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I thought I'd update this since I'm 2 weeks post op. The other day I was sitting on the couch and noticed I felt energy in my body. Like, excess energy. In fact, I realized I have more energy now than I did before surgery---and I'm still recovering from a major surgery!! How is that possible? How much better will it be when I'm recovered? I have not felt extra energy in my body in longer than I can remember. At least a decade. The surgeon thinks it is from the reduced inflammation in my system. All I know is that yesterday I went to the grocery store and was standing and roaming around for nearly an hour. I haven't been able to do that in years, my partner took over all the shopping duties. It seems like a small thing, but anyone with fatigue knows it is actually a very big thing! Today I was able to cook two meals and do the dishes, something else I haven't been able to do in a while. I'm sleeping better at night and going to bed pleasantly tired because I've actually been able to do something with my day besides sit on the couch! This is so foreign, but welcome... I had no idea the surgery would or even could do this!! If I knew I would have had this done a decade ago. I'm just rather blown away at the moment...

Everyone has been going through so much! I'm glad for all of us though. My RNY was on October 16th. I haven't posted since then since I had a really hard time the first week, but I'm doing better now, thankfully! Post-op in the hospital was fine, but after that I had a hard time getting any liquids in. Day 3 at home, I only got 6 or 7 ounces in, and kept throwing up nothing. I went to the ER, got 2 liters of IV fluids and had a CT scan which was fine. I was having serious buyer's remorse about the surgery. I was not happy. But sometimes it's just hard to see that things will change. Because they do! My surgeon (who talked to me twice on the phone for about 10 minutes each, once while she was going to dinner with her family! So thankful) had me go to a hydration infusion clinic every day last week, to get 2 liters a day. They had wicked nice nurses, one of whom had had an RNY with my same surgeon 4 years ago! She has kept her weight off and is doing really well, despite having a rough start. She was so encouraging! We talked a lot. I feel so much better now! It's not perfect, and I keep forgetting to take SMALL sips, lol. I'm on full liquids until Tuesday/Halloween, so I'm planning on making a pumpkin puree something-or-other to celebrate. There are a bunch of recipes online for Pumpkin Whip/Pumpkin Fluff, if anyone is interested and in the puree stage. There's always pumpkin soup, if full liquids are better! We shall see.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post, all of your thoughts, comments and encouragement is great appreciated. I lost 2lbs this week so I am hoping it continues. I am eating healthy foods and continuing with the exercise. My diet has changed radically from pre-surgery, it is quite shocking the difference (not just in terms of calories and portion sizes, but also the quality of food I eat). I am keeping myself motivated towards my goal of IVF. Thank you all again xx

😟Im 3 weeks post op and I can’t do purée either it’s uncomfortable feeling that I’m full with just 3 spoons of it. Im so annoyed I be hungry but can’t do anything purée but liquid

There are some people who continue to feel hunger after the surgery. Be careful you’re not confusing real hunger & head hunger. Real hunger feels different. I feel like something is wrong & restless. I never want a specific food, favour or texture. And there is a reason why I feel hungry - like I haven’t eaten for a few hours. It does take time to work out your cues for real hunger. The other issue to consider is you’re still healing. Someone recently posted their surgeon said it can take 8 weeks or more to fully heal internally after a sleeve. This includes your nerves which were cut which is why our messages for hunger, satiety, etc, aren’t accurately felt, or in the case if your restriction not felt at all during this recovery period. It’s why we have to be careful of how much we eat & drink. I always say all because you can doesn’t mean you should. You may be able to eat a portion larger than you’ve been told or drink more but the signals telling you stop or warning you of danger aren’t working properly. Go slowly making small changes. Best not to push to see how much you think you can do. There’s lots of little things to learn about post surgery, consider & most importantly learn about yourself. But you’ll get there. All the best with your recovery.

Just wanted to follow up on a few things from the post above: 1. DS patients do not typically experience dumping syndrome. We maintain our pylorus valve during the sleeve part of the surgery, so we dump at the same rate as the non-surgical population. 2. Bypass patients have about a 30% chance of dumping, lower if they avoid the food behaviors that trigger it. For all but a few it is a manageable phenomenon. 3. Diabetes goes into remission MUCH more frequently with Bypass and DS patients because of the alterations to the small intestines. As do most other co-morbidities. 4. I don't personally view my DS surgery as "punishing". My body has done nothing wrong. I feel no need to punish it. I personally don't have emotional eating issues but I don't judge those that do, nor do I think it is a reason to punish the body... Having my small intestines rerouted was not a punishment. It was a BLESSING! My fasting blood sugars normalized within 24 hours of surgery. So did my high blood pressure. I'm not on medication for either one. I'm currently 7 weeks post op. I consider remission of those two conditions to be a modern medical miracle... I didn't choose the DS to be harsh to my body. I picked it because it had the best chance of restoring my health and keeping the weight off long term. My surgeon put it best "You have a metabolic disorder. You need a metabolically potent surgery. The DS is the most potent one available..." My bowels habits have changed, but nothing unmanageable. I have to watch my carbs, that's no different than before surgery. I no longer have to count calories because I malabsorb a portion of them. I'm at risk of vitamin deficiencies if I don't take my vitamins, that to me is no different than risking a blood sugar or blood pressure emergency from not regularly taking my meds pre-surgery. Nothing about this process is free. There are always trade offs. Any GI issues that occur with the DS can also happen with Bypass, including vitamin and protein deficiencies. But protein and vitamin deficiencies are also possible with sleeve patients. They may happen at different rates, but they are unusual across the board. As are serious complications. Gallbladder failure can happen with ANY surgery. It is caused by the rapid weight loss and low fat diet many adhere to post surgery. It is not unique to the DS or Bypass. I don't think DS and Bypass patients are choosing to punish themselves because they pick these surgeries. They pick these surgeries because of their own individual medical challenges and what they need out of their surgery. Most of us are working to heal various dysfunctional relationships with our bodies, or with food, or both. None of us are exempt from that. These surgeries are ALL support tools, not a punishment for past misdeeds.

The food addiction is real, and combining that with surgery not being an instant cure all that fixes your problems, while still allowing you to eat as you did before is a double whammy. I'm dealing with missing the food I used to eat, and it stays on my mind constantly still. I'm only 2 weeks out from my procedure, but not regretting it so far. As @ChunkCat and others have said, basically kissing diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol goodbye is what makes the compromise worth it to me. Five years or so ago, before I started having debilitating problems with all of those, I probably would've regretted it, but since my health declined significantly in the last year, to the point that I was a burden on my wife and family, I had to make this change. I don't know if this will help anyone that is on the fence or regretting having it done, but take it from me, if you can avoid having the uncontrolled blood sugars issues even with meds, not knowing if I'm going to pass out or have my heart feel like its going to beat out of my chest from hypertension and tachycardia, it is worth it. My dizzy spells and stroke-level blood pressure have already subsided thankfully. I'm already off my diabetes meds, just on a reduced dose of my blood pressure medicine, which my primary care thinks I can wean off of by March. Not trying to sound condescending, because you are going through a lot of trauma in this process, but consider yourself lucky that you can avoid this happening to you. It came out of nowhere and slapped me, and if this helps you from having it happen, I'm glad you had it done. Yes there's limitations after surgery, but you can live without that constant fear of death hanging over your head. Please seek the therapy you need to at least get things off your chest, but also to help learn new habits to replace the ones you spent a lifetime building. Just venting to my therapist helps me a lot. Sorry, rant over. Just wanted to help reframe things if I can.

I'm so excited, I got my surgery date today and we finalized all the details of the surgery!!! I'll be doing the duodenal switch with a longer common channel since I have a history of vitamin D deficiency and anemia. The surgeon talked to my GI specialist and they signed off of on it so everyone is on board thankfully. We picked December 13th, since I'll be in New Zealand for most of November. He said 2 weeks is standard for their liver reduction diet but if I added in a gradual 3rd week it would probably help as a bonus week. Their liver reduction diet is 2 shakes, 2 snacks and a lean, green dinner until one week before surgery, when it switches to all fluids. So basically I'll be starting the diet as soon as we get back from traveling... I already have 7 flavors of premier protein shakes in my closet. LOL (They require the shakes be either those or the bariatric advantage powder as per some study they are following). I'm really happy to be at this stage of everything, I know the 2 months will fly by fast!

I would definitely say for the first few weeks don’t be discouraged! When I got home from the hospital I was 10 lbs heavier and it took some time to get that off and actually start losing. Also for myself I thought I could still eat at the speed I used to which was a big mistake that I’m still working on even now! I need to chew throughly or my stomach will definitely hurt. I’ve gotten better though because my first few months I would either throw things up or get the foamies. Lastly I can still tolerate things like sugar in small amounts but you’ll quickly learn that it really just depends on what it is. I’ve eaten a donut with no problem but then a few weeks ago I had a small bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and was in the bathroom 3 times in an hour. I do mostly sugar free things but occasionally I’ll have something with regular sugar so it’s good that I know what I can and can’t tolerate.

I'm almost to 6 weeks post-op (yay me) and I am now on a regular diet. Now that I'm starting regular foods, I would like to know how long one should wait to take another bite? Do you set a timer? Is there a feeling you get? Any tips or tricks would be helpful. Thanks 😊

I'm 6 days post-op. I got my surgery in Iceland. We were originally told to be on a clear liquid diet for 4 days then 2 weeks of full liquid diet and then 2 weeks of purred diet. After that, we can start solid soft food and experiment with different types of food to see how our stomach responds. My doctor told me to start my full-liquid diet the day after my surgery. I had apple juice and a broth the evening of the surgery. Every doctor is different.

I also live in Wisconsin and had my surgery almost 5 weeks ago. I've been freezing since I've had the surgery. I've been buying cute sweaters the past few weeks. I'm dreading once winter hits here. Stay warm friends

Hi, kinda new here. I'm 11 weeks post op gastric bypass & I'm about 55-57 lbs down to be exact. In the last few weeks I've been feeling what is kinda like experiencing a numbingness feeling or "falling asleep" "tingling" feeling in my legs from the front part of my stomach down to the top part of my things to my knees. It comes & goes, doesn't always stay! Is this normal? Am I the only one experiencing this? Please tell me this goes away?! [emoji28]🫣[emoji848] Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

I wasn't told how to sleep, either. I've always slept on my side but it wasn't that comfortable to do that immediately after my surgery, so I slept on my back for a couple of weeks. I've slept on my side ever since.

I'm having a food slump! I in no way get the water in each day I'm supposed too.. I'm not thirsty and to be honest I really hate going to the restroom 20+ times a day IF I do get close to the required 64+ oz a day. Plus, I don't understand why I need to, I didn't drink that much beforehand, so I don't understand why suddenly having a smaller stomach requires a sudden huge mandatory increase in water consumption!? Plus, I am sooooooooooooooooooo burnt out on the same foods over and over and yes over. I detest eggs (always have) and have always preferred something like avocado toast for breakfast and a cup of coffee. I detest cooking so I tend to eat the same thing every single day - something I can cook in quantity. Lately its been turkey chili with added protein powder. Chicken breast with veggies is boring/bland... Then there's the chicken of the sea - white fish with veggies..again just not my thing. So, I just eat the same thing over and over. I have to admit, I miss sauces, thai noodles and pizza and foods I can dip! I have a food texture problem so it leaves quite a few things off my plate..plus I'm hypersensitive to carbs - racing heart feeling jittery so I eat very low carb (under 25) low sugar, low calorie in other words low taste (to me anyway). I do what I have to to lose the weight and become healthy.. But its taken a lot of joy out of life, the holidays just plain suck now...all the family traditions came to a stop because of me (we used to all get our favorite restaurant dishes and share pot luck style for New Years), bake cookies with a Cookie exchange (no one wants my healthy protein balls - I eat them because I need protein, not because they're great tasting). I know I'm suppose to eat for fuel, but, we all eat for joy - if people didn't there wouldn't be different foods, cooking styles and spices, we eat at get togethers, social times, celebrations - I can't and don't want to inflict my eating restrictions/requirements on everyone else. I fight that siren song and battle it every week, anyone else? Anyone have any reasonable suggestions? (I added reasonable because my dietician suggests things like - " you want crunchy "eat a celery stick" you want noodles try palm noodles..etc. NOT even close. I think dieticians in bariatric clinics should have been a bariatric patient themselves so they'd understand their suggestions suck. Perhaps I'm asking if anyone else is or has gone through this...slump.....I find its easier to just not eat than eat another healthy bland boring food. Sorry for the rant.

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!

Thank you for the replies. Summerseeker : "Food should not be boring. I just do not live to eat it anymore." I don't Iive to eat, I never have, but good food contributes to a good life. "Variety is the spice of life" variety I can't have. Yes, I knew this goes into this but, it doesn't make it any easier! What I was attempting to say is its boring because; 1. Unlike you I detest cooking so the thought of sitting down to think out my weeks meals sounds tedious and time consuming (even if necessary) I really wish I had the time and inclination to do it and I'm jealous of those who are willing and able.. I just don't want to add yet more measuring, weighing prepping to my day off since I do enough of that weekly in very exacting details (down to microns) 😛 Perhaps its also the lack of options..see #2; 2. With this new way of eating and my intolerance of carbs it makes my options very limited. After all there are five food groups and I've eliminated 3 of the five as it is - grains, most dairy unless you want overly processed artificial dairy and fruits. Add to that my food texture issue (symptom of ADHD) ..this leaves me with low fat beef, fish and chicken for proteins and veggies (non starchy). I do track everything I eat and drink as well although I love your way of if you get your proteins in and still want a "biscuit" and a bite of noodles you have it. Perhaps, I'm being overly controlling of my diet out of fear of regaining the weight and its causing me to feel this way. Arabesque: I understand why drinking water and peeing is important and your body should adjust to more water consumption, but, after 9 months I still go 20+ times a day - very inconvenient when I work managing a pathology lab - I have to remove a lab coat, gloves and mask, then go through decontamination processes each time I exit the lab and then upon entering resuit up and on top of that no drinks allowed in the lab - so in order to get my water in I have lunch time and when I get home OR leave the lab for my sip. So, this means working 10 hours a day it gives me a very short window to get my water in especially since I can't drink large quantities at once. I should have explained better (but my post was already long). My apologies. I guess my lack of "thirst" has developed from years of training from this job and my last. I just worry about not getting the required amount in. Anyway, its just me whinging. I'm just finding it difficult and quite frankly tiring (getting up several times a night to pee doesn't help).

I'm a little different because I had the bypass (8.5 years ago), but I started out at almost 400 lbs, so weight-wise, we were in similar starting positions. The first year seems like a huge life change, but sitting here years out, the only thing that's different is that I average about 1600 calories a day rather than 3000+. When I go out to eat, I eat maybe half the entree and take the rest home in a to-go box (or sometimes I'll get something like an appetizer or soup rather than an entree if I'm not that hungry). Other than that...??? Oh - I take vitamins regularly now. But other than that, not that much different. But again, the first year or so - yes. But you'll be doing quite a bit of prep work before that. For example, my insurance required me to do a six-month diet with a registered dietitian, and she kind of eased me into the type of diet I'd be following after surgery. She had me eating 2300 kcal/cay (which now would seem like a ton - like Thanksgiving day - but at the time seemed like a diet - although enough calories to be at least tolerable). She also had me gradually decrease my carb intake and increase my protein intake. I focused on healthy foods (although I ate a pretty healthy diet even BEFORE surgery, I just ate way too much). She had me start taking a multivitamin every day and getting some exercise about 3x a week. My surgeon also didn't want us drinking caffeinated beverages for the first six months after surgery (although some surgeons are fine with caffeine), so she also had me gradually decrease my caffeine intake. So basically, I was as prepared as I could be before they rolled me into surgery. I don't have PCOS and have never had a hysterectomy, so I can't address that, but I know WLS patients who've had both. Hopefully someone will respond to you on that.

6 weeks post op gastric bypass it’s been hard and quite frustrating trying to figure out what I can & cannot eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I’m on soft food stage & yet everything I tried is a no-no for me bc of dumping; although it seems to me I’m doing more dumping than anything! Help!

I finished my schooling and am officially working in my chosen field as a medical assistant!!! I got my certification and I'm working in a critical care pulmonary office. I'm absolutely LOVING it!! And even though I can look at myself and see the weight loss, and I can see my diabetes and blood pressure are normal now, I still have a hard time believing I'm physically able to do my job and do it well. Yet here I am....doing the d@mn thing!!! I have a CT with contrast on the 29th because my bariatric surgeon thinks I have a distal hernia (if you look at my stomach in my pic, you can see that area poking out a little). And I have my complete hysterectomy scheduled for March 6th. If the CT confirms the distal hernia, that will also require a surgery, but I have no idea when that will happen. I'm hoping before the hysterectomy because the hernia repair can be done laparoscopically (I think) but I have to have an abdominal hysterectomy because the fibroids are way too big to come out laparoscopically and I have to have EVERYTHING removed because I tested positive for the BRCA cancer gene (will need all of my breast tissue removed at a later date, but my insurance will cover reconstructive breast surgery, so YAY for a free boob job). This last 50 pounds still won't leave me, and it's absolutely driving me crazy. No matter what I do, I can't get it to go. I'm hoping the hysterectomy will help a little because the fibroids are so big, they're making my uterus the size of a 16 week pregnant uterus. They also said the hysterectomy should help somewhat with my PCOS, since that's likely what's preventing that last 50 pounds from coming off. So here's hoping this is end of my weight issues and the last of my surgeries!!!

Hi and thank you so much for the above! I didn't know that about the watches, thank you for this insight. I think I do need to up my protein - I find it difficult to get a lot of it from food as I don't find myself that hungry that often. With regards to sleep, this may be my fault I fear. I tend to get between 4-6 hours a night every day, and I take probiotics maybe once a week in pill format? I need to book an appointment for bloodwork as I haven't had any done since the surgery. Thank you so much for all these suggestions!

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I’m in the uk and have my consultation for the ESG next week. I wondered if there was anyone else in the UK who has had this? I’m deciding between dr Kelly at spire and dr bansi at the Cromwell. Just want to say hello

I want to start this thread out by first apologizing for the question I am about to ask. For me, this question is not just embarrassing but extremely embarrassing, but I need to know the answer and don't want to call my surgeons office, I'm sure they are pretty busy today and it's nothing life threatening. So with that being said, it's off to my question. I am now 1 month and 2 weeks post op and have been noticing a foul smell coming from my viginal area, kind of like an acidic smell. I have been to my regualr doctor and had test and test run and I have no infection whatso ever ran, I have had a test for every STD out there ran, (even though I am married and DO NOT cheat), everything has come back that I am fine. I am wasing myself down there everyday about 8 times a day and the odor still comes back. I have even tried douching and this is not working. This morning, as I was walking about and helping the kids get ready for school, my 10 year old daughter was beside me, she sniffed and had the most horrible look on her face and told me that I stunk really really bad. I have also noticed that my deoradent isn't working anymore. I have switched from suave (baby powder scent) to secret platium, per orders from the nurse at the surgeons office and this isn't working either. I bet I put on deo about 6 times a day. I know that when I went to my nutrition glass the week before my surgery, the nutritionist said that I would go through what is called Ketosis, but she didn't say it would be this bad. Now, you all know what is going on with me. My question is, has anyone else went through this and is the acidic smell a normal part of this whole thing, how long did it last, and is there anything I can do to lessen the odor?

8 weeks post op and all I eat is 1 scrambled egg with vegan cheese, 2% Lactaid CHOCOLATE milk, or some homemade chicken broth made by my mother. When I get really desperate, I'll have a sugar-free popsicle. I am suffering.

Hi everyone. I'm starting my 2 week liquid diet 10/11 and I am so nervous about it. Any suggestions for replacement shakes