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Walking after surgery helps prevent blood clots and also to help dissipate gas pains. I made myself get up every hour and walk at least 5 minutes after I got home. I didn't have the bad gas pain many others experience but I was afraid of getting a blood clot. I can't imagine the pain you describe after WLS. I have read a few others mention waking up screaming from pain. It almost sounds like you weren't given the right amount of pain meds. Sorry that happened to you and glad you are feeling better now. I had some kind of nerve block shot administered by an anesthesiologist, directly into my stomach, right before they wheeled me into the operating room. He said it worked similar to an epidural. Also, while prepping me, they put a pain patch behind my ear and told me to leave it on for 3 days. That's not counting the meds thru my IV and the liquid codeine they sent me home with. Needless to say, that first week was a blur. I know nothing about spitting, but I did have dry mouth from hell for a couple days after my surgery. I wish you the best going forward!

Hi all. My name is Carrielee. I am 33 years old and have been on the fence about WLS for the last few years. I have struggled with obesity since I was quite young and the weight keeps piling on. I am 5 foot 1 and just hit 325 pounds. I now have a BMI of 61.4. I have uncontrolled Hypertension on multiple meds, uncontrolled Type II Diabetes, fatty liver disease and high cholesterol, sleep apnea, severe arthritis, IIH, angina, past history of PE. I can barely walk and have been told if I don’t lose the weight I likely won’t live to see 40. I’ve backed out of this so many times but now that I’ve surpassed the 300 pound mark I know I have to do this. I’ve ended up in the ER twice in this last week with abnormal EKGs and the idea of having a cardiac event before 40 terrifies me.

A final update for this thread: I had my gastric bypass on Feb 21! Check in went smoothly. I changed into my hospital gown, got my IV inserted, and was given a number of medications to take before being moved to a waiting area where I got onto a gurney. The various members of the surgery team came by to introduce themselves and check on various things. Finally, the anesthesiologist came by and gave me "something to relax" via my IV port. A minute later, I was being wheeled into the hallway, and that's the last thing I remember until waking up in my hospital room. I never saw the inside of the OR, and I have no memory of the recovery area afterward, either. The surgery itself took much longer than anticipated, about 6 hours. I was fine and safe the whole time, but the surgeon ran into some issues with my small intestine and a small abdominal mass (sent to pathology and was benign) that required additional steps. Because of this, I was surprised to wake up in my hospital room and discover it was already 9pm when my surgery began at 1pm! My poor mom had been so worried because we thought it would take maybe 3 hours max. The nurses checked on me several times that night. I was able to get up to use the toilet on my own, and the only real challenge was the IV pole having to be dragged along. I was very fortunate that I ended up with no roommate. It wasn't technically a private room, but no one else was assigned to it while I was there. In the morning, my surgeon came by and explained what had happened during surgery. He was concerned because some of the stitches ended up under more pressure than he considered optimal, so he wanted me to do a swallow test before I could have anything by mouth, including water. They got me in for that and it turned out okay, so about an hour after returning to my room, I was brought a bottle of water and a cup of red sugar free jello. I have to say, it was nice to have water because my throat was dry, but I really didn't care about eating. I did because they told me to, and I know at this point I hadn't had a single thing in my belly for over 40 hours, but I just didn't care. I felt zero hunger. But I at the jello, and later they brought me a popsicle, another jello, and a chicken broth. I ate it all over the course of about an hour. It was fine, but again, I just ate it because they told me to. Because I got such a late start on fluids after surgery, they kept me an additional night, just to be sure. But on Friday morning around 9am, I was discharged. I had a protein shake when I got home and worked all day on fluids. I was tired and a little sore, but my pain had been minimal enough that I was only on Tylenol. It worked well enough that I only had a few moments of real pain, mostly when shifting position that required the use of abdominal muscles. I was fortunate to have someone staying with me for the first few nights home, and my parents kept my kids (ages 12 and 15) with them for the first week so I wouldn't have to worry about all their activities and food. It took a few days to discover what worked best for me, which ended up being hot tea (decaf and herbal) instead of flavored waters as I'd been having pre-op. For the first week, I've met my 64oz fluid and 60g protein goals most days, but as time has gone on, I've become completely turned off anything with artificial sweetener and every protein shake except Syntrax Nectar Natural, which I can still manage. I definitely wasted a lot of money on shakes I won't be drinking, but I'm glad I had them for the 2 week pre-op diet and to take the pressure off finding things to try when I got home. Yesterday, I was allowed to start soft protein foods. So far, I've had tuna salad (2 Tbsp), refried beans with a sprinkle of melted cheese (1/4 cup), and 1 poached egg. No issues with anything so far. Tonight I will be cooking some haddock with pesto for dinner. I go in for my 2 week post-op appointment with my surgeon next Tuesday and hope by then my weight will be a little lower. I lost 15 lbs on the 2 week pre-op diet, but my weight was higher by about 5lbs when I got home from the hospital thanks to the fluids and swelling, and I'm only just back to where I was the day I went to the hospital. Still, 15lbs in three weeks isn't bad. As for other incidentals, I have been taking Benefiber daily in my morning tea and it really has helped. I had the first BM (very loose and not a lot) before leaving the hospital on day 2, and have managed to go at least every other day since, and daily the last couple of days, so I'm very grateful for that. My energy levels have been decent, but it's only today that I feel like I don't need a noon nap. Going without caffeine has been a struggle, but I'm getting used to it. After all the wait, I'm so glad to have this behind me and be able to focus on a healthy future!

Your petulant, fussy, temper throwing tummy is showing its face @NickelChip. Your tummy decides one day it doesn’t like something yet you ate it fine before. Then on a few days or week or two later your tummy is all yum this is delicious. Or something you didn’t enjoy before is suddenly very tasty. Don’t be surprised if this continues for a few more weeks. It’s like your tummy is relearning about foods, textures, flavours, etc. I always found smoked salmon too rich. I’d eat a little but rarely. Then suddenly in soft food was eating it every day - spread it with cream cheese & wrapped it around wedges of cucumber. Then suddenly my tummy said no.No more smoked salmon. I was always able to eat eggs easily, then last year, after 4 years my tummy said nope not eggs. I actually haven’t gone back to them but I will again at some time. What I do remember is when my tummy says no, my restriction kicks in more quickly and I feel very full after just a couple bites. This may be what you @NickelChip & @PandaMom1977 are experiencing: your sensitive & fussy tummy making itself known, your nerves reconnecting & sparking & your restriction starting to work. It will be interesting to hear what the GI X-ray shows @PandaMom1977.

Yep I’m now 18days. I have to stay on liquids for 3 weeks due to all the oesophagus work they did too. good luck with you up coming appt. anib how did work go?

Thank you for replying. Like I said, I've been contemplating it.. Perhaps buying an extra warranty make but help. I noticed most people had issues with it between 1 month and 3.. Again, thank you for the answers...anything to break up the monotony of the same foods over and over would be welcome.

if you're female and of child-bearing age, another possible cause of the depression is the hormone surges that are common after surgery. Estrogen is stored in fat cells, and evidently a lot of it is released during rapid weight loss. It can cause mood swings and screwed up menstrual cycles. Things will stabilize eventually - but it can take a few weeks. Hang in there!

Day one of my liquid diet. After re reading my pre op diet, it states that I can’t have creamy soups. 😕 I hope these two weeks go by super fast.

I’m in my second week of puréed diet. I also had two weeks puréed. My VSG was 12/04 and I’m looking forward to moving to soft foods next week. During the puréed, I have eaten ricotta bake; mashed potatoes; grits and eggs. Otherwise, protein shakes….

I had surgery 1/24 and this morning was my first post op appt (9 days). I lost 18 pounds! Like, WHAT!? It’s not even 2 weeks. I was so shocked I wasn’t even emotional. Today, I am celebrating me for doing this.

Hi friends! I have a question for y’all! I am about 3 1/2 weeks post VSG and my hunger has returned with a vengeance. I’m not sure why. I’m trying to remind myself of everything I’ve learned and remind myself of things I am permitted to have. But I’ve been sampling small bites of various things to see what my tummy likes and what it doesn’t like anymore. I don’t want to fall back into old patterns and eat just because I like the taste or because I CAN tolerate it, you know?Has anyone experienced their hunger returning? Still struggling to get enough water intake so maybe that has something to do with it? I’m averaging 32oz water a day. I wish I could drink normally because I used to easily get 64 Oz/day, but sipping has shown to be a challenge for me lol. Thanks ahead of time friends!

Hi! How are you feeling now? I thought I was crazy because I had jaundice as well, and thought maybe it’s the vitamin making my skin color change. I was yellow for about 3 days. I gain 7 lbs of water retaining as well, and my stomach also was swollen, but when I had the sleeve I was fine. I felt like I was at my last trimester about to give birth. My surgery was 1/22 and the swollen is going down, but still not so comfortable. Would love to know how you are doing!

My cousin just had the surgery plus the hiatal hernia surgery 2 weeks ago, she still struggles with liquid intake. She still has to set a timer to sip sip sip. Try walking more for the gas pains, it helps get rid of them. Every hour walk for 5-10 minutes. I am 5.5 months post op and the first week was hard to drink anything, cold or hot. Even when I hit the puree stage it was hard enough to get liquid in let alone something with a thicker consistency. It will get better over time. I agree, contact your surgeon, see if they have any other options.

@ShoppGirl Thank you for your reply I have therapy every week, but was going to start looking for more weight-related therapists in my area as I am extremely worried about coping with the emotional eating. I am sorry to hear about the struggles you have had, and I hope it all works out for you. Pureed food sounds like the worst stage! I, like you, feel that pureeing 'normal' foods probably is gross haha! Hospital bag is actually one of the things I do need to think about! I shall add those to my list, thank you

Yes, in time it should go back down. The study I saw said it starts dropping about a week after surgery. But, it won't hurt to keep in touch with your doctor. If they decide to do the holter monitor, do that - just to make sure there's no crazy coincidences happening.

The textural aspect of purées can be a challenge for a few of us. Add in the changes to our taste buds &/or sense of smell & it can be extremely frustrating. Soups were my friend too. Plus yoghurt, thin instant oatmeal (made with milk), runny scrambled eggs (try poached). Mashed hard boiled eggs (mayo) were okay too. Even had some baby food a couple of times. I wasted a lot of food I puréed & couldn’t tolerate - puréed tinned fish was the absolute worst. Blah! I was glad I wasn’t interested in eating. Do stick to your plan. In a week or so you’ll be on soft food which is so much easier & purées will be only a bad memory.

I experienced the same as what has been said, was perimenopausal with very irregular periods, then for the last 2 years I have had normal regular periods, they have just started going into perimenopausal irregularity and hot flushes have returned I am 2.5 years post op. Having said that 5 weeks of bleeding is not normal by any standard I think it's time to go see your doctor

Dandelion can help with excess fluid. If I'm taking it in capsules, I usually take it in conjunction with milk thistle. Milk thistle is great for the liver and can help with excess fluid too. GAIA is a great brand that has a Milk Thistle blend I've taken before and liked, though I didn't take it for fluid issues. It may be worth talking with an herbalist to see what they'd advise. Sometimes herbs can be just as effective as prescription meds when given in the right ratios to the right person. I also know compression socks can help with fluid too, I wear them every time I travel and for weeks after any surgery... They can be annoying to find in the right size but wow do they help my legs not swell up! These are my favorite brand for compression. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0897RWF54/ Way more comfortable than the socks and since they are open foot I can wear them with dresses and sandals all year round!

I saw my primary care doctor and he was able to assist me further with some of things i needed. If i have any questions related to the surgery i will definitely be reaching out to the nurse for sure. I wont see my surgeon again until another 3 months. I have this constant itching every now and then on my stomach its so annoying lol. Could be winter itch i dont but i never had that before. Im going to start rubbing cocoa butter on my stomach hopefully that helps.

^^^. another idea - when my mother-in-law died a few weeks ago, we took a bunch of her stuff to St. Vincent de Paul (it's sort of like Goodwill), including her home scale. After we dropped the donations off, we went inside so I could get an idea of what all this stuff would sell for (for tax deduction purposes). I was shocked to see probably 30 scales in there! So that's another idea - as long as they work!

It’s going well so far! I’m down 50 pounds so far going on 3 months post op on the 18th. On Jan 15 I’m going to get my 3rd fill adjustment. I’ve had two so far and it’s been working out great.

It’s going well so far! I’m down 50 pounds so far going on 3 months post op on the 18th. On Jan 15 I’m going to get my 3rd fill adjustment. I’ve had two so far and it’s been working out great.

Hello, well I am doing a bit better, I was able to get my central feeding tube out in November. I'm stilling struggling with most foods, but i'm slowly getting there.. I can do about 400 or less calories a day, i get about half my protein and water goals daily. Doc said i was doing ok.. I have to take a hand full of stomach meds 3-4 times a day or help my stomach push the food though and ones so i don't throw up. said thing is, my weigh isn't dropping like i thought it would. but hopefully down the road it will change. I happy to hear that you're doing well. Keep up the good work.

it's actually very common to have a rebound gain of 10-20 lbs during year 3. There was a dietitian once on Unjury's online support group who said in her clinic, they don't even consider anything less that 15% of the person's lowest weight to be a regain (so in your case, they wouldn't consider anything under a 21.6 lb gain as "regain" - it's just more-or-less expected). Granted, you're up more than that, but only by about 10 lbs. You can always lose weight again by getting back on track. If it's really tough to do that (and it can be..), maybe just make one or two small changes at a time until they become a habit. Start with something not super challenging - like logging your food intake - or taking a walk 3x a week. Or whatever...just anything that seems achievable. It all adds up in the end... A lot of people have dealt with this, so you're definitely not alone.

So it's supposed to be at least 2 hours between iron and calcium and I think the same for calcium and calcium as your body can only absorb about 500 mg at a time. I take my multivitamin in the morning. Not quite first thing, as I take my probiotic/prebiotic first on an empty stomach, then usually have a proffee or reg coffee depending on the day. I am currently on 2 calcium chews a day, so I split that between midday and nighttime. I was first taking a bariatric multivitamin w/iron and 3 calcium chews a day. At my 8th month post-op checkup, my vitamin D levels were on the higher end of normal so my dietician wanted me to cut back. So I had to switch to a regular multivitamin (bariatric has 3000iu of Vit D) and cut back on the calcium chews since they also have about 800 iu each of vitamin d. Even though in my diet I get in quite a bit of calcium rich foods, I was advised to continue with the 2 chews a day as unfortunately a blood test doesn't give a clear picture of what is happening in the body calcium wise. If you are deficient in calcium, your body will pull it from your bones. The blood work will look good as it is getting calcium, but slowly your bones are getting weaker. It's usually not until it's too late that you may be aware with teeth, bone and other body issues.