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it usually takes up to a week for the first BM after surgery (after all, there's not much in there - plus it can take a few days for your system to "wake up" after anesthesia), so that's very common. And just a forewarning - that first one can be a doozy - so the milk of magnesia (or similar treatment - some of us took stool softeners) is probably a good idea. most people do gain weight from the IV fluids they give you in the hospital (some people gain 10 or more lbs from it), and that can also take up to a week to work it's way out of your system. Just stay off the scale if you have to. It's all just water - not true weight. I think the above poster may be right that the fogginess and irritability may just be lingering effects from the anesthesia. Also, some women experience mood swings and a screwed up menstrual cycle the first few weeks after surgery, due to rapid changes in hormone levels, so there might be some of that going on, too. Just hang on - this is all temporary. Buyer's remorse is common the first couple of weeks - I had it as well - but just hold tight. I think you'll be feeling a lot better about things in another week or two...

Thank you for writing this. I had Sleeve surgery October 2019 and I used a beloved parents inheritance to finance it and I STILL fail myself. I wrongly assumed that because I had a tiny stomach that still restricts me to a. Very small volume of solids, my early success and fast weight loss would be maintained with no effort. I was wrong, no matter how much guilt I feel, I still eat food like Mac n cheese and drink G&Ts I have the incentive of my daughter’s wedding in 4 months but I bought a piece of Turkish delight covered in chocolate last night-I’m ashamed of myself.....maybe hypnotism?

I’ve lost 38 pounds since my surgery on 1/15 and 46 since pre-op. I’m grateful for so many things- I’m actually grateful for the journey. Pre-op was painfully hard for me because I was mourning that overeating was coming to an end. Yes you read that right. Post op was hard because it was immediately a world of unknowns: why did I gain after surgery? why was I hungry after surgery? why did I have a metallic taste in my mouth? why couldn’t I tolerate chicken and eggs? what is this foamies thing that happened twice in one week and only after a few bites? why was my stomach upset all the time? why did I stall after three weeks for 11 days? why was a losing a pound a day in the first three weeks and about 2 a week since? Most of my panicked questions have been answered - mostly by Carrie, but now mostly by myself. The answers for me come when I am calm and collect and redirect my irrational thoughts. I just had major surgery 2.5 months ago. Now I want this to be a marathon and not a sprint because I have so much to learn along the way. And that is a good thing.

I’m 10 weeks out and believe it or not I could eat more before until just recently. Now I’m stuffed after a few bites. Did my pouch decrease in size?

Seems to be averaging 10 a month and I guess that is perfect!

Perfectly usual to have questions & to start feeling nervous when you’re close to your surgery date. My bmi was 35 when I met with my surgeon. No pre existing conditions, except for sore feet, but they likely wouldn’t have been far away. By 6 months I was at my goal of 60kg & a bmi of 23. At 12 months I was 50kgs. At almost 2 years, I fluctuate between 48.5 & 49.5kgs (bmi 19). I struggled to find my sweet spot in maintenance. I just couldn’t seem to consume enough to balance what I was burning. My metabolism has slowed a little & I’ve been pretty stable this year & I’m eating less than in the first 12 months of maintenance - about 1200 calories. And no, I’m not all bony. I was always told I had a medium/large frame but I actually have a small/medium frame. And I look like me. People I haven’t seen in years & only knew me as obese, still recognise me. It’s still my face just with a lot less fat. I have cheekbones & only one chin now. 😁 This is my story. You’ll find some have similar stories & experiences & others quite different. It sounds like you’re motivated to find success on this program which is a big part of the battle. The doctors will give you the average results. Like in years 2 & 3 many have bounce back weight of about 10lbs & most only lose 60-65% of the weight they have to lose. But with all averages, the stats include those who do better & those who don’t do as well. They also include those who chose not to lose as much to better fit the lifestyle they want or don’t lose as much for other reasons like physiological issues, medications, etc. But all have lost weight which is a win. Good luck on your journey.

I ended up staying a second night - my white blood cell count wasn’t where the doctor wanted it and she preferred me to stay another night to make sure it came back to a good level. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for COVID, I would have gone home, but the thought of having an issue and having to come back to an ER made me stay. For the record, I felt just fine and really had very little pain - but I was up and walking as soon as possible. The count was back to a normal level the next morning and I was home by 10 am.

So I lost a lot of weight on my own before I consulted with the surgeon for the first time (around 50 lbs). Between my consult and the day of surgery (about 10 or 11 weeks later) I lost another 20 lbs. My BMI the day of surgery was around 37. I’ve lost over 40 lbs since surgery 10 weeks ago and my BMI is currently a 29. I did go to that calculator and it estimated my weight at 1 year to be about 17 lbs less than where I am today - so know that is just an estimate and dependent on many other factors.

I had the ESG procedure in June 2020 in Cary, NC. First, I too felt like sh*t more than 1 to 3 days. I struggled with dehydration for the first 3-4 days since every clear liquid I tried was like drinking battery acid. Not that I have drank battery acid before. My doc gave the ok to drink milk and boy was it a game changer. I did lose about 7 pounds the first week due to dehydration and actually gained 2 pounds during week 2. I personally like protein shakes (Fairlife and Premier Protein). I still drink them at 10 months out. Once I got the ok to have liquids (not just clear) I blended a lot of different things. I was told as long as it didn't contain any chunks or "fibrous" fruit or vegetables, it was ok. If it was too thick I just thinned it with milk. Yes it is possible to lose more than the predicted 17-20% of total body weight. In 10 months, I have lost 30% (194sw, 60 lost, 135 cw/goal). The diet is very restrictive during the weight loss phase. I started transitioning to "maintenance" when I was within 10 pounds of my goal. I won't lie, it took 4 months to lose the last 10 pounds but they did come off be it very slowly. I don't have a forbidden food list. I eat anything I want but one has to be careful not to let old habits rule your life again. Have there been "bad" days, yes but tomorrow is a new day and I move on. I feel my "maintenance" is something I can do long term and when it comes time to lose a few pounds (and it will) I can go back to a more restrictive way of eating. I have come to accept that I will lose/gain the same 5 pounds over and over again but losing 5 pounds is a lot easier than 50.

This is really interesting, thanks for posting it. It was super accurate for me at Year 1, I did weigh very close to the prediction. Year 2 is where I started to diverge, in reality I kept losing but the prediction was essentially that I would stay the same. I switched it to Lap RnY to see how it would affect the prediction - my projected weight loss went up by 15 pounds and my probability of complications went up 10% (to 20% total). With open RnY, the projected weight loss didn't change but the probability of any complications was 30%. I would love to see the model this is based on, it's pretty fascinating.

Hi all, My sleeve surgery was on March 10. I lost 10 lbs pre surgery and 10 lbs forst week post surgery on liquid diet. Since I switched to soft food I started feeling hunger and the weight loss went down to 3 lbs. However I am glad that now I am better able to figure out my body's signals. For example, I don't feel full but if I eat a whole egg for example or if I eat it faster than I should, I feel pain under my sternum and I am not a happy camper! Luckily I didn't throw up and I am able to walk a bit every other day (I have had multiple back surgeries). No surgery pain or puncture site pain otherwise. Hope all are doing well.

I was March 9th and I am down 10 pounds from surgery 25 total. I am doing great though. No pain and not a lot of hunger at all. Some when I’m board but I just ask myself why am I hungry and it’s usually just boredom. I am hoping that this summer in south Florida will not be as dreadful as I will be losing weight as it gets hotter and hotter. Ooh and mine stays the same for days too so I shouldn’t weigh everyday but when I wake up I always check anyhow. Lol

I'm not an ESG patient, but I can address a couple of these things first, most people don't lose 10 lbs the first week because they pump you up with so much fluid in the hospital. People usually gain weight from that - and some people gain 10 or more lbs from that. It can take anywhere from a couple of days to that whole first week to lose the IV fluid. Some people probably DO lose 10 lbs the first week, but I don't think they're in the majority because of the IV fluid issue secondly, I don't hear much anti-fat talk - at least on these boards. It seems to be mostly anti-carb talk. Maybe the anti-fat trend is coming back? I don't know - I guess I haven't been paying enough attention. I'm not really a fan of either one - I like balance.

One of my best friends is getting WLS (sleeve)! She has some health issues that would be reduced a bit with weight loss and hearing me go through it, (we're in different states), she was inspired to do it! I'm so happy for her and she's making a great choice for her health! She'll be getting it in about 5 weeks. We're pretty close in BMI, so we've decided to be plastic surgery buddies and go to the Dominican Republic together in about 1.5 years. Knowing that she's doing this too is really helping me get back on track now that my stomach has healed and I don't get sick (much) anymore. (I was kinda in a slump for a bit there.) Plus, I just got this new squat machine that really kicks my ass (and my thighs and core haha!) ALSO- yesterday, for the first time in YEARS I was able to walk 8 blocks- And stand at a counter in between for about 5-10 minutes- WITHOUT HAVING TO SIT!!! Seems trivial, but I have major back injuries/ chronic pain issues (which is how I got fat- doctors refuse to prescribe medicine needed for pain management = being nearly bedridden). Months ago I could only be on my feet for about 5 minutes before I had to sit because of the pain in my back. Things are looking up!

If I eat rice it's because it is stuck to my protein when I am cooking family meals so I may accidentally eat 10-20 grains once in awhile without issue. If I eat more a 1/4 cup of pasta I feel bad so I avoid it.

I made bread throughout the first half of the pandemic and I added to my lumps to make them an equal weight. You don't have to "knead" them. Just sort of "roll" them together gently. Like, you do one rise where it's all in a bowl then weigh your whole big dough ball, divide by twelve or however many rolls you are making. Then pinch a piece of dough. Say you're 10 g off... go ahead and pinch a bit more off the big dough ball and roll it gently in your hands or on your counter. It won't deflate completely and it won't affect your 2nd rise at all. You can probably find a youtube video on this if my description doesn't make sense. On the other hand, if you enter 30 grams of roll into your calorie app but one day it's 27 and the next it's actually 33, it all comes out even in the end anyway! But it makes for a better bake by getting it even.

I figured I'd dip a toe in here because this is really the only ESG community I've seen. Hi, everyone. I'm a week out from ESG on March 23. I got it at Brigham and Women's. The surgical team was all very kind and good to me. I started at 5'4" and around 250 lbs, though I am not tracking weight, I'm tracking stuff like appearance and clothing size (because weight will screw up my brain really bad). Doctors can measure weight on their own and do that stuff. I feel like my recovery to basic life took ages. The internet and doctors said 1-3 days, and it took me 6 days to not be so exhausted and nauseous and cramped and dizzy that I could stay awake and focused for more than 2 hours at a time. I'm glad my work is extremely patient. Has anyone else had it that bad? Apparently it took me forever to bring out of anesthesia and get coherent enough for them to say I could go home. They wanted me to walk around at home, but the best I could do was get up, go pee, and sleep for 3 more hours at home. I slept in 1.5 hour intervals or so because every time my sleep cycle would get light (which is how sleep works), I'd feel pain or nausea and wake up, then have to slowly adjust into a comfortable position. I also only sleep on my chest at night. That made it rough. As of Sunday, I was able to do basic stuff like stay awake for long enough to talk to my husband for a while without being loopy as heck. I went back to work yesterday, and so far it's...a thing. I have a few questions. People say they lose weight during their first week. I feel like my body is the same as it was. I don't feel like the most recent slight changes (and I'm pretty obsessive and would notice) have undone, though people online say things like "I lost 10 pounds my first week." 10 is actually a lot for me and does result in something I can feel. Am I doing it wrong? Did the procedure fail? Protein shakes are so boring, and I would do anything to be able to have the sensory experience of eating. I'm only 2 days into feeling okay and I'm already wanting to break people in half for having a burrito within smelling distance. My work social time revolves around lunch, and it's making me feel lonely and awful. (They're all foodies. Like, they try a new kind of cuisine every week. There's adventure to it, and fun. I now can't do *any* of that flavor exploration.) Is there any way I can count soup as a clear fluid without it just being chicken broth out of a bottle? Anything with some mouthfeel to it? Like IDK, cream of chicken soup with some isolate protein to pump it up in the protein count? Is there a way to wring more than the 20% expected results out of this procedure? I can't afford (in time, money, or workplace presence lost) to do any more strenuous procedure. Not at all. So this is it -- this is the most intense thing I can do to lose weight. How can I get above 20% weight lost? Frustratingly, while I'm finding food boring, doctors are demanding I eat like 1000 calories a day, when I know I could get away with like 300 in pure protein and nothing else. I feel like that'd drop the most at once, but I'm trying to stick to what they tell me. I'm confused about the massive anti-fat-in-food bias I'm seeing around. I get that deep-frying everything is not healthy, of course. But the whole "don't use anything with a trace amount of fat as a condiment" -- didn't we prove over the past 10-15 years that low-fat diets are crap and that high protein diets with real fats are the way to go? That if you're going to use mayo, use a tiny bit of full fat instead of that light crap, and egg whites are silly, just eat the yolk dangit? I keep seeing recipes for after liquid phase of like "grilled chicken" and admonishments to never eat butter again. Grilled chicken is the most boring food known to man, no matter how much stuff you sprinkle on it to try to jazz it up. Am I going to have to argue with dieticians to be able to enjoy any kind of food again?

Hi all! I had RNY on 11/18/2019. I had GERD and Gastroparesis plus other issues. I have been on acid reducing agents for so long.. My GERD did get better. However I keep getting break through GERD and nothing is helping. I have a choking burning sensation constantly in the back of my throat. A metallic taste that never goes away and my stomach hurts, it feels bloated. I am trying to get most of my "food" from protien drinks to see if that helps cuz eating food makes it worse. I am constipated so bad. :(. I am suppose to be scheduled for an upper GI but still waiting on the dr. office to schedule it. IDK.. my taste is weird/off too. I can eat a few bites of something sweet and then i can't taste it(flavorless). I notice though it is different with salty things. Anyone experience any of this? Thank you!

We’re all different. Some get their energy back quickly. Some don’t . I didn’t. No energy for ages. Low blood pressure & sugar drops. Even going to do my grocery shopping was exhausting. I’d start off fine & then 5 /10 minutes later I’d hit a wall: jelly legs, cold sweats, light headedness, narrowed vision. Would have to sit down, sip an electrolyte drink or a cup of tea before I could think about moving again. It got better. How long it takes you will depend on your body. Good luck.

VSG is a major abdominal surgery, so recovery will be a process. They start getting you up the next day after surgery (or same day, if you're awake enough), so you're not going to be spending a long time bed-ridden. I was able to get into and out of bed, sit and stand from a chair, walk to the refrigerator or bathroom, etc. from day 2 onward. I got stronger and more mobile every day and was back to normal about 3 weeks out. I had no major complications, no follow up procedures, etc. Eating was very uncomfortable for the first 3 weeks but that's not a universal experience. A lot of people report minimal discomfort. Wow, that's a crazy long time for the liquid diet! I struggled with my 10 days, LOL. I haven't had chronic nausea, vomiting or diarrhea (actually constipation has been more of an issue for me). My surgeon routinely prescribes medication to prevent gall-stones. I had no unusual scarring or stricture of any kind. This one is very much YMMV. Once they get through the eating stages, some people can eat just about anything. Some of us find that there are foods we used to eat that we don't tolerate now or that don't taste good anymore. Ground beef is one of those things for me - it just doesn't sit well in my tummy. Have you talked these concerns out with your surgeon? People love to share horror stories when they know you are going to have WLS and of course people are more likely to share when something goes wrong. I mean, you don't see people posting on here: "Hey, I just wanted to let everyone know, it's been two years and I'm fine", LOL. People who post generally have a need or an issue of some kind (unless they're just here for the support and friendship). It makes the site a great resource but can give a false impression that almost everyone has complications. I had surgery two years ago, lost all my excess weight, am learning how to maintain that loss and have no complaints. There are lots of others like me, they're just too busy enjoying life to share updates, LOL. Talk to your surgeon, ask him/her what the risks are, which ones particularly apply to you and how they will be managed. And tell everyone who brings you a horror story to get lost, LOL. <--just kidding about that, but honestly, I got sick of it when I was pre-op.

Lots of solid advice here. I am very grateful that I waited for breast work until I was at a stable weight. When I was at what I thought was my goal weight I was a solid C. I dropped 15 lbs below goal, and went from a C to an A in a month. So my breasts were drastically affected by relatively minor weight loss. On the other hand I am 10-15 lbs above my lowest weight, and my lower body lift has help up perfectly. So my experience also says weight loss is more detrimental that (small to moderate) weight gain.

My surgeon did do a EGD. He did not find a hernia, and because I never had GERD, he assured me that the odds of me developing acid reflux were “extremely unlikely”. They’ve learned a lot since my surgery- it was so long ago. The real question is - how many of your surgeons patients suffer from it? What is the exact percent - not a guesstimate. How do they keep track? How do they address it when it happens? My surgeon told me “it’s really rare”, and his partner recently wrote a paper (2020) stating 30% of their patients ended up on PPI’s. That’s not “rare” to me. And the practice I went to was highly regarded and considered “the best” in California. I did extensive research. Unfortunately the internet wasn’t what it is today. When patients started begging to get a bypass because the pain/medicine side effects were too great, I think some Doctors started listening and altered techniques. Ask if he automatically puts you on a PPI after surgery. Not a good sign. Many put you on PPI’s, and are completely out of the picture when you start developing PPI problems - dependency months , years down the line. Some doctors attach the sleeve to something else in the body to keep it from slipping up and causing a hernia, some do a “hernia repair” using mesh. Some will tell you upfront - you should have bypass because.... always get a second opinion (and a third), and find a surgeon who doesn’t downplay it. I recently listens to a surgeon giving a presentation at a medical conference. He advised his fellow surgeons to decline sleeves to certain patients because “the reflux would keep them banging at your door”. He jokingly suggested that you send patients with HH or GERD to “your enemy” if they want the sleeve. This was a video from 2019. I am grateful for those door bangers, because while I just suffered silently- they demanded help and brought awareness. They are hero’s. Please share your story and your surgeon, especially if you are PPI free.

I am still fighting with them. They have "misplaced" or "not received" the documents they need 3 times now. They FINALLY have them scanned into their system as of 3/10 but I was told it can take them another 30 days to process them. And that's just for the predetermination. I still have to go through the pre-certification process yet. My surgery has been pushed out 3 times now. I have a new tentative date of 4/7 but I'm not holding my breath for that to be the actual surgery date. It's been a nightmare in all honesty. The back and forth between insurance and the surgeons office, the uncertainty of whether I'm actually going to be approved or not, and the rescheduling of things over and over again. There have been many times through it all where I have very seriously thought about just saying eff it all and giving up. But I know this is kind of like my last hope so I keep at it. I call the insurance company every other day to try to get updates even though it's always the same thing. I was finally told that I should have an answer by this Wednesday so fingers crossed I do and it's a good one. My recommendation is to stay on the insurance company, keep records of who you speak to and when, and just be prepared for possible scheduling changes. I truly hope my case is just a fluke and that others don't have to go through all of this!!

he's actually the only surgeon I've ever read about on these forums who's said that. Anyone else who's mentioned that their surgeon said anything about the gain/loss thing after plastic surgery has said they were warned a 10-15 lb gain either way will affect results. I don't know that there's been any research on this to know for absolute sure, but since there's evidently some difference in opinion, I'd sure want to be at a fairly stable weight before taking the plunge (and ms.sss, I know you and I have had this discussion before, so I'm just reiterating it for the sake of the OP) Good point...I should clarify that this info was given to ME by MY surgeon based on MY body size/frame at the time. I was/am pretty small. I *think* the bigger you are the less the same amount of lbs loss would show vs someone smaller. I was 125 lbs at time of PS consult (about 2 weeks into maintenance). My surgeon specifically told ME if I gained 15-25 lbs (for me that would be 135-150 lbs), there would likely be very little effect my results...anything more than that, he warned that my scars may widen undesiredly. He also told ME if I lost 10-15 lbs (this would have put me at (110-115 lbs), I should be ok, but anything more than that, I may see sagging/dimpling skin on either side of a taut incision/scar line. So basically, according to him, I theoretically could gain more lbs than lose before I possibly see some adverse effects, in either direction. I think that if one is a little bigger or smaller than me, the ranges that affect YOU would change accordingly. As it turned out, I was 115 lbs on PS surgery day. BTW: some anecdotal observations...I am currently 109-ish lbs (6lbs below my PS surgery date weight), been here for about a month, and I do notice a bit of loose skin on top and below my tummy tuck incision line (my other scars seem unaffected). this is especially true in the incision line were it is darker/firmer. My abdomen as a whole is not nearly as tight looking as it used to be a few months ago...but this is also likely due to the fact I haven't done any core work since January. In any case. It is probably unreasonable to expect to stay the same weight forever, or stay within 10-15 lbs of your goal weight until you die. Even those who never had WLS gain or lose that amount regularly. You can always get more PS years down the line if you so choose (it is addictive, after all!)

O he's actually the only surgeon I've ever read about on these forums who's said that. Anyone else who's mentioned that their surgeon said anything about the gain/loss thing after plastic surgery has said they were warned a 10-15 lb gain either way will affect results. I don't know that there's been any research on this to know for absolute sure, but since there's evidently some difference in opinion, I'd sure want to be at a fairly stable weight before taking the plunge (and ms.sss, I know you and I have had this discussion before, so I'm just reiterating it for the sake of the OP)