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Had my 6 month follow up today with the nutritionist, and surgeon (it will be 6 months tomorrow). They were both extremely happy with my success. I was told that I have done exceptionally well thus far, and to keep up the good work. I have lost 76 lbs., and 77% of my body fat!! All my labs came back good, except I am anemic, but have always been. So now I have to take the bariatric vitamins with 45 mg of iron. I was told to do was to add in some exercise, just light stuff with the tension bands. Only 15 minutes, 3 days a week, then slowly work my way up. I have fibro, so I have to be careful or I will be in too much pain to do anything at all. I am so happy! My journey is far from over, but I am well on my way to being a healthy, productive, active person. My only regret, if any, is that I wish I had this done 10 yrs. ago.
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Hello, I am 65 will be post op 3 yrs April 2021 So you had the lap band and having a do over with the sleeve? I had the sleeve and did lose 100 lbs but have been stuck and I am thinking I may have stretched my stomach and I am thinking of asking for a do over and go with the lap band, which is what I wanted in the first place but because I was like 370 lbs it was suggested the sleeve would be best. I see my Bariatric doctor this week and my weight has gone up a bit since I saw her 6 months ago. One main problems is I don’t have a regular schedule. I’m retired, live with 2 cats. I can wake up at 10AM have coffee and really not hungry but when I do eat (between 8PM-midnight) I want a little of this and that. So days/evenings I forget I hadn’t eaten, So yeah I don’t have a set schedule to sleep, get up, have breakfast, lunch, dinner. So maybe we can help each other out.... yes we can do this!!!!
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vitamins...when did you start taking them and how did it go?
NovaLuna replied to chiquitatummy's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
I'm 13 months post op so my memory is a bit foggy lol, but I think I was 10 days post op when I started taking my vitamins. And I started off taking Bariatric Complete berry flavored 3x a day which btw is DISGUSTING (tastes like berry flavored dog food) and then 3 Bariatric Complete calcium citrate chocolate flavored (which taste like a tootsie roll. I'm not fond of tootsie rolls so that was the only bag I bought). Over time my regiment changed with my vitamin needs and I've been on the same vitamin regiment now for 4 months and my 12 month labs were 100% normal levels in everything. I take 2 Celebrate non-iron multi's a day (grape flavor), 1 Bariatric Complete multi WITH iron (orange flavored) a day, 2 Celebrate calcium citrate a day (I have both cherry tart flavor and berries and cream flavor), 1 EZ Melt Vitamin A every OTHER day (strawberry flavored), and 2 COQ10 gummies (orange-peach flavored) every day. Sometimes you have to play around and find a vitamin that'll appeal to you because some of them are down right disgusting. I only dislike my iron one, but the orange flavor at least is bearable and is just like an overly strong orange flinstone vitamin taste wise... Anyway, don't stress too much about it, you'll find a vitamin regiment that works for you though it may take some time to find ones you actually like. Just hang in there. -
I've never tried it, personally, but if it'll maybe help you can always try it... I've never had issues with my vitamins making me nauseous though so I'm lucky in that. Personally, I take Celebrate for my non-iron multi's (I take 2 a day), Bariatric Complete for my iron multi (I take 1 a day), Celebrate for my calcium citrate (I take 2 a day), and EZ Melts for my Vitamin A (I take 1 every OTHER day). I also take COQ10 but I'm not picky about brand for that... So if your doctor recommends that brand for you maybe it'll work. Buy some samples to try out to test it.
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Sleeve to RNY at 6 months post-sleeve?
RickM replied to JRL1989's topic in Revision Weight Loss Surgery Forums (NEW!)
That is curious, and beyond my limited experience! I suppose that is can be strictly an esophageal problem, though as I noted, I have only seen such things as they related to other root causes. No, I haven't had such a revision, though it was suggested at one time for another issue, but I have avoided having to go that route (with the help of some second opinions that basically said to leave well enough alone for now.) I do have minor GERD, which is readily treated with low level OTC meds, so there is nothing worth fixing at this point on that account. The sleeve is predisposed to GERD by virtue that the stomach volume is reduced a lot more than its acid producing potential, but the body usually adapts to that over a few months, and most surgeons prescribe a PPI for the initial few months and then wean off of them. (Similarlly, the RNY is predisposed to dumping, reactive hypoglycemia and marginal ulcers, so there is no free lunch in that regard, no matter what procedure one goes with - there is always some risk there.) I would prefer to keep the sleeve as long as it cooperates, as the RNY is a little bit fussier to live with, but it's not the end of the world, either, and certainly preferable to what you are going through; my wife has a DS which is a bit fussier still, so I'm familiar with all that entails if I need to go there. The surgeon who has adopted our local support group does quite a few oddball and esoteric revisions (like the complex RNY to DS), people come from across the country to see him, and he sometimes pulls up scans on his laptop of one of the wonky sleeves that has come his way, so we get some feel of what can be done, that other surgeons pass on. That's why I brought up the stricture idea (beyond your regurgitation sounding like that might be it,) because that is something that many surgeons prefer to revise away rather than correct. I does seem like you are heavily restricted, much more so than normal for a normal sleeve, or RNY. 500 calories isn't so bad - it's not that unusual for people with any of these WLS to still be down there, though more commonly somewhat higher in the 6-800 calorie range; it's the water intake that I would be concerned with as dehydration will get one thrown into the hospital a lot faster than low protein or other nutrients in the short to intermediate term. The vast majority of people go through this, an RNY, or VSG, or a DS, with little or no complications, but sometimes they crop up; hopefully, you have had your share of them now and that's it. In some respects, the RNY is a more familiar procedure for the surgeons,, even if they don't do as many of them as sleeves, as it has been around in bariatrics for 40-50 years, so most started out with them; the basic procedure upon which it is based has been around for some 140 years in treating gastric cancer and other GI maladies, so it is familiar territory for most; the VSG on the other hand, had more limited application until it was created/adopted for WLS as part of the original BPD/DS, so it was not as widely used until the DS guys started using it some by itself (usually as part of a two stage DS) and saw that it offered good weight loss all on its own, so I wouldn't worry too much about your surgeon's experience with it, as that was the default WLS in Canada until fairly recently. -
vitamins...when did you start taking them and how did it go?
Spitfireash replied to chiquitatummy's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
So I have a question. I've already stocked up on the one a day chewable bariatric vitamins (which the surgery coordinator told me not to take till they clear me to do so after surgery). I also stocked up on Calcium Citrate powder and on B12 and Biotin liquid. I know they say not to take the vitamins right off the bat, but if I start taking the biotin and the B12 liquid right after surgery would this be an issue. **I got the biotin because I do not want to lose my hair and have it thin out. I have very fine and silky hair as it is, if it starts falling out I'll look like a have barely any hair. -
Sleeve to RNY at 6 months post-sleeve?
RickM replied to JRL1989's topic in Revision Weight Loss Surgery Forums (NEW!)
It sounds like you may have a stricture in your sleeve (makes it hour glass shaped) - did he mention anything like that, as that would show in the barium swallow test? The drugs that you are taking wouldn't help that as they are just to treat the acid overproduction (the pantoprazole and Dexilant) and the resulting insult to the tissue (the sucrafate). From what I have seen over the years (not an MD, just an interested bystander) the problems with the esophagus are likely a result of the stomach problem (assuming that it is a stricture - I have seen such things sited as a result of lap band damage resulting in such symptoms) Strictures of such severity (if indeed that is what it is) were more common several years ago when the sleeve was new and most US bariatric surgeons were just learning how to do them. The stomach, when sleeved, tends to like to bend or twist in the middle if you don't do it just right - it takes practice. These days, I see it discussed more commonly in countries, like Canada and Australia, that were slower to adopt the sleeve, so as a result, their surgeons, as a group, are at about the same place in the learning curve as the US surgeons were 6-10 years ago. Usually, it is treated by a bypass revision as the surgeon won't know how to repair it (if it can be done.) Often, it can be repaired, or resleeved, to correct the problem, But that needs a surgeon who is much more experienced with the sleeve, so if it is possible in your system to get a second opinion on it (particularly from someone more sleeve savvy) that would be the way to go, if for no other reason than to get concurrence with your surgeon's solution (or hopefully, an alternative approach.) Ideally, you would like to find someone who is experienced with the duodenal switch WLS, as that uses the sleeve as its' basis and those surgeons tend to be much more experienced with them than the average bariatric surgeon, but they tend to be few and far between. The only one that I know of in CA is Michel Gagner, who IIRC works out of Montreal. Likely, the RNY revision is the standard of care within the Canadian system (and much of the US as well,) for this type of problem/ Good luck, -
vitamins...when did you start taking them and how did it go?
chiquitatummy posted a topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
I purchased a multivitamin off the recommended vitamins list provided by my program; I went with Bariatric Advantage Chewable Advanced Multi EA™ (Strawberry). I am having a hard time imagining chewing and getting them down post-surgery because the vitamin smell they have already yucks me out a bit. When did others start taking their bariatric vitamins and how did it go for you? Did you have more success with chewable, or pill form? Was it trial and error to find a vitamin that worked for you? -
1 year after gastric sleeve problems...
MariaC6 replied to Anna N.'s topic in Gastric Bypass Surgery Forums
Have you been tested for COVID or COVID antibodies? Someone I know who is not a bariatric patient is experiencing symptoms eerily similar to yours. As others have said have all your vitamins and other metabolic blood panes tested. -
Ok Bariatric Pals it's been a long time! I'm back and in need of help had the sleeve done back in 2013 regained some weight current 280 looking to have a revision done. Any suggestions 🤔
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Misha, may I ask what, if any, information has been provided to you by your surgeon and / or dietician? Did they provide any post op guidelines around food, drink etc and to what volumes or measurements? This seems to be a question that is being avoided. If you went out of state or overseas for your surgery sometimes ongoing support and/or post-op programs is not given, and people do struggle. If no post op guidelines were given pre surgery or at the time of surgery , I assume such information is not going to be available to you and that it may be beneficial for you to seek out relevant information from other surgeons/clinics online. I have always found this website useful https://drjalil.com/bariatric-post-op-diet/, it may vary from other post-op guidelines elsewhere but that's the way it is, post-op programs do vary significantly.
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Sleeve revision and DS with Dr. Wilhelmy Mexicali Bariatric
NanaNanner posted a topic in Mexico & Self-Pay Weight Loss Surgery
Hi all-been a long time since I've been on this board. I had my sleeve with Dr. Aceves in 2011 (?). Time has passed and I'm looking for a sleeve revision and DS. I searched Dr. Wilhelmy but couldn't find anything recent. Anyone been to him lately? I really loved my previous experience and decided to stick with them but would love to hear from anyone. -
Which protein did you guys drink for the 2 week liquid diet?
bigred88 replied to Gregory822's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
At first I ordered the bariatric fission powder to make my own shakes. They were fine but without the blender and ice they are gross so I switched to the pre mixed premiere protein for when I'm at work. Most of the flavors have been ok, salted caramel the best so far because the little taste of salt goes a long way when all you are doing is drinking sweet protein shakes and eating sweet jello and Popsicles Sent from my SM-A515U1 using BariatricPal mobile app -
Goal weight achieved, but now, how do I eat healthy? Need tips please!
CrowLuv posted a topic in Post-op Diets and Questions
So, I've reached and actually far surpassed my goal weight, and I'm ecstatic about that! However, I am ashamed to confess that, to put it bluntly, my diet SUCKS. I don't even know when it started to, probably over the 2020 holidays if I had to guess. I've continued to lose weight since then, and that's probably why I haven't felt compelled to make healthy changes to my diet. But believe me, I know how wrong that is. I just haven't wanted to face it head on until now. The fact is, I know that reaching goal weight is NOT the end of the journey. It's just starting, in fact. I exercise daily, and that's great, but my eating habits are pure garbage. It's hard to admit this. I'm deeply ashamed of it. To have gotten the privilege of having bariatric surgery, and to, due to that privilege, reach the accomplishment of my weight loss goal, only to treat my body like a garbage can, is a huge disservice to myself and to the golden opportunity I was given. Here's the thing: I don't know where to start. During my weight loss phase I had that down pat, I kept it very simple, which is part of why I don't know what to do with myself now. Being in maintenance, I'm at the point where I don't even know, what do I eat? I do not want to focus on calorie counting anymore (at this point, at least), for personal reasons - I just want to eat healthily. I want to give my body the nutrition it deserves. But what does that look like at goal weight? Does anyone have any advice or resources I could use to help me with this? I don't mean a calorie counter type thing, I mean more like a basic "these are the foods you should eat" type thing, with ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I don't know where to start - I'm embarrassed about that but not so embarrassed as to not ask for help when I need it...and I really do need it. If anyone has any ideas or tips to get me started on how to eat healthy at maintenance, I'd be so grateful, thanks in advance! -
It's been so long since I came here and I'm disappointed in myself for that, it's such a wonderful forum with amazing people.
But I'm back with exciting news: I had my surgery in August of 2019, and I met my goal of 180 by the fall of 2020! And even better: as of today I've far surpassed my initial goal and am now at 156lbs!
In hindsight, I made the goal of 180 never dreaming I would be able to go below that, and yet, in the back of my mind I always knew that somewhere in the 150s would be the absolute ideal for me, I just never thought that would be a possibility, even with this surgery. So this is a dream come true for me!
The mind is a very powerful machine, and I guess my mind clearly said "we're not done here" when I got to 180. I didn't even try to get below it, to be perfectly honest - it took no effort on my part, the weight just kept (keeps?) melting off of me.
That sounds like the worst kind of humblebrag, almost cringe-level - but I truly don't mean it that way. It's just that I'm just completely gobsmacked! I never in a million years expected this to happen!
More good news: I started exercising with a program I'm obsessed with called Essentrics last October - heck, I've only missed a handful of days since I started. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be so excited about working out, that it would be the highlight of my day, even. But it is! I always haaaated exercise! But this program is downright enjoyable and I always feel something akin to euphoria at the end of my workouts. That's not an exaggeration. It's possible that doing this is why I kept losing weight, but I'm not sure, because it's not cardio-heavy at all...it's more like just stretching and moving your body, I guess kinda like a more "active" form of yoga, but NOT yoga, it's hard to describe honestly. Nothing fancy, it just really feels good for my body, I can't say enough about it. I can't imagine it burns that many calories since there is very little cardio involved, but I don't know because I don't do math and that's that lol.
But now I have a new goal, and it's a big one: get back to a nutritious, healthy diet (maintenance I mean, not active weight loss). I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have to be brutally honest with myself, and this is the ideal place to do it - the fact is, my diet SUCKS. I haven't even tried to eat healthily for quite awhile now. I'm so ashamed of myself just typing that out, but I need to face it and admit it to myself before I can fix it.
I haven't participated on this forum for way too long, and that was a mistake. This forum is amazing and filled with such great people who always inspired me so much!
So now I'm back because, even though I'm at my goal, the fact is, this is a lifelong journey - it's not just the weight loss part, it's so much more than that. I need help getting my diet back on track. I need the inspiration and excellent advice I always found here. Just because I'm at goal doesn't mean I'm done - far from it.
So although I'm embarrassed that my diet (currently!) sucks, I can at least give myself credit for finally admitting it and setting my intention to change that. Being at goal weight does NOT mean I'm healthy. It's great that I'm exercising, but if I'm not giving my body the nutrition it needs, then I'm only hurting myself. If I took the giant step of having bariatric surgery, I owe it to myself to follow through with the WHY I did it - which was to become healthy again - and that is sooo much more than a number on the scale.
I'm ready to make the changes necessary to get myself into the healthiest state possible. I won't be perfect, nobody is, but it's time for me to truly commit to giving my body the healthy nutrition it deserves as best as I can. I don't know where to start though, it's like I need an entire education about it. But I'm ready and willing to learn.
I'm so happy to be back here because I know that inspiration is found everywhere here in this forum.
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Hopefully the links below will help some people differentiate between physical and head hunger. I don't know about anyone else but in the early stages of post op, it was difficult to know when I was genuinely hungry as none of the usual clues were there. Only way I knew if I had gone too long between eating was due to hand tremors. I am nearly a year out and still do not get any physical hunger cues as yet, but I do get head hunger cues, and its like they say in the links below, those head hunger cues are for chips, lollies, icecreams. I do lots of distracting myself: reading, going for a walk, going to the gym, chatting with a friend, play games, do puzzles. The longer I distract myself and don't give in to head hunger cues, the less frequent they are. If I give in (which occasionally I do), those head hunger cues come back in full force...until once again I get into distraction mode. I am getting better at ignoring the cues which for me works best, as I am an all or nothing person. I don't moderate well at all, just having a little bit doesn't ever work for me, one little bit mostly leads to all of it. https://www.stlukesonline.org/health-services/health-information/health-topics/head-hunger-after-weight-loss-surgery#:~:text=Head hunger is about eating,are “above the neck.” https://primesurgicare.com/head-hunger-vs-belly-hunger-difference/ https://www.streamline-surgical.com/2017/02/dealing-head-hunger-bariatric-surgery/
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Online Support Group Question (FluffyChix’s Group)
Bari_KS replied to BariatricBiter's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
You can find her at - Bariatric Accountability Club or BAC on facebook or - imbacnow2020 on Instagram -
Can I just tell you how powerful I find what you wrote here? That is exactly how I feel, when I am on top of this thing, and not being crazy about food and all of that. I am so grateful for the surgery, and grateful for the healthier, stronger, happier me. One reason why I don't come to this site too often is because of the dogmatic and/or shaming stuff. Like people who claim to have only eaten 400 calories a day for 6 months, and shame people who don't, or who go nuts if someone asks if post surgery people can tolerate an occasional piece of bacon or movie theater popcorn, or respond to someone who admits to struggling or (gasp!) falling off the wagon by becoming some sort of weird bariatric drill sergeant. I know that shaming, cajoling, and extreme deprivation have NEVER worked for me, and I literally cringe when I see some of that stuff on here. And I also know that the food hormones come back, and yes, I am actually hungry! And I most definitely do need 1000 calories a day; I regularly eat 12 to 1400 calories a day and I am still losing weight, albeit slowly. (I also have a thyroid disorder which has impacted the speed of my weight loss). I am one year out, 90 pounds thinner, and still at a "fat" BMI (28); I am 62 years old, and I am not going to be entering any bathing suit competitions! I make mostly healthy food choices, I walk a lot because I like it and it is good for my mental health, and one of the things I really miss is drinking a beer. Of course....that may just be head thirst
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I love my bariatric therapist. She's a HUGE part of working this life change (for me, anywho) and has been absolutely indispensible to finding a new normal that isn't extreme. There's a lot of lifescript to rewrite...to get this food addiction thing worked out in my case. Like all relationships....part of the relationship is listening and compromise. I listen to food and my body and try to make sensible compromises now. My big thing has been getting away from the extreme thinking where food is concerned. I tend to go....to hell with it, I'll eat whatever I want OR I must control and document every micronutrient and be PERFECT! For years, there was no inbetween and there was no winning. Making peace...learning to really be accountable, but reasonable....has been the biggest part of the work for me. Therapy has helped with this bigtime.
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I'll be getting surgery through MUSC. One of the things that attracted me to them was that they had a whole program of behavioral psychologists and such to follow up with pre and post surgery. I am a ways off from surgery, but have been having trouble finding actual reviews of people's experiences there. Does anyone here have any experience there? What do/don't you like about their process? I did a search on the forums for MUSC and the only posts I was able to find were from mostly 2008-2012 or so. Dr Bryne seemed to have positive feedback, and he is still a surgeon there now (edit to add: that's actually who I have my consult with). Was just looking for more recent opinions on the process, or if it's improved. Thanks in advance!
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lactose intolerance is not uncommon after bariatric surgery. Sometimes it's only temporary -- and sometimes it's not. Some lactose intolerant people can tolerate aged or fermented dairy products - like aged cheese or yogurt - but others can't. I guess it depends on how sensitive you are to lactose - sounds like you're very sensitive to it...
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I have chronic major depression and I take two antidepressants. Neither causes weight gain, in fact they're both known to sometimes suppress appetite so I've had no issues there. I have had to be treated with prednisone since my bariatric surgery for an unrelated condition and I didn't gain a lot of weight. As soon as I came off of it, I lost the water weight and the few pounds I had put on. Make sure to talk all your concerns out with your surgeon. I have a blood disorder and I am on anticoagulants for life. For this reason, my surgeon asked me to get clearance from my hematologist. The hemadoc told me I would need to switch anticoagulants after surgery because the one I was taking required a lot of food to be bioavailable. I tried to get the one he recommended but my insurance wouldn't cover it. It was too expensive for me to pay for out of pocket, so I stayed on my original anticoagulant. Six months later, I developed a blood clot just as my hemadoc predicted. So it's always good to make all your doctors aware that you are having surgery as there can be unexpected interactions between different areas of your health. Best of luck! 🤗
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Dr Dolan and positives of weight loss surgery
catwoman7 replied to Annie2021's topic in Weight Loss Surgeons & Hospitals
sleeve and bypass are different. With sleeve, they remove about 80% of your stomach. With bypass, they put a line of staples across your stomach (but don't remove it), which separates it so food only goes into the top part, meaning you can't eat as much. Then they move your small intestine up to the top part of your stomach (where the food is). The bottom part of your stomach just sits in there, unused (well, it technically makes some hormones which drain into your small intestine further down the route that help with digestion, I believe - but for lay person purposes, the lower part of the stomach just sits there dormant). supposedly weight loss surgeries do reset metabolism. The US society that many bariatric surgeons belong to is called the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Plus people with diabetes who get weight loss surgery often have their diabetes go into remission pretty quickly after surgery (especially with bypass - although this happens to a lot of sleevers, too), so that tells me that there's something other than weight loss that's going on to get it into remission so quickly. So yes - I think it does affect your metabolism as well (although admittedly, I'm not a doctor...) (however, you asked about metabolism changing after your lapband is removed - that I don't know) it took me 10 years to decide to have surgery, and in retrospect I should have done it years ago. One of the best decisions I've ever made! And no - no problems. It's been great! -
Meh, to each their own. But I'm tired of lying. These surgeries fix our stomachs, not our heads. Our heads will never be well if we keep lying. And we are CHAMPION liars about food and hunger (and fitness and body image, etc.) We're also prone to extreme thinking. If it's not one extreme it's the other. I want something truthful that is moderate and sane and not so EXTREME all the time. 1000 calories a day indefinately...is eventually called an eating disorder. We can't avoid food. We need to make peace with it and be honest about it. If we've been lying about food and hunger to ourselves, we are much more at risk of regaining or developing an eating disorder in the other direction or another addiction.....which does happen. I'm personally not interested in an eating disorder. I'm not interested in being someone who stands in the sun and believes the energy is flowing into me. LOLOLOLOL. I have no interest in the nonsense of "skinny, perfect, beautiful". I like how I look, and I always have. Even when I was 270 pounds. I want to be someone who is an average weight for a woman my age...who feels strong and healthy and has excellent labs and no medications. I want a long healthy life. I want to stop the weight obsession/identity/cycle of madness. I want to be someone who relates to food in a normal way. Someone who can enjoy everything in moderation who has the self control to stop and self regulate. Someone who doesn't think about food every minute of the day. And I think my chances of getting there are a hell of a lot better if I'm honest. So does my bariatric therapist. I am nearly 50, and I'm just getting this figured out after a lifetime of diets and extreme thinking. I love my moderate, normal weight.... and my moderate normal eating habits.... and my moderate normal fitness. Here's a current pic of me. Not perfect. Moderate. Normal. But exactly who I want to be:) And yep...this chick gets HUNGRY when she's not eating 1400-1600 calories a day:)
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Friend saw me for the first time in 3 months...
JMJames92 replied to BayouTiger's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
I am sorry that you had to go through that. Do you mind if I ask if your friends that have treated you this way are overweight? If so they are probably jealous that you are losing weight and they are having difficulty losing theirs. I always find it funny, too, when people talk about bariatric surgery as cheating. It's like, "I had a health issue and I had a medical procedure done so that I could correct that issue". Is someone with cancer being a cheater if they have surgery to remove a tumor?
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