catwoman7

it's hard to say because everyone's tastes are so different. I like Syntrax and Unjury products. you could always pick up a bunch of individual packets from somewhere like GNC or Vitamin Shoppe so you're not blowing a lot of money on a huge tub of something that you end up hating. If you don't have one of those stores nearby, you can order online from either them or amazon (Syntrax has a variety pack of individual flavors). Bariatric Pal store may carry them as well.

hormone release is pretty common after surgery. It can last a few months...

some people become lactose intolerant after surgery - some temporarily, others permanently. It's possible that's what's going on with the dairy products.

yes. I lost pretty rapidly the first six months or so, then it slowed down quite a bit. Once I was a year out, it REALLY slowed down - like to maybe 2 lbs a month.

I continued with cortisone shots for the first few months after surgery, but then stopped. I just didn't hurt much anymore with all that weight gone (my arthritis is in my knees and right hip)

it varies tremendously from person to person. I lost 16 lbs the first month. I would say most people lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range. Of course there are those who lose less or more than that, but I would say (just from observation from hanging out on bariatric boards for the last five years), that that's about the average range. I learned really quickly NOT to compare myself to others. After losing 16 lbs the first month and being a slow loser the whole time, I would have been very disappointed had I done that. Just stick to your plan and the weight WILL come off, whether fast or slow. I was very committed to my program and ended up losing all of my excess weight.

I bought everything (except underwear and swimsuits) from Goodwill and other thrift stores until I hit maintenance. I was blowing through sizes so fast that it just wasn't worth buying new things.

yes - those last 20 lbs are a real b*tch to get off. It took me FOREVER to lose those!! Not sure what to tell you other than to keep at it...

I haven't heard or read about that...but this article suggests it can happen after upper abdominal surgery and anesthesia (I don't know - and maybe the researchers don't either - if it's the surgery or the anesthesia that causes it. I can't see the whole article, so...) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2360740 update: I have access to my former university's databases (retired staff member), so I just looked up the article (we had it - yay!). Basically, they don't know what causes it. There are several factors they considered (post-surgical trauma, endocrine reactions, anesthesia, use of opioids for pain following surgery), but any one of those factors is probably not likely to cause it. It's probably some combination. They weren't really able to figure it out and suggested further research on this. They did say that in the patients they studied, REM sleep (when you're most likely to dream) was greatly diminished for a couple of days after surgery, but then in the middle of the week post-op, it goes into overdrive for a few days (and again, they're not sure what exactly is causing that). But yes - it sounds like what you experienced does happen to some people)

I've heard the same things that RickM mentioned - they work well for some, but not for others. Also, deficiencies often don't show up until you're out at least a couple of years. Your body has stores of several nutrients that it can use for awhile, but eventually, they'll be depleted.

RNY patients can take either sublingual B12 tablets (but not regular tablets) or B12 injections. VSG patients are not as prone to deficiencies, so you may be able to take a regular tablet. But if not, I would think sublingual would work for sleevers as well since they're fine for RNY'ers (who again, are at greater risk for vitamin deficiency).

Two Good is pretty good.

hey they got the rest of us on that table! And into the hospital bed, too! Don't worry - Dr. Now's patients are all 600+ lbs, and they get them on the table and into the bed, too!

it's not just early out - for some of us, it's a chronic thing. I also take a capful of Miralax every day. And if I still manage to get backed up (which happens once or twice a month), I take Milk of Magnesia for a night or two to clear it out.

I'm still pretty obsessed with anything related to bariatric surgery and I'm over four years out! But then, reading about it every day and checking into a couple of these internet forums every day keeps my head in the game, so I won't give it up. I'm afraid if I didn't keep it front & center in my brain at least an hour or two a day, I'd stop being so disciplined and my weight would start to creep up.

actually, bypass is pretty well known in Europe, so I wouldn't be particularly worried about that piece. complications aren't very common, and when they do happen, they're almost always minor. I had a stricture when I was about a month out, which is an easy fix. I was told that it happens to about 5% of bypass patients, so it's considered the most common complication. I'd hardly call something that happens to 5% of patients "common", but there you go. Suffice it to say, complications just aren't all that common. You can also get vitamin deficiencies, but those usually happen to people who aren't consistent with taking their vitamins. The one exception to this is iron deficiency. Some people just don't do well on oral iron and have to do infusions. But again, the vast majority of us do fine on oral iron supplements. I guess you could call dumping a complication, but only about 30% of RNY patients dump. You can avoid it by not eating a lot of sugar at one sitting (which we shouldn't be eating *anyway*, so...) I'm not sure what other complications you've heard of - but anything outside of what I mentioned are pretty rare.

when I was in the hospital they had those things on my legs that a machine "massages" continuously to keep blood clots from forming, but once I was out of the hospital - no. I didn't have compression stockings.

all of my consults charged a fee. They were something like $100-150 for each one. I can totally understand this as you're taking an hour of their time, and there's no guarantee you're going to go with them. I can see why they wouldn't want to spend a huge chunk of their day seeing people for free who may not even become patients of theirs. They'll usually apply the consultation fee to your surgery if you decide to go with them. I don't think it has anything to do with confidence as two of my consults were with nationally-known surgeons who work with massive weight loss patients. People come from all over the country to have surgery with them. that said, if you're really opposed to these fees, then go see what #1 and #2 have to say. If you're not crazy about either one or they have wildly different ideas on what needs to be done (and some do...), then it might be worth it to pay a fee to a surgeon #3 for a tie-breaker if you really can't decide. my first two surgeons had very different ideas on what to do with me. One was nationally known and the other an up-and-comer who seemed very competent and had done a boatload of these surgeries. I was kind of thinking it might be better to go with the nationally-known one, but I wasn't 100% sure. So I decided to go to a third surgeon, also nationally-known, for his opinion. I knew his quote (not the consult fee - but his quote for the surgery) would be way more than the other two because he's known to be pricey, but I figured it was worth the $100 to at least get his opinion so I could decide between surgeon #1 and #2. Well, I liked him so much I ended up going with him, although that's another story... most surgeons put the LBL scar below your underwear line, so I wouldn't worry about that. You can't see mine at all if I have my underwear on - and even then, it's SUPER thin, so it's not obvious even when I'm clothes-less!

all the stuff you have to do is very common. It bugged me at first, too, but it gave me a lot of time to thoroughly research the surgery and the requirements of post-op life, practice habits I'd need for after surgery, etc. I felt very prepared by the time I went under the knife. The six months ended up going quickly, and I'm now grateful for them.

you'll lose weight quickly at first, but eventually (timing depending on how much weight you have to lose), you'll slow down to the more typical 1-2 lbs a week. BUT...you'll lose as long as you stick to your plan. And you won't fail if you're committed to your program and follow the rules. The most weight I'd ever been able to lose pre-surgery was 60 lbs - which I promptly regained. There were many times I lost 20 or 30 lbs - only to regain. This was the only thing that "worked" for me. btw - I lost 16 lbs the first month, then 10-12 lbs a month for maybe the next six months, then 5-8 lbs a month until I was about a year out. Then it became outrageously slow - maybe 2-3 lbs a month - until it stopped.

I never had one of those cards, but I've heard not all places accept them. Not sure if there's anything you can do about it if they're not going to accept it. A lot of places don't really have kids' meals we can eat, though - hotdogs, chicken nuggets, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I looked at kids' menus a lot early after surgery (thinking I could at least ask for one of the meals), but I rarely saw any that would "work" for me.

no - I wasn't given any.

yes. Very normal.

as long as you're following your plan, you should be OK. I had a few stalls along the way but didn't stop losing until I was 18-20 months out.

I think that's pretty common when making the decision to have surgery. I, too, thought I could try once again to lose it on my own, but I leveled with myself. What would make this time any different from the other 1000 times I've done it? Losing weight and gaining it back was pretty much the story of my entire adult life. Weight loss surgery was the only thing that ever worked for me. I'm glad I had it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!