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IIRC, the constipation comes after surgery, not before - although not everyone has issues with it. Some people do have diarrhea post-surgery (especially the first week or so), but constipation is much more common, and it can become chronic. I don't remember if I had any particular BM issues during the pre-op liquid diet or not (may not have had many BM's at all given we weren't eating solid food), but I suspect your system is just whacked out by the change.

I never did do a 5-yr anniversary post (which was like 3 months ago, oopsies). Here is a reply I made to someone's thread about being newly sleeved. I had alot of fun composing it - despite it going off an a total tangent - and thought it had a five-year-sleeve-anniversary type of feel to it so I'm putting it here! Am also adding my requisite swim suit shot, but this one is from vacay last month, and its NOT a full body shot, AND I'm half in the water, lol. Its too cold around here for me to change into one now and take a pic. Plus I'm lazy. So i give you: "5+ YEARS IN 1000 WORDS OR LESS": #### Begin #### Day 0: YES!! I'm alive! Weeks 1-2: Ouch, this kinda hurts. I detest all food and water! I'm sooo effing tired, im just gonna lay down here and be found in 3 weeks, half-eaten by wild dogs. Weeks 3-4: Oh wow, I LOVE water! Eating is such a chore. I don't want to do it. I lost HOW MUCH weight?? Whoa, this thing is gonna actually work! LET'S DO THIS! Those dogs will be very disappointed in eating me. Months 2-4: Am I ever going to eat like a normal person?? It taking me for-EVAH to eat my tiny cup of food. I am sick of people commenting on how I eat. Exercise is so much funner/easier when I'm not so big! Let me sign up for EVERYTHING! I LOVE new clothes! I am losing my hair! Who knew salad is my favourite thing on earth? Months 5-7: If one more person tells me to stop losing weight or asks if i have a disease I'm going to sic my wild dogs on them. I guess this is life now: eating tiny bits of food all day long...I guess I can do that, small price to pay for looking HAWT and feeling A-MAY-ZING. I wonder if anyone knows how full of myself I really am.... Months 8-10: OMG.I CAN'T POSSIBLY UP MY CALORIES TO MAINTENANCE LEVEL! HOW AM I GOING TO STOP LOSING WEIGHT! I AM GOING TO WITHER AWAY AND DIE! Month 11: Oh. So THAT's my maintenance calorie level. That's not so hard. I'm not going to die after all. Ok, Ok, I'll just take this ONE cigarette from you, handsome Italian guy in Italy...even though I quit cold turkey 10 years ago...it can't hurt, right? Month 14: Plastic. Surgery. Month 15: *cries* Month 16: Whoa, I'm looking even HAWT-er than before. How is this even possible? I wonder if anyone has ever exploded from being so full of themselves.... Month 17: Why hello carbs, I've missed you. bread, Pasta, Rice, we shall never be parted again! Oh, nice to meet you for the first time COVID! How long are you staying? Month 18-21: All skinny and plastic-ed up and no where to go. Eff you COVID. I guess I'll just do a little online shopping for stuff to wear when I am finally allowed out of the house. Sure, I'll have that martini for Breakfast. Hey, my hair is back to normal...and its even nicer than before. Go figure. Years 3-5: Huh. I stayed below goal weight this entire time and I am the picture of satisfactory health...does that make me awesome? I dunno...my closet is bursting with clothes...most of which I've worn maybe once or not at all. How am I still smoking??? It was only supposed to be one cigarette!!! I think I may have developed high-functioning alcoholism? Food intolerances? Who me? Nah, I can eat anything and everything, EXCEPT large amounts of sugar at one time cuz, you know, I may pass out on the couch. I may not eat as much as everyone around me, but I don't want to anyway, so there! But let me cook for you, bake for you, make copious amounts of food for you! And no, i AM NOT finished reading this menu in it's entirety...I'm about to order enough food for 5 people...you better be hungry! Today I take no medications other than for my acid reflux (which unfortunately came on due to my sleeve surgery). I eat carbs and (small amounts) of Desserts, I drink alcohol. My last physical/labs 6 months ago produced no concerns - other than an abnormal thickening of my uterine lining, but that has since resolved. I have ridiculous amounts of energy, I rarely fight with my husband, I handle stress and annoyance like a grown up. I'm digging life. Oh, and I still look HAWT. *mic drop* P.S. i also finally quit smoking 5 months and 14 days ago. yay me! hopefully I don't meet another handsome Italian with an extra cigarette in the future. Edited to add: P.P.S. sorry..i meant to just reply about the first few weeks after my sleeve surgery and food progression, but my fingers got a life of their own as I typed out my reply. plus it was kinda fun writing this. I may cut and paste this into a more appropriate thread if I find one Good Luck! ❤️ #### END ####

Do you have a health care portal? I've found sending a message to my doctor through the portal is a good way to go if I have a question. Usually the nurse will respond within 24 hours, and if needed the doctor will give me a call. It might be better to get your concerns addressed that way. I'm sorry you didn't get to meet with your surgeon.

I think this was the foamies not nausea. It likely was from eating too much soup (being full & heavy) & then lying down so the soup was lying in your tummy. The foamies causes excess saliva (often thick & gloopy) & then you can bring up what you ate. It will occur if you eat something that is too dry or coarse or eat too much or too quickly. The food gets stuck (hence the saliva to try to ease the stuck food down) or literally overflows back up. The zofran won’t help with that. But you’ll feel better after bringing up what you ate.

If you plan to get skin removal surgery and want it to be covered by insurance, make sure you document with your doctor ALL problems with skin rashes, sores etc. It isn't usually covered since it is considered cosmetic but if you can show a history of problems, there's a better chance of it being covered. I have lost over 100 pounds and have some loose skin, but I am getting cryo therapy twice a week. It helps to produce collagen and tightens my skin as the weight comes off. If I had waited till I hit goal weight, I don't think it would have been as effective. I also sit in an infrared sauna which has its own list of benefits. Rebounding helps too. There are some alternatives to surgery. Being proactive is important but it also depends on the amount of weight you have to lose and DNA. When I had rashes before losing the weight, I used a baby powder/cornstarch blend to keep the area dry. Moisture can make things painful and possibly infected. Good luck!!

The RNY certainly sounds tough, but I’m glad you made it to the other side of it. I’m just glad to know I’m not the only one who is struggling with this. Comparison is the thief of joy as they say. I’m glad brighter days ahead.

The pull and twist sensation is most likely a stomach spasm. It is one of the rarer side effects of bariatric surgery. I got them too, and mine happened even with water! My surgeon told me they'd go away after a few weeks and sure enough, between weeks 2 and 3 they magically faded out! You have to be veeeeery slow with eating and drinking. The pain on the inside that feels like your stomach weight is causing it is completely normal. You have a lot of internal sutures and there are anchor stitches to keep things in place, those are often the most painful and take the longest to heal! I couldn't lie on my side for a few weeks without propping up my stomach with a pillow under it because the pulling of my stomach sideways caused intense pain thanks to the anchor stitches. I think it took about a month to 6 weeks for that to fade completely. Bariatric surgery is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Healing takes time and a generous amount of patience. The more impatient and annoyed you are with your body, the more agitated and anxious you will get. All the things you have described sound fairly normal for 11-12 days out from surgery. I'm sure your surgeon will tell you that at your follow up appointment! Be sure he knows all your concerns. It takes about 3 months for those internal sutures and cut nerves to heal up completely and start sending clearer signals to your brain. But the pain from the incisions and internal stitches should go away within 4-6 weeks. I'm sorry your team didn't explain to you how gradual recovery is and how slow it can feel... You can do this! When you see the scale moving it'll help ease the frustration. LOL

I'm February 22nd. I believe my pre-op diet is 10 days of liquids.

I think your goals are admirable. So many get caught up in how much they lose, how fast or slow they lose, how long it takes, etc. as they’re losing. Of course when we’ve lost our weight we all feel pretty darn happy about what we have achieved (& deservedly so). How you eat after you’ve stabilised is really up to you & how you want to live your life. If eating carbs fits in better with your lifestyle & your family then eat carbs. Just maybe choose better carbs - complex, whole & multi grains, low processed versions, smaller portions, or less often. You’ll work out what & how much of certain foods or food groups you need to eat, can eat, can eat occasionally, or those you may be better off avoiding. It’s your choice. Of course we can’t go back to how we used to eat - that’s just asking for trouble 🙂. Accompanied with this may be that your weight settles a little higher than at your lowest as you work out your caloric needs (what your body needs to function effectively to maintain your weight & activity level), eating style & lifestyle preferences and that’s okay. For me deciding not to call how I ate after I stabilised a ‘diet’ was a positive mental move. I’m not on a diet this is just how & what I eat. Diet had such negative connotations & memories for me: restrictions, being limited, missing out, etc. & failure. Personally, I cut out a lot of sugar & generally avoid artificial sweeteners & sugar substitutes whenever I can so I don’t eat cakes, biscuits, desserts etc. except a couple of times a year like Christmas. Don’t miss it. Don’t feel I’m missing out or being restricted & my friends & family accept it, no fussing or pushing me to eat. For example my niece was serving out cake for her 13th birthday earlier this year. When she got to me she asked what I’d like and added we have strawberries too. (I had strawberries.) It didn’t happen overnight but slowly it became just me. All the best.

not all bariatric diets are low-carb. Some are balanced. Also, once I got a ways out, I mostly just counted calories (although making sure I met my protein and fluid goals) losing weight via exercising is of course possible, but really tough. People overestimate how many calories they burn by exercising. According to research, exercise is much more effective in helping to maintain weight than it is to lose weight. Of course, it's always excellent for your overall health and people should do it (if they're able to, of course) - but as the primary weight loss tool, it's supposedly not that effective (well...unless you're spending a few hours a day at the gym or are into running marathons - that kind of intensity would probably do it!) I'm eight years out and have never reached the point where I've been able to eat without being concerned about my weight. I know from experience that if I eat too many calories for more than a couple of days, my weight will gradually start heading north again. Honestly, a lot of my never-been-obese friends are the same way- they have to watch what they eat. Unfortunately I think that's the way it goes for a lot of people - obese or not. Not many are blessed with the ability to eat whatever they want and not gain weight. also, you'll eventually get to the point where you can enjoy the things you do now in moderation. Nothing is off-limits for me And DS patients can generally eat more than RNY and VSG patients because of the malabsorption (RNY has some malabsorption of calories, but only for about a year, and it's not as strong as it is in DS people). Although if I'm not mistaken, I think DSers do have to be more careful with carbs - IIRC, they don't digest them well - and I know traditional DSers don't have to worry too much about fat (but not sure about SADI patients) - but check with your clinic. They'll know for sure.