Arabesque

Don’t take any of the cold meds before your blood test but I would tell them you have a cold. They often add notes to their paperwork when you have the test & they might add this information too. Also let your surgeon know you have a cold. They may get you to have another blood test the day before or of the surgery to compare results. All the best.

So sorry for your loss @Starwarsandcupcakes.

First, congratulations on your weight loss. Whoo hoo! I too struggle with energy. A lot I think is because of my low blood pressure, lowish heart rate & random hypoglycaemic episodes. I seem to have bursts of energy & then it’s like ok have to stop now. But these aren’t really new experiences. I always had a tendency to drops in blood pressure & hypoglycaemia & they always happened more frequently when I was thinner & I’m slimmer than I’ve ever been now. Have you spoken with your surgeon about what you’re experiencing? Where is the pain - joints, abdomen, back, …? NSAIDS, like ibuprofen, should be avoided. They’re too harsh on our much smaller stomachs & will cause irritation to your tummy & even stomach ulcers so if your pain is abdominal the daily ibuprofen could be the cause. My surgeon does allow me to have a single capsule very rarely. I go for months without taking one. I’ve only about 5 single capsules in almost 3 years & 2 were recently when my oozing discs decided to play up - so painful & physically limiting.

Sometimes family members & friends find it very hard to reconcile how you look now so to them anything smaller then what you were looks skeletal. It takes time for them to really see you. I had some of those moments too but they don’t say anything like that now & I’m smaller than what I was when they did. They went from stop losing, you look skeletal, & the worst you look like death, to you’re actually quite finely built aren’t you, to no comments at all. And yes, I got the very concerned inquiry as to the state of my health & if I was really ok too. It was from my minister - think she thought she’d have to add me to her daily prayers. By the way, I think you look great.

Thanks for the info about liquorice root & aloe vera @Abnormal Angie.

Try the instant 2 minute type of rolled oats first then progress to the traditional or cut oats on more solid food or when able to tolerate the coarser oats. Make in milk & make them fairly milky to begin.

Many experience a temporary change to their taste &/or sense of smell regardless of the surgery they had. It does pass but it can be helpful to break a desire for a specific food. For me it was sweet things. Can also be annoying if it’s a food that would be considered healthy. My favourite vegetables (asparagus, sugar snap peas, broccolini) were disgusting for a while.

Constipation is very common. But the dosage you’re having all sounds too extreme & are suffering as a result. ☹️ It may take a little while for your body to actually get back into some sort of routine after this & also to have anything to excrete. You’ve basically cleaned yourself out. I took benefibre every day & only a single stool softener when needed. Usually after three days of no movement to keep on top of it like @catwoman7. It wasn’t an every week thing. I also had rolled oats most morning from purée stage - good fibre. You’re not consuming much to begin so your movements tend to be small & you may not go every day until you are eating a greater volume of food each day.

Oh yeah, protein shakes are hideous. I even found the so called flavourless pea protein still had a unpleasant taste to me (& I love peas). I stopped them when I started purées. I loved yoghurt drinks too. I found a high protein one with a low sugar content (from the puréed fruit not added) & sipped it as a drink not a meal. I’m not a lover of tinned fish so I looked to fresh or frozen fish fillets (soft flaky white fish). If it was crumbed or battered, I’d only eat the flesh inside the coating. I did make a lot of slow cooked stew style dishes with some vegetables for flavour like bolognese & savoury mince, chicken (thigh not breast) casserole, etc. I also had very milky rolled oats most mornings (a good whole grain fibre & two sources of protein) so it was more liquid than solid & sipped it for a while. Nibbled on cubes of soft cheese like Jarslberg or string cheese too.

My thought was lactose intolerance too. I agree, try lactose free dairy products & plant based protein shakes.

Shorter hair often looks thicker & bouncier (less weight of the length to pull the hair down) so it can lessen how noticeable any hair loss is. Even though I had long thick hair I started to get that straggly thin look in the bottom 4 inches so I had that cut off about a month into the hair loss. Then I cut it to just above my shoulders after around three months of losing which is when it actually slowed & then stopped. I’ve kept the shorter length - much easier to look after. It doesn’t matter if your hair is long or short if your natural hair loss cycle is accelerated post surgery & with your weight loss, you’ll lose hair.

I think doctors are wary of drug interactions between the meds they prescribe & those you self administer. There are enough concerns with the negative interactions with the meds they prescribe without adding natural supplements they don’t know as much about. And many people are guilty of not informing their doctors of everything they take thinking natural supplements/remedies are harmless because they’re ‘natural’. But you can have a bad reaction to anything including naturally derived. PPIs are usually prescribed for the short term, months, so any potential long term effects would not be a concern. If you were taking the higher dose for years you’d be right to be concerned. Does liquorice root & aloe vera reduce the production of stomach acid (the cause) or do they just soothe the symptoms like over the counter heart burn treatments? As with all meds you take, it’s best to check where they are absorbed (stomach, intestines) as your surgery may affect their absorption. Many say slow release meds aren’t as successful post surgery. Hope they sort out the cause of your stomach pain.

So many us us don’t have such regular & thorough health checks as we do during this process. And because some health issues manifest slowly we don’t notice the changes as symptoms or we just blame something else - oh it’s just age or my weight or …, etc. Even though your results have been a set back, aren’t you glad the issues have been identified & your doctor wants to help you get better & healthier. Though you have to wait longer, you’ll be in a much healthier & stronger place to have the surgery. I’m very happy my surgeon & doctor were vigilant all through my weight loss & would monitor or order further tests aberrations & still are. I still have three monthly blood tests & check ups at almost three years post surgery. And generally I’m very healthy.

Okay breathe. You’re not expected to know it all at the very beginning. Have you met with your dietician yet? Have you met with a therapist yet? They should be a great source of information, guidance & support. Ask for as many appointments as you need. If your sister has been approved she is further along in the process so you can’t compare yourself. Remember it’s not a race. We’re all different physiologically & psychologically. We may have similar experiences but they won’t be totally identical. No wonder you get hungry if you’re starving yourself. And then the emotional torment is likely drinking head hunger & cravings as you consciously or sub consciously are looking to food to try to comfort you. If you want to start making changes start slowly by making only one to two changes to your diet at a time. Reduce portion sizes, reduce your sugar intake, increase your vegetable intake, try some different cooking styles, try some new recipes, reduce your caffeine intake or reduce how many takeaways/fast food you eat. You’ll be on your pre surgery diet before you know it & that’s a whole different ball game. Once you have surgery things will be different - you physically won’t be able to eat the volume of food you used to eat & you will be on a restricted staged return to eating solid food. & your hunger & interest in food may be greatly reduced. The learning about food nutrition, our own personal needs, what drives us to eat, etc, takes time. In fact you’ll continue to learn. Almost three years out & I still discover new things about my eating & what I need to be healthy.

Ask your surgeon & dietician for more specific guidelines around food choices, portion sizes, protein & fluid goals especially if what they gave you was not detailed enough. Once on soIid foods, many follow a low carb, low fat, high protein diet & reduce sugar intake. Eat your protein first & then any (cooked to begin) vegetables you are able too. You’ll find you won’t have room for much else after your protein to begin. Only eat until you’ve had what you need not until you are full. Eat slowly. Take small bites. Keep food moist & tender. Dry, coarse food can cause discomfort, feel like it’s got ‘stuck’ in your throat or cause your restriction to kick in quickly. I always weight differently on my doctor’s scale so I let them keep their records & I keep track of my own weight loss. You’ll also discover your own natural fluctuations - fluid retention, constipation, etc., even stall cycles, as long as your weight loss trend is going down you’re golden.

Everyone I know who are fully vaccinated & boosted don’t seem to get it very badly. More like the beginning of the flu aching bones &/or a headache for a day or so & maybe a sore throat or cough. My nieces & nephews were playing in their yard after two days. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But it may depend on the variant & you are in a more weakened state due to the surgery. Mask up, be extra vigilant about hygiene, distance whenever possible. Fingers crossed you’ll be one of those who don’t get it even though surrounded by positive cases. Hope your daughter has an easy run too.

Unfortunately not everyone loses their appetite & hunger with the surgery. But food cravings tend to have a emotional cause. As you progress you’ll discover head hunger is very different from real hunger. For many of us real hunger doesn’t involve a craving for a specific food or food type (salty or sweet). If I’m craving something specifically I know it’s not real. Try drinking something warm like green or herbal tea if you’re allowed. Look for something g distracting to do. The surgery stirs up a lot of emotions on many levels so it makes sense that you may crave foods that used to offer you some form of comfort. Even not being able to eat whenever & what ever you want can mess with you. Even the hormonal changes after the surgery can cause cravings. You may benefit from a chat with your therapist (if you were referred to one during your pre surgery process). Many find them very helpful to discover what drives their cravings & then work out strategies to manage them. Remember your tummy is about 80% smaller so it takes very little to feel full but you won’t feel full until you’re on more solid foods. Liquids & purées go through you more quickly so you have to be careful not to over eat. Hunger pains are often excess stomach acid. Post surgery you may be producing more than your smaller tummy needs which is why many surgeons prescribe a PPI after surgery to reduce acid production. (Over the counter meds only soothe the symptoms not affect the cause.) You often just need to take them for a couple of months +/-. Hunger pains & a rumbling growling tummy often don’t mean you are hungry - it’s just your digestive process working. Congrats on your surgery. All the best.

All the prodding, pushing & pulling of all the laparoscopic instruments, etc. cause a lot of muscles strain & general internal bruising. The right side incision is from where they pull out your tummy which is possibly why it is more painful. If the discomfort persists, contact your surgeon just to be sure.

I let any carbonated drinks get pretty flat. I have about 450ml sparkling water every day sipping over a couple of hours. I enjoy the mineral taste as a change from plain water. The only other carbonated drinks I have are tonic or soda water with a rare gin or the equally as rare champagne (single glass). But I am someone for whom excess bubbles irritated me a lot prior to surgery anyway: stirred up my reflux & gave me terrible hiccups so I had given up soft drinks (soda) years ago. My first was a low ball gin & tonic around month 2 after surgery. I stirred it frequently to reduce the bubbles & took literally hours to drink it. Then it would have been another month or two before I had another.

I got photographs too - during & after. He gave me one after my gall surgery too. I thought it was hilarious. Couldn’t decide if it was it evidence or a souvenir?? You may find videos online of surgeries. They often show footage of part of the surgery on My 600lb Life.

A one off aberration is ok as long as you get back on your plan straight away afterwards. Good luck with your surgery. For others who may find themselves in a similar situation & if your colleagues/friends don’t know about your surgery, you could say you’re having a routine medical test & are on a restricted diet to prepare (colonoscopy, endoscopy, blood tests, etc.). Most people are understanding when you say it’s for a medical reason. There were times in the staged returned to eating phases after surgery I was out & couldn't eat what everyone was. I ordered soup if I could, or just had something to drink. I even took a protein shake to my friend’s 60th birthday & sipped that. I circulated a lot so no one knew if I was eating or not.

A lot of soups are just purées anyway like pumpkin, potato, tomato, cream of chicken, etc. soups. I’d make my own & purée just l did when I usually made them. Make a slow cooked chicken & vegetable soup (use chicken on the bone). Strain it & eat the broth. Strain any purchased soups just to make sure there’s no chunky or fibrous bits like herbs. Add some unflavoured protein powder to the vegetable soups. Try scrambled eggs made with a little more milk so they’re sloppier. You can blend them a little if still a little dense. Mash a boiled egg with low fat Mayo. Baby food can be tasteless to adults because of the low salt & sugar content. Babies haven’t developed an addiction/desire for salt & sugar yet.

There’s no right or wrong answer. Some people do start making changes before their pre surgery diet to get in their new mindset. They may drop some foods or swap out some to healthier options. Some have food funerals & will eat all their favourite foods before they start. It’s really up to you. Mine all happened so quickly (we don’t have the hoops to go through in Australia like you do to get approval). So there was only a few weeks between getting my referral from my GP, seeing the surgeon, then the dietician then my actual surgery. Didn’t have a food funeral and had already cut out & back on some things because I had been trying to lose weight for a couple of months anyway.

Being nervous before any surgery is understandable. You’ve not had this surgery before. We all react differently because we’re not exactly the same so there is no single set of things to expect after surgery. … Fear of the unknown is real. Remember you made this decision for a reason. You must trust your surgeon otherwise you would have gone to a different one. And you likely have family & friends who will support you. Some people have no hunger or interest in food after surgery some do. As @lizonaplane said she was prescribed medication to help with her continued hunger. But everyone’s hunger comes back at some time. As for enjoying food in the future, that doesn’t change. In the short term while you are healing & your body is getting used to the changes you may struggle with some foods. Even your sense of taste & smell can change. But it is all temporary. While losing you learn so much about your eating habits & cravings. You learn the difference between real hunger & head hunger. The difference between eating until you’re full & stopping when you’ve had what your body needs. You’ll learn about better nutrition, healthier food options & alternatives, portion sizes, etc. You may look at food differently - food as fuel & nutrition your body needs vs simply to offer comfort. Some of this learning you’ll do alone. Some you may do with the help & support of a dietician &/or a therapist. Take each day as it comes. Listen to your body & its cues. If something feels wrong contact your surgeon or go to a medical centre. Never be afraid to ask for help. All the best.

Your multi vitamins can make you nauseous too. Calcium, iron & vitamins A, C, D, E & K can all cause nausea. Check to ensure you’re not doubling up on dosages like taking a separate iron &/or calcium tablets as well as multi vitamins with iron & calcium. Try splitting the dose across the day e.g. one in the morning & one at night. Take them after you finish your shake so you have something on your tummy. Try a different brand. Try a patch to avoid them entering your tummy. I was slightly nauseous most mornings from my vitamins. Sometimes bad enough to vomit & sometimes I just needed to lie a down for a little while. I was allowed to stop taking them once I reached goal as my blood work showed I had more than enough of all the vitamins & minerals I needed. I was never nauseated again. Some people develop a lactose intolerance or sensitivity after surgery (most just temporary) which can cause nausea. Try a lactose free shake & dairy products.