mamasez

Thank you, Sharon. Very helpful, indeed. I really appreciate you taking the time to share this info. Leah

Glad u r home. I am praying for u. Hang tough!

Over the counter Tylenol adult blast liquid. Cherry flavor. CVS has a generic for it too. Works like a charm.

I have trouble with pills. Here's my iron tips... 1. Try "Natrol" liquid iron. I got it at The Vitamin Shoope. It tastes bad but thats better than feeling sick. 2. Try "Hema-Plex". I got it at Whole Foods. It has 85 mg of iron so I chop it in half, grind it up with a pestle and mortar and mix it in applesauce. 3. Try gummy multis with iron. 4. Take pills WITH food and take them in the evening vice earlier in the day. Good luck. Leah

Getting my vitamins in is a etruggle, but I am making it happen b/c it is very important to my health. I get nauseated from them too so I take gummies, liquid calcium, liquid iron so there are fewer pills. When I have the cramps, I use liquid tylenol. Taking pills early in the day is out of the question. I do better with them at night, after my sleeve is more "warmed up." And I always take my pills with food. These are the things helping me thus far. I am always keeping my eye out for tips from others. Taking pills has been and remains a big pain since I got sleeved. That and my inability to tolerate whey protein, but that's anoother story.

Oh yeah.... the horrid period ninja has attacked me too. My periods have always been bad but now they are bad to the bone. I have had three since surgery and they are intense. I get dizzy, tired, and cramps from the beyond. Not fun. My weightloss slows to a crawl for almost 2 weeks while my visitor is here. Blech.

Praying for both of you! Leah

I force myself to go outside for a very brisk walk for 30 minutes at least 5 days per week. I never look forward to it but I am always proud of myself afterward and it is helping with my weight loss. I live in TX so our weather allows me to do this on most days. I have trouble with my feet and ankles so I wrap them prior to walking, which is a pain but worth it to minimize injury risk. At 49 years old, I am "over" the motivation to work out that existed in my youth. But I know I just have to woman-up and do it. New info says a 30 min.walk per day not only helps your physical health but also lowers risk of Alzheimers. We have a Wii fit and I do a few of the games (I walk during the jogging one) and play around with some others, but the daily walk helps my psyche as well.

Sunshine: I am 2.5 months out. I noticed, on days I do not consume extra Protein by drinking Isopure Zero Carb Protein drinks (a ready to drink product that is not creamy - since surgery I cannot tolerate whey in a creamy shake type drink) I feel TONS more hungry. The drinks come in two sizes: an 8 oz. that has 15 g of protein and a 20 oz that has 40 g protein. I try to get in as much dense protein as I can to quell the hunger but using the Ispoure Zero Carb helps add protein when I can't fit in additional food. It also seems to help keep my enegy level up which helps me get longer, more brisk walks in. Good luck. I hope this helps.

I ditto the recliner and melatonin. Hang in there! It DOES get better!

You are truly an inspiration. Congrats on your stellar success and thanks for encouraging all of us onward and downward!

All I can say is been there, done that and it WILL get better! I am not that far ahead of you. I was sleeved on 10/17. I had ALL the same feelings & symptoms you are experiencing. It feels like it will be this way.forever, but I promise it won't. We spent alot of time eating and we enjoyed eating. It is jatural that you are thinking about food, but that will subside. The first two weeks I felt hungry and as literally dreaming about food. Others told me that would calm down after the first few weeks and they were right. You had major surgery. Your house will have to wait. Keep telling yourself that this part of it is temporary, because that is true. In a few weeks you will be cleaning like a whirlwind. You need to "borrow" this time from your kids but you will be able to play with them and tend to them so much better and with more ease soon, thanks to the weight loss you will experience. As far as your surgeon goes, don't let his God complex stop you from being who you are. My pain level was pretty bad in the first couple of weeks. I felt like a loser (pun!) Because most posts I read were from people going "it felt luke perioe cramps" and here I was hurting so bad, feeling so hungry, not able to cook, clean or homeschool my son for the first bit of my post op journey. I had to have faith that the issues would pwss and it would all pay off, now at two short months out and 49 lbs. lighter, I am reaping the rewards of my sleeve. As I dug deeper and read more posts here, I realized that the problems I was having in the beginning were not uncommon at all. I totally understand how you are feeling and it sucks that.some of us have a hard time in the beginning. But I promise the hunger thing gets way better, the pain will get better each dqy (I slept in a recliner for three weeks and became BFFs with my heating pad) and this will all pay off for you. i'm glad you posted. You have every right to vent. Hang in there and welcome to the losers bn

All I can say is been there, done that and it WILL get better! I am not that far ahead of you. I was sleeved on 10/17. I had ALL the same feelings & symptoms you are experiencing. It feels like it will be this way.forever, but I promise it won't. We spent alot of time eating and we enjoyed eating. It is jatural that you are thinking about food, but that will subside. The first two weeks I felt hungry and as literally dreaming about food. Others told me that would calm down after the first few weeks and they were right. You had major surgery. Your house will have to wait. Keep telling yourself that this part of it is temporary, because that is true. In a few weeks you will be cleaning like a whirlwind. You need to "borrow" this time from your kids but you will be able to play with them and tend to them so much better and with more ease soon, thanks to the weight loss you will experience. As far as your surgeon goes, don't let his God complex stop you from being who you are. My pain level was pretty bad in the first couple of weeks. I felt like a loser (pun!) Because most posts I read were from people going "it felt luke perioe cramps" and here I was hurting so bad, feeling so hungry, not able to cook, clean or homeschool my son for the first bit of my post op journey. I had to have faith that the issues would pwss and it would all pay off, now at two short months out and 49 lbs. lighter, I am reaping the rewards of my sleeve. As I dug deeper and read more posts here, I realized that the problems I was having in the beginning were not uncommon at all. I totally understand how you are feeling and it sucks that.some of us have a hard time in the beginning. But I promise the hunger thing gets way better, the pain will get better each dqy (I slept in a recliner for three weeks and became BFFs with my heating pad) and this will all pay off for you. i'm glad you posted. You have every right to vent. Hang in there and welcome to the losers bench!

You are doing great! Congrats and keep on truckin!

I have had that issue too. I am 6 weeks out. I added Prilosec OTC to my two Omeprazole (one Prilosec at bedtime) each day and started feeling lots better. It took a few days before the Prilosec kicked in though.

I have been having the same issues with my pills. Recently switched from Centrum Chewable to Adult Gummies from Costco. Those are better tolerated by my sleeve. I have also started cutting a couple of my pills into small segments and swallowing them with yogurt. That has helped too.

Thank you so much Lissa and Sharon for the helpful replies. Now that I know that Prilosec (on top of the Famotidine) helps you, Sharon, and Tums helps you, Lissa, I am going to pick up some of both! I was hoping it would be fine to take somethiing on top of the Famotidine (which I take twice a day already as well), so knowing that taking Prilosec has helped you, Sharon, I am sure it won't kill me! Not that I tho't it would but.... Anyway, another question: Are the "foamies" where you feel acid rumbling / building up into your throat? I have read about people on this board experiencing "foamies" but haven't had it defined as of yet. If that IS what it is, I DEFINITELY have the foamies, especially if/when I take pills earlier in the day! I will start watching the clock more closely to time my gut feelings. I also get hungry sooner after exercising (which I am happy to say, I have been walking 30 minutes per day, at least 5 days per week since the middle of week three post-op and it kicked my weight loss into a higher gear). I am down 41 lbs in total. 10 pre-op and 31 post op since sleeved on 10/17. So exciting! I have been using the MyFitnessPal.com app on my phone daily and it is a great tool. I am shooting for 50 to 60 g of protein a day and trying to keep the carbs low-ish. You are on there, aren't you, Lissa? I love being able to keep track of everything there. I finally think I am OVER utilizing the pen and paper routine to track, but must admit, I do miss not being able to see a whole week or more at a glance. I had created an Excel spreadsheet of everything I ate and drank and tracked cals, protein and carbs plus fluid intake and exercise for the first 4 weeks. But using MyFitnessPal is just SO much easier and less time consuming that I know I'll be more likely to continue tracking for the long term with it, whereas with paper, I always quit eventually because of time constraints. Lissa, I looked at a bunch of protein bars at The Vitamin Shoppe but they all had 35 or more carbs per bar and that worries me a bit. I am trying NOT to be paranoid about carbs but I do want to do this right and I DON'T want to screw up my losing streak, IYKWIM! I get to come of of soft foods as of Tuesday and am glad to be moving on to the "permanent" stage of eating on this journey. I just have to figure out what to purchase and fix so I won't get burned out on all the soft foods I've been eating (mostly eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, ground up chili with beans, refried beans and the like). I am SO ready for a REAL bite of REAL chicken (not ground down in food processor til it looks like baby food!' Thanks for your help. Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is relaxing! Leah p.s. Sharon - love your new picture on the board. It's lovely!

Initially, it lasted about 3 or 4 days. I get it every now and then for less than a whole day. I will just feel a tightening, kund of atabbing pain on one side. Doc assured me it's normal.

Laurakitty, I cannot speak to the back pain but I have had that tightening sensation over the 5 wks since I got sleeved. The muscles that were cut thru are healing.and I believe that tightening.feeling is the healing going on. Leah

Wish I could provide some good insight. At 5 weeks out I can't honestly tell what is true hunger and what is acid. It's so strange. I think I feel sort of, I dunno, desperate (for lack of a better word) for food when I am having post surgery hunger. The feeling that I THINK is acid makes me feel more like the OLD hunger feeling I used to get pre-op. That feeling seems to be more of an "I'm having a rumbly hungry-ish tummy". So I'm thinking the "if I don't eat something now I am gonna get really shaky and weird" feeling, is true post-op hunger? It's just bizarre to me that I can't figure out what is acid and what is real hunger. Sorry you are in the same boat but glad to know I am not the only one who is confused on this issue! Good luck figuring it out. I'll be interested to see what the seasoned vets have to say about this. Leah

Thanks Sahmrock! The weird thing is that I can drink the Ready to Drink Isopure Zero Carb and Isopure Plus drinks which say they have whey isolate in them, but the ones I mix myself (poweder in the large tubs) mke me sick as a dog. I picked up a sample of J Robb's egg white protein powder today at tThe Vitamin Shoppe. Fingers are crossed that that will not make me sick. Waiting til POST Turkey Day to test it out just in case! The protein powder making me sick is a mystery to me. I will also try mixing it with water post thanksgiving and see what happens with that. Good to hear that it DOES get better with time. I am so ready to feel more normal again. I am allowed to start eating "regular" food as of next week and am soooo looking forward to that. After 2 weeks on the pre-op diet, three weeks on pure liquids and another three weeks on soft foods, I amr eady for a REAL bike of some BBQ chicken from the crock pot. Don't know why I am craving that but I am! Happy Thanksgiving! Leah

Since my surgery on 10/17/11 I get sick (diarhhea, nausea, sweats - feels like dumping syndrome) whenever I ingest protein drinks that are pre-made or powder. Thinking cow's milk was causing it, I tried using almond milk, soy milk and rice milk and still get sick so I have to think it's the whey protein causing the problem, just like you. So I have stopped using it/them and am relying more on Isopure Zero Carb and Isopure Plus for extra protein when needed. I hope the problem resolves itself eventually (I invested a lot of $ into huge protein containers - Unjury, Max Protein, Isopure Whey - as well as sugar free flavored syrups (as suggested by the world according to eggface's blog) and I hate to see them go to waste. I am eating mostly ALL protein at this point to keep my numbers up. The scale is going down so I guess it's working.

Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it!

Ever since my sleeve on 10/17/11, I get really nauseous and feel like I might throw up (and sometimes get diarrhea) if I take any of my meds within the first half of the day. Did this happen to any of you and was/is it forever or can I expect this problem to go away eventually? Seems like my sleeve gets "looser" as the day / evening wears on. Does that sound familiar at all? Also, ANY extended release meds at ANY time of day or night make me really ill. Can you offer some insight? Thanks in advance!

Anyone besides me having charcoal tasting burps? What causes it? Thanks!