Rootman

I've answered a few posts about insomnia and rather then revisit them I decided to post a new message relating my (hopefully) solution. I've been an insomniac since I reached puberty, something (besides coming of age as it were) happened to me at that age and I've had trouble sleeping after that - for the last 35+ years to be exact. I have trouble going to sleep and keeping to sleep. For about 10 years I was taking the antidepressant Paxil daily and .5mg of Xanax. This left me feeling dopey and out-of-it, although I usually slept OK while on it. I gave it up as I felt that I was losing my edge and falling behind, physically, emotionally and sexually. I also tried Melatonin, this seemed to have no effect on me other than to give me wild dreams. Prescription sleep aids never worked for me. I tried Lunesta and Ambien. Both seemed to work somewhat but after a while stopped being effective. They carry risk of addiction and as I experienced loss of effectiveness. So I suffered. Some most nights I lay there until 2 to 4 am, just laying and resting, too tired to read and knowing that I had to stay in bed to get the rest and what little sleep I got. I honestly think that I slept a lot more than I realized and that I actually DREAMED of laying awake wanting to sleep. Regardless it did NOT make for a restful night and after getting 2-4 hours of sleep in the wee hours I'd wake up tired sluggish and needing more. I read about 5-htp hereon the forum. I had never heard of the stuff before. Not knowing what it is I read up on it. I actually bought a book on it from Amazon (search for 5-htp - there are a few). They read like the typical "Vitamin store employee" rhetoric and I saw little to actually support the claims. But I was desperate. What the heck I tried nearly everything else. This is supposed to help with sleep, depression and even weight loss. The stuff is fairly inexpensive, about $9 / 30 capsules at my local Walmart. I started out taking 2 a day, one at lunch the other just before bed. After 15 days (one bottle) I didn't feel any difference. I continued on to my second bottle and after maybe 30 days I think it is finally kicking in. I now get really sleeping after getting in bed. I try to read and even have to close one eye while reading and have found myself staring at the page or closing my eyes and waking up a few minutes later after snoozing a little. This is progress. Nearly every night I fall asleep pretty fast. I feel pretty good in the morning and am more refreshed. i also feel better emotionally. I continue to take it twice daily and even find myself smiling now and then and actually ENJOYING the thought of going to bed - I used to hate it as I didn't want to lay there for hours fighting sleep. I still have an issue with waking almost every morning abut 2AM having to urinate. I have an ongoing issue with kidney stones and found the only way to keep them in check is to slug a LOT of Water down every day, I probably drink close to a gallon a day, hence I wake up at 2-3 am having to pee. I then have some issues getting back to sleep but have found the time flies by so I must be getting SOME sleep. Has anyone else tried this stuff? What are your experiences with it? Is it for real or have I just psyched myself into a better sleep pattern?

Mirilax is just the ticket for me, started out a full cap a day and now take 1/2 cap a day - it's been an ongoing problem all my adult life that just got worse post sleeve.

The 85% figure is just an estimate, after all what does it really represent? The surface area? The capacity empty? The capacity full? And is this before or after the stomach is stretched out after a big meal? Just remember that a LARGE portion is removed, after a few months you WILL be able to eat healthy NORMAL portions, but remember that HEALTHY and NORMAL are NOT what you ate before, and indeed not what MOST people eat today. It is a lot smaller. 85% sounds shocking BUT IT IS JUST A FIGURE, YOUR ACTUALLY % MAY BE LESS OR MORE.

The restriction is pretty sever at first but as months pass the stomach heals and the swelling goes down and you should be able to eat a healthy NORMAL portion eventually. I noticed at 6 months I was able to eat pretty well and at 10 months I could eat normally. Remember NORMAL and HEALTHY portions are a LOT less than what the typical person eats.

I too had it and was the result of referred pain from my kidneys due to dehydration. I had kidney stones and had to get pain meds to get by. I was also on flomax for a while but the key was for me to drink a ridiculous amount of Water each day to keep my kidneys flushed, I probably drink about a gallon a day (128 ozs) . I also drink a Vitamin C drink EmergenC 3 days a week.which acidifies the urine to help keep stones clear. Stones are usually diagnosed by an x-ray or CT scan. Hope you get over it soon!

No, he wasn't being rude, he was being a TOTAL A$$H0LE - excuse my language. YES, he has to protect himself from liability on those he did not treat but good gawd to come out and say something like that is so totally unprofessional and just A. H. -ish (I just invented a new word ) as to be incredible. Look for an independent group if there is one, you may be stuck with just something like this forum because of your remoteness. And remember YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE.

I have had ongoing issues with kidney stones because I was not hydrating enough, which causes the urine to get strong and dark - which can lead to UTIs and discomfort. Are you drinking enough to keep your urine either clear or JUST slightly tinged yellow?

Just ignore the goof. He's not going to build up a clientèle by offending people like that. Keep looking, perhaps a FEMALE trainer would be better suited?? BTW, I'm at 15 months out and have kept it off and go to the gym and swim 1 hour a day 5 days a week. I am in good shape have a LOT more stamina and carry more muscle that I have EVER carried before in my life. You CAN do it on your own, don't let anyone tell you you can't. Now if you choose to get some professional advice to optimize the training then that's your call. Don't let some stupid b@stard make you think he's gods gift to out of shape people. I'd advise going it alone using any number of plans you can get for FREE. Wait a few months and if you aren't getting the results you want THEN try again for professional advice.

Yep, same here, after decades of slapping my inner thighs together I actually have a GAP between my legs!

I was pretty cool all the way up to surgery and though it, AFTERWARDS is when I nearly fell apart. I was back in San Diego after surgery in MX and thought I was going to pass out, heart was thumping, got hot and flushed and felt like I was spinning out of control. I lied down for a bit and it passed. Whew! What a letdown.

Yes, CALL IMMEDIATELY, it is most certainly blood, as even bile has a more greenish cast to it.

As Diva explained there is no correct answer to this question. What happens post op is all over the page, from feeling fine with absolutely no issues to being sick as a dog and wishing you hadn't done it. I generally felt crappy and had malaise and tiredness. It went on and eased up over a course of like 2 months and then I started feeling fine and things have been generally good since then. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I agree with everyone else, it certainly will do you no harm. As stated it shrinks the liver and will assure that your colon is NOT packed full of food - some (not all) people have pretty bad constipation post-op due largely to the shock and anesthesia reaction. Not pleasant at any time, especially not while your hurting from the operation. Besides it gives you a jump start on the weight loss and with a definite short term goal of the operation day in mind you are more easily able to stay on it. We all wish you the best!

Try this - get a 100 pound kid and have them jump on your back and THEN get measured again. I'll betcha it's at least a half inch shorter. Our skeleton isn't all that rigid, our spinal column especially as it is separated with spinal disks that do spring back SOME when weight is reduced. Congrats! A real side benefit.

Laugh? NO Drool? YES! . . . I'm sorry, did I say that out loud? Shame on me! I'm sorry.

YEP! Blood sugar is stable, I was getting HYPOglycemic (LOW blood sugar, opposite of diabetic), blood pressure was creeping upwards and BP meds would make me sick. Last cholesterol check was 140 - freakin' awesome! I've stopped using the CPAP as my face has gotten too thin to allow the mask to seal, I had to use a full face mask as I could not keep my dang mouth shut all night with the nasal type masks and air would leak out my mouth. Now I sleep pretty well, the wife says I don't snore and grunt the way I did. Edema is pretty much gone, I had pretty bad leg and feet swelling issues, now I just have them occasionally and not that bad. Joint pain has all cleared up. I go to the chiropractor about every 6 weeks just cause I typically get a crick in my back and neck. HE even remarks on how well I seem to be doing. There was basically NOTHING wrong with me at the last visit, I can't say that THAT has ever happened before. My resting heart rate is in the 70's now, used to be in the mid 90's. I can exercise now, before I used to get winded getting up to take a leak. I now swim an hour a day 5 days a week. I look and feel better now then when I was in my 20's. I'm now going to be 51 in April. It literally saved my life.

I too never considered a bypass. My brother and sister both ad bypasses. She started having heart issues and stopped exercising, got depressed and gained back a lot of weight - no failure to the bypass but she also has a LOT of malabsorbtion issues and must consume a LOT of Protein a day and a LOT of Vitamins. She's been in the hospital a few times due to this too. My bro did OK, fell to a real nice weight then gained SOME back. he too has constant malabsorbtion issues and must pop vitamins at every meal and drink protein shots a lot. With the DS your digestive tract is COMPLETELY severed ONCE, with the RNY it's severed TWICE. This scared me. I've thrived with the sleeve. I am not down to the weight I want after 14 months but am looking and feeling fine, certainly a LOT better than 14 months ago. I honestly thought that obesity was going to kill me. Do your homework, ask a lot of questions, consult experts and then make up YOUR mind, DON'T let anyone make it for you. We all wish you the best!

I can only answer one if your question is about general swelling / edema - yes I had pretty bad edema in my feet and ankles as well as swelling of my arms, hands and face at times. I would just hold Water in a terrible way. My feet and lower legs would actually be shiny as the skin was drawn so tight. I now have a mild bout in the lower legs occasionally, I can especially feel it in the soles of my feet but in general the situation has improved dramatically. As far as insurance you need to realize that in many cases BCBS does not PROVIDE insurance, they ADMINISTRATE the health care for companies or governments that self insure. Each group has their own restrictions based upon what type of coverage they negotiated with BCBS to administrate. So not many can honestly answer your questions unless they belong to precisely the same group you do.

Eating too much, too fast causes the small stomach to sort of panic and open the pyloric valve and dumping "raw" food into the duodenum - it does not like this and the result is cramps, sweating, nausea and the urge to vomit what's left of the food on the stomach. As I stated before a LOT of people have had this at one point or another with NO WLS surgery. They just pass it off as an upset stomach or something not agreeing with them. I certainly have had bouts of it on rare occasions in the past. There is a TV show in the USA named Man-VS-Food where this dude takes these food challenges and scarfs down enormous amounts of eats, on several broadcasts he has had what appeared to be dumping, sever cramps, nausea etc. I remember one show where he DID puke enough to release t pressure and therefore the dump. It's certainly not as bad for full stomached people OR for us sleevers for that matter. It's worse for WLS patients because we don't produce as much acid to treat the food and have less storage space to hold the food. RNY bypass patients are especially prone to it because they really don't have a stomach, just a pouch made of the very top of the stomach and a folded up part of the intestines.

AFAIK, EVERY surgeon that does the VSG uses staples. I have never heard of a surgeon that does not. The tool clamps, cuts then staples the cut all in one with just a couple of squeezes. SOME docs over sew the cut with sutures, most do not. There certainly is some veracity to it being slightly better - like a belt AND suspenders type of situation, but the staples work fine alone. The staples are permanent and DO show up on x-rays and MRI's as dark lines but do NOT interfere. They are non ferrous titanium and they do NOT set of metal detectors. The are actually quite tiny micro staples.

Well the REAL truth is that we here in the western hemisphere have the most expensive urine in the world. Because that's where a majority of the Vitamins and supplements we take end up going. The typical first world diet - if a proper well rounded diet is observed - has more than enough vitamins and etc to keep you healthy. Now that being said, since we sleevers eat so little, especially at first it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you take at least a multi Vitamin, perhaps an Iron tablet and perhaps a calcium citrate supplement (BTW: iron and calcium should not be taken together, spread them out over a few hours time). If indeed you DO have a vitamin deficiency it is much harder to treat the resultant disease or disorder from the deficiency once it has manifested itself than it is to PREVENT it by simply taking vitamins. In truth is that they are just insurance that you get all that you need. They are cheap and easy to take so why not? Just don't go overboard. A good "store brand" is probably just as good as the "premiere" ones in the end, so save your money and get the inexpensive ones. The doc can check your levels and make specific recommendations.

A BIG WooT WooT!

yep, ANYONE can dump - it is simply improperly stomach processed food dumping into the intestine, and it does NOT like that sort of thing! With an RNY you WILL dump, with anything else like a sleeve you are slightly more prone to it becasue of the restriction and even with a full stomach almost EVERYONE has done it once in a while. I know I did. Eating too much, too fast and it being just the right texture or richness to mysteriously allow it.

How may of you success storied sleevers catch yourself preening in front of the mirror now? I came out of the shower - same shower I've been in thousands of times over the last 15 years, caught sight of myself in the full length closet door mirror and started making muscle man poses and running my hands over the FLAT tummy of mine. Yep, there is a little pucker below my tummy, a tiny little bat wing under the arms but I look better now then I did in my 20's! Sorry, had to brag!

Yes, I too have come to the same realization. I've even dropped out of a motorcycle organization I belong to because of it. They met monthly at a restaurant for the monthly gathering, all rides revolved around a destination, almost always another restaurant. All parties were around a restaurant or someones house and involved just food. While I enjoy the company of the club I just could not be around food that much ALL the time. We, especially here in the USA, have become a victim of our own prosperity. We have created this massive infrastructure that makes nearly ANY food cheap and easy to get. We've demanded more and more for our money so portions are larger than ever. And we eat it all and come back for more. As Pogo said decades ago, "I have met the enemy, and he is us".