Arabesque

Oh, yeah. I have things I haven’t worn yet either. A few things in my wardrobe still with the tags on. Partially COVID. Partially being out of the habit of going out. Most recently because the floods here postponed openings. Was supposed to be going to the opening night of a dance film my two nieces were in last week but it’s been delayed until June. It will be too cool to wear the outfit I was intending to wear so the tags will be staying on for a while longer. A contemporary dance performance I was thinking of seeing this week was also postponed. Sigh! I admire you giving a capsule wardrobe a go. My casual wardrobe could be considered a capsule. A few key pieces I rotate. But my better wardrobe is an extravaganza of excess. 😆

I had my surgery almost three years ago & have three friend who’ve also had sleeve surgery in the last 2-4 yrs. They haven’t developed Gerd or the lesser reflux. I had mild reflux before my surgery but managed it successfully through my food & drink choices. I only had issues if I made bad choices like too much champagne or too many gin & tonics - the bubbles groan. Yes, I still have reflux though I experience different symptoms but again not that severe. I take a PPI every day now & for about 3 days out of 4 that’s enough. I get some burning in my throat late at night a couple of times a week but it’s not that bad. I would be included in that 30% stat even though I had it before, as many obese people do, & it’s still pretty mild. This is my experience. We’re all different & you can never predict how you will react to the surgery & the changes to your digestive system. I’m one of the 35% who developed gall stones but I could have developed them because of the weight loss, menopause or because I have Gilbert’s. If your existing reflux is severe enough to make you sick when you have an attack, my thought would be that you’re not a candidate for a sleeve. But that’s my opinion & I’m not a medical person. Do your research, ask questions. All surgeries have side effects & there’ll be pros & cons for all of the weight loss surgery options too. Remember, you have the right to ask for which ever surgery you think may be best for you. All the best.

OMG! How did you manage to give up clothes shopping? What’s your secret? Did you go cold turkey or just slowly weaned yourself off? Or just couldn’t be bothered? Longest I’ve gone is three weeks which as last month. I did buy a new handbag but a bag shouldn’t count should it?? 😉

We always sprinkled our cauliflower au gratin with crushed cornflakes or weatabixs & grated cheese. Or you can use breadcrumbs & cheese or if you’re feeling a bit fancy gremolata (lemon zest, garlic & parsley). Mmmmm.

Had lunch with two girl friends yesterday - the three of us have had sleeve surgery over the last 2-4 years. We found a lovely yum char restaurant & shared these 3 delicious steamed scallop, spinach & roe dumplings, 6 duck pancakes (the pancake was too heavy for me so I only had 1) & 3 unpictured steamed prawn dumplings. The waiter actually asked if that would be enough food for us to share. Made us chuckle.

Generally most of us are advised to consume 60 - 80g a day but as the others have suggested, it is best to ask your dietician &/or surgeon for a goal appropriate for you & your needs. Excess protein is stored as fat, not helpful while you’re trying to lose weight, can cause kidney issues like kidney stones & can raise your cholesterol (which already often temporarily increases as you lose weight anyway). There is also information about that says your body can’t absorb more than around 25g of protein at a time. So you could infer if you consume more than 25g at a meal the excess would be stored as fat.

As @sleeve-me-alone, most surgeons prescribe a PPI post surgery. The surgery stirs up your acid production & your tummy seems to continue to produce enough acid to digest the volume of food you used to eat not what you eat now. Over the counter meds usually aren’t strong enough. Give your surgeon’s office a call & ask for a script.

As you can see, this is very common. Best to keep on top of the constipation to avoid the faeces compacting & thus avoiding the pain. If I had no movement after three days I’d take a stool softener & I took Benefibre every day. Keep your fluids up too. When able add some vegetables to your diet. The constipation does continue for a while. It was around my 18month mark when things started to be pretty regular again.

You could have just pulled some muscles. Don’t forget you have internal sutures & staples too that are still healing, and we’re advised to take things slowly for a while. You may have just moved too far too quickly. If there’s no improvement after a couple of days or it gets worse or you get additional symptoms, pop into your emergency centre.

Very happy they found out what was wrong & it didn’t require additional surgery or treatment… except for the IV for the dehydration. I found water not as enjoyable as I did before surgery for a while too. Our temporarily changed tastebuds are the cause I think. It was almost heavy to drink too. I was allowed green tea (which I drank anyway) & I would have a large mug every day - still do. I also let sparkling water go flat as I found the minerally taste more palatable than water. Together they made up about half of my fluid intake so I wasn’t totally dependent upon plain water. I also diluted my shakes, broths & soups to get more fluids in - at least 1/2 as much water again. It made them a little more palatable too. I also made up an electolyte drink every day. I used Hydralyte. It gives you a little boost of energy & some mineral salts. Mine had a nice citrus taste. I also diluted it too as I found it a little sweet (doubled the water). All the best.

All you can do is try them. I still find processed carbs like breads, rice & pasta too heavy & filling. Had a single duck pancake at yum char today & groan & I’m almost three years out. Others successfully eat low carb breads, etc. but many do only from maintenance. Check with your dietician to be sure too.

Sounds like dumping to me. The nausea, the fast heart beat, discomfort are the first stages. Add in vomiting &/or diarrhoea & you’ve had the full on complete dumping experience. Coarse, dry or fibrous foods tend to cause the foamies as they get ‘stuck’. Occurs quickly, almost immediately after or during eating. Lots of salvia, coughing to bring up what’s stuck & maybe regurgitate what you just ate - whatever was stuck. Foamies pass very quickly - regurgitate & a couple of minutes later you’re fine. Dumping occurs if certain foods like sugars are processed through your tummy too quickly & ‘dumped’ into the small intestines. Dumping occurs a little after eating - 30 minutes to a couple of hours later. It can take a a couple of hours to feel okay again after a dumping episode. Dairy products (as can certain fats or fried foods) can cause dumping too so it likely was the protein shake. As @catwoman7 said, it may be a temporary upset as our tummy can be sensitive & fussy at first & something we eat one day without issue suddenly is disgusting or makes us sick the next. Try some lactose free dairy & plant based protein shakes for a little while & see how you go.

For many, the purée stage occurs in weeks 3 & 4 then soft food begins in week 5. But every surgeon has their own plan & some vary them according to the needs of the individual patient, their recovery, health history, etc. You may be feeling weak from the low calories or not getting in enough nutrients & be lacking in something like iron as @fourmonthspreop suggested. For me it was because my blood pressure was very low & I was getting the odd hypoglycaemic episodes. Oh yeah cottage cheese is awful. Have you tried denser slow cooked soups made from meat & vegetables & blended very well then strained. You’ll get more nutrients in that way. I was able to have instant rolled oats made on milk - make them pretty milky & runny. (The instant are more processed & less dense. I went on real ‘steel cut’ oats from the soft food stage.) Try blending poached chicken thighs with gravy or stock. Also try blending tinned salmon or tuna with Mayo or other liquid sauce. I even had some baby food a couple of times.

The burning from GERD usually occurs in the throat as the acid from the stomach rises. An overproduction of acid can cause sharp cutting pains across the lower stomach. Or it could be an ulcer as you thought. If your PPI helps temporarily it could be an ulcer, too much acid &/or GERD. Don’t eat late at night, avoid spicy foods, carbonation, caffeine, dairy products, & see if that helps. Could be a hernia or kidney stones. Gall stones cause pain on the lower right so that’s ruled out. Try to get into your GP sooner if you can’t get an appointment with your surgeon. Or go to your nearest emergency centre especially if the pain can’t be managed or gets worse. All the best.

We all have our natural fluctuations. Fluid, hormones, constipation, etc. Mine is a kilogram (2.2lbs). Never really noticed it before because I rarely weighed myself. You may have been the same. Now because we weigh ourselves more regularly & record our weight, the fluctuations are more noticeable. As long as your weight loss trend across is going downwards, all is good. Doesn’t matter if there’s little hitches. Stalls happen. The first usually occurs around week 3 & can last 1-3 weeks. Frustrating & stressful when you see no weight loss, but a very common part of the weight loss journey. They do end & your weight will start to drop again.

Oh, yeah, constipation is very common. Took a good 18 months before I got back into a pretty regular routine which was 12 months into maintenance. Add a soluble fibre to your diet like Benefibre (avoid the ones that swell in your tummy). Keep your water up. Add a few more vegetables, a little fruit or some whole or multi grains to your diet as allowed. And establish your own routine of treatments to ease the constipation. Take Miralax every day as @catwoman7 suggested. I’d take a stool softener on day 3 if I had no movement. The longer you let it go the harder & more compact it becomes making it very painful to pass.

Yep, it’s easy to look at those tiny external incisions & forget about all the internal sutures & staples holding your digestive system together. Don’t forget all the muscles that were stretched & strained & organs that were pushed about during the surgery too. Yes time heals all things but if the pain persists or worsens, contact your surgeon or go to your closest medical centre.

You’re allowed coffee but not tea? That sounds strange as it’s the caffeine that aggregates stomach ulcers - increases stomach acid production. I believe decaffeinated does the same thing. I found this link which advises what foods & drinks to avoid with an ulcer. It includes many of the things I reduced or avoided in my diet after it was discovered many years ago I over produced acid & had a couple of (thankfully very small) ulcers. May be worth a chat with your & dietician for alternatives (temporarily going plant based may be a solution??). You don’t want to consume anything which may exacerbate your ulcer & prolong its healing. https://www.drugs.com/cg/diet-for-stomach-ulcers-and-gastritis.html All the best.

Aah the head hunger. A craving is often to satisfy an emotional need: for comfort, because you’re angry, confused, stressed, bored, etc. or from a habit (like always had a sweet treat at night). Unfortunately, the surgery doesn’t stop the cravings. If only it did. We just have to work out strategies to manage them. This is part of doing the head work so many of us talk about. Look for a distraction (read, go for a walk, do a craft, play a game, check your social media, etc.) or just wait 30 minutes. Often cravings have a short life span & by doing something else or simply waiting the craving passes. Have a drink of water or tea, etc. I sometimes would clean my teeth. The minty taste can be satisfying or I wouldn’t eat because I’d ‘just cleaned my teeth’. Salt cravings can be real especially if you live in a hot climate or are very active & are losing of salts through perspiration. If I had a true salt craving eating a little salt satisfied it. Just dipped my finger in sea salt, added more salt to my general diet or sometimes ate a small piece of cucumber rolled in salt. Good luck.

Is it a new pain? Are you able to manage it with over the counter pain meds? It could just be your body healing: stretched muscles realigning themselves, organs shifting back into place, etc. It could be your gall or liver playing up because of your weight loss so far. Have you been doing too much or lifting heavy things? If it persists or gets worse contact your surgeon or go to your nearest medical centre. All the best.

Like most things, we’re different. Some can eat more. Some are encouraged to eat more. Some can only eat small amounts. Some lose their hunger. Others don’t. It’s all ok. As @ms.sss said how much you can eat can depend on what you’re eating & this seems to remain true regardless of how far along you are. It can also depend upon the time of day, what else you’ve eaten that day, how fast you eat, etc. You’re likely in a stall at the moment. The first usually occurs around week 3 & can last 1 to 3 weeks. If it persists, get in touch with your dietician. A tweak to your plan may be needed. You may also discover differences between your hungry & full signals. There are differences between the signals for head vs real hunger & differences between being full & having enough (do you need that next bite or just want it - a big realisation for me). Just have to discover yours. As long as you’re following your surgeon & dietician’s plan, & it seems you are, it will all work out. Have a chat with your dietician anyway if only to reassure yourself you’re doing ok.

Yes, it’s just over 24lbs which is a decent amount of weight loss for most people. It’s not a race. There ‘s no gold medal or media covered celebration for how fast you lose. You will lose weight at your own rate. Some are slow losers. Some lose more quickly. There are too many factors beyond your control which influence the rate of your loss: age, gender, weight loss/gain history, existing health conditions, medications, etc.

The hair loss generally lasts about three months. This is the same for the people who didn’t take supplements like biotin & those who did. The hair you’ll lose is already dead & would have been shed anyway. The stress of the surgery & weight loss accelerate your natural hair loss cycle but your natural hair regrowth remains unchanged. So while you’re losing hair, you’re still growing new hair. It is only the new hair that may benefit from any supplements. During the first month you often feel weak, have low energy, experience some brain fog & shorter concentration spans. But we are all different in our recovery. A friend was back at work after a week no issue. Another took three weeks. Me, I still struggled after 4 weeks but my BP was very low (but that is my normal).

My cholesterol went up too & I was also told it was because of the weight loss. They still kept their eye in it. It was back within my usual range of about 5 (had been that for decades regardless of diet or weight) once my weight stabilised. Now it’s low 4s. The back pain & other body aches are also related to your weight loss. Your body is getting used to holding itself differently. Before it was compensating for the weight you were carrying. Now it’s relearning how to stand up straight again. A friend go also had surgery & I often joke about how we still slouch a bit. We don’t have a large tummy to prop us up anymore. 😆 I also had back pain until I bought myself some new bras that fit my smaller breasts - made a big difference.

Aah. The awful truth about exercising. The more you do the hungrier you feel as your body tries to replace the energy you burnt while exercising. Athletes eat carbs to boost their energy because it burns quickly but we’re advised to avoid carbs while losing. Have a chat with your dietician & see if there is a way to tweak your current eating plan to compensate without adding too many calories. I was allowed rolled oats from purée as a low processed, more nutritious, more filling, whole grain. Maybe that’s a option for you. At least the exercise helps keep your metabolism running efficiently. PS. Congrats on your weight loss so far.