Jacqueline K

Ok so my surgeon makes us buy these prepackaged meals for the 2 week diet. Bars, puddings, Soups, and shakes. I did ok the first week apart from hunger. The soups quickly got to where I couldn't eat them so I used broth instead. Now I have bad diarrhea- worse than last week. All the food is making me nauseous. I tried eating dinner and could only manage a couple bites and felt sick. I am so hungry it's physically painful and anything I do eat comes back out as liquid pretty quickly. I am miserable. I am hungrier than I think I've ever been and can't really eat because I feel sick. I'm about to go try a couple sugar free Popsicles and hoping I can handle those. Though I wouldn't call those dinner. One week till surgery.

Try core power light strawberry banana shake. It's the only one I've found that I like. I've lost 181 pounds so I'm pretty close to my goal weight. The liquids were really hard for me early out. I have found that there is a support group that meets once a month at DCH medical down here so maybe I'll look into attending that. As for you I know that some of the hospitals have support groups. I had my surgery at trinity and they have one called finally free that you could look into. My family is all in helena and I spend some time there still. I'm just in Tuscaloosa for graduate school so it's not a permanent move!

I am 16 months post op and haven't really reached where I want to be weight wise and I have stopped losing and it's probably mostly my fault. My food addiction is rearing its ugly head and I'm scared. I tell myself that I will stop snacking and will stop eating when I'm not hungry but just like pre op I keep doing it. I can eat most things without getting sick so that doesn't help. I ate Breakfast today then a snack like an hour later. Then a snack around lunch time. Then I made a medium size pizza and over the course of 5 hours I ate all but 2 slices of it. It's getting out of hand and I just need some encouragement. I have lost 176 pounds but am still at about 210 pounds. My low was 203 so I haven't had too much regain but I would like to get to 190 and I'm going in the wrong direction. I need to get control before it gets out of hand. I know I can do it but it would be good to hear from some other post ops on how they handle addiction.

I'm not working with anyone right now. I did some research and found a support group that meets in the new city that I've moved to and plan to start attending the monthly meetings there. I have gone back to school for a master's degree and jabs crappy student insurance through the university. I will have to check if they cover mental health visits. I know if they do they'll make me use certain doctors as I must use the student health center for all my needs unless I'm more than 50 miles away. It's a real pain! I do realize this is a mental issue. I haven't gained any weight but I do still have 20 pounds that I want to lose. I'm 5'9 and 210 pounds so losing a bit more puts me in overweight BMI rather than obese. I am having a tummy tuck in May/June so that will remove some weight too.

I used his partner Pennington. I love them at advanced surgeons. They have given me back my life!

Not a sleever but in Alabama! Had gastric bypass in Birmingham but now living in Tuscaloosa. Has anyone got a good support group that they know of in Tuscaloosa? I need to get back into something for support. I'm 16 months post op and have lost 175 pounds. Looking at tummy tuck this summer but would like to lose 20 more pounds. I keep eating too much of the wrong things so I've stopped losing!

Thank you! I added it to my iBooks so I can access it on my phone whenever I need to. My problem isn't just one meltdown it's been ongoing for weeks now. But I do think that reading this will help and encourage me so I can stop beating myself up.

I have UHC as well and my surgery was covered. It depends on what policy your company chose. They picked one that excluded WLS to save money. Issue is with your company and not UHC.

So I have lost 138 pounds at this point 9 months out from my bypass. I still need to lose around 70 more pounds but I haven't lost hardly anything in 2 months now. I bounced around in the same 3 pound range. I upped my exercising the past 2 weeks and lost 4 pounds but now seem to have stalled again as all 4 pounds were in first week. So last week I upped the exercise a bit more again. I am eating 1200 calories a day (I am accounting for the exercise in that- which I'm doing 5 days a week). My surgeon actually told me to stay at 1000 calories a day but that seemed too low. Now I am concerned that maybe 1200 is too low? All the calculators I've used to determine the calories I need place me way higher than that. I am worried that maybe my body is in starvation mode? Can anyone offer an advice on how to get my weight loss moving again? I feel like I'm doing everything right. I'm so frustrated!

So great to hear your story.... so glad you got the help you needed and are on the right track again. I am 5 months post- op and have only drank one time since. food was my drug of choice pre-op and since surgery I've been very careful to avoid new triggers. Immediately after surgery I realized that the pain meds could become a problem for me and so I avoid them like the plague now unless I really need them! We all have to remain vigilant against developing new addictions!

My issues are better the past couple of weeks.... am taking 3 colace every night before bed and also chewing 3 of the Fiber Choice chewables. I still struggle a bit when going but if I take my time in there I can usually get decent relief with minimal straining. I have a bottle of miralax too so if I have a difficult time I mix up a cup of that with juice and all seems to be fine. I think I may have finally gotten into a decent routine with this!

I tried a regular and it felt like it was burning my pouch so I have steered clear since. I can drink Diet Dr Pepper though with no issues and I don't buy the decaf... I guess I should switch to decaf on that though. I was never a big coffee drinker anyway though.

I tried a sugar free latte from Starbucks.... did not order a decaf one. It felt like it was burning my pouch so I haven't touched coffee at all since. Some people don't seem to be bothered by it but my pouch is picky about it I guess. I am also 5 months post-op and I know what the OP means.... during the past month with the Halloween candy all around I've eaten several pieces and it's little bits here and there. Like you I felt so awful about it later even though I wasn't pigging out. I pretty much quit cold turkey though and just quit eating it for a couple weeks. Since Halloween last week though I've done it a good bit.... but once that candy is gone it's gone. There will be no more brought into the house. Quitting for the couple weeks that I did cold turkey allowed me to realize that I can quit it and don't have to give in like I did pre op. I'm in control so I've allowed myself to eat some since Halloween for that reason- it will soon be gone and I know I can quit. We just have to be mindful of what we are doing and once I realized I was doing it mindlessly I was able to quit it!

Several years ago I started this process and my insurance then required the 6 month pre op diet and I started it- the doctor then gave me the phentermine. I lost 80 pounds then and was so happy that I decided not to have the surgery. I didn't realize at that time that the pills only work for so long.... I ended up gaining that 80 pounds back plus about 60 on top of that! My insurance this year didn't require the 6 month diet so I had my bypass May 30th and have lost 101 pounds thus far. I am still not back to that low I reached with the phentermine yet... still up 26 pounds from that weight. I regret not having the surgery back then. The phentermine is great if you are trying to get to a certain number for pre op success but it's results aren't lasting.

Lunch today will be a lunchable.... ham and cheese. Yesterday for lunch I did some leftovers from night before- typically my pouch doesn't mind leftovers but yesterday after two bites I was running from the cafeteria at work to the bathroom.... nearly threw up in the lobby! Praying that situation doesn't happen again for a long time!!

Good luck! You'll do great!

Mine was May 30th. Down 101 pounds now. It's slowed way down and I have another 100 pounds to lose. At 276 and would love to reach. 170. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

There are some things that I don't tolerate well but most things I do ok with. With my pouch things will sit well and then out of the blue the same things will make me throw up. Makes no sense. I am not a dumper and I really have to watch it- especially with all the Halloween candy around these days! I'm just avoiding it most of them time as I'm prone to snacking without thinking about it. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

I take a multi and calcium every morning, then another round of that at lunch time, mid afternoon I take my last calcium. I take the multi with the calcium the first 2 times- my multi doesn't have Iron in it so it won't interfere with the calcium. I take iron separately at bedtime every night. I've tried so many kinds of Vitamins and this is what is working for me. I wasted so much money trying different kinds and most of them were so horrible. I use Calcet Creamy Bites for calcium- they are a bit pricey but I know I can take them and be happy about it. I take Celebrate multi soft chews - order creamy bites from them too. Iron is a small pill I got from Walmart that I just swallow. My doc said pills are fine if they are smaller than an m&m. I do a monthly injection of b12- family member gives it to me since my doc just wrote a prescription for it. Just have to keep experimenting until you find a routine that you can work with. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

I was very tired for about the first 3.5 months and then my energy kicked in! Just hang in there with that. At this point you need the Protein shakes since you can't eat enough yet! My doctor wanted me off the shakes too but not until I could get enough protein from food. Please do use shakes/bars to get enough protein in! That could be a part of the problem with your tiredness. It could also be slowing your weight loss. It will get better- I had a hard time working too when I was so tired but I made it through that time and so will you. We're all here for you. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Caloric malabsorption does wear off after a year to 18 months. The intestines regrow the vilii (spelling) that can absorb calories however they cannot grow the vilii that absorb vitamins- those were bypassed by the surgery. I also recommend you go back to basics- Protein first. Since you are a year out my surgeon has said up to 1 cup of food 3 times a day. That's all- your pouch is supposed to stretch to accommodate that much. If you need to spread that amount out over 6 small meals to stay feeling fuller then you should do that. Make the pouch work for you. Even if you have stretched it some it will never be the size your stomach was previously since the pouch was made out of the least stretchy part of your stomach. Talk to your surgeon and I'm sure they will be able to help you get back on track. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Just stayed one night- standard procedure for my surgeon. They didn't care if I was passing gas or anything. I just had to pee after the catheter was removed and that was it. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Miralax, colace, and milk of magnesia would be your best bets. A laxative is probably not a great idea but those things should get you moving. I take 2 colace a day and miralax every couple days. Constipation is really a big issue for me. Every time I feel the need to go I dread it so much. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Yes whey protein shots have whey isolate.... Of course I've heard they are disgusting to drink! I have a couple I bought but as hearing how nasty they are I doubt I'll try them. Supposedly they are chunky and slimy. They are the only brand of protein shot that had the kind of protein we can digest- all the others have collagen protein that is useless to us. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk