Diane

Thanks! Rootman I see you are doing pretty good yourself!

Cool Wishes!! I just may have to SPLURGE !! LOLS and get one of these. Thanks for the Info.

Miters36!! All I can say is I decided when I started this journey in May of 2010 that I DIDNOT want a scale to DEFINE me or HOW my day was going to start out!! For one thing I only weighed in about every 2 weeks and after a few months I only weighed in once a month. Once I had the sleeve I weighed in every 2 weeks. If I felt my clothes were getting bigger I might sneak a weighin in just to see how I was doing. I don't want to be crabby cuz one day I stayed the same or the next day I gained 2 lbs. or start my day out upset because what the scale says from day to day. That is what I mean by I didn't want the scale to define me or what my day would be like. A persons weight can fluctuate 2 lbs or more from day to day depending on fluid retention from day to day. Don't get yourself all worked up on a daily basis that only leads to fustration and possibly to causing you to eat things you shouldn't any way. Now to deal with the constipation, this is what I have found works for me. I would go 6 days without a BM also. I purchased some stool softeners at CVS Pharmacy - First I took 1 a day for a week to see if that helped, If i still felt too constipated I tried a suppository to get me going. Then the next week I would take 2 stool softeners a day for a week. If no results and I felt constipated I again used a suppository to help get me going. Then the next week I tried 3 softeners a day for a week and that is what finally worked for me and has for the past 3 or 4 months. I usually go about every 2 to 3 days and I donot have to strain to go either. And usually I will go about 2 or 3 times that day. But I also take my 3 stool softeners along with my other vitamins EVERY DAY and since that time I have ZERO issues with constipation. These softeners are not hard on your system either. Laxitives can be hard on your body causing you more problems than you already have. Laxitives should not be used on a regular basis. Hope this information helps you as it sounds like you are struggling. Diane!

Wow!! You are doing "AWESOME" yourself lady glad you are doing so great!! Congrats and good luck to you on your journey as well!!

Thanks Sleeveme2011 !! Thanks for the great support!! Diane.

Thanks Amanda!! I see from your stats that your are doing AWESOME as well!! You will be there before long for sure!! Diane.

Thanks Tiffykins I will certainly try your recomendations ! I copied a recipe on here for sweet and salty nuts made with splenda I think I will try that too. Thought maybe I could add in a atkins bar once a day maybe too. You are such a great support on this site. Thanks for your help with everyone! And good luck with your little sprout!

Took the test my real age is 56 and I am 57 - lols - at least I gained a year!!

Good Luck!! See ya on the losers bench!! Let us know how you are coming along when you feel better!!

GNC vitamin shop has a unflavored protein powder that you could put into chix or beef broth, or some kinda soup to up the protein and also help with fluid content. Just make sure that the soup or broth is not boiling hot when you add the powder or it has a tendency to clump up! I used a wisk to sir mine up. Hope things get better for you. It just takes some time to figure out how everything works is all.

Hi all!!! I am 6 months and 10 days Post-Op and after my workout today I decided to weigh-in just to check - LOLS !! And I am 1 lb. under my goal!! I just couldn't believe my eyes I had to step off the scale and get back on a second time just to make make sure!! LOLS!! I am just loving this sleeve is all I can say!! I am 57 years old and 5'7" tall and consider myself to be large boned. So for all you senior SLEEVERS out there this CAN be done. Just incase anyone is wondering. When I started this journey I was in a size 32 womens jeans. Now I can wear a size 8 or a size 10 jeans depending on the cut of the pants. I wear usually a medium top because I have large shoulders but if they are a generous cut a small sometimes. I don't EVER REMEMBER wearing a size 8 pants , possibly in grade school I would guess. I don't want to go too much lower though but would like to have like 5 lbs. that I can "Bounce" around with. My question is then - will my weight kinda like hit a level at which I should be at all by itself? Or what does a person need to do to keep the weight at a certain point once your goal is met? I was working out about 1 & 1/2 hours 3 days a week, but this week I cut down to 1/2 hour workouts 3 times a week to see if I could maintain without going too much lower. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! And have a good rest of the week all!!

DoOver! I take 3 stool softeners a day everyday and I usually have a bm about every 3rd day - not straining for me either - at first I took 1 a day an I increased the dose til I got to 3 and found it worked for me - maybe you could try that and they are relatively cheap. I use a generic stool softener they are more reasonably priced. I hope this helps.

Emmas mom ! I had my sleeve surgery on Feb. 14th,2011. For thinning hair I take Biotin and let me add I think it has helped tremendously. But I do notice when I comb my hair I do lose more strands of hair than I did before my pre-op and my post-op phases. Also this is something that you need to take for awhile before you notice any difference because it has to get into your system so to speak. I have read somewhere on this forum that your bodys hair growth responds to what your system has gone through in say the previous four months. So what you take for hair growth it may take your body four months to respond to. Also I am an older sleever 57 years old and it was brought up by one of the members of the support group that biotin helps all hair growth it cannot just target head hair growth. So if you have a issue with facial hair remember it could help that hair grow more also. I haven't had a problem with facial hair so I am pretty lucky so far I haven't noticed any growing, but I have noticed that my leg hairs are more pronounced since taking biotin. I started taking biotin in my pre-surgery days. Here is a list of what vitamins I take. Biotin Super Strength 7500 mcg 600mg Calcium +D - 1 tab 2xday B-1 500 mg D3 1000 IU - 1 tab 2xday Fish Oil 1200 mg w/360 mg OMEGA-3 - 2 daily sublingual High Potency B-12 2500 mcg Senior Multi-Vitamin - 1 tab 2xday I have an issue with constipation since pre-op dieting so I started taking a 100 mg stool softener tablet to help and if I didn't go after a day or so upped it to 2 and if I still didn't go I upped it to 3 tabs a day. I have found that the 3 tabs a day of the stool softener works the best for my system and I usually go every 3rd day and I don't need to strain myself to go either. - I know - TMI - right? But just thought you would like to be prepared is all. Hope this information helps you and good luck with your surgery!

I wonder if you can get this creatine at any drug store? Anyone know, or do you have to purchase it online?? Thanks in advance for your response?

I have hypothyroidism also - was diagnosed during my 6 mo. supervised visits with the sleeve Dr. Once they put me on medicine I started losing better - but I also was taking the medifast diet foods, and bars to help lose some weight before surgery. My BMI was 48 I think when I started this journey. I am on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine a day to control the Thyroid. I was told once you are on Thyroid medicine you will need to stay on it for the rest of your life. After I had lost about 125 lbs. I had my regular doctor check up and he did some bloodwork to check on my Thyroid and they said I should stay on the same dosage I was on. Interesting cuz this was ordered for me when I weighed about 250 lbs. LOLS!! As you can see from my ticker below that it hasn't stopped me from losing the weight though. Hope you have great success with your weightloss journey. Keep us informed. Good Luck to you!!

So I decided to go thrift store shopping today as I really didn't have too many summer items. Well of course as I usually do I started out in the wrong size section. Then I finally thought well I was a size 14 and those seem to be getting a little big in the waist so maybe I should try a size smaller . So I grabbed a bunch of size 12's & 12P's capris and a pair of black levis size 12 for work. I also grabbed some size large, and some medium tops. To my suprise EVERYTHING FIT!! OMG I have NEVER gone into any store and kinda hurridly picked up some clothes to try & have them ALL fit in my LIFE. Needless to say I was grinning from ear to ear the whole trip back home. But I need to add that originally when I started this journey I was a big mamma's size 32 capri's. WOW!!! I wish I had some pic's to post but my daughter says she will come over soon and post a before and after pic's when she has a day off. I just don't know how to cut, copy, paste that stuff so I can post it here. I wish to thank everyone on this site for their encouragement and insite they have given me since I joined this support group. You all are a great group of people thats for sure!!!

Just my opinion but why not save them until u are on regular food and eat them for a meal - they should be nutritionally balanced and lower calories right? Heck maybe 1 meal will be enuf to last for 2 meals after the sleeve anyway!

Hi was talking to a co-worker yesterday about thinning hair. She said her daughter had severely thinning hair after some medication she needed to take. Her daughter bought a biotin hair shapoo at amazon .com and said it helped. Her hair dresser told her whatever she's doing to keep it up. I am going to research this and see if I can find out how to buy some. The co-worker said she thought it was $20 for a large bottle. I hope this helps you! I would start taking the max dose of biotin and maybe the shampoo. I have been talking 5000 mg of biotin since my surgery on Feb 14, 2011 and I think this has helped. I am still losing some hair mind you but not handfulls so far at least.

Well Hi Katherine. Just so happens that I am 57 years old (or should I say years young) and I had my sleeve on Feb. 14th, 2011. I started my journey the dieting part on 6/28/2010 and with pre-op loss because I took medifast and the post-op loss I have lost a total of 135 lbs. so far. I don't know if that is considered a fast or slow loss but I will tell ya one thing "I LOVE MY SLEEVE" LOLS!! Hope you have continued great weightloss right along with me. Right now I am happy as long as the scale is moving in the down direction. Right now I am 10 lbs. from goal and very excited incase you can't tell. LOLS!!!

WOW! Coops you look GRE8T!! I Love the pink dress! You can really tell the difference and you look YOUNGER too! I find now that I like bright colors now too Pink, Purple, etc. I used to wear alot of black and dark blue when I was heavy. Good luck with your continuted weightloss. Diane.

I could stand on the floor put my one leg up on a chair and bend long enough to paint my own toenails!! WHOOT!! They haven't seen paint in YEARS!! LOLS

WOW!! Welcome to onderland!! I am doing the HAPPY DANCE right along with you !! Glad to hear you are doing so GREAT!! I am 5' 7" and my Dr. put my goal weight at 155 lbs. Last Drs. visit a month and a half ago he said he see's no reason why i should'nt be able to make it to goal. So I am gonna try! I am about 10 lbs away as of today! I was in a size 32 jeans at my heaviest and now I can wear a pair of size 12 what I call "Skinny" jeans. Have a great week and continued success on your weight loss journey. I LOVE my SLEEVE!!

Thanks all for your responses they have been very helpful. I am about 10 lbs from my goal and was thinking about adding in some bars for an inbetween snack. Kinda wanna think about trying to maintain prettty soon but I also don't want to get into the habit of eating too many carbs either. I think I might try some of the Atkins snack bars they seem pretty reasonable with the carbs. I sure appreciate everyones help. Thanks again.

I was at a seminar awhile ago and there was a speaker who was talking about how to figure how many actual carbs are in a food Item. Lets say the calorie count was 160 calories, and 10 grams of Fiber, and 10 grams of sugar alcohols , and had 24 carbs. Does that mean you can subtract the 10 grams fiber and 10 grams of sugar alcohols = 4 grams of actual carbs for that item?? Cuz she gave me the impression you could subtract fiber grams and sugar alcohols and whats left was the actual carbs that the item contains. Does anyone know the formula for figuring the actual carb count of food items. If so I would appreciate a reply. I would like to have a snack inbetween the small meals that I eat now after the sleeve, like a Protein bar of some sort but the carb count is what scares me away from buying them. Thanks in all for your help on this support site. I really get alot of usefull information from all the helpful people.

I would like to know the brand please and where did you purchase it - it sounds interesting to me. Thanks!