Deb9386

The added fibre helped particularly the bran cereal (All Bran or Bran Flakes) & the dried apricots. I also increased my water intake and am just about holding my own with the BMs! But I still need to take a (gentle) laxative every few days. I use Dulco Lax. I wish I could eat more whole veggies - I just can't get most down. I'm really missing things like salad, raw veggies and cabbage!

Yes, I've found this. Everyone's different, but my depression increased after surgery. My overeating was driven in large part by stress and depression and I knew that losing weight wouldn't make me feel "happier" but felt that it would make my life easier. I didn't expect the depression to be worse after the op, but it is. I think it's because the comfort eating was fairly effective at distracting from/damping down my depression and that coping strategy has gone. I'm 4 months post-op and still unsure what to do about it - I take a very low dose of anti anxiety medicine and am reluctant to take anti-depressants proper, but may have to go to my doctor if things don't improve. Good luck with your journey.

I dump if I eat any amount of sugar, even a very small amount (heart palpitations, nausea) and I just avoid it completely. It's easy enough to use sweetener in cooking and no added sugar drinks/squash. I also dump with fatty food - last week I thought I could manage some Chinese food - singapore noodles - oh dear - that was the first time I'd been sick with it. I didn't have many of the noodles, mostly shrimps and shredded meat - so it must have been the frying/fat. On the plus side it makes it easier to avoid the foods I shouldn't eat!

No suggestions about better methods I'm afraid as I'm post menopausal, but I think you're right about the pill causing weight gain. My daughter who was always very slim put on a ton of weight when she went on the pill and really struggled to lose it. She became pregnant last summer almost immediately on giving up the pill to ttc, and was nearly 3 stone over the weight she should have been i.e. that she had been until she went on the pill. While pregnant she has managed to gain hardly any weight with very little effort and while eating well for the baby. So when she isn't on the pill she can control her weight easily and when she's on it she balloons. Hope you find a good solution!

I really like that! I've had to go non-contact with my sister for various reasons, which was initially very hard but this made me laugh about it! I miss her less with every day that goes by - it really is true that "out of sight is out of mind".

I take a D3 3000 sublingual spray every day and have done for years since I was diagnosed with low vit D. I was advised to have the sublingual spray rather than tablets as it apparently absorbs better. It brought my levels right up.

What about adding chopped mixed nuts onto e.g. yoghurt, porridge, cereal? It adds a lot of calories with not much extra bulk, is easily weighed out and also gives you a bit of protein plus antioxidants, minerals, vitamins & fibre. I'm still trying to lose weight but added some into my diet for omega 3 reasons - my goodness you don't get many for quite a few calories!

I do worry that I'm eating too many calories. My dietitian has said that I can go up to 1200 calories but I wonder if the higher calorie intake is what's stalled my weight loss? Re the calories, as well as adding protein, I also got a bit concerned about the lack of fibre and omega 3 oil foods etc in my diet (I can't tolerate fresh tuna or sardines and most whole veg). So I added in 15g per day of a cold milled seed mix (flax, sunflower & pumpkin) at 84 calories (I put it on bran flakes at breakfast), plus 6g of chopped nuts: 42 calories (hazelnuts & pecans) and 15g dried apricots (30 calories). With the calories for 25g bran flakes and the milk on it, it bumped up my calories a lot. I'm going to see how it goes, but if my stall doesn't break I'll probably pull back on my calorie intake. I'm finding the balancing of everything really hard.

Haha! Me too!

Hi 🙋‍♀️, I've been stalling as well since the beginning of January. I've taken the same 1lb off then put it back on again I don't know how many times! I've noticed more hair loss so am making a real effort to eat more protein, as my dietitian says it's the lack of protein that causes this (unfortunately she says it's the lack of protein 3 months before so the extra protein won't work for a bit). My calories are higher than yours - about 1100 per day. They've crept up with the protein I'm adding in. I still can't eat much "real food" at a time so eating little and often and still having 1 high protein shake a day. I still can't tolerate most meat - it just sticks. The dietitian says this might get better, but then again it might not....I'm doing fast walking most days for about 45 minutes and then upper body weights 3 times a week. I just want to get the weight loss going again - don't know how to do this.

I'm sorry that you have so much to deal with - it sounds miserable, and sending you virtual hugs. I hadn't heard of liver issues being caused by bariatric surgery, like you I'd been told that a fatty liver would be helped by the surgery. But looking at this article here it seems to be a potential outcome from the surgery, and some of the symptoms you mention (pain, nausea) are listed as known signs & symptoms in the article. https://sites.kowsarpub.com/hepatmon/articles/86078.html If your bariatric consultant isn't really taking on board what you're saying about this could you ask for a consultation with a hepatic consultant or find another bariatric consultant, preferably one who is very experienced (as they might have more knowledge of this area) and who would be prepared to consult with hepatologists about your care? Good luck.

I was the weight I'm now trying to get to for most of my adult life - I only gained the excess 5 stone or so in the last 8 years due to thyroid issues, stress, bereavement - and I kept my good clothes from before then. While I've been very overweight I found it difficult to get decent clothes so they're all cheap or frumpy and I'm throwing all of them out as I go down the sizes. I'm nearly back into my "good clothes" which is great. But if it was the other way round I still think I'd throw them away because otherwise I think I'd be "expecting" to gain the weight back.

Yes! I thought it was just me!! My taste buds also changed so much from pre-surgery to post-surgery. Immediately post op I just loved cottage cheese, now it tastes like cardboard. I hope this settles down.

Post op when my capacity for food was very limited I simply couldn't have got in enough protein without having protein shakes. The other benefit is it's also liquid so helping to the fluid goal. I still, 3 months post op, have 1 protein shake a day. I still can't tolerate lots of types of meat/fish or lentils and the amount of protein in the shake for the number of calories makes it a no-brainer. Up to you, but I couldn't have done the protein requirement without the shakes!

I haven't seen anyone other than my husband or daughter since surgery because of covid lockdown, and they both know about the wls - but I'm definitely going to use BigSue's response if anyone asks me this question in the future!!

I can't drink them because of the carbonation. I wish I could as I love diet coke.....😥

My weight loss surgery and nearly 4 stone weight loss so far means that I am considerably less likely to require intensive medical intervention if I contract Covid, so reducing the potential burden on hospitals. It has also meant that I have come out of the diabetic level which I was just about in, again reducing potential healthcare demands. Elective surgery can save lives. Some people are just unpleasant and probably at the moment don't have anything better to do than troll others online. Just ignore them!

Has to be your decision of course - I was finding it extremely difficult to lose weight prior to surgery and post-surgery I am losing without any real difficulty, even if the rate of weight loss is slower than other peoples. I had over 5 stone to lose and just knew that I wouldn't be able to do this without surgery. Part of the issue for my hypothyroidism is that I think my medication isn't at the correct level - I have never been able to get a referral on the NHS by my family doctor to an endocrinologist and looking at thyroid forums my family doctor isn't doing all of the blood tests that should be done and won't consider doing them (cost to the NHS). Because of the system here in the UK I'd have to get a private appt with the endocrinologist and then it's difficult to get the ongoing treatment plan/blood tests provided via the NHS so I'd have a large ongoing financial cost. If your medication is controlling your hypothyroidism effectively then you might have better/quicker weight loss?

I started the pre-op diet in mid August, and had lost 17.5 lbs by my surgery date of 22 October - not a particularly amazing weight loss really. Since surgery (3 months) I've lost a further 37 lbs, so averaging about 3 lbs per week. Since starting with the hypothyroidism some years ago I've found it really tough to lose weight and so I'm pleased with the weight loss so far, but I can see it definitely isn't as good as some other forum members. You've done really well with your weight loss so far @Castrad01 , but I know it's frustrating to see others losing more quickly! I'd think the hypothyroidism might have an effect on the rate of weight loss? I've found it's been very difficult to get the medication levels completely right. I've tried all sorts of different things with my food intake since surgery and nothing seems to make much of a difference. I'm seeing my Consultant in 2 weeks for follow-up and I think I'll ask him his opinion on this.

Hi 🙋‍♀️ - I have hypothyroidism and had the RNY bypass in October 2020. It definitely contributed to my decision to get the surgery as it made it so much more difficult to lose weight by dieting. How's it going since getting surgery? My weight loss has been steady, but not quick!

I had a hernia repair at the same time as the op and have noticed that I still have a lot of gas (3 months post op). It's been getting gradually better. I don't know if it was due to the hernia repair or not?

Weight loss and gain is quite normal - you just need the overall trend to be down. 500 calories per day is a very low intake; my dietitian recommends a minimum of 800 as soon as you can get up to that level of intake.

I've also been very tempted to fall back into old eating habits. I don't keep those foods in the house because I know I'd eat them in a weak moment. Just throw it all away - it's better than using your body as the dustbin. Nobody - fat or thin - needs to be eating these empty calorie foods.

I had a gastric bypass - also privately in the UK - in October 2020 and had a 10 day follow up with the Consultant in person early November. I also have a 3 month appointment booked for 1 February, again in person at the hospital - though I suppose there's a possibility that this might change to a phone appointment if things get bad with covid at the hospital. If that happens I'll get my Consultant to email my GP to organise blood tests at my GP's and then they can send the results to him. But I'd rather see him in person if possible, even though it's a 2 hour drive away. When I signed up to the bypass surgery I picked a "package" option which included 10 day, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month and 24 month appointment follow ups, so I'm expecting these to happen. Maybe check your paperwork and see what was included in the surgery price, and then contact your Consultant? I'd say that somebody whether your Consultant or your GP needs to be monitoring your progress and bloods?

My surgery was 22nd October 2020 but I was on a liver shrinking diet from mid August.