catwoman7

my sense of taste intensified for awhile after surgery - sweet things tasted sweeter, spicy things tasted spicier. I haven't noticed that in a long time, though - not sure if it went away or if I just got used to it. But to answer your question, I don't remember being bothered by non-hot spices, like cinnamon. It was more the hot ones. Like hot peppers in various Asian dishes. I can eat them again now, but for a few weeks or months, they were too hot for me.

I had weird spatial awareness for awhile, but fortunately, I never hurt my toes! But I remember always being surprised when I actually fit through things...

5'6".

I had gastric bypass 7.5 years ago. I love my bypass and would make the same choice if I had to choose today.

it's hard to say. I would lose weight on 1500 calories (albeit slowly), but some people would gain. I've been in maintenance for several years (and have been hanging out on bariatric boards for about eight years). I know people who can maintain on 2000 calories, and others who can only eat 1200. You can always experiment with different calorie ranges and see at what point you lose, at what point you maintain, and at what point you start gaining. That's really the only way to do it other than the RMR test that someone above mentioned. at any rate, 1500 calories isn't that much. Some people do gain on that, but then, you're pretty tall so I'm guessing you'd either maintain or lose on that much. also, the closer you get to a normal BMI, the slower weight loss becomes. That's just a fact. 1200 calories is super low, unless you're short or have an incredibly low metabolism. Most people can't really sustain that forever. Personally, I'd give up the ghost on that one. As I said, even 1500 is pretty low for most people....sustainable, but low. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're gaining on that. for the record, I can maintain on 1500-1700 calories. If I'm doing some heavy exercise, I can go up to 1800 or so - maybe even higher.

plans differ. My clinic's plan was balanced and they didn't give a hoot about carbs. Never mentioned them at all. Although honestly, you take in so few calories the first few months and the protein requirements are so high, that if you follow the plan you can't really take in that many carbs *anyway*, due to the protein requirements. The first few months I rarely went over 80 carbs a day - and I don't think I ever went over 100 (I do now...but then, I'm several years out from surgery)

screwed up menstrual cycles seem to be very common in the first few weeks or months after surgery. It's supposedly due to the fact that estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it starts flooding your body during rapid weight loss. It'll stabilize once your weight loss slows way down. a couple of people mentioned Depo-Provera. I don't know about the side effects after WLS as I didn't have WLS until I was post-menopausal, but I was on Depo when I was in my 30s. I gained about 45 lbs on it, and I switched to another birth control method after my ob/gyn couldn't guarantee that the weight gain would eventually stop. It has to do with its effect on hormones.

it seems to happen to most of us. My size didn't change, but I went from a wide to a medium. But a lot of people go down a size - or a half size - too.

yes and I still use them when I eat yogurt! Just become I like them. I got mine at Target.

I just used vacation and sick leave - but then, I wasn't out for very long. Most people are only out for two weeks - some even one week.

eggs are a problem for a lot of people in the first few weeks/months after surgery. So is chicken - in that case, it's the dryness. Haven't heard as much about the others, but you may be able to eat all of those at some point. Are you able to eat things like tuna that comes in a can or pouch? Maybe something soft and/or flaked might work (??). Or some kind of sauce on the meat to cut the dryness? If not, you'll probably eventually be able to eat all of that again at some point - the first few months after surgery can be touch & go with food.

I started taking them as soon as I got home from the hospital. The only one that bothered my stomach was my vitamin B complex capsule, but that was just temporary. A week or two later I was able to tolerate them.

looks like the standard BMI range. The PA at my clinic said bariatric patients often look 10 lbs lighter than they are because even though we lose bone and muscle along with fat, you're always going to have more bone and muscle than someone who's never been obese. You needed that "infrastructure" to hold up all that weight - and even though you lose a lot of it while you're losing fat, you're still going to have more/heavier bones and muscles than someone who's always been normal weight. So long way of saying, my clinic is fine with people who end up "overweight" or "class I obese" (which is actually not very obese - we're talking like 20 or 30 lbs). They'd consider that pretty normal.

the OP is a bypass patient - not sleeve. Not taking vitamins isn't an option for bypassers due to the malabsorption.

I think you pretty much have to with bypass because of the malabsorption component. Sleevers don't have malabsorption, so it may be different for them (depending on the person and their labs, of course...)

I've never taken bariatric-specific vitamins, other than samples I've gotten, but check on the package for how many you should take. I've seen some that are once a day and some that are two. Not sure if I've seen any that are 4x a day, but if that's what the package says, then that's the recommended dosage. It really depends on the brand. And again, it should list the recommended dosage on the package. regular drug store/grocery store vitamins (like Centrum or Flintstones Complete) you usually take 2x a day - but again, bariatric-specific vitamins vary. P.S. I do take B12 (sublingual) and vitamin D supplements. Oftentimes bariatric-specific vitamins include a higher dosage of these than drugstore vitamins do, so you may not need to take a separate supplement for them - but check with your clinic. also, the above commenter is correct - sometimes your clinic will change your regimen based on your lab results. If your levels are low on some vitamin or mineral, they'll have you start taking more, and vice versa.

yea you're right - I didn't think of that. The fiber could have done it, too.

there seem to be a lot of different pre-op diets. Mine was strictly ultra-low cal (or no cal) liquids, 4-5 protein shakes a day, plus sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles, and a limited amount of tomato juice and broth (I think a cup of each). But that was two weeks. Some people are allowed to have a small dinner with regular food, but I was not. Hopefully you'll be able to since you have to do it for four weeks. Mine was just for two - thankfully!!!

it might be - although that usually involves heart palpitations, sweating, and dizziness. Diarrhea for sure - nausea is less common (I know you said you had a couple of these symptoms). Sugar or fat is what normally sets off dumping (sugar is more common). This bar didn't have very much sugar in it, though - so I'm not sure if this was dumping or not. I'm thinking it could also be a reaction to whatever artificial sweetener they use in those bars. I've heard of those kinds of reactions to various sweeteners, too - esp sugar alcohols (those whose names end in -itol - like xylitol or maltitol. PS Just looked those bars up - they do have xylitol in them, so it could have been that, too.. https://healthfully.com/xylitol-sweetener-side-effects-5965019.html

I don't feel "full" the way I used to. Like ms.sss, I just feel tightness/pressure in my chest. When I start feeling that, i know I'd better stop or I'm going to be sorry. Some people have even weirder fullness cues - like sneezing or a runny nose.

it's been a few years for me - and I honestly don't know that person any more (i.e., me!). I'm always shocked when I see how huge I once was..

as long as you stick to your program, yes, you will lose weight. As I mentioned above, I lost 16 lbs the first month, around 12 lbs the second month, and gradually less and less as time went on. But I remained very committed to my program and eventually lost all 235 lbs of my excess weight (so, in other words, lost 100% of my excess weight) (have since had a regain of about 20 lbs, which unfortunately happens to most of us after hitting our lowest weight. But that's fine - I'm happy where I am)

nope - "normal" WLS patients do not lose that much that quickly. Maybe if they started off at 600 lbs, but otherwise, no. You might find some "normal" WLS patients ("normal" as in starting off in the 200s or 300s - and maybe low 400s) who lose 30+ lbs the first month, but even that's not common - and they certainly wouldn't keep up that pace after the first month. I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for the eight or so years, and just based on posts I've read (which have been thousands), I'd say most of us lose around 15-25 lbs the first month, then about 10 lbs (give or take) a month for a few months - then it drops to around 5 lbs - then 2 lbs......then eventually stops. as far as not losing any weight the last 1.5 weeks, you're in the infamous three-week stall that most of us experience. I just did a search on it here on bariatricpal for you just a second ago. Here are the 17,501 (and no, I am NOT kidding) posts on the three week stall for your reading pleasure: https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall

20 lbs in four weeks is great. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I started out well over 300 lbs. Unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", a 20 lb lost during month one is pretty normal.

that's pretty common. Usually it gets better over time. I bought two coccyx cushions - one for my office chair and one for my car. I retired four years ago, but I still have one in my car for when I take long trips (and I'm over seven years out...)