Dave In Houston

Your has no fat. Theirs has 21 grams in the can. Was yours as good as theirs? If so, that fat was not necessary.

I'm off the proton pump meds entirely, after taking them for more than 20 years. It was actually the voice doc who suggested weight loss surgery when I told him I'd like to get off the PPI meds. I don't think I have a problem in the lungs. My voice coach says I move more air than most of her clients, some of whom are experienced pros. For me, when I eat too much, I start sneezing. If overeat a little, it might be half a dozen sneezes. IF it's a lot, I might sneeze 20 or 30 times before I stop.

Great results and you've maintained for a long time. Congrats!

Thanks everyone. I may start Flonase again. I used to use it routinely. I took a long course of allergy shots, and the allergies seemed to be gone for years, so I've stopped all the allergy meds. I see the voice doc on Friday, so I may also ask him about a course of oral steroids. My idea is that if the symptoms are reduced by oral steroids, it points to an allergy problem.

Does anyone else have a runny nose all the time? My surgery was 18 months ago, and I have had a runny nose ever since. I'm constantly blowing my nose. I had to switch to using a microfiber towel, because it get sore from using tissue. It's more troublesome after I had a very minor surgery on my voice. There were some complications, and I needed a second surgery. Now I can't sing or even speak properly because of constant goop in my voice. I'm always having to clear my throat. Though I wasn't having this problem before the voice surgery, I'm wondering if they're somehow connected. Much of the joy in my life comes from singing, so I really need to get back to it. I'm working with a great voice coach, but it's taking a long, long time.

I agree. While you're waiting for your appointment, you could start back on a bariatric multivitamin once a day and calcium citrate three times a day. I've linked the bariatric vitamin I use. It has iron in it, so you should wait two hours before taking the calcium. They tell me that chemically, iron and calcium are both anions. Our post-surgery bodies have a limited capacity for absorption, so if you take two anions at the same time, the amount of each that's actually absorbed is unpredictable. (My last chemistry course was almost 50 years ago, so it was a stretch to remember this stuff.) You need calcium citrate because more easily soluble than the more common and cheaper calcium carbonate. If you need more iron, you'll need ferrous gluconate rather than ferrous sulfate for the same reason. Your doc will tell you whether you need iron based on the blood work. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HZ3YQ5X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We're actually in Sugar Land. Sugar Land Costco is just one exit further out 59 from where we live. The USDA Prime tenderloins used to be $20/pound and now they're $30. I also like the pork tenderloins at Costco. They used to be $1.99 and now they are $2.89. We're retired and we don't drive much, so gas prices don't affect us much, but the inflation in meat prices induces anguish. First-world problem: I've had to change my usual steak from the USDA Prime tenderloin to the USDA Choice tenderloin. And I always watch the meat counter for those yellow stickers showing a package that's had the price reduced. When I compare our situation to the people in Uvalde or Ukraine, we've really got it pretty damn good. I do my best to remember that.

I have a cast iron pizza pan that I use as a griddle. (It never leaves the stove top and is used at least once a day.) I heat it to 500 degrees or so. I spray the steak with an olive oil spray, then put it on the griddle with a weight on it. Thirty seconds on each side with the weight gets a pretty good sear, but not quite a crust. I usually cook them at 124 degrees, so if it's a thick steak it's still a long way from medium after 30 seconds a side. Since my surgery, we never eat more than 3.5 ounces each. Sliced and artfully arranged on the plate, a rare steak is pretty beautiful. A steak house would be soaking it in butter. I generally leave that off. I have a torch, but I've never used it.

I like ribeye the best, but my wife doesn't like to chew much, so she appreciates how tender the tenderloin steaks are. If I'm paying full price, I usually buy the USDA Choice tenderloins from Costco. I think they're about $20/pound now. But if I happen to see a ribeye or strip marked down because it's been around a bit too long, I'll buy it. Whichever I buy, I'll season it, vacuum pack it, and freeze it. Then it can go straight from the freezer into the sous vide water bath. Sous vide is the best way to prepare a steak, IMHO.

You might try some simethicone. The trade name is Gas-X. That's why the surgeon's medical assistant recommended to me 3 weeks or so of my gastric bypass. She said the pain was probably retained gas. You can buy Gas-X anywhere. There are less expensive generic brands, too.

The sneezing is definitely when I'm full. The runny nose is all day long, though.

I have a runny nose all the time. I never had that before my gastric bypass surgery. My surgeon said he hasn't heard that complaint before. I also sneeze repeatedly when I eat too much. He hasn't heard that complaint, either.

I had reflux, so I went with the bypass. I'm now off the proton pump meds and my reflux is well controlled.

From what I understand, my weight loss surgeon wants to see me once a year for the rest of my life. I'm going to the 1-year post-op visit today. So I'll always have a doc to call if I need one.

Hi, Zack, and welcome to the site. My high weight was 277, so not as high as you. I hadn't really thought of myself as being a candidate for WLS, but when I mentioned to my voice doc that I wanted to get off the proton pump meds, he suggested I consider it. I had sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and reflux. My age (67) also put me at higher risk. Now I'm 180 and off the proton pump meds. Also off the blood pressure meds. And my weight is down to 180. A guy I sing with had a gastric bypass before I knew him. He weighed 525. Now he's 280 and MUCH healthier. He told me he got down to 240 before settling in at 280. He says he can get down on the floor and play with his grand kids, which he would never been able to do at over 500 pounds. He's happy. If I were you, I'd go for it. But monitor yourself carefully and take care of yourself. A few weeks after surgery I had some chest pains. It was a Friday night, so I went to an urgent care place. They hooked me up to the box and scanned me, and there were no problems. You should probably adopt the same attitude about symptoms that might be nothing. Good luck!