the day! We've all been so conditioned to "diet". Try to let that mentality go and focus on meeting your nutritional and exercise goals. You'll be successful and have a lot less guilt!

So I reached my lifetime maximum for my sleeve procedure about 1/2 way through last year. I'm scheduled for my 1 year follow up and at this point neither the appointment nor the labs will be covered. Basically no follow up care will be covered ever again according to BCBS of KC. Seriously? I'm thinking about cancelling my 1 year follow up entirely. My Dr. is no longer with the practice, so I have no idea who I'll see, I was checked 6 months ago and labs were perfect, I continue to take my supplements as directed. I'm in my goal range and maintaining nicely. Thinking this can wait for my yearly physical in 6 months with my regular doc when the labs and the appointment will be covered in full because they will be coded as "well care". Thoughts?

Yes! As you release fat quickly you're also releasing the hormones and toxins stored there. It gets better! Hang in there!

Can't get the right pic to go. Trying this again. 5'6.5" here. Started at 235, have been in maintenance under 145 for 3 months, but I recently decided to shed 10 more vanity pounds. 9 to go!