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I prefer plant-based protein shakes and these are some of my favorites: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NP4XY96/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PJ181KP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 (these have an odd flavor, so you'll either love or hate them. Don't be mad if you don't like them, LOL) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FKRYPRT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Evolve-Plant-Based-Protein-Greens-Mixed/dp/B07P8J45JG Some people find it super hard to do a liquid diet even for the short term. If it turns out not to work well for you, you can try going back to how you ate during your weight loss phase. You're much further out from surgery than I am, but I find that still works (and is a bit easier than all shakes).

HI there! Sounds like we have similar paths. I was banded in 2010 and lost 80+ pounds. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. I kept the weight off for more than 10 years before I started having issues with the band a couple of years ago. It was either too tight or not tight enough. Sadly, without a functioning tool, I gained quite a bit of weight. I had my Lapband removed in April 2021 with hopes to convert to the gastric sleeve a month later. Long story short, my insurance denied the conversion and it took almost a year and a couple of appeals to get the denial overturned. Fast forward to today, my gastric sleeve is approved and scheduled for 4/27. I am so looking forward to getting my tool back so that I can get back on track and live my healthiest life That is great you have lost 85 pounds! Have you been able to maintain the loss all this time? It sounds like your surgeon is removing your band and converting to bypass all in one surgery, is that right?

Hello everyone! New to this site. I have done a lot of research and I am pretty positive I want to have the SADI-S surgical procedure done for weight loss. Has anyone else had this done? If so, can you please tell me about your experience with it? I want the good and bad parts of your experience to know as much as possible. I went to one of the major hospital bariatric surgeon groups in my area that said they accept self pay since my insurance doesn’t cover anything dealing with weight loss and after 5+ hours of classes and meetings with the team the surgeon came in and said no to any surgery because my insurance will not cover it and she doesn’t want to do it in case of a complication and me being 100% financially responsible for the cost. So I have another appointment with a different major hospital bariatric surgeon in 2 weeks and I explained what happened and they said they will deal with the insurance company and will accept self pay, they said this is a common thing they deal with. Thanks for any information and help you give!

I read it as you’ll need to take the multi vitamin & also take the calcium (because of the plus sign) but you don’t need additional B12 as it is included in these meds (the recommended multi). The bad news is if you are one of those who will lose extra hair after surgery, you can’t do anything to stop it. Worrying about it will likely only make it worse - you don’t need additional stress. Remember we naturally regularly shed hair. After the stress of the surgery & the dramatic change to our diet, our natural hair loss cycle is accelerated. So the additional hair you lose was always going to be shed. Your new growth is still occurring but just at its usual rate. The hair on your head is dead & nothing can save that. All those vitamins & supplements that promise hair growth may do is help your new hair growth. Just like fertiliser won’t stop dead leaves falling off a plant but may help with new growth. Same with your nails. Once you get to your maintenance point & you’re eating larger portions & a more balanced diet, everything settles again. Even your face, which may look more drawn for a while, settles too. Your healthier diet will bring a lot of benefits to the quality of your skin, hair & nails in time too. Vitamins can be very expensive but it may be better to start with the higher quality recommended ones to begin while your diet is most restricted. My surgeon, dietician & pharmacist all told me that the vitamins kept behind the counter at the pharmacy are always the best quality in purity & quantity of ingredients. Apparently this applies to all over the counter meds. If they keep certain meds behind the counter buy those. All the best with your surgery & recovery.

It was shopping for me. For a good 6 months I spent way too much on clothes. I really did need to replenish my wardrobe after losing 130 pounds, but I was buying more than I needed. It took me a while to recognize what was going on and stop doing that. I have a couple of friends for whom the weight loss itself became their transfer addiction. Instead of stabilizing once they reached their goal, they kept dieting and losing. Eventually they were both emaciated and skeletal. In their 50s, both of these ladies developed full-blown anorexia. Fortunately, with treatment, they both recovered and they are at healthy weights now. But it just shows that literally ANYTHING can become problematic if you use it to self-medicate. It's like whack-a-mole.

Hi! I was banded back in 2008. I'm 5'4" and my weight before surgery was 290-something. I lost about 130 lbs in the first year, and maintained at around 165-175 (for me this weight equated to around a size 10, which I was fairly pleased with) for almost 10 years. I had a tummy tuck in 2016 and believe that my band was nicked when the plastic surgeon moved my port. In any case i suffered a 'slow leak' in the band that my surgeon Dr. Elariny could not pinpont, even under fluoroscopy, and have not really had any restriction for the last 5 years. I have sloooowwwwlly gained back up to 215 lbs during that time. Last month I had a consult with Dr Elariny to explore options for another weight loss surgery. He asked me a million questions about my eating habits and ultimately said he believes I'll be most successful with the DS. At first I was completely against it, as the malabsorptive procedures have always scared me. But after voraciously reading this and a few other DS forums, I have decided I want to go forward bc it seems like this is the most successful, most foolproof procedure. Ultimately I want to go back to the way I felt when my Lap-band was working perfectly for all those years....when I finally wasn't on a diet, for the first time in my 37 year life. I didn't have to be obsessed over every bite I put in my mouth. I wasn't constantly beating myself up over eating too many calories or eating the wrong things or eating between meals or after a certain time at night, etc etc etc. For many years when my band was working, I felt like I just ate like a "normal" person. It was so incredibly liberating. If I felt like eating a burger i ate a burger. If i felt like eating a salad i ate a salad. I just ate when I was hungry and didn't have to think about it alllll the time. I want to go back to occasionally getting on the scale out of curiosity, rather than getting on it every morning and feeling desperate and ashamed. I do think that in addition to the lack of restriction, that menopause and hormonal changes are working against me now, at age 51. I haven't changed a thing about my exercise routine. I still workout every morning, 5-7 days per week, doing a combo of weight lifting and HIIT. But nonetheless i've just steadily put on weight, year over year. So, to bring this to a question of some sort...I guess I'd like to know if any of you long-time DS'ers feel like you eat "like normal people" now? And don't have to think about it so much? Or must you be extremely focused on what you eat bc of the ill effects the malabsorption causes? It is sort of confusing that my doctor tells me that if I eat high fat foods after this surgery I'll be rewarded with many urgent trips to the bathroom, and that if i eat carbs I'll experience terrible and potently malodorous gas. But many posts I've read have said something along the lines of "fat is your friend after the DS". I understand that Your Mileage May Vary, and every person is different. And my other question is whether I'm crazy, with a BMI of 37, to consider such a "drastic" procedure? My insurance has already approved me, for what it's worth. Thanks in advance for all of your thoughts!

Hi! I'm scheduled for this upcoming TUESDAY to undergo a gastric sleeve! Today is FRIDAY! I have NOT yet purchased my Vitamins. I have the paper sitting in front of me. I've attached a picture since I'm confused about the second column (regimen). Can someone help explain what the second column means? I take it to mean with this particular brand (in the middle column) take 2 of the chewables plus 2 calcium citrate chews (and each chew has to be 500 mg) and the B12 is already included or do I need to find a B12 vitamin? I was wanting to do chewables so I can use them as "candy"... I'm SUPER worried about the Hair loss aspect...I was told that the BEST vitamins on the market are the Bariatric Advantage Advanced EA Multivitamin. I was also told I could throw in a hair, nails, skin vitamin. What vitamins do you recommend as a first time surgery patient? I know the above ones I mentioned are the most expensive, but I was told they're the best of the best...is that true?

Hi y'all! I have my surgery (AHHHHH!) scheduled for this upcoming TUESDAY! Today is Friday. I have NOT yet purchased my vitamins. I have the paper sitting in front of me. I've attached a picture since I'm confused about the second column (regimen). I need to take a bariatric supplement that has calcium & B-12. Some of them have iron in them already. Can someone help explain what the second column means? I'm SUPER worried about the hair loss aspect...I was told that the BEST vitamins on the market are the Bariatric Advantage Advanced EA Multivitamin. What vitamins do you recommend as a first time surgery patient? I know the above ones I mentioned are the most expensive, but I was told they're the best of the best...is that true?

So great to hear that you are one the other side of week 1! Keep moving and sipping! Your weight loss is amazing! I hope you feel the difference in your body. For every pound we lose it is like 5 pounds for our joints! You are a Rock Star keeping the kids away from fast foods! It just sets them up for health problems as they get older. I found a couple cool Bariatric cookbooks on Amazon. 1 was a 5 ingredient, the other was a regular bariatric cookbook. There is also a bari air fryer. I am approaching week 3 so still on purée but looking forward to getting back in the kitchen for my hubby. He will just enjoy different portions. Be Well! T

So glad you are doing well! Congratulations on the amazing weight loss! ♥️

I'm so glad your ok, that is incredibly scary. So glad you are feeling better. Wow, that weight loss is incredible!

Congrats....keep it up. Try to walk around as much as possible, it will speed up your weight loss.

like the above person said, the average weight loss difference between the two isn't that much, and it IS up to the patient to develop good, lifelong eating habits to prevent gaining the weight back - so I agree with that part. However, there's about a 30% chance of developing reflux with the sleeve (or if you already have it, of it getting worse), whereas the bypass usually improves - if not outright cures - GERD. most of us are put on PPI's (like Prilosec) for the first 3-6 months after surgery, but after that, no. If you continue to have reflux issues after that, then yes - but continuing reflux problems are much more common with sleeve than with bypass. I'd consult with another surgeon. Or if you don't have other options, then insist on bypass. You should be able to get the surgery that you want.

I'd say he is partly right and partly wrong. The right part is that outcomes are not that vastly different between sleeve and bypass. You can have great success with both, and also completely regain weight with both. So, the fact that he's not bought into the higher weight loss with bypass rings true. It's about what you do with the tool. It isn't a magic bullet. The acid reflux thing is just totally wrong, though... If you have GERD or severe reflux the bypass is definitely better. My practice required an endoscopy before doing a sleeve. If I had had it - even silent GERD - she wouldn't have done the surgery. I'd consult with other surgeons if you have options where you live and see what they say. I spoke with 3 different practices when I was considering mine and I learned a lot at all the consults. It really helped me make the right choice (for me) in surgery type and also the surgeon.

I also have PCOS. I had my son naturally but then had 10 losses before I was diagnosed with PCOS (even though I have all the classic signs and symptoms, not a lot of doctors knew about it). This was back in 2005. I went on birth control for a few months, then had to take Metformin and Clomid to get pregnant with my daughter. I had her in 2006 (my kids are 8 1/2 years apart because of the PCOS) and after I had her, I was never able to get pregnant again. My hormones are all over the place and I CANNOT lose weight and keep it off no matter what I do (I always have initial success but it never lasts). I was told that bariatric surgery is huge in helping PCOS patients get pregnant because weight loss is the #1 thing that helps. It *can* help with hormones, but not always. The weight loss is really the biggest factor for PCOS patients. But that can also make birth control pills (which regulate periods, add estrogen to low estrogen hormones) more effective, as well as fertility meds (Metformin and Clomid, Femara, etc) more effective. Also makes your body healthier for pregnancy (almost no diabetes or high blood pressure issues). So the surgery is definitely huge for helping PCOS patients have a baby. Good luck!!!

My thoughts are that you need a new surgeon. If you have reflux, DO NOT get the sleeve. It will likely make it a lot worse. I was able to choose between bypass and sleeve because my A1c was less than 7 and because I don't have any form of reflux, so I chose the sleeve. My husband has GERD and a higher A1c and was advised that bypass is really his only option. Sometimes those that never had reflux get it with the sleeve and have to revise to a bypass to resolve it. And while the sleeve has less risk, the bypass does give about an extra 10% of weight loss. So definitely find a new surgeon.

I had my first consultation with my Bariatric surgeon today. I said I would prefer a sleeve but that maybe a bypass is better for me because it seems to have a better long term outcome with keeping the weight off. He said that both procedures have the same long term weight loss it’s just up to the patient to eat right. He also said that you cannot stretch out a sleeve. The one that really surprised me was when I said that I have reflux and I don’t want a sleeve to make it worse, we’ll he told me that both can give you reflux and that I’ll just be on Prilosec either until it resolves or forever because it’s perfectly safe. What is everyone’s thoughts on all of this? He did elude to the thought that he only does bypasses on extremely large unhealthy people.

My pain is on the upper right side incision I don’t know if you had the sleeve or not but I have 5 lil incisions kinda all in random spots the upper right where they went through the most stomach muscle is pretty sore but not sore enough that I can lay on my stomach and side if adjust carefully I recommend a pregnancy pillow they are fabulous after weight loss surgery. My liquids and protein intake has upped substantially so I’m really happy about that and I’m losing a bout 1-2 pounds a day so far so I’m pretty pleased my energy is up to I had a busy day today of errands and walking and I’m still pretty good. Wbu??

You should take the basics, toothpaste toothbrush, hair brush, a book if u like and a charger. I Took my favorite neck pillow. Expect to nap between lab draws, nurses checking on you, and walking. It is hard to get a solid 6-8 but it won’t matter a week from then. Hope your surgery and recovery go very smoothly! I had surgery RNY on 4-5. I am back to All normal activities, bored, not working yet!! So happy with everything so far. I am still in 2 tbs purée 3x/day but I’m fine with that.Never Looking back!

You should always follow YOUR surgeon's recommendations. They have them for a reason. That being said, my plan does not prohibit carbonation after 6 months. I am 7 months post-op and I tried one sip of a carbonated drink a few weeks ago and it immediately came back up. For whatever reason, the fizz did NOT agree with me and it just sort of foamed its way out. For me, its not a big loss as I was never much of a soda drinker, but I know a lot of people who enjoy carbonated drinks and would prefer not to give them up. Definitely wait until you are fully healed, well established with your eating and water habits, and its cleared by your surgeon. But it definitely CAN work for some folks post-op!

Well, while I haven't ever been diagnosed with PCOS, I am experiencing infertility. I was pregnant once, for 25 weeks and then my babe experienced fetal demise and passed. We got pregnant naturally but not since 2020. I just had RNY on March 8th and I'm hoping we see a positive test in our future, again. Infertility is frustrating and painful. just hang in there. I had the surgery for fertility reasons, too. Hoping this provides my body room for my eggs to release freely and to safely bear another child. Congrats on taking control of your life and your circumstances. I'll be following you and your story ... maybe we both will get our rainbows! edit: Not sure if you have it or have heard of it, but I use an app called Glow to track my cycles. There is a community section on there (similar to this) where you can search for weight loss surgery, vsg, gastric bypass, etc. and read the stories and experiences of people on there. You can, of course, post as well. It's a little more focused on the PCOS and fertility angle than just general weight loss. Food for thought.

I have PCOS and struggled with infertility back when we were trying to conceive my kiddos (now ages 5 and 7). I'm only 2 months post-op RNY, but I'm hopeful that this WLS will help with my PCOS symptoms. I was told to use two forms of birth control for the first year, because the rapid weight loss and resulting hormone fluctuations can make people SUPER fertile, and my program says not to get pregnant for the first 2 years post-op. Only 2 months out and I can already tell this is the best decision I've ever made for my body. I've lost a fair amount of weight before, but with my PCOS it's always like swimming against the current and I always wind up gaining it back plus 20 lbs (like, EXACTLY 20 lbs, for some reason!) The weight is coming off so much more easily this time, and I can already feel that it's going to STAY off and not be an endless struggle. My skin has cleared up, I've got less peach fuzz facial hair (no more shaving my sideburns, yay! lol). And my abdomen, which is where I carry the most of my weight and has always been the last place for weight to come off, is now one of the fastest shrinking parts of my body! Excellent. Sending you loving and positive vibes on your journey!

I worked in surgery and the surgeons used to say “Fair, fat, female, forty and fertile” to describe a lot of gallbladder patients. It’s very common even without weight loss surgery.

ANY addiction can be a transfer addiction after a bariatric surgery messes with your food addiction. About a year after surgery, I noticed I liked to go gambling more. (not an insane amount, but instead of going maybe once every three months or so and taking $50, I was going maybe twice a month and taking $100. One month, I went once a week) I'm thrifty, so I noticed the casino losses in my budget right away and said....oh, hells no, this has to stop. So, I quit gambling entirely. Dodged the bullet on that one, thank goodness. But....of course.... that void looked for another way to rear its head. I started buying way too much **** on Ebay and Amazon. Late night purchases. Ugh. When I identified that issue....I quit, and promptly started hitting thrift stores and buying too much crap. Just kept swapping out one source of instant gratification for another....kinda like food. Addiction is a real thing. And finding healthy ways to deal with that need for instant gratification (and the hidden **** that drives it) will always be something I deal with. Very often when I hear people talk about regain... they will beligerantly insist that they don't have problems with food addiction or disordered eating. And I always think....oye. This ain't gonna end well for you. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, imo. And I know that sounds cheesy...but it's true. You need to get your head around your blind spots and confront them. Understand the behavior so you can change the behavior. I'm 4.5 years out, maintaining my weight loss (very proud of this)....but more aware than ever before how food addiction has impacted my life and my habits. Also, more aware of what drives my addictive behaviors. Still workin on it, man it's hard! Parts get easier, parts get harder. Just gotta keep fighting the good fight:)

It's really hard to say what will be the best choice for you until you get closer to goal weight or the weight you level out at. One thing to take into consideration is the diastasis recti muscle. That muscle is often separated due to pregnancies and or obesity. If that muscle is separated, it will be very noticeable once you lose weight and once the excess skin is removed. If you Google diastasis recti, you will see for yourself what it looks like. Then imagine removing all of the skin the way a panni does. That's what you'll be left with post panni (this is only if you have a separated diastasi recti) so it's all theoretical at this point. So with a panni only, it's possible to have a flatter lower abdomen, but a protruding area right down the midline. As far as lipo goes, I've never heard of lipo being added to a panniculectomy, because generally speaking, panni's aren't a sculpting type of plastic surgery. It only removes excess skin. Tummy tucks usually always include some lipo, even if it's only gentle feathering. Because tummy tucks also include muscle tightening, so it's a sculpting type of plastic surgery. So lipo is used to let's say, sculpt the flanks, etc for more shape and definition. My PS is one of the professors at the local university, so her fees aren't as pricey as a PS in private practice. She operates at the best hospital in my county and since she's a professor, she has a lot of residents coming and going during her surgeries because it's a teaching hosptial. So her fees are less. She did my fleur de lis but submitted to insurance for a panniculectomy and she didn't charge me anything further. You might find a surgeon willing to do the same. I would say keep researching and learn all you can now, but know that until you get closer to goal and consult with a PS it'll be difficult to say what direction you should go in. You might have an intact diastasis recti and a panni is the only thing you will need. You never know until you see where you land on the other side of weight loss. P.S... Real Self is a great site to research plastic surgery procedures. You can read patient stories and see pics, and see fees and reviews of the surgeons. I wish you the best on your journey!