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I'm trying to think ahead before surgery. I have fibromyalgia, aka chronic pain and other fun stuff. It's hard to be overly active because it flares the pain and I'm down for awhile. Tips? Tricks? Is anyone else in the same boat? I guess my concern comes down to being active enough to help maintain weight after surgery. Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m the same height as you and weigh less. The only thing that puts any weight on me are carby snacks that don’t fill me up like queso and chips or crackers and peanut butter. They go down too easily! If you’re concerned, snacks aren’t filling so are easy calories that add up

Get back to basics - hit your protein, get your water in, take your vitamins, and move your body. Weight and track everything - it will help you stay accountable to yourself. And, get help! Find a counselor, someone who deals with eating/food issues if possible, talk to your medical team, etc. Can't stress enough how much the mental/emotional piece of WLS is really the biggest. But the help is out there and you CAN be successful! You've got this!

I don't understand why you are devastated when you lost 25 lbs in 6 weeks, especially at a lower weight start than most. That's a great start, even faster than some who had a virgin rny. Too high expectations can and will defeat all your hard work if it gets to you. Perhaps seek therapy if you truly feel "devastated". I know depression can sometimes occur after WLS. I had a revision just to get rid of the gerd. Even if I never lost a pound, to end the horrible acid reflux and sleepless nights are 100% worth it to me.

I am 2.5 yrs out and still have significant hair loss. Lots of patchiness! I wouldn’t trade my weight loss journey except for this one factor. My Mom is a Beautician so we have tried many haircuts and hair care. I’m 59 and fortunate (and unfortunate) to have very dark hair but with a very white scalp that soooooo amplifies the patchiness! I had short, full, curly hair before surgery, now I have very thin, slight wave, short hair. 🫥

I brought my cigna policy for my surgeon to read and it cleary stated that there were no 6 or 12 month long documentation of failed weight loss attempts required. My surgeon called the insurance coordinator and she says in her past experience of working with Cigna they require 12 months of failed WL attempts. There is NOTHING of this mentioned on the cigna requirements. I really don't need anything slowing down my process. Did anyone else run into this issue with cigna and getting approval? Sent from my SM-N970U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I wasn't put on a diet plan. I just had to have 6 monthly visits with the nutritionist. My surgeon wanted me to lose 10-12 pounds before surgery, but my insurance didn't. However, I was not allowed to gain weight.

I could be you, you’re not alone. I got help through my clinic and Psychologytoday.com because loosing weight and lifestyle changes is a major head game. If we could do it all by ourselves we would have. Therapy has helped me tremendously. You are worth it!

your PCP's records of your weight for the last five years should count for that five-year requirement. For supervised diet, usually people work with their PCP or a registered dietititian (although some insurance will accept things like Weight Watchers, if it's documented - you'll have to ask them). You shouldn't need to have any co-morbidities at a weight of 360. Most insurance companies don't require you to have co-morbidities to approve the surgery unless your BMI is under 40.

you're only six months out, so still in the "honeymoon" stage. Try to get back on track ASAP because it's never in your life going to be easier to lose weight than it is right now. I'd call your clinic for help - that's what they're there for! They may have you work with the dietitian or the psychologist (if they have one on staff - our clinic did...)

You stated "My primary care put in a referral and Tricare approved it for Dr. A" and "my weight loss trial and all the pre-reqs are done". So I am assuming you completed these thru your Primary Care Doctor and they have all the documentation. I also assume you have Tricare Prime not Tricare for Life (what I used), either way you have recieved insurance approval. You must be in the panandle or down in the muck near Clewiston but there has to be more Bariatric surgeons than just that one office within an hour. But I woud NOT go with a surgeon that is still seeking insurance credential. Tricare is adminstered by Humana which is not a small organization. There are many Bariatric Surgeons throughout Florida. Just curious, is this specific surgeon in the same medical network as your primary doctor? I would request a new surgeon or center thru your Primary Doctor. Submit all the "completed" documentation to a new surgeon and explain your employment situation. They might still be able to sched for March/April

Hello All Advice needed. I’m 5 weeks post op. I’m struggling with a lot of pain on occasions (random) with drinking water and eating!! Like sharp contractions but worse! Can last seconds / minutes or hours! My stools are very pale almost white! Plus I’ve not lost any weight in like 2 weeks in fact I’ve gained weight!! Help!!

There are a lot of variables to consider. IMO, BMI is flawed....the formula is based on an average body composition. It does not take in consideration frame size, bone mass, muscle mass, large breasted vs small breasted (boobs are heavy!), body shape (ectomorph, mesomorph & endomorph). If you were overweight in your youth and/or the majority of your life, your bones had to accommodate more weight so therefore are most likely larger and heavier than someone who has been slim most of their lives. Thirty years ago, the general rule for women was a baseline of 100 pounds for a 5 foot woman and 5 pounds for each additional inch. That is an average, but for me at 5'5", I am chubby at 125, where as; my daughter at 2 inches shorter, looks amazing at 135. Before the weight gain in 2012, my natural shape was hourglass (metomorph) with broad shoulders, heavy chested, small waist and slim legs on a small/medium frame. My daughter is rectangular (ectomorph) with broad shoulders, heavy chested, thick waisted, narrow hipped and thicker legs on a medium/large frame. My best weight is 112 to 117 but my daughter, even though she is 2 inches shorter, looks best at 132 to 138. "It really doesn't take body shape into account as I've never had an hourglass figure - I joke that I'm shaped like a plank with tits. Straight up and down." YES, YES, YES! The variations in the natural body composition of ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph is not considered when computing BMI. An hourglass shape will carry more fat than a plank shape at the same weight! Weight is a personal matter. You have to find where you are comfortable and a weight that can be easily maintained. Listen to your body and listen to your doctor but don't let others get into your head.

So I started the process in September and definitely was not prepared for how much time everything would take mainly due to the insurance requirements around a weight loss trial. I thought everything I had done in the past would have counted, but it did not so I had to start a new weight loss trial. My primary care put in a referral and Tricare approved it for Dr. A at a surgeon's office over an hour away (closest bariatric specialty). When I tried to schedule the appt, I was told that Physician A is revamping his practice and would like to have me be scheduled with Dr. B. I agreed, as long as the referral was still good. Apparently that was not quite the question I should have asked. Fast forward to 4 months later, my weight loss trial and all the pre-reqs are done. I emailed the clinic with all the information and had not heard anything in 10 days, so I asked for an update. Today's update is this: Dr. B is not yet credentialed with Tricare so they can't even submit for approval until that is done. They have no estimated time frame and can't tell me when the process started. According to Tricare's website, it can take 60-90 days for a new provider to be credentialed. Additionally, when I asked if I could have my surgery done by Dr. A since Dr. A did my EGD and all my labs, they responded saying they asked Dr. B and he said no. I'm beyond frustrated because I only have a small window remaining where I can take off (Feb - Mar). After that, I will have to put it off until August or September. To clarify, I don't work a standard full time job. I am a contractor working through a recruiting company for a hospital org to implement the software system and their go-live is in July. I don't get paid for time off and I don't get FMLA. So now I'm either stuck in limbo for potentially months until they get him credentialed or I could see if another surgeon would be willing to take all the existing labs/imaging/documentation.

I mean, i have doctor records from physicals 4-5 years ago that have my weight and everything. I haven’t had any medical problems yet, just slightly high cholesterol. I have been a member of weight watchers for years but off and on.

So the 5 year history typically means they want to know how long you've been obese, what comorbidities you have and how long you've had them, what meds you've had to take for them and how long, etc... The supervised diet would be either 6 months working with a dietician or having done things like doctor supervised keto, or Jenny Craig, or Weight Watchers, or a low calorie/low fat diet (again, doctor supervised). If you have done any of these, they want to know the results.

Hi all - Going with a surgeon in NJ and completed all my preop requirements and they submitted for approval on 1/10 anticipating a surgery date of 2/8. I called insurance to get a heads up and they said they just sent out a denial today for not enough information, specifiying 5 year history and also a 180 day weight loss program, which my surgeon never mentioned. I started the process in September so if i knew i had to be in a specific program, i would have started. I havent talked to the surgeons office yet but i am guessing 2/8 is out of the question. For reference, i am 39, 5'6, 360 lbs and i have been over 300 since 2010. What do they typically need and who does the supervised diet? My other concern is how long all this testing i just did is good for. I had a stress test, stomach ultrasound, echocardiogram, lots of blood work, upper GI study, psych eval, and all required nutritonist appts. am i going to have to do this all again?

Weighed myself today and i seriously thought i gained weight. but finally i am under 200lb at 197. I have not been under 200 since i was in high school. So happy. It took around 2 months to loose nearly 10lb being this far out from surgery.

My surgeon suggested weight training after 8 weeks, however you have to listen to your body. I had surgery 9 weeks ago and lifting a carry on still causes pain in my bigger incision and sometimes depending on the activity feel a slight numbness there.

Was cleared at 6 weeks for light weights/higher reps. At 9 weeks starting adding more weight/lower reps but no where near my pre-surgery lifts yet. I can tell I lost some muscle mass/strenght probaly due to the couple of months of inactivity. Still concentrating on cardio and low wgt/higher reps for awhile. Just trying to maintain for now and hopefully in a couple of months start working on increasing strength again. Surgeon gave clearance for everything including ab work. I think the greatest benefit from getting back in the gym is the postive impact on my mental state (Love those Endorphins!). But with the always caveat, check with your surgeon for advice tailored for you. Luckily, my Doc was very supportative of my gym return.

Hi. At 4 weeks post surgery, I was cleared with no restrictions to go back to strength training. I had been training for the past months leading up to surgery, so that may have had something to do with it. However, Dr was very clear about easing back into it and not starting where I left off. First session, I was exhausted and couldn't complete my 1 hours session...even doing light weights. So, once cleared, pace yourself and listen to your body! Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

First of all, i want to thank you for all the support and encouragement you've given to us, newbies. I’m getting my surgery in 2 weeks and i have some questions about strenght training. How long after the surgery did u go back to the gym? I used to be a hard lifter, legday was my favourite day(especially deadlifts, hacksquats) and im kinda scared i wont be able to do this anymore. So how should i start? light weights at the beginning? It’s still ok to do cardio after the workout ? Help 🥺

My new NSV: I was able to finish an entire spinning class without panting for breath or quitting early! It’s amazing how much losing weight can make working out easier! Now I’m training for a triathlon coming up in a few months!!

Huge congratulations to you - I know you've posted several times recently about your journey and it's inspiring. Please can I ask what you do in your planned weight loss phases now? Do you calorie count, track protein and/or other macros, restrict any food groups, follow any particular route?

Hi. 50 year old male. Had bariatric sleeve surgery in June of '19. Went from 341lbs to 238lbs between the start of the process leading up to surgery (end of 2018) through March of 2020. After Covid hit in March of 2020, I had a lot of changes (as did many) in my life, from quarantine to moving to a different region, etc. With surgery you have a 1 year "Goldilocks" period where you will lose almost all of your weight. After that year, some of your hunger (due to increased Ghrelin production) will return. Unless you learn and incorporate new lifestyle changes (including exercise and eating habits) during that first year, you risk the chance of putting that weight back on. Foods to stay away from are high caloric liquids and ice creams. I found them to be far less difficult to overindulge in vs things such as pasta I found difficult to eat. I found that I could still go through ice cream and cheese-related snacks just as frequently) albeit in smaller portions as I did pre-surgery. Back to our story. I had my most recent physical at the end of last August where I had gone up from 238lb to 274lb. Around this time I noticed my sister-in-law had lost some serious weight from one month to the next. She said she was taking Wegovy. I asked my doctor who instead gave me a sample of the 2.5mg Mounjaro that he had. Now what I write is my personal experience. Not everyone will have the same result. Almost immediately I found that I had the same LACK of appetite that I had post surgery. I don't know if it kick-started the effects of the surgery or if I just have reacted well (so far) to the drug. This question is how I found this thread in the first place. As of yesterday, I have gone down from the aforementioned 274lb to 225lbs. So, that's almost 50lbs in just under 6 months. Positives: See above. Side effects: I have fortunately had none up to this point. The most I could say is that I need to go number 2 only a couple of times a week. I don't feel constipated though. So, this could simply be me having less food in my stomach. I have read that other people have experienced things like diarrhea, constipation, rashes, headaches, and lethargy to name a few. Also if you take insulin, liptor, etc, your doctor will want to monitor you for the first few weeks to make sure your blood sugar levels don't get too low. Again, everyone is different, so I can only tell you my experience. Administration: 1x a week epi-pen like sub-dermal injection. While some people have complained of pain at the time of administration or itchiness the following day...again, I have had none of that. For me, the process has been painless. In fact, the first time I gave myself a shot, I thought I messed up as I didn't feel anything. Only a pinhead sized dot of blood let me know it was successfully administered. You keep the box (4 pens in box equaling a 1 month supply) refrigerated. Dosage amounts: You start at 2.5mgs and increase it each 1-2 weeks. So you go on to 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, etc. The highest I think is 15.0mgs. I'm currently at 10.0 and can't even fathom going any higher. Things to keep in mind (and this is important): 1. Because this is a new drug, there are no generic alternatives to offer, so, this can cost out of pocket over $1K a month. As the medication's current focus is for the treatment of Type-2 diabetes (and pre Type 2), having either of those conditions will help (but not guarantee) the chances of your insurance company covering it. 2. Due to the success many people are finding with Mounjaro, supplies are not always great. I've had to wait 1 week or 2 as they were on back-order. What do you do once you've reached your goal weight?: This is an interesting question since the drug is so new. In speaking with my doctor, I suggested that maybe taking a maintenance dosage (say back to 2.5mg) may be the way to go. He said that has been the most used idea, but again, this product was only approved by the FDA 8-10 months ago. That's about it. Sorry for the length of the post, but I tend to over-explain. If you have any questions about the surgery itself, I'd be happy to tell you all that I have experienced.