catwoman7

I didn't have a hemotoma and I don't think I had that reaction to the blood thinner, but I guess that makes sense. Both of those are temporary (well, so are all of those things you mentioned...). I had the pulling pain - that only lasts a few days. Tiredness and weakness can go on for awhile - a month or two.

there are evidently changes in "set point" - although I'm not sure they're completely understood. They may be caused by changes in hormone balances and other factors. This article talks about it a bit. They think there's more to it than just physical restriction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485884/

Yes. The problem is most non-WLS patients wouldn't be able to sustain that for long. Plus, like Fluffy said, they won't have the advantage of the metabolic reset and temporarily losing their hunger.

yep - time to change PCP's! I had one who's not a fan - luckily, I had her AFTER I had my RNY. If that weren't the case, I would have found a new one.

complications aren't that common, and usually when you have them, they're pretty minor. I had strictures at four weeks out and eight weeks out (they almost always happen during the first three months post-surgery). Easy fix - and also, they happen to about 5% of RNY patients, making them one of the most common complications. I'd hardly call something that happens to 5% of patients "common", but that should give you an idea of how common complications are - basically, they're not. I think it seems like they're a lot more common than they are in reality because people post about them. People who have never had complications don't usually broadcast that fact, whereas people who *do* have complications sometimes post to get advice or support for dealing with them. as to your other concern, I had my RNY at age 55. Yes, I'm more wrinkled than I was when I weighed over 300 lbs, but I think I look my age now (I had plastic surgery for my body, but not my face - again, I think I just look like your average 60-year-old now. Before, I always looked young for my age)

here's an article about it. It lists both headaches and dizziness as symptoms: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/keto-flu-symptoms#symptoms

it's been a few years for me, so I can't remember exactly - maybe three or four days?

headache is from the carb withdrawal. Dizziness may be as well.

I eat those kinds of things occasionally - and in small quantities - now that I'm in maintenance, but I didn't when I was in weight loss mode.

chronic constipation is a pretty common problem among bariatric patients. A lot of us take a capful of Miralax every day. That usually works for me, but I still get backed up once or twice a month. When I do, I just do a night or two of Milk of Magnesia. other people take magnesium tablets, or stool softeners, or things like Smooth Move Tea. You just have to figure out what works for you and keep on top of it.

yes - it's typically done as part of a lower body lift.

You should be able to take normal doses of cold medicine as long as it doesn't have NSAIDs in it

I personally thought the pre-op liquid diet was the hardest part of the whole thing. It seemed to get easier after about the 3rd or 4th day, though - at least for me.

Following your program and tracking your food is critical to your success. At over four years out, I still track all my food and will for the rest of my life. I did not go through all this just to gain all my weight back.

45 lbs is a lot. I'd lost 28 lbs by the end of month 2, and I started out heavier than you.

yes it could be contributing - but don't forget that people lose at all different rates depending on all kinds of factors. Your low starting BMI is one - you're not going to lose as fast as those of us who started off at 300+ lbs. I'm not sure what other factors you have, but there are lots of things that influence rate of weight loss - age, gender, metabolic rate, whether or not you lost a lot of weight pre-surgery, etc. Most of this is, of course, out of your control. The one thing we CAN control is whether or not we stick to our surgeon's plan. If you stick to it, the weight WILL come off, whether fast or slow. I was a slow loser from the get-go, but I was very committed to the plan and ended up losing all of my excess weight.

mine lasted a couple of months.

I know everyone is different, but I had very little pain with my RNY (I'm not a revision, though). I thought plastic surgery was MUCH more painful.

a 30-40 lb weight loss the first month is the exception with "normal" WLS people. That's more common among people on shows like "My 600 lb Life", who start at way higher BMIs than most of us do.. I've been hanging out on this and other bariatric surgery boards for at least five years, and I would say the average loss for the first month is in the 15-25 lb range. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I started out at over 300 lbs. So I'm not sure where you've been reading that, but even though it happens occasionally with us more "normal" WLS folks, it is definitely the exception.

most people do lose some bone density after all that weight loss because your body doesn't need all that bone to hold up the weight anymore. That said, yes - osteoporosis/osteopenia can be a complication of WLS - esp the malabsorptive types. I have osteoporosis that was discovered two years after surgery. I have no idea if it was caused by WLS or not since they didn't do a baseline before surgery, but osteoporosis runs rampant among women in my family, so it could have already been there. I'm 60 years old. and yes - you can have osteoporosis/osteopenia that early. I have a 400 lb friend who has it (age 57), and a normal-weight friend who has it at age 62. Neither have had WLS. As I recall, my mother had it early as well. So although yours could be due to WLS, it may have happened regardless, too.

we're able to take a lot of meds. NSAIDs and extended release versions of meds are a no-go, but many others we can take.

that's not normal. I'd contact a doctor.

the first couple of years post-op I focused on turkey and vegetables and just had a tablespoon or two of everything else. I also brought pumpkin yogurt to eat (several yogurt companies make it this time of year) while everyone else was eating pumpkin pie. I've since found some crustless protein pumpkin pie recipes that aren't bad - although I haven't had them for Thanksgiving yet.

I've also read that silicone tape or gel can help improve scars. silicone products aside, I've read that other expensive creams don't really do any better than the cheaper ones. The idea is to keep the scar moist while it's healing, so my plastic surgeon said products with cocoa butter were good. I've also read Vaseline (yes, Vaseline!) was good, too.

my surgeon required a cardiac stress test for anyone over 50 years old AND for anyone who's had previous heart issues, regardless of age. So yes, I had it (I was 55 when I had surgery). It was pretty easy.