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So, here's the backstory... in 2016 I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia (it's a condition that causes chronic facial pain that is so horrific that it's recognized as one the most painful conditions known to mankind and has garnered the nickname 'Suicide's Disease') and I have both 'Typical' and 'Atypical' TN and I had a flare that lasted 10 months and I was in so much pain that I had many moments where I would think of ending my life to escape the horrific pain. My family was the only reason that I held out. I tried to take it day by day, but it was horrific. It's like being dropped into hell while still being alive. Having to live every moment where every tooth in my mouth hurt from the inside out and it feels like needles were digging into my jaw. And THEN I would get stabbed in the face by a scalding hot poker that twists and twists and twists and twists and then pulls out and repeats endlessly. I was in excruciating pain every second of every single day for 10 MONTHS! I felt like I was slowly going insane. I would get 'power naps' of like 5-15 minutes when I would get a miraculous break in the stabbing pain, even though the tooth and jaw pain stayed, because I was so exhausted. On average the power naps would maybe equal 1-2 hours of sleep a day. Though there were days I didn't sleep at all. AND I had to sleep sitting up because laying down was a trigger. But finally after 10 months I had something called an MVD (Microvascular Decompression) in May 2017 which is a type of brain surgery and that was the end of that particular flare and the pain. However, Trigeminal Neuralgia doesn't have a cure. The brain surgery was basically putting a patch on it and hoping that it held out for years. The brain surgery was for the left side of my face, but I have Trigeminal Neuralgia on BOTH sides (just the right rarely flare and if it did it was usually only 3-5 days TOPS and then it wouldn't bother me for MONTHS. One time it didn't flare for 22 months which is almost two YEARS. For reference, I was officially diagnosed in 2016, but I've had TN since 2010). In September 2021 I started getting eye twitches (on both sides) and then other facial twitches and I KNEW it was coming back because the twitches are symptoms of an oncoming flare. I remarked to my family members in absolute fear and panic that I felt that it was going to come back. It's been my biggest fear of it coming back. Then in April of this year it hit. The right side started to flare (with random ass flares on the left as well) and at first I could withstand the pain, but it got worse and then I was put on Gabapentin and I gained 18 friggin' pounds! I couldn't stop taking it because I was in so much pain that the meds were keeping me sane. However, I kept having to increase the dose because the pain was getting worse and worse. I ended up taking the max dose and then one night the pain was so bad that I was sobbing on my bed and the thoughts of just taking a handful of the pills hit me and it scared me. I went to the ER the next day and they were so busy that I had to wait three hours in the waiting room while I was sobbing in pain in a chair while strangers kept staring at me because I was curled up in a fetal position in a chair sobbing my eyes out because I was in so much pain and it's breezy in there and that was making it WORSE! I knew from experience that I had to do the research myself because the doctors don't know crap about Trigeminal Neuralgia because it's rare and they don't know how to treat it (it's usually treated by a neurologist. But there are none in my county that take my insurance). So I gave the doctor my list of medications and told her that Oxcarbazepine worked well with Gabapentin and so she gave me enough to last me until I could get into see my PCP. And miraculously it WORKED! I was able to slowly lower my dosage of Gabapentin by HALF (I was taking 3600mg which is max dose. Now I take 1800mg) and take 900mg of Oxcarbazepine. And because I was able to drop my dosage of Gabapentin I've been able to drop 12 of the 18 pounds I gained, but the last 6 pounds just will not come off! I'm still having a flare. I still feel the pain in my face, but it's muted (mostly. Don't stick me in a breezy room or the pain worsens. And sometimes eating sets it off and makes it worse. And sometimes lying down sets it off too. Also, cold or hot things will sometimes set it off. Yeah, eating is not fun. At all. Also, I don't sleep at night because it flares worse at night). I'm supposed to be going to have acupuncture for my Trigeminal Neuralgia next week and my hope is that it'll fully take the flare away. I also FINALLY get to see a neurologist in three weeks though I have to drive two hours away to see one because no one near me takes my insurance. I have a sneaking suspicion that the flare is actually caused by my Mast Cell Activation Syndrome because I've been having more and more issues with rashes lately (though when my face originally started to flare in April my MCAS was fine. May and June too were fine, but this month my rashes have gotten bad and so has my joint pain which is caused by osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, which the fibromyalgia is suspected to be caused by the MCAS). To top it off I can't figure out why my face is so damn greasy. I mean I was using topical lidocaine on my face to help with pain management for my TN (in addition to the anticonvulsants, i.e the gabapentin and oxcarbazepine, I take over the counter stuff like Tylenol, Tumeric Curcumin, and Alpha Lipoic Acid to help with pain management) but I had an allergic reaction from overuse (I'm assuming) called Petechiae (which caused red spots on my eyelid) so I stopped using it, but my face has been super greasy every since. And I've been losing more hair lately almost like when I was in the weight loss phase of my surgery. I know it's one or both of the anticonvulsants, but I can't stop taking either one so I'm not sure what to do. So yeah. Just felt like venting my frustration. It's been a rough three months (almost four) and I just needed to unload. If you've read this far, thank you. If you have advice on the greasy face, hair loss, or how to lose the extra 6 pounds while taking two anticonvulsants that make it damn near impossible then please help! If you have any experience with Trigeminal Neuralgia or MCAS and have advice then please share that as well...

Every doctor has their own pre and post op food plan. My pre-op was 10 days on a clear liquid diet (strained fruit juices like apple, cranberry juice or white grape juice with no added sugar, jello, vegetable juices, and broth). It was sheer torture lol.

Ok I have to make a confession…I’m 28 days post op and I was the at movie theater yesterday and couldn’t resist their Nachos and cheese but I only had 10 chips with cheese dip. I felt guilty and skipped dinner and had a protein shake. Does anyone go through these issues that early or is it just me? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Like what? What would you (or did you) get rid of? I'm actually pretty good at being efficient -- one of my strengths, I think, is finding better, faster, easier ways to do things. I'm mainly talking about my job, but even at home, I'm always looking for better ways. I do a lot of meal prep, which is easier with a bariatric diet, since one meal often makes 10-20 servings. I time myself chopping vegetables and challenge myself to go faster than last time. There are a lot of tradeoffs between time, cost, and quality, and I increasingly lean toward things that save time even if they cost more or aren't as good (like paying someone to clean my house and buying prepared pico de gallo instead of making it from scratch). But I still feel like I am drowning and there are never enough hours in the day, and I can't help but think how nice it was when I didn't exercise, to have 10 extra hours a week.

So I’ve been looking into self funding bariatric surgery so I’m healthier and can go ahead with fertility treatment. I previously had a band when I was 19 in Belgium which failed massively. I paid to have it removed in the UK 2 year later at the spire.I was looking into the Spire Washington. it was really painful when I had the band fitted, I’m really nervous for how painful it’ll be going through surgery. I’m also vegetarian, has anybody went through with surgery who is vegetarian? Where do you get your protein ect from? Food has been my coping mechanism through life to deal with my trauma, and I know my relationship with food with completely change forever which is fine, but what I am nervous for is still being able to eat out occasionally. What is the average portion size for example a year after surgery? What kind of alcohol do people drink and how many drinks are they able to have? i also guzzle water and this is my BIGGEST concern of not being able to guzzle it and quench my thirst properly.

I have Medicare and Tricare. Roughly 6 months. Monthly visits with my GP, psych, and I would have been scoped to look around in my stomach except for the fact I had it done some 10 months earlier for some other thing. Also meeting with a nutritionist. Just jumping through the hoops. (The psych was SO funny. "Do you ever think about suicide?" Sure, like I would tell you if I had! Duh!!)

Same here. My PCP put me on 6 months of Actigall and it seems to have done the trick. I'm 10 months out now, 4 months off the med, and no issues. From what I've read, it is VERY common to have gallbladder issues post-op, usually in the first 6 months to a year, during the most active loss. I haven't seen anything that indicates it impacts or inhibits weight loss, but it is often incredibly painful and if removal is necessary, it obviously requires another surgery.

Oh my goodness. The ONLY thing I remember about the Minnesota State Fair is the delicious food! My heart goes out to you. But you can do this! Just keep moving through it and if you can’t skip it (which would probably be the easiest thing) then make sure you pack your water and maybe bring a shake with you! These pre-op diets are so different! I’m surprised you get orange juice. You’re the first person I’ve seen mention that, as part of their pre-op. Maybe you can also pack a little container of orange juice as well. Instead if a purse just carry a little lunch tote w/ ice packs to keep it all cool. Minnesota in August is HOT! I know I did the liquid diet when I got my band put in, but its been over 10 years since then, so I don’t remember how I made it through. I’m praying for you and hope it goes smoother than you imagine.

We have local stores that will watch you walk and suggest shoes based on your foot and gait. For me, Brooks Glycerin were the best for me based on how my foot strikes the ground (Supination). I have very turned out feet when I stand naturally and to compensate I tend to roll my weight to the outer edge of my foot following a heel strike. Also, look at the mileage rating on the shoe. Most shoes should be replaced around 300-400 miles of wear. If you track steps 10000 steps is about 4.5 to 5 miles depending on your gait. If you hit that six days a week, you are putting 27-30 miles on your shoes each week, so they would need to be replaced every 10 - 15 weeks.

I had a very long timeline. LOL. I started orientation in January 2020, started a 10 week class March 2020 (which got cancelled) Classes resumed July 2020 (online). Finished my classes in August 2020 but had to wait because my A1C levels were still too high with a retest in January 2021. Again levels too high, August 2021 my levels were good so I was referred to the surgeon. Had orientation with the Bariatric clinic in October 2021 and met with surgeon November 2021. Appointment with Internal medicine was December 2021 and meeting with Psychologist January 2022. It took a couple of weeks for them to schedule me due to having to take care of patients who got their surgery cancelled and needed rescheduled. I got my surgery date late February 2022 for surgery April 2022.

It is a not uncommon result of rapid weight loss (not just from surgery, but that is the most common means of accomplishing rapid weight loss,) maybe 10% have that problem, give or take? My surgeon routinely removes it when doing the DS as he doesn't want some other surgeon going in there and getting lost in the altered anatomy (which is weird for them, not so much for the bypass folks.) With the sleeve, he leaves it alone unless he feels stones in there when he is doing the surgery. So, I still have mine, but my wife, with her DS, doesn't, and we haven't noticed any great difference beyond what the WLS is already doing (there's always changes when you alter the body's default condition.)

Good morning July 2022 Peeps. Sounds like there's a lot of the group doing well. Hope to hear from the ones that just had surgery in the last couple days. I am at 10 days post-op. After losing 12.5 lbs in the first week, I stalled out for a couple days. Instead of losing my normal 2-4 lbs, I lost 0.0 and 0.4. This was a bit frustrating since I am only taking in about 500 calories per day. But it is what it is. From what I read, this is how this is going to go. I am happy that my plateau or whatever, may have been a small one and this morning I showed a 2.2 lbs loss. For those that believe a person shouldn't weigh themselves daily, I normally don't, but I wanted to record my first 4 weeks in a journal on my laptop.

October 19 is my date! Excited for this new journey. I’m also working on liquid diets and dietary changes.

Out of surgery 10 days, down 7 lbs (15 total in last month). Go my engagement ring / fit today. Hasn't fit in over 4 years!

Hey guys! I hit a week from surgery Thursday. I think I may be the prodigal child and I feel bad about raving about how little pain I was in, how little the gas was a problem etc. But at the same time I want to let others know, it's not always negative! Also, consider about 3 years ago I had my gallbladder removed, so I am fresh to a lot of things these surgeries deal with. Incisions, pre op diet, gas, pneumonia potental, etc. Sorry in advance for the novel. My surgery was supposed to be at 1030am on the 14th, but I think I went under something after lunch. I think they were running a little bit behind lol. I remember coming to and going out many times that first day. I was able to drink from the small medicine cups of water they gave me. I expected there to be pain ... but there wasn't. Granted I had dilaudid at first and then just tramadol. I was up peeing (they keep track of that for kidney function) and walking around the nurses station. Later in the evening/night. I literally just wanted to sleep. But honestly, as annoying as they were waking me up every hour for vitals and asking if I felt up for walking, I really did feel better at least getting one trip around the station every so often. I was discharged around lunchtime the next day. I never touched the prescribed oxycodone nor tylenol for that matter. I never took anything other than my normal pills and the Prilosec except one zofran because the day after I got home (that saturday) the nausea took hold something fierce for some reason. After that though, I never had a problem. I didn't have to use the little spirometer they give you. I just took deep breaths and coughed. Very little phlegm came up overall, but I have no trace of pneumonia. Saturday I also decided to weigh, as I have read others did. I was also up about 3 lbs from day of surgery weight. They put like 3 or 4 bags of fluids in me while I was there, so I don't doubt that was 100% the reason. I decided then that I would just wait for the next appointment before weighing. Sunday, my first day on full liquids, was the worst. You would think that graduating to the next stage would be the last day that would be bad, but when you realize that doesn't really open you up to much more than tomato soup and protein shakes (which you are already sick of by now) - when I tell you mentally I was so done. I regretted the surgery, I regretted becoming fat enough to need it in the first place, I hated everyone and everything. I was hungry ALL THE TIME. I was not one of the lucky ones that lost the hunger hormone and have to "force" themselves to eat and drink. Monday rolled around. I just started taking things day by day. Hour by hour and slowly time started to pass. Thursday was my week post-op appointment. Incisions are healing well, bruising is starting to clear up. Also, the uvula (the dangly thingie in the back of your throat) was irritated and elongated from the breathing tube while I was under. IT WAS DRIVING ME F**KING BONKERS. I can't stand that thing hitting the back of my tongue and making me feel like I have something caught in my throat 24/7. It is just now starting to get back to normal. When I started this journey, beginning with the nutritionist visits in December I was 371.2. On the day of surgery, I was 345. Weight one week post-op was 336.8. Overall, since December down 34.4 and almost 10 since surgery. Granted I could be down less as it is now Saturday, but I refuse to weigh for a while. Maybe not until my 1mth appointment. Just stay the course and see what happens! I'm already seeing little NSVs. Tiny ones, but none-the-less they are there. They are just little reminders that this is a process and I can and will be successful. It's been a while since I've been around so I wanted to touch base. Also to provide info for those still waiting for surgery and those that are fresh out. It DOES get better! Even as soon as a week after. Best wishes to everyone no matter where they are in their journey!

I'm a bit shy of 6 years out, with my lowest weight being 2 years after surgery. I've gotten pretty lax about eating right if I'm being honest so there's been regain for sure, but it fluctuates between +10 and +30lbs and has never come close to my max weight. Usually when I sense I'm slipping too far, I just try to keep more aware of what/how much I'm eating, weigh in more. I definitely don't have the same kind of limited stomach capacity as I did years ago, but I still don't get hungry the same way and it feels like the weight comes off easier than pre-surgery. All in all, I still consider the surgery to be the best decision I've ever made for myself.

I didn't set a normal BMI as my goal because I was told only about 10-15% of patients make it that far (and the statistics I read bear that out), but I ended getting there anyway (although I had a rebound and am now a few lbs over). my first goal was 199 and my second was 170, both of which I was told were attainable if I really worked at it.

Unless your friends are medical researchers in bariatrics, listen to your doctor over them. https://www.barilife.com/blog/gastric-sleeve-10-years-later-how-to-win-the-long-game-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery/ Sent from my Pixel 4a using BariatricPal mobile app

I am below my ideal weight. Today I was 117.2 lbs and my ideal weight is 130.1 lbs. I used to have 140 lbs. my goal (for 5'3") but somewhere I lost an inch in height at my surgeon's office a couple of months ago lol. So I moved my IBW to 130 lbs. I figure, I'll rebound some weight sooner or later since the majority of WLS rebound 10 to 20 lbs. something like that. Up to now, I really don't know what my final goal is either.

Like others, it depends on how you define "stall". Every month from the start I went 10 days to a couple of weeks without weight loss and then a big drop. I'm still doing that. I don't see it as a stall. My body is just adjusting. For example, if I drank a lot more water the day before or I had more pickles (salt aka water retention). I love tracking my food too so as long as my calories were low, I know it is just a matter of time. Even people who are bed ridden need over 1000 calories just to survive. For me, I think I would be far more anxious if I didn't track calories though. Seeing low calories day in and day out gives me comfort so I don't have to worry. It's very calming. Excessive worrying just causes cortisol spikes and weight gain. Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was weird. She asked me about 20 questions which took about 10 minutes and that was it. I don't know whether to be happy or to complain about it. Everything is good with me, 7 month post op. So I'm leaving that alone. Ha. Good luck!

When I was going through this early post op phase, there was a group on one of these forums from a particular surgeon who did very well with combining the sleeve with extreme dieting, and he got overall very good results with even very high BMI patients (lost track as they all disappeared, so have no idea how they are doing now, however!) There was one guy on there who was very similar to my stats who was following this program and got to his goal weight at a bit over four months. Wow, but so what? I was working on slowing things down at six months to ease into maintenance, and wasn't doing any of that extreme dieting. I wonder now how well that guy is doing - did he learn how to maintain his weight over the long term, or was he one of those who "gained it all back"? It really isn't a matter of whether you can do better, or lose faster, but can you meet your goals, and maintain yourself in the long term? This is a marathon, not a sprint. so what happens to you over the next 5, 10 and 20 years is a lot more important than how you lose over the first 4, 6 or 12 months.vsg Overall, the bypass has very similar performance to the VSG in overall weight loss and rate, so there isn't much to choose there - one might lose a bit quicker with the bypass owing to its' malabsorptive component, but that dissipates after a year or two and you are metabolically in the same basic place that you would be with a sleeve, but you still have the added nutritional deficiencies to make up for. Have there been some challenges in maintaining my weight over time? Yes, much the same as there would have been had I gotten a bypass (my second choice was the DS, which does make weight maintenance easier as it is metabolically a stronger procedure, but I felt that it would have been overkill for my needs then, and still do.) We see just as many come through here who struggle with being "slow losers" or "gained it all back" with the VSG as with the RNY. With the VSG, I do have a bit of GERD, which is easily controlled with low level OTC meds (some are not so lucky, others are more so and have no problems.) OTH, I do not miss having any of the comparable RNY potential side effects - dumping, reactive hypoglycemia, marginal ulcers, bile reflux (pretty rare these days with how they structure RNYs) low iron requiring periodic iron infusions, osteoporosis (already have a family tendency towards that, so don't need more risk added,) or the other limitations in medication and medical treatment options as I get (even) older that come along with a bypass. These are not insurmountable problems if one needs to go with a bypass owing to preexisting conditions, but are things that I don't think are worth risking for whatever very small difference there might be in weight loss performance. I don't miss that at all. YMMV

Man, I feel you on the stalls. I've been in one for the last 10 days and it's driving me nuts. I'm a week away from 3 months post op and I've about had it.

I got the Realize band back in 2010 found out was pregnant 2 weeks later! I have reflux worse now than before surgery. That is my only issue until the past 3 weeks. I have had a pain that seems to be where my band is...mine holds 10 CC's and I have been in my sweet spot for the past 3 years (I think I have 7.5/8cc's in) My husband says I am cranky, can't sleep well so I am finally going to take some fluid out Aug 3rd. I still have trouble eating slow, chewing alot, drink with all my meals. and still sometimes eat to soon before bed time! With that being said I have a stabbing/every few minute headache as we speak from coughing ALL night....does anyone ever experience this problem????