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**My hair has begun shedding...A LOT. I have PCOS so I thought I was already used to it, but it's to the point now that if I run my hands through my hair a few times, hair comes out. Not in clumps or anything, just a lot of shedding. I knew it was coming, so I'm not freaking out, but it still sucks. **2 nights ago I had some kind of episode where I had a snack about 45 minutes after I worked out at night and I had INCREDIBLE pain. Felt heavy, sharp pains, burning. Hurt to sit up, hurt to lay down, couldn't find a comfortable position. Took pepto twice before I finally got any relief after about an hour. I was left with burning in my throat. My husband said it sounds like reflux (I'm on a PPI for 6 months, but I've never had reflux or GERD or anything before). My snack was normal (1 tbsp hummus and 1/4 cup sliced cucumbers) but my workout was more intense than normal (had the treadmill at a 5.5 incline at a speed of 3.5). Now I have burning in my throat everyday and slight nausea depending on what I eat. **I'm always tired. I have spurts of energy here and there, but they don't last long and I go back to being tired again. Even a nap doesn't really help all that much. I mean, I guess it does a little, but mostly I'm less tired (but still tired). **My taste is still weird. I thought it would correct itself by now, but I guess not. Stuff I loved, I don't like or can't eat now. Sour/tart stuff still tastes really sweet. What little sweet tooth I had is completely gone (the thought of chocolate, for example, literally makes me grossed out). I have no craving for anything greasy, salty, or fried (those were my weaknesses). I never use salt anymore because the taste is overwhelming, even in small amounts (I used to salt EVERYTHING). I can barely tolerate pickles (which were a STAPLE in my diet because I was obsessed with them) because the taste is just way too overwhelming and strong, even in tiny amounts. **I can finally drink diet soda again, but where I used to drink a 2 liter a day, I can drink one MAYBE two 12 ounce cans per day (usually just 1) because it tastes a little different and it takes a while because I still have to be careful with the carbonation (stomach is ok if I go slooooow, otherwise I get into trouble if I drink it too fast). **I can tolerate a little bit larger amounts of food now, but I have to be careful still because if I overestimate how much I can eat, food goes to waste or I end up in trouble. For example, I can eat 2 scrambled eggs and 2 sausage patties now (used to only be able to eat 1 of each). But there's no way I can eat more than that. If I do, it HURTS. I can eat 3 oz of steak in 1 sitting now (with 1/2 cup of a side like green beans), whereas I used to only be able to eat 1 or 1 1/2 with 1/4 cup of a side. At first it freaked me out, but now I'm good with it because I knew we would be able to eat more eventually, and I'm careful with what I eat and how much (and how often). **It's actually gotten easier to eyeball my food and see how much I can have. I still weigh it if I'm not sure, but more often than not, I can guesstimate pretty accurately. **It's a lot easier to stick to my diet and not overeat or eat stuff I'm not supposed to. Now that my brain is trained (still a work in progress, but so so much better now) I don't think about stuff I can't have. I use MyFitnessPal and I have my meals all planned out for the week and use that to know what I can eat, how many calories and carbs and protein is in each meal (makes it soooo easy to stay on track and get everything I need each day).

I am 6 weeks post op from gastric bypass and have not lost weight in 4 days . Is this normal ?

Hello So on the 23 of this month it will be 3 months post surgery , so far I went from 260 lbs to 207 lbs , so 53 lbs are off , I don't know if that's okay but I guess some people lose weight quickly and others slowly , maybe it also has to do with my bad habits of eating ice cream ( twice a week ) and some carbs such as bread and pasta . What I've noticed since my second month post op is the hair loss especially when I wash my hair or comb it , I lose a huge amount , although I have thick hair it's starting to get thinner should I be worried about it ?

I am two weeks out following Gastric Bypass surgery. I started my journey at 288lbs. and now I am 270lbs. It’s been trying these last two weeks but, the surgery has worked miracles in my life already! For that I am very grateful. I have never been less than 200lbs in my adult life, and I am anxious about that possibility. Yet, my health takes paramount and is the reason why I made the decision to have the surgery done. I have joined BariatricPal for a bit of insight and inspiration. It is my hope that by the end of this, I may inspire someone too.

What time frame did y'all hit the dreaded stalls? My first was at 3 weeks. I'm at 15 weeks now and trying to see if I'm in a stall or doing something wrong. Sleeved 4/26. SW 216 CW 188

In my first month I went from 300 to 250lbs. Once I finally made it past the three week (everything makes me sick phase)… I actilually began eating a little later than recommended because I couldn’t keep anything down. I’m now 1 1/2 months post op… I’ve finally gained my energy back and am working out but I not only stalled but gained 3 lbs my mom feels like I shouldn’t get down about it or obsess about it but has this happened to anyone else?

I never had diabetes prior to surgery and I’m wondering if I could now get it even though I have now lost so much weight ?

I’m right around the three month mark post surgery and I’ve hit a stall. Is this common around this point? I’ve lost 35 lbs since my surgery date.

Hey everyone, I just finished 3 months post VSG and am on my fourth month! I just met with my nutritionist and sadly I have only lost 5 pounds in around 50 days. My plan doesn’t require me to stop carbs or anything, they just want me to hit 60g or protein (I’m hitting around 30g) I thought I was doing really well! I’ve been working out and the mirror is my friend, I feel like I’ve been hit by a train after seeing my weight hasn’t moved at all. Does anyone have any advice for me? Thanks, Lady caterpillar

Hey all, I'm sure this has been asked a bazillion times, but the wife, adult son and I are leaving next week for a vacation/family visit. The road trip is 1,000 miles. I feel great right now and we take turns driving, so that's not the issue. We make this trip annually and will likely have 2-3 fuel stops and will stop another couple times to eat. When we leave, I'll be four weeks post-op, so I'm looking at my week 5 and 6 menu items, and I am asking for your tips and tricks when going on a long trip Drinks: I will bring coffee, water and pre-mixed protein shakes for fluids. Maybe a Gatorade Zero for a change in pace. Snacks: What snacks are suggested? According to my nutrition plan, about the only things I could have thru week 4 are the protein drinks, string cheese and some peeled fruit. I'll be right at the start of Week 5 which mentions up to 3 Multi-grain crackers a day, but I ordered some of the Quest Protein Chips. (I purchase $95 worth, so hope they are good). 😋 Restaurants: This is probably where I'm looking for the most tips and tricks most. What restaurants have good menu items to choose from and food items should I be looking for? For example, a Big Mac, minus the bun, (which does not sound good right now), LOL. *Full disclosure, my nutrition plan really does not mention meat or salads until week 6 when I can have tuna and baked fish and then add baked chicken, lean ground beef, ground turkey and salads. But, I'm not against trying some of this (in moderation of course), if other plans allow these items sooner. I realize my nutrition plan is exageratingly conservative.

hey folks, i am currently 1 week post op and i am experiencing some serious diarrhea. anyone else experience this? did it go aways. ive only been consuming bone broth/protein shakes/and water and i feel like 5 minute after drinking something i have violent diarrhea. i can walk my dog because if i walk 5 feet i will $h1t my self. help!!! i messaged my surgeon but this is scaring me.

Hi all, Week 7 and still making progress albeit slow. I have no issues with any food which is certainly a pro and con. Pro- I can have basically anything. Major Con- I can have basically anything. If you stick with your diet, and eat protein first, you will fill up fast. My biggest struggle is my water intake. My goal is 128 oz but even hitting 60 - 80 has been difficult these last few weeks. Overall still extremely thrilled about the results and procedure. If anyone was on the fence about ESG, I recommend you do your research. Of course, it’s still a relatively new procedure but it has a lot of positives. 1) very quick recovery time, 2) extremely quick procedure, 3) minimal nausea and pain. As for cost, well that’s may be a problem for several people. It’s not covered under insurance but it’s somewhat reasonable priced compared to some procedures. I believe my cost was $9900 plus travel. Pre Surgery Weight = 336 Surgery weight = 330 Current Weight = 301 Goal Weight = 275-280 Yes, those numbers look high but I’m a pretty big guy. I’m slightly over 6’6”. Good luck everyone

My surgery is scheduled for 8/8. I'm hungry from the liquid diet and nervous about the procedure. I am also getting restless and ready to have the surgery as soon as possible. I've been so sure about this surgery since April when I booked my first consultation. Anyone else feeling the same way?

So i had my 3 month blood test for vitamins and such. I got the results early this morning and everything is in the green. Only small issue is my iron saturation is just 1 point below normal. But iron total levels are good. Other than that every other vitamin, protein, calcium ect... are good. I thought this blood test would have had my cholesterol checked as well because it was high before surgery but i guess not. I will go ahead and order my own cholesterol test here next week to see how it is.

Hey there, 3 months post op and really struggling with permanent cramps & burping. This seems to happen every time I have my period, however, my PMS pre surgery was never this bad. I now cramp permanently (24/7) for up to 2.5 weeks (even though my period itself only lasts 3-5 days), i’m bloated and I permanently need to burp as the gas is just extreme. Basically I feel like how I did in my first week after surgery with the gas, walking and burping. I’m in severe pain and every night I have spasm attacks so my sleep is really bad. Has anyone else been through this? if so: 1) How did you manage this? 2) How long did it last? 3) why has it happened? I have already had all my blood tests done, had an ultrasound, been to see my surgeon twice and there is nothing actually wrong with me, he’s referred me to a gynaecologist (because hormones is definitely impacting this and I have high insulin resistance which hasn’t reduced) and gastroenterologist to rule out any colon inflammation or infections. But at this stage he thinks it’s severe IBS with hormone changes. The thing is – I’M IN TOO MUCH PAIN 24/7.

Hey there, 3 months post op and really struggling with permanent cramps & burping. This seems to happen every time I have my period, however, my PMS pre surgery was never this bad. I now cramp permanently (24/7) for up to 2.5 weeks (even though my period itself only lasts 3-5 days), i’m bloated and I permanently need to burp as the gas is just extreme. Basically I feel like how I did in my first week after surgery with the gas, walking and burping. I’m in severe pain and every night I have spasm attacks so my sleep is really bad. Has anyone else been through this? if so: 1) How did you manage this? 2) How long did it last? 3) why has it happened? I have already had all my blood tests done, had an ultrasound, been to see my surgeon twice and there is nothing actually wrong with me, he’s referred me to a gynaecologist (because hormones is definitely impacting this and I have high insulin resistance which hasn’t reduced) and gastroenterologist to rule out any colon inflammation or infections. But at this stage he thinks it’s severe IBS with hormone changes. The thing is – I’M IN TOO MUCH PAIN 24/7.

So, here's the backstory... in 2016 I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia (it's a condition that causes chronic facial pain that is so horrific that it's recognized as one the most painful conditions known to mankind and has garnered the nickname 'Suicide's Disease') and I have both 'Typical' and 'Atypical' TN and I had a flare that lasted 10 months and I was in so much pain that I had many moments where I would think of ending my life to escape the horrific pain. My family was the only reason that I held out. I tried to take it day by day, but it was horrific. It's like being dropped into hell while still being alive. Having to live every moment where every tooth in my mouth hurt from the inside out and it feels like needles were digging into my jaw. And THEN I would get stabbed in the face by a scalding hot poker that twists and twists and twists and twists and then pulls out and repeats endlessly. I was in excruciating pain every second of every single day for 10 MONTHS! I felt like I was slowly going insane. I would get 'power naps' of like 5-15 minutes when I would get a miraculous break in the stabbing pain, even though the tooth and jaw pain stayed, because I was so exhausted. On average the power naps would maybe equal 1-2 hours of sleep a day. Though there were days I didn't sleep at all. AND I had to sleep sitting up because laying down was a trigger. But finally after 10 months I had something called an MVD (Microvascular Decompression) in May 2017 which is a type of brain surgery and that was the end of that particular flare and the pain. However, Trigeminal Neuralgia doesn't have a cure. The brain surgery was basically putting a patch on it and hoping that it held out for years. The brain surgery was for the left side of my face, but I have Trigeminal Neuralgia on BOTH sides (just the right rarely flare and if it did it was usually only 3-5 days TOPS and then it wouldn't bother me for MONTHS. One time it didn't flare for 22 months which is almost two YEARS. For reference, I was officially diagnosed in 2016, but I've had TN since 2010). In September 2021 I started getting eye twitches (on both sides) and then other facial twitches and I KNEW it was coming back because the twitches are symptoms of an oncoming flare. I remarked to my family members in absolute fear and panic that I felt that it was going to come back. It's been my biggest fear of it coming back. Then in April of this year it hit. The right side started to flare (with random ass flares on the left as well) and at first I could withstand the pain, but it got worse and then I was put on Gabapentin and I gained 18 friggin' pounds! I couldn't stop taking it because I was in so much pain that the meds were keeping me sane. However, I kept having to increase the dose because the pain was getting worse and worse. I ended up taking the max dose and then one night the pain was so bad that I was sobbing on my bed and the thoughts of just taking a handful of the pills hit me and it scared me. I went to the ER the next day and they were so busy that I had to wait three hours in the waiting room while I was sobbing in pain in a chair while strangers kept staring at me because I was curled up in a fetal position in a chair sobbing my eyes out because I was in so much pain and it's breezy in there and that was making it WORSE! I knew from experience that I had to do the research myself because the doctors don't know crap about Trigeminal Neuralgia because it's rare and they don't know how to treat it (it's usually treated by a neurologist. But there are none in my county that take my insurance). So I gave the doctor my list of medications and told her that Oxcarbazepine worked well with Gabapentin and so she gave me enough to last me until I could get into see my PCP. And miraculously it WORKED! I was able to slowly lower my dosage of Gabapentin by HALF (I was taking 3600mg which is max dose. Now I take 1800mg) and take 900mg of Oxcarbazepine. And because I was able to drop my dosage of Gabapentin I've been able to drop 12 of the 18 pounds I gained, but the last 6 pounds just will not come off! I'm still having a flare. I still feel the pain in my face, but it's muted (mostly. Don't stick me in a breezy room or the pain worsens. And sometimes eating sets it off and makes it worse. And sometimes lying down sets it off too. Also, cold or hot things will sometimes set it off. Yeah, eating is not fun. At all. Also, I don't sleep at night because it flares worse at night). I'm supposed to be going to have acupuncture for my Trigeminal Neuralgia next week and my hope is that it'll fully take the flare away. I also FINALLY get to see a neurologist in three weeks though I have to drive two hours away to see one because no one near me takes my insurance. I have a sneaking suspicion that the flare is actually caused by my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome because I've been having more and more issues with rashes lately (though when my face originally started to flare in April my MCAS was fine. May and June too were fine, but this month my rashes have gotten bad and so has my joint pain which is caused by osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, which the fibromyalgia is suspected to be caused by the MCAS). To top it off I can't figure out why my face is so damn greasy. I mean I was using topical lidocaine on my face to help with pain management for my TN (in addition to the anticonvulsants, i.e the gabapentin and oxcarbazepine, I take over the counter stuff like Tylenol, Tumeric Curcumin, and Alpha Lipoic Acid to help with pain management) but I had an allergic reaction from overuse (I'm assuming) called Petechiae (which caused red spots on my eyelid) so I stopped using it, but my face has been super greasy every since. And I've been losing more hair lately almost like when I was in the weight loss phase of my surgery. I know it's one or both of the anticonvulsants, but I can't stop taking either one so I'm not sure what to do. So yeah. Just felt like venting my frustration. It's been a rough three months (almost four) and I just needed to unload. If you've read this far, thank you. If you have advice on the greasy face, hair loss, or how to lose the extra 6 pounds while taking two anticonvulsants that make it damn near impossible then please help! If you have any experience with Trigeminal Neuralgia or MCAS and have advice then please share that as well...

I'm on day 16 of my stall and it's really bothering me. I hate stalls. But the worst thing is my daughter woke up really sick yesterday and now I'm sick today. Fever, achy, super tired, sick to my stomach, bad headache, runny/stuffy nose. I'm drinking the Fairlife protein shake (with caffeine) and eating fruit because honestly, that's all I can do. I normally get my protein from my food but I have a feeling that while I'm sick I'll be getting half or a little more from my shakes and protein drinks. Nothing is sitting right in my stomach besides fruit. Not sure how that's going to affect my weight, but I'll worry about it later. I hate being sick. Blah....

Just an accountability check in/update. I’m so thankful I didn’t chicken out of this surgery. I’m 3.5 weeks post-op, still in the puréed food phase and down 26 lbs. the puréed stage hasn’t been that difficult as I’ve gotten creative with my options. I’m still drinking a couple of protein shakes as I can’t really eat more than a 3-4 “bites” before I’m stuffed. I am struggling to get all my water in daily. I seem to top out at 32 ounces, not including at least a small bottle of Gatorade zero and the 12 oz of 1% milk for my shakes. I started adding a collagen supplement and that stuff smells horrible. 🤢 All in all, everything is going smoothly thus far. 😁

I'm curious about stalls. My weight loss has stalled many times in the 3 months since surgery. I'm curious as to how many stalls everyone had in the first six months post-op?

Hey guys, I lost 14kg (30 lbs) in the first month and the pre-op diet combined. Average I think. But in the last 2 weeks I’ve put on 5 lbs!! I’m wondering if more movement could do it. It’s only in the last few weeks that I’ve been able to move around much. I really suffered after the surgery and had no energy. Anyone else put on weight? I’m frankly mortified. I must be under 700 calories per day easily.