catwoman7

the stats are slightly better for bypass (for losing and maintaining weight), but they're not particularly significant. You'll find people on here who've been very successful with both surgeries (and unfortunately, you'll also find some who didn't do so well..). Honestly, your success is far more dependent on how closely you follow your program than it is on which surgery you choose. If you're willing to work hard and follow your clinic's rules, you'll do well with either surgery. you'll have to take vitamins with either surgery, too. There are greater consequences if you slack off on vitamin-taking with the bypass, but that shouldn't be an issue if you keep on top of those. And again, you'll have to take them with either surgery (there's one person on here who doesn't have to take them anymore because her labs are always really good (she had sleeve), but that's kind of unusual...most of us have to take them for life, even sleevers) there are some medical conditions that make one surgery more appropriate for your situation than the other. For example, if you have acid reflux issues, bypass is the better option, since there's a risk that sleeve could make that worse (whereas bypass usually improves if not outright cures it). But if you don't have any medical conditions that would make one surgery a better option, then it really comes down to personal preference. They're both good surgeries. with either surgery you probably won't be able to drink fluids as quickly as you do now (it's more like sip - sip - sip), but for most of us, that is temporary. I don't think I drink any slower now than I did before I had surgery.

I take normal-sized bites. I didn't the first few weeks or months out of surgery, but I do now.

it may have to do with blood sugar. Starting about year 3, I started having occasional dizziness that I couldn't explain. Had a complete workup at the doctor's office. Nothing. Everything normal. The next time I noticed it, It was about two hours after I had a piece of cake. I mentioned it to my doctor - she thinks it was probably reactive hypoglycemia, which sometimes happens in RNY patients (not super common, but it does happen to some). She thought that my glucose level just happened to be normal at the time I had the workup, so it didn't jump out at them. She recommended I eat something every three hours - preferably a protein - but if I eat a carb, to be sure to at least pair it with a protein. That seemed to have done the trick. At least for me. That may not be going on with you, though - you might want to check with your doctor.

I've had the ones they had at Aldi awhile ago (different brand, but same idea - chips made with popped corn (they were called Flex Popcorners, I think) - plus they had added protein (I think 10 grams of protein per serving (22 chips - 130 calories)). I think they were a seasonal item since I haven't seen them lately. I liked them. I didn't eat them every day -- just occasionally when I wanted something crunchy and salty. I just made sure to work them into my daily calorie range. (i"m several years out and don't worry about carbs anymore - I mostly just focus on protein and overall calories at this point)

it could also be some carb you're eating - or some artificial sweetener. Hard to say - but it's probably something you're eating

it's been a few years for me, but I think I was able to sleep on my side (my preferred position) at about three weeks out.

oh - and recovery is pretty much the same for both surgeries. So are the eating plans. there are some medical conditions that would make one surgery more appropriate than the other (e.g, people who have GERD - bypass is a better option for them), but if you don't have any of those conditions, then it's really going to come down to personal preference. I love my bypass and would make the same choice if I had to make that decision today, but we have sleevers who are just as enamored with their sleeve and would choose THAT again if they had to make the decision today. It's a tough decision...but both are good surgeries and you'll find people who've had great success with both.

we have people on here who've had great success with both surgeries. Yes, statistically the bypass yields somewhat greater weight loss than the sleeve (but we're talking 70% vs 65%, so it's not THAT significant), but stats are stats - you have people who fall on either side of those percentages - including people who lose 100% of their excess weight, and people who lose 30 or 40 lbs and then gain it all back. Honestly, I think your ultimate success has a lot more to do with how committed you are to your plan than which surgery you have.

very common. It could take up to a couple of months before your previous energy is back. 8000-10,000 steps a day this soon after surgery would probably be overkill for most people - if it's wearing you out, I'd cut back. Your body needs a lot of energy to heal. You'll be back up there soon enough...

I worked with the pre-op classes in my clinic for about three years (until COVID hit and they went online). Yes - tons of people have their surgeries in the 300s. It was unusual to see someone who appeared to be 400+ (I saw maybe a handful the whole time I did it - and I don't think they were *much* over 400..or didn't appear to be. Certainly no one approaching anywhere near the size of the folks on "My 600 lb Life"). I'm guessing my clinic had a cut off, but I'm not sure what it was. I was over a 60 BMI at my heaviest, so I think my surgeon had a slightly higher ceiling than yours. Whatever they're comfortable with, I guess. But yes - I imagine at some point they refer patients to someone like Dr. Now, who specializes in high risk bariatric surgery.

a lot of surgeons recommend you wait a year after surgery for the reasons Arabesque mentioned.

pain should be gone soon. If they sent you home with pain meds, I'd keep taking them to keep on top of the pain. I'd give it another day or two...

I would say that's a "soft food", not a puree. So you may have to wait a couple more weeks.

sounds like you have some good ideas there...

hormone issues are really common the first few weeks after surgery. I was post-menopausal when I had my surgery, so I have no experience with this myself, but a lot of women report having screwed up menstrual cycles when they're early out (and moodiness, too). It'll eventually stabilize.

with the lack of hunger thing - take FULL advantage of that ! Your hunger will eventually come back (mine came back at five months out), and things got A LOT harder after that. It's so much easier to stick to the plan and lose weight quickly when you're never hungry and don't give a flip about food! So I personally would not cave and start eating fast food. Just eat according to your plan. it sounds like you're craving the fast food for emotional reasons - so I agree with others - find yourself a therapist who deals with bariatric patients or other eating disorders. If your clinic doesn't have one on staff, ask for a referral. the depression thing is common for the first few weeks after surgery because your hormones go haywire. Just hang in there...they'll settle back down again...

I was allowed to take any pill the size of a pencil eraser or smaller - which for me was all but two pills (the giant calcium tablets - and one other that I cant' remember). So I got chewable calcium - and the PA at my clinic said I could hold off for a couple of weeks on the other one. Ta da! I never had to crush pills. So maybe ask your clinic?

yea - definitely don't try raw vegetables at this juncture. Maybe when you're around six months out. Even at seven years out, raw veggies sometimes still irritate my stomach.

I lost over 200 lbs, so I had a ton of saggy skin. Things like Spanx helped (at least appearance-wise), but I eventually had it surgically removed. It was very easy to hide under clothes, so no one knew it was there but me (well, and my husband) - but I didn't like looking at it. Anyway, this is me BEFORE I had the skin removed. My thighs were never that bad, but I had moderate batwing arms - and my abdomen looked HORRIBLE. But it was easy enough to hide in slightly oversized, long tops with 3/4 length (or longer) sleeves. Anyway, again, this was taken before I had plastic surgery, so as you can see, the excess skin isn't noticeable (but trust me...it was there!!)

I usually don't take mine with food - and I just take them with a very small amount of water (probably like two tablespoons of water), so it really doesn't count as "drinking" (so if I happen to take them 10 or 15 minutes after I eat, which I often do, it doesn't really matter). Or you could take them a few minutes *before* you eat if you prefer taking pills with a lot more water than that (and if you need to take them as close as possible to eating food if you're one who gets nausea from vitamins - which I know some people do). Or another option is to get all your vitamins in chewable or liquid form.

don't do anything that causes pain. I have some of those issues as well because of a 16-year-old hip injury that never fully healed - plus mild arthritis in my knees. I CAN do strength training (within reason - there are some exercises I can't do because they stress my hip too much, so I don't do them), but it sounds like you can't, so find something else (or try resistance bands like GradyCat suggested. Actually, I have a set at home and mostly work with those now instead of the machines). Walking works for a lot of people (unfortunately, with my hip issue, I can't walk far enough or quickly enough to provide much cardio benefit, but I do what I can because it's good for stress relief...) I do mostly water fitness classes and bicycling, because those don't bother my hip and I actually like doing them. I can also manage low-impact Zumba so I do that occasionally (but when the instructor is doing something that bothers my hip, I just do something else that doesn't. As long as I keep moving, I'm good). so in summary, just find a couple of things to do that you like doing (or at least don't hate doing), and that doesn't cause you pain.

things can go wrong with the sleeve, too. Or with tonsillectomies. Or with wisdom tooth extraction. It's just one of those risks of any surgery... Overall, bypass does come with somewhat more risk since it IS more complicated, but the difference isn't that significant. And it's super low for both surgeries.

some people say they've worked for them and others have said they haven't. I think the jury might still be out on these. And like the person above said, sometimes it can take months or even years for deficiencies to start showing up. I never tried them because I figured I'd be one of the people they didn't work for. Plus some people's surgeons and dietitians are telling them not to use them since it's not clear that they work. They haven't been around long enough for much long-term research. I've considered getting some for when I'm traveling overseas, though, so I don't have to lug two or three weeks' worth of vitamins with me, but for regular use, I stick to regular vitamins.

I just added some more stuff to my message - (I accidentally saved it before I was done saying what I wanted to say!!) - so go back and check out the updates.

the closer you get to a normal BMI, the slower it goes. Those last 20 lbs were a BEAR for me to get off. Took forever. We're talking like 2 lbs a month the last three or four months. But I hung in there and finally made it. The reason being, your calorie requirements at that weight are MUCH lower than they were when you started. It takes about 1600 calories for me to maintain my current weight. I would have lost weight like CRAZY if I ate 1600 calories when I weighed over 300 lbs. For me to lose 2 lbs a week (which I could have done NO PROBLEM when I weighed 300 + lbs), I would have to eat 7000 fewer calories that week (well, I would have when I weighed 300+ lbs, too). That's 1000 fewer calories a day. When I was scarfing up 3500 kcal/day, that means I would have had to cut back to 2500 kcal/day. Now I would have to cut back to 600 per day. Ah...no. I could do that the first couple months out of surgery, but 600 calories a day at seven years out? No way. Plus it wouldn't have even been healthy. So I basically lose a couple lbs a month when I'm trying to lose weight. 8-10 oz portions - would depend on what it is. Greek yogurt, yes. Steak - no. Stretching your stomach - probably not. You'd have to really overeat, day after day, every day, to do that. you are hungry because physical hunger does come back for the vast majority of us sometime during the first year. And that's when things get a lot harder. I've never counted fats. And I wasn't on an ultra-low carb plan (mine was balanced), but the first few months, I rarely ate over 80 carbs a day since I had to get in so much protein. There wasn't room for more than about 80 carbs. Now i probably get double that - but I limit the "bad" ones. Mine mostly come from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. exercise isn't that effective in helping you lose a bunch of weight unless you're talking swimming mega laps or running marathons. But it's great for your overall health, and you should do it regularly if you can. It CAN help you maintain once you get to goal, though.