MuffinsMom

I do the low-carb thing, and at 23 mos. out (and in maintenance) I've had pizza several times - I just eat the toppings, cheese and all, and leave the crust. Totally satisfactory! You'll be able to enjoy the flavors of pizza again if you do it that way.

Are you on a PPI (acid reducer)? Gastric acid is a very common side effect of VSG surgery, and most surgeons put their patients on a PPI (proton pump inhibitor, prevents acid from forming). Stomach acid feels very much like hunger.

I went through four different PPIs before I found one that works fairly well, Dexilant by prescription. I take one in the morning, and Prevacid OTC 30 mg in the evenings. I still get acid attacks on occasion, which for me present as huge volumes of gas, belching non-stop for hours, and very intense diaphragm pain. I've had about three of these "attacks" over about 6 weeks, and I'm learning what foods to avoid (so far, coffee, spinach and Diet Snapple), and to recognize the earlly symptoms so that I can take a Pepcid, which helps avoid them. I had heartburn and occasional reflux before surgery, and I knew that the gastric acid situation could get worse, better, or stay the same afterwards, and went ahead anyway. Would I do it all over again, knowing what I know now? Absolutely. I'm down 89 lbs. and feel great. You just have to find the right combination of medications to treat it, and I'm also hoping eventually my system will start producing less.

I find that eating carbs (in the form of breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, not those found in vegs and fruit) slows down my weight loss - even when I'm within my calorie limit. I went thru a phase where I wanted grilled cheese sandwiches, and had probably 4-5 over the course of a couple weeks, always accounting for the calories in my food log. Weight loss slowed down. Another time I decided that 100 calorie snack packs would fit into my food plan, again staying within my calorie limit, and again the weight loss slowed to a crawl. So while I can tolerate these things, I don't eat much at all. Strange how this process teaches us so much about our bodies and what they respond to, even though I had 60 years to learn and never did until now!

-When you can cross your legs - AND you can touch the floor with the toes of the top leg! -When you can't sit for more than 10 minutes without wiggling around to get a better position for your ass-bone. -When you realize you've exchanged fat rolls for teeny tiny wrinkles, all a row. -When your inner thighs look like tied-back drapes, LOL! -When you learn to eat hot food cold, and cold food room temp. -When you could take off if you flap your arms too fast! -When people you knew before you lost weight, but haven't seen in a long time, walk right past you with absolutely no recognition in their faces.

no.

Mine's a 36, and my surgeon oversewed so I understand it 's probably closer to a 32. As others have posted, though, the bougie size isn't necessarily a predictor of weight loss success. For one thing, the bougie determines the width, but our own anatomy determines the length of our stomach from esophagus to pylorus, which will be a big factor in capacity. Plus, once we've fully healed we'll be able to eat a bit more than we can early out. That's why the support system, food plan, exercise, and follow-up doctor appts are so important. It's not only how much we eat, but what and when.

Sugar alcohols are sweeteners that don't affect tooth decay (so you'll find them in SF gum & mints). Sorbitol, manitol, a bunch of others - they've been around for ages. But some people have gastrointestinal reactions - gas, bloating, rumbling, etc. Nasty! I chew SF gum now and again, but I found out the hard way not to eat a whole roll of SF mints!

I have to say, the pneumonia likely put a major hitch in your weight loss get-along, and your body may still be recovering, even though as far as you and your doc are concerned it's behind you. Pneumonia is extremely serious, and the body needs every ounce of energy to fight it, even in the presence of antibiotics. So all bets are off as far as weight loss is concerned - the body can't afford to allow weight loss when it's fighting a big infection. Combine that with a naturally-occurring stall, and you have a crazy-making several weeks. Keep doing all the right things - and make sure you're getting AT LEAST 64 oz of water a day, which helps break down glucogen - focus your mind on other things for now, and the weight loss will start back up again.

From your description, it sounds like you are married to a child. You'll need to decide what, if anything, you will do about this self-absorbed, manipulative behavior. Understand that it will not change, however.

Kerri, have you pooped yet? If not try a glycerin bulb. At about 2 weeks out I got so badly backed up I went to the ER. They examined me, took X-rays, and sent me home without treatment, apparently it wasn't as bad as I thought, but it was as bad as I have ever experienced! I had been taking X-Lax and Miralax but nothing helped that one big blockage that wouldn't budge! (Sorry, TMI I know.) On the way home I stopped at CVS and picked up a couple things - magnesium citrate (which is what they ask you to take if you're going to get a colonoscopy, cleans you out rather violently!) and glycerin bulbs. I tried a glycerin bulb first, and that worked. (Didn't really want to use the magnesium citrate if I didn't have to....) Ever since, I take Miralax every day in my morning coffee, to prevent that from ever happening again, and that works just fine, especially with the Calcium and PPIs we take, which I guess can be a little constipating. Then really start pushing the Water. Your body needs water to release the fat. Many times on this board and on OH, people who stall end up breaking the stall by upping Protein and water.

First advice is to check with your doctor's office about protein/carbs/calories during the puree / mushy stage; that said though, the objective IMO is to very gently re-introduce food to your new tummy, which has suffered a major injury. And you're in this phase for such a short period and eating so little, that the foods won't affect your weight loss success. Once you move to regular foods, then start paying attention to carbs, calories, protein, water, and so forth. Right now just get that new sleeve used to accepting different types of mushy and pureed foods.

I read on an RNY "grads" Yahoo group, that one calcium supplement should be taken at bedtime, because calcium works best when bones aren't supporting weight, i.e. lying down. I haven't done any independent research on whether that's true, but it did occur to me that bedtime would be a convenient time to get in my last one. I take BA lozenges, 400 mg per lozenge, and I take three a day because post-menopausal women are supposed to get even MORE calcium, sheesh! :-)

So my experience was that the shoulder pain and the belching are different types of gas. The shoulder pain is from the inert gas they introduced into your torso during surgery to expand the area so they could see what they were doing. I read that when you sit up/stand up it creates upward pressure which is expressed as shoulder pain. Gas-X strips will not help this pain. Only walking seems to dissipate it, and it should be gone by about 10 days or so. Belching, on the other hand, for me was a symptom of uncontrolled gastric acid, which started about 10 days out, when I started taking full fluids. Took me several days to figure it out - the Nexium my doctor recommended wasn't doing a thing for me, and EVERYTHING I put in my stomach produced belching so bad (like large belches every few seconds) that I couldn't continue to eat, or talk, or do anything. It would go on like that for 30 minutes at a time. I was scheduled to go back to the office after 2 weeks, and was concerned about whether I would be able to go back, if it continued. Before I had to deal with that, though, I finally realized what it was, and changed to Prevacid, along with a Zantac here and there when I felt like I needed it. Problem solved! So a question, at least about the belching - are you on a PPI?

I know what you mean about mourning eating. For a while after surgery I constantly romanced the carbs mentally - slavering after every commercial on TV, catalog that came in the mail (DAMN those Williams Sonoma catalogs!), and bakery section in the grocery store. But I kept to protein-first (usually protein-only, LOL, because I couldn't get anything else in) and gradually the craving for sugar and flour went away. For me it seems to be a physical thing, where if I gorge on sugar/flour it sets me up to want more, and it takes WEEKS for that particular beast to quiet down. My advice would be to surf the net for low carb ideas (and Tiffykins is right, try theworldaccordingtoeggface.com), and all meals protein first. I get hungry about every three hours, so I eat five times a day (usually around 9:00-12-3-6-9), always a protein thing. But they consist of meatballs, tuna salad, egg salad, eggface's bites, crockpot chicken, bacon, sausages, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, scrambled egg, etc. I include protein drinks in my daily menu as well, both powders and ready-to-drink. I'm always on the hunt for things that will be enjoyable and give me a varied diet. So don't limit yourself to just a few things. Make an eating plan, follow it as best you can (no one's perfect, BTW). This tool you've been blessed with WILL work.