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I had adult Gummi vitamins along with a vitamin d gummy but then they made me buy this bariatric advantage stuff that is chalky and huge. They have a vitamin d chew..like a caramel but tastes weird. Wondering if I should just try my otc stuff for now until I can try the others again. Yeah I don't get it. It was out of no where this nausea after a period of time where everything was normal...smh

I'll see your Scrawny Neck bet and raise you emaciated old lady forearms, they are do thin they look l8je a skeleton with a thin layer of easy- bruis3 skin. And I am now bruising in areas I swear i I never bumped. Old age, no fat layer anymore or is my blood chemistry skewed? Know I was already an Iron INFUSION in March, wonder if this will be a quarterly event? If so, shouldnt somebody be ordering me a blood lab? We reach June the end 9f this week, and I think my Bariatric Clinic is beginning to neglect me, no visit scheduled until August , when I will be 11 months past Surgery.vMaybe since I'm this far out I am no longer interesting? Lets take care,of the New Surgeries, let Frustr8,swing in the breeze somewhere, kinda feel like I've been hung and nobody wants to cut down my body! I am nearly down to Onderland, And the only people,interested are,my Peeps on Bariatric Pal. Am I right to feel slightly neglected?

@Doodle210 if you consider Mexico, you might want to add Dr. Illan to your research. Dr. Selim Jalil Illan has been assigned as a Master Surgeon and Surgeon of Excellence. This means that he achieved both Mexican and US standards of quality, safety and care for his patients. He is also a fellow in the American College of Surgeons (FACS), the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) Feel free to contact me for more information michelle@hospitalbc.com 619-202-4405. https://drjalil.com/ https://hospitalbc.com/

I buy the Bariatric Advantage Calcium chews and Bariatric Advantage B-1 Thiamine from Amazon. The chews now come in Carmel 500 mg- I am required two take 2 a day. When I buy the 250mg I take 4- easier on the pocket book if you buy the Carmel 500. I initially started with the chewable calcium wild cherry but it was too chalky. That comes in a huge container. I was using Bariatric Advantage B-12 but the sublingual don't melt like they should so I buy spring valley b-12 2500 mcg sublingual from Walmart-love them. I use the Cervoite Jr that I tested when I went to the class and again I buy from Amazon. I will continue to buy Bariatric Advantage calcium and thiamine but that is it. You can also ask someone at Park Rapids what other brands they would suggest.

My first after my sleeve surgery was identical to your. I threw up everyday, nausea 24/7, in and out of the ER and hosp, i had to finally ask for a second opinion because my surgeon told me i was just fine. In the beginning i didnt eat anything for 5 weeks. I had been on the strongest antinausea meds and they didnt do anything.. My new dr did an endoscopy and diagnosed me with bile reflux. After starting the medicine it took about 3-4 months before i was feeling normal. My bariatric surg moved away so im now followed by a GI surgeon. I have been doing pretty good. Please let us know how you are doing. I would get a 2nd opinion asap. For myself having the other surg was not guarantee it would fix the bile reflux. In reality it would open me up to a host of other issues. We are about a year apart in age. Prior to surg I was 330 lbs now I weigh 165-170. I feel pretty good after losing 160 pounds. Many of the medical issues I had prior to surg are gone. So there have been positive changes. But I literally thought I was dying too. I had to go to physical therapy to get strength back to start walking again. I hope you get better soon. Laurie

Wow, no vitamins? Not even chewables made for Bariatric patients? Geeze that's rough. I know I'm not getting enough vitamins and minerals from these Protein drinks alone. So that's why I added these in. My Pre-surgical nurse said all my meds were fine. Except I can't take my metformin the morning of and I am not allowed NSAIDS either. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Really, what doctor is doing your surgery? I would loce to come to the support groups as well.Dr. Cartwright, he just started the Bariatrics there in October. They are off 18th next toThe hospital. There are people who have gone to west ga or are current going to dr. T who are apart of the support group. Have guest speakers etc.

Hi. I'm new here and having Lap Band surgery with Dr. Pomp on 2/24...one day after your fill :tt2:. I'm really nervous about the whole thing but know Dr. Pomp is a more than a well-respected surgeon. He was promoted to Chief of Laparoscopy and Bariatric Surgery in April of 2008 and he (and his staff) have been nothing but helpful. Good luck on the fill. I will be interested to hear how it goes! Ruth

I go to Bariatric Solutions and I believe they do fills without insurance and I know they have an office in Dallas. I go to the office in Decatur. They have a bus that goes around and does fill all over the metroplex. They use fluoroscope with there fills. Which I like. They are really nice and good too. Good luck True Results may do it as well ~~~Stephanie

It appears that that the "Yes Whey" protein shot sold by Bariatric Advantage is a better choice over the "New Whey" bullets. The collagen protein used in "New Whey" has a PDCAAS score of 0.08 out of 1 where the 100% pure whey protein used in "Yes Whey" has a score of 1 out of 1.

I check references called patients and decided on dr. Illan bariatric pal team mexico. If Alex B. Founder of this site supports him it was good enough for me. BEST decision ever! BILL YANEZ is coordinator for team mexico. Tell him I sent you, he will take great care of you. Personal service no big business feeling.

Hey All! Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the support. Just spent about 8 hours in the ER. I went to my HMO after hours care center first and they had an ambulance transport me to the ER due to the severity of my dehydration. They had a really difficult time finding a vein to administer the I.V. It took five sticks to finally get one. Once I was transported to the ER, they were not much help. They spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with me. Did a barium (however you spell it) swallow and I was restricted about 99%. I was shocked the barium stuff didn't come back up. One thing I found out was the amount of vomiting I did over the last two days caused me to swell really badly. Currently, I'm open enough to drink liquid. I'm too scared to try solid food. May try some Soup later tonight. Long story short ... the ER had no one experienced with bariatric surgery. Thank God I was able to speak w/Dr. Martinez. He told me to tell them what to do - have the radiologist remove some of the fill under flouro. Unfortunately, they had no radiologist on staff. So, I didn't really get anything resolved. But, since some of the swelling has gone down I can at least drink something. So I spent all day lying in a room w/an I.V. connected to my arm. I felt a lot better getting some fluids, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. I still won't have anything resolved until next week but I feel a lot better. Again, thank you all. I am doing much better than I was when I first posted this morning.:thumbup:

Hello! I haven't had a chance to update my journal until now because I am back to teaching! I teach 8th grade literature and I love teaching! Well, I have had two more tests since I last wrote. One was really a hoop to jump through, while the other was the "MMPI" psych test. I was required to meet with a pyschologist and have a general psychological exam done which I was very worried about. Honestly, I do not really trust the person "analyzing" me, I feel that they tend to look too much into things, which I found out to be true during the exam. I had to fill out about 5-7 pages of "mental and medical" history which the psychologist began asking me questions about since we have never met. He looked into the fact that I was a good student and overanalyzed that! Well, the session went ok, the psychologist was a very patient, soft-spoken middle aged man who asked me a lot of questions about everything, family life, eating habits, boyfriends, drug use etc etc etc. Unfortunately, my history of depression and anxiety and an abusive boyfriend from the past I think landed me into having to take the MMPI. This test is meant to look for further personality disorders and other mental disorders. I know that I have generalized anxiety disorder already, and I hope that he doesnt find anything else! The test had a true or false format and there were nearly 600 questions!!! The questions ranged from do you love/hate you father to are there voice in your head that control your actions? The test took me about 1 and half hours and some questions were difficult to tackle both on an emotional and mental level. I now need to make an appt. with the psychologist to review the results and then talk about the report he will write up for me to send to my bariatric coordinator. He gave me the option of reviewing the report before he sent it or not. He told me that most bariatric patients pass up reviewing it, i wonder why.... I will let you all know how it goes! Take care. :croc:

Met with my NUT practice today(not the one affliated w/my surgeon). I explained that I was confused about what to eat and how much(don't know about everyone else, but I've gotten so many conflicting tidbits that I've got pages of notes). So the ladies get out the ADA Pocket Guide to Bariatric Surgery - Appendix C - LAGB Stages and Postadjustment Diet Instructions. Right there on the front it says, "Note: There is no evidence supporting a specific diet transition. Expert opinion suggests (a) a staged approach; ( diet advanced as tolerated. Some other notes of interest: Stage III (whole grain crackers may be added to eat with protein) StageIV (your calorie needs are based on height, weight , age and activity - so much for the "1,000 calorie" pat answer) Another great help was the ADA's EatRight - Bariatric Surgery Blended and Pureed Nutrition Therapy which provided a Sample Menu by Hour with amounts to consume - you are literally eating or drinking every hour from 8am to 10pm! I had no clue - so this will help as I go through the stages again following my fills.

Today I did my week three weigh in and I'm down to 283.4! I was so excited to see those numbers! Its the end of the semester so I've been swamped with all my big school projects and haven't been able to squeeze in workout time, so I genuinely didn't think I'd come down more than a pound or two. This brings my total weight loss to 32 lbs! SO AWESOME! My first goal weight is 270- that's what I weighed two summers ago, and more or less is the last consistent weight I was before I started gaining rapidly.240 will be after that- that's what I weighed all through high school. I'm so exited because I just feel like for the first time that these are TOTALLY attainable goals. This week I get my tax refund back and the first thing I'm doing is renewing my gym membership. I actually love working out, and once I'm in a groove, I'll do a couple hours in the gym no problem, but lord know that first three weeks blowwwwws. Its so weird to be able to remember being roughly this size last year and working out 7 days a week and it being easy breezy, but right now I don't think i could do more than an hour and be dying afterwards. Conditioning is a b***h. I've been adding in more 'real food' and it seems to be going pretty well.. Just trouble with portioning still because of the weird link in my head between 'this is the amount you need to eat to feel full' and 'eat this cup and be done'. I'll get there haha. Its only two weeks until my first fill!! I'm so, so ready to kick this thing into high gear! Any advice for the first one? Will I be able to go to work afterwards or should I plan on being sick to my stomach? I'm not really sure what to expect!

Ok, had the psych eval yesterday.... a total waste of time! It was a sit down "interview" but it really wasnt. He talked a lot and just typed up the eval as we spoke. Nothing really discussed about bariatric surgery or anything really related to "eating disorders". But..... I got the eval and just verified with the surgeon's office that they received it. Now, it's a waiting game to see how long the surgeon's office reviews my file and compiles the info to submit for approval. I sure hope I dont have to keep calling and bugging them for a status. I sure hope they can get it reviewed and sent off this week!! Am I dreaming?? How long did it take any of you after your eval was received? I have BCBS-Fed and I've read that they are rather quick in approving surgery, I just have a feeling this doctor's office is slow in submitting the paperwork to insurance...... UGH....

It's your surgeon's and dietitian's JOB to help you lose weight. They are better qualified to do that than anyone else you know, and avoiding seeing them is (as you've discovered) self-defeating. So many bandsters are embarrassed or fearful to admit their problems to their surgeons, but unless the doctor has a lousy bedside manner, I can't think of a single good reason to avoid a come-to-Jesus meeting with him/her. Your surgeon and dietitian already know that you have an eating problem, as evidenced by the obesity that brought you to their office i the first place. Every single bariatric professional I've ever talked with or heard speak at a WLS convention has expressed chagrin over losing patients to aftercare. It's very, very frustrating to them to have a patient drop out of sight. That said, I will also say that the prodigal bandster may not like what he/she hears when finally talking with the surgeon again, but sometimes we need some tough love to get us back on track.

That sounds like your PCP is just anti-lap band or bypass. I would request another talk with him if he won't do it. I would tell him OK but I am requesting a new PCP and why. He may change his mind. It just sounds like he may be mean spirited, or I wonder if he's maybe a tad overweight himself? Also how old is he? Older doctors seem to be prejudiced against bariatric surgery and want conventional diets. I changed PCP's a few years ago, she was a witch. Her main phrase was "We must lose weight" "We must quit smoking" she was all of 30 years old or so and weighted maybe 105 soaking wet. She totally p###ed me off. So I didn't lose weight or quit smoking..for spite. When I changed to my husbands PCP he was supportive, not judgmental, and I did quit smoking, tried various new weight loss programs under him, most worked for a short period of time, would lose then re-gain the weight. When I suggested Lap Band he was very very enthusiastic and OKed me immediately. I did have to have his letter to the Lap Band clinic to get it done. My insurance BC BS only needs the Lap Band surgeon to OK it. Good luck. Hope you get it fixed soon. take care Pati

Even though it's a bariatric psych eval, they are still Psychatrist first... LOL.... Thank you all for the help. I read one girl "scored a 90" and the Psych told her she needed to be in the 50 range. I have no idea what she was talking about and therefore I'm kinda apprehensive that I wont pass. If it's like a sit down "interview" I'm sure I'll do fine. I've read a lot about the lap band and feel pretty confident about my knowledge but I'm still nervous!

Hey folks-- I finally will have a surgery date by the end of the week for sometime in April. Here is my honest to God, unbias opinion of the Doctors and Specialists I have seen. First up, Bariatric Surgeon #1.... Dr. Moran. http://www.alasurgery.com/ The Short: $250 "administrative fee." Unsupportive Staff. Reputable and experienced Surgeon. Bad Bed side manner. Very much to the point. The Long: His office staff was rude, unhelpful, and unsupportive to my needs. They gave me a hassle about faxing my documentating to another doctor when I decided to change. I was denied by insurance because my BMI was > 50. They knew this on the first visit/consultation. Dr. Moran told me all he would have to do is call the insurance company and the denial would be overturned. After I plunked down the cash, the copays, etc, I was told by his office staff that Dr. Moran was far too busy to call me or my insurance company. They referred me to a financing company to pay for my surgery, even though I am fully 100% insured. They offered no assistance in the way of the appeals. Pharrah (office manager), Iris(receptionist), and Ann(bariatric coordinator) are the office staff that I had the displeasure of dealing with. I had to call their office constantly to receive updates on my case. It seemed as if without me calling and asking constantly, nothing got done. Dr. Moran himself was alright, though a bit cold and curt. The office staff motivated me to move to a new Doctor and never look back. Tammi Moore-- Psychiatrist: She is a wonderful woman and knows all about the bariatric surgeries. I really enjoyed working with her and talking with her. I am considering seeing her again after my surgery. Dr. Earnhardt - Cardiologist: This man was probably my favorite of all the specialists I have seen. So kind, attentive, and informative. Loved this visit. Ashley Miles - Nutritionist at Rex Wellness SHe was a total sweetheart as well. It was a joy to see her. Highly recommended. Baratric Surgeon #2.... Dr. Enochs. http://www.surgerync.com/ Angelica at Dr. Enochs is my angel. She was VERY helpful over the phone far before I paid them a single dime. She is the bariatric coordinator over there. She talked me through my issues and got me in to see Dr. Enochs as soon as possible. Luckily, in between visits, I lost the weight I needed for the BMI factor, so that will no longer be an issue. Dr. Enochs himself is a sweetheart and took the time to answer all of my questions. However, there is a $500 administrative fee here. BUT, since I had already paid Dr. Moran $250 and was so frustrated by the process, Dr. Enochs only charged me $250. Yay! It was somewhat of a lengthy wait once I got to the office (30 minutes after my scheduled appointment) and his office in Cary is a bit of a haul from my home in NorthWest Raleigh, but I think it was well worth it. Dr. Enochs also has a FANTASTIC support staff who saw me and spent time with me. I met with 5 employees while there, all guiding me through their area of expertise. Highly recommended. Please PM or reply with any questions at all.

Regarding calcium supplements, the only ones that didn't make me want to barf were the bariatric advantage calcium chews. I love all 4 flavors. They have d3 and calcium in the chews.

I am 58 with fine but relatively thick hair that’s a little below my back bra strap. I am 3 months post op and my hair and nails are growing much faster due to the combo of quality bariatric vitamins (Watch the stinking fillers), collagen (put in your tea or smoothie) which gives you 11 grams of protein with few calories and the extra biotin. Lastly, my scalp and skin have been extraordinarily dry so it’s a struggle to stay hydrated— I gave my scalp an oil treatment and it really did help texture. Hey, if you are gonna do this weight loss journey you must exercise self care — in my opinion this entails changing many habits into best practices so you can be the best version of yourself possible.

Risk for Alcohol Abuse Intensifies after Bariatric Surgery: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/887243 Food for thought.

Go with your instinct and do some more research. If the nurse had been there when a doctor put in a band upside down and she did not say anything she is just a liable as he is. I would not trust any of that. I dont think they can be put in upside down. If the port was placed upside down it would cause pain but that by itself would not cause death. I think you may have some mixed up info from gossipers. However, you should never enter into this lightly and if you are scared most definitely cancel and do more research. Change doctors or go "interview" other doctors. I did tons of research on my Dr. He is one of the top doctors in Arizona and has been featured in tons of medical magazines. If your dr is a leader in the field you should be able to find record of that. Is he part of a Bariatric Center of Excellence? Definitely dont do it if not. Find one that is.

I'm with you. I renewed my commitment today. I have 58 lbs left to lose. Let's get this done!!!!