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It is so dangerous to cut off antidepressants cold turkery. It causes all sorts of horrible side-effects. The longer you're on them, the more careful you must be in incrementally weaning off them. Your bariatric team had no business instructing you to stop, it's not their department. Like others have urged - talk to your psychiatric doctor ASAP and tell them everything. The first couple of months suck, no two ways about it. I also struggled with protein shakes, and found I could only just tolerate protein water. Still WAY too sweet, but I could manage to soldier through a serving. Keep your fluids up, your vitamin supplements, and like Summerseeker suggested, look into protein fortified milk and see how you go with that.

My favorite books I've read are: "Bariatric Mindset Success" by Christine Lloyd, "Weight Loss Surgery Success" and "Ultimate Gastric Sleeve Success: A Practical Patient Guide To Help Maximize Your Weight Loss Results" by Dr. Duke C. Duke. Vuong. Vuong. Great resources to check out.

That's pretty similar to what I take. I had gastric bypass, but my program has the same guidelines for bypass and sleeve. I use an app called Medisafe for tracking and reminders, but at almost 2 years post-op, I have a pretty good routine and don't really need reminders. The app is really good for keeping track of how many of each I have left, though. A few tips to make it easier: If you're not taking a bariatric multivitamin, you might be able to switch to one that will just be one pill per day instead of two (I use BariatriPal Multivitamin One with an annual subscription because it's the best price I've found for bariatric multivitamins). D3 comes in various dosages, so try finding one that has the same amount in one pill. I take a chewable one that's strawberry flavored, so it's almost like candy. Try calcium chews (I LOVE BariatricPal Belgian chocolate caramel and French vanilla caramel -- they are so delicious that I actually look forward to taking them).

I understand those are the guidelines are you. But does it mention exact doses of supplements you may need? If that's the case you can check out Bariatric multivitamins, and these more or less includes most that you may need. I take "1 bariatric multivitamin and Vit D3". B12 and all not needed since bariatric special takes care of it. Bariatric special also has the kind with extra "iron" if that's a requirement for you (Check out Bariatricpal once a day multivitamin, I consume Naturelo brand once a day kind). Even with calcium, if you try to consume more dairy, you may be able to cut down on the calcium supplements. I don't take any extra calcium since I consume a lot of yogurt, cheese and milk (Vegetarian diet). My nut stated as long as I am getting more than 1200mg a day of calcium, I don't have to take any extra supplements. The day I am lacking, I can take calcium citrate as needed. I know calcium supplements are about half of the pills for you. If you can't cut down on those, may be try the chewables ones, so it feels like you're having chocolate or something instead of swallowing gigantic pills.

I was craving Mexican last night as well. But I love ❤️ street food versions above all others No pics of my lengua & al pastor tacos. Cause I scarfed them up standing on the side walk. Street tacos are perfect bariatric portions 😂 But I heated up my bf’s leftover suadero quesadilla in a skillet for breakfast this morning

I am 3 weeks after surgery. Been fat always. Had the sleeve in 2016 and did well for a few years. The plan was to convert then to the bypass once my BMI was down but then the insurance company decided not to pay and it was a battle til now. I had it 3 weeks ago. And this is so much worse than I could have ever imagined. I realise now that they put me on anti nausea meds and took me off my antidepressants that I’d been on for about 8 years. Cold turkey. I am now a bitch who yells and snaps or cries. That’s it. I had a lot of pain post surgery and was in hospital 6 days not 3 - as with probably lots of us, I’m tolerant to pain meds so I am only now managing with plain paracetamol. But I feel nauseous all the time. OK.. so it’s piteous.. but I really think that I’d be ok if I could stomach any protein powder at all. I just can’t. It’s all completely disgusting. I’m in Europe not the US but I ordered over €200 of different products. All made me vomit. No taste ones, flavoured ones, ones in soups etc. all the same! I sit here with no energy and frankly no will to live. I have a bucketload of pills that I could take but I have kids so I just can’t do that. Somehow this has to turn around. But how? Has anyone been through this? I wanted to move to the country and grow delicious wonderful food and have a few hens, not bankrupt us on buying disgusting “shakes” and being bloody miserable. I don’t weigh. I don’t have scales. I just know that my body is eating itself and I’m not giving it enough protein because I just vomit it back, even the mini-sips. And how miserable is it to be only about to drink 50ml in an hour and have to fill it with sips of stuff that makes you want to vomit… then you do vomit!! Google anything about protein shakes that are any good and of course, they all come up. Can someone actually tell me if they have been in this situation and if they have found any protein that works? What a baby I am but I am at the end of my rope. I appreciate any ideas, especially from people in Europe. My “bariatric team” are useless. Just useless.

If your spouse has never had weight issues, it's impossible for them to understand what it is like to live with morbid obesity, and they often think bariatric surgery is a rather extreme solution. Mine did, and it was a process of educating my spouse by attending all of my appointments, meetings, etc. together so they could finally grasp that I was literally trying to save my life and this was the only option after decades of yo-yo dieting. What you see as insensitivity from your spouse may just be a lack of understanding because he has no idea what it's like to live in your body. Perhaps you can educate him.

Seems like overkill.. I take 1 multivitamin a day (Bariatric pal capsule) I was specially told not to take extra B12 since the multivitamin has it in it. and i take 2 calcium chews a day 500mg each also from bariatricpal website. Thats it for the supplements. I was only told to take a multivitamin twice a day if it was a non bariatric type. As for actual medication I only take 2 a day for gall stones for a year.

I got a few bariatric cookbooks with my Amazon digital credits, and I wasn't impressed. You can find plenty of recipes online for free -- Pinterest is a goldmine. You don't really need special bariatric recipes (except maybe in the initial liquid/pureed/soft food stages when you can't eat "regular" food yet); just look for recipes that meet your nutritional guidelines. Some "keto" and "low-carb" recipes fit the bill, but a lot of them are way too high in fat. I usually search for "skinny" or "ww" (Weight Watchers") recipes, or adapt recipes by making substitutions like riced cauliflower for rice, spaghetti squash for pasta, sugar-free condiments/sauces, etc.

Today my family had a picnic/reunion at a state park that has a lot of trails. My son went with my aunt and cousins to check out a creek so I followed. The decided to walk the trail which was 3 miles. Now this is in the woods and hilly, rocky terrain, so I had no idea how different 3 miles is on a trail like that and it took us like 2 hours. It was also almost 100 degrees and very humid here today. I hiked that whole trial and I was never winded! I can't believe it.. I ended up getting 13,000 steps! The first time I went to my bariatric surgeon I was winded walking down the hall to his office. I just can't believe how good I feel! I have asthma and it was so bad before I lost weight and I wouldn't have been able to breathe with the exercise, especially combined with the heat! It's crazy! Sent from my Pixel 5a using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi All! I'm scheduled for the sleeve on August 3rd. I'm trying to be proactive and get anything I may need or find useful in the long run. I happened to come across bariatric cook books and honestly I had never thought about this before. Has anyone used these and found them beneficial? If so, any suggestions? Thanks! 🙂

I'm not familiar with that company, but two plastic surgeons whom A LOT of bariatric patients have used are Francisco Saucedo in Monterrey and Laura Carmina Cardenas in Tijuana. here's Dra. Carmina Cardena's site. So far I haven't found one for Dr. Saucedo but will keep looking. It could be he doesn't have one -- or it also could be that he's now retired. I'll check https://www.beauty-enhance.com/ Here it is - Dr. Sauceda's site (I guess?) Hmmm....looks like he's scheduling under this group now. Maybe because of a decline in business during the worst of the pandemic? Not sure. http://www.medicaltourism.com.mx/

Have any of you Done medical tourism For your plastic surgery? If so do you mind sharing where you went, your thoughts, cost anything you feel like sharing. I thought bariatric pal had a relationship for plastic surgeons in Mexico for after you lost all your weight but I’m not finding the link.

Well... Technically gastric bypass is reversible. The sleeve is not. So technically they could put things back the way it was and do a sleeve tho you would have a much smaller pouch. But here is a article regarding that. You may have issues finding a surgeon to do it so i would at least start calling bariatric surgery centers and asking. https://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/gastric-sleeve-after-failed-gastric-bypass.html

So I can't stand light mayo or light salad dressings and I'm not sure I'll be a fan of Greek yogurt in its place. I get to start week 3 tomorrow and I'm so dang excited becuase I plan to make egg salad (I raise backyard chickens so can't wait to finally get back to eating their butt nuggets! 🤣), chicken salad, and tuna salad and I was planning on using regular mayo. My question as a new post bariatric patient is future plans with this eating lifestyle. My nutritionist said I won't be eating carbs for a while and even when I do start to introduce them, she said a lot of bariatric patients don't tolerate much of them. I was thinking low carb would be best for me as I have done it before but how would that work if I need to do low fat too? I've done keto before and to me, it's sooo much easier than low fat so I'm curious what others are doing successfully. Is there a way to find a happy medium between low carb and low fat?

This was the best thing ever! I am 9 days post op and tbh kind of feel guilty how easy my recovery has been. Dr Fuzz, my Dr, actually teaches bariatric surgeries, did the hiatal repair/vsg robotically. Honestly I read the surgery report cause I am nosey. Plus really strange to get a test result notice and find out your old tummy was checked for any and all possible underlying medical conditions. Good news everything is normal. He made sure I had all but my pain meds 10days prior to surgery so if possible I wouldn't have to go to the pharmacy. As soon as I woke up I got an antinausea patch behind my ear good for 3days. I had no pain, no gas, no nausea. I started walking asap. I went in at noon on the 13th I was discharged by 11:30am on the 14th. As my tummy heals my incisions small and a straight line. I always said I could see life before surgery but I didn't know what it would be like after. It better than I could ever dream.

I am in the same boat - coming up on 7 months, and I've lost about a pound and a half in the last 30 days. My weight goes down, then the next week it goes up (sometimes for two weeks!) then back down to where I was before or maybe a tiny bit lower - its a slog and I'm not sure what to do. Very frustrating! I know to expect a slowdown, and my bariatric nurse warned me a lot of people stall around 200 lbs which is where I am. Its encouraging to hear its common to stall for up to several weeks, just frustrating. I guess hang in there? I'm going to reach out to my team, too, to see if there's anything I need to tweak.

My surgery is scheduled July 14th and I'm getting nervous. My bariatric surgeon instructed me to avoid patches and gummies. I'm going to try the patches anyway better that then nothing at all. I'm going with the patches because most supplements have soy, eggs, yeast, wheat, gluten and plant based properties in them. I'm intolerant (significant bloat throughout body, skin irritations, canker sores, irritability, dumping--mainly due to having my gallbladder removed) of all the above. I'd be curious to hear from others who find the patches effective and the results of bloodwork to back up your claim. Thanks!

I am so happy for this thread. I got Opurity chewables w/45 iron (I was anemic before surgery so yay iron) and no just no. The smell the taste makes me gag. I was gonna try to finish the bottle cause I hate wasting money, but I can't do a full 90days of these things. I think I will try bariatric pal.

I am a full on vegan. I eat whole food plant based diet. I had surgery July 2020. As long as you eat your veggies n some beans even a sweet potato they all have protein. I have amazing blood results I only take vitamin D and B complex every other day. I have lost 106 lb n kept it off even after recovering from a total hip surgery one year almost to the day from my sleeve surgery. You should not fear the crazy high protein. Your body will let you know what it needs. There is always Vegan protein shakes and you can blend some green smoothies n drink through out the day. You will be fine. I love listening to Dr Garth Davis’s lectures on YouTube. He is a vegan Bariatric surgeon. Why don’t you give him a listen. You will probably have less stress feeling after you hear him and feel more confident in the process. Good luck!

Do you have an eating plan from your bariatric group? It should tell you exactly what and how much you should eat. I may be wrong cuz I don’t have my book near me, but 6 oz does seem like a large amount in one meal.

My nutritionist did go over a vitamin regimen with me. They recommended the Bariatric Advantage Ultra Solo w/ Iron. They also recommended that I take a calcium citrate supplement either 1x or 2x daily. She said that it depends on if I supplement with a protein shake, whether or not I need to take 1 or 2 of those.

I had VSG in Tijuana, Mx. at HospitalBC with Dr. Illan, so I can only speak to my own personal experience. I did about 200 hours of research before my surgery and based on that research, finances, and other personal considerations, decided to go the Medical Tourism route and have been very happy with that decision. These hospitals ONLY do bariatric surgeries and are geared towards medical tourists. They run a VERY well oiled machine from intake to discharge. The process was so smooth, I was completely confident going alone. The surgeon I chose is highly accredited, has done thousands of WLS procedures, has relationships and mentorships with some of the most well known US bariatric surgeons for continuing ed, is board certified, etc. He is just as qualified, if not more so, than many of the bariatric surgeons in my area. The reality is, there are amazing surgeons in the US and just as many in Mexico and other places. Conversely, there are terrible surgeons here and everywhere else. There are pros and cons to each, and every person has different needs. Ultimately it boils down to doing your research, finding a surgeon you trust, and a program that fits your needs. Regarding your questions above: 1 - No, it was a combination of finances, timeline, convenience, and other factors. 2 - No, I did not get an option. My surgeon uses a 32 as his standard and will only deviate when appropriate for the patient. 3 - I met with my PCP before I went and she was extremely supportive. She does all my post-op labs, checked my incisions, offered dietary support, etc. She now recommends my surgeon to other patients who are interested in going out of country for the procedure. 4 - The hospital I chose was staffed with additional medical personnel in case of emergencies, but that really wasn't a consideration for me. The instance/risk of major complications DURING surgery is essentially nil. 5 - Complications aren't usually the result of a surgical mistake, so there is generally nothing for the surgeon to "fix" they typically are just the result of a person's own body's healing. For instance, a stricture is one of the most common (though still extremely rare) post-op complications, and they are almost never a direct result of surgical error. They just happen. 6 - My hospital offers lifetime nutritional support, which is great. That being said, I HIGHLY recommend some serious counseling before & after to deal with the emotional/mental work that has to be done. I was really well informed pre-op but still felt like the extra support would be critical, and it was. I would also suggest ongoing community support - either here, or something like BariNation (which I LOVE), or a local support group. I am a card carrying, people hating, highly independent introvert and have still found community support to be vital to my success. 7 - I wish I had known how ridiculously kind and accommodating the staff would be. I went alone and really kept to myself, but the one time I needed the staff they were incredibly responsive and very kind. In hindsight, I wish I had been more engaged. *going out of order* 9 - It takes time. Most people will NOT be able to hit their protein and water goals right away. It took me probably 3 months before I was able to get there consistently. It just takes a crap ton of work. I keep water handy at ALL times, and drink, drink, drink like its my job. I was never advised to drink warm water or to adjust my intake in any way. Just drink, all the time. 8 - I am going to say this as gently and with as much love as I possibly can - This is not your journey and you would serve your wife best by keeping your opinions to yourself. Unless you have lived in her brain and her body, you cannot understand what she is going through, what is driving her behaviors, or what toll it is taking on her mental health. I can guarantee you, she feels plenty of shame already and doesn't need you second guessing her ability to be successful. The best thing you can do is research, report back, support her, and shut up. My husband is thin and has the metabolism of a hummingbird. He has never struggled with his weight and as such has no frame of reference and no ability to understand. He recognized this early on, and has thus deferred to me on every diet, every fast, every medication, and ultimately my decision to have surgery. His unconditional support, free of opinions and judgment, was the kindest gift he ever gave to me. I know you love her, and you clearly want her to succeed. But the baggage you are forcing her to drag around is entirely unhelpful. A much more valuable way to help would be to help her find a therapist so she can do the work that would set her up for success long term.

At Renew Bariatrics they do bypass and gastric and some ball one...🤔 and the band. Most ppl get gastric (they even have mini gastric) or sleeve. Renew is right across the boarder too. Literally a 7 min drive once through the boarder. I was anti Mexico but omg these guys are AMAZING! Can't express that enough. Best decision ever. Anyway. Gotta go weigh myself 🥳🙏

I went to Renew Bariatrics in Tijuana Mexico. AMAZINGGGG! Dr Perez is the best! Double board certified in the US and Mexico. $4,600 total. Includes pick up from San Diego airport, surgery, 2 nights hospital stay, 1 night hotel stay (optional, I opted out to get home:) and transportation back to San Diego airport. Absolute AMAZING experience. I can't express that enough. I'm down 22 lbs in 16 days and started with a low BMI, 31. No pain after surgery whatsoever. Swear I was questioning the doc like, did you even do anything lol Best experience ever. The worst part was the 2nd night at the hospital bc I felt so normal I just wanted to go hommmmme lol Feel free to email me. I'll send pics n all. They have a FB group that can be joined where thousands of ppl share their experiences. Here's my email to reach out directly. Totally forgot I even joined this forum until I got a random notification today lol Cjones61985 @yahoo.com