happy1957

Good morning.. I think this is mainly from the "shock to your body". My doctor warned me it would happen. I always met and usually exceeded my protein requirements. Did everything precautionary that I had read about including biotin supplements and shampoos etc. Yet between 5-9 months, I lost so much hair. It would come out in goobs while in the shower and my brush was always full too. I would pass my fingers through my conditioned hair and at times circles of 50 plus hairs would come out. I was worried I'd be bald. I too have very fine hair but lots of it. Well, kiddo.. At 18 months out it is growing back, but unfortunately for me, I have about 3 inches of new growth all over my head. The new hair is like a SHEEP!! This hair is like some people get after chemo treatments. I can NOT control it all. My bangs look like corkscrews. I straighten it and 10 minutes later.. OUCH! I hate this new curly crap, but it beats baldness. I live in Maine and we've had a terribly humid, rainy spring and early summer. I am hoping if this humidity ever goes away, I can again get control. The part I hate most is the top layer which is wavy, almost straight, sticks out when those corkscrews spring that hair up, I look stupid. I have cut my hair to shoulder length and layered it some, but not ready for a short haircut, especially an afro yet, this hair is better than bald. When I wear my hair up, all the little corkscrews find their way to to the surface making for one fuzzy looking mop head. LOL The best of luck to you. I hope you are one of the lucky ones who never loses their hair.

Glad that you both recognize it's either that you ate too fast or too much. I am 18 months out, have never thrown up and fortunately have a stop warning signal, my NOSE runs first starting with the sniffles, if I take one more bite, it runs like a faucet. You'll be like your old self soon, meaning your struggles will become habits and you won't see it as a struggle. We all have days that we can eat more than others, some days I'm starving. So a protein drink in between helps. The more carbs I try to sneak in, the hungrier I become. If at all, avoid them. We are all human and have cravings, I satisfy mine. Not in volume, it often doesn't take more than a bite or two. I now cook for others and take a bite. I love my sleeve. Love my time working out and the solitude and satisfaction that comes with it. The best to both of you.

Thank you for your candidness, I wish you the best of luck and a fast recovery.

Do you think the stretching happened to you because you were one of the first sleeve recipients and that things may be a little different now surgically? I can see how you could gain weight by grazing, by drinking calories etc. I to worry about 4 years down the road. Right now at 18 months out, I am a HAPPY camper.

Good day... First of all I am sorry for your experience. I have never had that happen to me because of the sleeve, but suffered with it for nearly 5 years after my gallbladder removal. Yet still never to your extreme, I have heard horror stories at "support group: usually from a bypass patient. One leaving a trail from the sample section at Sam's club to the bathroom in the front of the store. :-( I am only writing to tell you that has horrible as it sounded, you are a GREAT writer and had me in stitches. I'm not laughing at you, but with you. I hope that was your first and last experience. No more cheese soup!!

I too loved diet coke, especially McDonald's. Although I was not an addict and drank maybe one or two a week. Now, I can't stand any soda, taste bud changes make all soda's taste toxic to me. I've sipped one on several occasions and no change in the toxic taste over the last 18 months. I now like Fruit 2-o it's light and does the job.

Flab to Fab , You look fabulous... keep up the good work! I don't have the physical makeup to look that good even with a million dollars worth of plastics and turning the clock back 28 years.

Good day...I am 56, have lost 65 lbs, but had lost 30-50 lbs at least ten times in my adult life. I have abdominal sagging that bothers me more than anything along with my under the chin swag. It's been about 5 months since I hit goal and I do work out. I think for the most part I am happy with my buttocks, and legs, and even my arms are getting there. I will always have upper inner thigh puckering and a small amount on my inner arms very close to the armpit, it's a combination of stretch marks and a little sag. but would love to have a tummy tuck and neck lift. I am much older than you, my suggestion is work out and tone. It does help. I wish they had invented the sleeve 25 years ago. SIGH. In general, I think I am in better shape than a lot of women my age. Clothes are a good thing, no nudest colonies for me. :-)

You're looking terrific! The Mrs looks lighter on her feet too. You both look very happy and obviously you're much more healthier. Keep up the good work.

I am 17 months out, have been at goal for almost 6 months and my Dr suggests 2 years out, so no plastics until Dec or after. I have noticed a lot less skin hanging and even my face has gotten less hollow since I stopped losing. I think they like to know where the skin is going to land before cutting it off.

I work in a very busy Dr's office and many people only come in once a year and you'd be surprised how many people have told me I look older. I have said this before, when I was fatter, I would hear , "you have such a pretty face, if only you could take off a few pounds", now the "weightless and make you look older". I am very pleasant and thank those that sincerely compliment me, but after a day of negative comments, I get thinking about robbing a bank for the facelift. :-) Over all, I am healthier, love being able to shop online and not worry about trying stuff on. I workout 5 days a week and love it. I don't feel any different inside. Same ole me.

I get compliments and then "OMG, don't lose any more weight, your face is so hollow" So mine are a wash. The fact that I'm OLD makes the hidden wrinkles shine through which were filled in with fat before. I think overall I have a difficult time with compliments because I don't feel any different, not any thinner, not any prettier and surely not any more intelligent. I think people who compliment you at times are the same people who wouldn't have spoken to you when you were fatter. I hate those compliments. You all know the ones that come from the prejudice folk against fat, short or not so beautiful people.

Good day... I too went through a period of not severe (no bald patches) , but a lot of hair loss between 5-9 months. I am 17 months out and the new growth makes me look like I've been electrocuted. I have so much curly hair about 3 inches long throughout my entire head, putting it up makes it so obvious. I'm not complaining about the regrowth, just hate how kinky curly it is. Check out this precious post.http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/79363-hair-loss-my-story/ Good luck

I truly enjoyed this post and the comments. I too have had hunger return with a vengeance. I am 17 months out, find I can and do eat a lot more "naughty" foods, but so far when I'm bad, I try and substitute that day's calorie intake with more exercise or a Protein drink for a Meal Replacement. I still use a bread and butter plate as my guide, I try my best to use portions that I remember from the earlier days. My Dr told me to use the smaller plate for the rest of my life and I'll not regain the weight. I also try to stick to the the 5 meal rule. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and two Snacks at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Overall we are human, we will make mistakes, but I think the hunger pangs come and go. I agree with Cowgirl Jane, a good cup of coffee with a flavored creamer and it knocks the hunger out for me. I also notice my severe hunger comes after eating carbs like sugary things. I have battled my weight my entire life, I've always been able to lose, but never maintain. I have not lost any weight in nearly 6 months, but I don't want to. I want to maintain my current weight for years. Keeping my fingers crossed that we all can...

Good morning... I am 18 months out and I too lost a lot of hair between the 5-9 month span. I have always had curly hair, but the stuff growing in is almost kninky. Not pretty. I use huge hot rollers to straighten my hair, but it's reached a point where it looks thick at the root and thin on the bottom. I really need a new hairstyle, but love throwing my hair in a clip when I work out, walk etc. I hope it eventually fills in everywhere. I also noticed the white/grey hair are coming in fast and furious. It is normal for my family to hold off on greying and having it come overnight. I guess at 56 I should expect some. :-) My temples don't need frosting anymore. I'm going to look around in the 2010 or 2009 sleevers and see how they are doing .

Good morning.... Is there any chance you could get an e-mail of the ladies that went to DR. I am in need of a lots of plastics, but at m,y age, the only thing that is seriously important, is the neck lift. I would like to speak with them about the journey, their aftercare and the overall satisfaction of their results. A tummy tuck would be nice too. Thanks

NUT= Nutritionist..........

I appreciate your story and look forward to your documented journey. I can relate to you not wanting to tell your co-workers and respect that. I think you're going to be stressed by telling lies, you'd be better off just saying "I can't talk about it" or "I don't want to talk about it". That was suggested to me here by more seasoned sleevers. I just went through the lie thing, or not actually telling lies but withholding information. The stress of that was bothering me to the point that I actually found myself crying over it. I'm 56 years old and live a private life, so everyone asking "how did you do it?" was the dreaded question of the day. I would just say, calories in, calories out and daily workouts. Which is not a lie, but it bothered me not telling all. I have a friend/ acquaintance that told a story about another bypass friend who down right lies and and she was offended by it. I told her it was an individual private matter. At the beginning I told lots of people, but after a few negative responses, I decided to stop making conversation out of it unless it's a person that I know would sincerely benefit from the surgery and my experience. I have found that this web site is the safest place to air your feelings and people are typically non judgemental because we're all dealing with the same thing. Again, try not to put yourself in a stressful situation by lying because it compounds and the stress will give you unnecessary stalls and sleepless nights which has no benefit at all. The best of luck to you. I look forward to the "clean apartment" video. :-) This upcoming surgery has already put a skip in step and you're making positive changes.

Good day... I just wanted to drop a line and tell you my experience. I too had not lost hair until month 5 and it lasted through month 9. I love my hair and it was devastating to me. I did my best to hide the thinner hair by layering it more etc. I had taken all the precautions like Biotin Shampoo and vitamins etc. Nothing stopped it, it was inevitable. I also think because my hair is long, the amount looked far worse on the shower floor than if it had been a shorter length. It is growing back strong and actually super curly at the scalp. I may end up looking like a sheep. My hairdresser goes crazy trying to grab those millions of short hairs when highlighting my hair. The short inside hairs gives me a natural lift. It's coming back. My Dr said it's your body's natural cycle when it going through the trauma of surgery and weight loss Although I never lost hair on my numerous weight losses before. I received a lot of support here in VSG and it really did help knowing that it would come back. I'm 16 months out and life is good. I hope you are one of the lucky ones that d on't experience this, but if you are, be assured it all comes back and mine even thicker.

I don't have that problem since I'm old and pretty worn out by bedtime. I get up daily to work out at 4:30am. Are you exercising at night? Drinking coffee late? Even too many proteins for dinner can make me a little more wired. I did have a problem when I tried exercising after work. It's too much stimulation for me. See if there are any helpful hints here. http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm

My Dr requires annual visits for 5 years. This is not only to make sure you're doing well, but to give them information on Sleeve success and overall statistics. I think it helps YOU stay on top of things if you need to be accountable.

This is very graphic, DO NOT WATCH if you are squeamish.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/carmelita/blog/2011/03/31/-2/ this may be of help....

Good day... I am 18 months out. I too remember that dreaded stall which lasted nearly 4 weeks on me. If you are truly doing everything you're suppose to do. YOU WILL BE REWARDED! Be patient, measure yourself and just keep plugging away at your protein and water. One day you will get on the scale and OMG, 6 lbs will have fallen off. This surgery is like jumping stairs. There are times that it seems you are stuck on one run for a long time, but then you seem to jump 2 or 3 at a time. I sincerely was depressed at your stage, my sister who was before me, never had such a long stall, although she did hit the fall a few times. This truly does work if you put in the effort. Congratulations on what you have done and remember it's a marathon not a sprint.

Congratulations... it's a positive beginning. Remember not to overdo take it one day at a time and enjoy what you're doing. Three weeks to make a habit, 3 days to break a habit. So remember that consistency is what it's all about. It's a marathon not a sprint. The best of luck to you.