catwoman7

I'd personally let it continue. Most of us have a rebound gain after we hit bottom - 10-20 lbs is pretty common, usually during year 3. Some people even gain more. I purposely went below my goal to account for it, and I'm really glad I did, because yep - I put on 20 lbs during year 3 (have put on about 10 more since then, which I am NOT happy about...) and yep - I looked way too skinny at my lowest weight (esp in my face), but my fat shifted around after awhile and I looked much better. Then the gain started...I sure as heck don't look too skinny now!

it won't affect your stitches. It's in your large intestine - no stitches in that area. It's very common for it to take a week +/- for the first bowel movement - there's not much in there to come out. although that first one can be a doozy. Daily Miralax or stool softeners can help. just so you know, for some of us, constipation becomes a chronic problem. I think it has more to do with the high protein diet and some of the supplements (iron and calcium are the worst culprits) more than anything else. I have a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it. Others use magnesium tablets, stool softeners, SmoothMove tea - whatever works!

I had this issue about a year out from surgery and had a complete workup because it could be due to many things - orthostatic hypertension, inner ear imbalance, low blood sugar, even a UTI. In my case, everything from my workup came back completely normal, so they were baffled. But a couple weeks later, I was at a retirement party and ate a piece of cake. A whole piece - not just my usual one or two forkfuls. About an hour or two later - dizzy. Very dizzy. I told my PCP. She suspected reactive hypoglycemia, sometimes known as "late dumping". She said to try eating something about every three hours - a protein. Or if a carb, then pair it with a protein. I haven't had that issue in a long time, so in my case, that was likely the culprit. It's just that my glucose level might have been normal when I was there for the workup; thus, they didn't catch it. In your case, it could be one of those other things mentioned, too (orthostatic hypertension is pretty common - although that tends to hit pretty early out from surgery - although that could definitely be the culprit, too..) P.S. I just re-read your post. Since it seems to be happening when you're standing, sitting, etc - then it sounds like it might be orthostatic hypertension in your case. Hopefully you'll get some answers soon!

I think a maintenance level of 2100 kcal/day for someone 5'7" who's had WLS would only work for someone who was super active - or was blessed with great metabolism. A dietitian I worked with years ago told me people who've lost a lot of weight almost always need about 300 +/- fewer calories to maintain their weight than a person of the same weight and stature who's never been obese. I heard that again from a nutrition professor last summer when I was auditing a university-level course on weight loss and obesity. There's some scientific explanation behind that that I can't remember at the moment, but it's disappointing - but that's the way it is, evidently. that said, a couple of thoughts. First of all, you may or may not be done yet. After the first year, there were several times my weight loss seemed to stop and I'd think "well, I guess this is it..", and then I'd suddenly drop a couple of lbs. Also, you are very close to a normal BMI. Weight loss at that point is EXCRUCIATINGLY slow. I remember the last 20 lbs being a BEAR for me to lose. But I kept at it and finally got there.

yes - your loss will slow down considerably after the year mark (although a lot depends on your starting BMI), but I kept losing until I was 20 months out.

I'd ask if you're worried, but it may just be the blood breaking up or moving around in there. The green/yellow parts are definitely blood breaking down.

I took Colace occasionally right after surgery, but I haven't taken it in years. I do take a capful of Miralax every morning, though, because if I skip it for more than a couple of days, the constipation comes back..

I wouldn't make a huge effort to stop. I started freaking out when I got down into the 130s (and looked pretty awful, to be honest), but like so many people, after being there for awhile (my body kind of stopped on its own), my weight started heading up again. It's very common to have a rebound of 10-20 lbs after hitting bottom. That's one reason it's probably a good thing I got into the 130s, because after that rebound, I ended up where I originally wanted to be.

I agree with the others - we're all different, and several factors play into your rate of weight loss (most of which you have little to no control over), but that said, that sounds like a terrific rate of loss! You're losing it much faster than I did.

it's due to the trauma of the surgery + the ultra low calorie intake the first few months post-op. Your body has better things to do with the limited energy (i.e., calories) - like - heal itself. Hair is something that isn't at the top of its priority list. It'll grow back, though. I lost hair (although not much, fortunately) from months 5-9. In the grand scheme of things, it's kind of a minor blip on the screen. You'll probably feel that way when you get past it and have dropped a ton of weight. It's worth it in the end.

I have not although these days it's not that uncommon when someone has a re-gain (well, a somewhat major one, anyway - not 5 or 10 lbs. I do know of a couple of people who've had 40 or 50 lb re-gains who are using it, though). Obesity is a complex disease and it takes a multi-pronged approach to control it - and often for life. I see no problem with it as long as diabetics are able to get their meds, which as far as I know they ARE able to get it now.

my B12 is always above 1000 (I'm nine years out). My team never said anything until it once read over 2000. At that point, they just said to cut down on my supplements a bit. High B12 is pretty common with us and not really an issue. I've heard some WLS patients say that feel better when it's above 1000. High vitamin D would be more of an issue since it's a fat-soluble vitamin (the B's are water-soluble so not usually toxic when they get high). 119 isn't that much above normal range, though, so they may just let it go for now - but worst case scenario, they'll just have you cut back on your supplementation.

I was able to swallow all tablets but two (because of their size) as soon as I got home from the hospital. After about three weeks, I could swallow all tablets.

it's common - but not inevitable - for women of child-bearing age. It's because estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it's released during fast weight loss. People report mood swings and screwed up menstrual cycles because of it. But it's temporary.

I thought FMLA was up to the employer, not whomever did your surgery. Or did the surgeon's office have to sign off on something verifying that they expected it would take x-number of weeks to recover (??). It's been several years for me but I don't really remember - but it could be that my clinic had to state that I would require so many weeks to recover. My employer was the entity that granted the FMLA, though. But as far as the rest of your post, yes - I would think it might take more than two weeks to recover from the DS. The surgeon's office probably should have said that you might need up to (however many) weeks... although sleeve2bypass is correct - two weeks seems pretty standard. Although the vast majority of people have sleeve or bypass, which aren't as extensive.

other than walking, my primary warm weather exercise is biking, and my primary cold weather exercise is water aerobics so...both!

I agree with the others. No chance of stretching at all with water - it goes right through you. As far as food, it *could* if you constantly overeat - day after day after day - but other than that, no. It will be able to accommodate more food when the swelling goes down, but that's normal. If you follow your plan, you'll be fine.

you might! My first goal was 200, then 170, then 150. -- and I originally blew past that, too - down to 138 (for about five minutes, anyway...)

I don't - but it's not uncommon

hard to say, but since they were pretty recent, they may just request to see the files

they don't all require it, but personally, I would wait. It's super common to have a weight rebound of 10-20 lbs after hitting your lowest weight (and some people gain even more than that - but 10-20 seems pretty average), and I was told by a couple of my consults not to gain more than 10 or 15 lbs after plastic surgery, because I can affect the results.

I'm glad you called your surgeon, but I'm wondering if your system is having issues with carbs. Or at least certain carbs. I know carbs are hard on DS patients - they can get gas and diarrhea from them. I don't think I've heard much of anything regarding that with sleeve patients, but if it's happening after eating hummus, that COULD be what's going on.

this early out, most of us don't get calorie guidelines. You're eating far too little to really worry about calories. Most of us just get protein and fluid goals (and some get carb goals, if their clinic's plan calls for ultra-low carbs - mine did not). I didn't start considering calories until I was a few months out and could eat enough that there was a risk of consuming too many calories.

mine dropped super low after my surgery (to around 130) and nine years out is back up to what it was prior to surgery, around 180-190, which is still fine. I'm not sure if the surgery caused the rebound or if it's just my body settling back in to its norm. In any event, in my case the increase wasn't anything to worry about, since it's still within range. I wonder if yours could be partially age-related and not necessarily surgery-related? Not sure. (I just noticed your numbers - the ones I noted on mine are total cholesterol. Are your numbers (4, 5, etc) just reflecting one part of that? Or maybe they use a different scale in Australia..)

I had RNY rather than sleeve, but it's probably similar. I'm nine years out and can eat a "normal" amount of food, but my "normal" now is a lot different than my "normal" was when I weighed 373 lbs. Which means, no one now would guess that I had WLS. At. most they'd think I'm a "light eater", if they even notice at all. If I go to a restaurant, I'll often order an appetizer or a salad or maybe soup & salad. Or if I order an entree, I'll eat half of it and bring the rest home. If we go out for pizza, I'll have 1-2 pieces, whereas before I'd eat half a large pizza. This really is no different than most of my female friends who've never been obese. So it's "normal" eating. The way I was eating before surgery was not normal. Maybe that's what your doctor is trying to say. of course, it's possible for us to scarf up a lot more calories than that. Surgery basically restricts how much you can eat at one sitting. You will probably not be able to eat as much as you used to at one sitting. You will likely be stuffed after eating 1-2 pieces of pizza, for example. BUT...nothing but you will stop you from grazing all day. For example, you could eat 1-2 pieces of pizza at 5:00 pm, and 1-2 more at 7:00 pm, and 1-2 more at 9:00 pm - so in the end you would have eaten just as much as you did at 400 lbs. So that's why some people end up gaining a lot of their weight back - it they can't control their grazing. That's where the head work comes in. P.S. years ago when I was first contemplating surgery, the two choices were lap band or RNY (it took me ten years to finally get surgery - by then, the sleeve was on the scene, rapidly replacing the lap band). Anyway, at first I wanted the lap band because it was reversible. Some of the WLS patients I talked to said "why would you ever want it reversed? You'd gain the weight back". True. So I decided maybe that wasn't such a bad thing (although RNY technically IS reversible - it's just that it's a very complicated surgery, so they only do it in extreme situations). Anyway, I love my RNY and would never want it to be reversed, so I'm fine with the fact that it really can't be (or in my case, only in an extreme medical situation)