James Marusek

Weigh loss surgery can affect your blood sugar levels. Some individuals experience a condition called reactive hypoglycemia. The symptoms of hypoglycemia are: blurry vision rapid heartbeat sudden mood changes sudden nervousness unexplained fatigue pale skin headache hunger shaking dizziness sweating difficulty sleeping skin tingling trouble thinking clearly or concentrating loss of consciousness If this is the cause, it sounds like you only have a mild version at this point. But it is something to keep an eye on.

One of the guys in my Bariatric Surgery Support Group meetings completely shaved his head after surgery. It gave him a new look and he was pleased with that.

It sound a little like head hunger. Since you added sugar to your protein shake, you may have experienced some dumping. Adding sugar to a protein shake is something I would not do. Generally your loss of hunger doesn't really begin when you are in the full liquid stage. It is something that you will probably experience when you transition to solids. So don't be too concerned at this stage. Many experience problems drinking protein shakes. I hated them. But in the beginning I drank them, three 16-ounce protein shakes a day, in order to meet my protein requirements. You do not have to like protein shakes only tolerate them. There are many varieties of protein shakes available today. Experiment until you can find one you can tolerate. There are many different types of formulations on protein shakes. I would recommend that you keep experimenting until you find one that you can tolerate. You don't have to like it, just tolerate it. I used Muscle Milk Light (Vanilla Creme) powder blended with water and a half a banana. That worked for me. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, you might try premixed Isopure. If you tried all the various varieties and still are unsuccessfully, then there is the fallback of fortified milk. 32 ounces of 1% milk fortified by adding 1 cup of dried milk provides 56 grams of protein. It also takes a dent out of meeting the fluid requirements. Mix up a pitcher and drink a little throughout the day. Without sufficient protein, your body will scavenge protein from other areas of your body, such as your muscles. Protein is extremely important after surgery as its job in the body is to build and maintain tissues including your body's major organs and skeletal muscles. Protein deficiency, when continued over a long period of time can cause a disease known as protein caloric malnutrition. Common symptoms are poor healing, fatigue, hair loss and muscle wasting. Immediate post op, protein promotes healing of the staple line and incisions.

I have not experienced this. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery around 4 years ago and my weight loss leveled off naturally at around 7 months. I noticed that it was difficult to consume solids such as steak and chicken so I relied on softer foods such as high protein chili and soups. The fact that you are vomiting regularly may point to an abnormality. So let a specialist see if they can find a cause. And remember that you need to ensure that you are consuming an adequate amount of protein (protein shakes), during the interim until you can localize the cause.

Good luck on your surgery and check back with us when you are on the other side.

The guidance I received was 3 meals per day. Also the guidance said that I should consume 75-90 grams of protein which worked out to 3 protein shakes per day. Without sufficient protein, your body will scavenge protein from other areas of your body, such as your muscles. Protein is extremely important after surgery as its job in the body is to build and maintain tissues including your body's major organs and skeletal muscles. Protein deficiency, when continued over a long period of time can cause a disease known as protein caloric malnutrition. Common symptoms are poor healing, fatigue, hair loss and muscle wasting. Immediate post op, protein promotes healing of the staple line and incisions. As time went on and as my meal volume increased, because I concentrated on consuming high protein meals, I was able to offload this requirement for protein supplements. I was able to go from 3 protein shakes per day, to 2, to 1 and then at a year and a half, I was able to get off them all together.

According to my Bariatric Discharge Instructions one of the conditions in which you should contact your surgeons office is "New onset of upper back or left shoulder pain."

The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. So make sure you are following the program requirements. Part of what you are experiencing is recovery from the surgery, but if you fall short on any of these three requirements, this can lead to the condition you are experiencing.

The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. At 6 weeks post-op, I wouldn't be in panic mode yet. Just remember to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements and do not exceed the meal volume directed by your surgeon. At 6 weeks this should be around 2 ounces per meal.

After RNY gastric bypass surgery, I completely lost my hunger. This experience did not last forever. It lasted about a year and then my hunger returned except it was not as strong as pre-surgery. Generally this experience of losing hunger begins once you enter the solid stage. So if you are not experiencing this from day one, give it a little time. If you are allowing too many carbs into your diet, that may be the cause of the hunger. I do not know if this loss of hunger is solely experienced by those with RNY gastric bypass surgery or if sleeve and duodenal switch patiences also experience this condition. Perhaps those who underwent that type of surgery can chime in with their experiences.

Welcome and let us know if we can be of any help or if we can answer any of your questions.

The rate of weight loss depends on the type of surgery. I had RNY gastric bypass and my weight dropped very quickly and I leveled off and went into the maintenance phase at around 7 months. Sleeve patients lose weight at a slower pace, experience many stalls along the way but can lose weight sometimes for up to 2 years after surgery and maybe more. I have no knowledge of the rate that DS patients experience. I also believe that BMI plays a role in the length of the weight loss phase. Those with very high BMI will lose weight for a longer period of time after their operations, provided they follow their dietary guidance from their surgeon.

I followed my discharge instructions. These read: "Wear your TED hose until activity is back to normal. Wear your binder for at least 2 weeks. Your binder is for comfort." The compression stockings (TED hose) was to prevent blood clots from forming. An abdominal binder serves many important functions, especially in the early postoperative stages of an abdominal surgical procedure. An abdominal binder provides compression and support to both the upper and lower abdomen. It helps to improve blood circulation and oxygen levels at the operative site, increases healing and reduces swelling. With all these improvements, the patient is able to get out of bed sooner and walk around more easily. This further improves breathing and promotes the healing process and a speedy recovery. I found that most of the pain was gas pain and walking significantly reduced the level of this pain.

Congratulations.

Since you are pre-op, I would recommend the following 3 steps: 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery. After surgery, I was pleased with my body image. It was horrible prior to surgery and improved significantly after surgery. This is a pre-op compared to 6 month post-op photo of myself.

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery almost 4 years ago. I had Type II diabetes prior to surgery and took 2 prescription medicines daily but these were still not keeping my diabetes under control. My doctor was recommending that I transition to insulin shots but I refused. I had the surgery instead. I was in the hospital for 2 days. When I left, I was off all my prescription medicines for diabetes and I have not taken any since. I periodically (around once per month) check my fasting blood sugar levels and they are fine. The surgery does not solve everyone's diabetes. For some, they only see a reduction in the amount of medication they take. This seems to be a function for how long they were diabetic. I had diabetes treated by medication for around 5 years prior to surgery. It seems that from reading past threads, that individuals that suffered for many years with diabetes and transitioned to insulin did not experience complete remission from this disease. So the sooner that your get this problem under remission the better.

After surgery, I found that I was not able to swallow medium to large vitamins. Therefore I had to crush the calcium tablets in order to take them. I mixed the powder with Crystal Light and drank them. Because the powder quickly turned into paste, I had to repeat the process several times in order to get them to go down. After a couple months I found that I could swallow again. It has been very easy to manage them after that.

I am not familiar with the term intussusception, so I looked it up. According to the internet: In adults, intussusception is usually the result of a medical condition or procedure, including: A polyp or tumor Scar-like tissue in the intestine (adhesions) Weight-loss surgery (gastric bypass) or other surgery on the intestinal tract Inflammation due to diseases such as Crohn’s disease So I thing the first step is to localize the root cause of the condition and then have that condition treated.

There are two phases to weight loss surgery. These are the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase. The strategy for these two phases are different. I am almost 4 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery and this is the approach that I am using in the maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

After my RNY surgery I was no longer able to take large or medium size pills because I could not swallow them. But after about 2 months I found that I was able to swallow them again. So I was wondering if you have tried recently. It is important to put a 2 hour separation between the vitamins that contain iron and those that contain calcium. So in my case I found that what works best for me is to take the iron supplements just before bedtime. I put my vitamins in a weekly pill container. I have one container for the morning and one for the night. And I use a very small glass bowel for my calcium supplements. I put my calciums in the bowl in the morning and take them throughout the day. If I am up and about I put my calciums in a ziplock bag and carry them with me.

I am sorry you are experiencing problems. I would recommend that you review your discharge instructions. The first two concerns that you expressed caused me to believe that you need to contact your surgeons office and let them know what is going on. My discharge instructions read: Contact your physician when: Uncontrolled or increased abdomen pain. Persistent diarrhea beyond the first week after discharge or more than 6 diarrhea stools in a day. [Having a bloody diarrhea -shooting blood - for 2 days should mean that you immediately let your surgeon know this.] So based on this, I suspect you have a complication that needs to be resolved sooner than later. As far as your third concern about bruising. This is normal. Also you have probably been taking a blood thinner to prevent blood clots after surgery. Blood thinners will make major bruising problems. You site of incisions will look very bad for around a month but then it should get better.

Welcome and let us know if we can be of any help.

Soup will do fine but I would avoid the pasta and rice. After my RNY gastric bypass surgery I found that softer foods (such as chili and soups) went down much easier than harder foods (such as steaks). So I made my own meals from scratch and fortified them with extra protein. I have included some of the recipes at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Many insurance companies require a body mass index of 40 or greater (or 35-40 when there is at least one co-morbidity related to obesity) in order to qualify for bariatric surgery. So the first thing to do is review your health insurance plan booklet and check their requirements. If you don't meet the plan's requirements, there are generally two options that you may want to consider: self-pay and changing your health care insurance provider.

I had RNY gastric bypass almost 4 years ago. The surgeon's office directions on vitamins were: * Three Flintstone's complete chewable multivitamins daily * 65 milligrams elemental iron daily for menstruating women * 1500 to 1800 calcium citrate daily. [be careful on this one because cited dosages on the bottles are generally by two tablets not on a single table] * 500 to 1000 micrograms sublingual B12 daily or 1000 mcg IM injection once monthly. * 100 mg Thiamine (vitamin B1) daily for one year following surgery and then weekly thereafter. Vitamin chemistry is important for absorption. Calcium supplements should be calcium citrate. There are also different chemistries of B12. I use the sublingual B12 and was told to use methylcobalamin. You cannot use a time-release version of B12. If you are taking iron supplements, it must be ferrous sulfate for the best absorption. Gummy vitamins are not absorbed properly and should be avoided. It is important to put a 2 hour separation between the vitamins that contain iron and those that contain calcium. So in my case I found that what works best for me is to take the iron supplements just before bedtime. I put my vitamins in a weekly pill container. I have one container for the morning and one for the night. And I use a very small glass bowel for my calcium supplements. I put my calciums in the bowl in the morning and take them throughout the day. If I am up and about I put my calciums in a ziplock bag and carry them with me.