mousecat88

So I am up to 800-900 calories a day and about 60g of carbs and I am now starviiinnnggg alllll the tiiiimmmeee. ;( I didn't add in pasta - I have cauliflower tots some days, and some days I just have an extra snack.

Thanks. I have an appointment in a couple weeks and will talk to my doc. I had horrific, constant nausea every time I ate or drank anything. It was my gallbladder (no pain or anything like that). Had it out in January and instantly fixed that issue.

I had bypass in November. My hair loss started 3 weeks out and is still going strong 4.5 months later, lol. Probably have lost about 40% of my volume. But whatever, I guess. My hair just looks really thin and if I have a ponytail up you can see some bald spots... but it'll grow back eventually.

Twice a week I do an hour of weight lifting/resistance training followed by 25-45 minutes of cardio with the trainer, twice a week I do yoga, and I am getting ready to start weekly Les Mills BodyFlow. Honestly, I really do not feel comfortable adding in much more carbs. This week I've gotten to 50g and I think I am comfortable here. I've just added in an additional BariatricPal snack, so I get the extra protein, too. Or I have some cauliflower tots or something relatively benign.

You just had surgery a month ago though! lol. I was eating like 15g of carbs a day 1 month out. It was abysmally low. I have been struggling to get it around 40-50 now. I am doing interval training, resistance training, and circuit training with a trainer and yoga. No way I am eating 100g of carbs a day. My brain will never let that happen. I don't want it. I will fall off the wagon hard and so not ready.

oh wait - you weren't responding to me. LOL

I don't have H. Pylori - was tested.

I don't know about the weird vitamin restriction... I was started on them a month before surgery and continued the same day as surgery forward. But I didn't have my labs checked until the 3 month mark.

I added in a serving of fruit a day, but they are low carb ones (kiwi or strawberry). I think beans would be my best bet. I definitely don't feel comfortable doing pasta.

Yay! A poop thread! I just *noticed* that I haven't pooped in about 6 days (maybe longer?). I don't feel constipated at all, and the last time I went, I went A LOT multiple times that day, and had been pretty regular prior to that. I hadn't really been paying attention to it because I haven't had any discomfort but... probably need to get something moving. My book says if you haven't gone in 3 days to take Colace, but 6 days to move to a stimulant laxative or enema (NOOOO). I was told NOT to take fiber supplements (don't ask why - I don't feel like debating the logic of my surgeon, I'm just following his instructions). Should I skip right to the stronger stuff since it's been so long? Should I not do anything because it's not causing any discomfort? I did have vomiting and severe nausea last night lasting to now... so maybe I should wait til tomorrow before trying laxatives?

I never watched it because I just felt bad for them, but I know Jillian Michaels left the show because she thought that those people losing that much weight in such a short period of time (without WLS) was very unhealthy and obviously one of the reasons for their rebound weight gain. She spoke out against the show later on.

Hope you're feeling better. I didn't vomit on Phentermine, but my RESTING heart rate was 163, so I was pulled off of it real quick.

So, the original trainer I was scheduled with never showed up for either appointment and got fired. lol. The manager gave me two free sessions. I met with my NEW trainer last night and I love him. He is a 7 time State champ in powerlifting and I appreciate how serious he is about form. He was really impressed with what I can already do and that I didn't need any corrections. I'm happy about the exercise thing. I did get a pretty bad headache towards the end doing floor work; I think it's a combo of my BP being weird and me needing to learn how to breathe properly when doing some things. I've been off the BP meds almost two weeks now. My BP is still jumping around, but slowly leveling out. No cardio yet until I get clearance. My anxiety is definitely noticeably worse, but I think I can manage until mid-April when I have my regularly scheduled psych appointment, rather than schedule an emergency appointment. I just have that constant panicky feeling in my chest... it's more annoying than anything. The trainer and dietitian said if I am exercising they want me at 100 carbs a day and I am at about 45 right now. The trainer said to start making whole wheat pasta and eating 2 tbsp of it a day to start, but I have a huge mental block about adding in more carbs because that was my "addiction" prior to surgery. He offered to buy me a box and bring in pre-portioned baggies for me. lol. I am just really scared I don't have the control yet. My plan has me adding in complex carbs at 8 months and I am only 4.5 months, but both people agreed that since I am doing intense workouts I do need to jump the gun and up the carbs. I feel pretty nervous about it.

I WAS told not to do any exercise that increases my heart rate until everything levels out. Which sucks because I am meeting my trainer for the first time tonight and I'm going to be like.... sorry, can't do anything besides the machines. They said no free weights, no cardio.

They were "force" the cardiologist to hook me to a holter monitor to do this for 48 hours if I was not well by Friday, but I am already doing much better.

So, kind of a derp-update on this. I've been on a medicine called Tenex for 3+ years for anxiety. It is a blood pressure medicine, but not usually prescribed for that anymore (it's old). It causes orthostatic hypotension in 1% of patients. I always have had normal BP on it, but Monday I was like... okay, screw this... it's not my hydration or my salt intake or anything else, so I am stopping Tenex. Mind you, I've always had low BP even before the Tenex, and it didn't lower it at all up until, apparently, about 3-4 weeks ago when this started. I got a call back on Tuesday from my psychiatrist agreeing with me that I should stop it. I saw my primary care yesterday who also agreed, and they said if I don't feel better by Thursday they will send me to cardiology for a holter monitor and get me in ASAP. However, it's now Day 3 and I have rebound "high" BP from dropping the Tenex (and anxiety), but no more orthostatic hypotension. The rebound high BP will go away soon. Mind you, "high" BP for me is like... 140/90. So, not actually real hypertension. So, problem solved. Hopefully. I am not going to make a big deal about the anxiety issue for now and just see my psych at my regular appointment in April to get on something new. Still deffo regret this surgery though. An endless pain in the a-s. I'm sure in a week or two I will develop a stricture or something. Who knows. It's a good thing I am not an idiot and know my medicines and advocate for myself. Not a single doctor even considered it could be my Tenex. I took MYSELF off that medicine and POOF all is well. And they all were like oooo yeahhhh stop taking that. /facepalm. I am disappointed I have to stop it, because I have been on over 30 psychiatric medications and Tenex, coupled with a few others, have been the perfect combo to manage my anxiety. Back to the drawing board.

So, there's no in-person support groups for WLS patients in my area. My surgeon's office technically has what they call a support group, but they just have speakers come each month... it's not actually a group chat environment. I would really like to start a group where people can share their troubles and successes. I feel like the complications are not discussed enough; whether people only focus on the positive, or forget about the things they went through. I know personally I could really use the support, knowing there are people like me out there and we are in this together. There's not a whole lot of talk about complications and "the bad times" on online forums. A lot of it is all roses, and I think it paints a murky picture of the realities of major surgery. I don't want it to be a place where we all come and mope together, so my friend who had the sleeve 6 months ago and has been highly successful is going to co-mod. Does anyone here go to local support groups and do you find it helpful? What types of things do people share?

No, I never had blood pressure problems. My blood pressure has always been fantastic.. usually low 100s over 70s. Was never on BP meds or anything like that. Now, when I stand up, it drops to the 80s/40's. I am hoping the primary care can take care of it. The local cardiologist can't see me until June; I told them about the urgency of it but nothing. Hoping it can be resolved.

I've had several complications (hernia, gallbladder, hypotension, ulcer) but I won't go into those. I think the worst, aside from those, is that I can't eat meat like I used to. No matter how slow I eat or how much I chew, it's hit or miss whether it will get "stuck" and I will end up sliming up stomach snot. I hear a lot of people have a hard time tolerating chicken. Chicken and fish seem to be the worst for me. Also I've lost about 40% of my hair, so that's annoying... but the least of my concerns.

I knowwww. I get so confused! I'll stand up and someone will be talking to me and it's like I barely comprehend what they are saying for about a minute until my blood comes back to my head. lol!

The sodium chloride I ordered is 1g per tablet, so I am going to take those. I've been adding two TABLESPOONS of table salt to my Powerade and nothing. BUT, like I said, I SHOULD be getting a prescription tomorrow from my primary care for low BP. Or else. lol.

This is what I was told, too. That it could take a year or more for my system to start regulating my blood pressure properly. I'm sorry but I can't black out daily for a year. lol. And I get super confused - I work with millions of dollars in County funds and I can't mess stuff up because my brain has derped out. I am PRAYING that tomorrow they will give me BP medicine to raise it and that will solve the problem.

Had my iron checked - completely normal. RBC and WBC, etc all fine. They said I had orthostatic hypotension and it's from rapid weight loss and my autonomic system failing and that "it should resolve within the first year".

I have an appointment with my primary care tomorrow at 2PM. I am more of an advocate than anyone else I know. I literally harass the crap out of my bariatric surgeon's office. I talk to them 3-4 times a week. I also talk to my psychiatrist. I ALSO talk to my primary care. All of my labs and every test they run come back normal so right now they're just like "drink more". I drink A LOT. The whole thing is bullshit, tbh. I am requesting to be put on ephendrine or midodrine tomorrow. I also called a cardiologist, but they can't see me until June, so the bariatric office is putting in a special referral for another place if my primary care refuses to prescribe me anything. I honestly just want this reversed. I do not give a crap if I gain 60lbs back. I can lose it on my own on Atkins. This was not worth this. I'm sure once the BP is resolved something else horrific will happen. The bariatric surgeon just told me "it'll get better in a year". Great. I'll just continue to pass out for the next 8-12 months.

I just had all of my labs run at the ER. Nothing is off. I also take Mag Citrate (for constipation). Potassium is perfect, sodium is just one point below normal, calcium, D, everything is fine. I am MORE than on top of my labs and other tests. It's just that everything is coming back normal. So everyone is like "I dunnoooo. Sorry you feel this way. Good luck." For the last 4 days I have been dumping so much salt into my Powerade it tastes like the ocean. Not helping. And I know salt should have an almost immediate impact on BP, which is why people with hypertension need to avoid it. I ordered some sodium chloride tablets so I don't have to douse everything in salt. But hopefully I will get midodrine tomorrow and I won't need it.