Search the Community

Thanks for responses all. I spoke with my insurance and they told me it would fall under medical benefits and that they are seeing it ALOT with sleeve. I've gained some weight as well, but that it not my primary concern here. I am having a barium swallow, EKG, endoscopy, and a few others tests. We shall see. It would be interesting to see the different insurance we all have. I have UHC.

I've seen people here have plastic surgery who only lose weight in the single digits of pounds. Think any more than that might be the exception - maybe for people who started out biggest?

I agree with @SleeveToBypass2023, a weekly loss of around 1-2lbs is considered a healthy rate of loss & it is where many of us settle at losing after the initial couple of months of higher rates. Then we all seem to slow to a snail’s pace. I’m talking 1-2lbs a month. This process is so individual. So many factors affect your rate of loss, how much you eventually lose & how long out it takes you. Most totally out of your control. I wasn’t given macros either. Just the 60g protein & 2 litres of fluid. I didn’t have to track my food either. I did do random checks but that was for my own interest. And I didn’t exercise. I know. The shock! The horror! Lost all my weight & more at a fairly average rate for my height & starting weight to goal. Six months to lose 31kg to goal & almost another year to lose another 11kgs so the 18 months with a sleeve as your PA told you. Your potential for weight loss is not near over yet. Celebrate & enjoy every pound you lose. Look at those amazing wins you’ve had already. Fantastic!

Thank you! I'll try to reply to everything. It took me some time, but for me personally the main reason I went with the sleeve is because I want to build muscle on top of the weight loss over time, and nutritionally it is easier to get the amount of nutrients needed to bulk up with a sleeve. However, that was not an easy decision and I did speak with two doctors first to educate myself. Both recommended that I went with a Deudonal Switch because of my diabetes as it would help that faster, however that is an option I have in the future if need be. Of course I'm not a doctor, so I would say this depends a lot on your personal factors and what would help you best. My sister had a DS done and she dropped over 200 pounds of fat, she's a different person now. My sister is also very short and I'm 6 feet tall so we carry the weight very differently. Either way, as long as you get it done I think you will be alright. No disrespect to the forums, but I understand the hesitancy from looking around here. However, I would say to look at this as more of a support group and a place for help from others that have gone through it. Everyone is completely different as far as what happens. I have been fortunate to have little to no side effects at all, others are not as lucky. I can say that before and after surgery it's up to you to control how well you achieve your goals. It's hard but absolutely worth it. You got down this far on your own, you should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. Don't look at surgery as a miracle cure for weight loss. Look at it as a tool that will aid you to achieve your goals much faster. After all, once you have the surgery it's on you to follow the meal plans, supplements/medication, and exercise in order to truly achieve your goals. And knowing your journey so far, I think that whatever you have done will help you immensely. Thank you again for sharing your story. Feel free to reach out if you ever need to.

I agree with NickelChip, the only way I can feasibly see you dropping that much weight is to start your pre-op diet early and stick to shakes and low carb veggies. Sugar free shakes though, because that will allow you to go into ketosis and you'll drop water weight pretty quickly, which could boost your numbers. I don't recommend doing this unless you really feel you have to though. My insurance said I couldn't gain a pound before surgery. Does yours say the same thing, or is this your surgeon's requirement? Often surgeons will ask their patients to lose weight beforehand to show their commitment, I think this is kind of lame, since the whole point of weight loss surgery is that most of us have not been able to lose the weight on our own! It causes a lot of unnecessary stress before surgery IMO. I wish you luck in dropping the weight!!

Hi all. My name is Carrielee. I am 33 years old and have been on the fence about WLS for the last few years. I have struggled with obesity since I was quite young and the weight keeps piling on. I am 5 foot 1 and just hit 325 pounds. I now have a BMI of 61.4. I have uncontrolled Hypertension on multiple meds, uncontrolled Type II Diabetes, fatty liver disease and high cholesterol, sleep apnea, severe arthritis, IIH, angina, past history of PE. I can barely walk and have been told if I don’t lose the weight I likely won’t live to see 40. I’ve backed out of this so many times but now that I’ve surpassed the 300 pound mark I know I have to do this. I’ve ended up in the ER twice in this last week with abnormal EKGs and the idea of having a cardiac event before 40 terrifies me.

If you’re eating the set amount of calories set by your team you will loose. Vsg will limit your food intake = less calories . You mention all the weight . In all honesty it’s mind over matter.The stomach has ghrelin wich singles hunger. This is removed and does come back. This new stomach lets you basically retrain your brain to eat. It’s up to you to keep calories set by your nutritionist.

Oh, that's interesting. So many sources say you start out much faster and then slow down at 3 months and again at 6 months, but it's encouraging to know that isn't the only way it can happen. My highest weight is what I show as my starting weight in my stats, but I lost about 13 lbs from nutrition changes while waiting for surgery, and another 15 lbs from the pre-op diet, so in the 5 weeks since surgery, I'm only down 12 lbs, with a one week stall at the 3-week mark, like clockwork. Patience is not one of my virtues.

I was on HRT but still had some breakthrough menopausal symptoms before surgery. After surgery, the hormonal flush got rid of all of them to the point I was considering dropping the HRT or at least reducing to a lower dose. But once I lost the bulk of my weight the breakthrough symptoms came back … strongly. Actually I had to go up to a higher dose. PS. I developed some absorption issues after my gall was removed two years after my sleeve surgery. One thing that was affected was the absorption of my oral HRT. My GP prescribed a patch instead and everything settled again. Something to keep in mind if you have a bypass or any issues with absorption.

I didn't have mine weighed after it was removed, but a lot of people claim theirs only weighed 4 or 5 lbs. I guess if you have a lot of liposuction you could lose more than that. I don't think my weight went down much. I looked about a zillion percent better, though!

It may seem counterintuitive, but you may actually need more calories. At least, I've read that many times in other threads. Make sure you are feeling satisfied when you eat and not cutting back on calories just to keep them low if you still feel you need more. I know that as time goes on, we're supposed to be in the 1000-1200 range, and that sometimes our bodies can slow the weight loss if we feel we are facing starvation. Check with your dietician about that if you can. Having said that, I think expectations for how fast we will lose are sometimes skewed by results from outliers, either those who lose very fast or those who start at very high weights. I've lost 48 lbs since I started this journey, but only 22 lbs of it is post-surgery. Basically, yeah, I think just keep doing what you're doing and trust the process.

Exactly, the only meds that won't absorb well are extended release meds. After surgery you're losing weight and hormones are stored in your fat which starts to release with fat loss making emotions fluctuate horribly. It's completely normal to be emotional especially when you add to the mix less calories than you're used to and surgery recovery! More emotional, tired, run down depressed etc.!

Something I didn’t expect were the changes to body composition post op (not the planned body modifications of plastic surgery) I was surprised to see that my body didn’t look the same each year post op. How and where I carried weight fluctuated each year.

I understand completely what your husband is feeling being a post-op husband myself. Not having a huge stomach and thighs in the way changes intercourse dramatically. One can get in there more completely, which gives much better sensation than before. Then their the whole idea that he is feeling much better about himself. Heck, his excess weight was probably a huge motivator in doing oral sex in the first place. He may have felt he was not satisfying you with intercourse so performed oral to ensure you were happy. Now that he is happy with intercourse and feeling like you are both being satisfied oral is less necessary. Some clear and honest communication on wants and needs may help in understanding the situation. Guessing is more often wrong than useful. Good luck, Tek

After surgery my weight loss has been slow. At least I think it's slow compared to how much I'm eating. 750-900 calories per day. Actively walking and resistance train 6 days a week. Day of surgery I weighed 284 lbs. As of yesterday I weighed 270 lbs. This is my 5th week out from surgery. I didn't lose weight for nearly two weeks. But, 14 lbs in 5 weeks isn't bad. I expected more.

Hey, So lately i start to geht more and more anxious, I got my RNY-Bypass sept. 2023, i'm currently 36 years old from Germany. my Starting weight was around 230kg, i'm now at 125kg, it is a lot right?, But me being Anxious about my excess skin is kinda..Hart on my self esteem, i kinda think that even after my Fight is won, that nobody wants someone who is kinda...mhm.. Weird? , for comparions, a photo from 1 day to OP and one from today.

I had a stall one month out that lasted for 5 weeks. I gained and lost the same 2-4 lbs every week. It was so discouraging. One thing I highly recommend though is MEASUREMENTS. I discovered that though I wasn't losing weight, I was losing inches!! This is rather common during a stall because our body composition is still changing even though the scale is at a standstill or going up a bit. The stall will break eventually. Keep doing what they told you to do, make sure you are getting your protein and hydration daily. Go for a walk. Try to ignore the scale for a bit. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I know it is hard, I'm 10 weeks out and have to remind myself of this every day!

yep. i was notorious for barely eating anything. i just didn't want to honestly. and i want to be the type of person to force my self to eat if i didn't want to (personally i think that is just as an unwanted eating habit as eating out of boredom). i did also lose more that i wanted to after reaching goal (at 7 months), but it all leveled out eventually (by 1 year). and no, i did not waste away, i did not become malnourished, i did not starve to death. while i did look pretty gaunt for a few months, that too went away despite not re-gaining any substantial amount of weight. i did have to re-learn how to eat higher calorie foods (abstaining from them during weight loss phase got ingrained into me, so it took me a few months to be mentally ok eating it again, you know?) i'm 5+ years out and there are still days when i just don't want to eat, or just forget to eat altogether. i don't worry about it too much because i know there will be a day when i just wanna eat. so long as my weight stays within my acceptable range, my pants fit, my doc is not concerned and i feel great, then i'm all good. honestly i just accept that i didn't reach my goals that particular day...so long as i reach them at least like 60-70% of the time, then i consider it a success. but i'm a bit far out now...during early weight loss phase i did try a little harder by drinking protein shakes (which i don't anymore), also i never tried to forcefully increase calories during weight loss phase though, no matter what i was eating. but during maintenance i was concerned about increasing calories...see my go-to's below: stuff i ate to increase calories in the early days of maintenance when stomach real estate was on ongoing issue: - avocaods - nuts and nuts butter - full fat dairy and cheese - beef jerky - olive oil drizzled on whatever - chicharron / pork rinds --> yeah this one would raise eyebrows cuz the crazy fat content, but i loved/love it! plus it had the added bonus of being very high in protein, ha. and it really helped to bump up my calorie intake. finally, i am also a grazer...since i can't really eat alot in one sitting, i eat a little bit every hour or so. this was really an issue for me in the early years, but now my food intake capacity has increased so it doesn't feel so much like a chore as it used to. In sum, just do your best, keep up with your labs and doc appt to make sure you medically ok, and eventually the stuff that you are worrying about now will be just that thing you used to worry about. good luck! ❤️

i was 46 when i had my surgery at a weight of 235 lbs (im 5'2"). it was easy peasy lemon squeezy, really. i had some of the regular issues come up, but nothing i couldn't handle with relative ease. lost 120 lbs in 7 months, and settled into a weight of 115-ish lbs ever since. i am 52 yrs old this year and i weighed 117.2 lbs this morning. so yeah, age didn't seem to hinder me in any significant way. i personally think the less you stress and realistically manage ur expectations as well as be flexible and deal things as they come (vs overthinking all the what ifs), the more successful and and peace u will be. change and new experiences await u, enjoy the ride! ❤️

Ok guys, y’all have made me feel the need to get on the pic train. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have any from my highest weight cause like many of you guys have said y’all have done, I definitely avoided pics. I’ll have to start taking some now so I can have progress pics too! 🙈

I'm 4 yrs out. Keeping the weight off but my Bp is creeping up high like it was. I'm stressed a lot going through a divorce and I'm low on iron. Working on doing what I should. Ie drinking water, getting enough protein. The bad habits of eating sugar/carbs are back. Sigh

i used to get that in the early days/months of wls. it got better as time went on. my doc called it orthostatic hypertension and is apparently a common condition during rapid weight loss and even just after a surgery (wls or not). but my blood pressure readings were always on the low side...not normal like yours. are u eating less than normal? i do recall u just had a recent surgery...did it start after that? p.s. at the time my doc said to add more salt to my diet...which was fine by me cuz i love salt 🤷🏻‍♀️

Question. How do they determine “excess weight.” Is it calculated from a certain BMI?? I tried to get an answer to this three hears ago when I was awaiting the sleeve and I still haven’t figured it out.

Apparently they leave your ovaries unless your menopausal so that’s likely why you still had yours from 28 years ago and they took everything of mine. Oh yes hospital food is awful. Plus at my hospital they have an app through which to order your meals & your water. OMG the worst app ever. Ordered a jug of water (to take my meds) and a cup of tea early one morning but then couldn’t order breakfast 90 minutes later because the app said I’d already ordered breakfast! Rang to order instead and the wrong meal was delivered. Oh we don’t have natural muesli anymore I was told when I complained so they bought me an high sugar, high fat, high calorie alternative! Grrrrr! Everything was all spicy and pasta & pizza & burgers for people in hospital!! I lived on clear soup (salty or flavourless) and jatz crackers and cheese (threw up the cheese) & hummus. No weight drop for me though just constipation & peeing out the fluids for days. Hope you’re recovering well.

okay, am i the only one who actually DOESN'T like to wear leggings anymore????? when i was thin, i didn't like how my calves looked in them. when i got fat, i didn't wear them, because i felt even FATTER in them. then i lost the weight, and i was all, "oh yeah, look at me in leggings, i'm not fat". but after a while i realized that wearing leggings made may non-existent ass look even more non-existent! unless i constantly flex my butt muscles, you can draw a straight vertical line from my neck to my calves if i stand sideways. i do wear them to exercise classes though, but not in everyday public life lol