Sreeves

I have had very severe constipation issues after surgery. I use Miralax or Fiber Choice if I don't have a BM for one day to prevent it from getting out of control. I like the Fiber Choice because I can control how many tablets I take (up to 6 a day) and it has been working well for me. I am now just short o 3 months post op and I am having to take extra fiber less and less now. I try to get it with my diet as much as possible. I am sorry you are having problems. I know just how miserable it can be. I developed a really bad fissure from it so I do whatever it takes to keep from getting bound up anymore. I hope you find some relief very soon.

I am just taking mine by opening the capsule and dumping the little beads into my yogurt in the morning and it is working fine for me. I also tried to do the immediate release ones twice a day and I didn't find any difference between the two so I am staying with the extended release. I have not had any noticeable difference in my symptoms, and I don't know if that is because my depression is getting better of it the medication is working, but either way I am doing fine taking it the way I am. I hope this helps.

Woo hoo! That is so great, @!! I had my surgery the day after you (I remember the "early days" lol!!). I love this new, healthy lifestyle!

@PollyWolly~ I didn't think I would be getting "stuck" anymore, either, but I do. The stoma is very tiny but it is not adjustable like it was with the band, so I am learning (sometimes the hard way) what consistency my food needs to be before it reaches my stoma. I have found that something I had for dinner (ie, steak) is not okay leftover the next day, even in a salad. Sometimes something will stick that hadn't previously. I don't know whether it is because I didn't chew enough the second time or if my stoma gets swollen sometimes, but it definitely puts me off trying that food again for a while, lol!

I know what you mean about the worrying. If you feel that it is more pain than you should be having, I would contact your surgeon and ask him what he thinks you should do. I was given a huge binder full of pretty much everything I could expect from this surgery (as well as what to do and how to eat in each phase) and I kept it next to me on the couch for 6 weeks. I read through it regularly to make sure I was on track. My surgeon told me to expect a lot of pain but I blew him off. I don't usually have a lot of pain from surgery and I HATE pain meds, so I was caught off guard and questioned everything. I am glad your gas pain is changing. I had loose stools for about a minute and then....nothing. For many, many days. I got so constipated from those drugs it was crazy. I actually (TMI alert!) developed a fissure. Now THAT was excruciating!!! Miralax has been my constant companion since then, and even now I still get bound up. Hopefully your symptoms will clear up in a day or so and you won't end up going to the extreme opposite end of the spectrum like I did. Just remember to drink pretty much every time you are not "eating." I know it is all liquid at this point, but Water will help stave off constipation after the loose stools end. I really do hope you start feeling better soon. You have been through a lot! Welcome to the other side, though. Soon this will all be behind you and you will be able to get on with getting healthy!

It is just simethicone, which is safe. It's the same thing used for colic in babies. It cuts through gas. Walking also helps, but I found it difficult when the gas pain was really bad. How are you feeling today? I hope better. That pain is definitely the worst!!

I had a revision as well, but my band was removed in December and my revision in April. Band removal was a breeze. RNY, not so much. I had HORRIBLE referred gas pain to my left shoulder and I also had a lot of belly pain. I don't do pain meds normally (I absolutely hate the way they make me feel) but I definitely did after bypass. It was a much harder surgery than any other I have had (band, hysterectomy, bladder sling, band removal...). I was also so extremely nauseous right after surgery they kept me an extra day. Well, that and I could not keep my oxygen level up. It sucked. BUT--10 weeks later I feel amazing. Actually, I started to feel a whole lot better about a week post-op. You will start to feel better about surgery very soon. I am so, so sorry about you losing your dad. I have no words to help with that... I am also sorry to hear that your hospital experience was less than stellar. You have the right to file a complaint if you want to. The hospital I worked for until just recently was really good about listening to patient complaints. It helps identify problem areas and improve on patient experience. It might make you feel better, too. Do you have any Gas-X strips? They might help with the pain your you are having in your rib cage. I know that my pain meds didn't touch that gas pain.

Two things happened today: I reached another scale goal, 50 pounds down, and I reached a NSV, I can fit into my jeans!!! I kept a couple of pairs of jeans from "before" but I had to quit wearing them 3 or more years ago. I guess I just hadn't realized just how much weight I had gained until about a month ago when I went to try one of them on and there was NO WAY I was getting them on. They barely went over my hips! I have noticed a lot of body changing lately. More than just my face is slimming down. I can definitely see that change (and, apparently, so can everyone else!) but even though I had lost 5 inches in my waistline that was much harder to see. I am now 6 inches down in my waistline and that last inch has made a world of difference. I can actually see the beginnings of a waistline! Not that I ever have much of a waist, but that huuuuge belly I have been toting around is really starting to diminish. I remembered earlier this week that the last time I lost major weight the last thing to go was my stomach. Why is that? Maybe because I carry the bulk of my excess weight around my middle, unfortunately. Still, I am so very excited to see what I will look like 20 pounds from now. That is my next major goal. I will still be over 200 pounds but I know these next 20 will mostly come off my midsection. I bought a fitness band 11 days ago. I set low goals for myself at first and was kind of surprised to see that I actually walk more than I thought I did, but I raised my goal a few days ago and I am still managing to go above and beyond that goal! Who knew? I will keep upping my goals and see where it leads. Right now I am still just walking but I am starting to feel like I can do so much more than that for the first time in a very, very long time. What a journey this is. I am loving it.

I am a band-to-bypass revision patient. I got banded in November of 2007 and had it removed in December 2014. I was such a mess that my doctor waited 4 months to do my bypass (04.08.2015) and I am SO glad I did the revision! My surgeon said that he likes to go with bypass for previously banded patients because of the trauma caused by banding. With the sleeve the new stomach is banana-shaped whereas with bypass a brand new pouch is created out of healthy tissue. It is incredible what a difference bypass is from banding. I was sick pretty much the entire time I was banded and I never could eat properly. Now I have what I was hoping the band was going to do for me; a tool that I am using to help me redesign my eating habits and live a healthy lifestyle! Of course ultimately the decision is up to you but I can tell you I am 100% happy with my progress so far. I actually feel like I can do things right this time!

I was told to eat every 3.5 hours and drink a LOT of fluids. fluids are more important than solids very early after surgery. I went through the same thing but in my case I was just very dehydrated. I thought I was hungry but someone told me to try drinking more and that worked for me. I didn't feel right eating late at night because that was what got me in trouble in the first place, lol! Congratulations on being post surgery! I am about 8.5 weeks postop and things have gotten MUCH easier to figure out.

It is normal to not get enough nutrition very early on but you definitely need to keep your fluids up. WAY up. The first couple of weeks are for healing and staying hydrated. You won't starve as long as you follow your doctor's post-op plan for liquids, purees, softs, and then, finally, solid foods again. Before that point you will have started taking your bariatric Vitamins and meeting your Protein goals and all will be well. Congratulations on your surgery, by the way!

I am a band-to-bypass revision patient and I was SHOCKED at how easily I injest eggs! I have had them hard boiled and scrambled and they don't get stuck like they did when I was banded. I try to eat 1 egg a day just because that meal is so very enjoyable.

I never stopped vaping. I did, however, move to 0 nicotine a few months before surgery. I am now 8 weeks postop and have been vaping since the day I left the hospital. My doctor was fine with it. Since vaping is NOT using tobacco products or combustion, it does not cause you to heal more slowly or increase the risks of DVT or pneumonia. Even if you do vape low nicotine, it isn't enough to cause issues. Some of my juices now are 4 or 6 mg and I have had zero problems.

I am now 7 weeks 2 days postop. Before surgery I had a mini goal in mind: I wanted to lose the weight of my granddaughter. At the time she weighed 45 pounds (she's 6). I did not give myself a time limit because,, frankly, I was not sure how fast or slow the weight would come off this time. After the dreaded "three week stall," which, appropriately, lasted almost 3 weeks, I was not sure I would EVER reach this goal. I was wrong. I am now 45 pounds down. WOOT! Unfortunately, my granddaughter hit a growth spurt these past few months and she now weighs 49 pounds. Still, MY goal has been reached. I expect to lose another 4 pounds in the next week or 2 so then I will feel another small victory. Next actual mini goal: I want to weigh less than my husband, who is 220 pounds. I am within 5 pounds of what I weighed when we got married 10 years ago, so YAY! All these NSVs are what is keeping me motivated right now, and that is a wonderful feeling. Success is not always measured by the scale but for those times that it is, I am a happy loser!

I am only 8 weeks out, but so far I have gone from a 46 D to a 44 long. The Girls and my badonkadonk were the first things to go. I am down 45 pounds and I am pretty sure half of that was from those two areas, lol. Everyone is different, though, so I wish you the best! I know what you mean about not liking your girls. I really wish I had been a lot less "blessed."

I detoxed from sugar during the pre-op diet and I have no compulsion to test out the dumping syndrome thing whatsoever. I am only 7.5 weeks out from surgery right now but I am determined to stay away from sugar for good. I am using this period where I don't feel really hungry to change what goes into my body. It is not right for someone to set you up for failure before you even start your journey! We all have to potential to make our surgery life changing. Don't buy into the negativity. You can do this!!

I am making a batch of caulirice right and I would love to have some sauce with it!

Awww! I think they are adorable. And very hypoallergenic!

@Smye Thank you! I have everything on had except for ginger root. I will pick some up today when I go to town and give this a try. Looks like grilled something is on the menu tonight!

Catsup!!! I am excited to try so many of these delicious recipies. I am going to make caulibread this week, in fact! I do have a request. Can you do a great BBQ sauce recipe? I am all about grilling this time of year (and in the winter if I can get my husband on board!!!) and I would greatly appreciate a bari-friendly BBQ sauce recipe. Sometimes I slather the meat while it is grilling but a lot of the time I like to take my teeny tiny bites and just dunk a corner into the sauce.

Congratulations, Wicked! 10 pounds is awesome! I also "gained" weight at surgery and it took a bit to get that off but once that Water weight was gone I was ecstatic. It is such a great feeling to know that we have a tool that can help us live a happy, healthy life, is it not? I am 6 weeks postop and have experienced an actual stall (10 days out, lasting 10 days!) and I still fluctuate depending on my water intake the day before but I am DEFINITELY seeing and feeling the fat loss. Welcome to the other side!

I am 5 weeks postop and my drainage incision still has an area where my stitches can be seen. Actually, I have that on 4 of my incisions. I look a lot better than I did when I was first postop, though. I had my band removed in December and they were unable to use those incisions for the bypass so between all of the red scars and the bruises all over my arms from them trying to draw blood I looked like I had been jumped in a dark alley! I think I will email my surgeon to ask when it is okay to start using a scar reducing cream, though. I am thinking probably once the remainder of the stitches dissolve but who knows?

I stalled at around the same time as you, and I actually gained 5 pounds from my lowest weight. It took me almost 3 weeks to get back to where I was seeing actual weight loss. I definitely did stall, but I had lost 30 pounds since I started the preop diet. My surgeon told me that my body was reacting to the fact that I went from over 3000 calories a day of high-fat, high-carb foods to 500-700 calories a day of Protein. Made sense to me. I also reached out on the forum and I was told the same thing-don't worry about it so early on. I am now losing steadily again, thank goodness. I just followed the requirements for each stage I was in (I am still in the soft foods phase) and I keep my carbs below 25 grams a day. It reminds me of when I was on the Adkins diet, but without the bacon, lol. I also got severely constipated during the same time frame so I blame some of the weight "gain" on my body reacting to that. Turns out I cannot handle the Iron in 2 Flintstones Vitamins a day.

All I can say is WOW!!! Your timeline is amazing, I am 5 weeks post op now and I had a 10-day stall almost 3 weeks in and I was feeling pretty dejected. Thankfully that passed (just like everyone said it would) and I am back to being a loser again! I had 125 pounds to lose but I am down 38 pounds so I am feeling pretty good right now. I definitely get what you mean about the head not being able to keep up with what is going on with the body. I KNOW my tee shirts and sweat pants are much, much looser than they used to be but I have a hard time seeing it. I am actually going to take a picture tomorrow for grandparents day at school and I am kind of excited about that. I am not one to volunteer for pictures usually, lol.

I had one after surgery. My surgery was actually a revision after I had my lap band removed 4 months earlier. I was told that because the surgery after a band revision is trickier, with more adhesions to deal with, I would most likely be sent home with a JP drain and I was. I had mine for about 8 days, though, not 4 to 6 weeks. That is an extremely long time to have a drain in!