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Hey, I'm new to the forum. Just wondering if anyone who had gastric sleeve surgery around June 2022 can share there experience so far.

Yes, I have this problem. To the others that replied, it's not a sensation of vertigo, it's a lot more subtle than that. I especially notice this when I'm walking and find myself occasionally walking like I'm intoxicated, where I start to veer to one side or the other. I never feel a spinning sensation or like I'm going to pass out (as I sometimes do when I stand up too quickly). It also does not happen constantly, it's more like every couple of minutes. I don't know what's causing it, but I have some theories: Gait issues: I think we sometimes dismiss how much weight loss can impact one's center of gravity and thus our normal gait. Orthostatic hypotension: As mentioned, I have been suffering from occasional issues with orthostatic hypotension lately, so it's possible that this is related in some way. It may just me a very slight lowering of my blood pressure while walking as opposed to the big drops that sometimes happen when I get up too quickly. This one is a bit of a stretch, but it's possible the loss of fat cells surrounding the tensor tympani muscles could have caused some issues with muscle laxity, leading to balance issues. Since I do already suffer from severe hearing loss and tinnitus, there maybe a greater possibility of this one for me? I am planning to talk to my cardiologist ASAP as I want to lower or eliminate my carvedilol. I already eliminated 2 other HBP meds, but I think it's time for this one to go as well.

Heaviest weight 356. Weight before surgery 313... Weight since getting surgery October 6th...drumroll please........279! Woot woot! 23 lbs toil I hit 100 lost! About 3 to 4 weeks after surgery. I didn't lose weight for about 3 to 4 weeks... I was freaking out. I felt defeated like I was doing something wrong but then I looked back and realized I was doing every single thing exactly how it was told to be done... I know we're not supposed to doctor Google but I looked it up and The three week post-operative stall is actually a thing! It happens to most people that get bariatric surgery and it can last anywhere from two weeks to 5 weeks roughly. It is simply your body and metabolism getting used to your new stomach... But I'm back on track and happier than ever with the decision that I've made. Just thought you guys deserved an update for the ones that are rooting for me! The ones that think this was the easy way out. It's okay. You're entitled to your opinion, but you're definitely wrong... It's been a lot of work and dedication. It's been pain and hunger at times, but for the most part it's been the best experience I've ever put myself through for my own self-love and care. I started routine to take care of myself such as putting makeup on every day for work and doing my hair for work. These things sound small to some people, but for somebody like me that suffers with depression that's huge. So if you're not proud of me, I sure am! To the left is April at my largest weight. I have no full body pictures because I was so ashamed of myself... To the right is me last week... Progress not perfection.. how is everybody else doing for my October? Sent from my Pixel 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats Libby! Felicidades @karakent. Lost 61.2 pounds since my surgery, feel amazing, have drop two sizes of clothes (maybe more from a size 28-30 to 26-24 comfortably, 22 snuggly). The surgeon cleared me for exercise, but haven't started yet, for me that's the difficult part. Hospital where I work has a 50% discount for employees in a Wellness Center, I will contact human resources for them to do the enrollment thing, after that comes from my paycheck I´ll force myself to go and think in the other amenities they have, like the sauna. One of the things that hurts the most is losing hair, so I dye it and cut it, been drinking a lot of s... for hair loss and applying a lot of hair products, but I know it is part of the process and that hair grows back. I can´t believe those pictures are 4 months apart, my eyes have been always big, now they are like look like big big, my face is losing "the fat", I was afraid to look older, but I like what I see in the mirror.

Lifestyle changes are a major part of any long term weight loss & maintenance plan regardless of whether you have surgery or not. To return to eating the same way as you did before is a guarantee of weight regain. How & what you eat in the long term is up to you & how to manage it so it works with your lifestyle. Many are more flexible in their food choices & eat foods which may be considered unhealthy at times. But they don’t do it everyday, watch portion sizes & they accept it will result in a some regain & maintenance at a higher weight. It’s all about balance & sustainability. It’s important to keep to the no fluids 30 mins before & after eating while you’re losing to avoid filling up on them & flushing the food through your tummy more quickly. Plus you’ll be sipping & drinking all through the day so you won’t really feel thirsty at meal times. As time passes you’ll discover the amount of time you need to leave before & after eating. It may just be 5 minutes. And you eventually won’t miss drinking while eating. Just another of the new habits you’ll adopt. Taking vitamins long term isn’t always needed with a sleeve. The only reason you may need to continue to take additional vitamins is because you are lacking in something. I haven’t taken vitamins since 8 months post surgery. My blood work showed & continues to show I’m not lacking in anything & have no need to take supplements. Except, this year we realised my vitamin D levels drop in winter so I take D only then. Nothing to do with the surgery - just me & my sun avoidance ( am very fair). I weigh 2kgs more now than I did at my lowest weight. I put on the weight at the end of last year after a necessary dietary change (don’t absorb protein well since my gall was removed) & a medication change. Don’t like it but accept it for what it is. Sometimes things are beyond your control. I’ve never been able to maintain like this after weight loss. I’d be regaining in a couple of weeks after a diet. I work at it every day. I watch what & how much I eat. Don’t exercise as such but have a series of stretches, sit ups & resistance bands exercises I do almost every day. A lot of this is discovering what you need & what works for you.

I believe that is the idea - I've never looked at it from the mathematical perspective (though I tend to be a numbers guy,) but that makes sense. Lower GI foods have a lower impact on your insulin responses than high GI foods. Then there is the related idea of Glycemic Load, where the important factor is the combined GI of an entire meal, so that high GI foods are averaged with the low GI foods to estimate the response to more real world eating. That way, pineapple on your ham has a much less impact on your system than it does by itself. There is a related concept that I have heard offered more recently that the beyond the basic food statistics, that processing of the foods, including cooking, impacts its absorbability and can/should be considered. This makes some sense in the apparent problems with packaged or processed foods, beyond just the added sugars that are often included. The problem with this seems to be objectively measuring these differences on a wide enough scale to be useful, beyond the basic "avoid packaged/processed foods" advice, or raw is better than cooked as the body needs to do more to break it down. This whole topic does illustrate the futility of simply counting carbs as a guide to health or weight loss.

Hello I had the same type of concerns pre-op. I have ALWAYS drank tons while eating meals. Easily 20 oz or more every meal, so I had this same concern. During the pre-op process I decided to start this and see how it went. At first it was hard because naturally I would reach for the drink, even sometimes I felt like I needed the liquid to swallow. (It was weird) With some practice I was drink free at meals before surgery and just had to work on not drinking 30 min before and after the meals. Now 7 months post op, it is a non issue for me. I sometimes drink a little closer to meals than 30 minutes if I am not paying attention but after meals it is always 30 minutes or more. You would be surprised how easy it was to make the transition. Start now and right after surgery you are on all liquids so it makes it easier. The vitamins were never really a concern of mine because I took GERD and high BP meds every day anyway so in my mind I was expecting to get off of those meds after surgery and with weight loss so I was just swapping those for daily vitamins. In my mind nothing changed. I was off ALL meds by 2 months post-op and now just taking vitamins. 1 a day multi vitamin with iron, and 2 calcium a day so its not too bad. Some people take a ton of vitamins though. We were instructed to start with this and it may need to be adjusted depending on blood work results. So far so good for me, I get blood work again next month. Lastly, I put off my surgery for years. Two reasons, 1 was that I have lost over 100 lbs multiple times so I kept telling myself I could do it again. But, I could never keep it off so I decided that the surgery would (hopefully) be the key to keeping it off. 2 was that I was also afraid I would fail and just gain it back again. I still worry about this a little but then I take notice to how much my eating habits have changed (without effort most off the time) and that even on my WORST days I have never consumed more than 1600 calories. My daily calorie goal is to stay at about 1000 right now. Before surgery I could pack in 5000-6000 calories a day if I wanted. Still not saying it is impossible because it does happen but I believe if you make the changes and give them time to become habit you will be ok. I am sticking with this, I am still in the loosing phase so I really don't know what will happen but I have high hopes this time and have been thinking about it regularly. Whereas before surgery I was always just focused on loosing the weight and never thinking about keeping it off. Sorry for my super long post but I hope it helps ease your mind! Best of luck to you!

The dietition at the weight loss center recommended isopure unflavored protein powder. I went and got it right away. When I went into GNC i told the girl that i was looking for unflavored protein powder and that i was in pre-op for gastric sleeve. Before I could tell her what he dietition recommended she said I will show you the one everybody seems to like and she came back with the isopure. I tried it with unsweet tea and it was great to not have the sweetness. I couldn't hardly stomach another sweet protein shake yuck! So I will experimenting with some other liquids. I am on day 8 of 14 pre-op. I cannot wait until next Monday which is surgery day!

I am on day 8 of 14 on the liquid diet and yes it sucks!! I got the point that i cannot stomach the sweet protein shakes. I had my seminar today at the weight loss center, they suggested i get Isopure unflavored protein. I ran out and got it right after the seminar, I am going to survive this, whew that was close, just thought of the sweetness made me sick. I had some of the unflavored protein in unsweet tea and it was great!!

Will you be home for Thanksgiving or at a family event? I will be at home on the holidays so I will eat as usual. Like you breaking your stall (congrats), the weight loss and fear of gaining it back, are great motivators not to go overboard during the holidays. I count calories, weigh my food no matter what. If on vacation, or a special event, I eat a bite of different things, log them right after the meal. If I can't log at the time, I take snapshots of the dish before I eat (and after) so I can remember what I ate and how much I ate, then log later. 24/7, 365 days/year.

I hope this was a pep talk and not a lecture! If it helps you refocus then brilliant. You've already done so well, he's probably just willing you to go further. I came here to wish all my November 2021 friends a happy anniversary. I'm just past mine, pretty much done losing at this point I think - I've lost 1lb in the last 5 weeks, but I am maintaining without too much thought. I still do track every single bite I eat, just out of habit, and I think I need to! It would be so easy to slip. I hope you are all happy with where you are, and that those of us who still have a bit to go can keep it up! Would you have believed a year ago you would lose what you have? I certainly wouldn't. 🤩 Just for the record I weigh 154lbs, that's a total loss of 122lbs since 2 months pre-op and 97lbs since the day of surgery. I'm maintaining on about 1400 calories a day on weekdays and probably 1700-1800 at the weekend because I drink alcohol then.

I'm six days post-op, and I don't think I regret it. The day I was dismissed from the hospital, they stopped my blood pressure and diabetic medications. That's huge! But since then, my sugar has been low, and my pressure has been low once or twice, which is weird. I'm just wondering if all my problems will reverse or if my body is trying to find my new homeostasis. I've been on liquids only for nearly a month now, and that's getting old. But no soreness, and I didn't experience any gas pain at all, even in the hospital, probably due to my unique circumstances. I've had a bit of trouble sleeping and have been a bit lightheaded. Lastly, I thought getting in protein would be a breeze, but in reality, it's far more challenging than I thought. I never knew how much I truly disliked protein shakes until I had to drink 3-5 daily for 30 days. I look forward to eating again, even if it is mush. Anything not sweet, anything I can use my jaws on, LOL 😂. Liquid Diet Weight Loss: -27 lbs (2 weeks) and Post Surgery Weight Loss: -4 lbs (4 days)

55 lbs is fabulous! Congratulations! So far I've lost 47 at my 3 month mark. My weight loss has slowed down and I panic sometimes thinking I'm eating too much but it's coming along. Exercise is hard for me too. It's cold outside and I don't want to take walks 😩. I'm so happy for all of us! The first couple of weeks after surgery were hard but worth it.

Thought I’d check in…a bit over two years out and I’m consistently holding at 155. Part of the additional loss is I had five pounds of skin removed, with a full fleur de lis tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift in late August. I’m fully recovered and rand a 5k this weekend with my best time yet. So two years later, still the best decision I ever made. Being a thin person was a dream to me that I actually get to live…it’s amazing.

Today is month 3 since surgery. All together I have lost 55 lbs and 36 inches. I need to start an exercise routine. I think that’s my biggest growth area. But I am definitely happy with my progress. Very excited about this. This is a revision for me and this time it feels very different. My surgeon said my weight loss will be slow but I don’t find that to be the case. I think I’m progressing just fine😊.

Veterans of weight-loss surgery, what kind of plan do you go into Thanksgiving with? Do you count calories, weigh your food or just eat tiny portions of what you want? Do you go out of your way to make WLS-friendly sides and desserts? I just broke a 3 week stall and I don't want to go back to that weight ever again. Any tips and tricks are appreciated!

You all make great points. I can easily ignore and move past people's comments, but at that very moment when it happens it annoys me. haha Also, you all reminded me of family and the holidays! UH OH! I haven't seen most of my family in months! I have probably lost around 80 more LBS since the last time I saw them. So, Christmas will be interesting. My entire family is obese, most of them severely obese. So everyone ALWAYS comments on your weight loss. "What's your secret..blah blah blah" Really, just eating WAY less! \ Good luck to everyone through these trying times!

I agree, it is likely head hunger also. A few other things you can look at is to ensure you are managing your physical hun ger with the sleeve as much as possible. Please consider the following the options: (1) eat solid food that needs chewing, helps to reduce hunger (2) 50% meals are protein based, of a solid form also to help reduce hunger (3) Be well nourished with nutrition have a shake with extra protein powder and a MV for weight loss surgery (4) avoid looking for fullness Hope that helps Helen

this is part two… part one brought me to surgery with my weight loss adventure .. (quick warning, i tried not to be graphic but an infection is referenced) now I am someone who weighs almost every day for several months but i have trained my brain to be chill about the number… just watch for trends because bodies are sometimes heavier for non fat related reasons… i have seen my body go up, down and drop drastically and rise rapidly all while loosing weight as a trend… now i am in my early post op and start with my surgery weight of 351.4 on 11/3/22 sat, 11/5/2022 - day 2 post op after first night home - i dropped to 349.4 - considering swelling and fluids I was satisfied because I thought that I would have been up.. sun, 11/6 - 348.4 - spent lots of time walking in my yard gathering pecans with my picker upper stick for a few days - more than 5 gallons worth mon, 11/7 - 347.6 struggling with fluids, slight pull feeing while sitting and standing but otherwise good! tues, 11/8 - 349.2 - more sore but not really in pain.. i attributed this to walking a bit much the day before and trying to get more fluids… tried to power through and keep being as active as i could… (today i also had bathroom success lol) Wednesday, 11/9 - 349.2 - incision area hurting more and thought that I truly overdid it and took a lazy day… mild temp of barely 99 Thursday 11/10 - 347 - more pain in big incision area and it was warmer, mild fever 99.8 degrees- still blaming myself for pushing myself to be so active post op. took a super lazy day (even made someone get a birthday cake for my son who turned 19) friday 11/11 - 345.4 - something was wrong. pain was so much worse getting up and down and even sometimes moving. temp went to 100.8 in morning and i was feeing off. called dr and waited for call back. incision area looked ok but felt warm and kinda harder than it did.. not much redness… by 1 pm temp spiked to 101.7 even with tylenol. called again to dr and said something was wrong … they called in antibiotics and made appt for monday to see how i would respond. 11/11 - trip to town going to antibiotics- my husband drove .. we went into aldi to pick up a couple items before going to kroger to get meds and another grocery order ( we were feeding guests on saturday playing a game) and i actually have little memory or the store trip just bits and pieces … i told my husband i had a big problem and my pants were wet.... my infection, well, ruptured while in store.. we went to kroger to get antibiotics where i took one in the parking lot then i fell asleep immediately in the car for the ride home (unusual).. when finally hope after another stop i slept through, i groggily made my way in the house, cleaned myself up with hibclens and stumbled into bed without bandaging my still seeping wound and wrapped up shivering … and immediately went back to sleep… my mom called an hour or two later and i answers on my watch.. groggy and not very coherent.. hard to love, hard to talk, slurring words.. she called my husband who was doing another errand and he eventually came home and checked on me .. i was not medicated as he thought and still seeping a lot and he bundled me up and brought me to the er despite my slurring attempts to protest that i was perfectly fine and just wanted to sleep.. the er had a full waiting room, but when the staff talked to me and saw the state of the towel against my incision area - i was not only taken back but in a room immediately… my bad veins were acting up.. 7 different iv attempts and had to get an arterial pull for blood.. multiple bags of fluid, potassium iv, multiple antibiotics, a ct with contrast, .. in other words a long long night.. 11/12 - 7 am my surgeon came to er and i was more coherent than most of the night… i had a large infection and was a little dehydrated … but with the treatment already received and the iv antibiotics combined with oral, he thought i would be ok and i could go home with a bandages wound and see him monday morning. i slept for a few hours when i got home, then woke up sore and still hurting some but better than i had felt in a few days. bandages changed every couple hours due to drainage. when i got home before 9 am i weighed myself out of curiosity and i was 352. it made me laugh because they really did pump me full of fluids!! every day after got better. less pain, discharge stopped monday and slowly the fluids started to come off. i am now 17 days post op and i am down to 335.6 for the second day in a row. might be that famous 3 week stall early. but i am fine with that because it usually means good healing is finally taking place and the scale with catch up eventually. i can move better than pre surgery and 100% better than six months or a year ago. my stamina still sucks but is improving even with the infection (two types of streptococcal bacteria) I am doing good and on my way to the life that i keep telling myself I deserve to live. i want to make plans and do things for the first time in a few years. i am no longer afraid to go to a store because it hurt my back so badly and turned my face from pale white to tomato red due to the physical effort… i can actually go in without the immediate pain! so far even with the setback this is one of the best things i ever did for me

It's great that you are experiencing so many health benefits and that you are content. That is the goal for all of us, or at least most of us. Hopefully, that woman you saw is experiencing health benefits, too. And it varies how much people focus on their looks. If she's happy and healthy, that's great too. A friend of mine was pretty negative when I told her I was going to have gastric sleeve, because she has another friend who had weight loss surgery a few years back, and to my friend that woman looked similar to what you are describing. But, that woman was feeling better and was happy with that, which is the most important part. I'm not anywhere near my goal weight, and I'd be disappointed if my weight loss stopped here. I have been able to stop taking medication for high blood sugar, but I want to be able to stop at least one of my two blood pressure meds and get below obesity weight into the "overweight" category. If I end up 10-20 pounds above ideal weight, that's not a big deal to me. But we all have to find our own goals and our way to health. I'd rather be healthy, and if I will be saggy or whatever I'm not averse to plastic surgery if needed.

Thank you for sharing what you are doing. You mention grass fed collagen. Since we don't have Amazon in my country, it's expensive to order here. Do you think marine collagen is as good? There are several local products with marine collagen, very popular but expensive, albeit not as expensive as ordering from overseas. I didn't know there were different kinds of vitamin C, will definitely look into that. Are the dr. Berg hair supplements large? I have serious trouble still taking large pills and supplements, due to nausea and gag reflex. I looked into gummy supplements that my hairdresser recommends, but they have a lot of carbs.

Typically this is not for weight loss... This is to help another issue (GERD) so i dont think BMI would matter in this case... But call your insurance company to verify

I am scheduled Nov 28th. I am not going to thanksgiving either not because of covid (I have a really small family, just three of us) but because I know myself and the temptation to eat might be too much, and I am not taking any chances either! I got for my 4 hour nutrition class on Nov 22nd. I will have a week to go ont the liquids after that. I am with you on the hair loss. My hair is baby fine now so this is a real concern. My surgeon said to expect some hair loss but that it will grow back, which is some comfort. In the meantime, I will go buy a wig if it gets too bad I wish you the best, you will do great!!

Have you ever lost 21 lbs in just over a month? You're absolutely on track. My surgery was also on October 17th. I've lost around 27 lbs. 5'6- starting weight was 227 day of surgery. The absolute worst thing you can. Do to yourself is compare your journey to others. This surgery isn't a quick fix. You will have slow loss some months and seemingly easy months with fast loss. Trust the process. Don't get frustrated abd just focus on what you can control. Nutrition and water. Everything else will follow.

I haven't tried gum but I have used straws a few times with no issues. The cravings are something I understand though and I'm sad to have them. I was looking forward to not being hungry and being happy on my protein diet, but it hasn't been as easy as I hoped. If its just a rare event then it shouldn't hurt anything at all as far as weight loss. The hard part is the mental one after a treat day. You realize you can eat those bad for you foods and then you want them more and more often. If you can handle the mental part and go back to the prescribed diet and stay on it then I think a treat day every once in a while can be fine. I plan on thanksgiving being my treat day and I'll eat the carbs and dessert and just relax for one day. This diet is like a full time job sometimes.