Don C

I had my sleeve Sept 19. No complications or side effects down about 40 ish pounds so far

I'm approaching 2 months, I seemed to start out well but this bouncing between 282-287 is driving me crazy- no cheating on the food, my surgeon visit he told me to up my calories to 800 breakfast/lunch/dinner with two snacks in between- sounding right? He said don't worry stick to the program you are doing good- he seemed confident. I get that I may be gaining muscle and losing fat- I'm down two shirt sizes and 4 inches of waistline in my pants so I am guessing it's ok- If I dropped 100 right now I'd be at the "perfect" weight for me so I guess coming off slower is better? thoughts about the diet portion? I picked up a Soloflex elliptical since the weather will stink in houston the next few months so no excuses once I put it together, I can elliptical and watch tv at the same time

I also use Baritastic, it keeps all the info I want

Hadn't heard from the doctor that I had been approved for surgery on the 19th two weeks from today and thought maybe I should call and see if they heard anything and what is the typical liquid diet timeline for my particular surgeon- all of them are different. We were talking and she said "OH you are scheduled for the 19th your liquids start TODAY" Luckily I have never been a breakfast/lunch guy- so all I had was a shake this morning- the morning and lunch will be easy, I think the nights will be stinkola. I guess I will just have to deal with it.

I have had pretty bad panic/anxiety attacks since my 20s, so going on close to 30 years. I was diagnosed with panic disorder when I was about 29, I'm 50 now. I took xanax as needed when they figured it out. I still had attacks because I took it "as needed" and I wasn't good at knowing when they were coming on. Then Xanax XR- extended release came out. This is not a fave drug of psychiatrists but works for me- yes I have tried Pristique, Buspirol and all the others- they tend to be anxiety/depression meds and I am a rare zero depression type so when that phase of meds kicked in- I was SICK. So bottom line the Xanax XR works well for me. I am on 4 MG a day every morning. It is one that causes dependence- believe me I know if I forgot a dose within a few hours of my normal time of taking it. It also sits in the stomach from what I read and has a coating that makes it "gel" and stay there? dunno on that my psychiatrist is going to investigate absorption rates and things I was vaguely understanding from her. I know I can't be the only one on a med like this that went for the surgery. If I was to "wean" off of this drug- you can't go cold turkey- seizures, convulsions, death, fun stuff like that, you can do a .5 mg reduction per week or two until you are off. So it is 'possible' to come off, eventually I want to be off of it anyway. But that means the debilitating attacks come back. I have read articles about moving from the immediate release- the kind "druggies" like to get their hands on to moving to extended release. But not the other way. My hope is to someday be off the constant XR and just take as needed especially since I will be retired and be able to deal with it, ride it out, take a break- etc- the things I can't do at work mid-meeting. So I consult with my surgeon and he asks what is your biggest concern about having the surgery? And I tell him about this. He said "Nah don't worry bout it, how big are the pills? Bigger than an M&M?" Nope about that size actually. "Yeah just get up a few hours earlier, pop the pills, go back to bed, then come in for surgery- then when you wake up the next day just take them with a sip of water, it will all be good. He's a very experienced, confident- almost cocky but not really guy" And I know all surgeons seem different on what to eat/drink, type, when, how fast etc. Even with me I will have the two week pre-op diet but he said I don't have to lose any weight for the surgery- both of my friends who did it had to drop 50 and 35 pounds respectively. So I am trying to trust my surgeon based on him knowing my needs. I should have asked- have you had any other patients who were on meds that they couldn't come off of easily? So I know I am going to have some funky physical sensations with the surgery and healing- these physical sensations tend to trigger a panic attack for me so staying on my meds would be a good thing. Have any of you out there have to deal with this? I also found out that I can't crush my Crestor or Actos- I didn't think they were extended release but I looked it up- I KNOW lots of us are on those meds for cholesterol or diabetes. My surgeon said "You aren't going to need those." Actos for pre-diabetes probably not, the Crestor I think I will as I needed it when i was skinny due to a genetic disorder making my cholesterol way out of whack. But I also thought- I may not need these in the future but immediately after surgery? It seems everyone with sleeve appears to drop about 35 pounds with immediate pre and post op diets but I wouldn't think that would change my numbers so much that I could come off those other meds. And I can be off them for a couple of weeks without more than a headache for just stopping. So anyone have to face this or something close? thanks in advance for any perspective you can share Don

Yes I do get rebound and withdrawal symptoms- first I get kinda fuzzy feeling, then nauseous. If I go longer I get the “electric shocks” feels like zapping in my head- pretty scary but I’m not actually having a panic attack it’s like I’m too sick to have one? I don’t know if that makes sense. I was hoping my doc will tell me to come off the xr 4 mg and go to 4 mg throughout the day. I know my 4mg is only lasting 12 ish hours with xr so very rarely I’ll have an issue at night. But I’ve never been woken from sleep with an attack. I thought like you I probably wouldn’t take all 4 mg a day immediate release also thanks for the support with taking it because it works. Taking those meds for panic attacks is not something I like discussing with people- anyone on that med doesn’t like too I’ve only become ok with it recently. I have an apt with my psych before I have surgery so I can discuss options with her. She’s very good with me and my needs. Thank you you for sharing I’ll share some of those options with her too and see what she thinks. Thanks for sharing your experience