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I'm just 2 weeks out, but I'm wondering if there are any good choices in Protein bars? I don't want to have to order them, just something from the local market. Also, do sugar alcohols cause dumping as well? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am 15 months out. I used to drink at least 2 Diet Dr Peppers per day plus a large unsweetened McD's iced tea. I don't miss the soda AT ALL. My surgeon allowed me to have carbonated beverages and alcohol starting at 6 months after surgery. I do have a drink occasionally. It is no longer beer. Now I will have a glass of red wine or a Fireball on the rocks. I had a sip of my husband's Diet Dr. Pepper the other day since I had a nasty taste in my mouth. It was a small sip. It was enough to know that I don't think my sleeve would be happy with me if I drank a soda. It was too fizzy. It was enough to know I don't miss it so there is no reason to go back to drinking it. I drink a good 80 oz of water flavored with MIO a day. I don't want to replace any of that with something that doesn't "count" due to the caffeine or sodium. As far as spicy I can eat anything I had before surgery. My stomach has been very tolerant. If anything it has been better now since I also no longer have GERD which I had prior to WLS. I will have the occasional wing, as in 1 wing, if my husband gets an order. We always get the bone-in with no breading. So they aren't the healthiest from a fat perspective but they are low carb. Only you can determine what you are willing to change and give up to no longer be obese. WLS isn't for everyone. I would NEVER recommend it to my husband. He is a meat and potatoes kinda guy. He hates fruit and eats only a couple of vegetables. He loves diet soda. He probably drinks 3 liters a day. That is all he drinks other than summer he will drink some G2 Gatorade. He likes his beer and does not drink any other alcohol. He likes bread, pasta, waffles, desserts, cookies, ice cream A high protein, lower fat, low carb diet would not work very well for him. I don't see him being able to change his diet enough to be compliant.

Yes. Your band is too tight! Dont try and wait it out...go to an emergency department niw and get the fill out for a week. Please don't try and "wait n see". Once water is coming up it means your band opening has become inflamed and the gap has closed. The risk of dehydration is very real and dangerous!! It only takes 3 days of severe dehydration to really cause damage to your organs! Dont blame the alchohol! I was banded for 7 years...alcohol was never the cause of a blockage. For me it was usually chicken...but once it was a grape skin...not chewed carefully enough. When the band was too tight practically anything could set me off on a terrible bout of vomitting, dehydration, pain, suffering.... It is not you...it is the device! I say WAS banded as i had to have the band removed. Like 80% of patients within 10 years. Many surgeons no longer work with the lgb. The risks are huge. Europe and Scandinavia (who invented the lagb) have all but banned the device. The surgery of choice now is sleeve or bypass. The story of ruptured esophagus, erosion by the band into the stomach wall, adhesions, scarring, Barretts esophagus. ....too many risks. Just get yourself to ED and get the Fluid out for at least a week. Sent from my GT-I9505 using the BariatricPal App

Sounds to me the alcohol inflammed your stomach making your band tighter. Stick to non inflammatory soft foods for a couple of days. .. it should resolve. I also found that if i travelled in a plane it would get tighter for a week or so

Cervidae, I also cannot handle the sugar alcohols, so I'm very aware of those in any sugar free products and stay away from them. I knew right after I took that Tylenol that it was wrong. It made me feel horrible! I did not puree the scrambled eggs; I just made sure to chew them up really really well until they were liquid in my mouth before swallowing. I don't think the eggs had anything to do with how I felt; it was that darn Tylenol. I will not take that again!! Last night as I went to bed, my stomach began bothering me and I became afraid that I did something to injure my new pouch or intestinal system. I haven't drank anything like Protein today because I am afraid now. Does anyone else get a weird bloated kind of feeling to the left of their mid-section since surgery? I just think I enflamed my insides with the Tylenol and the gastrointestinal issues afterwards.

I'm 3 months post op and yes the first few weeks my energy was far from good. On average the maximum calories I eat now would be 700 (and I make sure I take my vitamins), but now my energy is good, in fact really good. It actually amazes me how well my body does on such a low food intake. I think it's partly because my body doesn't have to work so hard on processing all the food I used to eat. I'm certainly not perfect but I eat mostly clean now and alcohol doesn't interest me (I know it's different for everyone). I also sleep better.

a lot of people (myself included!) have big problems with sugar-free foods because the sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners are actually toxic. Hope you feel better soon!

What people are trying to explain to you is that you can eat other things and not feel deprived. I don't eat Oreos for example, never have they are trash. I like real baked goods made from scratch. I still make baked goods from scratch, they are just sugar free and low carb. If I want something sweet and fast I can grab a Protein bar, the Oh Yeah One bars taste like candy, with 1g of sugar and 22 g of protein. If you change your relationship with food you don't feel deprived. The biggest part of losing weight is a mental fight. Long before I had surgery, I gave up alcohol, just for personal reasons. I don't drink and I don't feel deprived because alcohol doesn't interest me. When I drink in a social situation, I just take a few sips and stop because I am bored. It just doesn't interest me. Like cheap men, I'll pass.

well. the good news is tomorrow is a new day and you can choose to eat good Proteins, lay off the alcohol for a while and see what you can do. All depends on how much you want to loose that 50 pounds. I wouldn't rate this as a failure, but a choice you've made. and your sleeve is right there waiting for you if you decide to make a change.

I don't think anything has changed other than my smaller portions. I still eat crap and drink alcohol. I have changed some habits undoubtedly but not enough for the change I was hoping for. I still want to lose 50 pounds. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

A lot of it I think is kind of pointless and will just create unnecessary stress for people. Trying to learn to sip Water is really pointless. The way you can and will drink pre and post surgery are completely different. It really isn't something you can practice. Then there are other variables to drinking water like the temp post op. Creating a healthier relationship with food and getting off soda or alcohol pre-surgery are good ideas, you won't feel so deprived after surgery. A lot of things you experience post op, you can't mimic before surgery. Mainly because how you feel is so important. A tiny stomach that doesn't get hungry is very different from a normal stomach. Keeping your stress levels low are an important part of weight loss also, so creating additional stress can be counterproductive.

No group support dynamics ever appealed to me. I'm just not a "people person" and prefer to do things on my own or one on one. I found www.smartrecovery.org a good option for dealing with my food and alcohol addictions. And I finally started seeing a therapist to deal with my grief and emotional issues. I also talked with my PCP about my situation and after running some tests turns out I have really low testosterone which can account for so many of my mental and emotional struggles. Started T replacement therapy last week. But I'd go ahead and give OA another shot but also explore all other possible options. Besides therapy, counseling and addiction support, there are a lot of good books out there than can help. It's definitely important to find the type of support that works for you.

I had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease NFLD, with an enlarged liver, so a liquid pre-op regime was necessary for me. However, there have been a few folks here on the forum whose surgeons were comfortable with the standard surgical prep of limited food/beverage for one day or overnight just to clear the system.

I am definitely on the moderation band wagon. I eat pizza and wings and drink alcohol and have cake and bagels and ice cream cones in the summer. I eat crap from convenience stores and fast food places. But I do so in moderation while eating healthy, bariatric friendly food 80% of the time. Too much sugar or fried food or alcohol or coffee will give me gastritis and carbonation is impossible. But I didn't do any of these things until I was under my goal weight. And although I don't track or count or measure my food I am mindful of what I do eat and how it affects my weight. I get 60-80g of Protein everyday, at least 80oz of fluids, I take my daily Vitamins and I have my bloodwork checked regularly. If I pop even one pound above my bounce range I go back to strict protein and veggies or even the preop liquid diet until I am back down. You should also know that after a years or two your restriction will lessen and you will not be able to rely on your sleeve for portion control. Anyone can learn how to eat around their sleeve and if you don't address and change your eating habits early on then you WILL regain. You will likely have a harder time than your wife because of her malabsorption I have a couple friends that have had bypass and if I ate like they do I would be right back where I started. There are many ways to be successful after WLS..... VSGAnn and I are nearly identical in our starting weights/heights, final goal weight and maintenance success. But the details of our success are different in a lot of ways. And I'm sure there are a hundred other versions of success out there. But there are also a hundred ways to fail. There are common denominators in the successes and failures, and only you can figure out what works for you if you decide to have surgery. In the end, postop life is about choices, not rules.

First, I second what others have said: Everyone's post-op sleeve experiences / capabilities are NOT identical. My own experiences include these: * I had a perfect surgery with no complications and recovered easily. * I've never thrown up post-op. Not once. * I did have gall bladder surgery a month post-WLS, but recovered fast and well from that, too. * I've lost 100 pounds and been maintaining well for nearly a year on 1700 - 1800 calories/day (and 90-100 grams of Protein a day). * I do NOT drink carbonated drinks -- I did so during one long road trip, and the resulting stomach acidity (not the soda's bubbles) made me sick as a dog for a week thereafter. So I don't do that anymore. * Sugar makes me crave more sugar -- so although I do indulge sometimes, I ration it carefully. * Yes, I do eat pizza -- about once a month. But only 1-2 small slices. * I now drink a 5-ounce glass of wine OR 1.5 ounces of scotch most nights (didn't have anything alcoholic for 6 months post-op). * I have tracked my food using My Fitness Pal since 2.5 months prior to WLS. I think it's the best tool you could use in addition to WLS to understand your relationship with food and to help you plan the most nutritious menus you could possibly eat. You should consider these things as well: * I wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't changed not only how much I eat, but WHAT I eat. I do not eat "normally." I eat healthy foods 90% of the time. I thought I knew a lot about nutrition pre-op, but I know so much more two years later! And I use that information daily to make much better food choices than I used to make. * I am not a binge eater -- but it sure sounds like you are. I recommend that you seek therapy with someone who deals with bariatric patients to help you overcome that eating disorder, because BED will put the weight back on you even with a sleeve. Want evidence of that? Keep reading here. The sleeve will NOT fix a binge-eating disorder. * If you and your wife in the past were BED codependency food addicts together, the strong potential to reignite that relationship is still there. I would suggest you both address these issues with a therapist as well. * The sleeve is only one of many tools (behaviors) you will probably need to be successful long-term. The speed with which you eat will have to be addressed. Your daily activity level and exercise are critical to long-term success. For many people drinking their calories is a huge barrier to success. * Two of the biggest negative behaviors of those for whom WLS doesn't result in weight loss / long-term maintenance are (1) grazing (nibbling on food all day long) and (2) eating "slider foods" (highly processed, high-carb foods) that don't stay in the stomach long and slide quickly down into the intestine. I could give you a long list of slider foods (cookies, chips, ice cream, crackers), but many slider foods can be purchased in fast-food restaurants. Good luck to you. You're doing the right thing -- learning more about the sleeve and your personal challenges. If you go the WLS route, don't expect the surgery to fix all your issues. It will not.

@@mizzzzzzT - 50g is probably not too much. But have you checked out Fairlife Skim milk? It has lower sugar than most. Also, if you are eating sugar free popsicles, there are still 4g carbs in those (from sugar alcohols). Not an issue I think but I just noticed it when I thought I was lower carb and couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

I started counseling before surgery and continue to go see a therapist twice a week. What I am finding is that this process is very hard and when I slip up, I feel an even deeper sense of inadequacy. Before surgery I used alcohol and food to help me deal with my feelings and now that those are physically not an option, I feel like I lost 2 of my best friends. My advice would be to be honest with yourself and your own feelings. It makes it easier to confront and deal with those issues when they come up. I don't feel like the surgery increase my depression. I feel like it revealed to me how unhealthy my coping strategy was, and that was probably exactly the revelation that I needed.

Not all carbonated drinks are unhealthy and make you fat. There's sparkling Water for example. I believe the assumption (no research has been done to prove it) is that carbonation could stretch the sleeve. It also often causes significant pain and discomfort. I would not drink carbonated drinks just in case of the possibility of stretching your pouch. I think that the OP was not referring to carbonated waters (they can correct me if I am wrong). My point was that VSG is not a solution, it is a tool and without significant life style changes it will become ineffective over time. The vast majority of us did not get to this point in our lives drinking carbonated waters. I am pretty sure that a lot of us here were addicited to the main stream carbonated drinks such as Coke and their diet or zero offerings. Those products were created to be addicitive are a big part of our obesity cycle. I don't want to fall back in to that trap so I am good with removing them from my life which is really hard but if the idea that it would hurt and that my NUT says they are verbotten, well that just helps. I am sure carbonated water could be fine and I am sure there are people who have 1 12oz Coke Zero a month and are fine. But I am going to guess that the folks that can have 1 Coke Zero a month are in the minority here. (It would be interesting to see just how many of us were or are addicted to those drinks and what quantities we consumed pre SVG. I was easily 1 gallon -2 gallons a day of Coke Zero!) Hi London! I'm the OP, and I'm about to correct you As a matter of fact, my question was not referencing soda's specifically. I have never been one to drink my calories. I didn't get fat from soda. I got fat from eating salty/savory things like fast food and popcorn. Sugar is not my wheelhouse. While I of course have had the occasional diet soda in my life, I am by no means addicted to them. I don't even really like them that much. I have a "sodastream" machine at home that I use to carbonate water. I then add something like Crystal Lite or on occasion a little bit of fruit juice to flavor it. That is was I was referring to when I mentioned that it would be hard to get used to not being able to have fizzie drinks. "Rather than ask why you can't do something the better question is given the decision to have A VGS why would you want to have carbonated drinks?" - to quote you specifically from an earlier post. I must admit that I do not appreciate this way of thinking, nor the implication behind it. In my opinion, we are having a major surgery, with major life-changes built in. It is of the UTMOST importance that we understand each of these changes and why they are necessary. Not knowing the consequence only makes you that much more likely to break the rule. And asking questions is the only way to get answers. I'm not sorry I asked, and I wasn't wrong to ask. And asking a question does not make me less committed to my surgery or to the lifestyle changes that are needed. I am sure you had good intentions, but really hope you know judgmental your post came across. I do hope that we can be friends. Open mouth and insert foot! LOL I am sorry if it came off judgmental, it was more a case of incredulity! My apologies for that. I don't think I am alone in thinking soda, when I hear the words fizzy or carbonated drinks. You are absolutely correct my intentions was to do whatever I could to discourage you from having a Coke Zero, diet coke etc if I could! Since you don't have that demon you obviously don't know what it is like but it is like being an alcoholic! It has a siren call of its own and it is everywhere. As for soda alone be the root of my cause, uh no, food was the root. Salty, savory, sweet it didn't matter. I can eat when I am full and that has always been the issue but I think diet soda and the chemicals have screwed my system up so that I no longer understand or feel the triggers that a normal person does. Sure I know that bloated I overate feeling but hey it seems a shame to let those last 2 ribs go to waste! Maybe some peeps can have soda in there lives and not have that issue. I unfortunately am not, for me it is no soda more control. ​

What about Protein intake, is it higher than carbs? Frequency of your meals? I find if I go over the 3 hour mark, I get ravenous. Alcohol, any stress, any recent illness ? Any new medications? Anything different for you recently, @@cbruce125 ? This post is really helpful, looking forward to more replies.

Besides meds, my nurse gave me alcohol swabs, had me put one on my nose and take deep breathes. I had an issue with dry heaving my first night. Don't get up too quickly or drink too quickly. *Post-op day 2 Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

OK it's true that I know how/why I gained the weight. My husband was transferred to Florida 2 years ago. I didn't start gaining until we got here. We live in a town that is very resort-like. So we are always living life like we are on vacation. Drinking wine and margaritas by the water and eating out. It gets hot here so I became too lazy to work or walk outside. But I know these are NOT REASONS, they are EXCUSES. What would I do differently? Keep exercising, stop grazing on potato chips and skip the alcohol.

I was allowed alcohol at 6 weeks. I go out probably every other week but my tolerance isn't what it used to be, I have about 2 drinks and I'm all set. As far as not making any progress while drinking, I've been steadily losing 2-3 pounds a week since my surgery in December. I just make sure my drinks fit in to my calorie goals for the day. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

OK Now, where did I leave off... March 10: Second half of my nuclear stress test. This one was even easier than the first half. I had radiactive dye injected but nothing that stimulated my heart to simulate excersize. I was injected with the dye and laid on the table for the scan. Quick and painless! March 12: Echocardiogram today. I was laid on a table and the tech used the thing on my chest that they use to take pictures of babies in utero. It took about a half hour and was totally painless. March 15: Saw my surgeon again and he informed me that he had clearances from most of my dr.'s. He explained the procedure to me again. Essentially they put 3-5 holes in my abdomen, fill me up with air to blow me up like a balloon and give them room to work. They insert the tools needed into the other holes, lift my liver off my stomach and cut 80% of my stomach away. The removed portion is supposed to contain most of the stomach which produces the hunger producing hormone called ghrellin. This helps the body to not feel hungry but does nothing for pcychological "head hunger". The nurse checked my weight, down about three pounds, and he sent me on my way with a return appointment made for 4/5. I'm not to sure why they require all these appointments! March 17: Follow up with the cardiologist. Half day off work and another copay just to learn that my tests were normal and I was in the office for about three seconds with the Dr. He wished me well and I reminded him to send an approval note over to the surgeon. March 22: Follow up with the nutritionist. She covered the exact same things as in my first visit! I guess this counts as the "nutrition counselling" required by many insurance companies!. She showed me little plastic pieces of food that were sized to the size and weight I'm supposed to eat once healed from the surgery. She suggested eating on a small plate to trick myself into thinking I'm eating the same as before! The fake salmon on the mini plate was about the size of an old fashioned matchbox. There was 1/2 cup of fake green Beans and 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes. I feel skeptical that this tiny portion will leave me sated but I plan to work to get used to it! I think this was also the meeting she told me to buy and start taking bariatric Vitamins. She reccomended chewable optisource vitamins, which aren't bad and are intended for post surgery patients but apparently also helps the body be ready. I suck on them like a hard candy until they are dissolved. April 5th: Back to the surgeons office! I feel like this was a wasted visit, except, he gave me a date! Intitially he said we could look at a date in June. I objected to that and said that my work schedule would be better suited to an early May date. He gave me a date of May 9th and said as long as my insurance company signed off, we'd be good to go for then. In an earlier visit he was concerned that my diapragmatic hernia repair and incisional hernia repair might interfere with his ability to perform the sleeve. He was able to get the surgeons notes from those other surgeries and after review said he felt cautiously optimistic that he could perform the surgery without old scar tissue getting in the way. Apparently he gets a tad nervous when other abdominal surgeries have been performed. If scar tissue has adhered to the stomach, things can get a bit dicey. I don't tend to scar much so I am going to try to not worry about this much! April 5th: Another two birds with one stone day! I also saw the bariatrician who informed me that all approvals were in, including the psych review-I talked about that, right? Hmmm. Looks like I may have missed that! I was worried about the psych eval because I, like many here, have a food addiction. It's real and I have battled it since I was a wee tot. I am also an alcoholic and I was afraid that the Psychologist would consider me too high a risk for realpse. Either with food post surgery or with alcohol since I will no longer be able to feed my addictions with food. I talked to her at length about that and she felt comfortable since I have been sober six years and intend to increase my meetings post surgery. She gave me four long questionnaires and talked to me for over an hour, She asked lots of questions! Anyway, I'm all approved from the medical side! Now it's all about the insurance! April 5th: Ha! this was actually I three bird day! I saw the nut again in the afternoon. These appointments have been a real pain in the arse but are necessary and I just set them up and knocked them down one at a time. The nut just really talked to me about the pre-op diet in more detail today. I get 800-1000 calories a day all in liquid Protein for two weeks prior to surgery! I'm not too happy about that since the Surgeon had said i would get a Protein shake for dinner, one for lunch and then a small dinner of lean protein and veggies. I told the nut that the surgeon had said that and she said that I was mistaken. I wasn't, but I'm not here to argue. Lets just move along please! So I plan on using Muscle Milk since it is approved and I sell it at work, so I can get it for real cheap! 4-5 of those a day and nothing else. April 8th: Called the woman who handles the insurance submissions for the practice to insure that everything had been submitted to the insurance company. She assured me it was sent the day before and that i should follow up with them in a week. April 19th: Today! I waited a bit longer than a week and today "chatted" with BC?BS IL through their website Chat feature. The person I chatted with said that the information was just received on the 14th and was still "pending review". This leads me to believe that either the insurance coordinator sent in the stuff a bit later than she said, or the insurance company actually received it a bit sooner. In any case, not much of a discrepancy. I asked how long the review takes and she said that their official time frame is 30 days. That would be a problem since it is after my surgery date of May 9th! But she also said that it usually only takes 7-10 business days. I am glad I contacted both parties as that might help keep things moving along. 7 business days from the 14th is the 25th and I intend to contact them again then. I want to stay on top of this in case they need more information that I might be able to get them in time to keep my original surgery date. I am very nervous about insurance approval! I am afraid that since my main work policy didn't cover bariatrics, that they might not either. Or that they'll determine I wasn't eligible for an exchange plan in the first place and they shouldn't have sold me one! But they Did amd they have been paying some of the pre-surgical bills , so I'm hopeful. Still, I worry. A lot. Oddly, my work insurance changed again as of April 1st and this new policy DOES cover bariatric surgery! But since I've come this far with my exchange policy, I'm sticking with it unless I get denied, then I'll resubmit to the new insurance company which is BC/BS of NC. Until then I'm on pins and needles. I'll keep you posted.

ER nurse here. No judgment, but I will advise that you tell your surgeon about your use. The cocaine in particular can create some serious complications with surgery, and it will make it all the more important that a cardiologist do a full screening on you pre-op. And the cardiologist needs to know about your use as well. There will be medical people who will judge, I wish I could say that doesn't happen. But you VERY MUCH need to be with a medical team that you trust, and who have all the facts. You also need their input about how soon is safe for some of these things. The alcohol, especially since it has to be processed by the stomach. You wouldn't want to put something that stressful in your stomach too soon or you'd risk a lot of complications. As for the effects post-sleeve, I'm still in the decision stage, so I can't help with that info. The people I know with either sleeve or bypass report that alcohol affects them much more and faster than before surgery, but they haven't shared about other substances.

Had my first mixed drink at about 4 months out. Did perfectly fine, and a few at a time haven't been a problem for me. Word of warning...while I hardly follow the 30 mins before and 30 mins after principle with Water, you absolutely must do this with alcohol! Horrid problems will result with food and alcohol in the sleeve at the same time. I get dizzy and feel like I am going to pass out. Carbonation has generally been difficult, as it can cause stretching and horrible gas, so I try to avoid beer or champagne except at special events. Your doctor will probably be pretty discouraging about consuming any alcohol, so this is where you will want to use particularly proactive trial and error to see what works for you and what doesn't, both on the scale and off.