Daisee68

I think a lot of people struggle with that. I certainly did. One of the better pieces of advice I received was to try to focus on changing behaviors instead of just focusing on the diet. For example, start with cutting down on sodas for 1 week, then next week cut them out, then next week add not drinking with a meal, then the next week add not drinking for 30 minutes after a meal, etc. All the habits you have to do after surgery. You will also feel accomplished as you tackle these and those will lead to (perhaps) cutting down on some of your foods. Also, the very most important one (to me) was tracking. Not everyone tracks, but it is truly key to my success. Start now and write down EVERYTHING. I mean every single bite. Even when it is not the right bite. It really helps you see where you are. And what @@KristenLe said - writing down emotions is good - even if just one word on your food logging app. Hang in there!! It's a marathon not a race! Start with tiny good habits and then build on them.

@@CowgirlJane - Honestly, I would even list them now. Lots of people are cleaning out their winter stuff and people looking for discount stocking up for next year. Give it a try. You can always remove the listing if you don't sell them in the time you want.

You may just need a different med for a while to get it under control. I have been taking a PPI (pantoprozole) since surgery. Hoping I can go off at my 1 year visit but not sure yet. Will let you know what my dr says. Meanwhile, you might inquire about getting a prescription for pantoprozole (brand is Protonix) and take it for a 3 week round and see if it resolves.

I find that mine changes. Some things taste horrible one day and not so much the next week or month when I try them again. I struggle more with texture issues (for example - any meat that is too chewy - I have spit out more than once - gross!)

I think statistically, it is actually lower than 20%. I am 11 1/2 months post-op RNY - I do not dump. (You will see people posting on here that they ate too much and dumped and vomited. That is not dumping. Dumping involves shakes, sweating, etc caused by food moving too quickly through your system - not being full and having to have it come up.) I initially wanted sleeve but had very bad acid reflux the day of my first consultation and the surgeon said sleeve could make that much worse and RNY would be a better option for me. I walked away dead set against RNY but after a lot of research and thinking, I finally came around to the idea and am so glad I did it!

What @@VSGAnn2014 said. My only fear in "heavily dieting now" is that like so many of us before, that intense dieting can send you in to a tailspin and make you want to have your food funerals. After surgery you have to really understand it is not a "diet", it is a new lifestyle. The very best thing you can do though is make a lot of those changes Ann mentioned. Try to do 1 and then add 1 per week (still doing the ones you did the prior week). I agree that loosing some weight will help with the surgery, but try to start focusing on life changes instead of just any sort of crash dieting. (Not sure if that is what you meant or not, so forgive me if I misread you.) I did eat less and started tracking and lost 15 pounds in my 3 months pre-op then 12 pounds on the 1 week liquid diet. It did make the procedure easier for sure but boy did I have some monster struggles and reality checks during those 3 months and was super glad I went through them without actually being hard-core dieting and then running off the rails.

28 days??!! Holy cow! Girl, that is tough! I only did 7 days and that was hard enough! I think I would call the dr to see if you could eat at least once per day. 28 days of liquid only is a bit extreme. Other than that, lots of broth (Swanson's makes a Tortilla Soup broth that saved my life!), lots of sugar free popsicles, pudding and/or yogurt will help if you are allowed those. Which Protein shakes are you drinking? Make sure it is something you like that you can make thick enough to stick with you for a while. But yea, I would call and ask the dr to be a bit less restrictive. Even one small meal idea (even if just chicken breast) would save you.

@@bellabloom - I am so sorry you are dealing with this and my response is a bit off topic, but I wanted to mention something. Have you ever been tested for autoimmune diseases? The reason I ask is that many of your symptoms sound like what I had when they discovered I had Graves disease (and likely Hashimotos but long story on that). Graves is when your immune system attacks your thyroid and you become Hyperthyroid (not hypo which is what you hear most people have). it was discovered when I was 44 and still at 320 pounds. The thing is, I had massive hot flashes, sweating, sudden weight loss, tremors, heart palpitations, etc. With Hashimotos, your thyroid will swing wildly back and forth between hyper and hypo and some of your symptoms sound hypo (hair loss, cold, low heart rate). (I too swung back and forth which is why I think mine was also Hashimotos but they had already destroyed my thyroid before testing for Hashis.) Anyway, all to say, is it at all possible there is something else going on in your body? A good rheumatologist can run a lot of tests but if it is thyroid related, they will refer you to endocrinologist. Might be worth checking out.... Best wishes on your recovery.

@@bellabloom - Was just thinking about you the other day and wondering how you were doing. So sorry to hear this update. Hope you are able to seek good treatment. Hugs!! Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

Some noise is completely the norm after the surgery. (I am 11 1/2 months post-op and was just sitting here listening to the noises after I just ate dinner.) It is not always this loud and sometimes it has more to do with thirst than hunger and find that drinking some Fluid will quite it. I will say this though - at about 2 months or so out, I felt like the noises changed and were really obnoxious. Actually woke me from a dead sleep more than once! Turned out I had a stricture (scar tissue had grown making the opening in my stomach small) which they easily fixed with a balloon dilation through an endoscopy. I do not know for sure the particularly loud noises were associated with the stricture, but I think they were - it was the slow draining of the stomach - and while I still have noises, they are not the same. I say all that to say, if you feel like it has changed quite a bit, you might give your dr a call. One thing that seemed to help though was lying on my left side. (Not really sure why that helped but it would be quieter than when lying on my back.)

I also had the glue - no stitches to remove (same with my hysterectomy). Pants did not hurt - after the gas pain subsides (but that has nothing to do with the scabs)

I see most here use myfitnesspal. I use Livestrong/My Daily Plate. I had just used that one in the past so I was already used to it. The other one I have heard is LoseIt.

IGNORE - apparently these are not readily available anymore

For smoothies, definitely need a NutriBullet (or I think mine is the Ninja something..) I also bought an immersion blender though which was very useful in pureeing some soups....

I'm so sorry! That really stinks! Someone at the dr's office really let you down by not filling you in on all the requirements. I am sorry you have to find a new dr but hopefully the office staff will be more competent. Make them give you the requirements in writing.

@@transmformme - Congrats for losing so much pre-op. And this is the last thing I will say on the subject, but my personal trainer (post-op) told me I should be consuming 1800 calories. Ummmm.... no. I had a nutritionist who was pushing high carb, low Protein, low fat post-op. Again... no. Just realize that there are a lot of folks out there that mean well but are not educated on the matters of WLS and how it affects our bodies. Best of luck to you

@@proudgrammy - LOL! I know I was so excited when I thought I found something new today! Only to be let down... @@4MRB4PHOTO - Actually I was thinking the same thing. @@Inner Surfer Girl - Well, the one I found on Sam's Club (which is sold out and apparently no longer sold) was 18 to a pack instead of only 12 to a pack for a similar price, so it would be cheaper. I found them on Amazon too but it is not from Amazon and it says the boxes are crushed on the corners and no one else carries it (that I could find) so Premier must have stopped making them. Shame. That would have been nice and convenient - 8.25 oz/ 100 calories / 18g Protein. If you find them anywhere, let me know...

@@transmformme - All due respect, nutrition after WLS is different than your typical nutritional counseling generally done to lose weight before WLS. I am not saying Dr. Nick's office doesn't provide this (in fact, the NUT I use is a phone consult and also does same for Dr. Nick's office so I know it is available). BUT I also know there are many who do not consult a NUT for post-WLS surgery eating plan and are not successful. Apologies if you took offense to my response. Only trying fill you in on my friend and why she failed going through this office....

Don't be afraid to ask. It is all a little confusing. And honestly, some of it, you just won't be able to figure out until after surgery. Your stomach will be swollen and getting in very much at all will be tough in the first few days. As @InnerSurferGirl says, liquid will go through your stomach fairly quickly once the swelling goes down. I would suggest making your shakes very small in the beginning. They aren't very good (depending on what it is) if they sit around for a while. In the first few days, it is very likely to take you a long time to drink even 8 oz. Work on 8 oz at a time and take little sips. In my first week, I used a medicine cup which held 1 oz of Fluid and then had to drink that in 2 or 3 sips. If I downed the whole 1 oz, it hurt in my chest. If you need to, set a timer for every 5 minutes to remind yourself to drink and then you will finish about 4 oz in an hour. This is pretty much for the first week and then it gets easier and you can drink more at a time. When someone is saying they can drink their whole shake at only 2 weeks out, they are not (surely) meaning they gulped that whole amount down in one gulp. They are probably meaning they can get it done in 30 minutes if they work at it (drinking small sips albeit larger than the sips taken in the first week). I remember around Day 10 or so asking if it was ok if I was suddenly drinking so much easier. Nope. Totally normal. (Even though at 11 months post-op, I still do not gulp. If I do take 2 big sips, it hurts in my chest for a minute before it all passes through.) One more thing - check with your NUT on what you can put in your shake that early out. I was instructed not to use fruit until a little way out. Hope that helps!

I want to try to ride a bike. I know that seems simple enough and I know I have lost enough know that I can, but I still live in fear a lot of people staring at me! So silly. I need to get over it. I really wanted to swing in a swing at the children's playground. (Sort of a silly one.) I did that about a month ago and smiled from ear to ear! Today I walked to the grocery store and picked up a couple of items and walked back home. It is only 1 mile to the store, but here in Texas, we drive EVERYWHERE! I kept thinking people would be staring at me since I was in workout clothes and had my earphones in but I just sucked it up and walked in. Funny thing is, I know that people are not quite as interested in looking at me as I think they are....

Anyone else bothered by this statement? I mean, I know the people mean well and I am VERY open about my surgery, but I must admit, this is the one comment I am really having a little trouble with. I checked in at a hotel last week on business and they asked for my ID, and the clerk looked me up and down and finally said "Are you sure this is you?" Um, yea - why would I carry around an ID of some random 330 pound person? Guess it is time for a new drivers license... Anywho, I know I will get used to the comments and I know they will even eventually stop completely, but in the meantime, when I look in the mirror, I still see the same face staring back at me (although much thinner/bonier face) so it is hard to hear that I do not look the same to others. Perhaps because I was in complete denial about how I looked in the first place nearly 140 pounds ago... PS - Anyone ever stare at their ticker and think "surely there is a mistake and that cannot be mine?"

@goplay94123 - Completely agree re excuses! I have so caught them saying something I said and just shook my head. It was a true reality check that I was lying to myself! I also find myself rooting for these folks (most of them anyway) and realize that must be what it is like for my friends and family each time they see me with time in between and are so shocked but so rooting for me too!

@@Elode - you look amazing!! I have my consult this Friday. Need to start making a list of questions!

Try a heating pad. That helped some. Also try the "child's pose" (I think it's called) from yoga. Basically kneel down on your knees then stretch out your arms on the floor with your stomach pressed against your knees. That will sometimes help to release the gas. Lastly, have you tried gas-x - strips or chewables. They definitely help. Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App