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Update: Went to get labs done after no improvement after increasing water intake. Turns out my vitamin D levels were low! Not sure why bc I was taking calcium citrate with vitamin d, but I changed brands to the bariatric advantage chewable and my energy levels improved, bp and hr went up, too! Lesson learned: when in doubt, consult a medical professional.

Oh man! Now you've done it! Lol I totally agree with you. Respect the boundaries. Personally I think the excuse of "I didn't realize this was a guys only post is BS. I've never accidentally posted in the Gals Room. Just say'n.... On FB I'm only a member in the guys only groups. Reasons being...less drama, no candy coated backhanded compliments and straight talking honest talk even if it's something you dont want to hear but need to. If you screw up or act like a jerk you will get called out on it, but you will also get respect and support from those same guys. I admit I read the other posts on this forum for women but I won't comment on them if I know it's for women only or a topic that I have no experience on. Just wish some of the ladies would do the same. This all being said I'm certain a lady has read this, gotten angry and most likely will comment on this thread. Again, just say'n.

Poppygirl— My surgery was 7/11 and by day 4 post op my gas pain was almost gone, but I also wore an abdominal binder which reduced the pain and bloating a ton. I found one on amazon for pretty cheap- maybe $30? My doctor told me to wear it for a month and it has really sped up my healing process. You can also try other compression garments like high waisted spanx type undies or bodysuits, which I’m wearing these days bc I’m back at work and they fit better under my work clothes. Hope that helps!

I'd guess that your entire dating landscape will change. By that I mean you are going to change, your confidence will change, your tolerance for BS with change, you will find a voice you didn't know you had. In other words, you may want to begin to ask yourself, not who will like me, but who will deserve me. Just my .02

Christ on a cracker! I'm having gastric bypass surgery in 2 weeks after going through a 6 month weight loss program. Damn, I never thought I'd find myself here. I mean WTF? I am having my entire guts rearranged just to get my weight under control. Sometimes it just seems ridiculous. So, grizzled veterans, what's the run down on your coping strategies? Do not tell me that you discovered a new-found love of exercise and that you just *like* go for a run when you are stressed and tired. For real, what are you doing? I mean, we go to all these classes and dredge up all our bullshit so ALL THE THINGS are simmering just under the surface and then our coping mechanism is ripped out from under us at the same time. I feel like a battered and bruised ball of sensitivity after talking about and trying to deal with self image, denial, abuse, etc. Then, the one thing that has always been reliable, has always worked for me (temporarily!) is not the thing anymore. The glass of wine, the pint of ice cream, the latte and scone with your BFF, the lasagna at mom's, BUH-BYE! I don't want to make it sound like I'm not doing the work; this is the first time in ages I've looked forward to the upcoming year. I've worked hard at breaking some of my worst habits: Fast food, eating in front of the TV, snacking after the kids go to bed - THE WORST ONE - checkity check! I've even lost 20 lbs because I'm fk-ing serious about this. But, damn, what now? I can't help but wonder...will I ever find my healthy coping mechanisms?

Last night I found this & posted in another thread. Here is something I found online about a medical alert Bracelet. Hope this is okay to post. "5 reasons gastric bypass patients need a medical alert bracelet 1 ) You should not be given NSAIDS NSAIDS, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are known to have a few side effects when taken under normal use. These include ulcers, an increased chance of bleeding, and liver or kidney problems. And that's just for a person who hasn't been through a major surgery like gastric bypass! The point of a medical alert bracelet is to let people know about your condition in an emergency. NSAIDS are commonly used in medicine, so alerting the staff of your bypass can give them the chance to find another medicine to treat you. For people who have had a gastric bypass, NSAIDS can be problematic for newly constructed stomachs that haven't gotten the chance to build up protection against irritants like NSAIDS. 2 ) A Blind NG tube is dangerous for you Blind NG tubes are inserted through the nose of a patient who needs to be fed through a tube after a medical emergency. It's usually fed through with no problems, as doctors know how to do this procedure on normal anatomy. But after a gastric bypass, only a medical alert bracelet can let your healthcare team know that you no longer have "normal" anatomy. A bypass changes the way your stomach is shaped and how it sits, meaning a blind NG tube is likely to break through your stomach walls and cause vast damage. This is especially true because gastric bypass patients do have stomachs that are more sensitive to damage. If your medical team knows about your gastric bypass, then they will incorporate a different method that is equally helpful but cuts down on the risk of damaging your stomach. 3 ) A limited intake of sugar is important Hospitals have variations in the diets and medications they can give patients depending on their medical history. Gastric bypass patients need to actively avoid excess sugar intake for a few reasons. It can heighten any problems related to diabetes, which is common in overweight individuals. It can also cause severe diarrhea in people who have had a gastric bypass. It's also important for your healthcare team to know about your bypass through your medical alert bracelet so that they can continue giving you the right diet. For gastric bypass patients, this means high Fiber and low sugar! 4 ) Complications can be found faster Having a gastric bypass surgery is a major operation. It's done to transform your health and quality of life, yet it can have complications. In the rare cases when a complication happens, it's important to get treatment as soon as possible! You could potentially experience bleeding, blood clots, or a rupture in your new stomach pouch. Hernias are also known to happen as well as infections, leaking, or ulcers. These cases can be fixed with usually simple procedures, but knowing is the only way staff can address them before more complications arise. So when you are brought into a hospital, a medical alert bracelet can work wonders in letting the staff narrow down what could be happening to you. It can ultimately save your life. 5 ) Your solid food will need to be limited If you need to be fed while you're in the hospital, then staff should be aware that you need to have your solid food limited. Because your stomach size has been greatly reduced through the surgery, anyone placing a feeding tube will have to know that your stomach is smaller and cannot handle a large amount of food. When someone with a gastric bypass is fed large amounts of foods, a few things can happen that your team needs to know. If they do, then they can properly adjust your in-hospital diet and look for signs that a complication from overeating is the reason you were brought in. Overeating can stretch your new pouch, rupture it, and cause your body to reject the food. Regardless of the situation, a medical alert bracelet can keep your medical team totally up-to-speed on what is going on with you so that treatment can be effective and quick. And everyone at N-Style ID loves keeping our customers up-to-date with the latest information about medical alerts and other topics on our blog. You never know when an emergency could happen, and that's why these bracelets are designed to be stylish and useful."

Congrats on getting your date. Sucks you had to deal with this BS though. I have a very long fuse but this would have put me over the top. I would have for sure complained to her first then to her higher up even if it's the surgeon. Like you said if she can't handle the workload they need to get someone else to help. Or just get someone more competent. Good luck with your surgery, hope all goes smooth from here out.

I guess it depends on what your goal is or how much you want to lose? I chose bypass for max loss quicker ( although sleeve can slower people have lost equal weight in long run), also BC I had reflux . I also saw many converting from sleeve to bypass and I didn’t want two surgeries to be a possibility at all. So I guess it depends on your preference and medical factors. Plenty of people with both surgeries here with a lot of success. Good luck with your decision.

My bypass is August 23. So far I've not seen anyone else with this date. Here is something I found online about a medical alert bracelet. Hope this is okay to post. "5 reasons gastric bypass patients need a medical alert bracelet 1 ) You should not be given NSAIDS NSAIDS, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are known to have a few side effects when taken under normal use. These include ulcers, an increased chance of bleeding, and liver or kidney problems. And that's just for a person who hasn't been through a major surgery like gastric bypass! The point of a medical alert bracelet is to let people know about your condition in an emergency. NSAIDS are commonly used in medicine, so alerting the staff of your bypass can give them the chance to find another medicine to treat you. For people who have had a gastric bypass, NSAIDS can be problematic for newly constructed stomachs that haven't gotten the chance to build up protection against irritants like NSAIDS. 2 ) A Blind NG tube is dangerous for you Blind NG tubes are inserted through the nose of a patient who needs to be fed through a tube after a medical emergency. It's usually fed through with no problems, as doctors know how to do this procedure on normal anatomy. But after a gastric bypass, only a medical alert bracelet can let your healthcare team know that you no longer have "normal" anatomy. A bypass changes the way your stomach is shaped and how it sits, meaning a blind NG tube is likely to break through your stomach walls and cause vast damage. This is especially true because gastric bypass patients do have stomachs that are more sensitive to damage. If your medical team knows about your gastric bypass, then they will incorporate a different method that is equally helpful but cuts down on the risk of damaging your stomach. 3 ) A limited intake of sugar is important Hospitals have variations in the diets and medications they can give patients depending on their medical history. Gastric bypass patients need to actively avoid excess sugar intake for a few reasons. It can heighten any problems related to diabetes, which is common in overweight individuals. It can also cause severe diarrhea in people who have had a gastric bypass. It's also important for your healthcare team to know about your bypass through your medical alert bracelet so that they can continue giving you the right diet. For gastric bypass patients, this means high fiber and low sugar! 4 ) Complications can be found faster Having a gastric bypass surgery is a major operation. It's done to transform your health and quality of life, yet it can have complications. In the rare cases when a complication happens, it's important to get treatment as soon as possible! You could potentially experience bleeding, blood clots, or a rupture in your new stomach pouch. Hernias are also known to happen as well as infections, leaking, or ulcers. These cases can be fixed with usually simple procedures, but knowing is the only way staff can address them before more complications arise. So when you are brought into a hospital, a medical alert bracelet can work wonders in letting the staff narrow down what could be happening to you. It can ultimately save your life. 5 ) Your solid food will need to be limited If you need to be fed while you're in the hospital, then staff should be aware that you need to have your solid food limited. Because your stomach size has been greatly reduced through the surgery, anyone placing a feeding tube will have to know that your stomach is smaller and cannot handle a large amount of food. When someone with a gastric bypass is fed large amounts of foods, a few things can happen that your team needs to know. If they do, then they can properly adjust your in-hospital diet and look for signs that a complication from overeating is the reason you were brought in. Overeating can stretch your new pouch, rupture it, and cause your body to reject the food. Regardless of the situation, a medical alert bracelet can keep your medical team totally up-to-speed on what is going on with you so that treatment can be effective and quick. And everyone at N-Style ID loves keeping our customers up-to-date with the latest information about medical alerts and other topics on our blog. You never know when an emergency could happen, and that's why these bracelets are designed to be stylish and useful."

U all must have diff instructions than I bc I am not steering away from my instructions. You do realize as well different doctors and hospital programs are slightly different. Actually had my first follow up today with PA and I'm doing great according to her. I only eat a few bites each meal chew thoroughly and I'm full. Not drinking 30 min b4 or after either. My only issue thus far is going to the bathroom 🚽. Not pleasant.

I've known this for years. Didn't have proof, but knew it in my heart. All that calories-in, calories-out BS was always nonsense. Our bodies are not sealed science experiments. They adjust. Maybe if I'd gone to med school instead of engineering school I would have found the proof for this a long time ago. Yes, eating a calorie deficit will reduce weight. I know that. The problem is trying to determine the baseline before you can calculate a deficit.

Hands down best one so far @Orchids&Dragons . No mushy BS, to the point. I LOVE IT!!!!

Thanks everyone...I have my post-op appt in 2 days so am going to run these options by them. I am also going to ask about Vitamin D... I haven't taken any yet bc I am afraid the taste will make me gag/vomit.

@lizvirgo09 Thanks for the info and "fed my poodle the chicken" is the funniest thing I'll hear all day! I love it.

I am a July 2017 sleever. My goal weight was 140 lbs, and by June I was 144, which sometimes goes up to 145. So I didn’t get down to it. But I eat a nice amount in a day, I’m never hungry (except right before I eat of course), I have my little snacks which I don’t need to feel ashamed of, as their macros and calories fit in with a healthy diet. So my weight loss counselor told me as she graduated me, that I don’t need to worry about the numbers of the scale any more. I still feel I have too much fat and skin in the lower half of the body. I do plan on surgery to help with some of the trouble spots and skin. And I work out now, I FINALLY believe all those thin people who used to say they loved working out. Didn’t you also think they were lying? Lol. Now I am one of them. I still can’t believe it. I don’t overdo it but I like to do some kind of workout or exercise at least once a day, even if it’s just stretching for 20 mins some days. The surgery was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Which I did more for my kids than for me, because my blood pressure was getting so bad and I wanted them to have a mother for a long time. But it ended up giving me a new lease on life. I did not lose 100 lbs in 6 months. It took me a whole year to lose 60 little pounds. But that is pretty much what I needed to lose. I could go down 10 lbs but maybe I will after body shaping, skin removing surgery, and maybe I won’t. My face and arms and chest are pretty small and I am not sure I want them any narrower. At my age it just makes you look old. I thought losing so slowly would mean I wouldn’t lose my hair. I was wrong. I lost about 75% of it by last November and by January I was getting vitamin and mineral IVs and extensions in my meager hair (which looked very post chemo). Still have the extensions and also a ton of 2-3 inch new hair growing back in. Whew. My advice to anyone starting out would be to take full advantage of your surgery recovery period when you cannot est normally, and DROP ALL SWEET FOODS PERIOD. Go very low carb, and make your carbs be fibrous veggies and seeds etc. Avoid sweet tastes. Many Bariatric products are full of sweeteners, keeping your palate and gut bugs preferring sweet tastes. Avoid them. Seek the salty tasty ones. Use unsweetened, unflavored protein powders. My doctor’s Nutritionist told us to avoid fruit for 6 months. I did. Thereafter, only 1/2 c berries or less a day. You don’t ever need fruit while you are losing weight. It’s a great opportunity to reset your diet. The gut bugs who love sugar will die out and they are the ones who give you that craving. Take advantage. Another diet thing I learned from keeping meticulous track of what I ate was that 50% of my diet was fat. Healthy fat. And I continued to slowly lose the weight, almost daily, by eating the meats, eggs, dairy, and butter that I ate. All from healthy, Grass fed, pastured animals. Raw whole milk. A very clean healthy diet with a ton of fat. I just steadily kept losing. I’d heard fat doesn’t make you fat, but now I KNOW it. Good luck to all. One of these days I will post my before and after pics and measurements. Sorry such a novel here,

I had none for my WLS. I have to imagine I had one for my plastics bc I was under for 8 hours, but I wasn’t aware of it so they must have done it while I was out and removed it while I was out too.

You might be surprised to find a lift is all you need... they excise extra skin in a keyhole shape and that will reduce your cup size quite a bit all by itself. I had a lift with implants and would up the exact same bra size bc the implants made up for the removed skin (that I’d been “rolling up” and tucking into my bra!

Hi, I’m about 4 1/2 weeks post op and I still haven’t started taking my multivitamin. I’m only taking calcium and D3. I tried to take my multivitamin but I kept vomiting it right back up. It sucks bc I know I need to take it AND I had one that was once a day with iron so I didn’t have to take 8 different pills per day! Is there ANYTHING out there that’s a chewable one a day that meets our requirements and includes iron??? Thanks so much for any advice!

Rileyjay, I got my sleeve 7/11 and am having the same issues. I take BariMelts for multi vitamin, biotin and iron. I have different brands for B12 and calcium chews. But they all taste awful. I find the soluble pills are least terrible if you take them with a swig of OJ and let them melt a bit in your mouth with the juice before you swallow. At this point, I haven’t bothered trying to mix them into smoothie bc I’m consuming such small volumes of liquids.

Clarify what, exactly? I have Anthem BC BS and I also have to be followed by the surgeon and nutritionist for 6 months, have a psych evaluation, cardiology visit, stress test, and attend two support group meetings, and have a barium swallow test. Like allwet said, it all sounds completely normal and expected. Are you getting two different sets of requirements depending on the doctor? If so, I'd go first with what your insurance requirements are. Then your bariatric surgeon shiuld do what insurance requires. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

My water intake has been better than it ever has considering I stopped drinking light beers to speed things up and even seltzer water because very little of it quench my thirst. 2 things i should have never been drinking but did and still lose weight not that I quit I’m stalling, how ironic. I don’t do weights and will not start to until I’ve lost another 30% of my weight I’m focused on lots of cardio and resistance training. I measure my loss with a scale not a BMI tool or measuring tape because that’s all that matters to me. I track my weight on an app called happy scale so even if my weight fluctuates a pound or a pound and a half it means nothing to me because I understand my moving average. When I tell you I’m stuck on this weight like a rock unfazed without reason i mean it. I’ve been telling myself to be patient because there is no other diet or regimen better than the one I’m already on, i can not restrict anymore nor am I upping it and I’m deff not going to start eating carbs hell with the “good carbs”. Speaking of which, I’ve also been on ketosis the entire time. So to sum it up.. I eat clean as all hell I literally have nothing to log because I only have meat without even marinating it bc I don’t want to add cals and carb just salt and pepper and premier protein shakes and water. Clean lean low cal fat and carb. If someone else wrote this I’ll blatantly call them a liar because such isn’t possible one would be melting away. When I tell you I’m furious it’s an understatement! Thanks for trying to figure this out with me 💪

Used my camel back on yesterday and today's walks. Minus the bladder because one of my kids broke it some time back. Had my daily BS I carry in it and my 32oz water bottle. Hardly any weight but considering I havn't done any kind of exercise in YEARS it works for now. I think the bladder pocket is a perfect place to put the weight. I have steel plates of varying weight and size so once I get more comfortable with this new fandangled walking thing I'll experiment with different amounts.

............So just got back from my walk and after talking to my wife about calories burned I found out using a generic input on MyFitnessPal was not a good idea. Apparently with the tiny amount of walking I did there is no way I could burn so many calories. Well maybe not but I still lost 4lbs according to my scale that sometimes very often does not read accurately. ITS MY STORY AND I"M STICKING TO IT.....as long as you all know it's probably all BS. I did learn something though...............

Is there a reason you don’t use regular milk? That smoothie wouldn’t work for my plan bc of the carb to protein ratio since almond milk is skimpy on protein. Regular milk would make it work for me. Just curious.

Hi Lindy, I have actually done that before via a diet called Keto. It’s quite successful and yes, the withdrawals are crazy and the migraines even worse. It is def worth it. So..... I had my bypass on 10 July everyone. It’s the 27th of July and I’m still in hospital. A day after surgery, I had major tummy pain. All obs were done however, nobody picked anything up because everything (blood pressure, ecg, oxygen etc) were normal. So after 3 Medical Emergency Team calls at my bedside, fainting, bed hopping in between ICU and normal wards, it turned out I had leaky gut. So in for surgery I went again. I came out with drains, nose time down to my stomach and loads of everything else into my arm. I have a pick line which all my meds go through and been fed nutrients the same way. If anyone is un familiar with a pick line, it is a mega canula that goes to the main artery above your heart. I have been nil by mouth for 2.5 of the 3 weeks I’ve been here. And guess what. I put 8kg on in a single week of fluid. Then I lost it. And yup. It sure as hell went that I didn’t not lose any weight doing that either. Lol. No food the whole time and i lost nothing. I have to say this though, the reason I didn’t show any signs in the obs was because I was so healthy. Losing weight at this stage is the last thing on my mind. I need to get healthy again to be able to lose weight properly and not be because I am sick. I am more appreciative of carrying that little bit extra because it got me through. Basically, even. The doctors were very concerned. I’ll be here a while still however I appreciate my body so much more than I ever have.