JamieLogical

For some reason, that part never scared me. If I never woke up from the surgery, how would I know? Coming out of general anesthesia really does suck though. It's so disorienting and you feel very out of control of your own body. Really hate that sensation. Luckily, it doesn't last long.

Are you on a PPI for stomach acid? I was prescribed one by my surgeon immediately post-op, but I have read that many people confuse excess stomach acid for hunger if they aren't on a PPI.

Congrats! And thank you for hanging around here and helping new people and providing your excellent wisdom and advice. We don't see many vets posting daily still and it really is a huge help and inspiration.

That is awesome! These are the real reasons we need to lose the weight. Numbers on a scale are so meaningless compared to moments like that.

Excess skin is a real possibility when you lose large amounts of weight. There are a few things you can do to try to reduce the severity of it, but a lot of it is also just luck and genetics. While excess skin does suck, it pales in comparison to carrying around 100+ pounds of excess FAT. You should be basing your decision to have this surgery on your health and quality of life, not cosmetic/superficial reasons. If you have this surgery for the right reasons and end up with excess skin, plastic surgery is always an option down the line. A few things you can do to try to reduces the likelihood of excess skin: Drink LOTS of Water. You should do this anyway, especially post-op, but good hydration is good for your skin. Moisturize daily. There are a lot of options out there. It seems like moisturizers with shea butter are highly recommended. Take supplements. Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beef Gelatin, and Biotin can all benefit your skin. Strength training. Building muscle in the areas where you've lost fat can help "fill out" your loose skin.

Ack! I forgot to list my B12! I use a 500mcg liquid B12 spray daily.

I hope to God people are still taking Vitamins a year out! That's a lifelong thing. You'd be crazy to stop! You don't suddenly stop needing vitamins and minerals just because you reach your goal weight.... Here's what I take daily. Many of these things I took for years pre-op as well: 2x Bariatric Multivitamin - I use the brand recommended by my nutritionist, Vitaleph. The recommendation is to take 3 per day at different times, but I cut down to two a day one I was confident I was getting a reasonable amount of nutrients from my food. 1x Probiotic - Also recommended by my nutritionist. I take Insync brand. 1000mg Vitamin C - Been taking this for years, but I was told it can also help with skin elasticity as we lose weight. 200mg coq10 - Been taking this for years, as recommended by my PCP, for my carpel tunnel. 1000mg Omega 3 - Been taking this for years because I don't eat fish. 1000iu Vitamin D - Been taking this for years because I live in Rochester, NY where it's cloudy and cold like 90% of the time. 2x Citrical Maximum - Started this post-op at the direction of my nutritionist. Used to take 2x Tums daily, but my nutritionist recommended calcium citrate (Citrical) over Calcium Carbonate (Tums). She also explained that I should take my calcium separate from my Multivitamin, because Iron and calcium compete for absorption. So I take my Calcium at night and my multivitamin in the morning and afternoon. Edit: Forgot to list my 500mcg liquid B12 spray, which I use daily.

If heavy periods continue to be a problem for you, you could always look into options to curb or stop it with your OB/GYN. I'm on Seasonale, which means I only get my period every 3 months and when I do, it is very light. I know there are other options available that will stop it altogether.

I know it's probably of little comfort to you right now, but nearly every single one of us goes through this stage of "buyer's remorse". I absolutely promise you will get past this. You WILL lose more weight (we all go through stalls). You WILL be able to eat the foods you want to eat again. You WILL feel NORMAL again. Your periods will get back to normal too. Is it true that you maybe didn't do as much research as you should have? Maybe. But that ship has sailed. The good news is, pretty much everything you are experiencing right now is temporary. In a few months you will be rocking your sleeve, losing weight, and feeling great. Hang in there!

Looks like we were both sleeved around the same time. I was sleeved Sept. 1, 2014. I was doing really well with my weight loss and maintenance (reached goal right before the 1 year mark) until just recently. I have been very sick the past several days and have pretty much done nothing my sleep and eat. And it's already showing on the scale. I've definitely turned to food for comfort since I've been sick and that was a habit I had hoped to be well rid of by now!

I had plastics in Mexico BEFORE I was sleeved. I had lost 90 pounds "on my own" back in 2010/2011 and had plastics in August of 2011. I had an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift with augmentation, all over lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. All of that together, with a two week stay at a recovery house cost me about $10,500 (not including air fare). I am sure the costs have changed some in the past 4.5 years, but that will give you a rough idea at least. I used Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas, who was excellent. She took fantastic care of me. She came to check on me every single day in the recovery house and corresponded with my PCP for my follow-up care once I was back in the US. I was very pleased with my results. My tummy tuck even held up through my 80 pounds weight re-gain, before I was sleeved and has held up well through my re-loss as well. My stomach is still tight and flat and I feel amazing. I can send you pics of my scars if you PM me. You can see general pics of me in my gallery. My lipo and fat grafting obviously didn't hold up through my 80+ pound regain and re-loss, but the tummy tuck looks great still. I do plan to go back and have a thigh lift and possibly some new lipo/fat grafting done within the next year or two, now that I am sleeved and at goal. The recovery house I stayed at was called Beauty Care Recovery House. They had 24/7 nurses on staff who did literally everything for me. In the early days they even showered me and helped my use the toilet! They provided all of my meals to my specifications (gave them a HUGE list of foods I wouldn't eat). They took fantastic care of me and I never for one moment felt like I needed to fend for myself. They even took me to the beach one day towards the end of my stay. Oh, they also provided me with slippers and robes to wear during my entire stay, so I hardly had to bring any of my own clothes.

I think that one reason people struggle to keep the weight off is that their metabolism gets wrecked. Some people are still one eating 600 calories a day at 6 months out. That might help them lose weight faster, but it means that if/when they ever get back to eating more normally, their body stores those extra calories more. I really think that trying to get in more calories sooner is a way to save your metablism. You should still focus on protein and healthy fats, but especially if you exercise regularly, you need to be eating enough calories to sustain your activity level.

Everyone is different. I have a desk job too. I went back to work 15 days post-op and it was still rough. My main issue was fatigue. I was so tired by the end of the day that I just went to bed as soon as I got home from work for the first week or so. I didn't really turn corner until I was on soft foods at 17 days post-op. Since you are going through OCC, you will probably have the same food stages as me, so you might have the same problem of lack of energy until you move up to soft foods and get more calories in.

@@tmcx28 It gets much easier. It seems like forever at the time, but the difference between weeks one and three is night and day. The difference between moths one and three is unbelievable. Just hang in there. Focus on getting your water, protein, and walking in. And make sure you get the rest you need.

Depends on the fiber source. If it's chicory root extract, maltodextrin, polydextrose, or other prebiotic fibers, that could be the cause of your discomfort. Prebiotic fibers are known to cause bloating, gas, and other digestive distress. The flora in your intestines is very sensitive and can react differently to different types of prebiotics. If the fiber is true dietary fiber, then it shouldn't be causing you these types of issues.

Slide foods are foods that go down very easily, so things with a high liquid content or things that dissolve quickly and easily in Water. Think of when you eat a cheeto, how dissolves in your mouth before you even swallow it? That's a slider food. Probably the best example of that would be cotton candy. So, chips, cheetos, some crackers, breads and cakes. Then super liquidy foods like Soup or ice cream or milk shakes. Things that really do just pass right through your sleeve so you don't experience any restriction. Early on, like just a few weeks post-op, things like soup and yogurt and such do fill you up, due to the swelling you still have in your stomach. But once you are several months out and all healed up, you will see that stuff like that just goes straight through.

I've only been sleeved for 15 months, so I am not as far out as you're looking for, but I will say that the rate of loss is pretty hard to control. I was a "slow" loser, but still reached goal (down 71 pounds) by my one year mark. Certainly, in the early days post-op, there is a real physical limitation to how many calories you can get in. You'll be luck to get 400 calories a day during the liquid phase. So you will probably drop a lot of weight then. Once you have more control over your diet and can eat solid foods, you might be able to get in enough calories to slow your loss. I personally tried to push myself up over 800 calories a day as quickly as possible, just because I felt like I needed that much to not feel tired all the time. Then I pushed up over 1000 so I could start more intense exercise. I reached goal 3 months ago and I've still continued to lose a bit, even though I don't want to anymore. It's tough to find the right balance and to increase my calories without resorting to eating/drinking junk.

Yeah, you should definitely slow down and take it easy. Walking is good, but maybe only do about 10 minutes at a time. I actually just did a lot of marching in place. I found it made sipping my Water easier. My first couple days back at work (15 days post-op) I literally just went to bed as soon as I got home. You need to let yourself heal and recover. Being up and moving around is good, but you need to know your limits and not push yourself too far too fast.

I would definitely see a doctor. While I agree that soda is a huge no-no and you shouldn't be drinking it, it might have nothing to do with your current issues. Out of curiosity, do you eat Quest Bars? I was experiencing terrible gas and loose stool when they made the switch from isomalto-oligosaccharides to soluble corn fiber as their main ingredient.

The fatigue is a real issue the first few weeks. You are healing and recovering from major surgery, which obviously consumes a lot of energy, and you aren't getting many calories in. I promise you that it WILL get better. Once I was up around the 600-800 calorie mark once I was back on solid foods, I felt pretty human again. Once you can get up above 1000, you should be able to be active and work out intensely and still have energy to live your life.

You won't lose 50 pounds with the sleeve if you don't have 50 pounds to lose. Sleeve just offers restriction, the same way band does. It doesn't starve you to death. There is no reason you won't be able to eat enough calories to sustain a healthy weight, barring any complications.

I am 4 weeks post surgery. And i seem to be having a lot of trouble with some foods. So my biggest concern is trying something new and then getting sick while out. Making some sort of dip is probably safest. Yeah, I wasn't on solids until 40 days post-op and definitely things were hit and miss around the 4 week mark. I am thinking that, so early out, it might be wise to bring something you know you can eat yourself.

Ha! That is pretty clever! I'm a Doctor Who fan, but my husband isn't so it wouldn't have occurred to him to do something like that. It is perfect, though!

It sounds like things are going fairly well right now. I think you are right to be cautious, but also right to be hopeful.

How far out from surgery are you? If you are able to eat solid foods, you shouldn't have any problems. I've yet to attend any kind of party post-op where there wasn't at least SOMETHING I could eat. Even if it wasn't something I would normally eat, like chicken wings. There is always some sort of protein source... I've had chicken wings, chili, bean dip, crab dip, a hamburger patty with no bun, a french dip sandwich without the roll... If you find yourself low on protein because there weren't enough high protein options, just drink a shake when you get home.