JohnnyCakes

if you are still that high after bariatric surgery AND on meds - you need to see a doctor as soon as you possibly can. i don’t want to alarm you (or maybe i do), but that can be a sign of something seriously wrong in your body (not variation surgery related).

my BP went from 170/110 (just a tad high) to 110/65 a month after surgery. again, this surgery is a frickin miracle.

if it hasn't gone down yet, it likely won't. assuming you don't smoke, sometimes it's a genetic thing and it's out of your control. you need to get on prescription medication. talk to your doctor. it is quite dangerous to be walking around with for any length of time...

bypass > sleeve in nearly every respect.

you are correct. i must have glanced over the Hashimoto’s part. my bad. that said, the surgery usually does correct subclinical hypothyroidism. it did with me. it also lowers inflammation in general, so i’d be curious to see how it affects Hashimoto’s. sounds like you got on top of yours. congrats!

get the surgery! 1,000 times over. for 2 reasons: 1 - if you’re struggling this much with weight (and health and thyroid) when you’re this young, do you think things will get better/easier as you get older? i just turned 40 and let me tell you, it does not. all your issues will continue to worsen, including your weight after a few more yo-yo’s. get the surgery because it works and you’ll be able to go on with your life without struggling with your weight. you’ll never need synthroid or metformin again either. 2 - i know it might seem like a “nuclear option” (your words), but it’s really not. you have a problem (as do we all), and this is a fix. it’s as simple as that. but the main thing is how normal life is after surgery. YES, you will be able to eat and enjoy food still. NO, if your surgeon is good, you will not experience complications. again, i wish i could go back to when i was 25 or 30 to do this surgery. would have saved a lot of energy, heartache, and health damage. i’m happy to read you’ve decided to go ahead.

actually, it turns out they have. this is the point of my post and is what the latest research is showing. that by rewiring our digestive tract, they are also rewiring our brains. lots of fascinating reading out there. i'd start by googling "alcohol gastric bypass".

a few issues to unpack here - 1 - to answer your question, i think the hysterectomy is the primary culprit for your recent weight gain. because it's known to do that, AND because you've been drinking this whole time up til now without gaining. 2 - gaining 13 (or more) pounds is the least of your concerns. probably the biggest thing in the field of bariatric science right now is the risk of alcohol (and drug) addiction. before i got my surgery, my surgeon stressed to me (rather disturbingly) that alcohol addiction is the ONLY thing that keeps him up at night. it is a huge concern for him. it's so big, that i think it might eventually threaten the viability of the surgery. if the statistics and research keep bearing out what it has been, it's possible that they "outlaw" the surgery. why? well we all know that alcohol "hits" you harder, and longer. anything that has more dramatic effect is more easily to be abused. however, there's a mystery element going on. a recent study found it's NOT just about our new anatomy. i.e. it's not just that alcohol isn't cushioned by the stomach anymore and dumped right into the intestine. they did a study where they took two groups of rats - one with normal anatomy, and another that had a gastric bypass - and they administered alcohol into these rats intravenously. so they bypassed the entire digestive tract and made the rats equally "drunk" through IV-administered alcohol. they shockingly found that the rats with the gastric bypass ended up significantly more addicted. what does that mean? basically they don't know for sure yet, but there is something about the surgery that increases the susceptibility to addiction and substance abuse. something about the surgery changes the brain to make this the case. which is also the reason that those with gastric bypass get addicted to things like cocaine and heroin. those don't go thru the digestive tract either. this is different from "transfer addiction". that is not what's going on. so what to do? i'm in the same boat because while i wasn't an alcoholic before surgery, i was getting there. and unfortunately now that i find myself nearing my goal weight, i have started drinking again after a good 5 months off. and yes, i notice it's much stronger and more effective. so i'm worried as well. aside from finding a very sweet person on this website who has partnered up with me to support each other in our addictions (mine being alcohol, hers being a particular food), there's another strategy i'm going to try... it's called naltrexone. it's a prescription drug that has been found to have profound effects in curbing alcohol abuse. take it once a day and it basically neutralizes the "reward" signal in your brain when exposed to drugs and alcohol. so eventually you can look at a glass of wine and have zero interest in drinking it. more and more physicians are wising up to this powerful tool and prescribing it to their patients (as opposed to just telling them to join AA). i've decided i'm going to make an appt with my doctor and ask for it. i did not go thru this surgery to go from one hell to another. i want to nip it in the bud. here's an article on how naltrexone can help: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/

1 - seriously? you’re a grown woman tattle-telling on people? 2 - nothing i said was a personal insult to you. you explained how you treat your husband, and it’s my objective right to say that i feel sorry for him. why would you take offense to that if you think how you treat him is just fine? 3 - if anyone is breaking forum rules, it’s you. a guy starts a thread because his wife is essentially emotionally abusing him during his recovery, and you start defending her and telling him he deserves it? again, just wow....

yea i was surprised at the pain level too. but it goes away within days so just tough it out.

well don’t do anything you don’t wanna do... and definitely don’t do it just so you can turn around and abuse him later for it. and DEFINTELY don’t assume you know that Thom’s wife is “taking care of him”. (as if there’s something wrong with that in the first place) i guess you nodded off during that whole “in sickness and in health” part of the ceremony. i feel so bad for your husband.

do not pretend to speak for everyone like you are some psychologist. no, i would NOT respond with anger if my wife became disabled due to an accident. i would be too filled with sadness, sympathy, and support. you sound exactly like the wife that Thom here needs to get away from. wow.

congrats and merry xmas back

unreal! congrats

d-i-v-o-r-c-e

day 1 was the worst. every day since, it’s gotten better.

low carb, yes - good and sustainable. keto? NO. do not start with that. unsustainable, unnecessary, and damaging in the long run. i know you are in ketosis now, largely bc of the sharp calorie decline and your body utilizing so much stored fat for energy. but seriously do not start with the eating 80% fat thing. not because fat is bad for you, it’s not, but because you should not begin ANY eating plan that you can’t sustain for the rest of your life. because guess what happens when you get off of it. yep, weight gain regain. i follow a generally low-carb (under 50g carbs per day), whole foods diet. kinda paleo, kinda Mediterranean, but always REAL FOOD. makes it all quite simple.

i was the same way. don't worry, it will be over soon. congrats on making the decision. everything else is easy comparatively.

i would argue that any time is a bad time to go vegan. read "The Vegetarian Myth" by former vegan Lierre Keith for a good primer on this fraudulent philosophy.

not sure why my comment was taken so negatively. all i meant was that i'm surprised that anyone, just hours after a brutal surgery of any kind, would publicly post a selfie of themselves from their gurney. i surely wouldn't. i guess my shyness is a bit old-fashion these days of rampant social media ... i barely share pics of myself on my best day, so i definitely wouldn't do it from the recovery room! that's all i meant - that i find it amazing that others have no problem sharing themselves so openly/honestly like that. anyone, including the OP, who took my comment as some sort of insult about your looks or whatever... that's all on you. that thought never went thru my head. but apparently it went thru yours. good luck reconciling that. to the OP - i hope you are feeling better these days...

1 - MSG is not harmful. 2 - i don’t think the egg roll is what’s making you feel ill a day later. if you’re going to react negatively to something bc of your new anatomy, it’ll happen pretty immediately. its more likely you’re getting a stomach bug that’s going around. or maybe there was some sort of spoiled food issue. but i’d bank on the former....

remember that correlation does not equal causation. i'm not saying obesity is benign... but i would bet it's more likely that obesity, and cancer, are both symptoms of an underlying metabolic derangement.

for true MEAL REPLACEMENT purposes (as opposed to straight protein powder), i highly recommend Primal Fuel: https://www.primalblueprint.com/primal-fuel/ loaded with vitamins and minerals, a few good carbs, MCT fats... it's a great whole-nutrition replacement for a balanced meal.

due to your extensive comorbidities, i would recommend the RNY bypass as it has more profound changes on all of those you listed, especially diabetes. you also won't get debilitating GERD, which is a hugely significant risk with the sleeve, but not an issue with RNY. just because you haven't had GERD up until now doesn't mean it won't start after getting the sleeve surgery. happens all the time. just cruise these forums for disheartening examples/stories.

i’ve never weighed a meal.