Arabesque

My doctors said the surgery & sudden reduced food intake is a shock to our system and one of the side effects is that our normal hair loss cycle accelerates. My dietician advised there was nothing much that could be done except keep up my multivitamins & ensure I meet my protein requirements. Biotin, silica, collagen, & other supplements to benefit your hair will only make your new growth stronger & not reduce the hair loss. Your hair itself is dead and regularly sheds like our skin cells. It’s just happening faster. My loss began at about month 3 and started to slow at about month 10. It’s pretty well back to normal now & I can feel it’s thickening again. I lost a good 50% of my hair. Thank gracious I had a lot of it to begin with.

Winter is a comin’ here in Aust. So glad my new cute, warm, XS pjs finally arrived one day before the cold front moved in. First day wearing warm clothes - heading off to the hairdresser. Strange to be wearing make-up but made the effort with nails, hair & jewellery to remember what was normal. Prayers for you & your husband @BayougirlMrsS.

Welcome back @ms.sss. You had us worried. Looking fabulous as ever & your butt looks mighty fine in that green dress.

Great British Bake Off pre Prue was fabulous (watch them over & over - God bless Mary Berry). But Prue is so critical & negative. Funny thing is I loved her on a Great British Menu (also can watch over & over except the last season was awful & I don’t like Andi who took over from Prue). I enjoy Top Chef too. If you enjoy Project Runway @ms.sss try Making the Cut on Prime (Heidi & Tim are back) & Next in Fashion (Tam France & Alexa Chung) on Netflix. Sssh but I do enjoy Say Yes to the Dress too.

People who’ve never struggled with weight never understand the eternal battle. I have one brother who knows the struggle & one who doesn’t. I didn’t tell the one who doesn’t about my surgery but he recently found out I had it and has been hassling my mum about it & being very critical (not me yet but I’m waiting for it). I was fortunate. My mum was supportive of my decision but she has since told me she was very worried at the time. Does your mum’s negativity come from her fear that you’ll lose weight when she can’t or the loss of something you currently share (eating and being overweight)? All surgeries have their dangers but not having the surgery and not losing weight has major health complications too. @rjan is right you still eat food after you have surgery but if you want to be successful you change the type of foods you eat and choose healthy, nutritious options in much smaller portions. Over time you will work out new favourite foods, what foods you can or can’t tolerate and if you can have an odd treat like @catwoman7 said. Do your research. Talk to others who’ve had the surgery. This has to be your decision. Good luck.

My ears get blocked too coupled with low BP blackouts, dull headaches and random attacks of severe vertigo. When anti nausea drugs weren’t helping the vertigo my GP sent me to a physio to test for BPPV which showed I didn’t. Now think it’s Meniere’s but have to wait for end of lockdown to explore this further. Do you have occasional buzzing/ringing in your ears too (not all Meniere’s sufferers do)? It may be worth raising it as a possibility with your GP.

Great advice @S@ssen@ch. Nexium was a big help for me too. I also avoided carbonated drinks, spicy foods & overly rich (creamy, cheesy) food. Fresh tomatoes are ok for me but tinned tomatoes tend to go through me quickly. I only drink green tea. Can’t eat close to bed time either - lots of gurgling & discomfort. A single brick at the top of your bed is all you need to elevate you enough to get relief. My GP said increasing the number of pillows you sleep on can cause your head to bend at your neck and then the acid pools at the top of your oesophagus. Hooe you find some relief.

Should have also mentioned I have loose skin on my hands & fingers. Dropped about 4 full ring sizes & now my hands & fingers look a bit wrinkly & soft. Very unexpected.

Dietician had me on keto for a couple of weeks before surgery. My surgeon puts all his patients on a pre-surgery diet to reduce fat around the liver & give him a clearer line of sight during surgery. He put my friend, with a much higher starting BMI than me, on a protein shake diet pre surgery. Maybe too lose a little more pre surgery???

Thanks for starting this thread @BayougirlMrsS. So many recommendations. Yes to Picard. Lovely to see favourite old characters. I think I shouted out loud when I saw Hugh. Sssh My 600lb life is a secret obsession. I’m watching now. Yes to Property Bothers & any Sarah Richardson interior design shows. I watch them over & over. Watch her you tube segments to keep my fix.

They’re the best. No more misshapen shoulders. I usually buy the wooden hangers from my grocery store: box of 20 for about $15. (Do have a couple of wire hangers for drip drying clothes in my shower. Ssshh.)

Watched Night Manager when it first came out & it was great. Sad to hear it wasn’t popular in the US. Excellent cast. Heard they were making another one but ... Be warned Walking dead is excellent until the whole Negan story line. Series 7 was the last one I watched. Had watched it religiously when it came out but that was the end for me & I like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Thumbs up for Mindhunters. The Boys is good too. A twist on the Superhero genre. A moody Karl Urban & a blonde Anthony Starr. (Recommend Alan Ball’s Banshee, also staring Anthony Starr, too.) Intending to watch The Watchman next & looking forward to season 2 of Ricky Gervais’ After Life.

@BayougirlMrsS those pants are fantastic. They look so good on you. And @Sophie7713 you always look so lovely. What’s that glorious tree @GreenTealael? The Night Manager Is excellent. Great cast. OMG gotta love Tom. Fantastic as Loki (all grungy goodness) & excellent in Only Lovers Left Alive & Crimson Peak. (We won’t talk about Kong: Skull Island - sooo bad.) I found old episodes of The Bionic Woman. Loved it as a child but it does not stand up well today. So sexist: ‘What use is a woman who can think.’ No joke quote from an episode. And she always needs a man to help her even though she has bionic strength & speed. Sheesh! Watched The Boys, Hunters, Explained, Sex Education, Picard & looking forward to series 2 of After Life tomorrow. Also watching Making the Cut for my fashion design comp hit. Been clearing out my cupboards ... again. I have literally five good winter outfits that fit. My poor credit card is going to get such a workout. At least I won’t have to buy hangers. Lol. Take care everyone. Stay healthy.

I always had a tendency to low blood pressure but after my surgery it was low all the time - black spots, loss of vision, light headedness but no fainting (couple of close calls though). I was put on medication (a fludrocortisone) but it didn’t help. I find if my vision starts to go when I stand or am walking, it helps if I bend over to get my head down to waist height to get the blood to my head more quickly. Long term low blood pressure does have serious side effects so try to get to your doctor as soon as possible.

I’m almost 55 so a bit older than you. No children. I bragged to my mother when I was almost at my goal that I didn’t have much loose skin at all just a bit if crepeyness on my arms, tummy & top of thighs. But then I lost the additional weight & it’s pretty floppy on my butt, arms, tummy, thighs. A good pinch worthy floppy - not pleasant or pretty. My breast sized reduced heaps, lots of fullness - 18E to 10G but my 10G bras are too big & I can’t get out to have another fitting. I think I’m about an 8D/E now. Tried on an old fitted wool dress I’d shrunk years ago this morning. Dress fits (yay) except I have no boobs to fill out the top anymore so the neckline was all open & droopy (hello boys worthy).

I’m only 11 months out & I’d say it’s still in effect about 95% of the time. Sometimes I forget & push it a bit too much (eat too quickly, try that extra bite) but it’s not pleasant. Keep to your plan. Go slowly. Good luck 😁

How much weight were you expecting to lose each week/month? Was it a realistic amount? Were you being influenced by the weight being lost by people who had a lot more to lose than you? For example the people on My 600lb Life who lose 20-30lbs a month. Remember their starting weight was three or more times your starting place. It takes a lot of calories to maintain a 600lb body. Of course decreasing their caloric intake to 1000/day is going to result in a lot of weight loss. In general, the less you have to lose the less you will lose each week. If you are expecting to lose say 80lbs you can’t compare your weight loss progress with someone wanting to lose 160lbs. Think of it as a percentage. Going from 200 to 120lbs is losing 40% of your body weight. Going from 400 to 120lbs is losing 70%. If you lose 1lb a week that’s 1.25% of the weight you want to lose. A person wanting to lose 280lbs, would have to lose about 3.5lbs/wk to be at the same rate. I’m not saying this is a constant percentage rate of loss for everyone, but just a way to look at your loss rate differently. Some people with similar stats to you will lose at a faster rate simply because of their make-up: their metabolism, how much they exercise, their muscle mass, etc. Others will lose more slowly. You will have good weeks & slow loss weeks & stalls of no loss. Most importantly the surgery isn’t magic. You won’t lose all the weight you want to lose in a couple of months. It’s hard work. You have to re examine your life & your habits (eating, exercising, cravings...) to understand what lead you to being overweight. You’ll have successes & failures, slips back to old habits (understandable you had them for years) but if you don’t make changes you can’t expect to the lose weight.

Oh no. You just jinxed yourself @NovaLuna. (I hope not really though cause vomiting is never pleasant.) My first time was at about 3months. It was overcooked, soggy carrot. And it happened very quickly.

Should have said parasite not bacteria though it could be that too.

I’m sorry you are struggling at the moment @IAmGrace & had a difficult post surgery recovery. The reality of the changes to your life after surgery can be difficult to come to terms with at first. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of us questioned our decision to have the surgery at some point along the journey. It might have been a temporary thought or maybe it twisted us in knots. It may be of help to talk about what you’re feeling with a therapist. Reading the posts in this forum you’ll see that everyone loses at different rates some large amounts each week and others slow & steady. We have stalls, we gain, we lose. You’ve been losing approx 2lbs a week. This is considered a healthy rate for weight loss by many doctors & dieticians. I probably averaged 1-1.5kg (2-3lbs) a week. If I had been able to lose this much weight each week before my surgery I would have been celebrating big time. I found that after a bout of constipation, my weight wouldn’t change for a day or two. Our bodies react to the changes of weight loss & reduced food intake differently. You could have been retaining fluid. Your body could be holding onto your weight in response to your weight loss, reduced food intake & change of diet - like a shock to your system. Give yourself & your body time to adjust. And don’t judge your progress solely by the numbers on the scale.

Is it plain eggs like fried, poached, boiled or scrambled you can’t tolerate? I don’t like runny eggs but happily eat scrambled eggs & omelettes. Could you tolerate an omelet with lots of fillings - cheese, mushrooms, spinach, etc. or with a sauce like chilli to change the texture & flavour? What about mushrooms, a corned beef or vegetable hash, left over meat & vege fritters or fish cakes? (An air fryer will make them crispy without frying them in oil.) I make tuna/salmon frittata muffins with veges which would work well for breakfast. Five eggs but makes 8-12 half cup muffins. Freezes well too. I tend to eat plain oatmeal or scrambled eggs for breakfast every day. I enjoy not having to think about what I’m going to eat.

Could it be a bacteria in your intestines/bowel? I had Giardia for decades. It sat in my lower stomach/upper intestines & would have a party in my digestive system if I was stressed or run down. Cramping, sudden & often explosive diarrhoea & awful odour. Heavy antibiotics never killed it completely unfortunately. Post sleeve & I’ve been attack free. Think the bug was living In the part of my stomach that was removed. Giardia doesn’t like lactose but there are a lot of other bacterias. Could be worth asking your GP (does require a stool sample).

Yep it does happen & this likely won’t be your only stall. I also just kept to my usual eating plan while in my stalls. My longest one was 3 weeks & it was when I was a breath away from my goal weight - so frustrating to know that number was just in front of me. Relax. Avoid the scales for a few days. Your weight loss will start again.

I’m not good with sparkling water or carbonated drinks unless I let them sit for a while to reduce some of the gas (get tightness then terrible hiccups). Do a test by pouring a glass and letting it go a little flat and see how you go.

You know the apocalypse is nigh when you have to touch up your own roots & give yourself a pedicure. 😜 Had a private appointment at my favourite shoe store this morning - keeping the economy moving. So nice to dress in something other leggings. But then you can always pop on your sparkly sandals to brighten your day. Stay healthy everyone.