I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡

I'm almost four months post op and I still have two shakes per day in the form of proffees. I can't afford to stop them. I hit higher Protein goals because I do cardio/strength training five days per week and I couldn't eat that much protein from solid foods. As for Vitamins, I will never stop taking them. My surgeon stressed how important it was to prevent Vitamin and mineral deficiencies by staying on top of my supplements, (and having regular blood tests) because once they occur it's much harder to bring the levels back up, so it's just not worth going against that medical advice. I trusted my surgeon enough to operate on my body, so surely I'm going to trust her advice on preventing V&D deficiencies so I will follow her advice forever.

To the OP: I would say that life is probably easier for you post op in many ways after losing weight, the trade off is your guts have been rerouted, and you can't compromise on supplements and protein. Have you had your vitamin and minerals checked via blood test? Talk to your team and see if they approve these changes, take their advice firstly because they know your medical needs.

Best wishes!

Yeah, I was always a nighttime snacker. Now I use it to my advantage, I suppose. I save some of my calories/protein allotment for nighttime. I have yogurt or a proffee at night usually and sometimes I have fruit, it just depends on what I'm feeling that night. I think I consume more protein/calories than most do because I'm extremely active at the gym. Five days of cardio/strength, plus long trail rides on Saturdays. So snacking is fine for me as long as it's decent foods.

What kind of Snacks are you having? You say you feel like you can take in more during snacks than during meals? It's probably dependent upon the types of foods that you're eating. If you're having solid Proteins like chicken, fish, etc during meals, they're more filling and fill you up fast. A lot of "snack foods" ie: chips, Cookies, nuts, etc are slider foods so they slide right through your pouch, and you can consume more of those than Protein dense foods.

2 hours ago, sweetsmith78 said:

I’m 2 plus years out of gastric bypass. I have lost all my weight plus some. According to the stats I’m under weight. I have ate absolute junk food to get my weight up. Just makes me feel like crap. Just to much sugar. I eat my fair share with in reason. My stomach seems not to be growing. So I can put more food in. I’m really starting to worry about other health issues that I tried to avoid by doing the surgery. I’m looking in healthy even I can see. When I’m 60 am I going to have issues maintaining or gaining then. I was not prepared for this. People are fully focused on how fast and how much. But not the bigger picture. I’m sure I’m not the only one dealing with this. People who are going thru this. I would like to here your opinion.

I'm a bit confused. Did you have revision, sleeve to bypass? You're showing marked as a sleeve patient and I recall you saying in another post a few days ago that you don't take Vitamins, you just rely on a healthy diet to get your vitamins, which isn't recommended for bypassers. So the two posts are sort of contradictory, junk food vs healthy diet for vitamins. And also sleeve on your profile and now you're saying you got bypass two years ago. Can you clarify the details for us please? Thanks!

2 minutes ago, David in Washington said:

Wow, now that's worth considering. I've had IBS since my teens. Thanks.

I just noticed your weight loss - 180lbs in 3 months? Wow, just wow.

Yeah I developed it in my teens too.

No I'm a revision due to... GERD. I had Lap Band first. Zero Yelp ⭐ Do Not Recommend.

I would be the incredible shrinking lady if I lost 180 pounds in 3 months, lol.

The sidebar stats here don't really give the opportunity to show that you've had revision, but you can see it if you click to read a persons profile... if they've updated their info.

7 minutes ago, David in Washington said:

I think I'm going to stop worrying about dumping. It sounds like something that can be controlled and may happen with either surgery. GERD concerns me more. I was concerned about it because I have IBS and diarrhea with cramps has been a nemisis for a long time 😣

I don't seem to dump. Although I haven't really pushed my diet much since surgery.

You're right to be concerned about GERD, wls induced GERD is awful.

I have/had? IBS-D and Bypass seems to have normalized it. My surgeon said that it would improve my symptoms. I was skeptical. But she was right it seems.

My ex's uncle had this. Usually it's stumbled upon accidentally during an emergent surgery situation. Which is what happened with his uncle. He had emergency appendectomy probably about 50 years ago and the surgeons were just dumbfounded when they opened his abdomen. So of course this has nothing to do with weight loss surgery, but my advice would be if you live close to a university that teaches medicine, and has a bariatric center, reach out to them. They would LOVE to get their scalpels on you, lol. Sorry, bad joke. But yeah, they love hard cases, and atypical cases. They publish papers on these cases.

You're in North Carolina. How close are you to Wake Forest, they have a bariatric center https://www.wakehealth.edu/treatment/b/bariatric-surgery

I wish you the best! Keep us updated!

Depending on where the gas pain is, if it's traveling upwards, sometimes a warm/hot shower (if you can blast it with the shower that can help, or a heating pad if it's in an an area that the shower can't reach) can offer short term relief. It just takes time.

Lap Band to RNY for severe GERD. I haven't dumped yet and don't think I will be a dumper.

I gave up Celebrex seven months before revision surgery and have been fine. (RA patient here) I have virtually zero pain. Losing weight helps reduce inflammation and reduce the need for nsaids it seems.

And you're right, you don't want wls induced GERD. It sucks. Meds won't even help when you get this type of GERD.

All I can speak to is my personal experiences and comparing RNY to lap band, which I know is antiquated now but RNY feels completely natural to me and I'd do it again if I had to all over again and could choose from any wls.

Best wishes!

Woop! Conrats on being a fast loser!

Yeah, I'm leaving this thread. I'm not going down this rabbit hole again. This whole American non-drinkers vs the European drinkers really blew up in another thread earlier this year and I'm not anxious to revisit it again.

Best wishes everyone.

2 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

I went to my nutritionist today for my 4 month visit. Down 135 lbs since I started my journey in April. (Surgery in June).... I asked the question as my birthday is this weekend and I thought maybe I could go out and have A drink... I am not a drink. I never have been.. But I was told by nutritionist that there's no way at all I should be having any alcohol... EVER... I was kind of shocked to be honest.. Again I dont drink but I didn't think one drink would be so off limits.... Not a big deal to me but shocked at the answer today...

I don't think I understand. If you've been a non-drinker all of these years and decided to get weight loss surgery and have had much success so far... why suddenly do you feel the need to drink? Even one drink? Drinking completely stops the process of burning stored fat for... (I believe... 48 hours???). The liver can't convert the stored fat to energy (fat burning) while it's busy trying to process the alcohol. So I agree with everything @Starwarsandcupcakes said. Obviously I'm not a drinker and don't advocate drinking. I see no purpose in it. It's a poison and hinders weight loss and has no benefits.

I think the bigger question here is if you have never been a drinker, why do you want to start now?

7 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

I live in Florida so its typically still very hot this time of year but the last few days its been in the 40-60's so its nice. as for Protein i probably get around 80-100 grams a day. I still have the fairlife Protein Shakes too. I am going to buy a lab test tomorrow to add to my doctors blood test that i have to take on Monday. Its called PREALBUMIN BLOOD TEST which test for Protein malnutrition https://www.walkinlab.com/products/view/prealbumin-blood-test

Yep, I'm a bit south of you, central Florida here. It has been a bit nicer recently.

I drink two Fairlife Proffee's a day on top of lunch and dinner, so I'm hoping that it's enough that the evil Hair loss fairy passes me by. 😡

The hat is a great idea and really cute. It's a good thing it's a cooler time of year!

Any idea how many grams of Protein you generally average per day? I'm curious because I'm right at 3 months post op and I haven't noticed any hair loss... yet, and I'm getting between 100 and 120 gms per day and I'm hoping that will be enough to stave it off. 🤞

Yeah I went through this ten years ago, when Lap Bands were still a thing. They're antiquated torture devices and I can't understand a medical doctor placing a device now that is comparable to giving a patient symptoms of an eating disorder.

I would seek a second opinion about a revision at a different bariatric center about a different weight loss surgery BEFORE you have permanent damage done from the Lap Band.

Best wishes to you.

5 minutes ago, raspberrylime said:

Another thing that has surprised me 5 days post-op is that a few minutes after I drink any of my favorite Fairlife Protein Shakes I get terrible diarrhea. I was expecting to be constipated for days after surgery and even stocked up on Miralax in preparation. But I'm having the complete opposite problem. I'm trying to drink more Water to avoid dehydration from the constant bathroom trips 😵 I am going to have to try different Protein brands to find one that doesn't cause such destruction LOL

I drink Fairlife and had the same issue. But I don't think it was so much the Fairlife as it was just being on strictly liquids only. What my team recommended was to add benefiber (to bulk things up) and powdered Probiotics and that worked. What ultimately helped also, was moving on from liquids and progressing through the food stages.

Well. I had pre op blood work about 3 months prior to surgery, after the blood draw, I was told to begin Bariatric Fusion chewables, one in the morning and one at night. That's half of the normal post op bariatric dosing. In the beginning, they were gross and took a while to get used to and by the time surgery came around I was used to them and post op, I resumed them the day after I came home from the hospital and never had nausea. I feel like if I had never taken them pre op, and started them post op... there could've been some nausea and intolerance because they're not the most pleasant things to get used to. Just make sure to take them after a Protein Shake or food of some sort to prevent nausea the best you can.

Best wishes!

.

Welcome to the forums, and best wishes on your weight loss journey!

Why aren't you eating solid foods if you're two months post op, and why aren't you taking your Vitamins? If you're not eating and not taking your vitamins of course you run the risk of low potassium and possibly other deficiencies.

Wait. The Bariatric fusion chewables are complete. You don't have to take the additional calcium citrate along with those. I don't understand why it's complete, because we're told that the Iron prevents Calcium from absorbing. So what I typed above about taking the additional calcium citrate wasn't correct. I got my routines mixed up. I was supposed to stay on chewables for three full months, but I only made it six weeks, then I just went with the one a day capsule. I never had an issue taking the capsule either. My surgery was so simple. I had no issues really.

1 minute ago, DownsizieMe said:

Thanks for that helpful info! I haven't started w/ fitness yet on Baritastic since I am not cleared for exercise (other than walking, stationary bike, etc) until six weeks post-op, but it is great to know those features are helpful. An upgraded scale is next on my list; can you share what smart scale you use?

You're quite welcome!
I have the Renpho scale, I got it on Amazon. You use it with an app on your phone. I love this thing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R29FDWX/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just now, DownsizieMe said:

Thanks, that is helpful! When you were taking the 4/chewables/day, did it make you nauseous?

No I've never had nausea, from the surgery or the Vitamins. Just make sure you take it after food or a Protein Shake.

Per my surgeon/team (when I was doing chewables) Bariatric Fusion brand I took 2 chewables in the morning, and two chewables in the evening. So then I would take 500 mg of calcium citrate around 11 am (two hours at least after the chewable multivitamins) Then I would take my round two of chewable vitamins after dinner. Then my last Calcium citrate dose before bedtime.

The only other supplement that I take daily is Biotin (hair, skin, nails supplement)

My surgeon prescribes one B12 injection monthly.

Now I take Bariatric Choice Multivitamin, it's a capsule. One capsule per day. I take it in the morning. My calcium supps are the same as immediately post op.

36 minutes ago, DownsizieMe said:

I use Baritastic and agree with another poster that since it is designed for toward bariatric patients it works very well for my needs, tracking important markers like Protein, Calcium, Water, carbs, fat. It is very easy to scan the barcodes of different foods like Protein Shakes, applesauce, Tomato Soup, yogurt, etc. and keeps track of your weight lost before and since surgery, as well as inches lost. There's a section for daily notes, reminders, a timer for eating (20 minutes to chew, chew, chew!), drinking (there are two warnings for drinking: don't eat yet! and don't drink yet!). So, the way it is tailored for bariatric patients is what makes this app so great. Good luck with whatever you choose to use, I am sure they are all great!

I like the barcode scan feature and that you can speak your meals and not have to type everything in. You can speak recipes and it comes together seamlessly. It coordinates with my smart scale, and I can add strength training and or cardio not logged by Google Fit. It shows calories burned from exercise/activity too. It really does do a lot more than I ever recall MFP doing.

Awesome!

I wish you the best on your surgery!