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ok ok...now that I made my choice and decided to change my weight I have had time to think about some of the things I look forward to after I go through the operation and begin my change in lifestyle. I look forward to learning to eat better, put myself first instead of last, get in better shape, weigh less, laugh more, smile more, buy smaller clothes, look ok tan, be able to swim without a shirt on, and improve my sex life and make it hot! Shallow and silly to some these reasons are, and maybe a little TMI but they are the things that keep me motivated.

Worked in seconds?! Thats what I would love to happen. I don't think there is too much TMI when it comes to surgery that affects your digestive system- it's important for us to talk about it openly to help each other and others! Sleeve Wonderland- my doctor said a similar thing, and seems not to be too worried about the lack of bowel movements. My concern is that I am aware I am constipated and there is stuff that needs to come out, and I just want to make sure I'm not potentially harming myself and my system will know how to make things move when it naturally should. I am going to try the enema, my doctor e-mailed me back and referred to colonics as a "scam" (LOL), I do see a gentle enema being a much financially friendly option, not to mention gentler, in the meantime.

RJ- I hardly know what to say - 8 weeks with a drain and so many complications. I so wish we were friends irl so I could offer you some love and kindness in person. I was thinking about how unfair this is that you are setting the record for complications and I guess the reality is that you just have to do what you are doing...which is to get through it. You are brave and your lack of bitterness inspires me. 25 years ago I had complications from a routine pelvic exam and afterward could not have sex for about 10 years. It was one of those "this never happens" situations that no one could figure out, much less fix (I know that might be tmi but it truly changed the course of my life....) I bring this up because I totally get being a medical outlier. It's terrifying and isolating. I am sending you love and healing energy. If you ever want or need an encouraging word from someone who went through medical hell of a different sort, please PM me and I'll heap some love on you. K? -Shellie

So far so good. My worst experience was the cotton mouth and dry lips immediately after surgery. I was only allowed moistened swabs as needed until I passed the swallow test the following day, meaning 26 hours without drinking liquid. I have very little pain and so far the diet is going surprisingly well. I feel so full after every liquid meal. My only issue has been struggling to get that 64 ounces of Water down and 5 days without a BM until today (okay, probably TMI there). I lost 20 pounds during the liver shrinking diet and am down 30 since I first began the process in early April. I will have my first post-surgery weigh-in on Wednesday. No food cravings or hunger at this point, and so far all the foods taste the same except the vanilla Protein powder which suddenly tastes twice as sweet.

I was banded yesterday. Today I started to get the gas pains. When I came home from the hospital I laided on a heating pad. Seemed to get rid of some of the gas pains and I actually stated to pass gas rectally (TMI). Good luck. I am very surprised your doctor did not give you stronger pain meds for home. Mine sent me home with a script for liquid lortab and phenergan. You need to call your surgeon before you husband starts throwing up and his band slips. yuck! I feel for you and your pain. I hope you get some help.

more energy and sorry if TMI, better intimate relations. it just feels different.

Hi everyone. One month bandiversary. Surgery date 4/8/08 (Hi Carol from Joliet). Had first fill appt. Had barium swallow. (I have the Realize band). Have optimal restriction w/o fill! I have not really been in "bandster hell" like others have been describing. Down 13 pre op, then 10 more. total of 23# gone forever. No longer take IBS meds. Have not had any diverticulitis flare ups and hemmoroids (sp.) TMI.... are quieted down. Life is good. No regrets. Next fill appt. June 5th...hope the "phantom restriction" continues. One mystery tho. went to gyno appt. yesterday a.m. bp was 120/70, GREAT, at "fill" appt. bp was 150/90 WTH??? That's a HUGE discrepancy. Anyway, got to start taking more frequent bps at home. Clothes getting baggy. :frown: Dr. Trace Curry, Cincinnati, OH self pay, surgery 4/8/08

Hi Everyone, I was banded on November 3rd and I came back from the Hospital last night. The surgery went well,thank God!!! When I first started the program,I weighed 285,the day of surgery,I weighed 261. I have so many questions,I don't know where to start lol. First of all,is it normal to have no appetite ,which I have none. I've been sipping on Water and off and on a Protein shake. I have very little energy. Is this all normal? My other concern is ,all this talk about possibly being constipated but my problem ,is the opposite. I have had runny,watery stools(sorry if this is tmi),is this normal as well? Thank you for any input. Where can I get so little weight trackers that everyone seems to have ?

This probably isn't the right place to look, in fact I have already seen a doctor and plan on seeing a counselor PDQ, but I need to solicit some help and feedback from the many good people I have talked to on this forum. The situation as of current. Thursday of last week, while at home on vacation, I got "the call" from work informing me that I had been laid off after having been there 9 1/2 years. Sunday after that my wife announced that she was moving out. Between the two of these incidents, in addition to some deep depression that I had falled into recently because of the issues that my wife and I have been experiencing, I feel like my whole life is in a downward spiral. Monday I went to the doctor and got prescribed Prozac for the depression - God please let it start working quickly because I can't take how I am feeling much longer! A little background to the issues with my wife. She and I had our 2nd anniversary on 5/12. We were both banded on 12/8/08. Before that she had some personal issues (out of respect for her I won't give any details publicly) that drove her into a depression and ultimately onto anti-depressant medications. After starting to take them she was the woman that I married again and I couldn't be happier! She stopped taking them for a while because they were no longer having any effect, which from what I understand is simply NOT a good idea. She got into some hellacious mood swings and we fought a lot. The problem with the fighting was not because of what she was saying, but rather, what she was not saying. She would not open up to me what she was upset about, regardless whether or not it related to me or something that I had done. I eventually would get it out of her that she was mad at me, but, never got any details of what I had done, not done, or otherwise. Because of the stress of her issue that prompted her to go onto the anti-depressants and a lot of workplace stress, I had to go onto blood pressure medication because I got to the point of having extremely high pulse (160-170 BPM) resting. As a result of these blood pressure meds, I experienced one of the ugly side effects - erectile disfunction and total lack of desire. "Things" would work, but required some work to get them into "drive". She took this personally as if I was no longer attracted to her , which could not be ANY further from the truth - she's the most beautiful woman I have ever know, inside and out, and I love her with all of my heart! This caused some fights as well and got her thinking that I was cheating on her, which could not be further from the truth. We went through some bad months and good months. She ended up going back to the doctor and got the dosage of the anti-depressant increased, which helped out a bit. About 2 months ago we got into a pretty bad fight and then it came out - she had cold-turkey stopped taking the meds again. About a week later she told me that she was sorry for everything that she had been putting me through. This honestly lifted a lot of weight from my shoulders. After a trip up north to see her family, she came back and I felt the weight again. She was upset about something that I did but wouldn't tell me. I took it upon myself to go see the doctor about the erectile disfunction and he gave me a couple of sample packs of Cialis. (NOTE - This stuff works, and works WELL - but ONLY if you actually have some form of ED!) I told my wife about it and we put them to use. She was very satisfied! A few good weeks went by again and we hit another brick wall. We had another huge fight, which I didn't find out what we were even fighting about for a few more weeks, but come Sunday, she announced that she was moving out. Her explanation is she doesn't feel the same way about me that she used to. "It's not you, it's me". "I love you but I am not in love with you." In my heart I can't help but think these are cop-outs, but, I must say that everything in the past she has told me I took at face value and it ended up being just what she said. I can't help but think though that maybe she's seeing someone else, maybe she feels that she can do better than me now that she's lost over 60 pounds, maybe it's the ED issues I'm seeing because of the BP meds. I need some direction here. Do you think it's her lack of taking the medications that has brought us to this? I love her with all of my heart and can't bear the thought of losing her. She has all the divorce papers already filled out but says she just wants to live apart for 6 months so she can have her space and see where it leads her feelings. In my experience, these trial seperations never work - you may as well just skip the trial and go right to the divorce. Any advise is greatly appreciated. There is one other concern, that I'll need to talk to a lawyer about , but I want to see what everyones thoughts are here. Child support.... I have a 11 1/2 year old daughter from a previous marriage that I pay $500 a month support on. With me now being on unemployment, having to keep a roof over my head, having other financial obligations, what happens now if I can't afford to pay this $500 a month? I'll be talking to a lawyer about this but this really has me scared. I've lost my job, lost my wife - the last thing left is my daughter and it scares me to death to face losing her. Thanks so much for reading and any help anyone can provide. All in all I don't feel like much of a man anymore because of all that's going on.

So those who have read my posts know of my obsession with the scale and my fears of losing sooooo slowly. So since I was giving myself ulcers worrying about my weight and on / off the scale 10x's a day I have FORCED myself (it's been a struggle) to ONLY get on the scale on Saturday mornings. So... I started that 9/17/11 and I've consistently lost 4lbs each week. So I've been a pretty happy camper. Then ... today ... 1lb down. Yes ... I'm happy it was a minus instead of a gain however .... it's missing the other 3lbs. lol I got on the scale like 5x's in a row just to see if it was going to change. LOL The GOOD thing is that I've already been thinking about what I've done differntly in the past week and I see a LOT of opportunities for improvement. #1 ... Protein, Protein, Protein (the GOOD kind). As I type this I'm forcing down a 30g premeire Protein shake. Mmmm Mmmm goood . I've been eating breaded chicken nuggets, a tablespoon of mashed or a few noodles with my protein. I need to get back to the lean and mean Proteins. No breading just plain old chicken or fish. #2 ... Last week was a toughy I went through a break up that was looong overdue but still hurts. Which led me to Pillsbury Sweet Moments, Bite Sized Brownie Bites .... Now that I think about it ... my ex purchased those for me!! I think it was a secret attempt to get me to gain weight as his parting gift ... LMAO. Anywho ... I called myself "rationing" them out and led myself to believe they weren't really that bad because I wasn't eating an entire serving size. NUT FACTS: 3 pieces (serving) ... I would only eat 2 pieces! LOL Calories (per serv) 180 , Carb 25g, Sugar 19g , Protein 2 g. I was eating 2 per day since Sunday soooo let's just say I got my fair share! I can't bring myself to throw away good chocolate so ... I'm going to let my daughter take them to school with her on Monday. I'm confident NONE will return. lol In addition to that he cooked a HUGE pan of lasagna last week also. Bad, Bad, Baaad. It was just a rough food week all the way around. #3 Not much movement barely any walking and only 1 day at the gym. I did a hot hula fitness class that I will go back and try again. #4 Barely any sleep and stressing out because I'm STILL looking for a new job. I have to force myself to turn my mind off to get some sleep. My daughter has to be at the bus stop at 5:49am so I have to get up at 4ish to make sure she's up and getting ready ... then take her to the bus stop. I usually go to bed after midnight (if I'm lucky). The bus stop isn't too far so sometimes we walk (if we leave on time). So I do get a bit of exercise then. Then when I get home I'm so tired I lay back down until 10-12pm which throws my whole eating cycle off because when I get up I don't really eat. I might eat for the first time around 1pm. #5 Plus Aunt Flo made a visit. TMI SOOORRRYY. lol However, this is actually a PLUS because as I gained weight over the years I was very very irregular. Prior to me gaining all the weight I was like clockwork every month. Well ... since my surgery and losing 37lbs (including pre op diet) I'm getting back to regular again!! :-) So ... next week I WILL do better. I'm going to the grocery store this weekend and get more of my fave FF cottage cheese along with other GOOD proteins. I'm going to make it my mission to move my butt more in the exercise portion of things. I'm going to "try" to stop stressing about the lack of employment opportunities here in wonderful Las Vegas. You'd think that if studies show less than 20% of Nevada residents have a Bachelors and I have that plus I'm currently working on my MBA there would be no WAY I wouldn't have a job by now!! I digress ... sorry. Moving on ... I'm going to STOP thinking the "what if's" pertaining to my ex. I'm going to stop watching Say Yes to the Dress, Four Weddings, and A Baby Story every freaking day! Last but not least I'm giong to stop beating myself up about everything that I'm NOT doing and focus on the POSITIVES in my life! Thanks all for letting me vent. Hope everyone else had a MUCH better week!

My pee smells like my orange celebrate multi vitamin or an old medicine cupboard. Lmao....tmi.

So from day 1 I took benefiber 3 times per day and the first few day I took miralax and it just wasn't working. I was going a little, but it wasn't regular or normal. My doc said not to do miralax bc it's just not natural compared to fiber. Well the benefiber did NOTHING. last Thursday, just at the 2 week mark, I bought sugar free metimucil powder. And FINALLY, I'm normal. Every day, once or twice a day since Saturday sorry tmi but I know it's a common problem. i had VSG, so I can't do 2 teaspoons in 8 oz of Water bc you have to drink it fast- or it will thicken too much to drink. So I do 1 teaspoon in 4 oz of water. You still have to drink it quick (5-8 minutes), and then I have some clear fluids after. There are a few calories and carbs, but it is SO WORTH IT! If you are suffering, try it. I don't love drinking it, but it's only 4 oz so I just do it knowing the results!

We are on the plane and awaiting departure!!! It is definitely so real now!!! My stomach is in fits and i still can't understand how I can use the bathroom so much on an empty stomach.... I guess I am poo'ing out all these nerves lol. Sorry tmi without a warning... Pray for us please!

Whennnnnn can I workout???!!!!!! I’m 11 days VSG post op and I feel AMAZING!!!! I went from 275-252.4. 23 lbs down baby! I’ve pretty much been able to tolerate everything but juice that isn’t diluted. Although it’s no sugar added, I still felt some discomfort but it wasn’t too bad. My incisions look great. The only one that still hurts to the touch in that one where they actually pulled the stomach thru. That ish hurtttsssssss! But for the most part I feel wonderful! I wanna get back in the gym. My boyfriend bought me some resistance bands but I’m a person that loves the gym so this is killing me slowly 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ (not literally). I don’t go for a follow up until the end of the month [emoji30]. I’m not a treadmill girl. I literally go hard in the gym (which of course I know I can’t do) but what can I do that’s safe but will still give me that good old sweat filled fulfillment??? TMI but can I at least be intimate with my boo?? 🤭Help me! Lol help a sista out!

Michele, We have the same bandivarsary. LOL I was banded on the 19 too. Today is the first day I feel somewhat back to normal. I feel like the walking really helps with the gas pain. Also after I had a bowel movement (sorry if tmi) I felt tons better. We'll have to stay in contact and exchange war stories. Hope you feel better. Marcille

Since my surgery last week I have had the worst smelling gas. There shouldn't be anything in there. Anyone else have this going on? I have never passed so much stinky gas in ny life. Sorry Tmi.

Guys I’ve done relatively good I was sleeved 4/2017 I was 398 today 7/2018 I’m 220. My problem at one time was bowel movements with a little TMI i had hemroids and fissures. Finally got over that with heavy dosage miralax and stool softeners with stimulants. I am now using miralax since it is an osmotic and not stimulant in morning and at in afternoon. I’m not sure what long term effects will be. Since I only eat a protein shake in the morning and a small lunch and small dinner usually 1 cup per meal it’s hard to get fiber in. I also feel that lose stuffed and heavy if I don’t take the miralax.

I have also noticed I have a much different almost pleasant odor down there..lol.. my fiance has even made comments.. sorry if thats tmi also

Wow.... Yesterday evening/night wasn't what I would consider a good one for me. Last night (about 30-36 hours post surgery) I started experiencing some pretty severe abdominal pain & cramping. I felt like I had diarrhea, but nothing would 'move'. I figured it was just some gas in my intestines wanting to get out because I hadn't passed gas even once since the surgery. I was suffering for a good 2-3 hours before I finally was able to pass gas - OH MY GOODNESS - it felt SO GOOD!!!! I have been a farting machine even since then... I feel like almost all of the air that was pumped into me is basically gone. I finally feel so much closer to normal. Still not hungry, but able to finally drink enough fluids! Only consumed about 500 calories yesterday, only about 200 so far today. Ok, maybe some of that was a little TMI...

I decided to try to remove my wedding ring last night, something I haven't done in years, because they say no jewelry is allowed for the surgery. I used to be able to slide it up and down my finger with not much of a problem. Wow, was it a pain to get off! First, I tried something called surgi-lube, which is a lubrication that my wife's hospital uses for different things. No luck. Then, my wife tried something that they try in the hospital, which is wrapping an Ace bandage tightly around the finger for a few minutes, removing it quickly and THEN trying the surgi-lube. No luck. Couldn't get it past the first knuckle. Finally, I went to the kitchen sink to wash off all the lube, and just kept twisting and pulling, twisting and pulling. My finger still hurts from the whole thing, but at least I don't have to worry about doing it tonight now. I was thinking I was going to have to get it cut off. In the possible TMI (Too Much Information) category - I woke up around 4 am feeling like I had to do diarrhea, which isn't an unusual thing to happen to me in the middle of the night. Well, turns out I was a bit constipated, followed by diarrhea. It took me about 10 minutes to be able to go, but then once the flood gates opened...ok, this is getting into TMI. I will probably be making a second, very short post this afternoon, after I find out my surgery time. They said to call between 3:30 and 4 today to get the time.

Dr must have found Calcium deficiency in your labs along with low Vit D3 in your system. Vit D helps absorb calcium in your system. I have these deficiencies and take 5K units D3 and 1200 units of calcium each day. What are those shots for?? I am curious about them. I will find out in 2 weeks when I have my surgery. Take care and glad you are feeling better. Thanks for all the well wishes from everyone! I am home today, doing pretty well I think, pain isn't too bad I didn't take any narcotics while in the hospital except the percocet that one time. They did send me home with a Loritab script and I took it once this afternoon, no problems keeping that down and it basically put me to sleep for a little while. Last night I had terrible knots in my throat/stomach every time I sipped anything it would feel like it was stuck, then I could feel it move, then another know again and so on. This morning i felt good and was able to finally pass gas, TMI I know but they wouldnt' let me leave until I did that. I have some knots again tonight. I drank a whole Isopure today with quite a bit of Water and a couple ounces of chicken broth. I definitely don't want to get dehydrated. My Aunt and Uncle came to see me last night at the hospital, so nice of them and they gave me a gift card to Kohl's so I can go shopping once I lose some of the weight., they are awesome people. In addition to the Loritab script I was sent home with an Aciphex script which is not covered by my insurance so they told me just to get the prevacid instead. A Lovenox script I have to inject myself with that every day, piece of cake actually and I was worried about doing it and a Vitamin D script which is once a week for 4 weeks 50,000 units. Did anyone else get this? I wasn't aware they gave this and why. Tuesday I can move to full liquids and looking forward to it already. Then next Friday, the 13th I have an appt with my surgeon and he will let me know when I can progress to purees.

Quick question...when you get diarrhea due to the pre-op liquid diet...can you take Immodium or Pepto Bismol to "plug you up" or does that defeat the purpose of the liquid diet to "clean you out"? Sorry if it's TMI.

I know this is a little gross....TMI, but I need to know...Is anyone else constipated from the Pre-op liquid diet? I've been doing 2 protein shakes a day and a small dinner (4oz. lean meat and greens), and I cannot use the restroom. It is killing me! Do you think I could take anything to make me go?

Okay finally got to see my husband after couple weeks &had sex for first time. No problems noted until this morning... Now having sharp pains on my left flank. Everything has been good until now. Sorry if tmi just want to know if anyone else had had this?

I'm 6 weeks out & can't live w/out caffeine. My NUT & my surgeon gave me the ok on it. I hate milk plain but to add some protein to my coffee I do q latte more or less.....1/2 coffee & half milk over ice. At Starbucks I add sf vanilla...sooo good. Today I added a 1/2 scoop of vanilla whey protein. It def made it taste grosser, but I need the protein & it was better than a shake I've had no probe with gas & I personally think it helps get a bm get going so that's a bonus for me (sorry if tmi) !!