catwoman7

actually, most of us don't dump. About 30% do. It CAN involve vomiting, but it more commonly involves chills, sweating, racing heart, and diarrhea. It can be controlled by limiting your intake of sugar (or for some people, fat) you will definitely feel less restriction from bypass than you do with lapband, from everything I've read. But you'll still feel it. Your "full" cues might be different as well. I feel kind of a pressure in my chest, and that means that if I don't quit eating, I'm going to be sorry. Others' have cues such as sneezing, hiccupping, or a runny nose (although cues like pressure are more common). I rarely vomit any more - but yes - I will if I ignore my "full" signal and keep shoveling in the food. That's what (usually) keeps me from pushing the envelope.

not all surgeons require a pre-op diet. Most do, but not all. Personally, I'd be thankful for that if I were you. Some of those diets are TOUGH. I thought it was the worst part of the whole ordeal. I was actually relieved the morning they rolled me into surgery...

your surgeon is right - that isn't normal. I'm not sure what to tell you - usually a CT scan will find things that are amiss. Maybe get an opinion from another G/I specialist? Wow - I am so sorry you're going through this.

yes - most people can get all their protein requirements met through regular food after the first few months.

I'm not sure about that - they do a sleeved stomach when they do duodenal switches (in fact, sleeve used to be phase 1 of the DS back when they usually did the DS in two stages. They usually do it in one stage now). A lot of people lost enough weight after phase 1 that they didn't really need to do phase 2 - so at some point the sleeved stomach (VSG) started to be offered as a standalone surgery. So I would think reflux would be a potential issue with either VSG or DS. Unless there's something about the intestinal part of the DS that helps with reflux? I don't know. Any DS'ers out there know? P.S. I just googled it and found an article by the NIH - yes - looks like the intestinal part of the DS redirects the bile or whatever that can cause reflux with the sleeve - so you are correct!

could be. I know iron can cause dark stools.

you might want to give these another try. I got sick on B-Complex capsules at first, but after the first couple of tries I was able to keep them down. Although yes -- you could also try crushing these...although it might be something in them rather than the tablet per se that your stomach is reacting to.. (so crushing may or may not help)

you don't have to - and shouldn't - avoid eating for life. You won't be eating all that much the first few months after surgery (and can't, really...), and you'll have some food restrictions those first few months (a lot of programs encourage low-carb diets, but not all do), but once you're a ways out, you'll be eating pretty normally -just less than you did before surgery. I used to eat 3000+ calories a day. Now I eat somewhere in the 1500-2000 range, depending on how active I am (and that'll be different for everyone depending on a lot of factors). When I go out to eat, I'll either order an appetizer and just have that, or I'll order an entree and take half of it home. Really no different than what my never-been-obese female friends do (I'm female, btw - men can usually handle more calories). I've always eaten mostly healthy foods even when I was morbidly obese, so from that angle, things haven't changed much - but if you're more of a junk food person, then that part will need to change. Although an occasional junky treat is OK once you're a ways out, you have to be more mindful of nutrition since your stomach won't be able to hold all that much food anymore - but other than that...

most of us lose our sense of hunger after surgery, but for the vast majority, it comes back sometime during the first year. Mine came roaring back at five months out - and believe me, things got a lot more challenging then. It was so easy to lose weight those first five months when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. enjoy it while it lasts - and take full advantage of it. Yes - it's very common - and almost always temporary. It'll never be easier in your life to lose weight, so milk it for all it's worth! P.S. I should add that you do need to make sure you're eating enough to meet your nutritional needs -

I agree that you haven't messed up your surgery - your tool is still there - but you need to get back on top of this before you end up putting all the weight back on. Unfortunately, this is a lifetime commitment. I've put on about 20 lbs since hitting my lowest weight, and believe me it's a battle every day to keep it where it is. If I stopped paying attention, all that weight would start piling back on again. According to my surgeon, grazing is the #1 reason why people regain weight. Try to get back to measuring, tracking, etc before it really gets out of control. It's not easy, but you've come this far - it'd be a shame to undo all the work you've put into it.

I think for a lot of us there's a stigma attached to WLS. As someone above said, we see it as a moral failure, even though we shouldn't. I told very few people because honestly, I was embarrassed by it - that I'd let my weight get so out of control that I needed to have surgery to "fix" it. I told my immediate family and a few close friends, but explained that I was very private about it and didn't want it getting out. After I started losing a noticeable amount of weight, I was more upfront with other obese people, but I told most "normies" that I was working with a dietitian, low-carbing, and exercising like a fiend - which was true - I just left out the surgery part. now at 6.5 years out, it honestly rarely comes up because most people either never knew me when i was obese or got used to seeing me without all the excess weight a long time ago, but I still run into someone maybe once or twice a year who hasn't seen me in years and is shocked by my weight loss. I'm more open about it now when they ask - something I wouldn't have done in the first couple of years. I don't know at all what your relationship is with Emily, and I am not you, so take this with a grain of salt, but if you're not comfortable with this getting out but want to be honest with HER, you could always tell her but then explain that you're not comfortable with this getting out - at least not yet - so you're sticking to the hernia story with others. And mention that you'd appreciate it if she keeps this to herself. This is a medical issue, so you don't have to feel like it needs to be broadcasted. Hopefully she'll understand.

as I recall, Lisa, you are several years out. So there shouldn't be any restrictions at this point - just whatever you yourself are able to tolerate. Some people, even years out, can't tolerate certain foods. I can't eat much pasta - it sits like a brick in my stomach. But I can handle a half cup or so. I don't eat it very often, though, as it doesn't have much nutritional value.

^^^^ agree 100%!

it's just this Christmas. For future Christmases, you'll be at least a year out and can enjoy the foods everyone else is eating, just in smaller quantities. But I get it - I was like that my first Thanksgiving (although I was about five months out then, so I could at least eat *some* of the foods). But you're doing this for yourself and your health. Just focus on the social aspects of the festivities..

the first thing I do when I get up in the morning, before drinking my coffee, is have 16-oz of non-carbonated, non-caffeinated fluids (for me, that means bottle of Bai (or similar flavored water)). I've been doing that for about five years. Doing that right off the bat has helped me meet my goal by the end of the day.

we were advised to avoid things like pasta and rice early out. In addition to what the other posters said, they also don't have much nutritional value. Our stomachs can only hold a limited amount of food, so we're encouraged to eat things that are nutritionally dense. I eat noodles and rice at 6.5 years out, but not very often and never very much of them. Maybe a half cup or so.

it depends on the program. Some surgeons want people on a low-carb diet, so if you have one of those, you'll probably have to count carbs. Other programs are more balanced, so you don't have to count carbs (mine was one of the latter). I don't know of any programs that have you track fats. Most seem to want you to focus on protein and fluids. most programs don't have you count calories the first few months. Most of us aren't eating enough to matter until we get a ways out. I do count calories now and have been since I was about a year out, much to my dietitian's chagrin (she hates it when people focus on calories - she like the "intuitive eating" model and keeps insisting I try it - but I'm afraid I'd intuitively eat my way up to 300 lbs again...)

I've always used drugstore vitamins (the better brands, like Centrum). You have to take two of them to meet the requirements. Here are the vitamin (and dosage) recommendations of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons (you have to scroll down to see them). ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

I think most people are nervous before surgeries. I've had several surgeries and I'm always nervous before them Pain is all across the board, but most people seem to have little to no pain with these surgeries. I had none. They'll send you home with pain pills. I never even bothered to open mine, but if you do have pain, take them as directed and you should be able to stay on top of it. I started out at almost 400 lbs and had been on every diet known to man. Surgery is the only thing that worked for me. If you follow your surgeon's plan, you WILL lose the weight.

there's no way that's a true weight gain. I would guess you're retaining water or your intestines are full. a lot of people don't lose much the first week because of the IV fluids you get in the hospital. In fact, some people "gain" on that (not really a true gain, though - it's just the fluid). I've heard of people "gaining" as much as 10 lbs in the hospital! It can up to a week for all that fluid to work its way out of your system.

if you feel nauseated, then I'd stop even if you haven't eaten the whole measured-out amount. Some people's systems just aren't ready to progress as quickly as others. Some people have to back up for a few days and then try again. And the above person is correct - a lot of us are on liquids or purees for the first two or three weeks ANYWAY. I'd contact your clinic and just let them know what's going on and see what they suggest.

oh wow - sorry to hear that. Those kinds of symptoms aren't uncommon early out (like the first month or two post-surgery), but this far out, that's pretty unusual. Or at least having all of them is unusual (some people, for example, do develop GERD....or lactose intolerance...or whatever - but not the whole shebang). Sorry this is happening to you. I hope they can figure this out. I agree that maybe a visit with a specialist is in order.

could be your new "full" signal. Some of them are pretty weird - like sneezing or runny nose.

you aren't the first 70+ year old I've seen on this site! So you're not too old!

I've never had trouble with antibiotics. The meds that don't work as well are extended release formulas - and I seem to remember hearing that certain kind of coatings make some pills harder to absorb, too. I Just always tell the prescribing physician that I've had WLS.