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i'm almost 5 yrs post op, but at the time of my surgery I was 5'2", 46 yrs old and 235 lbs. got to goal (127 lbs) around 7 months post op and somehow managed to stay below goal ever since (weighed 120 lbs this morning) i was one of the lucky/unlucky ones (depends who you ask) that had vice-like restriction the first 9-10 months. it loosened up more and more over the years, but not to the level of "normal" eaters...i still don't seem to eat us much as those around me. I hit my max volume for a sitting at about the equivalent of 1 cup of solid food. more if its salad, less if its dense protein or fluffy bread. you didn't ask, but I'll put this here anyway: i can drink as much liquids at whatever speed, so long as i have no food in my stomach....but once there is food in there, I need to wait AT LEAST 1/2 an hour to digest a bit before I drink, otherwise i'll barf.

First of all, there is no such thing as a "window of opportunity." There is no clock or deadline on weight loss surgery. The surgery is permanent. The surgery itself doesn't cause weight loss -- the surgery is a tool that helps you to eat less so you can lose weight. For most people, yes, the effect of the restriction wears off over time, so the first year or so is often called the "honeymoon period" because that's when it's easiest to lose weight due to low appetite and high restriction. But that doesn't mean that you can't lose any more weight after X months post-surgery. You have to build and maintain good habits during that honeymoon period so you can sustain the weight loss. It is a lifelong journey and if you get back into eating too much, you could regain the weight. Second, yes, weight loss normally slows down as you approach your maintenance weight. It's easy to lose 10 pounds when you have 100 pounds to lose, but much more difficult to lose the last 10 pounds (when you only have 10 extra pounds). This is partly because having excess weight results in burning more calories -- if you're carrying an extra 100 pounds, it just takes more energy (and thus burns more calories) to do anything. If you maintain a constant calorie intake -- say, 1800 calories per day -- you will lose weight quickly at 300 pounds but more slowly at 250 pounds, and eventually you'll get to an equilibrium (say, 200 pounds) where you are burning the same number of calories as you're eating, so your weight will stabilize. If you want to lose more weight after you reach that equilibrium, you'll either have to lower your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by exercising more. Finally, my personal opinion is that people should not get hung up on a specific number on the scale. The non-scale measures of success are so much more important. If you are satisfied with your health and appearance at 222 pounds, there is no reason to worry that you are 2 pounds over the range that your surgeon estimated (which is almost certainly based on statistical outcomes, not a personalized assessment of you, specifically).

Definitely check with your bariatric team. I was told nothing with coconut because that can get stuck. The literature they gave me says to avoid fruits with seeds, the skins of the fruits, and the membranes of citrus. Right now, I can eat 10 fresh cherries and have no issues.

I have one every 3 months .I got called into have mine and they wouldn't do it because they said there had been a mistake- it was 10 days too early .I asked her to double check with a doctor but she wouldn't so I have to go back next week .Would my body really know it was a bit early ? I couldn't see the harm .

Constipation is the “stall bringer.” Stalling every 10 days has been my experience also. You have to keep after it. Take Miralax daily, even if it’s a lower dosage. You might also ask your surgeon for a prescription for Lactulose.

My weight loss dramatically slowed down by month 8, but I did lose a little more. My body was done by month 11, and I was happy with where I landed. Keep pushing until you reach the 12 mo mark, if you can. I bet you have at least another 5-10 pound loss ahead of you. That said, when your body is done, it's done.

Constipation or water retention. Stalls are the worst. I stall often, about every 10 days, but I've still managed to lose a total of 63 lbs in about 4 months. Just stick with it. The head hunger is no joke. It's really something I had to work through. And there are days that it's awful. I just try to keep busy. My faith has played a huge part in this as well. Every bit of help, whether it's God, mom, therapist, friends or keeping busy is important.

I was told nothing over 10 lbs until after 6 weeks because that is when the stomach should be fully healed. Anything over. According to my surgeon, anything over 10 lbs. can cause a hernia at the incision site.

Hi Everyone, I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back with this post. I couldn't find it duh... Anyway, it was a rough morning, I started calling radiology asap and after a bit of acting up, they sent two ladies to retrieve me and administer the barium test which they couldn't determine the results of...no matter as I was given something to drink. I had to stay from Tuesday morn to Friday morn when I was released. Yes, the prison toilet situation was horrible! They have a curtain there in the ICU you can close and the nursing staff actually seemed offended and disbelieving of my modesty at not wanting the male CNA to help me pee and the curtain closed!! gasp, lol. I must say, that when that catheter came out, I wished it back in. Trying to get out of the bed was godawful painful and that 6-8 ft walk was a very long one. I have NEVER BEEN IN SO DAMNED MUCH PAIN IN MY LIFE! IT REALLY FRIGGIN' HURT! The delaudin? they had me on was not very strong and I have herniated discs so I routinely take pain meds and this was not as good as what I take at home. After about 48 hours they let me take my own meds mixed in with theirs to get the pain under control somewhat. I'm 10 days out now, down 20 lbs and am told I'll be on liquids until day 21 when I go for 2nd post op. They took out my pic line on day 7. I've been living on broth, popsicles/snowcones, one fruit juice icee smoothie thing a day and water. Dr, did recommend the Ensure Clear which is a protein drink I can have so I'm allowing one per day as I don't want to end up with a bunch of liquid calories. I have tons of questions but planning to search the forums before I bombard with questions. Thanks so much for your help and encouragement!

I don’t track my calories too closely because I was developing unhealthy restriction habits when I was tracking. While 1000 calories isn’t my forever, I also started with a lot more to lose than most people (410 lbs to 210 lbs currently) and it’s still a reasonable calorie intake for my current weight/exercise level. Also, more important than calories is keeping my Protein ratio high; my 1000 calories hovers somewhere around 60% protein, 20% fat, 20% carbs. Just keep in touch with your dietitian. As far as exercise is concerned, I split my workouts into 20 min cardio + 25ish min core training or yoga in the morning, and 10 min warmup + 45 min strength training in the afternoon and once a week I skip the lifting and swim laps for 45 min instead. Strength training is my happy place.

Congrats on all you have accomplished! You are doing amazing. I love food but I hate exercise which is why I needed the surgery to begin with lol. How much exercise is a lot to be able to eat that many calories? I think if you exercise the calories off then its about the same as not eating the calories to begin with. Maybe its healthier to do it that way? Exercise for me has not been sustainable and I'm just barely hanging on by doing 2 miles on the bike every day which only takes me 10 min. That's all I can motivate myself to do. Maybe that's the reality though. That to stay thinner we have to eat less than the average person or exercise more.

I've tried weight loss shots. I haven't had surgery yet. I had luck with Saxenda but the insurance did not think I was losing weight fast enough so they refused to cover more. Losers. LOL I had some nausea with it at first but no real issues otherwise. When I stopped the meds I gained the weight back plus extra, of course. I'm on Ozempic now but it is to treat diabetes. I have way more side effects with it as the dose goes up, but it usually evens out after a few weeks at the new dose. I don't love it though. The Saxenda was way easier on my body... I've lost 10 lbs on the Ozempic, then gained it back as I've had a hard time consistently getting the med since everyone is on it for weight loss, it is super frustrating. I have heard of it being used in conjunction with weight loss surgery and some people have a lot of luck with it! The ones I've followed have been using Mounjaro though. CarolinRNY on Youtube talks a bit about this in her more recent videos if you'd like a first hand account of it being used to boost weight loss that has slowed post surgery. My guess is if you pair it with behavior modification and taper off it slowly after you hit goal weight you might be able to maintain the results. If not you are stuck with a weekly shot until something new comes out. The shots themselves are easy to do and aren't usually painful, though they can sting a little. ETA: I think The Sleeved Dietitian is also using Mounjaro to lose weight with and has been successful with it. You can find her on Instagram.

I am sure you will see after talking to a bunch of us. That having a bariatric surgery is but only one part of your whole weight loss journey. You still have to exercise, eat right, and get plenty of rest. Just like most people here say...the surgery is just one tool in your weight loss goals. For me over a 10 year period, I gained weight and lost it more than 4 times, and all the way down to like 200 lbs from 280. I never had trouble losing weight, its just that I could not maintain that weight loss long term, unless I was on a very strict diet. I am hoping that the Gastric Sleeve I got will help me be able to maintain the weight of 185 lbs this time. So I just don't agree with what some people say, that surgery is the easy way out. There is still a lot to losing weight and even going through the whole process of committing to the surgery and recovery. I think most of us were all crazy dieters before we decided on surgery...its just now we have another tool and we got some extra help we need.

It depends on your insurance. For me, I did not even get to see the surgeon until after I did everything my insurance wanted (6 months with a total of 12 dietician visits, exercising at least 30 min a day, sleep study, psychosocial visit, a total of 10 doctor-supervised weight checks and weight loss of at least 5%). After that, I met the surgeon ( at this point my insurance had approved me for surgery). The surgeon is part of a bariatric team and my guidance now comes from them. I had to get a set of labs, a gallbladder ultrasound, and an EKG. I passed all of those and now I am simply waiting to be scheduled. That was all finished by July 11th, 2023.

It depends on your insurance. For me, I did not even get to see the surgeon until after I did everything my insurance wanted (6 months with a total of 12 dietician visits, exercising at least 30 min a day, sleep study, psychosocial visit, a total of 10 doctor-supervised weight checks and weight loss of at least 5%). After that, I met the surgeon ( at this point my insurance had approved me for surgery). The surgeon is part of a bariatric team and my guidance now comes from them. I had to get a set of labs, a gallbladder ultrasound, and an EKG. I passed all of those and now I am simply waiting to be scheduled. That was all finished by July 11th, 2023.

Did you have them with milk? Were they softened and broken up? If so it's very possible they just slid right through. Gastric bypass leaves the stomach small but there's a opening on the side of it. Foods that are very wet and runny like soups just flow right through and there's no restriction. Gastric sleeve and it's derivatives on the other hand keep your lower stomach sphincter. Your body is capable of holding more food and can stretch a bit more. Now if you are 5 wheetbix dry, without milk. Then I'd say you should ask your team. For example I'm also about 3 weeks RNY post-op. I just had some goldfish crackers I shouldn't have. But I ate maybe 8 or 10 of them and I can feel the pressure building in my lower chest. Once food is not able to go into the stomach and it sits in the esophagus, you will normally start to spasm. Cough and your will begin to salivate. It's incredibly uncomfortable.

Hi Friend, I finished my Options classes last Thursday. They called me to schedule my consultation today (5 days later). HOWEVER.... when I signed up for the Options classes no one told me the wait time from end of classes to Surgical consultation/final clearance (only the amount of time from consultation to surgery, which was relatively short). I learned today that the next available in-person consultation appointment is 10/13..... then who knows (looks like I dont belong to this August cohort anymore. Sigh). The woman I spoke with told me I could contact the nurses office daily to see if there were any last minute cancellations. This is all specific to Kaiser Panorama City. Hope that helped. 😕

This is exactly why I didn’t tell anyone other than my husband and mom before my surgery and I still won’t say anything unless the person asking me is also obese. Skinny people will never understand. They think it is a laziness problem and if we would just exercise and eat less then maybe we could lose. Okay. Right. Like I haven’t tried that since I was 10. I’ve abused my body and treated it so harshly to lose weight all so people like that would accept me until I got to the point where their opinions and acceptance no longer matter. This was MY choice. I did it for ME and my children. I did it so I can see them grow up and have kids of their own. I don’t need anyone’s negativity ruining my mental health and progress. Brush it off and do you! Who cares what anyone else has to say about it.

I’m sorry to hear this. If the burning is in the stomach region (not the oesophagus) this sounds like exactly what I had. Here is my long story: I was sleeved June 19 and I had this!! I had 2 ER visits and was re admitted to hospital. I referred myself to a gastroenterologist in the end. That is what you need. My pain was only at night too! Here is my long story and I hope it helps you. Please know I am feeling better now. You’ve had complications but there is hope. Here is what I posted last night in another thread. Hi everyone! I was sleeved on 19/6 (Australian date format lol). My experience was no smooth sailing and I developed severe complications despite seeing the best surgeon at the best hospital. I’ve felt really scared, alone and isolated so I am delighted to find this forum. my weight was only 92 pre op and I guess I was considered a healthy young woman. 5 days post op I developed a severe burning pain deep inside my stomach. After numerous emergency visits and tests, it was determine I did not have a gastric leak. I had to be re admitted to hospital to manage the most severe pain of my life, for another 5 days and they still didn’t know what was wrong. Long story short, I had to self refer myself to a gastroenterologist who immediately knew what was wrong. I had developed bile reflux from my bowel into my freshly cut stomach which was causing the searing pain, severe inflammatory gastritis of my stomach lining, which then caused pancreatitis and severe spasms of my actual stomach. Because of all of this I could not even get Water down and my throat was burning and mouth dried up from bile damage. He put me on a bunch of new intense meds and nearly 8 weeks post op now I am starting to feel normal. It’s been a really scary rough ride and emotional and I haven’t known if I’ve made the right decision. I can eat about 1/4 cup soft foods now which I am grateful for. I also ended up seeing a second surgeon who has done thousands of sleeves and said bile reflux and severe gastritis which causes severe sharp pain / burning pain is possible and he has seen it. Basically everything is inflamed and unhappy and this can also cause pancreatitis pain. How my new gastroenterologist helped me and I finally started getting better 2 weeks after surgery was medication to stop the bile called cholestyramine, as well as upping the PPis to twice a day plus adding on a drug called famotidine at night with physically reduced the volume of stomach acid you produce (ppis just neutralise it). Plus I had to take metaclopramide as it pushes things down instead of up, including bile, 3 times a day. I am finally better now nearly 8 weeks out. I was desperate and hopeless and felt like my original surgeon could not help me / did not believe it. Generally for me my severe pain was only at night time when I was meant to sleep! You need to see a gastroenterologist stat. Good luck.

Pain level was 6-10 for the three days but they were always on time with the pain meds. By the time I got home I only used Tylenol because I felt spasm and cramps. That was about it tho.

Hi! I'm so happy your year has been such a success! And how exciting for your daughter! It's awesome that she could see how your journey has gone, especially in that first month or two post-op. My surgery was on September 7, 2022, and I am kicking my butt trying to get to below 200 pounds by my one year RNY anniversary - I've got 10 pounds to go! I have lost 200 pounds since my highest weight in November 2021, and 145 pounds since surgery 11 months ago. Highest Weight: 410 | Surgery Weight: 355 | Current Weight: 210 | Goal Weight: 185 Physical Health: I am weight lifting 5 days per week, and my cardio is spin cycling or swimming 4-5 days per week. I'm currently a size 12, medium/large, down from size 28, 5x - I haven't been a size 12 since 6th grade! I am still not used to walking into a store and easily finding clothes that fit me. For decades, I have only been able to shop at plus-size clothing stores like Lane Bryant, and my options are so vast now! Also my hair is growing back and getting healthier again. My last blood test showed I was low on folate, so I'm taking that which has the benefit of helping with constipation, too. Recent realizations: collar bones and ribcage are things that I have turns out?? Mental Health: I don't track my food anymore because I started noticing some unhealthy food restriction patterns starting when I was closely tracking it. I have also asked for help from my support people. Just yesterday I asked my mom to remind me that, no matter what I said, today is going to be a rest day and she helped hold me to that today. She also offered to hold onto my scale for a bit which I took her up on so I can keep my weight loss progression mentally healthy. That said, I have been off my depression and anxiety medication for about five months now and I'm finding that my mental health has been thriving lately. Excess Skin: Because I've lived at 300-400 pounds for 20+ years, I have a ton of extra skin and I have started looking into excess skin surgery options for my belly, arms, and breasts. I am saving money wherever I can to try and save up for skin removal surgery. I will never be able to afford surgery in the US, but I've been researching options abroad like in Mexico, Colombia, and Thailand. Right now I use compression garments to hold my tummy skin in place while I exercise or basically just exist because chafing is a real problem. I have really bad skin to begin with and I don't need to add in chafing and skin infections just for fun. I hope you guys are doing great as we all come up on our one year anniversaries! Let's keep supporting each other and sharing in our various successes and struggles!

I lost 42kg so just a little less than you asked for. I don’t enjoy exercising. Never have. Still don’t. Over the years before surgery I tried lots of things: walking, yoga (one I enjoyed most), aerobics, swimming, cycling, etc. They never helped me lose weight or maintain my weight so I really wasn’t all that surprised when I discovered exercise only contribute to about 10% of any weight you want to lose. Of course there are many other benefits to exercising but don’t rely on it to help with your weight loss. Did I exercise during my weight loss? Nope. I just upped my everyday activities: parked further away from where I was going, walked up & down escalators & travelators, made multiple trips up & down my stairs (why carry groceries up in one trip when you can do it in two or three), etc. I still don’t exercise as such. I exercise snack at home by doing 5-10 minute sessions about 4 times a day of stretching & using resistance bands. I have loose skin (not a lot but enough) but my arms look more toned from using the bands - I just don’t wave my arms about. Too many factors influence how much loose skin you’ll have. Age, genetics, how much weight you lose, how long you were at your higher weight, your weight loss & gain history, etc. You can’t stop it. Your skin has already been stretched. You may get a little snap back if you’re younger & still producing elastin. Think of your lose skin as a well used & over stretched hair band/elastic. Can’t fix that. As to exercising helping with it, your muscles lie under your skin & your skin drapes over the top. You’ll need a lot of muscle to fill your skin out. My thighs would have to be three or more inches larger to fill out my loose skin there but I don’t want large thighs again. Nor do I want a large butt again to fill out the loose skin there. Surgery is your only option if your lose skin bothers you, limits your movements or gets infections, rashes, etc.

Hi all, Per my last post, I have been having really bad nausea and vomiting 6 weeks out (dr says I'm part of the "lucky" 10-15% who experience this). I attempted to take my stomach acid pill along with Zoloft prescribed by my psychiatrist. About 30 minutes later, I threw this up. I am now having SEVERE burning pain in my stomach and I don't know what to do. I used to have GERD before the surgery and this doesn't feel like that.. The burning is *mainly* in my stomach, not my chest or esophagus like how it was for GERD (in my experience). I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to combat this? I am afraid to take TUMS or any other anti acids as I usually throw those up as well and I am afraid more vomiting will make it even worse. SOS, I am in so much pain.

Hello all, I was posting on the "September surgery buddies" topic and somehow it seemed to get blended with the September topic from past years and so I figured why not just start a new one for us. I'm scheduled for what my surgeon calls a Duodenal Switch Loop September 19, 2023.

Congratulations on your weight loss & maintenance. To lose more, go back to the basics of what you were eating & doing when you first stabilised. Your old protein & fluids goals, watch portion size, keep your carbs, fats & sugars low & track your food. You’ll then need to reduce your calorie intake to lose weight. (Remember, exercise only accounts for about 10% of your weight loss so upping your activity to help your weight loss will only help with the loss of about 2 lbs in your case.) Given that you’ve been stable all this time, the weight you’re at may be your body’s set point - the weight it is happiest at & functions best at. It’s easer to maintain this weight & much harder to lose more & then maintain a lower weight simply because your body doesn’t want to be at a lower weight. To maintain weight lower than your set point will require you to always work at it & to eat fewer calories than you do now to maintain. Will this be sustainable & manageable? Will a lower weight & reduced calorie intake limit or restrict your lifestyle? Just something to consider.