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I am only 8 months out so I can’t speak about regain but if you haven’t seen a nutritionist yet you could learn some things that will help you to lose weight. Is the doctor saying they won’t do a revision unless something is wrong?? I was told that they do revision because of heartburn even if you aren’t that overweight. Have you considered seeing a bariatric therapist? Maybe since you experienced addiction transfer and you are sober, you transferred back to food again and need to get to the root of the addiction before you will be able to lose the weight.

Hi Angelina - congratulations on your surgery! Many bariatric veterans recommend not weighing for at least 3 weeks after surgery (due to the fluid retention). I know it’s hard to refrain from weighing, but put it out of your mind for now. You’ll be satisfied in the long run!

First have you been given a surgery date? Second is this the bariatric surgeon your PCP recommended to you? Third have you looked into your insurance plan to see if any other bariatric surgeons are covered within your plan? Finally I honestly wouldn’t commit to this bariatric surgeon especially when you have not met your surgeon as of yet. I hope you keep us posted of your decision. I wish you the best.

I use the bariatric fusion unflavored collagen. It also has protein. I also have Further Food collagen peptides vanilla flavor from Amazon. If you are more of a vitamin person, I also have the vital vitamins multi collagen complex. Also found on Amazon. I just open the capsules and blend them in with my shakes.

Hi all - Just got my bloodwork back at my 1 year check up. Most things look great, except I'm *still* having low blood sugar. I had this at my 4 month check up as well, and I do experience it sometimes. Got a home test kit for blood sug, the first one of which warning that it was only accurate for higher-than-normal ... useless. Anyway, any tips or experience with this out there in the vast body of bariatric knowledge? Thanks!

There are many brands of protein shakes and powders and each of them offer many flavors. Just do a google search to see what is out there. The prices varies from reasonable to ridiculously expensive, so shop around. Many can be found at Walmart or ordered online from the manufacturers or Amazon. My clinic recommends these brands (but I've tried many others): Premier Protein Ensure Max Equate High Performance Atkins Plus Musle Milke Genuine, Muscle Milk Light Boost Max Fair Life Core Power There are even high protein soup powders from ProtiDiet and Bariatric Advantage, and others. The variety is vast. Some you will like, some you won't. If you don't like something today, try it again in a week. You can also make your own high protein shakes. There are lots of recipes online, using unflavored whey protein powder mixed with milk or water, like GenePro I prefer plant-based unflavored powder, Like Orgain or Pure Protein. You can add protein powder to just about any liquid, even your coffee or tea or bullion.

Oh my goodness I was looking at those the other day. Today is week 3 for me. I get the outshine no sugar added fruit pops. I only eat one every 2-3 days. They are satisfying. If you like the fudge taste. You can make some Sugar Free Chocolate Jello pudding. I use Protein reduced fat lactaid instead of regular fat free milk. I add some unflavored Bariatric Fusion protein power to it. I do this with the sugar free cheesecake pudding. You can do it with chocolate instead. Hope this helps. 💛💛💛💛

The Baritastic app is great. There is another thread about apps. All of the vitamins can be ordered online. The BariatricPal One-a-Day is only $99 for a whole year. You will still need chewable Calcium Citrate, 1500 mg/day. Shop around for the best prices. I got Bariatric Advantage chewable on Amazon cheaper than on their own site,

I went through insurance but I know someone who paid privately and she didn’t have to go through all the hurdles either. I am not sure if she had to do labs or not but she didn’t have to see the nutritionist or the psychiatrist. Which was all I had to do with insurance. The other medical stuff is as needed to determine you are fit for surgery or to prove comirbidites to insurance companies so it varies person to person. If you think you may have disordered eating (like boredom or emotional eating or binge eating) I would definitely see a bariatric therapist whether they require it or not. I learned after surgery about boredom and emotional eating and I struggle with both. I wish the psychiatrist I had to see had picked up on this so I could have dealt with it before surgery. I wanted the surgery asap but I feel the process has been harder for me dealing with my disordered eating while also doing weight loss phase.

Hi! I loved Dr. Tanner and the UNMC Bariatric Center. Everybody there is well informed, thorough, and pleasant to work with. They roll the red carpet out for you. I was nervous and worrying about the surgery, because I’m 53 and have grandkids that I care for, so that weighed heavy on me. Dr. Tanner reassured me, beside normal surgery risks, and stated that she has not lost a patient before, which eased my worry. I hope you find a great provider! Best wishes for you on your journey and for a speedy recovery. Thank you for reaching out. Gayle

I have dealt with depression and anxiety my whole life. Prior to surgery, I put a tremendous amount of work into getting into a really good med routine, therapy, learning coping mechanisms and grounding techniques, dealing with the thoughts that were driving my disordered eating behaviors, etc. I think the very best thing you can do is get yourself in the best mental & emotional shape you possibly can. The reality is bariatric surgery is major surgery, it puts tremendous strain on your body and your mind, there are risks and benefits that have to be considered. If you are not quite ready to face the emotions and struggles that come after, then talk to your therapist and decide if now is the right time for surgery. But if you've done the work, have a solid support system, and realize that the only way to make this work for you is to do the hard work, then you're ready and will be just fine. My anxiety has not increased since surgery, but I attribute that to the work I did beforehand and the realization that I've done something that was quite literally life saving for me. It has given me incredible hope. Best of luck to you!

Before surgery, I had been obese since the age of 8. I was 54 when I had the sleeve done. In all those intervening years (decades), I was never able to lose significant weight and keep it off for more than a year (usually 6 months). After surgery, I lost 130 pounds and reached a normal BMI for the first time since I was a little girl. I'm coming up on 3 years since my sleeve and my weight is within 4 pounds of my lowest weight. I had 45 years of trying to lose weight and maintain the loss. If I could have done it on my own, I would have. To a certain extent, you're right. No surgery will allow you to eat unhealthy food on a regular basis and maintain the weight loss. The part you are missing is that for some of us, the surgery alters our appetite and reduces cravings. That makes it much easier to stick to a desired eating plan. Prior to surgery, my appetite beat me up like it was Mike Tyson. Now, it's more like a toddler. It can make a lot of noise, but it doesn't overpower me anymore. I'm not consistently relying on raw will-power, where I'm constantly struggling not to eat. That wouldn't be at all sustainable (as my 45 years of diets demonstrated). Sure, sometimes I want something bad and I have to tell myself "Not right now". But it's a heck of a lot easier to do that now than it was before surgery. It's really unfortunate that you were told you would be able to eat as you did pre-surgery. I honestly don't know ANYONE who completely went back to their old diet and maintained their weight loss. Now that I am in maintenance, I'm not as strict as I was during the weight loss phase. I eat more carbs (in the form of fruit mostly) and I allow myself a treat now and then (Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, Passover, etc.) But day to day, I eat a maintenance diet that is very different from how I ate pre-surgery. Your surgeon is simply wrong. 2 years and 9 months after surgery, I still have significant restriction and my appetite is still about two-thirds of what it was before. The restriction is not as intense as it was in the early days/weeks/months after surgery, but it's there. I am satisfied with a fraction of the food I used to eat at one meal. It will always be possible to "eat around your sleeve" by eating unhealthy food in small portions, but all day long. No surgery can stop you if you are really determined to over-eat. That's why it's important to get to the root of the psychological reasons you depend on food to help you cope. Because surgery doesn't eliminate those issues. It's very unfortunate that your bariatric team didn't prepare you for that aspect of things. Different people have different experiences of what post-surgical life is like. Not everyone gets the long-term appetite reduction that I enjoy. I'm aware that it may not last forever. But almost 3 years later, the sleeve is still helping me maintain my weight loss, WITHOUT a constant will-power battle. It takes commitment sure - I can't eat everything that comes to mind, whenever I want. But for the first time ever, I feel like on any given day, I can CHOOSE how and what I eat, rather than being a prisoner of my appetite.

Your doctor may suspect that you are a sugar addict. If so, that's why he's barring sugar and carbohydrates. Of course, there are carbs in starchy vegetables (like sweet potatoes) and fruit, but your body processes them differently than bread and sweets. I've been on a high protein/low carb diet pre-surgery, and have eliminated sugar, flour, potatoes, rice, and processed foods. It's been very successful. I've learned a lot reading about sugar/food addiction and have come to the conclusion that I have this addiction. Once I've broken through the withdrawal period I don't crave these things. I have gone off the rails a few times and paid the price. It takes me about two weeks to get through withdrawal all over again. I've been working on this food plan, A Pound of Cure by Matthew Weiner, a bariatric surgeon. I intend to follow it post-surgery, possibly for life. To find out more about sugar/food addiction, all of these books are helpful.

I think it will be a piece of cake compared to my 1990 RNY. It was open surgery. I have a scar from below my sternum to my belly button. I was in ICU 2-3 days and in hospital for a week, then off work for another 4 weeks. I was given no nutritional advice or counseling. I saw the surgeon once before surgery, on the day of surgery, and two weeks later for him to check the stitches and remove the drain tubes (3 weeks of drain tubes!). In ICU I had a nasal gastric tube and IVs--nothing by mouth. On returning to a regular room I got clear liquids for a couple of days, pureed/soft for a couple of days and, get this: I was given solid food within 7 days of surgery. I was given a one-page low calorie diet and told "don't throw up". No wonder I blamed myself for the failure of the procedure. For 30 years I assumed that I ruined the RNY because I had thrown up too often. It was not until I had an EGD that I learned that the staples dividing the pouch from the stomach gave way due to peristalsis of the stomach. My surgeon told me that around 75% of the bypasses done back then failed for this very reason. He specialized in bariatric revisions during his residency and 1/3 of his current surgery is for revisions. He's reassured me that the new laparoscopic incisions and robotic assisted protocols are far superior, that the possibility of staple failure and leaks are minimal and would be found quickly. Because of my age (73). I'll stay two nights in the hospital instead of the usual 1 night. I think I'll be in good hands and make a rapid recovery. I have every intention of driving to my 2-week follow up visit.

Before my surgery, I used to eat pizza, candy, chips, ice cream, and basically all of the junk foods. Eating indulgent food was basically my only pleasure in life. I ate a frozen pizza every Friday, and I looked forward to it all week long. But my tastes have changed after surgery. At first, I tried to make a bariatric-friendly version of pizza, with a Mr. Tortilla tortilla as the crust, sugar-free marinara, low-fat mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni. I also tried a chicken crust pizza. These are fine, and somewhat satisfy a pizza craving, but I don't even really want pizza anymore. There are so many things I'd rather eat that it's not even worth it to me to eat chicken crust pizza. I don't really desire chocolate anymore, either. I used to eat a whole bag of fun-sized Snickers in 3 or 4 days, but now, when coworkers bring candy to work, I have little to no desire to eat any of it. Part of that is because I discovered Built Bars, which I think are even better than actual candy bars. The things I look forward to eating now include fish fajitas (BTW, I hated fish before surgery and now I love it) and turkey wraps with low-carb tortillas, grilled chicken with sugar-free BBQ sauce (I love G. Hughes BBQ sauces and I think they're just as good as the sugar-laden ones), mashed cauliflower, riced cauliflower (cauliflower is another thing I used to hate but now I eat it almost every day), salad, and other healthy foods. I have found things to satisfy my sweet tooth (e.g., protein mug cake instead of cake/cupcakes; protein bars instead of candy bars), but for the most part, I don't even have much of a desire to eat junk food anymore.

It's crazy they still treat this debunked old wives's tale as fact. Obviously, if coffee annoys your stomach, don't drink it. But the dehydration myth gets thrown around a lot for no good reason. It's plenty hard for bariatric patients to keep up with their plans and exercise and whatnot; it annoys me to no end that these teams don't see it's crucial to keep the "can'ts" of our programs to the necessary requirements, not "oh just in case, don't have x y z lol". Actual science: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/caffeinated-drinks/faq-20057965 https://time.com/5192272/coffee-tea-dehydrating/

Thanks for the replies on this, I am currently taking a chewable bariatric multivitamin that has the calcium citrate in it. It's a one stop shop until my tummy can deal with swallowing tablets. The downside is I have to take three of them daily and they're fairly hefty - but since I've been taking them in the evening thanks to the advice here, life has been much easier!

So happy you’ve been having a positive experience through this & have such a supportive team behind you. So many don’t unfortunately. My bariatric surgeon also drew pictures. The GP I had years ago was the first I encountered who drew pictures & diagrams to explain things better. The best. Taught me how to ask the right questions of all my subsequent doctors & surgeons. All the best for your revision surgery.

Many bariatric doctors recommend implants or IUDs. Until then, use condoms in addition to your BC pills.

Hi Karen, I had RNY Gastric Bypass in 1990, which failed after 6 months. I had lost about 75 lbs when I stopped losing. I regained it over the next 7-8 years, returning to my high set point of around 315 lbs, where I stayed for over 20 years despite frequent diets. I did not know that a revision was possible until just before the pandemic hit. My revision will include reducing the size of the pouch and anastomosis, separating the stomach (which was not done 30 years ago), and removing most of the fundus of the remnant stomach. The protocols and techniques have much improved over the years. I've been in my bariatric clinic's program for 7 months and am scheduled for revision surgery on December 21. In the meantime I've been on a high protein/low carb liver reduction diet, cutting out all sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, and processed food. it's been very successful, but I'm going ahead with the revision because I'm still over 100 lbs overweight. I don't expect to achieve a "normal" BMI, but should get out of the morbid obese category. My surgeon thinks I can lose another 60 lbs. (I'm hoping for more.) I had never heard of a "minimizer ring". but it looks sort of like a "lap band" technique which is rarely done in the US anymore. I don't think the minimizer ring is used by surgeons here. Have you had an EGD yet to determine the state of your pouch and anastomosis? That would determine if you are a candidate for that procedure.

I have heard of a few people mention this happening on here but none of them seemed to follow up with updates. I’m sure if you include your bariatric team in the process it will be just fine. At three months you should be able to get plenty of nutrition for you and the baby. I wonder if the cravings will be less since the hunger hormone is gone for most of us. That would be ideal. Congratulations.

Nope, dear. You just had a learning experience. And 'complete failures' don't reach out for help, so I think we fact checked this statement and found it untrue ... . If you feel like it, go talk to your bariatric team. You may very well benefit from a surgery that gives you more hormonal help than a sleeve. First, however, maybe worth talking to a therapist that has experience (this is important) with eating issues. It's much easier to fix your body when your head is clearer.

I'm only about 3.5 months out, but my nutritionist told me in order to avoid hair loss, to focus on getting protein through high quality protein supplements like Bariatric Advantage. She told me to aim for 8 scoops per day (gag) - I frickin hate the protein shakes, but if it will help with hair loss, I'll do it. Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

I think it really depends on the surgeon. I went with one of the top bariatric surgeons in Australia, hes the one who first started using a minimally invasive method to do the surgery in Australia and trained other surgeons to do it that way. My surgeon and dietitian said its highly recommended to stay on the fluids for three weeks unless you cant tolerate the shakes. The only shake flavour ive been able to tolerate since surgery is the coffee one, the other flavours made be very nauseous, and even then having more than one of the coffee shakes per day made me nauseous. Ive mostly been living on fluids the three weeks, except for the cottage cheese every couple days. According to studies, its safe from a surgical perspective to start on puree at 5 days post op, but you dont have to if you dont want to, you can simply stay on the fluids for the three weeks. My surgery came with a complete package of the surgeon, registered nurse, dietition/nurtitionist, counselling and the fresh start program so i trust my highly experienced team who im in regular contact with. I didnt spend two years researching surgeons to just go with someone who doesnt know what theyre doing, i went with my surgeon for a reason, that hes one of the best in Australia. Im also a registered nurse so i really knew what to look out for when finding the perfect surgeon for me. Ive known some people who do 2 weeks fluids, 2 weeks puree, 2 weeks soft and then normal diet. Some ive known do only a couple days of fluids then by day 3 or 4 theyre on puree and then 2 weeks post op on a soft diet. So it really depends on the surgeon your with and who actually keeps up to date with the current research. Personally i wouldnt have gone with a surgeon who said puree at 3 days post op then soft at 2 weeks!

Hey! I'm 8 days post-op. My experience with renew wasn't be best ever, but I did okay. I struggled a bit at the end of clear liquids but now I am onto full liquids living my best life (haha). I'm down 4 lbs this week so just trying to keep on keeping on.