NovaLuna

You're likely in a stall. They happen and typically last between 1-3 weeks (I've had few that lasted longer though and the longest was 30 days, but in the week following that stall I lost 6 pounds so... it sometimes makes up for it). Everyone loses at their own pace. Stalls happen. Some people deal with them more than others (I'm one of those who has gotten them CONSTANTLY though my whole journey starting in month 3). You can try and adjust what you're eating to see if something different will work. For me, what broke me out of my 30 day stall (which ended just over a week ago) I cut my sodium down. By a LOT. And it worked.

Body dysmorphia really sucks, but it's something many of us deal with after rapid weight loss. I still have issues with it myself and tend to see someone much bigger than I actually am when I look in the mirror. I have been surprised though when I see pictures of myself and I'm always asking "is that really me" because in the pictures I look much smaller than I see myself when I look in the mirror. I'm sorry that you're dealing with relative like that! My own have been incredibly supportive through the whole process. Even the ones that are overweight have been surprisingly supportive (I didn't expect that).

7 pounds is good! Everyone loses at a different rate so try not to compare yourself to others, even if that's difficult to do. And honestly? Some of us have stall issues, myself included. Holy hell, but I stall a LOT! In the beginning of my journey I didn't have stall issues. But then the third month of my journey came and I stalled for 23 days and... after that stalls that last 3-4 weeks are the norm now (I'm 15 months post op. Though it's hilarious that stall was in April of last year and the worst stall of my journey happened in April of THIS year... I think the month of April HATES me!). Hell, I literally came out of my biggest stall of my journey (lost a pound on March 29th and then didn't lose anything until April 29th. I lost a pound.) only to hit a HUGE milestone and the past few days I've just added to that by somehow making up for the worst weight loss month of my journey and losing 5 pounds in a week. My trick? I cut my sodium this week. That was it. Apparently that was all I needed to do lol. Anyway, enjoy every little victory on the journey. I always try and set a weight loss goal for the month. It used to be 10 pounds and then I realized THAT wasn't going to happen anymore and lowered that to 5 pounds a month which worked until December (I lose 2 pounds then same in January. Met the goal in February and March, but lost 1 pound in April. But 4 so far in May). You're doing great. Slow and steady wins the race!

I, honestly, don't know how people do the full liquid diet pre-op. I thought my surgeon's diet was hard! My diet allowed 6-8oz of protein a day (either meat or yogurt, but not both), two 'healthy' fats (1/4 avocado or 1/4 cup of nuts), 1/2 cup of fruit, and all the veggies you want. I survived mostly off of a veggie soup I made. I basically lived off of it for two weeks and the two 1/4 cups of nuts I ate and the fruit and meat were like heaven lol. It was hard enough on that. But, I did lose 15 pounds on that diet and was told my liver looked great so, it worked. Just try to focus on the end goal, because the diet itself won't be fun...

There was a period where I was dreaming of bread every night lol. I hadn't had it in ages, but I gave in and fit it back into my diet though I only allow myself 1 loaf of gluten free bread one week out of the month (I have a wheat allergy that developed after my surgery. I have to have gluten free bread). Now I don't dream of bread anymore lol.

Yeah. I mean I eat tiny portion sizes, but I can eat solids no problem. I'm eating 1/2 cup of homemade macaroni and cheese made with chickpea pasta noodles right now as I'm typing lol. One odd thing that happened though is that I developed a wheat allergy. I heard it's pretty rare, but any WLS surgery that has the malabsorbative part with it CAN make that happen or even cause Celiac Disease, so just be aware. It's only something like 3% of people though, so you'll probably be fine. I just kind of wish that they would have warned about that... I mean, I still would have done the surgery, but at least I would have been aware that it was a possibility. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

It's been 15 months since I had mine done, but if my memory is correct it was around 2 weeks or so for the gas pain to pass (more like 10 days or so). Fluid was very difficult for me to get in and I struggled so much with the two protein drinks I had to drink in the beginning of my journey. Sorry that you're struggling! I hope it passes for you soon! Also, with the pantoprazole do you feel that it's helping with acid or making it worse? I can't take proton-pump inhibitors because they create MORE acid for me for some reason so I take famotidine (a.k.a pepcid) instead and it works great for me (I have EoE which I was diagnosed with BEFORE my surgery so yes I still take famotidine).

I have been in a 26 day stall and my weight was driving me CRAZY as I was convinced I'd hit maintenance, but I felt slightly better after talking to my doctor on Wednesday when she told me my physical therapy was likely part of the reason my weight was fluctuating and not going under 201 but instead bouncing around from 201-204. I was incredibly frustrated and it just seemed like I'd never see under 200 pounds... BUT, this morning I weighed myself and saw 199.6 on my scale and... I cried! I'm so happy! It's super early here, not even 5am yet, so I'm trying to stop myself from waking everyone up to share my good news lol. Took me almost 13 months to get here, but I got here!

I have osteoarthritis and show multiple symptoms of it in my back, my knees, and my hips. I also have a bulging disc in the L4-5 part of my spine. I knew I had a potential bulging disc before my surgery as I've had symptoms of it for YEARS, but my insurance requires physical therapy to get a MRI and I had a bad experience with physical therapy due to a workers comp injury in 2013 so it took another issue for me to finally give in and do physical therapy and I literally just had my MRI on MONDAY and got the results yesterday lol. I had my WLS (almost) 15 months ago. The surgery has done a lot for my back, but osteoarthritis and a bulging disc isn't going to go away. The issues are still there, but carrying around less weight puts less pressure on my back and I have less bad days then I used to. As to what to do... that is really up to you and your pain tolerance. If you can withstand the pain in your back long enough for you to have your WLS and wait a good year to take some of your weight off and THEN potentially have back surgery (if that's what you're needing) then I would suggest that just because your recovery would likely be a lot easier on your back that way. But if the pain is really bad then by all means address the back issue first. I'm sorry that you're going through all this and I wish you the best in both your WLS and your back issues!

I did the research years ago and just kept putting it off, coming up with excuse after excuse after excuse as to why not to have surgery. For me, the permanence was something that scared me and put me off doing the surgery for a long time. It was my health declining and fearing that I wouldn't be around to watch my nieces grow up that finally made me make the move. I'm 14.5 months post op with the Loop Duodenal Switch surgery and I only wish that I had done this for myself sooner.

I take Pepcid because Prevacid caused MORE acid. I have no idea why...

When I told them I 'dumped' after eating a low carb wheat bread they tested me for the allergy because you're not supposed to dump with my surgery. However, they just told me to avoid wheat and never told me that it was an actual allergy until I saw my gastroenterologist and THEY told me that I'd developed a wheat allergy due to my surgery. I wish the bariatric surgeon had MENTIONED it was an allergy and not just 'avoid wheat'. Like, really? But, apparently it happens. My gastroenterologist said I'm just lucky it wasn't Celiac Disease because WLS can cause that.

My thighs went numb a couple of months ago. It was the back part of my thighs... I never got the feeling back. My labs are fine, so it wasn't that. My doctor thinks it's from my back (they suspect I have a slipped or bulging disc. I have an MRI on the 19th so I guess I'll find out then).

One of my biggest challenges post op was developing a wheat allergy. They don't tell you that it can happen to you after surgery, but it CAN! Learning how to eat around it is insanely difficult! Eating out was already tough, but now it's next to impossible... you have to constantly ask "Is there wheat in this? And if you say no, is there flour in it, because if there is, then yes, there's wheat. I'm allergic to wheat." It gets annoying. I had no idea just how many things have wheat in them! Learning to eat different was already difficult and then I had to change things to take wheat completely out of my diet but due to wheat being in more than 90% of flours it's in pretty much everything! You have to look for either 'wheat free' or 'gluten free' most of the time to know right off the bat that there isn't any wheat in it.

Considering the date... I'd say you've hit the three week stall. It's totally normal and happens to most. It doesn't always come on the third week post op, but it's usually within the first month. It skipped me, personally, but my first stall was at month 3 and it was three weeks long. It frustrated me to no end, but now, 14 months out, stalls are very common. Even so, every time I hit a stall I still want to throw my scale (I'm in one now as a matter of fact as March 29th was the last time I lost weight, but considering it was 3 pounds... I'm okay with the stall lol. I just hope it won't be as long as my last one... 27 days was way too long! 😬). Anyway, you'll pass the stall. Just continue to follow your diet, get your protein in, and your fluid, and it'll pass!

I'm 14 months out and my surgery involves a sleeved stomach. I never really had to worry about eating too fast because I have EoE which is an autoimmune disorder that causes narrowing of the esophagus and choking issues. So I've been a suuuuuuper slow eater since 2015 when I first started choking on almost everything I put into my mouth. I had to learn to chew my food to absolute mush or choke and end up in the hospital with them trying to give me medicine to relax my throat so that the food could go down naturally. By the time I had my surgery last year I was already used to taking an hour to two hours to eat a meal. Nothing really changed for me in that respect except that because I eat less sometimes it only takes me 45 minutes to eat. I just take a bite and chew it slowly and then wait about 30 seconds before taking another bite. Then I take another 30 seconds or more to chew so that it's around a minute in total between swallowing each bite so I'll know when I'm full before eating too much and feeling like I'm going to vomit (not gonna lie, I HAVE eaten a bit too fast a few times and it's not pleasant. I get nauseous for a good hour or two and feel uncomfortably full for around two hours. Considering I can count the number of times I've done this on both hands and still have fingers to spare... it's rare. Eight times in 14 months is really not too bad imo.) With protein you can either add in a pre-made 20 or 30g Protein shake (or clear protein) or two and then try to eat the rest in your diet. Or, you can buy protein powder and add it to your food or drinks. Fluid itself is a hard one. I get around 55-65 oz of fluid a day but early on it was a struggle for me to even get in the bare minimum my surgeon wanted of 48oz (half the time I was lucky if I could get in 32oz). The beginning is always the hardest. Trying to get into a routine that works for you, and getting used to a new way of eating. It's a lot to adjust to at once. Just do your best to meet your goals and if you don't then just try harder the next day. Eventually, you'll find a way to get there! (it worked for me, anyway)

Actually, my surgeon said that statistically the weight loss is about the same. At least in the surgeries he's performed and he's been doing those two surgeries for many years before I had mine. Also, just be aware if you have the DS, Loop DS, or Gastric Bypass they don't warn you that you can develop food allergies. I mean, I know they said you can develop a food 'intolerance' but I literally developed a wheat allergy after my surgery. It shows up in my blood work and everything. I didn't have that allergy before my surgery according to my gatroenterologist. You can also develop Celiac Disease. They never warned me about that. I mean, I would have done the surgery anyway, but I really wish they would have warned me. Good luck with your upcoming surgery! Even with the wheat allergy I don't regret my surgery and am grateful every day that I made this choice for myself. Bright side of the wheat allergy is a lot of the foods I used to love I can't eat anymore because most of them contain wheat flour (which is in friggin' EVERYTHING because most flours... have wheat in them!) so I don't have to worry about straying off my diet because I literally can't eat that stuff or it'll make me sick... I see that as a plus and keeps me eating like I'm supposed to.

Once I got approved it was 7 weeks. But, I also got my approval the last few days of November 2019 and everyone and their mother wanted to have their surgery in December so they had to schedule mine in January 2020. And the end of January at that! 🙄 For most I thinks it's about 3-4 weeks after approval. Because, you know, the 2 week pre-op diet that most bariatric surgeons require and all... Hope everything goes smoothly for you and you get your surgery soon!

I totally understand the frustration. Every time I go to the doctor the scale (at minimum) makes me at least 5 pounds higher than my home scale. I went yesterday and it said I weighed 199. I about cried! My doctor has to remind me every time that their scale is 5-10 pounds off because she weighs herself on it every now and then and she's noticed that it does that even though it's supposed to recalibrate itself. She said it's always off by at least 5 pounds and everyone finds that frustrating, even her (she had weight loss surgery herself about 15 years ago. She's been able to keep her weight off even after having more kids after her surgery). It always frustrates me and I immediately weigh myself when I get home just to see how far off their scale was. I was 195 on my home scale with my clothes on so it was off by only 4 pounds (193 sans clothes because it was the afternoon and... it's also that time of the month so water weight is pissing me off. I had to check that too because I was paranoid I'd gained more water weight due to my stupid period).

I like pickles. I just don't eat them much. I don't think I had tried eating pickles until I was 6 or 7 months out... I had no issues with them.

Six weeks?! That's crazy! I've never heard of a surgeon requiring a 6 week liquid diet! Generally it's just two weeks! I guess your surgeon is really testing your willpower to stick to it. Sorry you're struggling with it, but hey, you're a third of the way through already. Just try and focus on why you're doing it and your end goal whenever you feel yourself struggling. Hope the time passes quickly for you!

I have two back injuries myself and so I was concerned about that as well, but I've had less pain. What pain I do have I just take tumeric for and it works just as well as Naproxen or Ibuprofen used to.

It very much depends upon your surgeon. They all say different things. My surgery involves a sleeved stomach (just with added intestinal changes) and my surgeon doesn't allow rice (doesn't want us to ever eat it again because it swells and can potentially cause your stomach to stretch), they also don't want us to eat pasta (though I was told veggie pasta like chickpea or lentil pasta is fine in moderation), bread is off limits for six months, starches are off limits for six months (potatoes, beans, etc), they don't want us to drink alcohol ever again (but if you do they want you to wait a minimum of 1 year)... and that's all can remember off the top of my head other than no processed meats or other foods (which is a given).

A week is not bad at all. Stalls generally last 2-3 weeks. The fruit craving might actually be your body either wanting more fluid or you're craving sugar or carbs because fruit tends to be higher in both sugar and carbs. Fruit isn't a bad snack, but just be aware of how much of you're eating. If the stall lasts longer than you're comfortable with try consulting your nutritionist.

I never really had that issue. Food was something I ate when I was hungry. Or bored. When I get upset I've always read, watched a show to distract myself, played a game, or wrote. I do all that on normal days too... food was never an emotional thing for me. I think that's mostly because when I did the bored eating thing I could eat a whole bag of chips or a whole bag of candy or 6 tacos in one sitting. I was always disgusted with myself afterwards. That's probably why it was never something I did to drown my sorrows, so to speak, because in the end I knew if I did that I'd just feel worse if I did. Personally, if you're struggling I would suggest maybe you try and find a hobby or something to distract yourself with. It always works for me. Not the best way to deal with your problems, admittedly, but since you can't really see a therapist right now, it's the best advice I can offer. Sorry if it's not much.