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Congrats and good luck! I had mine last Monday, and had similar doubts going into it. The first 8 hours afterwards was the worst, but it wasn't so much that it hurt, it was more just an uncomfortable feeling. That combined with coming out of anesthesia and the way I overthink things didn't help, haha, but around 8 hours afterwards it started easing dramatically. I felt way better the next morning and walking was easy after that. Definitely recommend walking and Gas-X to reduce the pressure feeling. As for the scale not moving, just remember that weight loss is not linear, it comes in waves. Whenever there's a sharp change to our body, our mind overreacts because it thinks we're under threat and its trying to save our life, even if its something as simple as a diet. The fat we accumulated was as a defense measure to protect against starvation for our ancestors, but we as humans haven't adapted to the plentiful amount of food and high carbohydrate availability that we have present day. Think of our fat cells as little balloons that can store pieces of fat as a potential fuel source for starvation protection. As we go into a deficit with our calorie restriction, the body is forced to burn those pieces of fat, but those balloons remain, waiting to be filled back up again "just in case". If our body thinks it is threatened after a significant amount of that fat fuel is burned, it will temporarily fill it with water/fluid to keep the balloons in tact. This is where the "water weight" you may have heard of comes into play. So even though the fat itself is gone, those balloons are hanging on for dear life, thinking they're trying to save you. Only after some time passes, the body decides that its safe to shed those empty fat balloons, and you'll have a "whoosh" of weight loss after a stall period. These stalls can be 1 week to a couple months, which makes it very easy to get discouraged. When (not if) you get to a stall, just remember to stay the course. You had an entire lifetime to condition your body that your higher food intake was the normal amount required for survival, so it won't be convinced that everything is ok with a reduced caloric intake for a little while. Your weight loss will appear like stair steps instead of a straight line. Also anticipate slight gains during these stalls. That is just the water retention, and not fat reappearing, so think of it as "fake weight". As you get close to your final goal, and you're exercising more, remember that muscle weighs more than fat, I think about 1.5x as much. So as you build muscle, it will offset the number on the scale. That is why the scale number isn't as important in the final phase of your weight loss journey. It can be discouraging if you're only chasing the number, so keep in mind all the other victories towards the end. Think of the energy you have, an easier time breathing, the ability to do things you couldn't before, being able to wear clothes you never thought you'd fit in, and the additional years added to your life!

Well done on the loss. dont over do it. It is a big adjustment. After 14 months I got the hang of limited foods, about a cup full. And that one extra sip or mouthful made me throw up everything. And now I can have no more then 3/4 a cup. And I’ve only thrown up three times since surgery on the 2nd. i had a mini meltdown last night. I had thrown up and also had my first dumping(think it was the date smoothie.) and I was contemplating the decisions on the fluid/puree diet for the last 15 months. And how it’s affecting my mental health. I am so over it and often feel myself wondering to how people do this for their life. I am walking 30mins - 1hr a day. And it’s the only enjoyment I feel besides my sewing. I can only sit for an hour at a time. I see my GP tomorrow.

We see so much people during the first weeks after surgery "regretting" it... I doubt OP is a troll.

Thank you everyone!!! I'm actually excited to get these last 2 surgeries because my stomach will no longer be the size of a 16 week pregnant person, free boob job (kidding...kinda lol ), no more monthly enemy, no more PCOS issues, no more cancer concerns, and NO MORE HEALTH ISSUES!!! I'm speaking that into existence, because after these last 2 surgeries, I will have had 9 surgeries in 2 years. That's just too much. My body will practically be brand new by the time I'm done LOL

Barifusion chewables 3 a day, for the first three months. Now I just do a women’s one a day

Hi all! I had my sleeve done on 11/21/2023! I am finding that no matter how many protein shakes I am having I am still hungry! I have tried yogurt, cream of wheat, protein shakes etc. My Dr. has me on liquids for the next 3 weeks and I am miserable! I was told today if I follow the plan, I shouldn't ever be truly hungry Any suggestions?! Edit: I am currently eating 75-100g of protein a day

Hope everyone is continuing to do well. I over indulged for Thanksgiving and didn’t feel great after (some very wet mashed potato and a few spoonfuls of pumpkin pie filling). Otherwise have not really had much pain or nausea. Tomorrow is my two week appointment and I expect to be given the green light to move to purées and soft foods. I’m down about 15 pounds from my surgery and 45 from the start of my preop diet.

I never did Wegovy (Semaglutide) but a few of my friends have done it. I went straight to surgery. As soon as my friends were off, their body put back on the weight and then some. Too many horror stories about Semaglutide, rotten food stuck in stomach, stomach paralysis, to name a few. My best friends daughter has been on it for 3 months and has only lost 5 pounds, she needs to lose well over 100. Found out her thyroid is messed up so she is on thyroid meds and has lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. She is still considering surgery, but will let her body adapt to thyroid meds first.

I didn't lose my hunger with surgery, it is still here. In fact, I woke up from surgery in the recovery room hungry. 😂 However, my taste buds have changed. It happened about 2 weeks out. I can't taste sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It sure does make holiday treats less tempting. My brain hunger is a lot quieter too, I'm assuming that's from the surgical effects on GLP-1 in the body...similar mechanism to what quiets head hunger on the meds. I don't know how long this effect will last. I had the DS so it alters more of your anatomy than a sleeve does, and there are metabolic benefits to that alteration. So I'm hoping it is an effect that stays around for a while.

You will get through it! Seems quite a few get feeling off. Our body's hormones have changed, not eating comfort foods, lifestyle changes are apparent. It should wear off before too long, but if it doesn't then you should talk to your Dr about it. I was in a humdrum for a week, it all seemed to change once I was able to start even eating puree and getting other food in.

Anesthesia can mess with our bodies for a while after surgery, and it has been clinically shown that major surgery can trigger depressive episodes in people. What you are experiencing is completely normal even though it sucks. Add to that hormonal changes, and body changes, and changes in the nutrients you get, and recovering from a major surgery and yeah, you could feel pretty down! I'm 3 1/2 weeks post op. Some days are good and some days aren't so good. I've heard the first 3 months are really challenging and the first year takes a lot of resilience and adjustment. Next time your husband starts with the "this is what you wanted" I'd kindly remind him that those words are not supportive and guilt trips are not necessary. That you are cognizant of the fact that you wanted bariatric surgery to lose weight and improve your health, but NONE of us can even begin to understand the fullness of an experience before we actually have it...and living this experience is feeling challenging right now. Even the BEST things for us often come with distinct downsides. You are allowed to be upset! You are allowed to say this is a struggle! What would be more supportive of him would be for him to validate your feelings and assure you that things won't always feel like this, but while they do, he's there for you. I'm sure he's doing what he can, but everyone deserves feedback when their words are making it harder for you to deal with what you are dealing with. I too feel a little off kilter from the world right now. Any surgery brings grief with it when it alters your body. Let yourself grieve. You are in a liminal space right now, transforming from one version of yourself to another. Much like the caterpillar who winds itself into a cocoon, you have had to bury yourself into this new experience, and you will never be the same. Some parts of you have to die so that other parts of you can blossom forth and live. When you finally come out of this cocoon, flying will be so thrilling!! But in the meantime, the transformation sucks! LOL I don't think caterpillars think the process is fun either...

I'm so glad that work is going well! You look fantastic and all professional!! I hope it continues to be awesome... I am so sorry you have the BRCA gene. I had a cancer gene panel done this summer due to the endometrial cancer I had. I found out I have the CHEK2 gene, which is lower risk than the BRCA gene, but still high risk enough to consider an elective mastectomy. I've considered going that route if I have to have a boob lift post weight loss... I saw the oncologist this morning to talk about taking a round of tamoxifin to reduce my risk. It was informative!! It is possible they could do both the hysterectomy and the hernia repair at the same time if the doctors are in the same system. GYN surgeries often coordinate with other surgeons so their patients only have to go under once. You will be shocked at how light your pelvis feels post surgery, I still marvel at it! I love not having that monthly visitor, I didn't really understand how much energy it was taking for me for 2 weeks out of the month. And my iron levels stabilized really nicely post surgery. If you need any support don't hesitate to message me! I found recovery from the hysterectomy similar to my DS surgery, though I was sore longer with the hysterectomy...

Yep those sneezes and hiccups hurt so much. I’m 25 days post op and it still hurts. Even the burps do. First time round- I took photos in different standing poses and even in bra and underwear. I did all the body measurements too. (As Cat says. It’s good for the stalls) This time I remembered on the morning as my daughter reminded me. the dr said I wouldn’t loose much as I lost it all the first time a year ago. But I’m 5 kgs down

I did a few days before. Pics and measurements! Measurements are super important for when the scale stalls!!

I had my surgery July 4th and the good news is that I am down 60lbs but the bad news is that I ended up between July 3rd and Nov 1st spending 12.5 weeks in hospital with complications following the surgery. I had pancreatitis and then also got infections as the surgery didn't completely close my stomach so I ended up with a small hole. Ended up having a number of gastroscopes, tubes fitted to my stomach and back to drain the infection and now have an internal tube fitted in my stomach, which will eventually (I hope) make its own way out as my stomach heals. Had really bad reflux until about two weeks ago when I started taking tablets with simeticone so it has eased considerably. Still in pain often, feels like my stomach is either bruised or pulled muscles. It is great to have lost the weight, especially as the hospital had me on feeding tubes with nutrients etc., but at the present time I feel like I would not recommend this surgery to anyone unless it was life or death. I lost the last few months of my life basically and know that the trauma is effecting me, can't sleep much (partly due to the pain and partly due to not being able to shift the hours the nurses would wake me), feel exhausted and also feel a bit weepy at times.

I had a week of intense abdominal pain, difficulty getting up and down from chairs and the bed, pain while walking, and pain while sitting up. I'd also had a hernia repair performed. I was mostly able to fetch for myself and had prepped like @Arabesque mentioned. Friends came by to move the trash and recycle bins for me. By week 5, I had no more pain and most of my lifting restrictions were gone.

Hi everyone! My gastric bypass was 11/22/23. The two week liquid diet was the hardest thing to do. I'm now post op 3 days & it's not been horrible. I'm extremely sore but that has gotten better & I'm not sure if I'm having spasms or if it's the feeling of being full. Tonight I had extreme pain over my stomach area & took a pain pill. The gas is everywhere too. I'm excited about my journey.

Dont beat up on your self, this is my second time around , meaning my first attempt at surgery was halted no fault of my own just a unknown issue situs inversus, so ive been on this journey for a little over a year, went back to my 9old habits quickly, but gets better, im on my pre op diet and had a slip up nothing outrageous so just keep pushing forward i too had the second thoughts even with a week until my surgery, but i think of the health benefits in the end.

This is exactly how I used to think about dieting. I was punishing myself for gaining weight. I was missing out on my favourite foods or on what others may be eating when socialising. ‘Diet’ had so many negative connotations to me. So I don’t use the word any more. This is simply the way I eat. It took a while to change my thinking but it did/does help a lot. There are foods I simply don’t eat or eat very rarely now that I loved to eat before. Do I miss them? Not really. Do I feel I‘m missing out? Nope. You may find it easier to make small changes to your eating & food choices instead of jumping into a full ‘diet’. Small wins are still wins. Change one or two things each week like reduce your portion sizes & increase your fluid intake (64ozs). Increase your protein intake. Stretch out the times between your snacking, or reduce how many snacks you have each day. And so on until you have adopted the recommendations from your surgeon/dietician. And be honest about your struggles with them & tell them what you are doing to incorporate their weight loss plan. They may have other suggestions on what you can do too. All the best.

It may help you, like it has for me, to focus on adding good habits as much or more as taking away your bad habits. When I first talked to my doctor about bariatric surgery, I spent several weeks cleaning out all the items in my pantry and freezer that I knew were not doing good things for me. Things like snack foods and highly processed stuff, and anything I know I will binge eat, like pretzels or chocolate. I also bought some WLS books, including A Pound of Cure from Dr. Matthew Weiner. I read through all his steps for changing your diet and figured out the easiest ones for me to do and started there. For example, I'm not a big fan of artificial sweetener, and Diet Coke was the only thing I was really doing that broke that "rule," so it was pretty easy for me to make the cut. Same with adding a pound of vegetable per day. That change alone has made a lot of other things easier for me, like cutting out bread and reducing dairy. I find I am so full after a green smoothie at breakfast or a salad with beans for lunch that I am not as hungry at dinner, and don't feel the need to snack as much. When I do snack, I've bought raw or dry roasted nuts to replace the junk I used to buy. I've lost about 16 pounds in 4 months, and unlike in the past when I've "dieted," I don't really feel like I'm missing out. Plus, I make exceptions a couple times per month and don't feel guilty about it. By focusing on the health aspects and not tracking the calories, it really helped me make changes that promote a healthier weight without feeling overburdened or deprived. I hope that helps!

Not strange at all! Anesthesia can affect our mood and takes a while to get out of the system. Then the weight loss itself releases hormones that can trigger PMS on steroids 24/7 in some people. Plus, you just had a major surgery, depression is not unusual after major surgery. And on top of it all, bariatric surgery is stressful! The water and protein requirements are a full time job that first month at least! I'm 3 weeks out. It gets better once you can add food. Just focus on that water! If you get all your water in you'll feel a little better. Food will make you feel better still and will help you feel a little more normal. Hang in there! And if by change you are on psych meds you may need to talk to your psych if you continue to have mood issues, you may need a change in dosage. It's less common in the sleeve but it does happen for some people...

Had my first consult October 13th. All my testing is complete as of last week. Was hoping to get a surgery date for late December but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. (Duodenal Switch) I've been reading about others having 3 day up to a week liquid pre-op diets up to surgery. My surgeon said no less than two weeks. I guess all surgeons have their preferences. I've read a few books and listened to as many podcasts about Bariatric surgery per-op and post-op. I feel like a have a good hold on it. I started a Keto/Carnivore diet back in June. Limiting carbs and Sugar wasn't a big deal starting a 100 Gram Protein & 100 Gram carb diet the dietician has recommended for me to be on now. I've lost 47 pounds since June and 27 since my October consult.

the only issue I really had was that getting in and out of bed was a bit of a challenge the first few days. I could do it - but my abs felt like I'd done 10000 crunches. Other than that, I had no pain and was able to get around fine. It was just that transitioning (going from lying down to standing up - and vice versa) was tricky. But once I was up - or down - I had no pain and could get around with no problem. My husband had taken a week off of work, but he ended up going back after three days because I really didn't need him to do anything for me. It was nice to have him bring me protein shakes or whatever, but it wasn't really necessary.

I had the surgery when I was incredibly unfit and I had major health issues. I was classed as disabled. I am sure this impeded my recovery. I had to stay in hospital 4 extra days due to vomiting. I struggled with sickness and GERD for about 6 weeks until I got the correct medications. I needed to sleep sat up all this time. They found my internal stitch line was very swollen and eating and drinking was difficult. This resulted in me being very weak until I could reach my goals. I am retired but if I worked, I would not have been able to go back for 3 months. I had zero pain, either gas or from the surgery. I have a high bed so needed a step to help me get in and out of it. I used a bed wedge for the GERD. The main thing that people on this forum teach us is, do not over buy. This surgery seriously affects your taste buds. Its 2 years to the day since my surgery and I still detest my once favourite foods, salmon and lamb.

It usually takes about a week. It’s a slow process as the gas rises up behind your lungs & puts pressure on a nerve which causes the discomfort. The gas is then absorbed into your lungs where you breathe it out. Walk, walk, walk slow & gently for short periods of time a few times a day. March on the spot, do arm legs & slow deep breathing. Anything to get you breathing more without straining your body, damaging your sutures & staples, etc. Using heat pads can help with the discomfort. All the best.