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I have 3 fur babies! I love them so dearly! I have a Great Dane/Shepherd, Shepherd/Red Heeler, and a Malamute/Siberian. They all have different personalities but the most misbehaved one is my husky LOL!

Nope. Just the opposite, actually. I'm 3 months post op and have zero interest.

The first 3 days were the hardest for me. Especially days 2 and 3. By day 4 I was starting to get used to it and by day 5 I didn't even really notice it.

I finally hit 50 pounds lost today!!!! It's exactly 3 months since my surgery and I'm down 1 clothing size, 1 ring size, and 50 pounds!!!! It seems like my body likes to do a 2-3 week stall every month and a half or so, so it's been slow going. But it FINALLY happened today. WooHoo!!!!!

My plan lists 3 months of medically supervised weight loss program and nutrition classes, nutritional counseling, as well as psych eval. It was the 1 year @ BMI 40 and evidence of attempted weight loss which threw me. I think I found a good program, but will wait to see how the first consult goes and see if I need another. I just got a new PCP and didn't discuss with her... but also doesn't say a referral is required soooo 😬

Sleeved on 6/6/22 so I'm over 7 weeks out. I tried salad this week. Just under half a cup. 1st try was fine, second try I had a tummy ache. So putting that off for awhile. Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

According to the benefits brochure in the bariatric surgery section an "individual with a BMI of 35 or more with one or more comorbidities" is eligible for the procedures listed. What are the specific comorbidities have you been approved with if you had a BMI between 35-40. I have had documented high cholesterol in the last year, but I am not sure it is enough. I am currently at a BMI over 40, but that was only documented at a doc visit in May, I've been over 35 for years though. Additionally, were you required to show "Evidence that attempts at weight loss in the 1-year period prior to surgery have been ineffective". Has anyone used their data from Peloton classes? I did those consistently last year, but not this year... regardless, they didn't move me below a BMI of 35. Hoping all this plus that I am now over BMI 40 is in my favor. Meeting with the doc in the next couple weeks.

My OBGYN said my periods would get less heavy as I lose more weight. Still waiting for that to happen. I am in week 8 with 40lbs down, periods are same as before. Right on time and heavy. Sent from my SM-G986U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks MikeC19 for the post. I start my pre-op diet on August 15th and super nervous! Mine is two full weeks! What does your diet look like?

I have PCOS and my periods were irregular. MY cycle was 6-8 weeks. After surgery, I had my period for like two weeks in the first month. Now I'm spotting but I I have minimal PMS symptoms. I'm about 10 weeks post op.

I think you should get the surgery done. I was sort of in similar boat few YEARS ago. Basically I finally build the courage to go with the surgery and started my research and started to lose some weight I think it was 40lbs and then though oh if I can lose this much I don’t need surgery. I was wrong. Soon I hit a stall and to move the stall I was told to have some extra carbs and calories and then it was just so hard. I regret not getting the surgery. so few years later I’m back on researching gastric bypass and scheduled my seminars at 2 hospitals.

Thank you! I was having issues with the band, and that's why the surgeon was suggesting the bypass. I've heard of some sleeve patients that had revisions to the bypass. I think I'm just leery of the whole rerouting. I wish you much success, you only have 4 weeks! Please stay in touch and let me know how you like the bypass as opposed to the sleeve. I have an appointment with my surgeon on September 5th. I'll let you know what he suggests! *September 1st, not 5th.

Welcome!!!! I had the sleeve in 2018 and now getting a revision to a Bypass at the end of August. Personally I wish I got the Bypass in the very beginning. I have severe GERD and a twist mid stomach of my sleeve. I started the revision process March of 2021 and now getting the surgery. It was a long process because they have a program for revision patients called "Back on Track" and it requires 12 weeks of dietitian visits.

Currently on Pre-op Diet and I lost 8 then stalled a day and now I'm up an lb. I'm assuming water weight but of course, It was frustrating seeing the scale go back up. Our bodies are so weird in how they work!

Thanks for the input. I’m only a few weeks post op. So I’m really looking at my Protein amounts closely. This helps.

I am on the Depo shot since 2017, so its been yearsssssss since I had a period. Surgery did not change that for me. However, those few weeks post-op, maybe 6-8 weeks, I was extremely emotional. I was tired, crabby, sad, and overly sensitive. Thankfully, I knew to expect it and had given my family a heads up. They gave me lots of space and I took lots of naps. Since then things have leveled out and I feel like myself again.

I'm actually quite proud of how much I work out, since I work out with all the other med students and we try to put compete each other. So, it must be the food. That's a good idea. I usually just eyeball it then log it into MyFitnessPal. I did a have a good run a few years back when it all started back sliding. I lost around 60lbs, and it stalled and started going back up despite me eating the exact same meals I did before. I'm a yoyo dieter type of person. And my friends think I have a high set point. But I'll try to remeasure the food. Thank you for your advice!

I am doing well with the liquid diet. I have lost 3 more pounds and the last few days. I have a few questions. Can anyone e tell me how many ounces at a time are normal for your first week after surgery? I am trying to plan ahead. Sent from my SM-G991U using BariatricPal mobile app

Ok, ladies… this is the stuff many of us wonder about but don’t talk enough about… we all understand the impact of our hormones and cycles on our lives, but how does the presurgical diets, surgery and post surgical steps impact your hormones and cycles? Did it have little to no impact? Leave you a quivering mess? Make periods come more or less often? Or randomly? experiences from any stage of the process and stage of life is helpful!! I am pre-surgical but have been loosing weight and my cycles have gotten longer and less consistent when I have them (it also could partially be my age of 42). I also used to feel a hormone surge right before my cycle would start and that has shifted. I am going to talk to my regular dr in two weeks about me, but wanted to hear other experiences. Thanks for sharing!!

you need to watch this. It's very easy to slip back into old habits and stall your weight loss permanently - or worse yet, gain all the weight back. I almost never went off plan until I hit maintenance at 20 months out.

So, here's the backstory... in 2016 I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia (it's a condition that causes chronic facial pain that is so horrific that it's recognized as one the most painful conditions known to mankind and has garnered the nickname 'Suicide's Disease') and I have both 'Typical' and 'Atypical' TN and I had a flare that lasted 10 months and I was in so much pain that I had many moments where I would think of ending my life to escape the horrific pain. My family was the only reason that I held out. I tried to take it day by day, but it was horrific. It's like being dropped into hell while still being alive. Having to live every moment where every tooth in my mouth hurt from the inside out and it feels like needles were digging into my jaw. And THEN I would get stabbed in the face by a scalding hot poker that twists and twists and twists and twists and then pulls out and repeats endlessly. I was in excruciating pain every second of every single day for 10 MONTHS! I felt like I was slowly going insane. I would get 'power naps' of like 5-15 minutes when I would get a miraculous break in the stabbing pain, even though the tooth and jaw pain stayed, because I was so exhausted. On average the power naps would maybe equal 1-2 hours of sleep a day. Though there were days I didn't sleep at all. AND I had to sleep sitting up because laying down was a trigger. But finally after 10 months I had something called an MVD (Microvascular Decompression) in May 2017 which is a type of brain surgery and that was the end of that particular flare and the pain. However, Trigeminal Neuralgia doesn't have a cure. The brain surgery was basically putting a patch on it and hoping that it held out for years. The brain surgery was for the left side of my face, but I have Trigeminal Neuralgia on BOTH sides (just the right rarely flare and if it did it was usually only 3-5 days TOPS and then it wouldn't bother me for MONTHS. One time it didn't flare for 22 months which is almost two YEARS. For reference, I was officially diagnosed in 2016, but I've had TN since 2010). In September 2021 I started getting eye twitches (on both sides) and then other facial twitches and I KNEW it was coming back because the twitches are symptoms of an oncoming flare. I remarked to my family members in absolute fear and panic that I felt that it was going to come back. It's been my biggest fear of it coming back. Then in April of this year it hit. The right side started to flare (with random ass flares on the left as well) and at first I could withstand the pain, but it got worse and then I was put on Gabapentin and I gained 18 friggin' pounds! I couldn't stop taking it because I was in so much pain that the meds were keeping me sane. However, I kept having to increase the dose because the pain was getting worse and worse. I ended up taking the max dose and then one night the pain was so bad that I was sobbing on my bed and the thoughts of just taking a handful of the pills hit me and it scared me. I went to the ER the next day and they were so busy that I had to wait three hours in the waiting room while I was sobbing in pain in a chair while strangers kept staring at me because I was curled up in a fetal position in a chair sobbing my eyes out because I was in so much pain and it's breezy in there and that was making it WORSE! I knew from experience that I had to do the research myself because the doctors don't know crap about Trigeminal Neuralgia because it's rare and they don't know how to treat it (it's usually treated by a neurologist. But there are none in my county that take my insurance). So I gave the doctor my list of medications and told her that Oxcarbazepine worked well with Gabapentin and so she gave me enough to last me until I could get into see my PCP. And miraculously it WORKED! I was able to slowly lower my dosage of Gabapentin by HALF (I was taking 3600mg which is max dose. Now I take 1800mg) and take 900mg of Oxcarbazepine. And because I was able to drop my dosage of Gabapentin I've been able to drop 12 of the 18 pounds I gained, but the last 6 pounds just will not come off! I'm still having a flare. I still feel the pain in my face, but it's muted (mostly. Don't stick me in a breezy room or the pain worsens. And sometimes eating sets it off and makes it worse. And sometimes lying down sets it off too. Also, cold or hot things will sometimes set it off. Yeah, eating is not fun. At all. Also, I don't sleep at night because it flares worse at night). I'm supposed to be going to have acupuncture for my Trigeminal Neuralgia next week and my hope is that it'll fully take the flare away. I also FINALLY get to see a neurologist in three weeks though I have to drive two hours away to see one because no one near me takes my insurance. I have a sneaking suspicion that the flare is actually caused by my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome because I've been having more and more issues with rashes lately (though when my face originally started to flare in April my MCAS was fine. May and June too were fine, but this month my rashes have gotten bad and so has my joint pain which is caused by osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, which the fibromyalgia is suspected to be caused by the MCAS). To top it off I can't figure out why my face is so damn greasy. I mean I was using topical lidocaine on my face to help with pain management for my TN (in addition to the anticonvulsants, i.e the gabapentin and oxcarbazepine, I take over the counter stuff like Tylenol, Tumeric Curcumin, and Alpha Lipoic Acid to help with pain management) but I had an allergic reaction from overuse (I'm assuming) called Petechiae (which caused red spots on my eyelid) so I stopped using it, but my face has been super greasy every since. And I've been losing more hair lately almost like when I was in the weight loss phase of my surgery. I know it's one or both of the anticonvulsants, but I can't stop taking either one so I'm not sure what to do. So yeah. Just felt like venting my frustration. It's been a rough three months (almost four) and I just needed to unload. If you've read this far, thank you. If you have advice on the greasy face, hair loss, or how to lose the extra 6 pounds while taking two anticonvulsants that make it damn near impossible then please help! If you have any experience with Trigeminal Neuralgia or MCAS and have advice then please share that as well...

I had my gastric sleeve surgery at my local Spire hospital. I had no pain. It was a friends birthday yesterday and I took her out for lunch. We chose a sharing platter, TBH I was full very quickly and just chatted while she ate. I have got used to this now and so have my friends. I believe that at about 1 year things are easier and you are able to eat more. Or as much as a thin person would eat at any rate. In America they are warned away from drinking. I was told to be careful as I would get drunk quickly, The alcohol gets into your bloodstream quicker. I am not the biggest drinker these days but I have had some. Its a bit like having your first drink again. I was tipsy quite quick after a Bloody Mary. My calories are around 700 to 900 a day so not enough to soak up much alcohol. Some struggle to drink enough, I did. At 3 months, I could gulp a mouthful of any drink again but I still cant guzzle a bottle of water. I dont remember being thirsty but it is a pain to constantly keep sipping

You will still be able to enjoy food you like but in moderation! Some foods you won't be able to tolerate and it'll make you sick. Post surgery I was in phase 3 of my diet which was soft foods. I scarfed down a soft hard boiled egg and my stomach did not like it! I have not liked any type of boiled eggs till this day. I had the sleeve in 2018. My stomach will feel full but my mind will tell me I am still hungry. The pain from overeating is definitely unbearable and super uncomfortable. It is truly a mind game. If you have a really good nutrition team you will do awesome!

Welcome!!! I say call your current insurance and get more information. If it doesn't 100% cover, I agree with you, research insurances and apply during open enrollment. I live in Minnesota and work for Blue Cross Blue Shield, wish I can help you over here!!! We cover bariatric surgery but under a criteria and the process is 6 months of education. I've heard other insurances only need you to do 3 months. After you have found an insurance that covers it, call the benefit customer service and get the criteria of what you need for insurance to approve your surgery at the end of the 3/6 month bariatric education. How mine started I found a Bariatric program at a hospital/clinic and scheduled an appointment. They gave me all materials I needed and also a forum for me to ask my insurance questions. If I recall the questions were about the specific bariatric codes used for the surgery, the deductible/copays/maximum out of pocket. After the first appointment then starts your 3/6 month dietitian visits as well as visits to a therapist. Along the way of the appointments you may have to do required procedures like upper endoscopy, sleep study, and other blood work. It kinda sucks because you wouldn't know until the end if your insurance will approve/deny. Hope this helps!

You’ve likely strained/stretched your anus or maybe even caused a small tear. Add some soluble non swelling fibre to your diet & maybe try a stool softener. I used to take one if I got to day 3 without a BM. Though some need a stronger or higher dose. If I left it longer the poop would get harder, more compacted & more painful to pass. Iron is renowned for causing constipation so it likely did contribute as did your reduced diet. Not going every day is okay because we’re not eating a lot & it’s nutritionally dense so we don’t have a lot to poop out but it is beneficial to keep on top of it & try to establish some sort of routine.