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Yesterday I had a dumping incident after eating a bit of spicy Indian chicken to fast. It was about 30 grams. I became violently ill and (tmi) I felt like my stomach and intestines were being torn in half. This was 20 hours ago. Today i cannot hold anything down. Protein shakes, protein yogurt, protein crackers, rice cakes (advised by my nutritionist) come back up. I am only able to tolerate 0% sugar applesauce and water. Has anyone experienced this? Has anyone experienced not having a sufficient amount of protein. How negative can this impact my weightloss?

your eating times are very similar to mine! didn't eat until after noon, stopped eating at 7 (cuz I wanted to go to bed on a fully empty stomach due to a bad spit up experience in the middle of night once). I later learned I was intermittent fasting without even knowing it.

My wife and I had surgery on 11/11. We are both down 35 lbs since preop. This week our doctor said to start working on purees but also said to try to be a bit more aggressive in testing the waters of full food but obviously to not take it too fast. We were able to eat a few bites of Thanksgiving sides and didn't overindulge. I am surprised that after surgery I do not even crave the desserts that I previously would have eaten lots of. This surgery has also helped me to know when I have eaten enough. We are also measuring out our portions at 1/4 cup right now and are just barely able to eat that.

If you have met all of your insurance pre-op requirements can you check with other surgeons who may still be performing surgeries? I totally understand the out of pocket max thing. We took a more expensive bi-weekly premium plan this year to get the lower out of pocket max, but I still paid 5500 out of pocket, and I wouldn’t want to do it again for the same procedure unless it was a revision etc. Right now my surgeon is still performing surgeries, at least as of last week, but I’m in Georgia, but I would be one that definitely would be calling around all my neighboring states programs and seeing if there was a surgeon who could get me in. They know it’s expensive, so I’d tell any one of them who would listen about your situation and see if they could get you in. My center had a 4 week fast track program, and that was for people just starting the journey, so I bet there is some place that could get you in!! Good luck!!!!!

I try to eat what I can in the morning and early afternoon. If I drink my waters after that and add my protein powder, head hunger goes away fast. I just started a job working second shift-fast labor lifting in shipping and recieving. When I get home at around midnight, I do get some twinges to eat something but I will just drink instead. I think routine and getting past the holidays can be a huge help for you. Right now it's tough because you can be at the point of being unable to have a solid routine for still learning your body and what you can eat. I second reaching out to your support team at your Dr's office.

This, and how. Exactly with the little burps and hitting the sternum. I'm 3 months post-op. I just accidentally had to buy a propel water on a trip and found the bottles it comes in to make things much easier for me, maybe the nozzle slowing it down while I drink. I do get in my 64 oz but I used to drink 96 oz easily daily and it was no problem. Now, however, I really have to stop myself from drinking too fast. With me, times are different too. I don't know if it's because I move around more and exercise first but morning is the worst for me until mid to late afternoon. Then it seems easier to just keep drinking in small amounts. It can take me hours to drink my 16 oz and major chest pain, no matter how slow I go, until past 3 or so, then I can take the same in about 45 minutes. Cold, or ice cold, seems to do better for me with drinking but keto ice cream or ice cream gives me amazing pain for about a half hour after even if I melt it down. If I freeze my water, it goes down easier but this really varies per person. Don't stress yourself too much with this-things do even out more as you go.

Hello all, I was banded 13 years ago at 250 pounds. During this time I have truly changed everything about my diet and my exercise habits. About 6 years into having my band, at 135 pounds, I developed acid reflux. I didn't know what it was at the time as I had never had it before and just ignored it. Eventually I started taking tums, then nexium 20mg. I would say I took nexium for 4 or so years before going to my band doctor who told me I had to drain my band. He scared me and warned me I would gain weight but I never did (I wish I had read more positive stories about draining/removing so I wanted to mention that)! Once he drained my band my acid went away for a week. I was so happy I could cry. Until one day I ate a bowl of chili, it came back and never went away (so heartbreaking) even with my band fully drained. Fast forward, I made the decision to take out my band to get rid of this acid reflux that has been really effecting my quality of life. That was this last October. After surgery I continued to have acid reflux and the doctors said to keep taking my nexium for a couple weeks. I did, it didn't go away so he prescribed me sucralfate. That didn't work so he prescribed me Protonix 40mg twice a day along with the sucralfate 4 times a day. I am now almost 2 months out from surgery. I eat so healthy and have removed everything possibly triggering from my diet. While I have not gained weight which was all I could think about before surgery, I never imagined I would still have acid reflux after I got my band removed. The whole point of having my band taken out was to be free of this awful GERD that has haunted me for the past 13 years. I am so heartbroken to still be going through this after surgery. Has anyone gone through this and come out on the other side? Any advice would be amazing.

Sorry you tell dealing with this! It can be so scary!!! I get burps that are “stuck” in my chest (I don’t know any other way to describe them). It’s usually when I drink too fast, but it happened a lot more severely and often during my first three weeks. It hurt in the beginning, now it is just a sign that I recognize. I tap my sternum firmly with a closed fist and it often helps them get unstuck. Drinking has always been hard for me - 64 oz is insane to me. I maybe hit it 2x/week! Another thing the nurse told me in the hospital is that the doctor has to move your diaphragm to do the surgery, so a good amount of chest pain and breathlessness comes form that early on. Does it improve if you take Tylenol? They make dissolve packs now (get them at Target) if you are nervous about swallowing pills. If you are still concerned, you should contact your care team or primary doctor. Hope it all works out!

You are still worth the investment! Why such spikes? Transport? Covid? Groceries here have tripled across the board. A quick run in for only a few things is over $100.00 now! The better quality you chose to eat aka fresh fruits, veggies, grass feed meats, organic eggs, etc. AND no cheap processed stuff...the more you pay. Just shows how broken the USA food pyramid and food system is! Obesity, fast food + junk food seem to be celebrated via policy! Egregious, really. Joining you for our mutual $ 25.00 salad. Haha!

I'm 11 months post-op bypass and I am having some pain. It's similar to what I experienced pre-surgery that I thought was heartburn but now I'm not sure. Anyone else experience anything similar? (Note: I had an ultrasound and it is not gallstones or anything else they could see with that. My liver is enlarged but we did additional blood tests and it seems to be a remnant from being obese most of my life and nothing to worry about). My symptoms include: - Intermittent low grade pain just to the right of my sternum (kind of behind my right breast, but still central if that makes any sense) - Pain often spreads to the back of my neck and shoulders. Again, more towards the right. - Gets better with Tylenol but not tums, etc... I'm going to make an appointment with my PC, but thanks for any thoughts to explore. Lori

Yes, there are different schedules for intermittent fasting, but the general idea for most is to stop eating for a certain period of time every day. I did 16/8, which meant that I fasted for 16 hours per day. The most common way to do this is to stop eating after dinner, then skip breakfast the next day and not eat until lunch (e.g., stop eating at 8 pm and don’t eat again until noon the next day). Some people do 12/12 (which is not much of a challenge if you want to start easy), some do 18/6, and some do one meal a day (OMAD), which means they only eat once per day and fast the rest of the day. There are other, more complicated schedules, like alternate day fasting, but I didn’t do those. I personally think the ones with the same schedule each day are the most beneficial for changing your eating habits.

@BigSue I will definitely try that calorie counter! That would be useful having a tool that makes you think about what you're eating. The intermentent fasting is where you stop eating at a certain time then don't eat til a certain time the next day right?? Sent from my G60 using BariatricPal mobile app

I lost 70 pounds before surgery just by doing two things: intermittent fasting and tracking everything I ate in MyFitnessPal. Intermittent fasting helped me to cut down on snacking, and tracking my food helped me cut back on my calorie intake by forcing me to think about everything I ate. These are also good habits that have helped me after surgery as well. I started with a calorie goal of 2190 per day (which is what MyFitnessPal calculated for me), and gradually challenged myself to go lower. By the time I had surgery, I was averaging about 1500 calories per day. My surgeon only asked me to lose 20 pounds before surgery, and that was my goal, but I ended up losing 70 pounds just by making these simple changes. I didn't try to drastically change what I was eating, but I naturally started making healthier choices just by trying to lower my calorie intake.

It’s crazy how much one can miss from this thread in just a few days! I honestly feel like I’ve been gone forever lol. These past few days, and even weeks have been something else. The positive is that I purchased my first home 🏡 and the negative is that Ive been eating crap almost everyday. Due to the move I’ve been buying out and just finding things I can eat on the go. I haven’t been able to cook in some time now and I really miss my own food 😢 I’ve had pasta which I haven’t had since wls, as well as regular crust pizza, white rice, fast food sandwiches (minus the bread since I’ve always hated bread) and just really quick and heavy carb and fat foods. We just finished moving in yesterday and now the unpacking begins. I managed to find a pot so this morning I went out and bought myself an avocado and made my avo toast with a boiled egg. I’m trying not to beat myself up about this but it’s been tough. I keep thinking I permanently ruined my eating habits. Im hoping things will go back to normal once I unpack. Here are some random pics of food I managed to make in between the moving with whatever I had in the fridge as well as some take out pics. Oh ... and today’s avo toast 😎 I hope this transparency helps!

That is amazing Luna! Gosh, my surgery date weight was 188.8 on Nov. 19th and today November 25 I am 184. Its not coming off as fast for me as you! Lucky girl! I am happy my weight loss is going down though...I have all the patience in the world right now:) I bet switching to the pureed stage was great but also scary. we neve rknow how our bodies will react. I am looking forward to Friday to "try" something new other than soup and protein shakes! Keep us updated with your progress and any new yummy foods you tried!

I was a large advocate of yoga pants and t-shirts. Goodwill is difficult around here right now and I hit walmart in the very early mornings. My sizes have gone down fast since my Sept 1 surgery. I had my old clothes from some years ago but even those are baggy now too. I literally live now in the same pair of pj pants I bought in 3 sizes from walmart when on clearance. Hubby and I have lot of matching t-shirts costing like $5, so I just bought lower sizes. Some things are stretchy. I have gone down since the surgery from a size 24 to an 18 and large in womens tees or a medium in men's tees. The goodwill now gets literal truck loads of bags from me-some clothes I sadly pack away (not many though). I did have a special Ren outfit made for my husband and I with our tenth anniversary vow renewal and anticipated being smaller sizes. However, we had to cancel for covid and I lost faster then I projected. My dress was specially made in replica style to match hubby's outfit. I wore it to try on last month and it was already too big. There are laces in the back but my already tiny boobs are literally non-existent and adjustments are needed even with the tightest setting. I've gotten hold of a good friend and seamstress I know from the faires and offered to pay whatever is needed to redo it for my final size. She thought it can be some work but it's worth it to me. I can't try it on now or get it down-sized until i get close to goal though and I was really excited to get that beautiful baby on! :-). A winter coat was probably top priority. I start a new job just after Thanksgiving but we're getting pretty tight. My husband already works in the factory I'll be starting in and my son is a security guard. I didn't want to really spend on needless things for this weight loss with the holidays and my daughter now just having a baby- we sent quite a bit to her and her husband to help them out as she works in a restaurant but was laid off and her husband had hours cut. My husband opened a credit card at a local women's clothing store for me; insisting I need new clothes and a really good winter coat so we went together and I got that with one new pair of jeans and shirt. I was excited to see the size 18 in jeans-never thought I would see that so soon [or again] and I did get some underwear, a new bra (b now bummer) with one corset style help for the sagging skin (not so bad-some is my age and some the rapid weight loss but I expected worse). Enjoy the sizes going down! I feel like a new person that still is strange to me and I now love wearing my clothes. Don't get too many at once for each size-I live in a winter area where we practically live in our pjs and sweats year round; that totally helps. If you can get away with it or whatever you can-do it! Then maybe get a special outfit for inspiration or reward on a milestone.

Hello! What counts as fast track? I am self-pay, so I just had my initial consultation on November 4, and my surgery is scheduled on December 1. I never thought I would be doing it within a month's time. Guess that'll keep me from overstressing for too long!

It will be fast now. They move quickly from there. Good luck.

I hate vomiting. I'm a crier. In the last 4 months post op I've vomited twice. Both times were self induced to get the gross feeling to go away. The first time was 3 weeks out I had eaten too much. I tried to walk it off to help it digest and it didn't work so I forcibly purged. Last weekend I tried peanut m&ms. That didn't go so well either. Self induced because I got nauseous. Other than that no vomiting at all. I just moved too far too fast or ate things I shouldn't have. Just follow the rules and you'll be fine.

From what I've seen, most people lose all their weight in the same time frame, regardless how fast or slow they lose. It's hard not to compare. I started out bigger than most and a lot of people who are bigger lose super fast..for me, I'm losing faster than I ever could on my own, and I feel like as long as the scale keeps going down then I'm happy, but I don't lost as fast as a lot of people my size. I lost fast (for me) the first couple months, which was around 20 pounds a month, but now I'm losing at a rate of about 10 pounds of month. That's still so much faster than I ever could on my own, and I figure if I kept losing 10 pounds a month I could be around 200 pounds in 10 months and I'd be beyond thrilled! I was lucky to lose 5 pounds a month even when I tried my hardest before wls. I think you all are doing an amazing job and should be proud! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you all for the responses and support. I know it will happen, I just wish I had some way of knowing when. After reading a lot of posts, I realize many people have had to wait months and months and jump through far more hoops than I have had to. I too am a self pay, and the process actually went very fast - roughly 6 weeks from consult to surgery - had it happened. I plan to work hard and maintain a super healthy lifestyle until they call me in. My hope is that it lessens the shock post surgery, and who knows, maybe I will drop a bunch of this excess weight and have a great head start! Sent from my SM-N976U using BariatricPal mobile app

It was around the same time I had a melt down. Your body is healing and it’s an adjustment. It is normal. I yelled at my husband for going to Red Lobster to eat without me. I couldn’t go. When he came home I yelled at him and then woke him up at 3:00 am and yelled at him again. I don’t usually yell at him- especially when we have agreed on something. What helped: It’s great to talk to someone and just vent. It is what helped me more than anything but I was pretty angry around that time. All I can say that it’s normal and it will get a lot better! Your body is adjusting to the new normal - especially if you had to fast before and after the surgery. It will pass!!

My GB was 10/2/19. If you include the fasting prior to surgery, I’ve lost 90 lbs. My DH says the fasting doesn’t count but I told him it did count. I had to lose the pre-op weight to qualify for the surgery, per my insurance co! I’ll take any victory! It was hard to fast!

Hmmm...700 calories burned for 2 miles seems like alot? I was under the impression that the average was 100 cals burned per mile (a little more if u run super fast...)? In any case, thats awesome u are running every day!

I haven't told anyone other than medical professionals that I had surgery. Nobody in my family and nobody at work knows, and I don't plan to tell them, but I don't know if that's feasible forever, especially at family gatherings where it might become obvious that I can't eat certain things. For example, we have a family tradition once a year that involves a meal consisting entirely of fried foods, so that's not going to work for me. People at work have started noticing and commenting on my weight loss, which I personally think is kind of rude. I know they mean it as a compliment, but I still think it's inappropriate to discuss coworkers' bodies at work. A lot of people have asked me what I'm doing, and I feel bad about lying because most of the people who ask want to know because they want to lose weight, too. I'm not a good liar, but I feel ok in telling them that I've lost weight by intermittent fasting, low-carb, tracking my food, and exercise, because it's all true. And I lost 70 pounds before surgery, so it's not ALL from the surgery. I also think they are being rude by asking for personal medical information, and I don't have an obligation to share it with them. Just like if a random coworker came up to you and asked what kind of birth control you're using or how often you poop, these are inappropriate things to ask and you don't need to answer. On the other hand, I totally agree that you shouldn't be ashamed to have weight loss surgery. It has been proven to be not only the most effective treatment for weight loss, but the only treatment with more than a 5% long-term success rate. Why shouldn't you get the most effective treatment available? Despite what some ignorant people think, it's not easy and it still takes a lot of work to lose the weight and keep it off. I will also say that keeping a secret that affects my life so greatly is a huge burden, so keep that in mind as you decide whether or not to tell people. I can't advise about what hospital to use because it depends on many things. I am not in the medical field, so I don't know anybody who works at the hospital where I had surgery. I live in a rural area and went to the biggest hospital in the city about an hour away from my home, and I didn't run into anybody I know, and even if I had, they wouldn't have known why I was there.