Djmohr

Hi there & welcome! I had RNY bypass nearly 16 months ago. I chose to do it because I was diagnosed with stage 3 chronic kidney disease. I was already dealing with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, very severe Gerd, psoriatic arthritis and severe osteoarthritis of the spine. My decision was initially about getting healthy. I chose bypass because it was the best solution for someone who has Gerd. The sleeve can make that worse and in many cases create it. Lap and was not even in my decision tree for the very same reason. I have lost 136lbs. I am about 8lbs from goal and am no longer overweight. For the first time since I was 19 I have a normal BMI. My diabetes, Gerd, high blood pressure, high cholesterol all gone with a month or two of surgery. My only regret is not doing this sooner, before I did so much damage to my spine and joints. I am 52 years young and have had 6 back surgeries and looking right in the face of 1 more. Don't wait, run as fast as you can to the nearest Bariatric center of excellence. Call your insurance company, they can tell which clinics are centers of excellence that are covered. They will also share with you the requirements. Be prepared for a period of supervised diets, most insurance companies require them. These surgeries cost a lot and you really only get one shot at it. They want to make sure you really are prepared to make changes in your life. Use whatever time your insurance company requires to start making changes now. It will help you be more successful down the road. Having this surgery is the best thing I ever did for myself. Don't wait!

No, love cheese eat it everyday. I will say that in the first couple months (I did not eat cheese at that time), I was a bit lactose intolerant but that seemed to go away at about month 4.

The biggest issue early on is dehydration. Once you really get a handle on this, your skin gets much better.

I have not had any problems and was worried about this going in. I was told if we stay on top of our Calcium and Protein and get regular check ups it should not be a problem. I go to the dentist every 4 months for cleanings and checks and my gums actually improved.

I was not asked to lose any specific number. I was simply asked to start changing habits and the weight would fall into place. I was asked to do the liver shrink diet for 10 days before surgery and I lost 13lbs. Then of course gained all that back being in the hospital for 2 nights. It took about a week before I lost that weight and started seeing new weight come off.

There is nothing more than patience and following the plan. I have had many stalls and tried many things. Your body simply needs time to adjust. It is worth the wait!

I swear this has everything to do with hormones but I don't know this for sure.

I am all about balance. My nut taught me from the very beginning that you need to focus on a balanced plate of food. Fruits and vegetables are a part of that balanced plate. I use myfitness pal to track my Protein, calories and carbs. I know exactly where I need to be consistently to lose weight. I will soon figure out where I need to be to maintain. I think maintenance for me will be somewhere around 1300 calories, less than 100 grams of carbs and between 70 and 85 grams of protein, not in that order. I do try to select good carbs everyday but I also have to be realistic, there are times when I do indulge. Those Cheezeits or a tiny piece of cheesecake once in a while is not going to kill me.

Are you getting all of your fluids? If you are dehydrated, that can make you feel generally yucky. If it goes on long enough you can get very ill.

@@newjrny85 Hi and welcome! Congratulations on your surgery. I hope that you are recovering well. I will be honest, I was so focused on getting rid of my comorbitities that I initially wasn't even paying much attention to his much weight I lost in that first month. In fact I had not started tracking my food intake until I had already lost 36lbs. At my month 1 check in I was down around 20lbs. But remember I had 145 to lose. I lost the first 13 on the pre op diet and gained it all back in the hospitals from all the IV fluids and swelling. I do remember being upset that I had gained weight. Then I found this site and learned so much about WLS. When I had questions or concerns this is where I came. I hope that you continue to join us. We have a great group of supportive people on this site.

Did your surgeon give you a meal plan? 13 days out from RNY I was still on full liquids. I started puréed foods in week 4 and remained on puréed foods until week 8. Every surgeon is different, but I would be very concerned that you are pushing too much into your new pouch before it has a chance to heal in the hopes of feeling full. You should not feel hunger at this point at all. You could literally survive for several weeks on nothing but liquids. I know that probably isn't what you want to hear but it is the truth. If your doctor gave you a food plan you must follow it, if he/she didn't. Call them immediately and get one. I would hate to see you have a serious complication because you are pushing too far too fast. Oh, and you do need Protein. Applesauce is not worthless but must be eaten with the right other foods. My puréed diet included a balanced approach which actually included applesauce. Your doctor needs to provide you with specific instructions. Call them a sap.

I had a huge addiction to Diet Coke and lattes. For me I suffer from severe migraines and my neurologist wanted me off all caffeine. This was before my surgery and it took me about a month but I slowly weaned myself off the caffeine. At that point I was still drinking soda very occasionally, caffeine free of course. When I say occasionally, I mean maybe once or twice a month. Giving up soda became easy after giving up the caffeine. I do recommend weaning to avoid nasty headaches. Also it would definitely be the thing I would work on first. You don't want to go through both caffeine withdrawal and sugar withdrawal right before surgery. That would suck!

Yup, for me it was all about the Protein. A minimum of 1 gram for every inch you are tall. If you focus on that, the rest will fall into place. Drink lots of Water.

I am very sorry that this is happening to you. There are a couple things to remember, not every lump is breast cancer. Over the years I have had many and they can be very scary. I learned after the first one not to panic and make myself sick. Second if it turns out to be cancer, it is better you find it now and deal with it. Having Bariatric surgery is already risky enough. You want as clean a bill of health as you can get going into WLS. In terms of bingeing. You now recognize one of the major behaviors that you have to stop. Clearly you feel worse now than you did before you ate all that junk. We all have days that make us want to run to Burger King or the gas station. Sometimes it happens but you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start fresh today. I hope that this turns out to be nothing and you can move forward. Hopefully you will get the test done soon so it will give you the info you need to move forward. Good luck, we are all here for you if you need help.

I noticed it right away as well. It really irritated me. Now maybe we are just sensitive to this but I remember thinking, losing weight however you need to lose it is what is important. Apparently there will always be the misperception that having surgery to help you lose weight must be the easy way. What an absolute joke. Apparently you go in today and tomorrow voila, you are skinny with little to no work on your part!

You're eating a thousand calories a day. Could you double that if you wanted to? Do you think you could physically do it without resorting to eating junk food? The difference is, I am still in weight loss mode. I do believe I could certainly increase my intake significantly without resorting to junk food. I could be wrong but when I get to maintenance which will be very soon, I will have to eat more frequently because of my restriction but overall will stick to healthier options. I clearly don't drop weight like you do and we are all different. I don't believe I will ever be able to eat 1800 or 2200 calories consistently and not gain weight. I stop losing when I hit 1300 calories a day and I stall out and linger there for months at a time. I have to drop below 1000 for me to lose and I need to stay there consistently, As I said, I am not sure what your current situation is but it sounds like you need help to get a resolution from a nut or Doctor. I know clearly I have no advice based on my experience and I do think everything you have shared over the past months your situation is clearly not status quo. If I were in your shoes, I would be concerned about any more weight loss as well and I would personally seek out my Bariatric team for help.

I agree, something here does not make sense at all. I wonder if you either have a serious medical condition or a serious eating disorder. You are the only person that can actually make yourself eat and timely. It has to become your priority if you want to stay healthy in the long term. With RNY you really do get your hunger back, I am not sure why that hasn't happened for you but I am guessing when you are hungry, you are ignoring it because you are busy. If you don't want to keep dropping weight you need to pay attention and act on it. It sounds like you can pretty much eat whatever you want without the repercussions of weight gain. The only issue is some foods you dump on and others that would likely make you dump, you don't. I will say that I have met many RNY patients who still dump many many years later so I am not convinced at all that ever stops completely. They just learn how to live with it differently. The same is true about the malabsorption factor. I met a guy that had RNY 15 years ago. He eats small meals all day long because his body still malabsorbs. He looks great, still has a lot of restriction which requires that he eats small amounts all day long. I know my pouch is definitely on the small side which means to get to my Protein count and about 1000 calories a day, I have to eat 3 good meals a day and snack in between. I have to really concentrate when I eat or I might just eat a tiny amount and be hungry a short time later.

The fruit will likely make her dump. I am not sure what you would need to do but it sounds like you must make eating the priority regardless of how busy you are. If it takes you literally grazing all day, that may work for you. What does your doctor or nut think?

I need a massage so darn bad right now! 2 back surgeries in 6 months. I have been terrified to do it because I look like a sharpei dog, wrinkles and loose skin everywhere. I thought it would gross out a masseuse! Your story inspired me! I may simply have to do regardless of how wrinkled I am. Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations on your new body!

As for the question about snacking. My restriction is significant, I could possibly come close to my Protein goals if I did not snack. Also, the further out you get, you want most of your protein to come from food and not supplements. I will say that I personally use milk a lot as my Snacks, usually with tea added to it. However there are times when you just have to have something crunchy or salty. Apples and nuts do the trick for me. As you get further out from surgery making good choices gets much harder. I have a pretty good Arsenal of snacks that keep me within my protein and carb goals.

Have you tried adding whole grains back into your diet? They are good carbs that may also increase your appetite. Brown rice, barley, quinoa......

Definitely sounds like gallbladder. Call your doctor.

Pay attention to your body, if you think you are hungry try drinking some Water. If you are still feeling that hunger 30 minutes later try a cup of fat free milk. This will fill you up as it turns to a solid when it hits your stomach. Head hunger is when you think you are hungry but you really are not. I know for me this still is one of the toughest things to deal with even 15 months post op. I drink a lot of fat free milk which provides both Protein and Calcium. I use different teas like chocolate chai brewed in milk in the evenings. It is tasty, fills me up and provides other benefits. Besides water, and Protein shakes tea is the only thing I drink.