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I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism a few years ago and take Synthroid every day. My levels are stable, but because I have had trouble losing weight in the past, I was wondering if any of you have the same health problem. If so, were you able to lose much weight quickly after surgery? Or does this ailment prevent quick weight loss after surgery, as it can without surgery? I just wanna know what to expect. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

Remember too that this Fluid rule applies to ALL fluids you're taking in, it's not just meaning Water alone. That said, keeping well hydrated preventatively is much better than getting to the point you are dehydrated. Once you get "thirsty" it's really meaning you are behind the curve. I'm never ever really "thirsty" because I'm pushing around 100-120 oz of water a day, rain or shine. Aside from other mentions on why we should drink more, I'd like to point out that drinking plenty of water or fluids helps with the weight loss too. It helps to avoid water retention, and if you are eating low carb, it will flush out your spent fat stores. All the best to you in your journey!

I didn't see it right away either. I had my surgery in December and I did a week pre op lost 9.8#, a week post op lost 9.2, so a total of 19#. A few days after I came back someone said to me I look like I lost weight. It felt weird. That person had no idea I had surgery (I mean any surgery). I didn't see it. Weird thing is when I started at my current job 1.5 years prior to that I weighed about, 285 or so, when I started my pre op diet I weighed 247 and no one had said anything previous about any weight loss. Maybe it's where you lose it idk. But 30# is a great accomplishment, be proud!

I have noticed my period is much worse since I have had the sleeve surgery. Not sure if it is the estrogen released by the fat loss? Or it could be I always used to take motrin all the time (several times a day) because my knees hurt and now that I have lost some weight my knees are not hurting anymore? Anyway....I have noticed I can just take one tylenol (and I used to take at least two). Does a smaller stomach absorb it quicker or something???? I was told not to take ibuprophen but am going to ask at my 3 month apt. because I see others posting it is ok after it has healed.

The question should be "are you happy with your loss?". The weight loss happens so differently for everyone. I don't know how much you have to lose to get to goal so there's no way to calculate percentage of weight lost to give you that number. Pounds lost are so random. I started out heavier so I lost more pounds than you, but we could have the same percentage of weight lost. As for clothes sizes, I didn't drop sizes until I had lost about 50-60lbs.

So I'm happy with my weight loss but my hair is falling out all over the floor! Went to GNC today and they have the 5,000 Biotin capsules. Can I break them apart? Has anyone else done that? I know it won't help my hair loss but I'm hoping it will promote new growth. Thanks for any advice/replies.

Yep, the stall stinks. It could last up to 2 weeks, so stay strong!! As far as hair loss, I haven't experienced it yet. From what I have read, it happens around the 3 month mark. Happens to some people, but not all. It doesn't seem to matter if you eat all the right things or not - it may be more of a reaction to anesthesia and surgery. Good luck-- Lara

200 mg of Zinc, Iron, and Biotin are all to aid in protecting your healthy hair and regrowth of hair that has falling out. Taking all your supplements and getting all your protein in also helps.

Just wanted to share my story so far. I had my 1 week appointment at the Dr.s today. I had my surgery last Thursday 4/14. It has been an easy recovery for me. I was out of the hospital the next afternoon, Friday. On Saturday, I had promised to dogsit and went to walk dogs three times. I also grocery shopped. Sunday was two more walks and some errands. I have been out every day since. I have been doing doing some walks with my husband and yesterday we did almost three miles. The doctor said everything looked great. I am down 18 pounds, 10 since the surgery and 8 from my five day pre-op liquid diet. My starting weight was 237 and I am 5'7" tall. I can't see or feel any difference in my body yet though. Getting the Protein in is tough. I do not like the shakes but have been able to tolerate the Isopure drinks which is a big help since a 20oz bottle has 40 grams of protein. I usually get my 64 ounces of Water in and am getting about 60 grams of protein. I am averaging around 400-500 calories a day. My eating plan was nothing at all the afternoon/ evening after surgery, then 2 days of Clear liquids followed by 12 days of full liquids. Next is 2 weeks of purée and then 2 weeks of softs. Full diet taken slowly starting 6 weeks after surgery. 7 more days until pureed food which I am looking forward to - only to try and get more protein through food. I'm not hungry and making meals for my family hasn't bothered me. I am dreading the thought of an upcoming stall. I am also fearing losing my hair as it is super thin to begin with. I am off pain meds and have been able to sleep on my side since the second night. My only problems are slight nausea here and there, but not bad enough to have to take the meds they gave me, and diarhea. I was also lucky as my surgeon did not put in drains. My other issue is that i had the top of my hand turn black and blue, but it was not the hand that had the IV. I know others have had more issues after their surgery and I feel bad as I read their posts. I just wanted to share my experiences so far. Please excuse any typos as I am typing this on my phone and it won't let me go back and reread or edit. Good luck to all the upcoming surgeries!

Congratulations on your weight loss! Sorry, I can't help on the other as I haven't gotten my sleeve yet. However, I'd check with your doctor.

Congrats on your loss! And I know you said you don't feel restriction but it seems like you've got the best of "restriction" without all the yucky PBing and sliming side effects

An accountability partner is someone with whom you share your daily food & exercise plan, how well you've been following the plan, and any events or situations in your life that are affecting your weight loss or management.

Well, it is post op day three, and I want to thank everyone who gave me so much encouragement yesterday! I am feeling better today. Still sore, but much better than yesterday morning. I was able to drink an unsweetened ice tea last night at dinner time, and even sipped some apple juice when we got back to our room. I had my procedure done in Tijuana, Mexico, and we choose to stay in San Diego overnight before we flew home. (Have a six hour flight today, with a two hour lay over in Minneapolis, MN, then another hour long flight to Iowa, then a 45 minute drive home, so will be a LONG day.) Am sipping apple juice this morning, and plan to have a Protein drink before we leave for the airport. I am amazed that I haven't felt hungry at all since the surgery. Usually I am ALWAYS staarved. I can't wait to get home to get on a scale and see how much I have lost. I lost 20 pounds on the hated Pre-Op diet. I couldn't believe how the weight dropped off, BUT the diet was horrible. NO carbs. I really missed my potatoes, Pasta, breads, etc. I guess I better get used to it, cause I'm going to have to eat those things in real moderation in the future. I am so excited to get to the mushy foods stage, I can't wait! But today I am just going to concentrate on feeling thankful that I feel so much better today! Thanks again everybody who wrote to encourage me! Kathy [link=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wt7yUNu/] [image noborder]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wt7yUNu/weight.png[/image]

When I left the hospital, I was given a list of medications that I needed to take that included a chewable vitamin (I had taken these same vitamins for two weeks pre-op). After surgery, the chewables made me extremely nauseous. I called the phone nurse and got permission to take my regular multivitamin with water. Those went down just fine. At my two week post-op appointment I was started on vitamin B12 and restarted on vitamin D. At six weeks they said I could take biotin if I was noticing that I was losing hair. I started it immediately as a precaution. I go for my 3 month post op appointment this week and expect they will add iron and calcium supplements. I was hoping that after surgery I could take significantly less medication. For me, I have switched medications to control high blood pressure and diabeties for vitamins. I still take the same number of pills. I guess thats a good tradeoff?

So basically your 17 pound loss was in a single week? Awesome job! You should be proud of the progress you've already been making. Plus, I wouldn't discount the weight you lost pre-op. My ticker includes it. :-) I think about the weight that we gain from surgery from the IV fluids, and it makes me realize that you really did lose more than 17 pounds in that week since surgery.

Accelerator, it is part of the whole biolean system (alot of natural weight loss herbs) my doctor uses it for all his non surgical patients, i tried just the biolean pills before we decided to do the band, but it made me feel like i was on diet pills to jittery and bitchy, taking just accelerator i feel no different .. we will see

I am hoping to lose the hair on my chin....... Sent from my iPad using VST

Well I didnt avoid hair loss altogether, it was a lot at the beginning, but I do have it slowing down at 5 months post op.

I had my VSG on July 7 - weighing in at 244. Tomorrow is the three week mark and I weight 221!. No complications so far. I also had my gall bladder removed with this surgery. Though pleased with the weight loss, the recovery has been a little slower than I expected. I am 61 and have had 4 C-sections; bounced back so quickly from those that I thought this would be the same experience. (Of course, that was 30 years ago). I still want to nap everyday!. I have to go back to school on August 7 and need my energy. As far as how things are going today, I feel hungry much of the time. Some of this I think is "head-hunger". I see a commercial and want to eat like I used to. I crave a hamburger and fries. I am on soft foods and when I take a bite or two, the hunger is abated. Shortly after however, I am hungry again. I have eaten one bite too many on a couple of occasions and have had that gripping pain in my chest. Still learning to read my body signals better. I long to take a giant gulp of Water or tea to quench my thirst. I look forward to the day I can do this. I am anxious to learn more about the successes you have had.

I'm being kicked off my insurance because it's my mothers (I'm currently unemployed) and I'm turning 23 August 7th since I am turning 23 the age where insurance no longer covers (which we didnt know until yesterday) On December 31st I will be taken off. Before we were told as long as my mother could have me on her taxes and I lived with her there would be no problem but there is. So today I called the insurance and talked to the lady I always talked to, she said if we had the doctor's office fax all my past history that I had and weight loss to them that they could possibly shorten my 6 month diet to where it wasn't so close and down to the wire in December. Well they faxed the information and She called back said within a week I should know if it can be shortened. I sure hope it can I don't want to get this far and have to end this whole journey. Wish me luck. I sure hope something works out.:thumbup:

I doubt it'll fix itself. Once the skin is stretched it's not going to go back perfectly or become "flat" no matter how much exercise you do. Try ab exercises and overall continue to lose weight, but I doubt your skin is gonna go back. I started at 245lbs, at 19, and mine hasn't budged so I'm all saved up for a tummy tuck. Good luck and congrats on your loss!

First, and most importantly ... you are NOT, let me repeat that NOT ... a failure!!! You are less than two months out and you haven't had a fill so you are the same as you were before surgery (provided your doc did not put Fluid in during surgery, did he?). So, stop it, stop it now! You are healing. Give yourself a break, ok? This is a difficult time of year to start a "weight loss" anything. Seriously, as it has been written on the forum (and is so true), even thin people eat a lot during this season! But, I digress. Please remember that the band is a "tool" and at this moment your "tool" isn't even turned on. LOL While it is a really good idea to make efforts to change your eating habits before you reach proper restriction, not everyone is good at it. But, you should keep trying. When you miss the mark and fall down, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again. You are not expected to be perfect, but for your own sake you should try your best. Do more reading about the band and how it works. Did someone really tell you that you wouldn't be hungry anymore right after surgery, without a fill? Hmmmm, not true for most (but for a rare few, yes). Apparently, you -and I - are in that "not true for most" group. Remember, when you don't do what is best for YOU, you only let yourself down. No one else matters when it comes to weight loss. It's your health, it's your life, it's your future. Take a breath and give yourself credit for having lost 11 lbs without a fill. There is a wealth of information on this forum. Take what you can use and leave the rest. You can do this!!! All the best to you on your journey. ~Fran

It's early days yet tbstacks! I know, every day feels like it drags on forever and it doesn't seem to be getting better. But you VERY slowing are improving and healing. And in another week or two, you will probably feel more positive. I am 3 weeks out today and the first 2 weeks were really tough. liquids are boring.....the weird taste in your mouth can drive you insane.....energy is low....changes are happening but not enough that people's jaws are dropping (they will in time though!).....you hubby might be trying not to focus on your weight so much to help you "normalize" (a positive way to look at it, no?).....and OF COURSE you're grieving the loss of food! But in a few months, when you're stable and back on solid foods and have figured out what works and doesn't work for you....how much you can eat in a regular meal...now much Protein and liquid works for you.....how to vary your diet to keep things interesting rather than a chore....it will seem so much better! There's a good chance you don't need meds for anti-depression right now (though if you feel strongly about it, you should see your primary care physician). Your energy is low due to the low calorie intake. Perhaps a B12 (sublingual) supplement daily will help with that, and maybe you need some Iron supplements as well? As soon as you can start doing a bit of exercise (even just walking now is very good!), it should help elevate your mood. The natural endorphins released by your body during exercise can do wonders to help combat depression and really make you feel alive again! Later on, you can try low-impact aerobics such as swimming or water-aerobics. Exercise bike is also good if you're not comfortable getting outside and jogging/running or even fast-walking. And of course, as you start to add "mushies" and find out what your new stomach's actual boundaries are, it will be a daily experiment to find out how your new eating life will be! That should keep you busy for a while. Remember, you've just gone through a MAJOR surgery! It takes time for the body to shake off the after-effects of the anaesthetic, the shock from the surgery, the stomach needs to heal, your metabolism is trying to survive (right now it thinks you're starving with the sudden drop in calories), and the fat you're losing is also releasing alot of hormones into your body in a flood and causing mood changes as well. There's alot going on inside of you! Hang in there. Things will "normalize" in the next couple of months, a little bit at a time. Until one day you'll wake up and it will feel "normal" again. Only a new better, slimmer, healthier "normal"!

I take so many vitamins & supplements they should keep me full all day! Multi, calcium, b12, b5, E, omega 3, biotin, extra hair vitamins, extra hair supplement, collagen, co-q10. Cam I o.d on vitamins?

I take so many vitamins & supplements they should keep me full all day! Multi, calcium, b12, b5, E, omega 3, biotin, extra hair vitamins, extra hair supplement, collagen, co-q10. Cam I o.d on vitamins?