Arabesque

Almost 4 years since my sleeve. Reached goal at 6 months. Exceeded it by another 10/11kg & have basically maintained +/- a kilo or two. Didn’t have co morbidities before my surgery. Didn’t really stall in the truest sense - just odd couple of days with no loss. No complications. Have low blood pressure but always had a tendency towards it. Gone from a couple of times a month to every day. (My higher weight probably kept my BP in the normal range.) Had my gall out about two years after my sleeve but not necessarily related to my weight loss. Still don’t eat rice, pasta, bread, potatoes. They sit heavily in my tummy. Don’t miss them. I have a glass of sparkling water every day but I let it go fairly fiat. Occasionally I’ll have a glass of champagne or have soda or tonic water as a mixer but no other carbonated drinks. Don’t drink much alcohol any more (a glass once a month+/-). Not that I can’t, just not interested. I have loose skin. Not a lot. Can’t really be seen under my clothes … unless you look closely.😉 I wear body conscious dresses without needing shape wear to control the loose skin. No regrets.

I’d probably ring the surgeon’s office to be sure. There may be a concern over the congestion restricting your breathing during the surgery or in the first days post surgery. If they do delay it may only be for a few days. The surgery is fairly major & you do want to be in your best health possible even if it is just a cold.

Not sure if you’re still losing or how much you have to go or are maintaining but I wonder if you are eating enough? Your job is physical & you’re exercising so your night hunger may be real & understandable & could explain your fatigue too. May be have a chat with your dietician. There might be something missing in your food choices or an increase in calories, or adding more carbs, etc. might make a difference. Old habits, like night eating, can sneak their way back in as time passes. Working out ways to manage the habit or to distract yourself certainly helps, as does establishing new habits. I wasn’t a late night time eater but I worried I’d become one so I followed a no eating after 8pm habit for years & still do. Like @catwoman7, afternoon eating was always my weakness. I’ve slowly moved my eating times to later in the day as I find it easy not to eat earlier in the day. I have breakfast at 9am, snack at 1pm, snack at 2:30 lunch at 4pm, dinner at 6pm & final snack at 7:30. (I have a routine of what & when I snack to get in my calories & protein.)

I didn’t/don’t tell everyone about my surgery. If asked, I said I was working with my doctor & a dietician. All true. I did a lot of reading. Also true. I worked out a way of eating that works for me which isn’t a recognised diet (because diets don’t work in the long term). True too. I often add this is what works for me but your needs are likely different so your way of eating will be different too. And like @catwoman7 I would leave out the surgery part.

I’ll add have a chat with your dietician too. They can go through yiur current eating plan & make suggestions on what if any changes you could or may need to add. I wasn’t given a caloric goal either just portion size recommendations. But if you think you’ll feel more comfortable with some guidelines around calories intake ask for some. You have to do what’s best for you & have the tools & information that make you feel comfortable & confident about what you’re doing.

You may find that by your birthday you have very little pain. Many find by day 4 they need no pain meds at all (prescription or over the counter). I didn’t. You may just have a little lingering discomfort but not pain. Just sit back, relax & have everyone run after you & treat you as a Queen. I mean it is your birthday! I like @Victoria_Faith’s suggestion of a belly birthday. All the best for your surgery & have a happy birthday.

So sorry you’ve been experiencing this. It makes me so angry for you that much of what you have experienced could have been prevented right from when you had your bypass surgery. Your surgeon should have gone through your medications, explained about absorption issues with a bypass so you could discuss alternative medications with your prescribing doctor. I’m also cranky it took so long for doctors to identify that malabsorption was causing your meds not to work. And I’m cranky that you’ve been unable to find support & answers from medical professionals. I wonder if you are are now in a viscous cycle of anxiety & anxiety causing experiences. Anxiety meds are known to cause an increase in appetite & weight gain & your anxiety increases when yiu do gain weight. The anxiety causes stress responses in your body like IBS & hair loss causing more anxiety. You’re not being supported by your medical community increasing your anxiety so you need their help more but aren’t getting it making you more anxious, stressed & frustrated. Etc.,, etc. Like @catwoman7, I too think your heart issues were more likely caused by your pre surgery status & lifestyle not the bypass. I hope you soon find some doctors who will actually work together to support you & find solutions or ways to better manage your mental & physical health issues. All the best.

Simply that I grew a gall stone. Just one. It may have been from the sudden weight loss. Could have been because I was/am menopausal, or have high bilirubin levels (have Gilbert’s). All of which can cause gall stones. The only thing I know is mine wasn’t caused by high cholesterol - my cholesterol was always ok. We discovered it about 8 months after surgery during a liver function scan. First & only symptom was horrendous pain some 16 months later. Had the gall removed about two weeks later. My surgeon said: if you’ve grown one stone, you’ll likely grow more so better it goes. It’s not an uncommon surgery during or after weight loss surgery. Some are discovered during the pre surgery testing and the gall is removed in the same surgery. These are often the high cholesterol caused stones. Others have their stones discovered & their gall removed some time after surgery. These are often caused by the dramatic weight loss. There are always exceptions to this of course.

I think much like @ms.sss about snacking: it’s regular & planned. Portions & nutrition are considered. To me grazing is random eating of whatever you want, often emotionally/head hunger driven. Portion size or nutrition is if minimal or no concern. I think small meals are planned too & are more rounded like the part serve of a full meal. You might prepare three meals a day but only eat part of one meal at a sitting finishing it a little later on. Like have a first breakfast & then later have a second breakfast to finish the meal. When I was trying to stabilise my weight loss I was snacking about 5 times a day as I my meals were still smaller - couldn’tt eat more.. Once my meals became a little larger & equal to or closer to the recommended portion sizes, I didn’t need to snack as much for my needed calories & protein so I dropped 1or 2 of them a day. Oh & I eat more across a day & more regularly than I did before surgery too. (Was a meal skipper before.) But I eat better - healthier, more nutritionally dense foods - now & my body burns those calories more efficiently than before (thank you surgery).

This isn’t a straight forward question. What does your surgeon recommend & what do your blood tests show you need? What surgery are you having? For example, I have a sleeve & only had to take a multivitamin & a vitamin D (first couple of months only). Others are advised to take iron, calcium, multi Bs, etc. I also didn’t continue with any vitamins after I reached goal (didn’t need to as my blood work showed absorbed all I needed from what I ate). Others continue to take vitamins & will forever. (I do take Vitamin D in winter as I drop a little then.)

Contact your dietician about managing your diabetes while on the liquid diet (pre & post surgery). And also speak with the doctor who looks after your diabetes. I’m not diabetic but it must be pretty easy to do as many others were diabetic too when they started.

Withdrawal headaches. Similar to alcohol & drug withdrawal. Your caffeine, sugar, carbs intake has been dramatically reduced as has your calorie intake. All things your body was used to relying upon. It reacts with your migraines. If your migraines were also caused by hormones, your weight loss so far could have effected your levels too. Estrogen is stored in fat. As you lose weight it’s released into your blood stream throwing everything out of whack.

This is really about developing a way of eating that works for you. It’s only wrong if it doesn’t work. I don’t graze as such but I snack - usually 3 or 4 a day. I have specific range of things I eat at specific times - yep very routine & yep that anal. I don’t mindlessly snack. The snacks meet specific needs I have for protein, fibre, etc. My snacks don’t exceed my daily calories but actually help me meet my caloric & higher protein needs. I don’t track. Never had to & have always just done random checks about especially with new foods & to ensure I’m not over/under estimating or becoming complacent. I prep most of what I eat myself from scratch so I have a lot of control over what I eat. I snack on multigrain crackers & liverwurst, cheese, high protein yoghurt, nuts, protein bar. Occasionally I’ll snack on fruit (fresh or freeze dried), baked fava beans or chick peas, multi grain rice crackers & hummus (carefully as a slider), & peanut paste. I tend not to eat sweet foods at all so there’s very little sugar, sugar alternatives or artificial sugar in my diet. Bonus is the snacking between meals actually helps keep my acidic stomach under better control. Out of curiosity does anyone else find the time between eating gets less as the day goes on? I eat at 9am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 5pm (not always), 6pm & 7pm.

Yes it does get better. At the moment you’re healing from pretty major surgery & everything is swollen, tender & sensitive. Diarrhoea, nausea, low energy, light headedness, difficulty swallowing are all pretty common post surgical experiences. You’ll find in a month or so it has passed. I had a terribly embarrassing diarrhoea experience on day 3. Got up to pee, took a couple of steps & oh gracious no. Gush. No warning at all. It was dark from surgical bleeding & had a foul odour. I had just the one attack but a friend had it persist for about a week. Beware ‘wet farts’. Her surgeon had recommended disposal knickers - she said it was best advice. I also had a lot of swelling in my throat making swallowing everything for water to meds a struggle for a few days. It was pretty much fine by day 4. It’s important to at least be close to your fluid goals. Dehydration is a real issue for us after surgery. Try warming your water, shakes & other fluids. Warm drinks tend to be more soothing & easier to swallow. I was allowed green or herbal teas - they were fabulous. Don’t worry if you sip on your shakes & soups for ages as long as you’re getting them in. I also used to dilute them to make them thinner & easier to tolerate (esp the shakes which were disgusting after surgery). Bonus was I was consuming more fluid. All the best.

Had my gall removed 13 month after my sleeve. Recovery was pretty similar - just no restricted diet after. 😁 I didn’t have gas pain after my sleeve but did after the gall. Similar surgical discomfort & was a bit low in energy & tired for a few days. Same restrictions on lifting & similar activity advice. My surgeon used the same surgery sites as my sleeve so no new scars. Had some diarrhoea/loose BMs, which slowly disappeared during the first month after. Think I preferred the diarrhoea than the sleeve constipation. Generally was easier because I knew what to expect in regards to hospital procedures, pain/discomfort & other general post abdominal surgery requirements & effects. Funniest was my surgeon has his bariatric patients walk to the theatre but was wheeled in for my gall. Don’t know why. The nurses said he was quirky that way.

I’d also add that carrying your weight with your current co morbidities you have seriously compromised your health & longevity & it will only get worse. The surgery will help you lose the weight so you can live a longer, healthier life with her. Remind her you’ve dieted before & yet here you are. You need the extra help & opportunities surgery offers.

Yep, stall. They can last 1-3 weeks. Check with your dietician about your caloric needs especially with the activity you’re doing. Also is your surgeon aware of how much activity you are doing? All plans are different but it seems a little too much this soon post surgery. I was advised gentle walks to begin & not to start more active exercise until the second month but that was my surgeon.

So sorry you are experiencing this though some of what you’ve mentioned can happen. It’s not uncommon to struggle with purées to begin & will go back a stage for a week or so. You’ve had a pretty major surgery & your tummy is healing & we heal at our own pace so you may need longer on each stage. Your tummy can be very sensitive to lots of flavours & textures for a while, causing you to bring up what you ate or be nauseous. So it can be quite a bit of trial & error to begin before you are further a long in the healing process. Are you taking multivitamins yet? Many can make you feel nauseous & cause yiu to vomit. Ensure you take the. After you’ve eaten or with your last sip. Try a different brand, formulation or try swapping to gummies or patches. Try warming your water (room temp or more) as many of us find warm drinks more soothing than cool or cold. Ensure you are sipping/eating slowly & are keeping the sip/bite small. Sometimes further thinning out purées can make them easier to tolerate. Add additional gravies or stock to your purées or milk to your yoghurt so they’re more runny than dollop like. But it is a good idea to go ahead with the endoscopy to ensure nothing else is happening. And maybe try a stronger dose PPI.

I wasn’t given calories either just portion sizes. Started at 1/4 - 1/3 cup slowly increasing to about a cup by my goal at 6 months. I was a low calorie consumer so barely 900 at 6 months but that was me. I found, that as your dietician suggested I slowly increased as I was able to eat more & needed more. By the time I was stabilising (around 18months) I was following more accepted recommended portion sizes: 3-4oz protein, up to a cup vegetables & eating around 1300 calories (now about 14400) which is about appropriate for my age, height, weight & activity level. But that was me. Your needs likely will be different.

Small, fine strainers (tea strainers are good) to ensure any soups you eat a completely free of lumpy or fibrous (herbs) bits. Zip lock bags for freezing single serve portions. (I even use them for soup. Measuring cups & spoons & scales with small weight increments. Baby spoon & fork or buffet spork small bowls & side plates if you don’t have any blender, stick blender, NutriBullet or similar. Have all your over the counter meds ready - non NSAID pain meds like tylenole, stool softener or similar, soluble fibre, electrolyte drinks, gas X, Imodium, recommended multivitamins, etc. The best shake question can be challenging as many find their taste buds change & the shake or flavour they enjoyed before surgery they can’t tolerate after. Have a couple of flavours & brands on hand. Have a range of soups (cream, consommés, bone broths) on have in case you really struggle with the shakes too. Don’t worry about buying clothes yet and even then buy very few. You may already have smaller sizes in your cupboards or you may drop so quickly it’s not worth the money - except if your pants/skirts/knickers are falling down 😁. All the best.

Might be best to discuss this with your surgeon & your prescribing doctor. Out of curiosity, who told you you’d have to temporarily stop taking it? From a hormone modification perspective alone I’d wonder why? People still takie the pill & I continued taking my HRT but I’m not your doctors.

If it doesn’t specifically say decaffeinated you would expect it does contain caffeine. You could email the company & see if they respond.

Have to admit I’m very surprised by your PCP’s attitude about this. If your post surgical plan says not to swallow meds or take slow release meds for a period of time, you would expect your PCP to be supportive. The main reason slow release meds are avoided is because of possible absorption issues (more common with bypass but can happen with sleeve). Many, many people successful change their meds to non timed release. It is possible. What will your doctor do when you need to reduce your BP dosage as you lose weight?? I’d ask my pharmacist too about alternatives so you’re more informed about options when you go back to your PCP. As @The Greater Fool said it’s highly likely your meds were first formulated as non time released.

Definitely contact your surgeon. It could be muscular. It could be an internal stitch. But better to be sure.

I know all plans are different but I didn’t need to have another disgusting shake after the first two weeks. Like the others, I got my protein in from ‘real’ food. I didn’t hit my protein goal everyday but the days I didn’t I’d be close. I agree with the suggestion to find a high protein yoghurt. Eat it as yoghurt or make it into a yoghurt drink by blending with milk (count the added milk as fluid). I got 15g protein from the yoghurt & 25g for the yoghurt drink. Made rolled oats on milk & made it pretty thin. Same with scrambled eggs. Only small amounts of additional protein from the milk but it all adds up.I often just ate meat as my lunch meal too - no vegetables. If you eat only 3ozs of most meats you should get about 20g protein which was 1/3 of my daily goal - your goal may be more. I agree, get the burning checked out. Most hunger pangs are just stomach acid not real hunger. You may need a stronger PPI for your stomach acid. And yes, get some high protein meal ideas from your dietician. Water can seem almost heavy to drink @Possum220 for a while. Don’t know why but it does get easier. Try drinking it at room temperature if you drink it cool/cold. Add a little squeeze/splash of fruit juice (any citrus, squashed berries, etc.) to your water & see if that helps ‘lighten’ the water.