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Given some of the things I'd read on here, I was expecting hell on Earth during the early recovery period, but it was actually very smooth. Manageable pain, no nausea, and I was up and walking around within hours. Zero complications. Since surgery I've lost about 5 pounds a week, which is pretty good. I understand that the weight loss won't always be this fast, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

My incisions itched at about a week out . . . I took it as a sign that they were healing. I kind of very gently scratched around them, which seemed to help.

They gave me one of those at the hospital. It helped with the post-op pain. You might want to ask your dr. if you can get one included in your hospital stay.

I've heard that hormones are stored in fat, too, and that they're released when you lose weight. That could have something to do with it too.

Hey, johock, are you drinking anything with your meals? Liquids can speed the exit of food from your stomach and make you feel hungry faster.

I had my sleeve done July 25, and so far it's been smooth sailing. Tolerable pain, no nausea, and I've been able to tolerate both clear liquids and full liquids just fine. The annoying thing is that I came home from the hospital 10 pounds heavier than the day of surgery, and I'm still losing that excess weight. Technically, I'm still three pounds up from the day of surgery. I assume it's water weight from the IV's. It is slowly going away, which is something. I'm trying to have a sense of humor about it,

I'm five days into my 2-week liquid diet, and I have most of the symptoms of "low-carb flu," plus a couple of extra ones. I find I'm very anxious and jittery during the day, and I have strange, vivid nightmares at night that are hard to wake up from. I drink almost no caffeine, so that isn't the cause of the anxiety. Any thoughts on whether my symptoms are related to my diet?

I'm having surgery on the 25th too. What specific worries are you having?

There's a July 2017 sleevers forum on here, which may provide the support you're looking for: https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1271-july-2017-sleevers/

I'll need to stop taking extended-release Welbutrin because you can't crush it. The regular kind you have to take twice a day is crushable, though, and so are the rest of my meds. So that's good. I don't have a surgery date yet . . . I'm still satisfying all the requirements to be cleared for surgery.

Hi, nomoremimes, I'm really sorry that you've had this experience, and that none of the counselors you've seen have helped you. Have you ever read "The Courage to Heal" by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis? There's a workbook that goes with it too, and that can help you work through your feelings. "The Courage to Heal" is heavy-hitting at times, and personally I wouldn't choose to wade through it without having a counselor in my life to help me process the emotions that come up. If you feel like you have no good counseling options, it might still be helpful if you go it alone, though. As for how to stop using food as a coping mechanism, I have no magic wands there. I weigh about 350 myself, so I'm no role model. I can tell you that my therapist and I have been working on what triggers my emotional desire to eat, and how to substitute healthier coping mechanisms instead. This is kind of an individualized process, so what works for me might not work for you, but one thing I've been working on is finding ways of "treating" myself and celebrating without resorting to unhealthy food. It's hardest when I'm going out to eat with people or if there's a party where people are indulging. (I have a particular weakness for beer and pizza.) It turns out I like crushed ice drinks a lot, and it's okay if the drink is sugar-free. It's the crushed ice that makes it special. It's kind of okay if I bring my own Crystal Light slushie to an event and just munch on the ice while everybody else eats mozzarella sticks and cheesy garlic bread. I'd definitely rather be pigging out, but that's a bad idea for obvious reasons. Maybe if you went through the same process of finding non-fattening special treats you can have it would help? Obviously there's a lot more to recovering from an eating disorder than that, but if I had easy answers for recovering from an ED, I'd sell them and make a zillion dollars.

I don't have bipolar disorder, but I do have major depression. I also have meds, a psychologist and a psychiatrist. I feel some anxiety too . . . I've been stable for several months, and I really prefer life this way! I worry that post-op the absorption of my meds will change somehow, or that the hormonal changes will send me into a relapse of depression. I'm working on how to prevent these things with my therapist. Hopefully, it'll all end up going smoothly!

I'm on Wellbutrin and have never experienced weight loss on it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. Maybe your doctor knows of some medications that help with weight loss?

I'm five days into my 2-week liquid diet, and I have most of the symptoms of "low-carb flu," plus a couple of extra ones. I find I'm very anxious and jittery during the day, and I have strange, vivid nightmares at night that are hard to wake up from. I drink almost no caffeine, so that isn't the cause of the anxiety. Any thoughts on whether my symptoms are related to my diet?

My journey toward gastric sleeve surgery has been frustrating and far from typical. To make a long story semi-short, I have liver disease. A couple of years ago my liver doctor suggested that I get weight loss surgery so I could be put on a transplant list if I needed to be. You need to have a BMI of 35 or less to go on the list. I first went to the Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti, MI, and everything went smoothly up until the day of surgery. I was actually on the gurney with an IV stuck in me when the dr. told me he was backing out--he was worried about my liver. I have no complaints with him saying he was uncomfortable doing the surgery, but I really wish he could have come to that conclusion earlier than the morning of. Anyway, he referred me to the University of Michigan Bariatric Clinic in Ann Arbor. I spent several months going through their program, but in the end I was denied. I got a letter saying that there was too high a risk of complications. They didn't say complications of what, but I'm assuming they were worried about the liver again. (My actual liver doctor sent clearances to both Barix and U of M, but apparently that didn't help.) In theory, it would make sense just to give up, except for the fact that I might die of liver failure if I don't lose a lot of weight and keep it off permanently. Statistically, people at my weight don't keep the weight off if they just diet and exercise. (Of course I'm aware of the exceptions, but I've never been a terribly exceptional person.) Anyway, I've recently gotten in touch with a new bariatric surgeon, Dr. Hawasli of St. Clair Shores. He says he would be willing to help me if my liver doc sends yet another clearance, and if my liver test scores improve after a 2 week liquid diet. Right now I'm in the middle of the liquid diet. On the plus side I'm down 13 pounds, although on the not-so-plus side I'm really hating living on Protein shakes and diet drinks. I'm doing it though, because A) who knows if I'll ever find another doctor willing to work with me, and B ) I do actually want this process to be as smooth and safe as possible. I guess the positive aspect of having to try 3 times to get surgery is that I'm very determined, and I feel like I'll follow all the dr's directions, even if the experience sucks. Hopefully, my test results will be what the doctor wants to see, and he'll be willing to help me!

Yeek . . . after 16 days of following the surgeon's liquid diet instructions to a T, I had my blood work re-done to see if there was any improvement. Well, it was worse. ALT and AST are higher, and platelets are lower. I still have one more test to go, so maybe there will be improvement there. I really hope I don't get turned down for a third time!

I've been a lacto-ovo vegetarian since I was 16 (a long time ago, lol), and am trying to get approval for sleeve surgery. I'm so glad I found this forum!

I make a really simple black bean dish. It's just black Beans (I use canned so I don't have to rehydrate them), cinnamon, chili powder, and salt to taste. You can put a little lime juice in there too, if you like. It takes virtually no time to make and it's really good!

I'm on the liver-shrinking diet and really struggling. I'm really hungry all the time and it makes me grumpy. My family's not doing anything for Labor Day, but the 3rd was my birthday, and it was hard not to Celebrate with food.

I've been rejected for surgery twice now (once on the day of surgery) due to health concerns that I won't bore you with. I'm trying one more time. I found a doctor about an hour away who might be willing to work with me, provided he gets letters of clearance and the 2 week liquid diet I'm on improves my lab scores. The 2 weeks were technically up yesterday, but because of the long weekend I have to wait until Tuesday to get my blood drawn. The surgeon also wants me to get a fibroscan of my liver, to see if it's shrunk. I've been trying to schedule this fibroscan for 2 weeks, and so far nada. I spoke to someone at the hospital Friday who said that even after the test is ordered, I'll have to wait a week to have it for insurance reasons. I'm really hoping the surgeon doesn't make me stay on this liquid diet all the way until whenever I can get the fibroscan! Ingesting nothing but diet drinks and protein shakes is making me nuts. Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a pretty big bummer not to be able to have anything but liquid. I'm trying very hard to be positive, and view this as training for when I eventually get the surgery. I'm sure I'll be frustrated by how little I can eat then, too. I'm just trying to deal with the hunger a little bit at a time . . . I'll tell myself that I can cope with it for 15 more minutes, and then at the end of that time I'll focus on 15 more. I'm also trying to point out to myself when I'm just head hungry--which happens a lot. Even on the scale of liquid diets, mine is fairly strict, and I'm sick of everything on it. I crave stuff, but that's head hunger. I do not actually need pizza or Chinese food to survive. I watch a lot of DVD's and take naps to suck up time. Even still, the end of this liquid diet can't come too soon for me!

I'm a vegetarian, so I've been drinking veggie broth. I think it's pretty good, but I also think they mostly use the same spices that are used in chicken broth, so it might not be much of a change for you.

I'm in Ypsilanti. I'm hoping to get the sleeve, but I haven't been approved yet.

I'm on a 2 week all-liquid diet, and while I'm certainly losing weight with it, it's driving me nuts. Officially I'm doing this for 2 weeks, but the end date is actually uncertain. My doctor wants me to do this until I can have certain tests done, and the hospital has been horribly slow at scheduling me. (The lady who does these things was on vacation for 2 weeks.) Also, there's the possibility the dr. will want me to continue the liquids only after the 2 week period. I'm on day 11, but I feel like there's no end in sight. (I don't have a surgery date at this point--the dr. wants me to do this before he agrees for sure to work with me.) I've tried distracting myself, focusing on making it through 5 minutes at a time, and drinking tons of calorie-free fluids. I eat SF Jell-O with a baby spoon to make it seem like there's more there. I've even taken to sleeping more, so I won't feel hungry or sit around thinking about "real" food. Those of you who have survived this stage--what did you do to help you make it through?

@even11--About how many weeks/months out does Dr. Hawasli schedule for? A fair number of people here seem to be working with him, so he must be quite busy. Just curious.

Hello, I haven't been given a surgery date yet but I hope I will soon! I'm in Ypsilanti.