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First, a 70 in the morning isn't really "too low". When it drops into the 60's, then it is considered a hypo. Are you on medications or insulin for diabetes? If so, you may need to talk to your Endo regarding cutting back on meds. I am still on insulin, but I only use it for basal now, and I've lowered my amounts once already. I've woken up with some blood sugars in the 70's, but until it is consistent, I won't lower again yet. Surgery does help blood sugars to fall in place for diabetics. That is why the bypass surgery is highly recommended to Type 2 diabetics. I would just keep your eye on your blood sugars right now. If you see it going too low, make sure you have something to raise it quickly. Glucose tabs should not cause dumping. I'd also have some gel, or Fluid glucose on hand.

I've been hypo for 2-3 years, and I still have to adjust my meds everytime i go to the doctor. I'm getting closer though! My advice, find a good endo who is very up to date...my original doctor was going to let me levels continue to be elevated b/c they were in the "range".

I am severely HYPO with no function at all. i am under the impression that as you loose weight, there is less of you to medicate. BUT, it all boils down to your TSH numbers and your t-3/t-4 balance. I get tested at least once a year. Nothing makes you feel worse than an imbalance. But, i am told I will never get better.

Sorry you are going through this - I get hypos quite regularly, but am diabetic - although off all meds now. I had the sleeve 3 years ago now - I would have thought things would have evened themselves out, but as you say, we eat so little now, it isn't surprising really.

Thanks, your reply definitely gave me some reassurance. We are really similar when it come down to losing weight while having hypo or PCOS. That was actually one the main reasons why I wanted to get the sleeve, because I knew I wouldn't be able to lose the amount of weight i need to, to be considered ''normal'' bmi. Thanks!

I know someone through a WLS support group who developed reactive hypoglycemia after surgery. I think the best bet is to check in with your doctor. Good luck!

I went in for my EGD or Upper GI scope because I suffer from Gastric Reflux. As many of you probably know most or all doctor's require it as part of the pre-surgical workup. They do these to check for several different issues. I was diagnosed with Reflux in 2010 but had been suffereing from daily boughts of reflux before that. It had finally reached a point where I couldn't sleep because of it. During my Upper GI my surgeon found severe irritation and a hiatal hernia. He took biopsies and found it to be Barrett's Esophagus with highly reactive cells (pre-cancerous). He mentioned doing a bypasss instead of the band now. Has anyone had this issue? If so how did it all work out for you? I go on Feb 7th for a consult with a Gastroenterologist and to have further testing done. My wls has been post-poned until my esophagus has been taken care of. Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

It is SO frustrating!! My scale said I gained 2 lbs. I'm hypo as well.

I am also not banded yet. (will be after oct 28) The only time I go hypo is after I eat too many carbs or too much sugar and my blood sugar goes too HIGH. When it finally starts dropping it just goes down, down, down. It seems like if you follow bandster rules and have protien followed by veggies there would not be so many blood sugar swings. I have been curious about this also. Just a thought, have you considered getting some glucose tablets? They work much faster than food at bringing bs level back up some. I just use them because they are easy to keep on hand and prevent the overfeeding low bs, which can just cause a rebound high and low again.

I'm 42 with Celiac. Had Lap Band in 2005. Had acid reflux and couldn't eat with the band. Had Fluid removed 2 years ago. Just wanting to know if anyone has celiac, solution to not loosing chunks of hair, how soon you can go back to a desk job, drive to work etc. I"m in the approval process right now. Hope to know a date soon.

I take both T3 and T4 for my hypo and after the rny I have been waking up all the time during the night. I'm still cold and I haven't lost much weight either. Nilla

I had to start seeing an endocrinologist because my PCP wouldn't do anything for mine? I just had all my labs done for surgery so it must be OK otherwise I think they would have said something??? Trust me you don't want it done it hurts!!! I cried both times they did it, and I have a high tolerance for pain!!!! It is very hard to lose weight with a hypo thyroid and very easy to gain it and that's why I am having the surgery too!!!

Don't now and never have focused on low carbs ... am only concerned not to go so low-carb that I wind up among the very small minority of VSG patients (3%) who suffer from post-bariatric reactive hypoglycemia. It's a low risk, but you do NOT want to have that monkey climb up on your back. Google it.

Apple juice is a clear liquid. It's good in an emergency, but try and make a plan with your team if it keeps happening. You don't want to invite reactive hypoglycemia to the table. (The sugar will bring up your blood sugar, but without a slower-digesting carb, it'll probably crash again). Are you diabetic?

It's probably reactive hypoglycemia and they are discovering it's fairly common post-RNY. there are tons of articles and blogs about it if you google "bariatric reactive hypoglycemia". There are also studies currently being conducted to better understand and manage the disorder. One of them that is currently recruiting participants indicates "Reactive hypoglycemia is a late complication affecting up to 72% of RYGB patients although it seems to occur also after Sleeve Gastrectomy in about 3% of the cases. ". So check it out if you are having symptoms.

What maintainance? When I read about possible monthly iron infusions because of anemia and malnutrition, beri beri, nerve damage (numbness)in your extremeties, reactive hypoglcemia, seizures, strictures, ulcers etc., etc. associated with the bypass surgery, all of the emergency room hostpital stays, doctor visits those problems entail, I will do my lap band maintainance, happily. You are going to have monthly check up anyway the first year. That is when you get your fills. I haven't had a fill in years. Please do your research then make an informed decision.

This has me somewhat baffled - and same as catwoman, I've never heard of this being done as a normal pre-op test. I would be interested in hearing what their rationale is, as my understanding of it all is that stomach emptying in a normal person is largely a function of the pyloric valve, which is being bypassed along with the remnant stomach in your RNY. I can understand that if you were having a sleeve or DS done, which preserves the pyloric valve, then faster than normal emptying could imply a higher risk of post-op dumping or reactive hypoglycemia, which are rare with the sleeve based procedures but relatively common with the bypass (owing to the existence or non-existence of that pyloric valve.) Maybe a tendency toward rapid empyting implies that the surgeon should give you a tighter stoma to slow things down post-op? Call me confused - but curious!

Several individual on this site have reported the condition. It is officially called "reactive hypoglycemia". Here is a link to the condition and the recommended approaches to deal with it. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/reactive-hypoglycemia/faq-20057778 For the majority of people, reactive hypoglycemia usually doesn't require medical treatment. It may help to pay attention to the timing and composition of your meals: * Eat several small meals and Snacks throughout the day, no more than three hours apart during the waking hours. * Eat a well-balanced diet, including lean and nonmeat sources of Protein, and high-Fiber foods, including whole grains, fruit and vegetables. * Avoid or limit sugary foods, especially on an empty stomach. * Be sure to eat food if you're consuming alcohol and avoid using sugary soft drinks as mixers.

I am getting this too now, I am 5 weeks out and my surgeon gave me permission to eat solid food. I feel exhausted in the day and when I stand up I get dizzy. I have a little pain in my left arm/shoulder like I pulled a muscle. Trying to figure out what it is...low blood sugar, leak, ketosis, or postural hypo-tension. I sent my doctor an email but after 5 on a friday I don't have much hope of getting an answer right away. If it gets worse I will go to urgent care. Follow up: The surgeon's office told me if I had a leak I would be in a lot of pain and in the ER room...so I will rule that one out. They think I got too much sugar or something like that..

Hiya all, I'm new to here and just was wanting to make contact. I am insulin dependant diabetic with sever insulin resistance, I am 1 week away from rny surgery and on day 3 of the pre surgical prep. From what I have seen I don't really have much to moan about, as I am still able to eat actual food, but wondered..did anyone else have extreme cravings, headaches, insomnia, low mood, and agitation when doing the prep? Also did anyone feel just generally really unwell? It's only day 3 but it's kicking the hell out of me. I am able to have the following each day (which I know is more than most), but am worried that I am maybe eating a bit too much to shrink my liver, or that I am just getting it all wrong. The hospital have me the following diet: Breakfast - 1 weetabix Lunch- small portion of lean meat or fish, salad (no dressing), 2 crisp breads or a slice of bread Dinner- small portion of lean meat or fish, 3 small potatoes or 3 spoons of rice, vegetables 1/2 pint of skimmed milk per day (to be used in tea or coffee and my breakfast) A sugar free & fat free yoghurt No sauces no alcohol no fizzy drinks I had a hypo today I am currently 106kg, I weighed 122kg at the start of my journey 2 years ago. I have gone from a 44 inch trouser to a 34/36 inch. Am having the surgery for diabetes reasons not so much for weight loss. Thank you in advance for any replies xx Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Congrats! Only 17 days! I think it really doesn't "get real" until you are in pre-op getting poked and prodded. Yes you can experience hair loss, you can attempt to reduce this by making sure your protein levels stay high through out the process, you can take Biotine supplements as well, but the sad fact is, this doesn't guarantee you won't lose hair. It's not even really "hair loss" because you aren't really losing hair... like we typically think of when we hear "hair loss" it's not generally not permanent. the loss happens because surgery causes your follicles to enter a rest phase, which is normal, but the shock causes more of them to go into rest than normal. So when they finally reactivate, they push out the hair they were holding onto, in order to grow a new strand. Since a larger than normal percentage of follicles are doing this at the same time, the appearance of "hair loss" happens. The hair generally grows back normally.

Some stretch, or growth or adaptation is to be expected - we don't stay at eating only 3 tablespoons forever. This doc gives a good idea of the progression of meal volume that can be expected, and is consistent with my experience - You may or may not get along with his prescription for countering this effect, but it is a viable one. In short, we need to learn to accommodate some increase in eating volume without allowing the calories to get out of hand - taking up that added volume with high bulk, low calorie veg is a good way to do it. As to which procedure to go for a revision, the first thing I would want to know is whether the stretch that your doc sees is unusual - sleeves done by docs early in the learning curve of doing sleeves (and 2012 is consistent with that for many surgeons) may have undue stretch if it wasn't formed well to begin with. Sometimes excess fundus (the stretchy part of the stomach that is largely removed with the VSG) is left behind at the top or bottom of the stomach, or other shaping issues may lead to the problem. If the sleeve is nominally well done, there is probably little to gain be resleeving it - you will lose some at the outset from low capacity due to surgical inflammation and the very restricted diet that we have early on, but overall you shouldn't expect great things from it. Likewise, a bypass is similar in its overall power to the sleeve, but does have some temporary caloric malabsorption that can help get a little extra weight off, but doesn't do any better when it comes to resisting regain; in some patients it is worse in that regard due to reactive hypoglycemia inducing more inter meal hunger. Overall, when I think in terms of revisions, I see a procedure that is more complicated than the original virgin WLS, and usually less effective overall (think in terms of your stomach originally having a capacity of 32-64 oz, and now a few years post op it may have a capacity around 6 oz, so there is less difference to play with. Being more complicated both in implementation and in the reason for doing it in the first place, I like to get a second, or even third, opinion on the matter - different surgeons have different experiences and perspectives on these things. There is also the aspect that while doing a virgin sleeve is a fairly straightforward procedure, and most surgeons are now fairly well up the learning curve in doing them, repairing or revising a faulty sleeve is another matter, so I would look to a surgeon who has done lots of them. In NJ, I would suggest Dr. David Greenbaum as a good guy to consult with. A final thought - what is the capacity of your sleeve now? How much chicken or steak (and nothing else) can you comfortably eat? We usually remain fairly restricted on firm meats for a long time, but can eat an almost unlimited amount of "sliders" - things that just slide on through with limited restriction, which are frequently also pretty junky.

Turns out I had my thyroid checked with blood work and I have hypo-thyroid. Dizziness is one of the leading side effects among weight gain. Encronoligist gave me a pill to level my thyroid and I will have blood work again in October. FYI, thyroid levels are not checked in routine blood work unless you ask fir them to be checked.

Wow, Jewell, you are an amazingly strong and determined caregiver. I was also sleeved on 2/4. I just want to encourage you to stay where you are in prioritizing time for yourself in your current life that requires so much from you for everyone else. You are right, you need to take care of you first in order to care for everyone else. It sounds like a very sad and challenging time for your family with your husband's illness. I appreciate your need to do all you can to be there for him and see him through as long as you can...what a lucky man to have such a dedicated wife. I also believe that our psychology effects our weight loss and body's response to the physical changes. I noticed you said you felt full from the salad, are you still eating your Protein first? I am a slow loser as well, I've lost about 20 pounds since surgery and this is with regular workouts, strict adherence to dietary requirements, and even logging everything into a food journal. I've reached a point that I really honestly don't care anymore about the numbers. I see lots of evidence of a healthier and better lifestyle emerging. I encourage you to keep things simple in all ways possible as your life is pretty demanding right now in ways you can't control. I do these things, they work for me... if it sounds like bits and pieces that might work for you great... if not, no harm sharing. I always start my day with a Protein shake (I use zero carb from GNC/Vitamin store), I mix with with vanilla almond milk and thus start my day with 20 oz of fluids, 50 grams of protein, and a good nutritional boost. I just won't let myself have anything else until I am done with the shake. I don't love it or hate it, so it takes me a good while to finish it and I feel full all morning long. When my shake is done, I pour a glass of Water (calorie free fluids) and focus on finishing before moving on to any real food. Lunch(ish) is always 2-3 ounces of some protein and a vegetable (I will make turkey meatballs/meatloaf on sunday and portion freeze for week, or sometimes a turkey chili things that make the rest of my busy week easier). I always finish my protein and just barely get to the vegetable. I think the key for you is going to be planning out your week so you don't just eat throughout the day in a reactive way to how your day goes. Here are some ideas of things you can make ahead and then have ready for quick healthy meals during the week: hard boiled eggs (I've done deviled too just to keep it yummy and fun) meatballs (I make them with ground chx/turkey...email me if you want some of my recipes) chicken breast/strips (easy to prepare ahead and portion out keeps well for days, and can freeze for later) seasoned hamburger patties (I make them about 4oz before cooking, they cook down perfect for me) lean pork chops Quick to cook Proteins (but don't keep as well): shrimp and fish I buy the small vegetable portions, frozen steamables as side dishes that are quick and easy for myself. I usually serve half and save half for next meal (I never even finish the half because I eat the protein first. As for dinner, well I cook for my family and plan those meals for the week too. I have noticed I sabotage myself "tasting" things and enjoying the cooking process and often can't eat cause I feel full and mostly, i didn't focus on protein! What I noticed is it leads to me eating as soon as the fullness goes away (more like snacking). I just don't do that when I force myself to eat protein first! By eating protein first I seem just full and satisfied for much longer. I always pour a drink when I am done eating. I force myself to drink a full glass between meals. Yes, I will wait 30 minutes typically, but mostly I just naturally wait because I am too full to want to drink. By pouring it though, I know I have to have it before food is even a thought. I agree... water, water, water! Or whatever fluids work for you. Lastly, move around... exercise is important for your psychological health and feeling good. I HIGHLY recommend you do what feels good and you enjoy whatever that is. Put music on and clean/dance have fun everyday. Do whatever you need to do to make sure it isn't a chore! I even turn the music on in my car and do a lot of dancing in my seat . Just tensing and flexing, and using your body even in the car is fun, feels good, and get your blood pumping. You need some feel good outlets in your world right now! I wish you the best and hope that you are able to carve out some time for yourself to just feel good and enjoy this process of transformation regardless of how fast or slow it passes. Take care of yourself and please keep us posted. I would love to Celebrate your successes with you. Keep coming back here for support and know that you are not alone in this. HUGS

As requested by one of my favorite fellow teachers, I am going to outline my journey through this process. Other than researching the surgery, my first step was visiting my primary care physician, Dr. Mark DalleAve. (This was around June 2008, I believe.) I was reluctant to ask him about the surgery because he tends to be very conservative. I feared he would want me to try more traditional methods--again. Surprisingly, that was not the case. He said he thought I would be a good candidate for the surgery and sent me for some preliminary bloodwork he knew would be required. The bloodwork revealed that everything was basically okay with the exception of my thyroid. I can never remember whether mine is hyper or hypo. I just know that the number on my bloodwork print out was higher than it should've been. I think the highest it should be is like 4.5 and mine was 9 something. Either way, he put me on synthroid for two months, and I had to be rechecked after that. The medicine worked well. My levels were down to 2 something when rechecked. As I said before, my other tests were "basically okay." However, as I researched the results and what they meant, I realized that I am VERY close to being a diagnosed diabetic. That was another real wake up call for me. I do NOT want to become diabetic and have to handle all the problems that come with that. This gave me even more determination to do this and make it work. After my thyroid was under controll with medicine, the doctor was ready to refer me to the surgeon. This is where the waiting game started again. (I was already disappointed by having to wait months on the thyroid tests.) It took nearly two weeks for me to even hear from the surgeon. (This surgeon had been recommended by the nurses at Dr. DalleAve's office because he said they knew more about who was good than he did.) When I did hear back from this surgeon, there was a huge packet of information for me to complete and they wanted a "Program Fee" of $150 before they would make my appointment. When I asked questions of the receptionist, she answered everything, but she didn't offer any information on her own. I was unimpressed. I was a little unsure if this was the surgeon I wanted to see, so I did a little more research on this website as well as others online. I called the office of Doctors Watson and Hodge in Johnson City, TN, and I'm very glad I did. The receptionist was happy to answer my questions and offered additional information on the expertise and experience of the surgeons. I had to wait nearly three months for an appointment, but they gladly made me an appointment. I met with Dr. Hodge for the first time on Dec. 17, 2008. (In the meantime I did have quite a lot of paperwork to complete but not nearly as much as requested by the other surgeon. All of this questions actually seemed relevant.) In the time while I had to wait for my appointment, I decided to do everything I could to prepare. I contacted my insurance company to find out exactly what requirements I would have to meet to qualify for the surgery. (I already knew it was a covered benefit.) I met every criteria, but I was disappointed to learn that I would have to undergo a 6 mo. doctor supervised diet before surgery. When starting this journey, I hoped to have the surgery in early 2009. At every turn I realized it would take longer and longer, and it seemed like it would take forever. I also found that I would have to attend four seminars on the lap band as required by my surgeon. I attended two of these in October, and I plan to attend the other two soon. At the October seminars, I learned that I would have a few more hoops to jump. December 17 came more quickly than I imagined. At that visit, I was given a list of my homework and directions for starting my 6 mo. diet. All my homework will be "due" by my 7th appointment, which will also be the end of my sixth month diet and my preop appointment. For my homework, I have to have statements from my primary care doctor once per year from 2004-2008 with my height and weight listed. This is to show my five year history of obesity. (No problem there; I was obese even as the captain of my high school cheerleading squad.) These records can be from any visit; it doesn't have to be a weight-related visit. I also have to have an EGD, which I have scheduled for my spring break. I do NOT have to have an ultrasound of my gall bladder because I had that removed in 2004. I also have to have a letter from Dr. DalleAve stating that he "recommends" me as a candidate for the surgery, a letter from myself to my surgeon stating why I want to have the surgery and what I expect, a visit to a nutritionist, and a visit to a psychologist. The surgeon's office was very helpful in recommending psychologists, and they actually offer complimentary visits to a nutritionist at the local mall's health services center. This is in addition to the seminars which I mentioned previously. I know this may sound like a lot of homework, but I have six months to do it, so I don't think it will be bad. The last thing I have done is my second visit to the surgeon. I didn't see him, but I saw his nurse practioner instead. She was very helpful and encouraging. I lost 5 pounds on the first month of my 6 mo. diet. I was apologetic that I hadn't lost more, but she was quick to let me know that any loss was a good loss. My next appointment is in a few weeks, and by that time I hope to have more of my "homework" completed. I will post again after that, if not before. Until then, wish me luck and let me know if you have any questions.