minaleigh

I was just searching for a topic just like this! I can totally relate. I am a shy person, and used the old trick of holding your purse or a pillow over your stomach while sitting down in front of other people (heck, I STILL do it subconsciously), but I still didn't see myself as obese as I was. Sure, I always dogged on myself (because let's face it, it doesn't hurt so much if you're the first one joking about your weight) but I still walked around like I was almost normal.

I was looking through old pictures from a year and a half ago, probably at my highest weight. Dear lord, how did I not notice?! Why was I wearing that?! Why did nobody tell me?! I just can't believe I let myself get that big. I also can't believe I'm 75 pounds down and still in the "obese" range. Size 14 and M/L shirts and I'm... obese? Will I look at pictures of me at this point, thinking I'm looking pretty good right now, only to groan and still not believing I thought I looked okay at this size?

I had it really bad! *GROSS ALERT* I would even wake up from a dead sleep to throw up all the saliva that ran down my throat while I was sleeping. I had to carry around a hospital barf bag for the first two months. Now it only happens if I eat just one bite too many. It gets better, I promise.

I was obese for many years before anything showed up on blood or other diagnostic tests, and I actually had doctors who looked at me and would tell me, "I really expected to find SOMETHING with your weight problem." Aghast that I didn't have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, or other "common" factors they look for with the obese.

Same with me emlefe. I'm only 22 but have been overweight/obese since I was 9. My blood pressure was textbook perfect, no high cholesterol, and even though my mom swore up and down I was diabetic, I wasn't.

Anorexic and bulimic, maybe, but healthily skinny? No!

I have PCOS am 7.5 months out. My facial hair is still there, but I feel it's not as dark. My periods are still really heavy but they're more regular.

How fun! I think we all need days like that. And love the crown.

Apples. Well, at least with their peels. Makes my stomach gurgly and angry. They don't even give any sort of sensation of fullness for me.

I wouldn't say that I've become lactose intolerant, but I can't drink milk like I used to. One, it makes me VERY full. A glass of milk might as well be a meal for me. Two, because it just makes my stomach not sit right. It makes it gurgle and generally unhappy with me.

I've had the same problem the past two weeks. Got down to 197 as my lowest, but slowly crept back up to 199 over the course of the week. All of a sudden, popped back on the scale and it said 201! I never wanted to be in the 200s ever again!

Funny thing is, after the 201 reading, I had a nightmare that I gained until I got to 248. It's not my highest weight, but I never want to go back! In my dream, I was wearing the clothes I can wear now, and they were ripping and falling off because they got too tight! It was horrid.

Luckily, I got back down to 199 again, though I'm hoping to get down to another low!

Edit: It's not my TOM either. I have been drinking TONS of Water (when it gets to over 105 degrees, you tend to get thirsty!) but haven't been eating much because I've been focused on work and school. Maybe that's why?

I've had this same problem for months. I would stand up and a few seconds later, my vision would blur slightly and there would be dark edges all around my periphery. I would also stumble into things and have to hold on to the counter or a wall.

I went to two different doctors and one couldn't find out anything wrong, except that my blood pressure drops when I stand up. Since this has never happened before, the other doctor suspects it's because of the all of the changes and weight loss that my body just isn't used to.

I agree about the potassium thing, as well as Iron. I feel better and it happens less when I take a multi-Vitamin.

*waves* I see we are "neighbors" - I am in Central IL! Ha! And I was at the movies last night seeing Magic Mike and mmmm that popcorn smelled goooood! LOL

*waves* Hey! Yeah, we were pretty crazy the past two nights. Sold out shows to all the Magic Mike times! Never seen so many women in one place at one time. And you think the popcorn smell is bad, imagine working with it! Lol.

I'm 22, so I'm not THAT far off. Here is the Teen forums. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/forum/31-teens/

I'm not sure how active it is, but you could always pop in there. I've seen some 18, 19, even 16 year olds on here. Welcome to the forums!

Well, I had an interesting experience at work tonight. I work in a movie theatre and tonight I was in concessions. I've recently reached onederland, and have been told by multiple people that I don't look like I weigh that much (I think it's because my top half is so much smaller than my thunder thighs). This is a male customer, I'd say mid-20s.

Anyways, here's the conversation... I'll warn ya, it's a long one lol.

Me: Hello, how can I help you today?

Customer: Yes, what does your medium drink look like?

Me: *I show him the medium*

Customer: Sheesh, that's massive. Okay, how about the small?

Me: *I show him the small*

Customer: Yeah, that'll do. Though that small is anyone else's large. It's probably why America is so fat.

Me: Yeah, the sizes are a bit ridiculous. Before we were bought out, the old medium was the size of the new small.

Customer: It's still way too big. I'm from Canada and I've never seen so many massive people.

(Now, I typically don't spout off my weight loss to random people, only to friends and family who ask. I just felt the need to call this guy out...)

Me: Yeah, I've lost about 90 pounds so I kind of get what you're saying.

Customer: Oh, good for you! You're helping to solve America's weight problem. I'm from Canada, so I'm not used to seeing so many fat people.

That was pretty much it. Now, I did my research and it seems that, yes, one in three American adults are obese. BUT, one in four Canadian adults are, too. I'm not sure where he was living, but it seems like the country as a whole isn't too far behind.

I was pretty speechless after the backwards compliment. Is it an NSV that someone felt comfortable enough to talk to me about "the horrors of obesity" as if I was, dare I say, normal-sized? I'm inclined to believe that if I was still at my previous weight, this customer would either A) not have come to my register, since there were two other cashiers at the time, or B ) not have mentioned this at all. He seemed very high and mighty, so maybe there's a third option of C) still would have talked about it, but it probably would have turned into an impromptu lecture about my "evil, gluttonous ways." He didn't even look sheepish after I told him I was a former fatty.

Apparently, this guy was all about Canada. I went up to the box office to fill some paperwork out, and I mentioned this guy. The person up there was like, "Did he have long, blonde hair? Did he mention he was from Canada?" Apparently, when she asked him for his ID to see an R-rated movie, he said, "Seriously? I'm from Canada. Where's YOUR ID?" Good times were had.

P.S. No disrespect to you Canadian sleevers. I know not all are like this.

Congrats! I wish I only had 74 pounds to lose, because I would have been at goal by now!

I originally made my goal 170 as well. Then I thought, "No, if I'm going to do this, I'm going all the way!" Lol.

You'll get it in no time. You've already done this much in two months!

I had the sleeve last November. I'm 22 and in college as well. It was a little hard at first because I had some issues but now I almost feel normal. It's weird sometimes because some people comment about how little I'm eating, especially when I go out with my friends.

I never was a drinker before surgery, so it wasn't particularly hard to give up alcohol. Though, I have to admit that when I went down to New Orleans (I was more than 6 months post-op), I did have a (read: ONE) daiquiri while in a bar on Bourbon Street. How could I not fully enjoy the New Orleans experience? Granted I was way buzzed and giddy after just one and it took me an hour to drink it, but hey, at least I found out that if I want a drink every now and then, it's not going to kill me. That has been the only drink I've had since surgery.

Let me know if you want to talk or have any questions!

I know exactly how you feel. No offense to you older sleevers but the majority of the people in my support group at the hospital are older. Most of them say "as long as I'm healthy, I don't care what size I am." Am I a little vain to want something MORE? I usually say the same spiel they do just so I don't look like an ungrateful "youngster." Lol. I tell people I would be happy to be a size 8 or 10, but I secretly want to be a 4 or 6.

My darn TOM still refuses to let me forget about chocolate.

What I crave most of the time is salty and/or crunchy Snacks, like Cheetos or Lays. Thing is, I've never been a big salt eater! I don't even use salt when cooking, and if I do it's seasoning salt. No idea why I'm craving salt so much.

Instead of making a new thread about it, I just wanted to update what I found out. I went to the doctor last month after having more episodes of extreme lightheadedness, especially when I stand up. They did some tests and found out the probable two main causes:

My blood pressure is actually lower when I'm standing up than when I'm sitting down. It would drop from 120/75-ish sitting down to 105/60-ish standing up.

I completely forgot the name but it was basically an ultrasound of the neck. They found out I have no plaque, but the two main arteries in the neck are 50% narrower than they should be, which is a moderate risk (which is between mild and severe, I'm told). They said I need to avoid fried foods and carbonation (both easy for me), but also eggs and cheese... which is not so easy considering those are two of my main Protein sources.

Apparently they want to test my cholesterol. I'm sort of worried because my dad usually had high cholesterol (he has since lowered it but I believe it to still be in the high normal range), but my mom has always had low cholesterol. I just hope I have something in between!

They have prescribed dizziness medicine, which I now carry with me in my purse everywhere!

I know with some people I pretty much can't talk about my weight loss thus far. They either act disinterested, jealous, or condescending. Then I have some friends who say things like, "You better not get to a size (insert number here) before me or we can't be friends!" They add the just kidding line afterwards, but sometimes I wonder... Just how much of that statement is truth?

I didn't even know what a bougie was (actually still don't really, just know it has to do with the size of the sleeve) until this forum lol. My surgeon never mentioned anything about it or its size. But he didn't set a goal for me either, just asked me what MY goal was.

I'm planning on doing something similar to this on my Facebook when I get to goal! I really don't want everyone to know about the surgery as I'm going down, so they can wait to be awed when I'm a smexxy beast.

Congrats on your success thus far! You go girl!

I had mine over Thanksgiving break last year. I was definitely not up for it though. I had to walk pretty far carrying a heavy computer bag and I had to stop and rest two or three times walking to class since I was so exhausted. Never even had to do that when I was heavy! Thing is though, I was very sick and actually had to be readmitted to the hospital twice because of complications. I had a lot slower recovery than most.

If your school is anything like mine, it sounds like you'll have 3-4 weeks to rest, which should be fine. I would still recommend what others suggested: Plan ahead and use a roller backpack for a little bit until you get your stamina back.

I'm not trying to use the age-old excuse of genetics, but maybe that's what is wrong. If what you say is true, she should be fine. Then again, when I was her age, I was swimming 6+ hours a day (5 at the city pool and 2+ in my own). Turns out I have PCOS and a thyroid problem. If she's swimming so much and supposedly eating so healthy, what else is wrong? Maybe she should be tested by a doctor?

I hope it works out for you and your daughter! I weighed about 125 when I was 10. Not really sure what my height was, but it was probably 4'10"-ish. Age 9 is when I started gaining weight because that's when my parents divorced. Not only was I depressed, but I was living with my mom who didn't care as much of what I ate, as opposed to my dad who was/is a vegetable fanatic. I would definitely nip this in the bud now, without trying to force her on a diet. I was put on diets starting junior high and it made me very self-conscious. I wish my mom did a decade ago what others are suggesting for you now.

If lunches aren't free/pre-paid at your daughter's school, then don't give her money, or least not enough for her to buy lunch. She'll have to eat her packed lunch then. Also, cut down on sugary drinks. My mom was a coke fiend growing up and I was raised on Sunny D. :/ It'll help out in the long run.

I'm sure it happens in some people, but that was the only time it happened to me. I didn't take that tylenol anymore after that so I don't know if it'd still affect me in the same way. I'm guessing that it wouldn't, because I have healed since then (I was VERY sick the first month after surgery due to complications) and am now about 7 months post-op. I don't have problem with sugar. I know it's best to limit sugar, especially in the first stages after surgery. I'm guessing that if you ever do get dumping syndrome, it happens then.

This happened to me after I took liquid children's tylenol, grape flavor, after surgery. I swear it was pure Syrup. Not even 15 minutes after I had taken it, I had a severe hot flash (and it was winter!) and felt swelled up. Had to rush to the bathroom...