Swiftflow

Understood, but its not a guarantee. Some people get the hunger back. Like you I don't have the hunger either so thats a bonus for us, but I never had to be hungry to eat pre-op either. We have to remember the only guaranteed result is the smaller stomach. For those of you who do have hunger, that is not a bad thing as such a small amout of food now satisfies! We still have to choose the right food to satisfy though!

Keep in mind the only guarantee of the sleeve procedure is that it will physically limit the volume of solid food you can eat in one sitting. It is a tool. EDIT: some people also get the benifit of not feeling hunger due to reduced ghrelin production, but some get feelings of hunger back and some report not loosing hunger--however they can now feel full with just a small amount of food. If you graze all day or choose the wrong foods when eating, the tool is not helping you at all and not being used properly. The stalls are a whole different story--everyone looses weight differently, does not matter if you are on a diet or have any of the weight loss surgeries available--if your body is going to stall it is just going to stall and adjust. There is frustration and impatience that stalls cause, but if you keep using the tool properly the weight will come off. Look at the studies and percentages with WLS some may have as high as 85% success rate--that also means that 15% of those in the study did not stick with the program and choose not to use the tool the right way. You will do well with the VSG if you use it as a tool in your diet and exercise program. Diet and exercise alone has a 90%-95% failure rate so I like my chances much better with the Sleeve in my tool belt.

Just wanted to stop in and say that this seems common at this stage to slow down. Last month was 10 lbs with a big 3 week stall in the middle- so 1 week of great loss followed by 3 week stall and then another half a week of great loss. Then, I thought I blew past it as I quickly dropped 8 more lbs and was expecting to be on track for 10 lbs in 2 weeks, then this last week @$&*)BLAM!@)#! I hit a wall and woke up 3 lbs heavier than the day before and have stuck there again this week. I am not saying this to vent really--just that its a common theme regarless of the level of exercise. I am up to 4 miles on my running every other day and I am adding in weights a couple of times a week too. I mention this to say that its not just the level of exercise that plays a part. The body can only take so much weight loss it seems and then it has to adjust. I guess I am fortunate that even with the adjustments I was able to drop the 10lbs last month--I hope to at least get in 10 this month too.

Doc had me on pills by day 3. I was taking a PPI in the morning and my Zyrtec at night. No issues with taking them--call your doc and confirm--the larger pills for preventing gal stones they gave me to start day 15.

I did a ton of walking early on (2-3 miles each day) I think in week 2 or 3 most of the wierd gas was gone.

I still remember those days, my sleeve really talked to me allot that first week. Gas would seem to come in through the lower valve and "whistle" up the sleeve. Seemed like I could feel liquid flow through the sleeve and I knew it went through the sleeve because when the lower valve opened to release liquid into the intestine, some gas would come up. I recall being surprised at how fast liquid moved right through the new stomach. This too shall pass :biggrin0:

I always enjoy your posts Jane! Great to see you reaching your goal!

I took mine originally because my doc told us to for the first 6 months, but I tested stopping them this last month and have not noticed-- I just have low acid production I guess. Everyone is so different in this regard and why some will need 40mg or more daily some will need 20mg daily and some will never need them--its all about how your body produces acid.

Just out of curiosity have you looked into Seasonal Affective Disorder? I only ask because Seattle is not known for its sunshine, and you may work mostly indoors. Some people swear by the lamps that can help allieviate this when they work Night shift or see very little sunlight. Not saying I know much about it personally, but it may be worth checking into. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Symptoms, Treatment, Causes and Facts by MedicineNet.com

If your stalling now with the sleeve you would also be stalling with the bypass. You would be getting less calories absorbed and it may in fact be worse--the common thread you see with all of the weight loss surgeries is stall threads, same threads you see on extreem low cal diet threads too. With all the exercise I am willing to bet your calories are way too low and your body is in starvation mode. If your really working out all the time you may need to get 1000 calories or more in.

It does get better with time. Early out I had some issues with certain foods that just a few weeks later I can eat fine now. Everyone heals at different rates. Some days I would have a completely bad sleeve day and just go back to mushies the whole day because I did not want to deal with it. As the weeks have passed I no longer have those types of days.

Every surgeon is different on the policy for self pay. Most have a limit of 30 or 35 bmi, but it does not hurt to call the local office and ask.

NtvTxn, PPI's don't help with real hunger, but they do suppress acid production in the stomach which many confuse with hunger. I am not saying this is the case for the original poster, but some do have high acid production and need more than the standard 20mg PPI. There are also (non PPI) meds like pepcid that help control acid, and liquid meds you can take when you are having acid episodes that work the fastest. You could test with one of these to see if hunger goes away with taking them--if an acid controler removes the feeling of hunger then it was likely acid and not hunger to start with. However, if it is true hunger, acid reducers or PPI's wont do anything for that.

You are looking good, and have been a big help to me in chat and in your posts. I feel like I am finally "in a groove" with my sleeve and I owe that to people like you and Oregondaisy who helped me with questions I had early out. Thanks again for inspiration.

Bevanne, If someone wanted to try and truly stretch their sleeve they would eat allot of dense foods and push to the point beyond the full sensation. To the point of pain. Many people confuse the sleeve healing process with stretching as they start out with allot of restriction because of the drastic change to the stomach. Swelling and the healing process early out gives much more restriction in the first couple of months. In a normal stomach the Fundus is very stretchy and can expand rather easily to allow more stomach capacity. Ideally, most sleeve surgeons try to remove the fundus leaving us with the vertical sleeve which is much less pliable or expandable. It is very common in RnY patients to have a pouch that stretches when they overeat because the fundus is not removed in most bypass operations. Combine that with no pyloric valve, and that is why gastric bypass patients can get back to eating amounts they did before surgery. With the vertical sleeve done properly (fundus mostly removed), the stomach will have very little stretchability and it will always provide more restriction than it did pre-op. We also must be careful with slider foods--slider foods are softer, easily broken down and move quickly on through the pyloric valve into the intestines leaving the stomach with space to take in more foods. Someone could graze on these types of foods all day with a sleeve and still gain wieght. 5 day pouch test Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

The temptation all of us lifetime dieters have is to restrict food even further when you don't see the scale move. Don't fall into this temptation--eating less calories will make things worse. If anything most stalls come when people are staying under 600 calories. If you are doing any activity at all this is way too low. shoot for 800 to 1000 calories to rev your body back up. Many people early on in this surgery have broken stalls by eating more and getting your body out of starvation mode.

Wendy's Chili has been a slider type of food for me and has been this way since I started mushies. The beans and liquid in it allow it to move pretty quickly through the sleeve almost like drinking with a meal does. One small wendy's chili won't ruin your diet though--I still think its the best choice on that menu and I love that I can eat it in a rush when I only have minutes for lunch. The dryer and denser the food, the more restriction I feel. Some foods still seem to require extreme chewing and I can barely eat any of it. So if you need to test that restriction see how fast you can eat a steak

Globetrotter, Try the Miralax mixed in with some crystal lite, it is not bad tasting like the milk of Magnesia, and it truly does work. It is something many of the docs recommend--but you can also check with your doc to be sure. I had success with it my first few weeks.

Hello from a fellow Texan. I can relate to much of your struggle as I just had my VSG at age 40 and I have been failing at diets since age 15. I was always one who saw some early success in dieting before I would fall off the wagon even after 50lbs or more loss. So in a way I thought I could do it on my own if I could somehow just stick with it this time... Luckily I had a male friend of mine who went through wls and this broke my macho man attitude of doing it all on my own. As I have studied obesity and seen such a high diet failure rate for the morbidly obese, I finally decided that the sleeve was the tool for me. The sleeve is awesome indeed! I don't have real hunger anymore. In fact, just last night I had one of my episodes of "I should eat something while watching TV" again no physical hunger just old habits.. I was able to eat something very small with protien in it (just 100 calories) and get past it. Before VSG this would have been a time where I downed half a bag of chips or leftover pizza etc--so the tool has helped me both in regular eating and during my "I just want to eat" phases. Anyway, glad you are here! I think you will find the sleeve to be just the tool you need to have long term success.

I would recommend Miralax (or the generic equal) I had more constipation early on as most of my food was Protein and not the typical fatty/carb diet I had pre-op. At three months out now, I don't have the same issues, but I am taking in more normal meals now as well. Every now and then I will still take Miralax if I feel like stools are too solid or if it has been too long since the last one. All of this to say what you are seeing is normal. I just came off of a stall that lasted over 2 weeks--stalls are normal too as our body adjusts during the drastic eating changes. Just stick to the program your doc gave you and you will be ok. Try the miralax to help clear you out now and then as needed.

Excellent! You have really done great!

Miralax or the generic version (walgreens, cvs, or walmart) has worked well for many here.

As someone mentioned before, the real issue is pain meds and driving. If you are not on pain meds then mentally you can handle it. If you are driving a long period of time it is recommended that you stop and walk often just so you are not in one stationary position that could lead to blood clots.

I have the bullet and it is just the right size for small portions.

I have just taken my third run since I started back up running and I am feeling great to be back out there. I am taking it very slow doing 2 min jog followed by 1 min walk and repeating that pattern every 3 mins for 3 miles distance so technically I guess I run 2/3rds of the time and walk 1/3. The first time was painful and took a couple of days for the legs to be revived, second run came easier, and today it was starting to feel great again. As the weight drops and fitness builds I will add 30 sec to the run time with each increase. Will go 2:30 to 1 then 3 to 1 and so on during the building stage. Eventually I hope to get back to where I can complete a 5k non stop as my first major running goal. The weight loss seems to have picked up a bit with the running--I am eating a bit more on run days just to make sure to have energy.