LowCho

Best advice I ever received was to stop worrying and just let it happen.

It's really individualized. My doc told me to take six weeks but I thought I would be fine in one to two. Turns out, I was off work for nine weeks and needed every minute of it. When I went back to work, I almost went back home because I was so exhausted. I'm in week thirteen and am just now starting to feel like I can make it through a 10-12 hour work day without passing out.

The gaviscon is still working for me most of the time. Sometimes, my hunger pangs go away altogether but most of the time it just takes the edge off and takes it down to a tolerable level. It's my opinion that carbs have to be controlled during the weight loss phase. My surgeon recommends 40 carbs or less during weight loss. After weight loss, then carbs can increase for maintenance. I also believe that fluids are important ... you really need 64oz daily. Best of luck!

Miralax does work but I can taste it, so I just don't prefer it. Now that I finally got my fluids and exercise going, colace is all the extra "umph" that I need to help keep things soft :-)

Colace (docusate sodium) is an effective, gentle stool softener that can help keep things moving.

The VSG book is Successful Weight Loss With the Gastric Sleeve by Guillermo Alvarez, MD. It is available at http://www.thegastricsleeve.com ... BTW, I cannot say enough positive things about this guy. I am not his patient, just a complete stranger and he answered my email with very specific questions in a matter of minutes. I bought the Gaviscon and it is working, so far. Within a few minutes of my first dose, it took the edge off my hunger pangs. The rest of the day has been heaven as my sleeve has finally settled down and is giving me some peace.

I hope this information will be helpful for you. I tried one Gaviscon and it took the edge off my hunger for about 1/2 hour. The bottle says you can take 2-4 tablets up to 4 times per day so I've got some testing to do. I see some real potential here :-)

I may have some information that might be helpful to those like me with hunger pangs that won't resolve. I bought a book about the gastric sleeve, recently, so I decided to send the author an email. I was stunned to see him respond to me in only a matter of minutes. I asked him if I could share the information and he heartily agreed ... Here is the reply that he sent to me regarding my specific situation ... ... I've see this situation multiple times so don't think this is only you. They way to deal with is to do 5 or 6 small meals a day and add Gaviscon chewable tablets to your Protonix as you are taking it right now. What seems to happen is that there is a "rebound" of acid production once the sleeve is done. This will get normal but after some months so be patient. I hope this helps and let me know how this goes. I wish you the best on this 2011. Congratulations on your Sleeve. Have patience. On my way to the drugstore with my fingers crossed

WOW ~ I really hope that some veteran sleever has been through this and can chime in. This past weekend, my hubby and I went to Yosemite to relax. Did a little bit of walking, but I was ravenous all weekend. Ate something small every hour or two but was still hungry all day. When I got back to the hotel, I typed it all in and I had 1250 calories <SHOCK>. Before surgery, I was on a ketogenic diet that was pretty high fat so I'm not afraid of fat. My stats on the 1250 calorie day was 73g fat, 46g carbs, and 93g Protein ... I guess adding fats or carbs wouldn't really help <GRIN>. My surgeon has not done sleeves for more than a few years so I'm not getting any answers at my Center of Excellence. I look forward to hearing suggestions from anyone that's been through this. If I learn any new information, I will come back to post for the benefit of the group :-) Happy Holidays!

I am glad that other people are struggling like me. I am 7 weeks postop and am eating solid food. I started getting hunger pangs about week 3. My doc told me that solid food would help. We moved my diet from puree to soft and for a limited time frame, it did help. Then my hunger pangs started becoming constant and severe. Even when full or even nauseous, I was constantly stomach-gnawing hungry. We changed my PPI to twice daily and I did get some relief. With solid food and the extra PPI, I'm no longer constantly facing severe hunger pangs; however, they are moderate and irritating. I do get relief after eating but only for about an hour. I spoke with my doc again this week and we're going from three meals daily to six small meals to see if we can get this under control. I gotta say that I'm getting a little down because I'm not seeing much progress. liquids, milk, and Protein shakes do nothing to ease the hunger, I have to physically eat something. I'm supposed to go back to work soon and I don't know how I'm going to find time to eat something every two hours <sigh>. While I really like the restriction my sleeve provides, I'm hungry an hour later. After solid food and twice daily PPI's, what's left? Anyone found anything else to help? My hunger pangs are worse now than I ever was pre-op.

I take protonix and have no co-pay. My doc's office told me that some insurance doesn't cover PPI's and Prevacid OTC was a good option.

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These are great ... Thanks for sharing!

The first few weeks, I couldn't find any liquid or protein that I could tolerate other than regular milk. Finally, about a week ago, I discovered Inspire protein powder by Bariatric Eating. It's a godsend ... Blends very well with only 4 oz of water and stays thin so I can get it down. The flavor I use has 30 grams of protein and 1 carb. Truly wish I'd tried this six weeks ago.

Just wanted to chime in with my surgeon recommendations ... 800-900 daily, 80-100g protein, 40g carbs or below.

Thanks for the heads up ... Sounds great ... Just placed an order!!!

Thanks ~ I keep thinking to myself, "well, it can't get any worse"

I had my 4 week appt, yesterday. While I am making progress, it’s not moving very quickly. I’m having great difficulty getting all my fluids/protein in secondary to nausea and I’m still pretty weak. In fact, I’ve only been averaging about 400-500 calories per day. The surgeon advanced my diet to soft, solid food, changed up my dietary plan and tweaked my meds in the hopes that I can get more nutrition in. I was planning to go back to work soon but my doc extended my medical leave until early January. On the upside, I’ve lost about 19 pounds since surgery and my blood sugar is still running in the 80’s. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my blood sugar doing so well, I would seriously be having buyer’s remorse, right now b/c this journey has turned out to be ten times harder than I ever imagined :-) Hope everyone else is doing okay.

Thank You!

I seem to get hiccups at odd times like when I'm not eating or an hour or two after ... funny, huh.

No worries ... everyone has to find their own way :-)

Definitely drop the alcohol and your carb count. Too much for where you are, right now. I had to sign a document with my surgeon that I would not have alcohol, caffeine or starches until after 12 months. During the first 12 months, the honeymoon period, I can only have up to 40 carbs per day.

Without knowing your dietary specifics, it's tough to make recommendations. One thing you can always do is drop your carbs.

Thanks everyone ... keep the ideas coming :-)