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So I had my surgeon appt he gave me a weight loss goal of 15lbs, which is very doable. I feel like my surgeon was annoyed with me, he had his MA called me 4x and even at my work to reschedule for earlier but the nutritionist told me he would need me to lift up my shirt and see my body- that’s not something I’m comfortable with at my workplace! So I told them I needed to keep my appt for later in the day. Then he arrived 25min early on our zoom meeting which I answered when I was 5min away from home and told him we can start if he was in a rush or I can log back on. He said to log back on- I get back on and I had my 18m old who was screaming because well he’s a baby! Idk he basically told me I need to lose 15lbs and I was a good candidate once I lose 15lbs call them for the next step. I asked about doing my surgery after my vacay and getting FMLA/STD to which he said totally fine whenever I wanted to schedule it. I feel uneasy? Any words of encouragement that I’m doing the right thing?

I have a friend who got roux-en-y in our mid-20s. She lost a lot of weight, I have known her since childhood and she had always been heavy, gaining rapidly in high school. After high school, she had 1 child. She then married someone, got weight-loss surgery, got breast implants and a panniculectomy then proceeded to have a set of twins and two more kids. She managed to lose all of her pregnancy weight, by not gaining excess weight while pregnant and she did not re-stretch her skin. I think you should go for it. In my opinion, you should live in the present. Life has no guarantees, and you want to be comfortable and happy now. You may or may not have children in the future, but don't let the hope of something, hinder your happiness now. The best way to keep a handle on how much your skin might stretch during pregnancy is to monitor yourself, and not gain more than recommended. A couple of scenarios- 1. You meet someone, are not comfortable in your skin and let it hold you back. 2. You meet someone, have children, and are so busy with family life that getting the skin removal surgery is put off for several more years. 3. You have the surgery, you meet someone, have kids and your stomach does not stretch. 4. You have the surgery, meet someone, have kids, your stomach stretches just a little bit you decide it's no big deal or you just have another surgery.

I'm sorry you regained, that is so frustrating! 80 lbs in 3 months is a lot, I'd talk to your doctor about checking your thyroid and your fasting glucose level... Most of us gained weight during Covid due to less physical activity, comfort eating, and more time and accessibility to snacks. Snacking is notorious for gaining weight back after surgery. The hard thing is we don't feel like we've changed anything big in our eating habits but unless you are tracking literally everything you put in your mouth you really won't notice how much extra you are eating. Changing drinks from water to other things is a big culprit too and easier when we are at home next to the fridge. And tasting things/snacking while cooking. There is no shame in regain IMO, life happens in unpredictable ways. Covid was a huge hit for most of us and caused a lot of changes in living habits just to get through! I haven't had surgery yet but I gained about 50 lbs in the years around Covid, I'm immune compromised so was on strict lockdown for forever. Converting to a DS can help with more weight loss and maintaining weight loss better, it has the highest statistics for total excess weight loss and weight maintenance. However since it is a conversion for you (not a virgin surgery) the weight loss will be slower than it was with the initial sleeve surgery. You will still lose weight with it if you are diligent, you can still get the weight off if you got it off before, but in order to do that you need to figure out what is causing you to gain weight so you can correct it and help the surgery work. Revisions can be game changers for some, but they aren't miracle workers, they still require hard work and effectively using your tool.

I'm on Rexulti for depression along with a few other things. It is an atypical antipsychotic. I haven't had surgery yet so I can't say how it affects weight loss but my psych feels it is pretty weight neutral so shouldn't be a problem. She said most of her patients lose the weight on their meds, it just takes a bit sometimes. I'm guessing some meds can slow the process if you know they are contributing to your weight already, it just depends on the individual, as with most things.

Hi! Pre-op but former hairstylist. I think it depends what color service. If you're doing something more gentle like depositing color (going darker) you'd probably be fine. Anything like bleaching or going red (red has ammonia which is damaging) or chemical straighteners would be pretty harsh on your hair and may exacerbate any hair loss you may be experiencing. I hope that helps. :.)

Today is my 1 year anniversary and I am happy and sad at the same time. I got so very close to goal but I have spent the last month in a stall so I really don't have that awesome feeling that I hoped to have at the 1 year mark. I know this stall will pass too and I'm happy with how far I've come. I made it to normal bmi which I didn't think I would ever see again. I still want to lose at least 10 more lbs so that I'm safely in the normal range but 10 lbs seems doable after the last year. I still have trouble accepting that I've changed but little things make me so happy, like crossing my legs and feeling bones that were hidden. I'm happy my hair has stopped falling out and is starting to slowly grow back. Slower than before but I'll take slow as long as it grows lol. I started a journal at the beginning and set goals for myself and guessed at sizes my arms, thighs, waist etc should be. I had no idea what I should set those to so I looked them up in google for averages for women my height and I actually hit or beat all those measurements except my waist I set to 30 inches and I got to 33. I have a ton of extra skin there though and hope to have that removed so I still might hit that goal I took pictures along the way and wore the exact same outfit and its amazing so see how far I've come. I'll see if I can figure out how to add it here. Its not a great picture of me but it for sure shows the weight loss . I hope everyone else is doing well and I hope to see more updates from others. Take care!

I really get this. Its your body and if you need a lower buffer weight then its your business. If your hubby did not know you had intentionally dieted, Would he have said anything ? I can tell you now that my husband would not know. We have been away in Spain for 2 weeks so my husband saw a bit more of me than usual. I was laying in bed without covers and clothes, it was so hot. My hip bones and ribs were prominent. My skin hangs off me, its not pretty. He said I think its time you gave up trying to loose weight now, you are skin and bone. My local doctor wants me to loose at least 40lbs more to get in a healthy range. I am happy where I am, I look good in my clothes. Who is right ? Me ! So congrats on your loss and bugger everyone else

I am wondering if it has to do with biotin and collagen supplements. I took so much biotin, that my B12 was higher than normal, when before the surgery I was deficient. Sincerely, all we can do is to do our best. Even if I would have hair loss, the fact that after 15 years of insulin and metformin I am no longer a diabetic, it was worth all the struggle. Less hair is a good balance for no diabetes. 😀

Thank you so much for letting me know! It is probably difficult, we will see, I will continue doing what I am doing, and if hair loss arrives, I have two pixie wigs ready!🥹

so i recently lost 3 lbs. not the downside-of-a-normal-daily-weight-fluctuation-loss, or a oh-i-just-had-a-mega-poop kinda loss, but an ACTUAL 3 lbs loss that has stayed off based on a 2 week moving weight average. now everyone and my mother has said something or other in the past couple weeks in the tune of "omigod are you losing weight?!?" or "you're not on a diet AGAIN are you?!!". didn't give it much thought until this AM when i asked my Mr this morning if he thinks i look thinner these days and he nodded (i can always count in him on a low-key, no-big-deal kinda response). so i guess it is noticeable? anyway the point of this is that when i was much heavier, no one would even notice (nor comment) on any appearance change in me if/when i lost up to 20-25 lbs (including Mr.). but now, at 3 measly lbs loss, somehow the world is ending to the busybody-nation. sometimes i feel like i have to defend being thinner as much as i had to defend being heavier. not really an NSV, more of an annoyance (the comments)...and also just another thing that thought u were done with, but not really. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think you were one of the lucky ones. Ive also taken all my protein, vitamins, ate what i was supposed to etc and my hair is still falling out. Doesnt matter how we eat, it is just a natural thing that happens after losing so much weight so quickly. Happens to many but not all of us. It was also one of the best decisions ive made even though my hair is falling out. Ive lost 65lbs in 5 months and loving every minute of it! I feel (and look) so much better! Hair grows back. I feel better than i have in many years!

just so you know, some people don't start losing it that early. My hair loss started up at five months out (like you, I was also careful to do everything "right"). Luckily, I lost very little hair, but I did lose some from months 5-9. Once you've past the six month mark and you still haven't lost any hair, then you probably aren't going to lose any.

I just turned 60 and am scheduled for VSG on October 2nd. My BMI is 40, so I'm expecting a slower rate of weight loss. Maybe I'll be surprised and will lose weight faster than I expect.

As everyone has said, stalls are very common. They actually are Dan important part of your weight loss. It’s when your body takes stock of your constant needs & readjusts things like your hormones ( hunger, satiety, etc.), metabolic rate, etc. The stall will end when your body is ready. You can’t force it, let it take the time it needs. Still frustrating though. Fluctuations are also perfectly normal. We all fluctuate. You’ll eventually work out your usual fluctuation swing. Mine is about 2 lbs. Some are greater, some are less. Fluid retention, constipation, diarrhoea, hormones, etc. all contribute. I mean you don’t eat & drink exactly the same foods & fluids in the exact same quantities every day either. Nor do you the exact same activities to burn calories. Congrats on your weight loss so far. Yay!

I’ve had my hair coloured every 4 weeks for years before & after my surgery (gotta hide that grey) & continued my usual drying/styling routine. Don’t believe it affected how much hair I lost. The hair you lose during the usual 3+/- months is have that you were already going to shed. You’re just shedding it more quickly. The only thing I would worry about is bleach as it is more harsh on your hair. I remember having streaks many years ago & I shed more hair than usual. So I wouldn’t want to increase the hair loss by doing that again. Plus the anaesthetic can make the texture of your hair change & make it feel drier.

First, congratulations! It was the best decision of my entire life and 3 months after the surgery I can say, it will ALWAYS be the best decision of my life. I believe it will be one of the best decisions you made. I colored my hair after couple of months, I had no problem. I did not loose hair, although I was expecting it. I believe I did not loose hair even though I lost 51 pounds in 3 months, because I always eat the right amount of protein and also took a biotin supplement in addition to Calcium, Iron and multivitamins. I am happy, energetic and blessed. All my blood tests came back PERFECT! No high bad cholesterol, no high triglycerides, and after 15 years of being a diabetic and juggling metformiin and insulin, I am no longer a diabetic. My last A1C was 5.5 which places me in the normal range, I am not even a prediabetic. I was so scared of the gastric bypass that I considered not getting the surgery up to the time they rolled me in the operating room. I really hated my liquid diet and was in tremendous pain after the surgery because I had a hiatal hernia repair surgery at the same time with the gastric bypass. I cannot believe that there are only 3 months and 10 days since my surgery! So, while there are scary stories out there and the journey is not easy, please know that each individual is unique, and trust that your story will be one of success as mine is! One doctor told me couple of years ago that getting a gastric bypass was the best decision of his life. I can say the same about me and wish for you the same!

it's been over eight years since surgery for me. I've colored my hair for at least 20 years. If I stopped after surgery (can't remember if I did), it wouldn't have been for long.

Oh, interesting! I mean, that makes sense, if you're at risk for losing your hair to keep what you have as healthy and strong as possible. That's really smart advice! Well, I can say my hair was completely virgin and I only use a blow dryer a couple times a YEAR...and I still lost about 2/3 of my hair. It seems like I was a particularly bad case, though. I got extremely sick around 2 months after my surgery.

Never stopped & never did anything different with my hair routine of blow drying & curling.

I use heat (blow dryer and straightener) every time I style my hair. The only issue I'm having is the normal shedding. My hair looks and feels healthy. I do use good quality hair products. I stopped dyeing my hair 7 years ago and embraced the grey in my mid-thirties.

So I've read that to reduce irritation, hair will be fragile. I've read you should avoid heat styling, bleaching and comb gently. So I wanted to see others experiences

I don't think I've ever been told that could be a problem? The surgery can make your hair fall out in some cases, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having issues with coloring it. Do you know why that would be a concern for a bariatric patient?

Surgery date is October 11th! WooHoo! I know about hair loss after surgery. Thoughts and/or experience on coloring your hair after surgery, I've heard some people wait 6 months, some a year, some never stop.

I would want to look closely at this, verifying the bile reflux and determining if there is any acid reflux component to this before getting into long term treatment options as the treatment can differ widely depending upon that diagnosis. If it is bile, then I wouldn't expect Pepcid or other anti acid meds to do much as the are treating acid and not bile, a base. I'm not sure what meds they do use but likely different ones. Bile is used to neutralize the acid coming out of the stomach along with the digested food into the intestines. Is your surgeon in the loop on these findings (I assume so, but check if you haven't heard from them yet,) as that may change his prescriptions. If it is strictly a bile problem, then a bypass will probably correct it, but not guaranteed as it moves the stomach/pouch outlet downstream into the natural path of bile secretions; the key, according to one surgeon I discussed this with, is the length of the roux limb, as that is the one that connects the pouch with the mainstream intestine and how far any bile would have to travel to reflux into the stomach. This doc noted that at 80cm or greater (IIRC) he didn't run into any bile reflux problems. The basic RNY procedure has been around for some 140 years for gastric cancer and gastroparesis (it is usually termed just a partial gastrectomy, or likely some other fancy latin names as well,) and it that use, bile reflux is a not uncommon complication. My non-MD take on it is that in those cases, they tend to keep the limbs short to minimize malabsorption and weight loss (last thing a cancer patient usually needs is more weight loss!) So, the longer limb makes sense here. Discuss this and make sure that your surgeon is up on this aspect of it. The other option if it is basically a bile problem is the DS, duodenal switch, which is pretty much a guaranteed cure for any bile problems owing to the very long path between the bile ducts and the stomach, but relatively few bariatric surgeons offer it owing to its greater complexity. Note this only applies to the "traditional" or Hess DS and not the newer SIPS/SADI/"loop" or simplified DS, which like its mini-bypass cousin has bile reflux as one of its common complications. The DS will not help any acid reflux problem as it uses the existing sleeve (though may resleeve it if it was malformed causing GERD rather than just overproduction of acid,) while adding the intestinal rerouting for malabsorption. The DS is a better choice over the RNY revision if slow or inadequate weightloss is an issue, too, as it is a stronger metabolic tool. Good luck on this - bile is surely a much less common problem with the sleeve than acid reflux, so the industry isn't quite as settled on solutions for it.

I have noticed the same thing. I’m about 6 months out from my sleeve op and can eat about half of what I previously could (which to be fair was a lot!) My weight loss has stalled and I know it’s because of the type and amount of food I eat. I saw my doctor recently and they recommended getting back to basics and focusing on protein and water intake to get back on track. They didn’t seem concerned about the pouch stretching. Good luck with your continued weight loss!