Wheetsin

When I had my band flaxseed oil was the best thing I found. Next to that, just a bit of juice or sugar Water, some Karo, whatever. If those didn't work, Miralax was the only OTC medication that did me any good. As part of my pre-op stuff (my sleeve surgery is Tue) I have to take Calcium citrate Monday morning. Never used it before, but I've been warned not to be more than 5 minutes from a toilet for up to 8 hours after taking it.

Revisions always have higher complication rates, unfortunately. The complication goes up as the time between procedures goes down. My surgeon (just for example) will not touch a revision without at least 2 months between procedures. In my case, it will be closer to 6.5 months. I've gained back about 30 lbs since my band was removed in September. I'd have rather not not gained that weight back, but I think it's a small price to pay for the reduction of risk... and it'll come off again. I was current on the stats a few months ago... I'm not so much now... but I think the "back-to-back" procedure risk is something like 30%, and the "some time in between" risk is something like 3% - 5%.... so you can see how much difference that healing period can make. Knowing those stats, even if my surgeon had been willing to do them back-to-back I would have declined. And probably looked at other surgeons. (That's just me personally, others prefer all-in-one operations) faith-hope-love, it sounds like you had a really bad septic infection. Those are indeed horrible. My grandfather survived stage 4 cancer, only to die from a septic infection caused by erosion of his stomach from the Predasone that was supposed to help him get better. You too often have no idea until it's already well established. Would you mind sharing a bit more info (if you know the answers)? It may help you in your goal of raising risk awareness, and it may also help set some minds at ease. How much time elapsed between your band removal, and your sleeve revision? What leak prevention methods did your surgeon use, in terms of his surgical technique? What leak detection methods did he use post-op (before closing you up, after, or both)? How many revisions had your surgeon done? How many band -> sleeve revisions had your surgeon done? Did he repair your adhesions during the revision? What boughie size did he use? Best of luck with your continued recovery, and thank you for being willing to share your story.

Talked with my surgeon yesterday. He actually does not do a post-op leak test and after talking with him about it inside & out, I'm ok with that. For one, I really really would not want to leak barium. No guarantee I would, but the barium test seems to be the gold standard and I was specifically wanting to avoid it. Why on earth they would have you drink barium to detect a potential leak is beyond me. There are other ways to check what's going on. My surgeon inflates the sleeve and submerges it and watches for any bubbling. He then fully scopes it from the inside and looks for any leaks or gaps in the staple line. He used to do post-op leak tests when he first started, but after doing thousands of swallow tests and never catching anything that the submersion and scope didn't catch, he stopped doing them. MeMeMEEE - if you're still checking this thread, I just read through your signature stats. When your leak was discovered, did they determine if it was an existing leak that had been going on for 2 months, or a new leak from some kind of tear or staple line integrity issue? Wow, you've had quite the ordeal!

If you haven't yet experienced the hairloss being discussed, it might alarm you when it starts. Mine started literally overnight. My hair is now short (by choice, not due to the loss) but it was about waist length when I had my first bariatric surgery. The first day it started falling out I was wetting my hair in the shower and happened to look at my hands and they were completely covered. Ever hear or see something that sends up the hairs on the back of your neck? That's what seeing my hands covered in hair did for me. I've seen people go through chemotherapy and I remember thinking, "This is what chemotherapy does." Here are some things it might help to keep in mind. These aren't rules but I don't think there are many exceptions, either... If you don't wash or rinse daily, it will seem worse than it is. I've seen a LOT of people deciding they just aren't going to wash their hair, because they lose so much more when they do. This isn't true. The hair is already out, it's just "stuck" on other hairs, and washing or rinsing "frees" it. Nothing about the Water or shampoo is exacerbating the loss. Please, don't stop cleaning your hair. When you condition, it will seem worse than it is. Think of how slippery your hair gets when it is conditioned. Similar to above, the conditioning "lubricates" their hair and makes it untangle from the other hairs. It's not actually worse when you condition, it will just seem like it is. The hair you're losing is really not "that much" in the big scheme of things. We're used to seeing a few hairs here and there. Yes, you're going to lose a lot more hair than what you're used to seeing, and when you look at your hands it's going to seem like half your hair is there, but it's not. The people who thin noticeably have hair loss for a long time. Most people find it greatly tapers or completely goes away after 2 - 4 months (that's my own average based on reading about this for like 8 years). It might help to avoid tight, pulling, or constricting head err... ornamenture? ... for the first few months. Think really tight ponytails, or heavy hair accessories. Anything to reduce the stress placed on the hair at the follicle. Nioxin gets a lot of buzz, I think mostly for what it has done for cancer patients. I believe it's intended for people with naturally low hair growth. I don't know if the "results" come from some effect with the rate of hair growth/loss, or (what I'm guessing it might be) an effect of making the existing hair seem thicker, so it seems like less is lost. I just don't know. But if it could make hair grow back, or stop hair loss, I'm pretty sure it would be more widely known. It cannot claim a "cure" without an FDA certification so at best it might help with... something. I'm not trying to poo-poo on the people who swear by it, but in the absence of actual literature it's all just anecdotal. Biotin supplements were the Nioxin of 5 years ago. Then people were trying biotin shampoos. I know 2 RNY patients and 1 AGB patient who took Biotin supplements. 2 saw nothing. 1 claimed no difference to the hair on her head, but said she had to start shaving her arms because she got crazy man-hair arms. Shrug. Flax seed oil is rumored to help. Taken orally, not rubbed on. I don't know if it works for hair but it's a nice, gentle, natural laxative. We used to give it to DD. When she was an infant she got horrible constipation and would scream/bleed when she could finally go. And what bariatric person can't use a little laxative now and then?? Except maybe DSers. Make sure you're taking a GOOD QUALITY BARIATRIC Vitamin. I don't mean a chewable Centrum, or Flintstones gummies, or whatever other crap I see people taking and expecting to actually help keep them healthy. I mean one with crazy high nutritional values. And make sure you're taking an adequate number. I've looked at a lot of vitamin labels and Bariatric fusion seem to be the best - it's what I have bought for post-op (surgery is next week). I wish they'd been around when I had my band put in but back then they used to tell us to just take a multi, preferrably chewable. I'm not affiliated with them at all, I just think the stats of the Vitamins are the best. I'll be taking 3 or 4 of these puppies a day. We all needto be B12 whores. HTH

I'd just sent you a PM. My sleeve surgery is next week with Dr. Hoehn. He also did my lap-band in 2006, and removal last year (and gallbladder in 2007). I'm always curious to see who people in my area are using.

By the way cab0ad, I noticed you're in KC. Who is doing your sleeve?

It completely depends. I know that's not much help, but it's true. I'm not sleeved yet, but I've had WLS. With mine I lost in the neighborhood fo 200 lbs. My cup size actually went up as my circumference went down. I do not have big boobs, but I started around a 44B and ended up a 38C. On the flip size, my mother also had WLS (not VSG) and pre-op was a 42DD. Had been since she was 16. Now she just wears sports bras most of the time. Her boobs look like empty, wet paper bags.

This probably won't make you feel better, but I've never met a bariatric patient who didn't lose hair. I'm not syaing they don't exist somewhere, but I've never met one. The hairloss is a systemic issue so there's really no single thing you can do to prevent it. There's also really no external thing you can do that's going to help much (I"ve seen people spending $$$ on special shampoos, leave-in treatments, etc.) A lot of people think it's because of the anesthesia. Anesthesia can cause it, but it isn't a rule by any means. Look at me as an example: Lapband put in - lost hair Gallbladder taken out - did not lose hair Lapband taken out - did not lose hair Systemic and largely dietary and reactionary in nature.

Ways to check for leaks vary by surgeon's preference. Suring the surgery, my surgeon submerges the staple line and looks for escaping gas bubbles. Post-op (once you'r sutured/stampled closed) there are a few options. Barium swallow is one of them, but not preferrable. Drinking barium kind of assumes the barium is staying inside. Let's just say that if I were to have a leak, barium is not a substance I'd want leaking out into my body cavity. I actually have my final consultation today, and I'm going to ask my surgeon to specify what post-op leak detection methods he uses, and make sure he will offer an alternative to barium. Undiscovered leaks are usually "found" through patient complaints - fever, abdominal pain, tachycardia (fast heart rate), dizziness, distention, general malaise (feeling like you have a bad flu), etc. I was speaking with someone last week who had actually had a leak and was feeling the effects of the infection, but thought she was just dumping because some of the written symptoms are similar. I don't think you're a troll or looking for sympathy. I've seen your post and to me it's pretty clear that you're struggling through language (and perhapd cultural) barriers. If you need any of the information above explained in a different way, please let me know. (My husband/in-laws are not native English speakers. Though my husband is fully fluent, the in-laws are not, so I'm used to kneading my English to fit what they can better understand).

piper, I quoted your post but this is much for general info than a response directly toward you. Insurance companies have pretty strict requirements for things like this because they are for-profit business that need to make money. A lot of people think that 6 month supervised diets are to prove you can follow a diet -- I don't think that's the case. I think they're functionally waiting periods during which they can get something for their expense - ROI. They're trying to make the risk pool be profitable. Same as plan-enforced waiting periods (periods of time during which certain benefits will be unavailable). BMI requirements probably mean something like - under that BMI, your medical compllications will likely be cheaper to treat than to resolve. People want insurance companies to be altruistic entities that do things because it's "right" or "fair." I can't tell you how many people I've seen wanting to appeal denials for things excluded from their plan. Insurance companies (like almost every company out there) aren't in business to help, they're in business to be profitable. The good news is that they write their requirements, they make them accessible (though perhaps not easily interpretable), and for the most part they're pretty good at following what they set forth. There is subjectivity built in, but that's true from the very beginning, long before you even become a member. A lot of the defecit I see is in communication between the provider and the insurance company. I'd love to see surgery clinics hiring former insurance company employees, and actually provide training on 1) deciphering insurance, 2) understanding the requirements, 3) providing the right info at the right time. Then patients wouldn't have to advocate for themselves so much. I'd love for insurane companies to have more transparency in their requirements, and more resources to actually help people understand the requirements. It took me no fewer than 11 phone calls just to find out how my insurance company defined "mechanical failure". There's a world of ambiguity in that single requirement alone. I was on the phone more or less demanding that they tell me "What documentation will you accept as proof of a mechanical failure?" -- I'm persistent, and I still never got a really great answer. And the answer changed based on who I talked to, even though the "in writing" requirement was the same. (I handled my own denial for my sleeve because I knew way more than the insurance coordinator did - she essentially became my fax machine.) Too few people understand how insurance works - generically, as well as with their own policies. And that means they have to sort of blindly trust the people who are hired for $8 an hour to mass file claims. Unfortunately doing it a lot doesn't really give you the experience to do it well. HTH clears up some of the confusion.

What's the timeline we're dealing with? When was your band put in, and when was it removed? Iif you haven't, I would chart that out in preparation for an appeal. On it, tag known, medically verifiable weights (e.g. any and all medical check-ups, not just PCP or bariatric surgeron). It's a good practice to submit a claim, and then start working on the denial - with things like this that can have ambiguous requirements, it's best to assume you're denied and be over-prepared, than be caught off guard. If you need to appeal, it sometimes takes a loophole, a bit of creativity, etc. E.g. for my appeal I had to prove I'd followed a medically required diet. There really isn't one with the band, so how do I prove that? I also had to prove mechanical failure above and beyond xray and EGD showing a slip. That one was a bit harder to prove. So start looking at the different avesnues you might be able to take. What's the exact verbiage of the requirement in your plan? E.g. does it say something like "BMI over 40 for the last 5 years" or does it say something closer to 'BMI over 40 for 5+ years". I've worked for, and consulted with, insurance companies for years. I've gotten my own denials reversed, and have helped a lot of other people get theirs reversed as well. It is doable as long as you meet the criteria, and can prove that you meet it. Just don't get super discouraged. I honestly see revision patients all the time with "# of years over X BMI" requirements who have that requirement waived due to previous bariatric procedure. Although it sometimes will depend on why the previous procedure failed. If you don't mind sharing, why was your band removed? If for a mechanical failure, that should help.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but either you or your doctor are being really, really... ridiculous. I don't mean that as an insult, I'm just not good at sugar coating things. Either you were not given proper information, or for some reason you are opting to ignore it. From what you've said, I'm guessing it's a combination of the two. Considering that, nothing about what you're saying is a surprise. It sounds like exactly what someone might expect to experience in thise same circumstances. Please provide some more information so that you can be steered in the proper direction: 1. What did your surgeon say when you told him/her this? 2. Were you given any post-op eating instructions other than carb free liquids? Or are you choosing to ignore them? You should have received a graduated meal plan that slowly introduced food items over a period of several weeks. Two weeks out your focus should not be on zero calorie drinks. When were you told to introduce Protein drinks? What about full liquids like cream of X Soups? 3. meats such as plain tuna are generally not part of an approved diet 2 weeks in. You should be working through pure liquids to full liquids to babyfood/pureed to soft solids. Soft solids is when something like a really moist tuna salad might be tolerated. Just tuna, 2 weeks out... does your literature say that's ok?? 4. Are you not on a PPI? If not, call your surgeon. You need to be. 5. Acidic juices?? Just say no. Most plans even have relatively harmless beverages drink like tea on the no-no list for sometimes upwards of 6 months, just because the acids & tanins can irritate your stomach. You should not be touching citrus or acidic juices with a 10 foot pole. When you say that you're spitting up or vomiting mucus, I'm guessing that you're actually brining up "slime" -- the thick, pre-emesis saliva our bodies create. Does it have an egg white consistency? If you're spitting it up multiple times a day, throughout the day, I'm guessing something has happened to where you cannot pass your own saliva, and what you're bringing back up is, effectively, your swallows that you can't swallow. A few things come to mind that could cause this, and none of hem are likely to easily resolve on their own. You really need to call your surgeon, like, 6 weeks ago. How much Fluid are you getting in & keeping down each day?

Yes - your abdomen is filled with carbon dioxide to create a "cavity" to work in. The CO2 irritates the end of the phrenic nerve in your abdomen (near the diaphragm IIRC) and most likely causes a referred pain toward the other end near the shoulder (actually terminating on the sides of the neck, which is why you might also feel something similar to a "pinched nerve" along with the shoulder pain). Gas-X is ingested and is not going to have any effect on surgical gas at all. It is completely ineffective outside of your intestinal tract. If it does seem to act on the surgical gas/pain, it is 100% a placebo effect. Taking Gas-X for surgical gas pain is like putting a band-aid on your knee because your spleen is bleeding.

Usually insurance companies will make exceptions for revision patients. For example, my policy "requires" a 6 month supervised diet. But even though my band has been out for more than 6 months, the requirement was waived. Have you actually filed and been denied, or are you just reacting to the verbiage in your policy? I know a lot of people who have had revisions from one procedure to another. The BMI requirement is usually waived. I actually don't know of a single case where a revision has been denied because the BMI requirement is not met. That certainly doesn't mean there aren't a lot of them out there... just that I personally haven't seen one.

Purely time of day should not induce dumping or dumping symptoms, I don't think. But if eating that lte is really unusual for you, something could have been going on. Or the timing could have been coincidental. Or if you went to sleep shortly after, it could be related to that. It's all kinds of bad to go to bed with a full stomach. <-- best guesses

I don't have a sleeve confesion b/c I'm not sleeved until the end of the month. But when I had my lapband I certainly knew ways I could "eat around the band" if I wanted to. So a non-sleeve confession, since those were allowed too. I like to watch horrible TV. My DVR is full of crap TV like Real Housewives, Pawn Stars, MTV (challenge shows, True Life, Teen Mom/16 and Pregnant), Supernatural, Jersey Shore, Doomsday Preppers, Vampire Diaries, Glee, etc. Between my job, extracurriculuar activities, etc. my brain does not get a lot of down time. When I come home, I want to turn off. I don't want to think. I don't want to strategize. I want to disengage. And I've found that crap TV is the best way to do that. It's the only thing I've found that requires no brain effort at all. Most people who know me are a bit shocked to see my TV list.

There are (that I know of) two types of dumping: "early" dumping and "late" dumping, referring to the amount of time that passes before the dumping begins. What's happening when you "dump"? I'm not a Dr. nor a master of anatomy, but here's a layman's idea. "Dumping syndrome" is also known as "rapid gastric emptying" -- which helps a little. I'm going to use oatmeal to help make this as untechnical as possible. I don't mean literally oatmeal - I'm just using it for explanation. Normally when food enters the duodenum (the very start of the small intestine) it's sufficiently broken down my the gastric acids and can be processed normally. When it's processed normally, you get your nice, thin, soupy oatmeal that your small intestine can work with. When it does not spend sufficient time in the stomach, or is not sufficiently broken down, it enters the small intestine in too large of pieces and too quickly - more like a thick, clumpy oatmeal. That's where the term comes from, the clumpy oatmeal being "dumped" into the small intestine before it can be turned into nice, thin oatmeal. When the clumpy oatmean hits the small intestine, your intesting says, "I'm not dealing with that clumpy crap!" and tells your body to start sending extra Water to help dilute the clumpy oatmeal into something thinner. All of that extra water rushing in is the majority of what causes the discomforts associated with "dumping" (technically, early dumping): diarrhea (it's called osmotic diarrhea - water gained via osmosis. It's the same type of diarrhea that can be caused by things like artifical sweetners that tend to hit your small intestine and pull water in) the parts holding the bulky. clumpy oatmeal and all the excess water will stretch more than they want to (it's called small bowel distention) - causes moderate to severe abdominal pain/cramping. dehydration - your fluids are being redirected to help with the oatmeal emergency, and then being expelled (diarrhea) or rerouted, those fluids have to come from somewhere. your blood volume can decrease (it's called hypovolemia - mild) which can be caused by a LOT of thigns including dehydration - your hands and feet might get cold, you will probably feel light-headed, weak, low blood presure, etc. Those are mostly associated with "early dumping," generally dumping that occurs during or up to 30 minutes after a meal. "Late dumping" is mostly a product of blood sugar, and usually happens a few hours (2 or 3, give or take) after a meal. Your pancreas procudes and stores insulin. If your body was a video game, Pac-Man would be insulin and the little white dots would be blood sugars. Insulin runs around gobbling up blood sugars. When the clumpy oatmeal is "dumped" your pancreas goes into overtime and starts kicking out excess amounts of insulin. When you have too much insulin, then too much blood sugars are gobbled up and you're left with low blood sugar (it's called hypoglycaemia). Symptoms of (mildly) low blood sugar can be: Sweating Shaking/trembling Anxiety Confusion or "coudy headedness" Exhaustion Hunger Nausea Cold/clammy Feeling faint Rapid heartbeat Numbness or tingling Blurred vision Irritability Etc. DH sometimes gets spells of mild hypoglycemia not related to diabetes - he gets all of the above and then some! And on the outside, he looks exactly like my RNY friends when they are dumping. Given that, it would make sense that early dumping is a product of the fatty foods, while late dumping is a product of the carbohydrates. But I have no idea if there are actually studies confirming/denying this. It's just my best Wheetsin guess. Does this help?

I'm being somewhat facetious. Now that that's out of the way... First of all, "PB" is a load of crap. "Productive burp" sounds almost kind of cute, like I want to put it in my lap and feed it treats. No one told me PBs hurt, a lot, and can last a really really long time. The first time I had to PB, DH was minutes from calling the ambulance. And I'm a pretty tough cookie with a pretty high pain tolerance. Remember your pre-band days, maybe your band researching days, when you had no concept of how stuck food became unstuck. You didn't know saliva took on egg white consistency. You don't know how much of it could come streaming out of your mouth, or that it could hold its shape in Water. You didn't know your body could churn it into shampoo lather. You probably never guessed you could irp up saliva and get that much relief. You probably didn't know you'd probably slime & slime before anything came out. Etc. I really wish I'd known that going in, but that's not the kind of stuff the chumps in my "support group" talked about. They talked about whiny things like wah, I was walking and my underwear fell down or wah, i won't be able to drink my Chianti anymore. So if someone out there is willing to share, I'd really really like to know your "no holds barred" account of what the VSG process of having to bring something up is like, in as much unsavory detail as you'd like to share. And if you're that willing to share, I'd also like to know things like - how do you know when enough is enough? What are you feeling? What is the discomfort like? Where do you feel it? What do you feel? I see cute euphamisms like "toilet problems." Bah. A toilet problem is when my flusher breaks. What does "toilet problem" really mean? I see things like "one bite too many". Bah again. How do you know it was too many - what are you feeling/doing that's telling you such? With the band there was a fairly clear difference between "ok" and "uh oh". Same with VSG? With the band, if you were at "uh oh" you didn't just open your mouth and out it came. You knew, you could make it to the bathroom, or at least behind some bushes (ahem). You could have some control over when it happened. Same with this? I see "really hard to get my water in." Why? Does it hurt? Can you just hold so little at a time? What happens if you drink too much? Hope you xbanders turned sleevers get the gist of the info I'm after. I just want "the real deal." I'm not afraid of it. It isn't going to change my mind, and I'm not going to be grossed out - so please be frank. I just really like to know what to expect. I didn't know with the band because for whatever reason no one was willing to really talk about it, and I had to learn the hard way that what I was experiencing was fairly normal.

"Everyting is about sex. Except for sex, which is about aggression." And we manifest it as food. I used to read literature that said obesity was a triple threat because it had physical, behavioral, and emotional roots. Bah. The social aspect is a big one (and we can't neglect the cognitive, and perhaps even economic, and...) How may social events do you go to that don't have food, and aren't WLS support groups? (And even those usually have food). And what is it about socializing that makes portions invisible? "I'm so full I can't eat another bite, as I sit here eating another bite." Enjoy in healthy moderation. IMO, it's a much more healthier (in all aspects) approach that deprivation. You know how people advise that if you're nervous, you should picture your audience in their underwear? Too bad there isn't something similar with food. Like picture Clint Howard rubbing that food over his naked body. Bet you won't want it then.

I'll skip the qualifications and just say that I'm pretty familiar with the lapband world, and honestly nothing about her story says lapband to me, IME, based on what we've been told. Most people with lapbands do not have restriction from the get-go. Fills, often many of them, are required to get restriction. Especially with the larger bands that tend to be used nowadays. And if the surgeon is reputable, as a previous poster indicated, she would not have been given a restrictive fill during surgery. And if you've had a fill, you know it. I was a bit of a fluke in that I did have restriction from the band itself, but it was nowhere near enough to keep me from getting water down (or any fluids, or well-chewed foods). And I had the 10cm/4cc band, which is really small compared to what they're using now (point being, someone banded recently would presumably have more fill to go before restriction kicked in than I did). I won't say it's impossible, but it would be really, really unlikely for someone to have restriction to the point that they can't pass fluids without fills with today's AP/standard bands. (I've only met one other person, virtual or online, who had regular and persistent restriction without a fill and he had the same band size I did, which -- heck, I don't think many surgeons are even using anymore, so it really is not a common thing). In her symptoms, I'm also not seeing anything that would really make me think slip (actually a prolapse) -- if she had a band. GERD is by far the most prevalent symptom, and next would probably be loss of restriction, not super tight restriction (it does happen, but loss is by far the majority). Even with slipped bands, and with enhanced restriction resulting, most people are not so restricted that they cannot pass low viscosity fluids like water. (Problems drinking water are normally related to either the temperature of the water, or more likely either the volume of water someone is trying to pass at a time, or there already being something in the way. And when that's the case, it HURTS, you don't just casually walk around spitting). Saliva is way thicker than water... glycerine is probably a good comparison... so if you're you're too tight to pass water, you're too tight to pass saliva, so someone in that situation is probably going to be yakking up saliva about every 8 - 15 mins, or however long it takes to fill the esophageal pouch. There are also other "things" lapbands tend to do (maybe other procedures do too, I don't know) such as the incessant gurgling, which she has not mentioned. Most people with lap-bands can also feel their port. A small percentage cannot, but most people can - especially since it became more standard practice to relocate them (the standard practice used to be to place them mid-torso, but more recent practice places them a few inches above the belly button, usually slightly to the right). Lots of other considerations, too... but it just doesn't match up to me. Not that we can't play "pin the tail on the symptoms," but I just wouldn't want to even remotely hint to someone that they received the wrong procedure, or don't even know what procedure they had, unless there were more than ambiguous similarities like "not losing weight" and "have to spit things up". Really, she needs to quit posting and get to a medical professional. Our best guesses are just that. Regardless of what was done when, something is wrong and an internet message board is about the worst forum for diagnosis, second only to reading medical encyclopaedias yourself. So everyone quit posting so she'll have nothing to reply to, log off, and GO TO THE DOCTOR, ER, or SOMETHING. There is nothing "ok" about letting your symptoms continue another day.

There could be a lot of reasons. Are you going with fluids since solids cause you so much problem? Fluids are great calorie camoflauge. I could give you a horrible example from Starbucks (my personal heroin). Do you know about how many calories a day you're taking in total? What's your current height, weight & age? You've mentioned you're fairly sedintary due to lack of energy - is that a chronic lack of energy, or situational? (e.g. are you always fatigued, or just at certain times?) What types of foods are most of your calories coming from? Etc.

Most people are a little dehydrated all the time. That Tylenol you take to help with your low grade headache? Probably the glass of Water you took it with helped as much as the Tylenol. But what you're experiencing definitely puts you into the "get it taken care of" category. You can always call your surgeon if you're hesitatnt to go for any reason. The light-headedness could be a lot of things - a good friend of mine is an ER physician and she makes me hyper aware of little things, even still I'm not sure I would have thought "dehydration" at light-headedness so much as blood sugar... but combined with a low grade fever just don't even mess around with it. Are you peeing apple juice yet? See what you think. Anything from the first list other than third, dry skin, and dark urine would probably be my indicator to at least call my surgeon's office and ask if my symptoms warranted a visit. Anything from list 2 , I'd better be calling from the ER where I'm already getting treatment. Anything from 3, there's just no excuse. Mild dehydration: Thirst Loss of Appetite Dry Skin Skin Flushing Dark Colored Urine Dry Mouth fatigue or Weakness Chills Head Rushes Moderate dehydration: Increased heart rate Increased respiration Decreased sweating Decreased urination Increased body temperature Extreme fatigue Muscle cramps Headaches Nausea Tingling of the limbs Severe dehydration: Muscle spasms Vomiting Racing pulse Shriveled skin Dim vision Painful urination Confusion Difficulty breathing Seizures Chest and Abdominal pain unconsciousness

Here is some information on some risks & complications. I don't remember if you mentioned having insurance. Depending on what type you have, if any, definitely call either a PCP or a specialist and make an appointment. Something is going on and unfortunately a lot of the problems that he bariatric community is subject to aren't ones that go away on their own. It sounds like your surgeon & program were utterly neglectful. Were you given aftercare instructions? There are certain conditions under which you need to seek medical help ASAP. These include, but are not limited to: Inability to pass fluids (drink) Inability to pass solids (maybe for longer than a day or two, we all go through incidients of something not wantint to go down, and a day w/o food won't hurt you where a day w/o water can) if you haven't pooped in 3+ days if you show signs of dehydration (dark urine, constipation, chills, "head rush," etc.) Sustained fever etc Sounds like you're having more than one of those. Make an appointment like, yesterday, even if you have to go to another city or go out of state.

Hmmm... I'm going to do my best to jog my memory, but it has been a while (I'm not sleeved yet but had lapband about 6 years ago). I was in the 385+ range when I had surgery. I'm a hair over 5'10. A thru & thru "pear". My top runs about 2 sizes smaller than my bottom, thanks to my hips & upper thighs. I think I had to lose something in the neighborhood of 40 lbs before I noticed any difference at all in my pants, and probably 60 - 70 lbs before I was ready for another size. But when I finally had to start belting my pants to keep them up, I was actually down 2 sizes. Skipping sizes kinda rocks. We often overestimate the fit of our pants, too. I was really confused because I'd lost around 175 lbs and could still wear the same underwear, though it was looser. Crazy, until I realized I'd just been wearing underwear that really were too tight. But when you "grow into" your clothes, so to speak, it's hard to see that they're no longer fitting until you're at an extreme, like your buttons won't come together. That could be playing a role too. Think of your body like an onion. You peel off the first layer and the onion isn't really that much smaller - you might not even notice. Peel off another layer and you might notice a slight difference. Peel off another layer and there's definitely some change. And so on until the onion is tiny, even though the layers are all about the same size. Now say a layer of onion = 20 or 40 lbs. Your first 40 lbs, maybe there's really not much visible difference. Your next 40, you'll notice. And so on, with each subsequent 40 lbs making a bigger and bigger difference. It's all mathematical, really. Relative proportions. Once I hit about 275, it seemed like a size was about 20 lbs. Sometimes I'd lose that in a month, and sometimes I'd lose it in 18 months.

You're welconed to be here, please don't think I meant otherwise. I'm just saying that it's rarely productive to "argue" online, or whatever the more appropriate synonym is. If people don't believe you, they don't believe you, and it's rarely worthwhile to put forth effort to change their mind or "defend" onesself. Don't let it bother you. Just my 2 cents, worth exaclty what you paid. Now, for your problems... Have you heard of the term "stricture" or "stenosis"? It is a complication arising from (long story short) scar tissue. It's a narrowing of a body passage. In the case of WLS, it usually occurs between the intestine and reduced stomach (or a new intestine-to-intestine connection). The primary symptom is pretty much what you're describing - vomiting, due to the inability of much to pass through the sometimes tiny opening. I think stricture rates for VSG patients are around 6% - 8%. Definiely not unheard of. And with little to no aftercare, it's enrirely possible you could have one that is undiagnosed. You might want to visit even your standard family practitioner and see what they have to say, if you don't have access to a trusted bariatric surgeon with sleeve experience. I assume by "spit" you mean "vomit"? Or do you just prudce excess saliva and have to spit it out? (I'm not nit-picing, but there's a difference and it's significant) As for getting nothing down but not losing weight, you haven't starved so you can get something down. Have you noticed any patterns in what you can/cannot eat or drink? Do you bring liquids back up, or just solids? Any particular types of solids? Does it seem related to time of day, or environment, or anything like that? About how many calories a day do you think you're eating? What's your protein intake? What's your supplement regimen? Have you had any labs done recently, or post-op at all, and if so what did they indicate?