gmacy

I am 5 weeks post-op now ... the issue I struggle with is when I take my Protein supplement (shakes), I usually get explosive diarrhea about 1-3 hours later ... I have tried different versions, removed milk, tried soy milk, almond milk etc ... not too much fun ... has anyone else experienced this? does it pass? do I still get the protein absorption if I have the diarrhea later? Thanks.

So I am five months out from gastric sleeve ... It has been great as I am down 120 plus pounds ... This past week though I noticed if I eat anything with fat I start to get severe cramping shooting pain in my upper abdomen and into my back ... Bilateral but a little worse on the right side ... I don't normally eat food with much fat as I don't want to slow the weight down gain. I am in Florida for a course this weekend though and my wife and I had calamari with dinner last night ... No Bueno as the cramping was horrible then more pain and nausea ... After fifteen minutes I had to leave the restaraurant and go back to the room I thought perhaps just that dish but then I had crab cakes (one) at lunch today and the same symptoms but not as severe I realize this is likely gall bladder stones ... How quickly do I need to address these? Is surgery the best option? Can I push that off by avoiding fat or will it worsen regardless?

Thank you for the reply ... I am fine with having the surgery ... I am just hoping it isn't something I need to deal with immediately and give me a chance to schedule it with regards to my work schedule. If I can "manage" it for a couple of weeks then that would be ideal, but if I need to plan getting it out ASAP then I need to plan for that. Is there any harm in waiting for a more ideal time in a couple of weeks and avoiding rich/fatty foods until then OR will it get worse and potentially rupture like an appendix ?

Can a good rule of thumb be that as long as I am not having pain or n/v I am eating the right stuff ?

typically getting dizzy when you stand or get up from lying down is called orthostatic hypotension ... it can be a sign of dehydration ... I would touch base with your surgeon and primary care physician to be safe

sounds like you are doing awesome ... one thing I did early on was to make a decision to weigh only once a week ... same time and same day ... for me, that is Monday morning when I wake up to get ready for work ... this eliminates a lot of the day to day frustration of weight fluctuations, helped me with my family as they know that is when I weigh so they aren't constantly asking

in theory I could also, but, I don't ... as the others have stated, you will waste calories on something your body is going to be able to use as efficiently ... plus, it will throw your metabolic cycle off ... stick to proteins and you will stay closer ketosis and burning adipose tissue for fuel ... 2% cottage cheese is my breakfast ... not the best, but, it doesn't upset my stomach after my vitamins ...

it is a weird feeling ... I am a dentist and I see people all the time that I haven't seen since before my surgery ... I am down 109 lbs in 4 months, and, I get that a lot - wow, you look a lot different .. most of the time I can play it off that my wife won't feed me anymore, but, some still press and I explain the change ... fun times!

Prior to surgery, I was a fan of daily probiotics to keep my GI system happy and immune system hopping .. of course, the crummy diet also played a big part in why my stomach was upset to begin with, but, now that I am 4 months post-op, I have tried adding probiotics back to my regimen with mixed results .. I usually get some nausea after taking them during the course of the day vs. a day when I don't take them .. I wondered if anyone takes them and what your experience has been?

for me, I have found that I have to take Prilosec daily ... if not, I get enough heart burn that feels like nausea at times ... as long as I keep that going regularly, stay hydrated - the nausea isn't too bad ... I am 4 months out, but, there are still times when I get nauseous ... Phenergan or Zofran helps for those times ... otherwise, you may want to look at what you are eating ... I am now lactose intolerant and some protein supplements have enough milk proteins to give you some nausea ... you may want to check that out

agree with the others ... it really depends on the person ... each body is different ... I have found that if I stick to mainly Protein coupled with exercise 5-6x a week, I lose more ... initially the weight loss was closer to the 1-2 lbs a week for me, but, I think some of that was due to me adding muscle mass, but, lately, it has been faster ... depends on the person and the body Celebrate your success ... that is awesome what you are doing ... a few things that help me is that I only allow myself to weigh once a week ... same day and time each week ... that helps ... also, when I am getting bummed, I pull out a pair of jeans that had to squeeze into before surgery and remember how far I have come! keep up the great work - you are doing awesome!

what kind of symptoms did you guys experience with the gall stones? I had the surgery just under 4 months ago and I want to know what kind of stuff to watch for ... I have heard those can be an issue and kidney stones due to people not getting enough Water.

that is no bueno ... how will the diagnose the issue? I could see an ulcer due to the higher level of acids ... were you on any antacids like Prilosec?

I had the sleeve completed almost 4 months ago ... prior to the surgery, I didn't have a ton of issues with heart burn, but, I certainly took antacids after certain meals and usually 3-4 times a week. I don't believe they corrected a hiatal hernia for me as I didn't have one. My surgeon had me on a script for Omeprazole for 3 months as a normal precaution for all of his patients, but, now that I have finished that, I find that I am experiencing heart burn at times ... even after a light Breakfast like cottage cheese? Has anyone experienced this? Thanks.

Thank you for the fast reply .. I agree on medications ... I don't mind taking them, but, at the same time, I would love to not have to take them if I can avoid them ... one of the best parts of having the surgery is reducing the amount of medication I am taking overall ... I take a heck of a lot less than I did before ... I haven't taken any Tylenol, advil or any pain meds since the fourth day after surgery ... crazy as it sounds, even my allergies are a ton better ... I am not sure if that means I had a gluten issue that I never realized, but, I certainly don't miss those! I have read on these forums about it getting better for some people further out from surgery. I am a little over 6 months out and it hasn't gotten better for me. In fact, within the last month or two I started taking two 20mg doses a day, after having only initially been taking one after my prescription ran out. I'm still hopeful it might get a little better by the time I'm close to a year out, but if it doesn't it's not the end of the world to have to take a couple of pills a day. I'm already taking a ton of Vitamins and supplements anyway!

Thanks - I touched base with the surgeon ... they want me to try OTC first ... I mistakenly bought some prior to my surgery thinking I needed to buy it and not realizing it was a RX they were going to give me, so, I am going to run through that first and then re-evaluate it. Has anyone seen this get better with time like some other side effects do?

Thanks everyone for the feedback ... I wasn't sure if it was best to stay with the prescription, go with OTC meds or if this was a rebound effect after going with a smaller stomach and coming off of the meds ... the silly part is that I had my 3 month post-op like 3 weeks ago, but, I was still on the prescription and wasn't having any issues! You just have to love the timing!

Same issue for me ... I started having issues about 3 weeks out ... apparently there is enough milk Proteins in most Protein shakes (both powder and RTD liquid) to cause issues ... I have managed to get past it with the help of Lactaid chewables prior to the Protein shake ... that helps 90% of the time ... not always but the vast majority of the time ... sometimes the reaction would get worse at times, but, it has helped. Currently I do 2 Protein Shakes a day ... EAS Myoplex with Lactaid around mid afternoon split over 2 hours and then an Isopure in the evening ... Isopure RTD drinks cause me no issues at all and have no milk proteins good luck ...

I had the sleeve completed just over 3 months ago ... 11/24/14 to be exact ... things are going well for me and my surgeon is very happy with me ... pre-surgery I was 336 and I am down to 247 as of yesterday ... I am working on incorporating new vegetables to my diet, but, I am unsure what to go with and also had some other general questions ... my typical day consists of the following ... Vitamins and 2% cottage cheese in the morning (shoot for 1/2 of a cup of cottage cheese) chicken breast for lunch ... ideally 3-4 ounces, but, closer to 2-3 probably ... usually with some cheese, raw bell peppers and onions EAS myoplex Protein shake split up over 2 hours midafternoon (this has 42 grams of protein so I spread it out over 2 hours to make sure I get all of the protein) Isopure RTD Protein Drink for dinner ... I typically drink half of this prior to going to the gym and the other half after the gym lately, I have been trying to add some vegetables at night ... I really enjoy mini carrots, but, I have to be careful to chew them really well ... bell peppers are good - I know I could do spinach, but, not the biggest fan of that ... what about celery? also, at what point can I start to take advil? Thanks for any help you can give me

that is great news - one of my favorite Snacks used to be celery with some Peanut Butter ... I will give it a go ... thanks.

I admit the taste of most of these is lacking ... and, I have only tried 3 kinds ... apple melon, orange and peach mango ... my go to is the apple melon and orange .. I usually order them in a 12 pack off of Vitamin shoppe.com since I am an hour away from the nearest store, although GNC carries them and will sometimes give you a deal peach mango was pretty rough, but, I want to try the alpine punch and grape, just haven't yet and I don't like to try too many new things for me, they work really well for my dinner ... I typically will drink half of one on the way to the gym in the evening and the other half after my workout ... remember they have 40 grams of Protein and our body can only process 20 grams in one hour according to my NUT. So, you want to try and spread them out over 2 hours ... which, doubles the fun but, for me, they go down way easier than the Protein shakes and I get much less nausea afterwards ... plus, they are only 120 calories with nothing but protein - that is hard to beat.

So I am 7 weeks post op from the gastric sleeve ... I have worked to be diligent, but, I am facing the challenge of lactose intolerance and it is still hard for me to get the Water down that I am supposed to. so far, I have lost 60ish lbs ... which, I know is great, but, I am bummed this morning as I only lost 4 lbs this past week ... I don't cheat, pretty much eat only Protein (get close to 100 to 125 grams of protein daily), lift weights 3 days a weeks and cardio 6 days a week ... I know about the 3 week stall and I experienced that, am I just being too hard on myself, will there be weeks like this where I don't lose as much? I know everyone is different, but, what is a realistic goal to lose each week pound wise .... is 4-5 lbs great or should I expect more? Thanks everyone for your continued support.

one question for everyone though ... I felt like I hit a literal wall yesterday where I had little to no energy for the majority of the day ... I haven't felt that tired since week 2-3 ... is that normal? after taking a nap for a couple of hours and getting some more Protein in, I started to feel better, but, that really sucked and I didn't feel much better until close to 3-4 pm

weekly update ... lost 6 lbs this past week ... down to 267 ... I have tried to eat some new foods, but, for the most part, staying to the following script daily - Breakfast ... Vitamins and cottage cheese (shoot for 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese, but, probably closer to 1/4 cup depending on how full/nauseous I get from the vitamins) - lunch ... grilled chicken, fresh bell peppers, guacamole, ranchero Beans ... usually a small amount of each with an emphasis on the chicken OR salmon with mashed potatoes - afternoon ... typically like to take a EAS Myoplex shake ... 42 grams of Protein - I try to spread this over 2 hours - dinner ... usually an Isopure zerocarb drink (apple melon is my favorite) ... I also try to spread this over 2 hours last week I tried adding some raw peas as a dinner snack but that didn't sit well with the stomach, so, I am going to try fresh spinach this week workouts are 6 days a week ... 25 minutes of cardio and weights m-w-f .... 45 minutes of cardio (elliptical) Tuesday and Thursday ... then I run/walk on Saturday ... stretch daily and rest on Sunday

I am very early in the process, so, some veterans may be able to answer this better than me, but, I know to try and always hit my protein goals as I would rather fill up on protein vs. carbs/fats ... doubling your protein will certainly change your diet and may boost your metabolism ... if you are doing that much exercise, your body definitely needs the protein in order to build the muscle