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I gave up coffee for about 2 weeks. I have had a small Starbucks Iced Coffee once post-op. I also drink iced coffee in the morning before work everyday, and I seem to be doing ok with it.

I have issues (digestive) when it comes to artificial sweeteners. I don’t particularly love the taste of most either. I knew going in I would have issues with the artificial sweetener in the pre-op liquid and post liquid stage when options are limited. Most times my sweet tooth is satisfied by fruits - but sometimes I want something more and try to use moderation. I have found built bars (especially the puffs), which do contain erythritol and were recommended by my nutritionist, more than satisfied my sweet tooth (and offer a nice protein boost) when I was eating solids. (That was pre-op… right now I’m a week out from being sleeved). Those were an occasional thing to tide me over on the go and keep me from getting to hungry and over eating. The Fairlife shakes, in moderation didn’t bother me, but when they were my primary source of nutrition - I struggled. I also have a milk allergy so I need to watch how much dairy I consume. I’m ok with a little - but too much and I get stomach cramps and digestive distress. When I called my nutritionist Monday because of the artificial sweetener causing some digestive irritation - she suggested moderation. One of the yogurts she suggested I try had cane sugar & fruit pectin. It was lower in sugar than regular, and had a bump of protein. I had two days to get through until purees, where I could add in real food and transition away from the shakes… so it was getting through. I try to make healthy choices, fresh fruit or no sugar added in general. Occasionally I have some things with artificial sweetener, but keep it limited because past experience has proven it will irritate and inflame my digestive system. I am working towards a balanced approach. My PCP (whose been my Dr for about 44 yrs now) has always told me he’d much rather I have less sugar in moderation than artificial sweetener as a rule. So I am trying to stay within my program guidelines and follow a balanced approach. It takes some creativity, but so far I am making it work. I have more to loose than you do, but I’m pleased with the progress I have made so far. Since I started my weight-loss journey I have lost about 75 pounds so far (50 leading up to my pre-op, 10 in the pre-op liquid phase & 15 since being sleeved last week). I might have had even better progress had I gone strictly sugar free … but I’m striving for maintainable, steady progress - something I can do forever not just a short term “diet”. Moderation seems to be working for me, but I will keep reassessing and working with my team and make adjustments as I go.

Finally feeling better now that I can have purées. Made a chicken salad that reminds me of a deviled egg consistency - that is yummy and Protein packed. I wasn’t sure I could do a puréed meat - but connecting it to the deviled egg filling helps. 3 oz chicken 2 hard boiled eggs (about 100 grams) 1 tablespoon Mayonnaise 1 tablespoon non fat Greek yogurt 1/4 teaspoon mustard Whole container about 1 cup: 284 calories, 43 grams protein, 2 grams carbs, 1 gram sugar, 11 grams fat Used the mayo we had on hand - will probably exchange out for a lower fat one going forward, but it was a welcomed change from the liquid of the past 2 weeks. Going to slowly introduce new purées over the next week so I don’t upset my stomach. I’m on the purée stage for two weeks before I go to soft foods. Other than the ricotta bake… (hoping to make that sometime this weekend), anyone have any staples you have had good experience with or favorites to share?

Three months after recovering from Covid I had hair loss and I took Folexin to bring it back so I know it works. I am 3 months post op right now and dreading the whole hair loss thing AGAIN! But I have my supply of Folexin ready.

Ah coffee, it really is a tough one. My team was pretty straightforward with this one. At my initial consult they strongly suggested weaning myself off of caffeine right away to only decaf. But they preferred that I actually not have anything with caffeine pre-surgery since I wouldn't be able to have caffeine until 6 months post-op. I did find an alternative, Pero, which was okay enough for a short time. I'm 3 1/2 months post-op now and am allowed decaf a few days a week, but sometimes it still bothers my stomach.

Gas pains were terrible for me during the first two days. I had to use a heating pad for random pains for the next week for what I assumed were leftover gas pockets. I had my favorite shows ready to distract me and take my mind off of the pain. Sleeping was uncomfortable that first week. Day 6 or 7 it got much better for me. I'm post op 16 days now and there are still some things that suck: getting out of chairs, rolling over in my sleep, drinking too fast, and I get physically tired towards the end of the day. Take it a day at a time. I hope you start feeling a lot better very soon!

I bought a thermos cup. I was so fed up of my coffee going cold before I had more than a few sips of it. Now its summer I just drink cold coffee. I needed a step to get in my bed the early days after surgery. We had a bed wedge already and I still use it. If I could have afforded it, I would have bought a recliner chair for the first few weeks after surgery. I would have slept in it. I had terrible nausea and GERD Another thing to consider - I had my surgery in very cold weather, end of November. I very quickly found as I lost weight that I was freezing cold all the time. 100lbs + later, I am ready for this winter. I have lots of fluffy blankets for the sofa and fluffy slippers. My husband spent the winter in his underwear, he couldn't stand the house so warm.

I am a hospital pharmacist so I manage this issue regularly for patients. Personally, my doctor had me get a pill crusher to use for the first few weeks after surgery. Some of the medications are really nasty tasting when you powder them though (especially metformin- since you mentioned that you are diabetic, I figured you might be on this one.) You can add your crushed medications to a little applesauce or pudding to try to make them a little more palatable. If you have drugs in capsules, many capsules can be opened and added to applesauce or pudding. My only caution would be that if you take extended release forms of drugs (anything that has SA- slow acting, LA- long acting, or XR- extended release in the name) check with your doctor or pharmacist before crushing or splitting the medication because it can cause you to receive the entire dose of medication all at once instead of slowly releasing it throughout the day which with some medications can be a very dangerous thing. If the taste of your crushed medications is too awful to tolerate, try using a pill splitter and just split them to as small as you need.

I had a gastric sleeve operation two weeks ago. Have now started on puree food and am doing ok, food wise and not in any pain. However, I am frequently nauseous and I have a very difficult time swallowing tablets. I have to take meds for high blood pressure and blood sugar. One of my motivations for having the surgery was to hopefully get off some of the meds in due time. I still have to take them for now, though, but it's proving to be quite difficult. I take them one pill at a time and drink a bit of water with each. Even if I wait between each pill and try not to drink too much water, I often feel nauseous after and sometimes gag and have dry heaves. Tonight, I ended up vomiting when I still had one pill left. I vomited up the second to last pill and kept vomiting after that, just water and possibly some or all of the dissolved meds. Has anyone had the same problem and what did you do?

You're really lucky. I felt like **** right after surgery. I had a hard time breathing deeply enough, so I had to have oxygen. I felt nauseous, and threw up a few times. Also, I had the dry heaves, and got painful cramps every time I drank a little sip of water. So, that first day in hospital I kept thinking: What have I done to myself? But now I'm two weeks out and I feel fine. Almost no vomiting, no more cramps, and almost no pain. I stopped taking painkillers a couple of days after surgery, since I didn't need them. I do feel nauseous often, which is a drag, and it's very hard for me to swallow my meds. And I'm very tired and get winded just from walking. Other than that, I feel like I've healed really well, all things considered.

Yes! I have a phobia of needles and when I found out I had a panic attack and almost backed out of the surgery!!! I think it was supposed to be for something like 28 days, but my doctor allowed it to be for about a week and then switch to pills. It wasn’t his preferred course of action, but the only thing that would work for me, after he consulted with my psychiatrist, my psychiatrist explained I’m fine but deathly afraid of needles. I also needed Klonopin before the IV for my surgery. In the end it all worked out. I went from 226 pounds to 121 pounds and feel wonderful a year and a half later. Don’t let the post surgery injections keep you from the surgery. See if a friend or neighbor can give it to you, or even a home health nurse. My husband gave me mine. I can’t even see needles. Good luck! You’ll make it through!

Im After my week before surgery only being able to eat broth has created an aversion to broth. Now its broth and tomato soup. Tonight for dinner I ate ate nothing and I am so hungry but anything on the list of foods makes me gag. Also, I for some reason dont eat tuna. Lol! I am picky unfortunately. i will look that youtube up! Thank you!

all surgeons are different. If it becomes an issue you can get prescribed it after surgery. I dont know what surgery you are having but one other medication i was prescribed after surgery was a medication called Ursodiol for 1 year after surgery. It dissolves gall stones which many (not all) get after rapid weight loss. other than that i got hydrocodone in liquid form, The PPI medication for 1 month (they refused to renew it but i didnt need it anymore) Anti nausea medication that was a green liquid, constipation medication (only needed that for a week or so) and that was it.

Can you have some bullion in your water? Only water and three shakes a day seems really harsh! What about tea? I would ask your dietitian if you could add some different clear liquids. How long is your pre-op diet?

Hey! I had a final appointment with my surgeon last week, just really going over the same stuff, that I did all the requirements and that I'm starting the recommended vitamins. He said he was sending a few prescriptions to my pharmacy, and I was like okay cool, expecting like pain meds and a ppi, because I seen so many people here saying they're on them. What he prescribed was docusate sodium (for constipation), ondansetron odt (for nausea), and hydrocodone (for pain). Should I be worried that he didn't put in for a ppi? I was under the impression that even without a history of reflux, it's needed to protect the healing tummy.

Hey, has anyone experienced round dry patches all over the body? I’ve placed all kinds of ointment on the. I’m wondering if this is a side effect of the survey or something? I’ve made an appointment to see a doctor but it’ll take TWO WEEKS before I can get in.

Hi I am 10 weeks out of ESG. I used and highly recommend Dr McGowan out of Raleigh NC. I met virtually with him and his team plus reviewed all his YouTube videos. My starting weight 336, surgery weight 331, current weight 298. I’m also 6’6 The majority came off the first 7 weeks. It’s been slow since I introduced solid foods. You have to be very conscious, or at least I do, as I can eat anything I did before but less. My pre op diet was clear liquids the day before. From the time I left my hotel to procedure, I was back in 3 hours. I never had any issues with getting liquids.

Hi, I am a newbie my surgery date is 9/19/2022. I got the news this morning after the surgeon had peer to peer with insurance provider. They denied me a week ago saying it was not medical necessary. I am really excited about my new journey!

am starting my pre op eating habits early (no surgery date yet - late sept or early oct) and am trying to do less than 50 total carbs a day (keto) but not strict (been 75 carbs - 2 days and under 50 - 5 days this past week) … and it has worked well this last week! down 6 lbs in one week!! I am now down to 389.8 (8/23/2022)from my high weight last year of 452. (426 in April 2022) woo hoo yay me

Thank you! I hope you are right. Oh wow, that is pretty restrictive for 2 weeks. Maybe it will be ok because that is a lot of protein and protein is good for making you feel fuller. I would get lots of different flavors to at least have variety, unless you are good at having repetitive flavors. Your program is not messing around with that liver shrinking diet since that's basically no carbs. You got this! It's a temporary test of your willpower and will get easier after surgery.

I feel this too. Yesterday was one week post op for me. I am so sad and depressed about eating tomato soup for every meal except grits in the morning. I start Pureed diet tomorrow and I am not looking forward to that. I mentally cannot eat baby food and honestly I cant eat tomato soup for another meal. anyone have advice on that?

It is, and I'm not disregarding my overall weight loss. My post-surgery loss just has me discouraged at this point. 21 days in and I was hoping for more. The 2nd-week early stall was sooooo frustrating. I also compare myself hard by nature. I am also taking a family trip to Disney World at the end of September, just hoping to be closer to that 200lb mark. I am looking forward to having the ok from my doctor to start working out again, walking every day and not being able to really switch up my routine has me a little crazy.

I experienced something very similar the first couple of weeks. I felt a lot of pressure and often had to stop until I burped or it passed before taking another bite. I think that's pretty normal - your stomach is still very swollen and healing from the surgery, so its going to feel a little reactive.

I was a bit hungry during the liquid stage. All the protein shakes tasted horrible to me, but I liked the soups and the thin oatmeal, although I was a bit sick of oatmeal after a whole week. Now that I can eat pureed foods I have to say that the single scrambled egg I had this morning was absolutely delicious and the tomato soup I had for lunch was not bad. So, no, not everything tastes bad. However, I don't always know when I'm hungry. Like today at lunch, I still felt too full from the egg, so I didn't have anything. I didn't get hungry in the afternoon, but I felt more and more nauseous and finally thought it might be a good idea to have some soup, which did make me less nauseous.

You've lost 41 pounds in all. That is a lot. You're still losing, so you shouldn't feel bad. Our bodies try to hold on to the weight, so the weight will come off in spurts and sometimes there will be stalls as well. The human body is complicated and I know how you feel. I panicked on that one day post surgery when I gained weight, and when I was the same weight the day after as I'd been two days before, I wondered if I had stopped losing weight already, but then it started again. A good night's sleep is essential in weight loss, so you should try not to obsess over the numbers.