Daisee68

You know I have just started really thinking about this the last couple of days. I'm already 10 1/2 weeks out RNY so no going back now!! I am 47 and have been overweight my entire life (well since about age 11). I was started on cholesterol meds about 20 years ago and tried to get my weight under control then but never managed. Eventually I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and turned out a few year later I have a thyroid disease called Graves which is actually an autoimmune disease which attacks thyroid and makes it overactive (not the traditional underactive you usually here about). I had finally started losing weight and wasn't doing anything special and was thrilled - until my heart started beating out of my chest and I didn't have muscle strength to walk from my car to the office. Anyway, I digress. My point is, yesterday I was thinking about how will someone in the nursing home when I am in my 80's know that I need protein and vitamins? And you know what I realized? It is no different than if I was diabetic and they had to know not to feed me a lot of sugar! It I'd a different lifetime diagnosis to live with but it is a healthier one. See all those Co-morbidities just get worse. Diabetes is a progressive disease. My blood sugars would have gotten worse and meds would have increased, so one way or the other I am destined to a lifetime of taking something - whether meds or vitamins. (I will take Synthroid the rest of my life as they ablated my thyroid with radiation so there is no thyroid function.). This is a very personal decision and no one can make it for you. I had thought about this surgery off and on for years. I tried WW which worked but not long term because I never dealt with the head issues. Perhaps there's part of my surgery experience has been being referred for psych evaluation. The therapist is someone I am still seeing and is the best tool I have. The smaller stomach keeps me from eating too much but the things the therapist is teaching me is what I hope will mean my final lifetime change.

I don't know if it is necessarily the actual procedure that helps. You will see it said her often that they operate on your stomach not your brain so you can still have head hunger. Having said that, it is the therapy that is helping me with this struggle. I am still seeing my therapist and will continue ur to for quite some time. The surgery will physically prevent you from overeating in the beginning merely because it will make you sick but the stomach hunger will return and you will be able to eat more volume eventually. Ideally you will use the honeymoon period to change your habits and (as my therapist just said) you "conditioning". You are doing the right thing by seeking therapy. Don't give that up. It is the best tool in your arsenal next to the smaller stomach (or maybe even more than). Good luck on your journey!

Sorry but you have to find some protein shakes you can tolerate. It is very important to get protein in now and even more important after surgery. What have you tried? Premier Protein ready made shakes are good. They are thin and not gritty. You can mix some sugar free flavored syrups with it. There are lots of others. You can search for posts about them. Day 1 thru 3 are the hardest but if you can't find a protein drink, I don't see how you will get thru it.

I just thought it was my imagination that Benefiber made me worse. Glad to see I wasn't crazy!

I would think those things would still be covered because it is not the actual surgery but the maintenance of your health. They should be able to code them correctly. If not, maybe have it done by your PCP or endocrinologist and have them forward the results to your bariatric surgeon for interpretation if you are worried?

Yay!! So glad you are doing better! On the road to recovery!...

Totally normal feelings. Seek out a therapist as you prepare. Best tool in the arsenal

Try Zantac. Hunger is sometimes really acid reflux. Zantac has really helped me with that.

I wish I had a good answer for you. I am 10 weeks out and still really struggling with this but I haven't moved on to a lot if solid foods and have been taking pain med for a kidney stone. If you are taking pain meds, Dr can give u a prescription for something that helps with opioid constipation. If not, someone else suggested here (from her Dr) to take a dose of milk of magnesia followed by 2 Colace about 3 hours later. That has worked for me some but sometimes not. I even tried acupuncturist which helped but I stopped going to see him. You might try Milk of Magnesia and/or Colace if you haven't. Sorry. Uts a very common problem and hands down the worst part of this journey for me

I am so sorry! The same thing happened to me! (I have pre-op history of kidney stones.) I thought "man this gas is awful" and then finally realized it was a kidney stone not gas! (passed 3 within the first 3 days after surgery). I am afraid I don't have a lot of good suggestions other than drink as much as you can. You have to sip but sip very often - use a medicine cup and sip 1/3rd of it every 5 minutes. (Set a timer on your phone.) Stay on top of your pain meds. Walk as much as you can and try a heating pad or ice pack. Depending on the dose of pain med you were given, you may be able to double up on it. (I received 7.5mg hydrocodone but took 10 mg during that brief period when the pain was too bad.) If pain gets too bad from the stone, you may have to go to the ER and get a pain shot. I promise it gets better! Try to relax as much as you can. The more tense I got, the worse the pain got. Is anyone there to help with your kids? If not, can you call a friend to come help? I wish I had some better advice. Kidney stones hurt (I just passed another large one this week and it hurt for about 36 hours!)

@@leag78 - You need to find out a daily Protein goal from your NUT. How will you know you are hitting your goal if you don't know what that is? It seems to vary per NUT and per person. 60 g seems to be bare minimum, but mine has me trying to get over 100 if possible eventually. Right now I generally get 80-85g in at 10 weeks out but that includes 2 Premier Protein shakes a day with 30 g protein each.

@@Dub - wow that is rough! With insurance?! Do you not have max out of pocket cap on your insurance? Thankfully mine had a max out of pocket of $3750 so once I hit that it has all been paid 100%.

Yes even with insurance, the deductibles and co-pays are a lot. I'm sorry you are struggling. I don't have any ideas for jobs but just wanted to say hang in there. If you can pull it off, it is worth it. I hate to suggest this since you are so young, but have you considered a credit card that is just for health care like CareCredit? I think there are others, but that is the only one I know by name. Not exactly sure how it works but I have a friend that had to get one to get a lot of dental work done.

Between week 3 and 4 was probably my worst time. I don't know if it's because we become more active and therefore more tired or it's just a magical week 3 thing. I was so unbearably nauseated and talked to my surgeon and she said "it might just be a week 3 thing" which leads me to believe it is relatively common. I think there are quilted a few posts on here about the same time. Glad your your Dr isn't concerned. Just keep an eye on it and get some extra rest and keep drinking and eating what you can. It should pass soon hopefully.

I just had one in a shake at 9 weeks out. And only 1 ounce of it (about 1/3rd of the banana) I would say it is way too soon for you to be having that. The muscle cramps are likely from dehydration not lack of potasium. How much fluids are you drinking?

Yep definitely too big of bites and too fast. I am 10 weeks out and did it just last night. You could also try a baby spoon.

@@linzlou2000 well said and completely agree.

Call the dr. Sometimes they can give you a prescription that will help. Otherwise, I had success (sometimes) with a suggestion from another poster which was dose of Milk of Magnesia at 7 p.m. followed by 2 Colace at 10 p.m. Sorry to tell you this but at 10 weeks out, it is still an issue for me. I am trying Miralax now. This has been the worst part for me honestly.

​Nope. Not once. 1 week of only liquids. Dr. required it and figured she knew better than me. Besides you have to start following rules eventually. Might as well be one that might prevent surgery if you don't.

@@gbveteran4d - are you 6 weeks out or 6 months out? I am 10 weeks out and no way I can eat that stuff nor would my dr want me to.... Please be cautious with advice like that for those of us who cannot tolerate such things - especially bread, rice, Pasta, pizza, etc....

A few other suggestions - 1) I add in a tablespoon of protein powder in to my yogurt to bump up the protein (and thus the car to protein ratio is different); 2) eat just half the container in 1 day - again cutting down the carbs. 3) I have used Fage plain yogurt with additions as suggested above like Torani Sugar Free flavored syrups and/or teaspoon or so of sugar free pudding mix (the powder) and/or jello powder and/or protein powder. This way you can make your own flavors. Having said all that my favorite is Danton Light and Fit Greek either Strawberry Cheesecake or Key Lime.

​I have the same issue. I really hope this isn't the rest of my life. It is SO miserable. I bought some Miralax today but I hope I don't have to take that forever. I am only 2 months out and haven't added much veggies / fiber so maybe once I add that it will get better. I take BariActiv multi-vitamin (not the same as Bariatric Advantage) and it is without Iron. I do take an iron supplement and generally only take it every other day. I haven't had my first blood work yet, so hoping I will be one of those that doesn't need the iron (especially since I had a hysterectomy a couple of years ago so a little less risk for anemia).

​The only way I could do it this early was to use a 1 ounce medicine cup and set a timer for every 5 minutes and sip 1/3rd to 1/2 of the medicine cup every 5 minutes. I would do this for an hour or so at a time just to get some liquids in. I even did this with broth. I would put my broth in an insulated cup with a lid (like a travel cup for coffee) and then portion it out in the medicine cup. Remember that broth and popsicles do count towards your Fluid intake. Also, maybe try hot tea or iced tea? I got some decaf green tea flavors from Republic of Teas and poured them over ice, and that really helped me.

Can you not have pureed foods yet? Fat free refried Beans with some spices in it and cheese melted on top was really satisfing. Also the Ricotta Bake from theworldaccordingtoeggface.com website is really good and made me feel human again. I also liked hummus and low fat pimento cheese (a southern thing you may not have heard of if you aren't from the south). Oh also Swanson makes some broths that are really good - Mexican Tortilla Soup and Thai Ginger. If you are still on liquids, those might help. (I found them at Walmart though I am sure some other places carry them.) Hope that helps! Hang in there!

I had a long answer typed and then I somehow deleted it. Dang it! I was out 2 1/2 weeks and have a desk job but really wish I had taken longer. Remember this is not about whether you can physically do the job but more about getting used your new lifestyle. My first week back was brutal and I ended up having to take off mid-week and try again. Week 3 and 4 were just really tough for me. They may not be forever (though it seems Week 3 seems to be a pretty consistently tough week). If I could do it over, i would take 4 weeks. Now I was working from home within a few days of surgery but even then I wish I had taken that first week completely off.