LindafromFlorida

God's Grace Lisa, on you and your precious husband. My heart aches reading your post. Prayers lifting now.

Wow, glad all that is diagnosed and you are okay. Rest a little Sherri!

You can use Torani SF syrups with anything, no calories or sugar. Add to coffee, yogurt, shakes, etc. In the coffee section of the grocery, or more flavors at World Market or Amazon.com

Steph, praying for you. God Bless. Linda

Can you add SF Torani syrup (several flavors) to the Optifast?

Good recipe! Thanks!

Never in a million years! So much research for 10 years! Very happy with 2 sleeves in this household.

Good luck!

Quit weighing, follow plan and RELAX! Seriously. It works!!! Focus on doing things like moving around, stay busy! Best of luck!

Never thought I could give up a 50-year Diet Pepsi then Diet Coke addiction. I DO NOT even miss it. I swear your who body and thought process changes! I am glad to be off the chemicals. YOU can do it! 5 months and do not miss it one bit!

You might go up and down. You will stall, you will jump for joy at each lb. lost. I would not see the scale move yet my pants were falling off. Bottom line, relax, eat right, exercise when you can, smile at your successes, keep the faith that it will get better, and enjoy your life. Positive high fives! Linda

We went to a WLS seminar and our surgeon's office found out everything from our insurance company.

Like I said, women can be snarky. It is your life and your right to be private but once you tell it in the workplace it is everyones business. So sorry!

Relax everyone, we all did it prior to surgery. Distant memory now. Just a few days out of your old life, so you should try to distract yourselves. I recommend crockpot cooking if you have a family to feed, because you are not in the kitchen prepping food and cooking. Your life is changing forever with this surgery. so this is just the first step for you pre-ops. I think if everyone takes their mind off food it would really help. Seems like we all are guilty of that, focusing our lives on food, me included. the sleeve has cured that obsession LOL!! I am so thankful...... So happy.....

Just focus on the good work and losing weight everyone!!!!! Love the personal glimpses into our lives, some good, some bad, some sad, but hugs to you all and best of luck!

OMG so sorry for what you have gone through. Best of luck and prayers too.

I have heard people say they went and hernia repair and most of us seem to have a hernia with this surgery. That stops the talking when you won't tell what procedure you are havin and it most likely will be the truth. We did not tell anyone but our daughter, niece and nurse friend. Makes life so much easier and don't want to discuss all this surgery stuff with everyone. Good luck!

Wanted to add that the Polaner's SF preserves is great with a little cottage cheese.

Tuna packets, PB2 for some lowfat peanut butter, low sodium/lowfat soups, bouillon, SF Polaner's preserves, salsa, 0 calorie dressing for a quick dip, FF refried beans, small packs od applesauce, mandarin oranges, SF pudding, SF jello in little cups, FF chicken broth, SF apple cider mix, canned chicken breast, taco and chili seasoning packets, and dry roasted edamame is a great salty small snack. We love French's "Sooo Creamy & Light Mild Mustard Blend" as our mayo with tuna. One tsp. has 10 calories, 0 fat, 2 g. carb, and 1 g. sugar. also, we keep a lot of smoked salmon in the freezer for a quick meal. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

coffee. My husband is having his coffee but he doesn't know it is 1/2 decaf. Dr. Callery Bariatric Surgeon Administrators Posted 13 October 2012 - 02:12 PM You’ve asked a great question. What is the effect of caffeine on sleeve gastrectomy? To answer your question, I did a search of the medical literature on PubMed, the index for the National Medical Library. I couldn’t find any articles that address your question directly. Incidentally, there were no articles that addressed the effect of caffeine on gastric bypass either. Next I searched for both sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass and coffee. Again the medical library search engine did not return any articles. Thus, so far there have been no studies performed on sleeve gastrectomy patients or gastric bypass patients that would permit or discourage caffeine or coffee use. Most surgeons recommend that gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients avoid caffeine or coffee. These recommendations stem from research work that has been done on non-weight loss surgery patients. Before looking into this further let’s distinguish between caffeine and coffee. Caffeine is an alkaloid chemical that has stimulant effects on the central nervous system as well as other parts of the body. Caffeine is a moderate stimulant of gastric acid production. In some studies it has been shown to decrease lower esophageal sphincter pressure and thus potentially promote reflux. In other studies, the effect on sphincter pressure is not so clear. Coffee is brewed from the coffea plant. Coffee contains numerous biologically active chemicals including caffeine. The degree to which these compounds are present in a given cup of coffee depends on the specific species of coffee plant as well as the roasting and processing methods used to bring the coffee to market (see article by Van Deventer below). Even the type of filter used in a coffee maker will change the types of plant oils that remain in the brew. Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD or GORD) is reflux of stomach juices into the esophagus. GERD can cause heartburn. There are several full medical articles attached at the bottom of this reply. Please download these for further information. Coffee/caffeine and gastric acid stimulation There is general agreement that caffeine and coffee are two factors that stimulate stomach acid production. According to Cohen and Booth (1975) “Decaffeinated coffee gave a maximal acid response of 16.5 per hour (mean)which was similar to that of regular coffee, 20.9 mEq per hour, both values being higher than that of caffeine, 8.4, on a cup-equivalent basis.” Thus there are chemicals in coffee aside from caffeine that have potent acid stimulatory effects. In this study, decaffeination did not reduce acid stimulation. Further information about decaffeinated coffee was put forth by Feldmen et. Al (1981): “At equal concentrations, decaffeinated coffee was a more potent stimulant of acid secretion and of gastrin [an acid stimulating gut hormone] release than peptone [a Protein meal acid stimulus]. The ingredient(s) of decaffeinated coffee that accounts for its high potency in stimulating acid secretion and gastrin release has not been identified.” Coffee, caffeine, and esophageal reflux There is considerable controversy in the medical literature as to the effects of coffee and caffeine on esophageal reflux. Here are the conclusions to three articles on the subject. The full article summaries are added below. Wendl (1994) writes, “Coffee, in contrast to tea, increases gastro-oesophageal reflux, an effect that is less pronounced after decaffeination. Caffeine does not seem to be responsible for gastro-oesophageal reflux which must be attributed to other components of coffee.” Boekema (1999) and associates came to an opposite conclusion: “Coffee has no important effect on gastro-oesophageal acid reflux in GORD [GERD] patients, and no effect at all in healthy subjects.” Zheng (2007) conludes, “In conclusion, this large monozygotic co-twin study provides evidence that BMI, tobacco smoking and physical activity at work facilitate the development of GER, while physical activity at leisure time appears to be a protective factor. The association between BMI and frequent GER symptoms among men may be attenuated by genetic factors. In addition, heavy coffee intake may be a protective factor of GER in men and lower education may be a potential risk factor in women.” CONCLUSIONS Caffeine, and more so, coffee and decaf coffee stimulate gastric acid production. Caffeine and coffee may promote gastroesophageal reflux. Caffeine and coffee are just two of many factors that promote gastric acid production and gastroesophageal reflux. Clinical Implications: For sleeve patients who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux, it is best to avoid caffeine and coffee. For sleeve patients who do not have reflux, I do not see any reason not to enjoy coffee or use caffeine products in moderation. For gastric bypass patients, most surgeons recommend against caffeine and coffee because the acid stimulation that occurs may contribute to the development of anastomotic ulcers. Since there are many other factors involved in the development of these ulcers (alcohol, cigarette smoking and nicotine, and NSAID drugs), it is impossible to know how important the role of coffee and caffeine is. Most surgeons are thus saying avoid coffee and be “better safe than sorry.”

I am only accountable to myself. Our neighbor chided me last night about a tsp. of shredded cheese on the salsa (she made it), should I really have it if I am dieting. God knows what I would go through if I advertised the sleeve, too many friends watch what we eat already. But then I am 66 years old and went through this with my husband to live healthy and it is working with the help of the sleeve. Bless you all.

Thank you for sharing your story as others may read before jumping off that cliff. I hope you are doing better!

So many things are mental, like head hunger. Could be that you have just changed a routine... A lot of trade-offs here, what we can have and can't have Leigh, and we can be fat or thin. You may not have your energy level up yet, at 4 weeks. Are you taking B-12 shots and good vitamins? Try to rest during the day before revving up again. Best of luck! Linda

My husband and I were both sleeved after 10 years of seminars, research and thinking about it. This site gives you much information, so between here and seminars on WLS, you can decide. We have never been happier!!! 2 months post op.

This happened to my husband and he knew his blood pressure was low, and showered anyway. He nearly killed himself, and broke 6 shower tiles if you can imagine. Have your blood pressure checked regularly folks, these cuffs are pretty inexpensive and easy to use. I sure hope you are feeling better and glad you did not hurt yourself.