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How's everyone doing on vitamins? Still buying those expensive "bariatric" chewables, liquids or easily dissolved? My 6 months post op labs were good and all I was taking were the bariatric multivitamins

My uncle tried hypnotism. I think his version was aversion therapy where the hypnotist/therapist trained his mind to think food tasted terrible. He's in bariatric surgery counseling now!

Just learned today that my insurance is approved and that my surgery is scheduled August 4th! Thanks to you folks at BariatricPal, I learned how to navigate insurance requirements. Many of you veterans and newbies generously gave of your time to answer posts from people like me. You taught me how to find information about my specific insurance plan and how to follow the approval process on my own. You gave me a heads up about what might happen at the psych evaluation. When I look back at my last six months, I realized just how much you filled in the missing areas of information as well as prepared me for how quickly events occur at the end of pre-op visits. I live in a rural area and have received only the bare minimum of guidance from my bariatric center, although it is a Bariatric Center of Excellence. Maybe I needed to ask more questions. Spending time to navigate all over this site has led me to so many invaluable areas. I've been around here long enough to know that each day will have a new stall question and sheepishly admit to zeroing in to rants and raves when I feel the need for a bit of drama. Posts here can be sources of encouragement or annoyance, just like the rest of the population. The ignore option has proved very useful tamping down my repeated irritation with some folks. I am very grateful that one of my bariatric books led me here. My nutritionists, "lifestyle coach," psych evaluator and PCP did not know anything about it. (and did not show much interest when I tried to share information with them) My level of preparation is directly due to all the advice I've found here. Many thanks. You know I'll be here for the rest of this journey.

I have before and after pics in my profile. It's funny cause I wouldn't put the before until I reached my goal and could put the after pic. Kinda shows how the renewed feelings of self confidence washes away all the negative feelings and embarrassment we felt when we were fat But now it's all good...... You'll get there too. It's a fantastic feeling.

I like my fitness pal. I've used it for about 9 years (I haven't had surgery yet). I don't like all the ads, but it doesn't bother me enough to use the paid version. Some people on here have complained that it says you're not eating enough after bariatric surgery, but all you have to do is not mark your day "complete" and it doesn't care. They have a huge database of foods and the recipe builder is pretty easy to use.

My surgeon's office had the ProtiDiet liquid beverage concentrates. I also got them online through Bariatric source. You might also check the new BariatricPal Store. I got a sample pack of the Syntrax nectar directly from the manufacturer. Drugstore.com also has it by the tub. Most GNCs and other health-food stores may have what you need, too.

Here is the perspective of one bariatric surgeon on how our meal volume progresses over time. In short, after a few years, we will typically be able to eat about half of what we could eat pre-op in a sitting or meal. This is consistent with my experience at seven years out, and my wife's at thirteen years out. There is still enough restriction to aid in effective long term weight control, but also plenty of capacity to go overboard on the wrong foods and see extensive regain. This doc is one of the few that I have seen that discusses this aspect of our surgery, and offers a prescription on how to mitigate the negatives of it. You may or may not get along with his prescription (I don't buy into everything he says....) but he does offer a model that we can use to develop our own approach to long term maintenance and weight control.

My bariatric surgeon was convinced that my band had slipped, so much so that last week he ordered, and I completed a repeat of the upper GI study I completed in June in a different state with a different surgeon (I have moved since my band was placed). The results showed a perfectly placed band...again. But I appreciated his wanting to be through with his medical opinion. My symptoms are only present at night after I am asleep, and otherwise I am able to eat without any adverse events. My surgeon discussed with me that even with slipped band, some patients are able to eat normally with few complications. With the symptoms I presented with he told me he would be surprised if my band had not slipped. I feel fortunate that it was still in place, otherwise he would have removed it. It will be best to discuss your concerns with your surgeon. I am not a physician, and only am able to share my own experiences!

The psych evals vary so greatly. I am a psychologist and conduct bariatric assessments. Mine take about 2 hours and I do give the MMPI...it is actually very relevant to the situation as it can screen for psychosis, substance abuse, easting disorders, etc. It's really for the surgeons to protect them from potential liability. Meanwhile...as a patient, I had mine done on Friday and it was about half an hour. I pretty much told the psychologist what I wanted and needed and it was really quick.

At the start of my bariatric journey, I bought, among other things, a vanilla cappuccino mix from my doctor, manufactured by a company called Health Wise. When I used it all up I wanted to buy some more, but when I attempted to call the company, which I located on line, they said that they do not distribute direct to the public....they only wholesale to the doctors. I thought I would have to find another brand, so I started looking and found one offered by Bariatric Choice called Bari-Wise and ordered two boxes. Guess what? The product is exactly the same, same packaging, same nutrients, etc. What kind of game are these folks playing? About a week ago, I ordered a product from a company called Diet Direct. Today, I get two separate e-mails from Diet Direct and Bariatric Choice, offering the same product, listing the same subject matter in the e-mail header, everything. Does this mean the competition among bariatric specific companies is being reduced and they are price fixing? Maybe I'm paranoid, but something doesn't smell right here.... I can understand the same product being offered by two or more separate companies in the distribution chain, but these name games seem to me to be an attempt to fool the public. Does anyone else have any input on this?

Do what is right for you. I just found that half of my co-workers have had some sort of bariatric procedure done. The one closest to me told me that I should go ahead and get a RNY becuase everyone else tried the VSG and Lap-Band and ended up having to get a revision. That is probably why his wife got one right off the bat (although I think she would have done just fine with a VSG because her BMI was a couple of points higher than mine). I just don't want any of the issues that come with RNY such as the very rapid weight loss and nutritional deficiencies. I see VSG as more of a tool and not a cure-all. My main problem is not being satsified when I have a meal; after researching which surgery was right for me, I decided that VSG, as opposed to Lap-Band was the way to go. I'm pretty sure that I could have gotten a Lap-Band, but I don't like having any kind of devices in my body.

Hi everyone, It's been 2 to 3 months for us August sleevers, and I am wondering how everyone is doing? I wanted to post some questions to the larger community, but I'm not sure where to put them, so I thought, what better than to ask the folks who are at the same stage as I am? I lost 35 pounds in the first 2 months (including the 10 days pre-op), but then I plateaued and didn't lose anything for 2 full weeks. Of course, even though I've heard others say not to worry, I still worried! I'm at the point where I can eat almost anything now, so I wasn't stopped by the nausea and pains that I had at first. Then we had Canadian Thanksgiving, and I ate more than I should have for 3 days in a row. I didn't listen to my body's signals and was just trying to keep eating because it tasted so good. But then, I would get pains in my stomach which alerted me to being full and I stopped eating. But within 20 minutes, I would feel so full I felt like I wanted to throw up. Each burp would bring up food into my esophagus. Yuck! Has anybody else done this? Now I am trying to eat slower and listen to my body's signals, but some times I don't think about it and just eat like I used to. And guess what? I lost 3 pounds!!??!! What the heck? Anybody else find that? I used to be a weight watchers leader, and I remember that we were instructed that if people ate too little, their body's metabolism would slow down too, so we would tell them to eat a bit more to break a plateau. It worked! I am finding weight loss coming a lot slower for me now, but I am trying to only weigh once a week so that I don't obsess over it. I'm sad that the initial fast weight loss phase is over. Is this what everyone is experiencing too? Last thing I wanted to tell you is that Bariatric Pal has a new online store for high protein weight loss foods! Maybe you already know this, but I wanted to make sure you all know about it. Prices are a bit high, but you can find stuff there that I can't find in my local stores. I have tried a few things, and my favorite so far is the Decaffeinated Cappuccino mix. It's unbelievably yummy! 60 calories, only 2 carbs, and 12 grams of protein! I also am in love with the peanut and pretzel bars. Finally, a protein bar that isn't so sickly sweet! Here is the link, and I'm looking forward to re-connecting with you all and finding out what's going well, what is a problem, whatever you want to chat about. http://store.bariatricpal.com/ p.s. use this code to take 10% off your order: BPLAUNCH10

I had my sleeve done in Tijuana through Mexico bariatric center. Was treated far better there than any hospital where I live...and I'm a nurse. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the entire experience. They took care of everything. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I have tried this and OMG delish! The mushroom is about 26 calories so once your cleared for full foods it is bariatric friendly and so good. I think I like it more than regular pizza!

I didn't cook one darn thing this year. I just couldn't. But I did enjoy some hot chocolate (the bariatric pal stuff in the store)! At least that's something I can enjoy. I tried to focus on the people and the events more than the food. It's a re-thinking of our holidays. I liked not having a bunch of crap around that I feel like I had to eat or it would go to waste!

Glad you have therapy to help with all the things you’re dealing with. I’m sorry you’re not getting your back issues/pain resolved. The Dr’s statement “You just need to lose weight, that's really the only thing that will help." was unnecessary, ignorant and less than helpful. We all know things are not that simple. Food may be the lesser of the evils now, but you also know its just as damaging to keep in this cycle of food to cope. I don’t have answers. I know how dark of a place that has been for me in the past. My heart goes out to you. You’re not alone in not exercising. It’s your situation. Some bariatric patients are in wheelchairs. Many exclude exercise due to mobility issues/pain. What is your physical ability currently?

Too true, too true, but we will do with what tools we have. I just felt bad you weren't given credit for all you have done already. Rather like " If you still think I'm too large, you should have seen where I came from!" GSVguy, I look at my pre surgery pictures,I cry because I didn't realize the size of me I was presenting to the world🌎! And I thought I was looking good, really I did. But out of that train wreck I built and am still building a NEW ME! I am still legally obese at 31.1, almost ready to drop into Overweight, but I started at 52, that is Abundantly Morbid Obesity, probably within death in a couple years if a ❤attack , stroke or cancer didn't carry me off first! That is a very Scary Larry circumstance, Bariatric Surgery was my best hope and almost my last hope, so even on my discouraged days , I might bad-mouth myself but not my surgery! It gave me back hope, I just got to stay the course until I can take a VICTORY Lap. If you have read my past postings you'll notice I haven't always had sunshine , flowers and bluebird singing in the trees. But I will still prevail, I HAVE COME TOO FAR TO JUST COME THIS FAR! I am not a quitter, I am Red-headed, stubborn, and I'm gonna hang around till the finish. If I die in process, so be it, but I WILL HAVE TRIED. And the Gold Ring may still be mine!

Yes she is an actual bariatrics nutritionist with 20+ years experience in bariatrics.

I use Bariatric Eating's Inspire protein. I don't love the vanilla, though. It has a weird vanilla flavor to me. The cookies and cream one is okay. For peanut butter, I use their unflavored protein and 1-2 tbs of powdered peanut butter (I like Peanut Butter & Co more than PB2—less grainy). I've also been using Crystal Light with the unflavored (orange, cherry, raspberry lemonade). SF pudding mix is also good for flavoring.

An article published in January 2006 presented very important information for anyone considering gastric banding (GB) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RNY). It compared complications and long-term weight loss in RNY, GB, and biliopancreatic diversion with or without duodenal switch (BPD+-DS). I'm going to report on only the RNY vs. GB findings (if anyone wants the others, PM me). The study of 780 laparoscopic surgeries from 2000-2003 revealed: 1. Total complication rates were 9% for GB and 23% for RNY. 2. Very serious complication rates were 0.2% for GB, 2% for RNY. (A very serious complication was defined as organ resection, irreversible deficits, and death.) 3. The GB group had a statistically significant lower complication rate, both in terms of occurrence and severity. The RNY group had almost 3 1/2 times more complications and their complications were more severe. 4. "Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is the safest operation in terms of complication rate and severity..." It is the safest of all 3 bariatric procedures. 5. OK, but what about long-term weight loss? Weight loss at 3 years and at 6 years out revealed very similar weight loss for both procedures (about 58% at 3 years and 51% at 6 years). 6. In the superobese (BMI over 55), another study found 87% weight loss at 1 year and 72% at 3 years. Their final conclusion? "There was no significant difference in % excess weight loss (EWL) and [RNY] at 2 and 3 years. Given that weight loss is very similar between [Lap-Band] and [gastric bypass], and that there is a significant difference in complication rates, patient preference for the safest operation seems reasonable." ( [ ] was edited by me to make the statement easier to read by using the most common terms.) Parikh and others, "Objective Comparison of Complications Resulting from Laparoscopic Bariatric Procedures," J Am Coll Surg 2006; 202:252-261.

Wishing you the best.I m in April and i m scared and feel guilty that I cant do it myself.I m sure you have done the reading and checking..so you have done what you can I got a book called."The Bariatric Bible"..very good tips.I live in W.A. Wishing you well

@Laura - Carbs are sooooo sloow. I try and have pasta meals before floorball training or pasta the night before any big exercise things I do and I can be sitting on it for ages. At the moment for lunch (unless I'm organised and not lazy) I have one piece of bread folded into a sandwich with a spread or ham. So essentially half a sandwich. That can take me half an hour sometimes. Most times... My workmates have given up on me, hehe. If I'm organised and I've got leftovers or salad I try and have it in an opaque container so no one notices how slow I'm eating so little. I made pumpkin soup at the start of the year and that took me about an hour to get through about a cup of it... Mind you it was really thick... Incidentally, while soup is good, thick soup is harder than thin soup, especially if you're stressed! At least, that's what I've found. Everything is harder if you're stressed, especially about the band. Meat varies... I love chicken, but it acts like a carb half the time. Steak is a bit hard to eat too, but fish is pretty good. I get around that by making meals where the meat is cut into bite size chunks and just make the chunks smaller... Works for having friends over to eat too cos then you can fool them a bit with how much you're having. I was in Dunedin at Otago uni when I had this done so was only at my parents place for visits and they never got used to me eating slow (I apparently influenced my ex-bf to eat slower because I ate so slow, haha!), so they'd still rush through meals, but one thing my dad got good at was making sure there were some small chunks of meat for me if he was cooking... Didn't know that about milk! Nice to know, could explain how I managed to lose even more weight since I've been here. And then put it on when I stopped going to training in Feb, probably, but I don't have any scales over here. Ah well. Also took me way too long to figure out which was the skim milk here in the Netherlands, I used to drink light blue without fail in NZ but I've been lazy here and just buying full milk. Should get into 'halve-volle' milk again though. Argh, my family kept buying Wisconsin Burger for a while... Pure cruelty on their part! Oh, related, used to eat Subway fairly often, I don't bother anymore. Takes like 4 hours to eat a 6-inch if I'm careful and make sure nothing gets stuck. I tend to sleep on my stomach as well, I can remember being annoyed having to stay on my back... Can't remember how long I did though. I remember a few days after surgery going for a walk to the nearest postbox and back (like 10 minutes return if you're walking slow - took me and my mum half an hour!). And I really can't believe how much I've forgotten about Christmas 5 years ago, think part of my brain melted or something. All those academic papers. Yikes. @amourette Haha, we try. Congratulations on the baby! Why'd you get the band loosened in the first place 2 1/2 years ago? Yeah, it isn't exactly cheap, which is why I can't understand the 'drink melted chocolate' friend of a neighbour I mentioned earlier... My parents paid for mine and refused to tell me how much it was but I found a bill one day after the op was kinda shocked. My parents complain enough about sending me and my sister to a private school, kind of surprised (and glad!) they didn't complain about the cost of this. I think I've had a surprisingly easy time of it to be honest. The sweet spot has been kind of easy for me to find, most of the time. I do have days when I rush things or I'm eating a new food and suddenly have problems so I can understand the issues you've had there. I've gotten into the habit of checking out where the bathroom is as soon as I sit down, just in case... I also tend to come up with various excuses - I have a cold, sorry, just need to blow my nose, oh my god contact lenses are annoying, need to go check the mirror... It's taken me 5 years but I'm a bit better with not rushing now, was terrible in the first year. Had one date with my ex when we first started going out and I think I ended up 'checking on my contacts' 5 times... Too much new food I didn't know how I was going to react to. I gave in and told him that night, actually. He was a sports person who never had a spare ounce on him and didn't really understand what it was I had done I think, but he was really supportive of me. And ate most of my food, haha. Actually, since moving here I've been wary of social dinners and stuff, though if there are more people I find I'm more comfy about it because they concentrate on me less. Meeting one or two people for lunch is a bit harder. I've actually given in and told two friends about it because of two situations like that. They were really good about it - seemed like they would be from stuff they'd talked about earlier in the evening at least. Dr Fris had told me that you can get it removed but that people just go straight back to eating too much... Thought he was joking (never considered removal because of prospect of painful surgery!), but it's a shame to hear the self-control we think we get with the band is really more the band than us. Hmm. Now I'm worried that I might not know something. I know long term there can be slippage or erosion... Or terribly painful indigestion (fail). Hmm. Thinking about what you said about the surgical office I think I can see how you felt abandoned... I've always been quite intuitive, so when Dr Fris said that because I was intuitive he'd basically give me free reign to decide when to have inflations, etc, (and Heather deciding I could decide how much) I was a bit surprised, but just ran with it, so I felt ok. They also dealt with weekend phone calls well when I had really bad indigestion for the first time... But yeah, they aren't all that forthcoming with more than the basics I think. I think you need to be proactive asking questions and all that. My problem was I could never think of them and I was coming up from Dunedin for the visits, so... A bit of a weird situation I suppose. (And now that reminds me of after I woke up after the surgery I polished off the whole glass of water they gave me 'just in case I was thirsty' over about an hour or two and the nurse told me off for drinking too much. Oops.). Randomly, what kind of salads did you eat? I don't often have problems with salads unless they have too many extras... And yeah, I think the general public forget that it's a tool and think it's an easy fix way too often, which makes it a bit harder for the rest of us with the stigma attached. And that's really good to hear a c-section isn't as painful! I'm not decided if I want kids or not, but at the slight thought of going through all that if I had to have a c-section... Well, I'd do it but I wouldn't be happy about it! Apparently there's a support group called the Bandits or something? That might have been the one you tried - Dr Fris told me about it but I never joined. I guess that's why they got in touch with me to email Laura when she was thinking about it a few years ago. I think it's a lot more prevalent in the northern hemisphere - from what I've seen here the US doctors seem to allow their patients a lot less leeway (my 'intuitive' weight loss wouldn't have been allowed I don't think), and in Europe everyone seems to know someone who's had some sort of bariatric surgery. Really good to hear you have a supportive husband though! Really helps to have someone close like that who supports you. Good luck with your second attempt Wow, long post. And now someone's trying to tear down my building apparently. Good luck for the appointment, Laura!

@@The Candidate Hi Debbie, Keep asking questions!! Im happy to help!! Im a bad example of how long it takes from the end of classes to surgery date because of my embolism. I had to wait longer because Dr wanted me to finish my blood thinners first. I finished class in May and had surgery in August, but I would say most of the class had surgery within two months of the class ending. A word of advice, when they send you for labs or to take care of something, do it right away. There's so many people waiting, so even waiting a couple days to get blood work can push back when they call you by days or a week even. For my preop labs, there were a whole bunch of tests, but I really just had to give blood, so I couldn't name them all!! For the 100%, no they are not super strict (they will act like they are) all that happens if you don't lose the 10% is that you have to go see Dr. Ray once more after the class ends, before they order your labs and send you off to Pacific Bariatric. Because of that appt, there is like a two week delay for surgery. There was only one person in my class who lost the 10% and she of course had surgery first. I would definitely try to lose it because it will save you some time of waiting. Now, once you meet the surgeon, you absolutely cannot gain any weight or they can cancel your surgery (of course I've heard of people who did gain and it didn't effect the surgery at all) but I believe that is dependent on your particular situation. The way I see it, every pound you lose preop is one less you need to lose post op!! (It's still hard though because you can sometimes get the "food funeral" mentality and have a lot of "last meals" I don't know a great deal about the bypass because I went into this knowing I wanted the sleeve. But yes, it is true that the hunger goes away. I can say that there are days where you feel a little hungry, but it's usually head hunger and I'm just bored so I find something to keep me busy. You almost have to remind yourself to eat every once in awhile. Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions

Congratulations on your 40th ! Been there, done that. The best is yet to come.......trust me.....it really is ! Enjoy each day because it does get easier from now on ! After your children are "raised" you become a teenager again yourself ! REALLY ! Ohio Raintree Acres "Bander in waiting" Dr. David Schumacher w/ Kettering Bariatrics Kettering Sycamore Hosp.

What part of Arkansas are you from? :smile2:I am hoping that I hear something soon. I actually just had my Psych eval today. I am hoping to get all my info sent over to Dr. Gibbs before this week is out; so his nurse can submit my info to my insurance company. I have Anthem BCBS PPO of Arkansas. Do you know much about their approval rate for Bariatric surgery? Well, good luck!:mad: