Search the Community

http://www.bariatricchoice.com/bari-wise-bariatric-health-fruit-drinks.html I am drinking lemonade right now and it is good. I didn't like the grapefruit that much, but the lemonade is really good. 15 grams of protien. I am having one in the AM and one in PM. The lemonade is really good. Add ICE and it really is so good!!!!!

I was miserable the first two days. Then I used spanx to keep the loose stuff inside still so I wouldn’t feel pulling. I’m four weeks out and still sleep with spanx. I avoided the couch because it was too low and couldn’t get up without pain. I also bought a raised toilet seat to be independent. It was $20 on Carewell.com . Do whatever you need to do to get through it, no shame. You will get through! Talk with your bariatric professionals. They know what’s normal.

Use google shopping search if you know the name of the product. Bariatric Pal has a lot of products, but there are many other bariatric sites selling products. Amazon carries a lot of bariatric products, too.

Exactly this. There are unfortunately no standards at all when it comes to pre and post bariatric surgery diets. I found this incredibly frustrating early on as it makes it seem like it's not science, but guess work. On reflection, I suspect it has more to do with how long a particular program has been doing bariatric surgery and the experiences of their patients over that time. Most teams probably only update their plans rarely. Some may still be clinging to recommendations that were more common a long time ago. Also, some doctors are just more conservative than others. Anyway, whatever the reason, every bariatric program is free to design their own plans. Some are very strict, and some not so much. When I asked my team about this, I was specifically told to ignore what other programs were doing. They designed their plan around the outcomes that work for them. In terms of conflicting advice between your written plan and what you were told, I agree it's best to ask. I had this happen a few times, but I always asked about it and was given a reason why they wanted me to deviate. For example, at my 2 week post-op visit, I was told I could progress faster than the written plan. This was specifically done for me because I was healing well and had no nausea.

I was just wondering how you were doing! Glad to hear things are good! Thank you. Everything is going really, really well. Surgery has been very successful thus far. I have zero complaints and am pleased with how easy the "diet" is to follow. 2.5 months since surgery and 6 months since enrolling in a bariatric pre-op program. I haven't been taking many pics, sorry if these have been used in other threads. Before: Now: If you are on the fence about having surgery.......don't be. DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!! Get the relief you deserve and do something fun with it. Excellent advice. I really had some serious "discomfort" from that very thing. Glad it passed. I was fearful that I was going to wreck the hernia sutures.

Good luck with your appointments and pre-surg diet. I am sorry to hear about your uncle. I lost my mom in Feb so I know what you mean by rough. Let me know if you want a referral credit at Bariatric choice. They have all kinds of protein and food and snacks as well as vitamins. You can use the credit on anything. I can't stand the calcium horse pills so I get the cake bites, but their protein bars and snack bars are good too. I know you are getting excited. It will be here and be over before you know it. I can't believe I am 2 1/2 months out now! I am still dropping but hoped it would be more than it is. I have to look at the big picture though. I am only 50 lbs from the goal now. When I say it that way it sounds better. Lol. Good luck and keep me posted!

I've been diagnosed with GAD and MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) and my surgery is scheduled for June 15. I can't answer your question as someone whose had the surgery, but as someone who has jumped through all of the clearance hurdles and is standing on the precipice I can offer some advice. Are you taking medication and/or seeing a therapist to deal with your anxiety? If not, I'd recommend doing so soon. Before I pursued the surgery I sought out a psychiatrist and was prescribed an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety medication. The peace of mind medication and therapy have given me has been so helpful while preparing to have this surgery. I can't imagine dealing with the post-op effects without the tools I've been given. Also, my insurance required I meet with a bariatric psychologist before they would clear me for surgery. I was up front about my struggles with anxiety and depression and the psychologist was really pleased that I had sought solutions to dealing with my mental health. If you're required to meet with a psychologist they may express some concerns regarding your issues with anxiety, if your anxiety has been left untreated. My advice is: If you haven't already began treatment (medication and/or therapy) for your anxiety then I recommend doing so, both for your mental health in general and because of the major change you're about to go through.

Thanks! That helps me understand better about phase 3 vs. long term diet. I have another 3 appointments scheduled with the dietician for post-op every month. So I'll make sure to write down these questions and bring them to her. She's the bariatric dietician for the hospital so I'm sure that she knows her stuff. It's just that she focused on "what you need to know for pre-surgery" and not so much on the larger long term picture. I'm sorry that you developed an allergy after the surgery! I already have a gluten intolerance so I think now's the time to just write off wheat for good. I definitely do not want anything stretching out my new stomach. I didn't realize that those foods swell up.

Also, the written instructions are sometimes just boilerplate, created for general cases, and sometimes not even bariatrics, and sometimes they just go obsolete and haven't been updated, so certainly go with what instructions you get personally from your doctor or RD (and sometimes even that will vary.) The post op discharge instructions given to you by the hospital can be some of the most generic (often written more by lawyers than be doctors....) and can conflict with what your doctor will tell you - go with the doctor's instructions. Sometimes the guidebook given to you by the bariatric program may be a bit out of date - I have seen some be told by their doctors to advance to the next stage now, even though that may be a week or so in advance of what the book said, with the doc telling them that "we have learned that the patients are doing better by going a bit faster, and we'll change the book next time we print some..." Again, go with what the doctor tells you.

If there were no urgent reason for a bypass, or a complicated hernia situation to consider, this would smell like the old bait-and -switch trick. Given that, I would think that the surgeon just simply has more experience with the bypass and is more confident in his/her surgical skills in that regard. Who knows? Maybe you will get a different answer. However, if the second surgeon also feels that a bypass would be a safer procedure and give you better long-term results, then that is probably the way to go. I went to the bariatric clinic expecting a lap-band and ended up with a sleeve.

And Crystal I have to ask--how many calories a day were you on average eating the last 6 months? And you DID win the lottery! You have lost almost a hundred pounds in six months which is UBER AWESOME for a "lightweight" in the bariatric circles.

Sorry it took me so long to update this thread. Thanks for the many personal messages sent to me over this last week. Crazy to think exactly a week ago this second, I was getting a VSG. So I thought it would be beneficial for others who are considering WLS for me to post the Good and the Bad so far 7 days post op that I was surprised by. I know I am only just starting my journey but these are things I was not prepared for, if that makes sense. Bad: 1) Anesthesia: I pretty much was in a coma state for an additional 9 hours after surgery was completed. They tried everything to get me awake and had no luck. Once I was semi-awake I spent the next 12 hours trying to put words/sentences together and to be honest it was not easy. So without putting the blame on anybody, somebody messed up big time with my anesthesia. My wife actually passed out, out of fear after trying with my sister and nurses to wake me up for hours. They were putting huge shots into me and I was not even flinching. My eyes were pretty much rolled back and it scared them all. When I finally came around I had no clue where I was or what was going on. So this was not even one of my fears going in but by far the worst part of the surgery for me so far. 2) Taste/Smells: I had read about this going in but did not expect to be such a drastic change. For two months Pre-Op I tried so many different shakes, sugar free puddings, sugar free jellos etc… so that once I got home from surgery I would not have to waste time trying new items and I would already know what were my favorites. Pretty much everything I liked pre-op, I absolutely hate now and what I did not like pre-op, I love now. For me this so strange, I have been a vanilla lover for over 40 years, now I only like chocolate. Hopefully this will eventually change. Normal everyday food, smells are so intense. I was not prepared for this. I have yet to have a meal with my family since food smells overwhelmingly strong. When I open the fridge to get skim milk out it is like being in a Garden of food. I smell everything! 3) Sleep: I was expecting sleep after surgery with pain relievers and such to be so much easier. I knew I was not going to sleep well the two nights at the hospital but I pretty much did not sleep for more than 3 hours each night for first 3 nights at home and I never took a nap during the day. Lying down is by far the most uncomfortable time for me so far. Good: 1) Pain: The pain was never nearly as bad as I expected or lead myself to believe it would be. I did get my VSG done Robotically so not sure if that made a huge difference but after three days I was off all pain meds. Hope it stays that way. Gas pains are not nearly as bad or frequent as expected either. However hiccups were much worse than I imagined! 2) Exercise: I thought it was going to take me much longer to get back to where I was pre-op (walking 5 to 6 miles daily) I am already doing over 4 miles a day and am not pushing myself too hard. For me, I think it was huge to get in the best physical shape I could for a morbid obese person months prior to surgery. Besides losing 30 pounds last two months prior to surgery (Over 60 total in last year prior), exercising 75 to 120 minutes a day was a huge plus for me. I think it really helped with my recovery time as well. 3) Hospitals & Surgeon: My Dr. & his Bariatric Team were amazing in every aspect. You hear how surgeons are usually stereotyped and I lucked out because mine was exactly what I needed. He was personal but also a huge motivator to get me out of bed and walk, walk, walk. He even a few times visited me just to do laps. His lead Nurse was an angel. All I kept saying to myself was I put off WLS for 15 years because of fear of hospitals/Drs. Etc… I was so stupid but better late than never. There are some genuinely amazing, kind people who work in this field and I should not have let prior horrible experience’s with Dr.’s going all the way back to my childhood put this off for as long as I did! Hope this helps others in one-way or another. Had my one-week weigh in today and was already down 11.25lbs. First time in the 200’s in over 15 years! If anybody has any questions feel free to message me or post in the thread. Good luck to you all both Pre-Op and Post-Op!

I try not to take too much offense at folks who make these kinds of flippant remarks. What I think a lot of them don't realize are the very real physiological reasons why many of us aren't/weren't successful with traditional diet & exercise means as a way to lose weight. Unless we're very open about ourselves, (which I'm not) it's probably not public knowledge if you suffer from diabetes, sleep apnea, food addictions, or any number of other things that stand in the way of losing weight through diet and exercise alone. That's not anyone's fault. What is important is that we realized we needed help, we realized that bariatric surgery could be a tool that can help us reach our goal along with the diet & exercise. Easy way out? Please. This is the hardest thing I've ever done.

I don't think you were ready nor appropriately prepared for a lifestyle change This is a way of life not a diet. Not temporary. I hope the new clinician helps you. Find a nutritionist who is experienced with bariatric patients and maybe they can provide the eating support you need. And finally join an eating addiction group. I never considered myself a candidate but guess what. I sure as heck am. I see it and I want to eat it!!

Recycled, I am not an obsessive person, I do not weigh myself several times a day. I do not know why you would say that?! I weigh once a week because I was told too by my bariatric team, I was originally only going to measure myself. So I was only asking because I am gaining weight and as I said I was not worried about losing massive weight I was only concerned about the weight gain part of it.

I went through 6 months of classes, worked with the bariatric team to discuss options, what made sense for my personality, healthy, eating habits, etc. I also love that the band is adjustable and my doctor uses a florascope when making adjustments. Had lapband surgery 10/12/16

I'm in Alliance (30 minutes from Canton and 45-60 minutes from Akron). Going through Akron General (Cleveland clinic) bariatric center.

I use Unjury protein with almond milk. It is made for bariatric patients and dissolves better. I gag on protein water too. I add plain protein to chicken broth and tomato soup.

Someone is bound to know the answer to this one. all the Protein powders my nut recommends are whey protein isolate. We were looking at the different brands and types today,, and the carbs, sugars and protein contents were close. what are the differences between whey protein isolate,whey protein concentrate and soy protein...other than the obvious soy-milk base. how will they affect the bariatric patient. i am 6 weeks out and have no problem with milk or soy. thanks

My NUT said that Multi-vitamins are not effective unless you take them with food. Therefore, I take one of my Bariatric multi-vitamins with breakfast and with dinner. I take them usually when I am half-way through each meal. I've not had any problems. I take my Iron at lunch with my food too. The other vitamins I take are Biotin (because there's only 25% in my multi-vitamin), Vitamin D, and my PPI. I take all of these during breakfast too. I have always found that my vitamins go down better with my food. I have two others that I haven't added in yet because they are so large - Fish Oil and Evening Primrose Oil (for hot flashes). I'm four weeks out so I'm going to wait a week or more before I try to get those down.

My surgery is scheduled July 14th and I'm getting nervous. My bariatric surgeon instructed me to avoid patches and gummies. I'm going to try the patches anyway better that then nothing at all. I'm going with the patches because most supplements have soy, eggs, yeast, wheat, gluten and plant based properties in them. I'm intolerant (significant bloat throughout body, skin irritations, canker sores, irritability, dumping--mainly due to having my gallbladder removed) of all the above. I'd be curious to hear from others who find the patches effective and the results of bloodwork to back up your claim. Thanks!

Sounds like the Norton's guys have lots stricter restrictions than over at SME Bariatrics...interesting...

Good morning Ladies, Nice to see this thread...when I am banded I think I'll still be in the 100 lbs to lose class. I started working out again because I want to be healthier when I get my band (hopefully soon), and to get an exercise habit so I won't stop after I get my band. You have given me renewed hope for reaching my goal...thank you all so much!

http://abcnews.go.co...25#.T-PSD_UVrhJ The difference between the band and the bypass is that the band can cause increased intoxication, but that is due to eating highly decreased calories. The bypass issue is that they actually have the plumbing differences that cause the increased metabolic absorption of alcohol, so they can drink til they are drunk and wait a short amount of time and the metabolism will have negated the effects, letting them consume more alcohol. Dr. Mitchell Roslin, a bariatric surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the link between gastric bypass surgery and increased alcohol use has been attributed before to the shifting addiction theory and that this is false. The shifting addiction theory is that if a person has an impulsive drive to eat and the ability to eat large amounts of food is taken away, then he will shift his addiction to another addictive substance, like drugs or alcohol. "A gastric bypass patient has a small pouch [for a stomach] so alcohol goes straight into the intestine and is absorbed rapidly," said Roslin. "When it is absorbed rapidly, there is a high peak and rapid fall." The higher absorption rate makes alcohol more addictive, he added. Laparoscopic gastric banding, where an adjustable band in placed around a patient's stomach and limits how much food the stomach can hold, did not have an associated risk with increases in alcohol problems. King said this is to be expected as gastric banding does not change the anatomy and thus the metabolism of alcohol like gastric bypass does.

Did the article give specifics about the type of "drinking problem" the study was referring to? I would be very interested to know, if it referred to simply drinking fluids, or were they were referring to developing tendencies towards abusing alcoholic beverages. I'd find it difficult to believe that bariatric surgery of any type would be a contributing factor to substance abuse...though other behavioral issues might be more understandable. If an individual has an addiction, such as to food, without the proper treatment with a therapist or psychologist, it is fairly common to substitute one addiction for another.