Search the Community

hey guys so for me its been 1 month post op and i feel fantastic but i had been following what my doctor has been telling me to do with keep adding new foods every week! the problem is that i havent pooped in about a week in a half.... anyone else had this problem? my nurse said i can take some miralax but i dont like what lax does to you i just want it o come out naturally but now im getting worried. ugh helps or tips are much appreciated ! sorry if this is TMI all the best, Courtney

In the ER. For the past couple of days I've been experiencing abdominal cramps so severe I feel it up to my chest. I've already had my period 2 weeks ago, but the cramps sort of feel like that or if you were to have diarrhea, but bowel movements seem to be fine. The longest I've gone was a week without a BM, and after that I had my BM Thursday and again on Sunday. I'm nervous because when I research online I found out that it could be an ulcer or gallstones and I pray that its neither one of them. Prayers and advice is welcome.

@@raquel_c (warning..TMI) Oh yes!! OMG!! I nearly called an ambulance a couple of times because it was stuck and would not come out of my body! I freaked out! Now I take a chewable Fiber pill and miralax every day. At least till I have some veggies and fruit in my diet. I thought it was due to the pain meds , and it might have been at first, but that was 4 weeks ago, and I had another episode last week. It scared me!! It was like a dang boulder stuck in my body!! MIralax is your friend.

def NOT TMI for me. Im having the exact same problem today. I had some Miralax last night, and things haven't, shall we say, progressed as I'd hoped. Have terrible nausea and headache now, making it hard to small my protein shake and fluids this am. I just know We'll get on the other side of these issues soon, and have more good days then bad.

Hi Rebecca! So happy to hear you're doing well! I'm also doing well. I am still on full liquids until Saturday, so I can't wait to have some cottage cheese! Energy level is about 3/4 of the way back to normal. Here's a little tmi, lol, today I was happy to finally have a bm since surgery on Thursday!

Maybe TMI but MOM did the trick. Lol. Constipation has become a big issue for me. Anyway , feeling better.

Wait...WHAT???!! THERE'S AN OREO DIET??? Hahahaha! That made me giggle this morning. Thank you! Pre-op diet is going ok. I'm not required to do a liquid diet but I have to stay under 1500 calories which hasn't been too bad. I have opted to do some protein shakes instead of certain meals. One more week and one day!!!!! Today I am VERY excited but I've gone through many emotions the last few days. (TMI) I started my cycle this week so it's not helping with my energy level. Thanks for asking and the morning giggle!

TMI for the faint of heart....... One month ( but I am old) maybe sooner for you if you are younger. Doggie style worked for me, with pillows supporting my belly. That way there was no weight on me, and the pillows held my belly still so it wouldn't flop around. OH......I love this forum. Happy nookie to you.

Hello All. I had RNY on 5/4/15 with a weight of 245 so I'm exactly 3 weeks post - OP. And including the 3 day liquid diet, I have lost 25lbs. Admittedly the first couple of days were rough. A bit painful and I was prefer grumpy for a bout a week with nothing but water and protein shakes. ( God bless my poor family) I was a GROUCH ???? When I was able to wear some soft food and exercise, my mood changed. I noticed though that old habits called to me .... Like watching TV and naturally wanting to snack and commercials with food of any kind made me long to put real food in my mouth. All of the things that got me here were still in my mind trying to convince my stomach that I was hungry. I tried to recognize that and learn from it so far. I feel very lucky that I can easily achieve over 64oz water each day and pills and listed food items are going down without any problem . I was nervous with puréed food like potatos and oatmeal because I felt with the loose foods I could eat more than the restrictive Tablespoon ... I thought " oh no , was the surgery unsuccessful - why don't I feel full yet" I think my surgeon is just that good that the pouch wasn't too swelled from surgery and to accept that things were going well and that loose foods were just sliding through . Almost happily, once I introduced the pouch to Tuna.... That full feeling came quick as well as with eggs and a 1/4 piece of toast. I'm going back to work tomorrow an am planning what to pack for the day / week. 3 weeks out and I am starting to feel like myself again .... Still a little sore and get fatigued easier but stronger every day! I have my checkup this week and feeling all has gone well so far. With one exception , there have been no issues ... Sorry for the TMI but haven't had a BM in a week ( started taking Milk of Magnesia as authorized by doc. Yesterday) but still nothing ???? Starting to get nervous over this as well I should as I understand it. Let's hope this passes and fixes itself with a little help soon . I'm happy to have found this site and all of your great posts have helped so much early in this journey ... Thanks e-

I was adding miralax, Metamucil and benefiber to my Protein smoothies and still had to take MOM every other day just so I could go every 3 days or so. And when I did go, it was rock hard and I would even bleed trying to get it out (sorry TMI). Then I started adding INSOLUBLE Fiber to my smoothies (benefiber and Metamucil are soluble fiber products) and I was able to stop everything else. I use a mixture of ground flax seed and apple fiber. Now my stools are soft but formed and I go regularly every day. I also mix Kashi Go Lean Cereal in my Greek yogurt (it has 13g protein/10g insoluble fiber per serving)

TMI again: My surgery was on Monday 5/18 and I still have not had a bowel movement. Am I right to be freaking out?

So interestingly enough, I've had migraines since I was 6 years old and this didn't even cross my mind before starting the preop diet (or even when considering wls). This may be TMI, but my migraines are triggered by a number of things but I can at least count on one every month with hormonal changes lol. If I were to get a migraine this month it would/should have coincided with day 3 of my preop diet. Shockingly I didn't even realize I didn't have one because I've been so focused on doing well on the diet. When you posted this I realized that this is the ABSOLUTE FIRST month I have NOT had a hormonal migraine. Now, my average cal consumption on the diet has been 700-900 (I promise you thats the lowest amount I have ever willingly consumed lol), and I have yet to have a migraine. I hope this gives you some comfort! And I've said it before and I'll say it again... if you're eating >100mg protein, physically you will most likely NOT feel hungry, mentally you will. You can do it!

Thanks all! Your support means so much!! Update #2 It's just about 10 pm Cali time, just had another walk, I'd say the hardest thing is getting liquids in, I didn't realize how little our new stomachs can hold, I mean of course we go to the classes and they tell us how small it will be but attempting to drink is another story. I find it's easier to do ice chips rather than Water. broth I can usually just get in about 2-4 tablespoons at lunch and dinner, Jello has been hard, I usually can tolerate about 1 tablespoon, and ice chips about 2-4 tablespoons maybe 3 times a day it all varies. But not once have I vomitted Yay lol. Did have some nausea this morning when starting the liquids but just one dose of nausea meds and it was gone about 20 mins later and has yet to return (fingers crossed) the laparoscopic incisions I guess you could call them are quite small I have 4 and bandages will be changed tomorrow, should have no scarring, I can't rave about my Dr enough. Dr Chen at ucla, I feel so fortunate. Anyway going to rest a little and make another restroom trip ( sorry if that's TMI, but I had to use a catheter all day yesterday so not needing one is a small win! ) hope everyone else is doing well on whichever part of your journey you're on, we will get thru this!!

Aww, little boy got his feelings hurt and now he's deleting his account...which has a whopping 11 total posts. Clearly, our community will be suffering a great loss. On another note, I too have accidentally posted in the guy's room because all of the feeds pop-up on recent topics. If the subject is obviously oriented to men, sometimes I'm like, oh whoops, let me get out of here, but otherwise if it sounds like a regular topic I don't even notice what forum it is in. Guys, I promise, we women do not care anymore about your TMI problems than you guys care about ours.

We also have this forum: http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1183-where-venus-and-mars-collide-new/ It's an adult oriented room for men AND women to discuss TMI/adult oriented issues.

I have found that if I start a thread that I am only interested in male responses........ then I state in the title something to the effect of "men only please". That way, the nature of the thread will show in "Recent Topics" as well and cue the reader that it is a Guy Room thread. Plus, it was much easier to just stop wearing all my panties that were getting all bunched up. No, really, I did ....it feels great going commando...... see, TMI. (I probably should have put this in the Guy's room......then again....maybe not )

I feel like I have to start from the beginning. I was banded back in 2008. I did fine for the first few years but needless to say over time I started developing reflux. I had my gallbladder removed because they felt like it was the problem. It ended up being my band. So I developed severe GERD and my band slipped. I had revision done March 3rd this year. First week was great, 7 days in my heart rate jumped to 160 and my BP dropped to 78/40. They checked me for a leak...no leak. WELL-- when I advanced my foods per my schedule I started to get fatigued after I eat...it went away until this past weekend. Friday I was going to the gym I think my blood sugar dropped because I felt clammy, numb, jittery. I felt better after I had eaten. I got a glucometer and about a hour after eating sugar (1/2 cooking Peanut Butter and teaspoon of sugar) my sugar was only 78 so I am not really sure how low it had gotten. before the sleeve I always had trouble with constipation. Not any more. And I thought I saw blood in my stool last week so this week I tested it and it is positive for blood. I got anxious after eating yesterday and I feel like all this crap is just causing me to be paranoid. I feel like its starting to cause me to have anxiety attacks because Im just afraid something is going to be wrong. I may even be getting depressed. I have felt ok since Saturday but Im just nervous...nervous that something is wrong. Maybe its my mind and I need to talk with a counselor or something but Im not sure what avenue to take at this point. Im probably over worrying because I was so afraid to have this surgery from the beginning just something about having part of your stomach removed. I have never had health issues like this. I have never had the feeling of impending doom like I did 7 days post op. I don't ever want to have that feeling again. Right now Im just thankful to have a forum I can kind of share my feelings with. My friends and family just get aggravated with me because I didn't tell them I was feeling bad sooner. I'm losing weight and I am happy about that but at the same point 2 1/2 months post op and I am regretting having this procedure.

I had my revision (band to GB) on May 13th, stayed in the hospital until May 15th and have been recuperating at home since. The pain was awful immediately after the surgery, pretty bad the day after, bad the following days and it has been manageable today. I used the liquid hydrocone until yesterday but decided no more because... (TMI coming), I had no BM since the surgery and I was starting to get worried. Today I had my first BM and it felt like such a relief. I had to use Milk of Magnesia and Benefiber, but it was worth it (even just for the peace of mind). I'm constantly sipping in my 2 TBS cup so I hope I'm meeting my liquid requirements (I'm not tracking but sipping constantly). I'm having a hard time with drinking 2 Protein shakes each day. Yesterday, I managed 1 and a bit of another one. Today I'm still sipping through one. I'm not taking my Vitamins as of yet as my surgeon told me to wait for a few days until the stomach can tolerate it better; she did tell me not to miss my Omeprazole dose once daily for a month so I'm careful about that. I'm trying to walk around; though I live in a studio apartment so there's only so much space to walk around, but I have even dared to dance a little bit and it was okay. I have weighted myself a couple of times and I was a bit surprised to see that the scale went up since surgery. I have read a few posts of people freaking out about gaining a few pounds in the days after surgery and I can't seem to relate. I honestly do not care right now. This is surprising because my number one reason for having the GB was to look better (there, I said it). Yet, the scale not moving (or moving in the wrong direction) does not bother me at all now. I can only focus on making it through the recovery stage in one piece and as healthy as possible. I ventured over the "complications" forum and decided that it is not a healthy place for me right now. I'm glad people with complications have a place to post and get support and help but after reading a few posts, I got so paranoid and worried. I had to stop. I have had moments of regretting the surgery, especially when the pain was very pronounced. I still have these moments when I think that I could be full of energy right now and go to work and hang out with friends... but they pass quickly. So I hope I'm doing okay after all.

Got word today that I'm APPROVED! So it's a go...May 27th here I come. Today is the official start of my pre op diet although I gave it a test run the last two days. Things went ok other than (sorry tmi) my menstrual cycle starting! Ugh lol!

I had an ablation over 6 years ago and next to my VSG this was my favorite surgical procedure I've ever had. Haven't experienced a drop of blood since (sorry if that's TMI) It's AWESOME to not have to think about tampons and pads. Wished I'd had it done at 13 when I started my period! As for the cramps, my surgeon has OK'd NSAIDS for occasional use. In fact, he sends all of his patients home with sublingual NSAID for 5 days postop. The benefits of reducing surgical inflammation outweighs the small risk of ulcers over such a short period of time. Since then, He simply advised to take a PPI and/or sucralfate if I need to take them for several days/weeks in a row. I have been on both NSAIDS and steroids (that can also cause ulcers) for neck and spinal issues a couple times since VSG. If you still don't want to try NSAIDs, you may try traumeel. It is a natural pain reliever. You may also ask your doc about dicyclomine. It's normally Rx'd for IBS and helps reduce muscle spasms (cramps) in the GI tract. It's worked wonders to help with the pain I've had during gall bladder attacks. Don't know if would help with menstural cramps.

hi!!! I am six weeks post op - and my period was last week. I swear.... my entire uterus came out during my period ( I know TMI). I honest have not bleed that much since I misscarried over 10 years ago. WOW!!! And the cramps - were so bad. According to my surgeon, the periods are a mystery after surgery. So anything can go. Here is what I did.... When the cramping was bad (and yes, I wanted to wrap myself in a ball and die) - I got up and walked around. This really helped - sure at first it sucked but it did let up after a few minutes of walking. Night time was the worst - so I just went up and down the stairs when I woke up. And this first period was 9 days - can you say - kill me now!!!

Ok it's exactly a week today since my surgery, and no BM this whole time. I took 2 ex lax pills crushed up yesterday, and nothing. I crushed 2 more today and so far nothing. It's obviously only been liquids for the last 3 weeks, and today is first day to incorporate puréed food. So obviously nothing should have come out in that area anyways right? I have no cramping or discomfort. I am having moments of flatulence ???? so I assume it's working right down there !? Anyone else experiencing similar issue? TIA ????

@@tcon I originally was thinking the sleeve but based on my BMI was over 50, extremely high triglyceride levels, high cholesterol and sleep apena the SADI would provide me the quickest route to lowering my triglycerides. The practice I used no longer performs LapBand because of the long term failures leading to revision, they still perform RNY (in some cases) but VSG and SADI (they don't do the full DS) are the most common procedures. I liked the idea of less time under anesthesia and a better recovery. I was under for about 3 hours, it was performed laproscopiclly using the DiVinci Robot. I have no acid reflux, but I was never prone to it or GERD prior to the surgery. I've really only had the the same problems that just about everyone experiences. Mild depression, trouble getting in Protein and Water at first. I did discover pork roast does not sit well (TMI about 2 hours later I had severe gas cramps). Other than that I've been able to handle all the other foods I've tried so far (seafood, chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, deli meat/cheese, yogurt). About 2 weeks ago I did start to get an aversion to my premier Protein drinks and most others. I think it is more a head issue now. It turned my stomach the first time so I think every time I've had them since my brain is remembering feeling nauseated and causing me to feel nauseous. I have never thrown up since my surgery, although I have had episodes of nausea. The first day I was allowed soft foods I was craving crab legs. They were delicious and evidently I didn't know when to stop and ate past my full point...yep it didn't feel good for about an hour or more. More TMI: I haven't experienced any of the yucky stuff (diarrhea or excessive gas). Yes, I've had gas but not anymore than normal, I have very regular BMs usually once in the morning and sometimes one in the evening. My doctor said gas and diarrhea mainly come from consuming too much carbs and fats. He recommends sticking to no more than 40 grams/day of each and to make sure to get the 80-100 grams of protein/day. Recovery: I took three weeks off of work, but could have been back in two. I really had no pain,I was well covered in the hospital and I took my tylenol with codine the first couple of days I was home just to help me sleep. I alternated sleeping in bed propped up on a wedge pillow and on the recliner. I'm a side/stomach sleeper and it wasn't until around 3.5 weeks that I was comfortable on my side. Tiredness: I was tired especially during the first three weeks. Sleep is very important for the healing process so I did take naps and went to bed "early" for me. I'm normally a bed around midnight up at six person, but I would go to bed around 9 for a few weeks. Once I got back to work the daytime tiredness seemed to fade away. I think staying busy made all the difference. I was tired by the end of the week when I got home and did an early bed time. I just started my 3rd week back at work and all has been great. I also walked around EPCOT with my husband at 2 weeks post surgery (that kinda pushed it and took it out of me, but the change of scenery was nice). Last week (5 weeks post op) I spent the entire day with my family (including my 2 year old son) at the Kennedy Space Center walking around. I did fine and felt great.

The following are some of the abbreviations used on this website: ACL = Anterior cruciate ligament AMRAP = As Many Rounds As Possible (crossfit) BB = belly button bc = because BCBS = Blue Cross/Blue Shield BED = Binge Eating Disorder bf = best friend BM = bowel movement BMI = Body Mass Index bp = blood pressure BPD = Borderline Personality Disorder or Biliopancreatic Diversion (Scopinaro procedure) bs = blood sugar btw = by the way CBT = cognitive-behavioral therapy CC = common channel c diff = clostridium difficile cos or cuz = because CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure CRNP = certified registered nurse practitioners cw = current weight CXR = Chest X-Ray Dr. = doctor DS = Dumping Syndrome or Duodenal Switch EGD = Esophagogastroduodenoscopy EKG = Electrocardiography ff = fat free GERD = gastroesophageal reflux disease GI = gastrointestinal GNC = General Nutrition Corporation store GP = general practitioner or family doctor HBP = high blood pressure hr = heart rate hw = highest weight ICU = Intensive Care Unit Idk = I don’t know IMHO = in my humble (honest) opinion IMO = in my opinion IUI = Intrauterine insemination LAP Band = Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band lol = laughing out loud LSG = Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy med = medicine msg = message NASH = Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis nf = non fat NG = Nasogastric NP = nurse practitioner NSAIDS = Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug NSV = non-scale victory (“scale” means “weight scale”) NUT = nutritionist Onederland = a magical place or destination for those trying to lose weight. It might correspond to attaining a weight in the hundreds or losing a hundred pounds. op = operation OSA = Obstructive sleep Apnea Oz = Australia PCOS = Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCP = Primary Care Physician PM = private message (email) PMS = premenstrual syndrome postop or post–op = post-operation or post-surgery PPI = Proton Pump Inhibitors ppl = people preop or pre-op = pre-operation or pre-surgery PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PVC = Premature ventricular contractions RA = Rheumatoid arthritis RTD = ready to drink RN = registered nurse RNY = Roux-en-Y s/f or sf = sugar free smh = shaking my head, scratching my head SOB = shortness of breath sw = weight at surgery tmi = too much information TPN = total parenteral nutrition TT = tummy tuck u = You VSG = Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Vit = Vitamin wks = weeks WLS = Weight Loss Surgery WOD = Workout of the Day w/o = without wt = weight or :-) = ☺ = smiley face or :-( = ☹ = sad face

if anyone is taking the pain meds just a word of warning....you will become super dooooper constipated! So use sparingly, and if you do use the pain meds, take miralax. I nearly had to go to the ER to remove the blockage. I don't want to get into too much TMI but please take my word for it. The constipation caused by the pain meds is unbearable.