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Thank you so much for your replies. I feel a little better. I don't remember having any gas pain when my gallbladder was removed. The main pain I had was from the incisions, and that was really when I overdid it and didn't let myself rest. I had worse, lingering pain when I had all 4 wisdom teeth and an additional tooth removed all at once in a surgery center. Actually had to take pain meds for like 3 days afterwards. I was MISERABLE. So here's hoping I have the same experience with wls that I did when my gallbladder was removed. Thanks again, ladies!!

To those of you who have had your sleeve for a while (i’m 3.5 yrs post op sleeve) how much hair have you lost i lost, i would say, about 30-40% of my hair in total. Started round 3 months postop, hit its peak around 5-6 months postop, and already started noticing little chciken hair regrowth around 7 months postop. My hair went back to pre-op state about a year after that (i.e., all the regrowth got to be the same length as the rest of the hair on my head…but i had shorter hair, like just below jawline) Was it sudden or gradual? Is it in clumps or shedding? pretty sudden…i noticed a relatively large cllump of hair in my hand after conditioning in the shower one day. But in terms of noticeably, it was falling out all over, not in patches. For a couple months after it started i had CARPETS of hair in my bathroom floor that needed vacuuming more often that usual. But no one notices (or at least didn’t say anything to my face) except me and my hairdresser. Did you find Biotinhelped? Nope. Do you have any special shampoos or hair masks or supplements you use to help slow down the Hair loss and/or speed up regrowth? Nope. ALSO, didanyone notice any drying of their skin? If so, what do/did you use to help with that? How long did it last? Is it reallybad, or just mild? i had/have dry skin normally so cant really say, but i did feel dryer than normal in the first couple months, but I attribute that to low water intake in the beginning and the fact that it was dead of winter at the time.

hello & welcome! My husband and I are getting the bypass too. We have all our clearances finished and now are just waiting on a date. I have requested for us to have surgery the same day or close to it. We are in our 50's and are empty-nesters. Our adult twins will come to help us in the first week after surgery. It's so exciting to be doing this with my husband - it's brought us closer really - having a common goal. Good luck to you both!

You are going to do awesome. Sending lots of thouhgts and love your way. Youve got this and I am here for you with any questions. I just did this, this time last week.

My hair started really falling out around 3-4 months. I had really thick hair, so no one has noticed. I asked my surgeon about Biotin, and he basically said it's like throwing money out the window. He said to make sure I get my protein in and take my vitamins. I was definitely freaking out for a while when it started, but it seems to have stopped now.

My scalp was real itchy too. I am just over 4 months out and am shedding lots, I am going to have it cut short next week and I am so unhappy about it but its not the end of the world. I know it will come in again as it has happened to me before at menopause and at a time of extreme stress.

My skin was so, so itchy early on! It drove me nuts but then it stopped. Re: hair loss, mine was shedding. Massive amounts of shedding. I shed a lot before surgery, but afterwards it was nuts. I really did wonder how I had any hair left on my head. It started in month 2 or 3 and continued through about month 7 (roughly). I have very thick hair, so most people cannot notice but I did, as did my hairstylist! I did not take biotin beyond what is in my bariatric vitamin - I just let it run its course. I have been very good about my vitamins and protein intake. That's not going to stop it from happening, but it is good for the regrowth. At about 7 months out, I cut my hair to my shoulders (it was very long before) and that made it less noticeable (to me). My stylist also said it had started coming in again, because my roots were thicker than the midshaft and ends of my hair. I also have been trying not to wash my hair too much and my stylist and I agreed to avoid anything that strips the hair, though I am still dying the roots, but no balayage for me for a while. Not going to lie, the hair loss stressed me out, but cutting my hair helped lessen the visual impact. And now I can tell the hair shedding has reverted to normal levels and my hair is growing back.

Well done, it comes off pretty quick in the weeks after surgery

Amazing how each doctor says different things.. My doctor said 4 to 6 weeks..

Hi, I found my skin very dry early on, I just increased my moisturiser use. my hair started to shed heavily about the 4 month mark I think. I don't think there is anything you can do about it. I found after about 6 weeks it slowed down but I have days were more hair sheds and more seems to come out when I shampoo.I have lots of new growth that is about 2 to 3cms long at the moment so that really weird especially in my fringe. I did cut about 6 inches off my length. Overall I have lost more than half the volume of my hair but I had thick hair to start with so only those who know me well, my hairdresser and of course me noticed. I have been taking a liquid collagen supplement and using cel shampoo not sure if they have helped though

So I’m in the part of the bariatric program where I have to lose a percentage of weight to qualify. Now that may not sound like very much but for someone who doesn’t lose weight easily at all it’s a little bit more harder for me. This is only 11 pounds, once I lose that I do a weight check in and then I get my surgery date. Once I get closer to that surgery date then I have the two week preop liquid diet. I need help and support as to how to start the weight loss going? Should I just go ahead and go into the liquid pre-op diet to lose the initial wait to get in and get my date?

At my center, the first two weeks post surgery is focused solely on fluid intake. Protein is not the focus. They said the number one reason for rehospitalization after surgery is dehydration, so they don't worry about protein intake for the first two weeks.

Hi everyone, I'm 2 weeks post op and so far so good. I hope you're all healing well. X Sent from my SM-G980F using BariatricPal mobile app

Just want to thank you Guru . . . I'm 5 weeks out from surgery (May 18) and struggling with fear, negative feedback from friends and general anxiety. I don't have as much weight to lose as some, but the VSG was recommended by my (Harvard trained) internist who has watched me struggle for many years now with one diet after another. At 78, carrying around 50 extra pounds and sometimes 25 more more is no joke and I would love to spend the last part of my life being able to move better and with less pain. Other than the weight, I've been blessed with great health although I'm 78, am still very active. Your post this morning helped me more than I can tell you and reinforces that I should not cancel the surgery out of fear that I will not be able to make it out of the "dark hole" that inevitably follows a major surgery. You are an inspiration!

I am 10 days post-op today. The first 3 days after surgery it felt very difficult to get fluids down. I was getting worried. At my appointment with my surgeon on post op day 4 he did a barium swallow. He first asked me to drink a full medicine cup of the barium. I looked at him like he was nuts, and asked if he was sure. I mean I had only been hearing “sips only”. But, the gulp of barium went down easily and went straight past my pouch as it was supposed too. I got to see the fluid pass thru on the screen, which helped me mentally know things were ok in my belly. Lol. My surgeon said I had likely been swallowing air when sipping which made the pouch feel full. So he advised after drinking, to keep my lips closed and forcefully swallow. I did that for a bit and now feel like I drink like I was able to before surgery. My next post op appointment is today and I am hoping to graduate from liquids to purée. Good luck to you!

No shakes for me after 4 weeks. No powder, no artificial or processed food. Just food. No other guidance.

Hi! I'm new here, I just googled "Weight Loss Surgery Discussion Boards" and this is the first site that popped up. I hope I'm in the right place... I had Open RNY GB in May of 2002. My weight the morning of surgery was 310lbs. I lost over 100 lbs in the first 10 months and got down to my lowest weight of 153lbs about 2 years after surgery. I was feeling fabulous! However, over the years, I was able to maintain at about 170-180lbs consistently, until I gave birth to my son in 2012. After he was born, I wasn't able to lose all of the weight I gained during pregnancy. I was around 200 - 205 lbs at my lowest after he was born. But, due to some other life circumstances and traumatic life experiences that happened to me in 2016, I have gained back over 100lbs and am now sitting at about 268lbs. I'm crushed. In May 2021 I decided to research revisions and found a surgeon in my area (St. Louis, MO) who specializes in revisions and I found out that I am a candidate for a revision to Duodenal Switch. After meeting with a dietician for 6 months, psychologist, primary care physician, etc. I'm finally having my revision next week... April 14, 2022!! I'm so scared and nervous this time around. I don't know what to do or where to go. I wasn't this nervous before my first surgery and I think it's because I didn't have as much to lose back then when I was 21. Now I have a 10 year old son who is everything to me and I'm terrified that if something goes wrong, he won't have a mom. Has anyone else in the forum gone through this and if so, can you please share your experience with me?

Well, there were varying degrees of pain so... I can tell you that I had to take pain meds (oxy) for about a week after my plastics (as compared to after wls, when I didn't take any pain meds at all outside the hospital) If i remember correctly, couldn't stand up straight for about 3-4 weeks due to the tummy tuck, and i couldn't raise my arms above my shoulders for about 4-5 weeks due to the arm lift. There was minimal breast lift pain, if at all. I was probably completely pain free around the 3-4 month mark...but i had re-injured myself twice before that because I didn't listen to my doc about taking it easy (i was itching to go running and busted open my stitches in several places...TWICE...oops) So if i didn't eff myself up, I probably would've been pain free much earlier.

Summerseeker, you said you had so much nausea--how long did it last? I'm about 3 months post op and still am struggling with nausea-

I had to keep a bottle of fluid in my hand all the time, and I had to keep rotating them so they were iced cold. I still don't really like water unless it is iced cold. I drink a lot of iced coffee and hot tea, as well as water mixed with flavor packets. Don't worry in the first few weeks if you don't get 60+ g of protein. Focus on the fluid first. That can get you messed up first, dehydration. Several posters here have mentioned juices, but I wasn't allowed to have sugar, so I found sugar free juices (5 calories per 8 oz serving) that I really like.

Im actually interested as well. Find myself trying to sip more and end up with a belly ache. I find myself so dry and either Im trying to eat or drinking and have to slow down. My surgery was two weeks ago but weight loss is sooooo slow and Im nervous.

I have noticed lots of people coming to the forums in distress because they regret having the surgery, I too was one of them. I wanted to share some of my own experience to reassure those going through regret that for some of us this is completely normal and part of the journey. Its awful, you feel like crap and wonder what the hell you have done to yourself and for some we wonder if we will even survive this life changing decision we made. You may feel like you have ruined your life, you may feel like you will never eat or drink your favourite things again. You may think you will die of thirst or even starve to death, I am here to say you will get through it, you will feel better and you will eat/drink your favourite things again (even if you shouldn't 😉) I had my final check in with my mental health care worker the other day and to hear her read back my "statement" and how I was thinking 7 months ago made me cringe, was that really me, was I really down that dark hole ? Yes I was but thankfully I am a long way from that place now. What we go through is a number of things first and foremost grief, yes grief and you will go through all the stages, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance and for good measure throw some anxiety and remorse in there too. Then there is our hormones omg the hormones what a rollercoaster ride they send us on so hang on tight !! I remember a few bad moments, one that stands out is standing in the shower feeling incredibly weak from not eating or getting my fluids in screaming "why, why me why do I have to feel like this" (some of my friends had breezed through the surgery) lucky no one was home and I did feel a little better after.....so don't be afraid to cry, don't be afraid to shout and scream. Another outburst was at the family dinner table for fathers day screaming why did I do this ? why didn't anyone stop me? I told my team that they shouldn't have approved me and they hadn't screened me properly and they had failed me 😔. I could tell of many more "moments" but I think you get the picture. Some people especially those who have had an easy time after the surgery or haven't had the surgery wont understand why you feel like you do I mean you chose to do this right ? The hardest thing is even we don't understand why we feel the way we do, we wanted this, we paid the surgeon to have this done. Yes its normal to go through a whole range of feelings and some are really bad but it gets better and easier everyday. It might start with 1 good day in a week then 2 until eventually good days out weight the bad you will feel like you are going 1 step forward and 2 steps back but you are still going forward. Be Kind to yourself let people around you look after you but also make an effort to look after yourself even though you don't feel like it. Soon you will get to a point where you no longer have that deep regret and you finally arrive at acceptance and from there you realise you wouldn't have lost the weight without surgery, your life is going to be fine, you can have that coffee and cake with friends , you can eat a meal with your family and your health has improved and you post your weirdest non scale related victory !! You made it!! You got through it !!! There is no more regret !!!

A muscle pull. So they believed. Went away after several weeks and I haven't felt it since.

Yea i hear that the gas pains are the worst of it and pain medication dont really do anything for that. Shall see what they actually give once surgery is over. In any case i secured some pain medication to keep on hand just incase. I always like to keep some on hand because i also have a condition called Diverticulosis and when that flares up oh man the pain is intense and have to be on 2 antibiotics for 2 weeks til it clears up.

we were originally told we'd have to crush pills for awhile, but they only crushed them for me when I was in the hospital. The PA at my clinic said as long as the pills were no bigger than a pencil eraser, I could swallow them whole. Bigger ones might take two or three weeks, he said. Almost all of mine were small, so I never crushed those. And one of the big ones was calcium (those giant horse pills), so I just got a chewable.