Dar200

Yay! You have done an awesome job and you are beautiful!

I'm so glad you got the care you needed and have a diagnosis and medical care for the ulcer. That must have been awfully scary. That was a lot of blood loss. I'm five months out and have been feeling sorry for myself that I don't feel any better than where I am right now. It helps to hear other people have similar experiences. I just keep plugging away. It does get better! Just more slowly for some people On the Protein shakes. I could not handle the powder shakes mixed with Water. I use two Protein drinks that are premixed - Premier Protein has chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and I do not let myself run out of it because it is my Breakfast almost every single day; Isopure comes in a variety of fruit flavors, my favorite is Blue Raspberry but I also like Apple Melon and Grape Ice. Premier Protein drinks have 30 grams of protein and Isopure has 40 grams. I still have a lot of problems eating meat so I often sip on Isopure during the day. As for unflavored powder, I use unjury unflavored. It is high quality and mixes well with things. I use it to make high protein pudding mostly because that is easy for me to digest but you can put it in Soups to umph up the protein as well. Wish you all the best and will send prayers for your continued healing.

My guess would be internal stitches or scar tissue is pulling when you stand. I say that because the pain goes away when you lay down. If it were me, I would definitely get in touch with my surgeon though. I'm just guessing long distance with no medical expertise. Those first few weeks were really hard on me too. Please know that it will get better. And check in with your surgeon for severe pain issues. That's what they are there for. If you need to, go to an ER over the weekend. It's hard to be proactive when I feel just rotten, but that's what I have to do.

I had gastric bypass last October and am still struggling with eating meat. I'm getting very frustrated. I'm going to make some turkey chili using ground turkey, beans, chicken broth and canned tomatoes. Last time I tried this it was rough as heck. This time I'm going to blend the chili before I add the beans and see if that works. I can't stand fish. Tried to eat some tuna last week and promptly threw up the three tiny bites I got down. The chili recipe is James Marusek's. He also has a recipe for an egg drop soup. He has lost all of his weight and has maintained for a long time. Do a search for him. He is very smart and very generously shares his information and experience. I've also had advice about using a crock pot or other slow cooker for cooking meats. Keeps the moisture in and makes the meat very tender. I'm going to google recipes for that too. I'll let you know when I come up with something good.

I use Barimelts brand. So easy to take and they don't taste or smell foul.

I had crazy head hunger the first week home. I thought I was going to lose my mind if I didn't have a taco. Of course I couldn't eat anything even close to that, but I noticed that whenever head hunger set in, I would have some protein drink and that would make the crazy hunger thing subside. As time goes on, it works better and better. I start thinking about how much I want a hamburger, for instance, so I go to the kitchen and eat Greek yoghurt and I don't think hamburger for weeks. I'm so thrilled it works so well.

I lost about 2 pounds a week for the first 4 weeks and then it started coming off a little faster. Your body is going through a lot of adjustments right now. You are losing and that is fantastic! I had to start weighing once a week to keep from freaking out every time I would stay the same or even increase from one day to the next. I don't know whether anyone has ever not lost weight after the surgery. But I know if you follow the recommended Protein, Fluid and Vitamin intake you will lose. And you are! I even gained some weight while I was in the hospital which is not uncommon either. I was on IV fluids for three days so I was fairly floating when I got home. Just focus forward and keep up the good work!

Milk of magnesia works wonders and doesn't cause a bunch of cramping for me. I take two colace (stool softener) each day and then if I'm still constipated I take milk of magnesia.

I thought of several things as I was reading your post. I've been battling chronic depression and anxiety since I was 14 years old. You have done an awesome thing getting yourself through college while dealing with depression, anxiety and weight loss surgery. You deserve a round of applause! When I was your age, I was chasing that "high" or any good feeling with a lot of self medicating with food, alcohol and other things. I don't suggest going that direction because it just made me more depressed than ever. I went through some therapy but that didn't really help much either. I finally sought help from a good doctor. He explained that some people have severe chemical imbalances in their brains that cause depression. I started on antidepressants at that time. I was really really really lucky that the first one we tried worked well for me, we have adjusted medication over the years when needed. The truth is that science does not know enough about depression yet, as in doctors really have to guess what medication to start you on and sometimes it can take a while to find the right one. Another thing that came to mind is that I always have to carefully watch myself during February because I also have Seasonal Affective Disorder. The theory is we get less sunlight during the winter months which affects our brain chemicals. During the winter months, and especially February, I can't watch movies about anything depressing. Like I usually enjoy movies about World War II but I do not watch them right now. I started watching a movie about civil war in Liberia during the '80's and started crying in the first five minutes. I watch comedies in February. I go outside several times a day when the sun is out and just stroll around with my dog. Or sit out in the sun. It doesn't take long for these things to help me. So, I'm just relating my experiences here. Not trying to be an expert, just saying what has helped me. I hope and wish you the very best and that you will find something to help you through this time.

By the way, I also followed James Marusek's anti-hunger recipe and use it every day. He is a very smart and helpful person. I have also used his chili recipe which is yummy and very nutritious.

I too have debilitating pain and decided to have weight loss surgery when my pain management doctor told me I would be in a wheelchair on a morphine pump if I did not have surgery to lose weight. I've been with this doctor for 12 years, so I thought I should finally listen to him. I started at 278 and yesterday (I weigh once a week) I weighed 208. I have seen an improvement on my back pain, but my knees are still really really painful. I have bone on bone in my left knee. I have been using a spray-on magnesium oil on my knees and it makes a huge difference. I can't recommend it enough. The brand is Omica and on the label it says "concentrated pure magnesium oil rapidly absorbable topical spray with biodynamic/organic lavender and helichrysum". I think I bought it at Amazon. I don't recall the price but it lasts a really long time.

B vitamins will keep me awake if I take them late in the day. I always take them first thing in the morning, definitely not after 3:00 pm. If you are taking them early in the day and they are still keeping you awake, maybe try a different brand? I find the bariatric B vitamins don't effect me this way. I don't know what is different about them, they just don't bother me. I take Barimelts multi and B12. I like the BariMelts brand of everything they make, I use all of them. They are less expensive than some other brands of bariatric vitamins, they really melt in your mouth or you can chew them very easily and they never upset my stomach or keep me awake.

My pouch is frustrating as well. My guess would be the protein bar. I used to eat them and then got to where they just didn't agree with the pouch. My pouch sort of runs my life now. I saw my surgeon on Thursday and talked or him about how nauseated I've been and how I've had about two weeks where I can barely eat any protein, I have to drink it. He said it didn't sound alarming and to talk to their nutritionist about dropping back to stage 2 of eating plan. So, I've been drinking lots of Isopure protein drinks. I've also become very sensitive to milk products which really bothers me because I had been eating cottage cheese every single day, but now it upsets my stomach. I don't have any answers, unfortunately, just know you aren't alone.

I gained in hospital too. I think most do. Try to stay away from the scales for a while. I think it took a couple of weeks before my weight really started dropping.

Wow! Way to go! You are rocking it.

Oh I remember that feeling and I'm so sorry you are having it. It will get better. Hang in there!

Did they by chance have you on prednisone to help treat your sinus infection? It is a cortico-steroid that I've been prescribed to treat infected allergies in my sinuses or ears. It reduces swelling in the sinus tissues so the yucky infected stuff can drain out. one of its side effects is uncontrollable hunger. Like you better get out of my way I must eat hunger. It is so overwhelming that I just hate having to take it. I live in Austin where we have all of the pollen you can imagine. I noticed you are from Texas and this is the time of year when cedar pollen bursts forth to make lives miserable. It sounds like you are doing a great job of staying hydrated and fighting this infection. I sincerely hope you get better soon!

Excellent!

Well shoot on not being able to take Turmeric. I have a follow up with my surgeon next week so I will ask questions on this. It seems like something has got to help. I hate being on pain medication and I hate chronic, gnawing pain even more. I've had good results with acupuncture in the past but it is expensive, Medicare won't cover it and it is $65 a visit. I was going once a week for several months when I had it before. Can't handle that now.

As for whether your PCP can recommend weight loss surgery when you go for your follow up, I don't know. Have you talked to your PCP about having it? I don't think you even need to have a recommendation from your PCP, you can call a weight loss surgeon and set up an appointment to meet and discuss whether you are a candidate for surgery.

Medicare accepted my failed attempts at weight loss. I just listed Weight Watchers and the dates I was trying to do that, Jenny Craig and the dates for that and one other thing. They did not require any confirmation from Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, just my general explanation of when I did the programs and the results of each program. For example, I did Weight Watchers from June 2015 to December of that year, I lost 15 pounds but regained 20 pounds by May 2016. Not accurate for me, but just an example

I was "pre-qualified" for surgery by my surgeon through my insurance company. At my first meeting with my nutritionist, she told me that my weight she recorded was my Start Weight and if I gained any weight I would be turned down by insurance. That really motivated me because I only had a thirty day required supervised diet period. I became really focused on not gaining any weight and then decided that I would just go ahead and eat pretty much what I would be eating after surgery. I started by throwing out all the junk food in my house and replacing with everything healthy and every few days I would decide to try a Protein shake or narrow down carbs more. So when I went back to the Nut, I'd lost 18 pounds. She was astounded! So was I. We went through my food journal so she could make sure I was getting enough protein and not skipping any meals. My appointment with my surgeon was in two days and she must have given him a good report because instead of having two weeks of the liquid pre surgery diet, I only had to do one. He said with my diet that clean, my liver would probably not get much better with two weeks. I had surgery a week later. I'm glad I did because I don't think I would have made it another week on liquids only. I had planned to go out and splurge on Mexican food before I started the liquid diet, but had to change my mind. I don't think I would have lost that much if I had to do a six month supervised diet. I would have been going up and down like crazy because that is what I always did. Three to six weeks is how long I could stick to a diet, then I would start going nuts and go off it. My suggestion, slowly get your diet cleaned up. One week make one change, like stop drinking or cut way down on sodas. Next week track your Water, etc. Good luck!

I had a really hard time eating eggs at one month out, had dumping from scrambled eggs. I'm now three months and a week out and I can eat boiled eggs just fine. In fact, I'm having such a hard time with meat, I eat them almost daily.

Congratulations and well done!

Hi!! I can tell you what my Dr/Clinic recommends; they advise you go with a high quality, bariatric specific complete line of vitamins and minerals. Your vitamin and mineral supplements are absolutely essential for the rest of your life. Not getting the proper amount and ratios of vitamins can cause serious and permanent damage to your nervous system and other organs.Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate Vitamins are just two top companies that specialize in bariatric science/nutrition. There are a few more out there that are also very good for bariatric supplements. Please research carefully, and have your Nutritionist give you a print out of what you need specifically for each vitamin/mineral-if you don't already have them. Hope your issue gets better and I really hope you find and get on the best quality supplements to ensure you health and safety!! Feel better ????, and take excellent care of yourself. After all, you didn't come this far to feel bad or not be healthy!! My doctor advises I take bariatric specific vitamins and minerals as well. I use BariMelts brand because the Bariatric Advantage multiple was really too big to chew and I had to cut it up before I could eat it. BariMelts multiple tastes a whole lot better too and BariMelts are made so they are soft enough to just melt in your mouth but I chew them up. The BariMelts brand is a top company specializing in Bariatric nutrition. I was so glad I found them. I also use BariMelts Vitamin D, Calcium and B12.