HEARTONMYSLEEVE

So I have had a stomach bug going on six days. I am a couple days short of two months out. I have had nausea and diarrhea with the occasional vomiting. Also, really bad migraines but no fever at all. I did call my doctor and he said it definitely sounds like a virus not something concerning the surgery and I am feeling a lot better today but through this whole thing I just haven't been able to get more than 2 bites of solid food without vomiting. Now the diarrhea has gone and the nausea as well except for when I eat anything solid I get very nauseas and vomit or want to vomit for like an hour if I manage not to and this is with like one or two bites of food. I guess my question is did anyone else happen to get a bad stomach virus after anytime after surgery and what was our experience? Also, I have gone back to a liquid diet, not so much by choice, but because I just can not stand even the thought of putting solid food in my mouth makes me want to hurl. How long do you guys think this will last? I would really love to eat again. Plus, I feel terrible as I haven't been doing anything right. No vitamins as they make me want to wretch, hardly any protein, limited fluids.

I am trying to find syntrax nectar protein samples. I have found a few sites with samples but so far none of them had reasonable shipping. I will not pay more than 7 dollars for shipping on samples. That is outrageous! If anyone knows where I can get some it would be appreciated. Thanks.

I was given the option of taking the b-12 sublingual twice a day or doing the injections once a month at home. I chose the injections just so I could cut down on the amount of pills and medications I have to take daily. I went from taking hardly anything a day to multivitamin and calcium twice a day. Vitamin D, PPI, and levothyroxin once a day. It was really to much for me. I was so relieved when my surgeon told me I could do the B-12 monthly injections. They are so easy too. It is only a tiny tuberculin needle. It doesn't hurt at all and I can do it to myself. If it is hard for any of you to take a lot of pills I would strongly recommend talking to your doctor about the injections. It was a much better choice for me.

I lost about 60 pounds in 5 months on my own when I was 19 and I ended up with gallstones. So I know first hand that rapid weight loss can cause gallstones. I think a lot of it is predetermined. If you have a family history of gallbladder issues and have the option to get it removed during your WLS I know I would. After I had mine removed I found out that tons of women in my family had theirs removed. I asked my doctor at the time if there was something I could have done to prevent them and he said there really isn't much you can do. Its really luck of the draw. There is a medication you can take to prevent them after surgery but from my understanding the medicine only decreases your risk while you take it and resumes to the same level of risk as soon as you stop taking it. All I know is if I knew what I know now about the pain of a trying to pass a gallstone I would want that thing out. It was the worst experience of my adult life. Honestly, I know it is not the same for everyone but I have had no disadvantages without the thing. I can eat exactly the same as I did when I had a gallbladder. I have has no ill effects from not having a gallbladder.

stcyt, I have had a lot of trouble with the vitamins since surgery. I had to take liquid vitamins for the first two weeks which gave me diarrhea and then switched to Celebrate adult chewable vitamins and they made me puke. After that I bought some children's chewable vitamins, target brand flinstones. I do realize that they are not optimal in daily values and such but I figured something was better than nothing and I was able to keep them in my stomach. I plan on finishing this bottle and then I want to try regular pills and cut them in half. I am hoping by then my stomach will have settled and healed enough to handle the real thing. I guess we'll see.

I am 7 weeks out and I still occasionally get the gurgles and growls. They are not as intense but my stomach talks constantly. It makes my husband laugh. The gurgles are not acid reflux. I think almost everyone's stomach makes weird noises in the beginning. I also still get hiccups quite often after I eat. They are almost comical type drunk hiccups but they don't really hurt anymore now that my stomach is pretty much healed. As for acid reflux I've had it on occasion before and after surgery. It can take on different feelings in different people but it usually feels like burning in your chest or throat and like your dinner is crawling back up our esophagus. It is worse when you lay flat. If you wake up in the night with the pain and feel like you need to sleep sitting straight up then it is probably acid reflux. I think right now you are probably adjusting to your sleeve not to say that you won't get acid reflux as it is a very common problem among us. So definitely watch out for symptoms. Hope this helps.

I wear a size 14 comfortably now and I am only 5'2" and 183. So with you being 5'7" there is a good chance you may fit into a size 14 before 70lbs lost. How exciting?! I bet a lot of it depends how you carry your weight as well. I tend to be very pear shaped. Small through the waist and big in the hips. Good luck to you. I am sure you will be there before you know it. Seems you you have a least a good estimate now 170-185ish.

I think it is strange how different the post-op diets vary among surgeons. I was amazed how strict others post-op diets were. I guess I had it easy. Day 1-2 liquids clear the first and the second any liquid. Day 3-10 soft food 1 1/2 oz blenderized meat with moistener and 1 oz blended vegetable if you could fit it in after the meat. Week 2 and on 2 oz meat/protein and 1-2 vegetables as tolerated not blended. I am in no way advocating not following your doctor's orders. I am only commenting on how different the diets can be. I felt I had in incredibly talented and competent surgeon. It is interesting how conservative my surgeon is in other ways like not advocating this surgery for NSAID use while other surgeons do. I even asked him about his post-op diet during my pre-op visit because I thought it was weird as I had been reading how others were so strict and he told me he did not think it was necessary. He felt it was more important to be getting natural sources of protein in as quickly as possible. Again I want to say it is important to follow you own doctors orders. I am wondering if surgical technique plays any role in what kind of post-op diet a doctor requires. I know many others have drain tubes and stitches where I had no drain and durabond adhesive and no external stitches. Plus my surgeon does all his laproscopic procedures robotically. I am curious if that plays any role in post-op diet and healing. Maravilla, this post probably in no way helped you, sorry. I just thought it important to say how different one surgeon can be from another so we should definitely be tolerant of everyone on this board because no one diet experience will be the same and not get sucked into there being one right way to do this surgery or a post-op diet. If you are still very unhappy talk with your doctor and see how he feels about you advancing your diet. There is always a chance he might think your ready but I wouldn't decide on your own or from my or any other board members advice. Good luck even if you have to wait you'll get through it.

So I have been having this awful pain off and on for about a week. It is on the right side of my stomach above my largest incision. I didn't think much of it at first it was just a twinge a few times. Then on Saturday it progressed to this horrible pain it hurt when I walked, bent over, sat down. Then Sunday thru Tuesday it wasn't too bad. Still there but not as bad. Tuesday night it started to hurt and now today it has been awful again. Every time I move it hurts. I thought it might be a pulled muscle but now I don't know as it actually hurts when I press on the spot. It is a very localized pain. I am 5 weeks out and until now I hadn't really had any pain since the first week. I actually go for a post-op appointment tomorrow so I will definitely ask my doctor but I was wondering if any of you experienced anything like this? I am very concerned.

Styct, I don't eat strictly low carb. I don't know about you but I didn't have this surgery so I could continue stressing over calorie and carb counts. That being said I still do follow the rules to the best of my abilities. I try to eat all my protein first. I wait an hour after I eat to drink. It is a funny thing my body has done to me though. I don't really like a lot of the simple carbs anymore. My husband has made roasted chicken and potatoes and when I try to eat the potatoes they don't taste the same anymore or they don't taste as good as I remember. It is totally weird its like I put them in my mouth and chew and they just are not appealing anymore. I told someone that and they thought it was sad and I guess if I hadn't had the surgery it would be but its not like that its as if my brain has switched off my potato loving button. But my doctor actually wants us to have three servings of dairy a day, either yogurt or milk and both yogurt and milk have carbs. Plus, one serving of a complex carb a day. So I guess my doctor's diet isn't strictly low carb. I have lost 26 pounds in 5 weeks which for me is fast enough. I think if my weight loss started to slow down I might consider being more strict on myself. I think just follow the rules and don't stress over it. Plus if your stressed about the diet your own you might hold fat. Stress is known to cause weight gain.

They put you on a scale that has handle bars you hold on to and it sends frequencies through your feet and hands to measure how much of your body content is fat, water and muscle. Then you sit and breathe into a machine for ten minutes and it measures your resting metabolic rate. I guess average is a resting metabolic rate of one. I was at .73 pre-op. Today it went up to .85 which means I am burning more calories now than before surgery. I am also down a couple points in body fat content although not as much as I would like. I am a little worried I might be losing too much muscle. Hopefully, once I get this stomach muscle under control I can fix that with some weight lifting.

Ok so I saw the doctor today. He thinks that I pulled a muscle slash irritated the internal suture of the large incision. He doesn't think I pulled the suture out because he checked me for a hernia and didn't feel one. He gave me some pain medication and told me to take the rest of the week off since I have a bending, stretching, lifting type vocation and to call if it gets worse. Although I hate to think of it getting worse as it is already very painful. So I guess there isn't too much to worry about. It is still hurting quite a bit but I guess I will just have to take it easy and hope it goes away on its own. It sucks though because I really wanted to start exercising more this week at the gym but I think I should wait until this pain goes away. On a more positive note I am down 27 pounds since surgery today. I'm five weeks out. I did metabolic testing for the first time since surgery and my metabolism has increased as well. Hooray for me.

I had my gallbladder removed a few years ago. I guess I should have mentioned that with right sided pain. This feels more surface than gallbladder pain. I don't know how to explain it really.

Happyslvr, I am glad I could help. Also, good luck with your surgery. As someone who has had almost her whole spine fused, about T2 to L2, this kind of surgery is hard and the recovery can be very rough. This is no simple laproscopic procedure. Are they going to put in any hardware or just the fusion? I had two corrective surgeries for scoliosis at 14 and 15. I spent two entire summers recovering from back surgeries. I can totally commiserate with you. Please keep us updated on how you are doing after surgery. I will be thinking about you on May 18.

Happyslvr, I am a Rad Tech not an MR tech but I work very closely with MRI daily. There are no current surgical clips that are NOT MR safe. Honestly, whoever posted that did not know what they were talking about. As long as they have been in your body for over six-eight weeks, the longer an implant is in your body the more tissue grows around and secures the object. The issue for MR and metal is not always just the pulling of the magnet but also that the magnet has the potential to heat up the metal in your body which can potentially burn you. However, this is not usually the case with surgical clips. Pacemakers are never safe for MRI. Other implants that may or may not be safe can include; aneurysm clips, neuro or spinal stimulator, cochlear implants, vena cava umbrellas, sharpnel, stents, bullets and others. Some of these can even be MR safe depending on a few factors, how long they have been in your body, what kind (model or serial number), what part of the body your imaging, and the strength of the magnet. There are several varying strengths of magnets out there. They are measured in Teslas, 1-3T, and high or low field. I know this is a lot of information but I wanted you to know that you should absolutely be safe for an MRI as far as the surgical staples are concerned. If you are still nervous which I would completely understand as I am just a stranger on an internet board and I wouldn't trust me either you could always call the last place you had an MRI done and ask the speak with the MR tech. Also, I promise you that if you went for an MR they would not put you on that machine unless they were sure that everything in your body was safe. I am sure you could imagine the liability if we techs did not do our due diligence. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Tiffany, I was going to watch you video journal but I can't find where you posted the link. Can you post it on here again?

Keys, I am only a month out but I to have a burning sensation in my stomach that I can't seem to figure out. I am on a PPI as well, Protonix. It really does feel like hunger but I don't know if it is. It really isn't the same as hunger pre-surgery but still somehow similar. I am curious about it if anyone has any ideas.

wannalise, I just wanted to comment to you that the vitamins have been a major pain for me too. My doctor required liquid vitamins for the first two weeks which made me very nauseas and then gave me the runs. Sorry TMI! But I managed to keep them down. I was so excited after two weeks when I was able to start chewables. The first one I had I chewed and it went down just fine. I thought everything was ok. Not three minutes later it came right back up. Which was the first time I threw up with the sleeve. It was not pleasant and was not how everyone described as crawling back up. It was a full on puke, dry heaves, sweating and all. So after that I tried children's chewables. I know that they aren't optimal but I take two in the morning and two at night and they go down pretty well. I plan on finishing this bottle and seeing if I can't go to regular pills and maybe just cut them in two if they are too large. I know they are necessary but i hate all the supplements. Why do they all have to be so big. HAHA I have the hardest time getting down those citracal pills as well and I buy the petite ones. Oh well I guess I will just have to get used to them.

I have been reading so many people on here afraid of going off their PPI's and then when they do the acid is still there. I actually remembered hearing an article a couple of years ago on NPR about PPI rebounding and went online to see if I could find this information anywhere. I found an article and thought I would post it for you guys. Hope its helpful. But the basically when you come off the PPI's the stomach acid rebounds and produces, at least at first, more than you started with. So I would think it's important to give going off the PPI more time before you go running back to save yourself from the burning. How to Survive "Acid Reflux Rebound" PPI drugs are supposed to be used for a restricted period of time, however most patients continue their use indefinitely. Not only do patients abuse these drugs, but also the physicians who prescribe them. There are no studies regarding the long term use of PPIs. One has to question whether their prolonged use is really safe. Fortunately, there are natural ways to survive "acid reflux rebound". There are many people who suffer from acid reflux and want to get off the proton pump inhibitor drugs (PPI drugs). The main action of this group of pharmaceuticals is the long acting reduction of gastric acid production. These include Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix. These drugs are convenient to use and can be initially useful, but many find that the side effects outweigh the benefits. When it comes to quitting them, one will find that it is not so easy. PPI drugs are supposed to be used for a restricted period of time, however most patients continue their use indefinitely. Not only do patients abuse these drugs, but also the physicians who prescribe them. Unfortunately, there are no studies regarding the effects of the long term use of these drugs. One has to question whether the prolonged use of PPI drugs is really safe. We do know that by reducing the production of stomach acid, the proper digestion and assimilation of food is restricted. Are chronic users of these drugs suffering from a form of malnutrition? It is important to keep in mind that stomach acid also keeps potentially dangerous intestinal bacteria in check. So what may seem to be acid reflux utopia, in reality may be acid reflux hell. When one stops these drugs, after prolonged use, the acid pumps turn on again and come back with a vengeance producing more acid than they did before. This is referred to as "acid reflux rebound". This is often such a terrible and frightening experience that most people become quickly discouraged and immediately get back on the drugs. This "catch 22" situation has proven to be a virtual gold mine for the pharmaceutical companies, who make billions of dollars in profits each year. It is a horrible position to be in. You know you want to quite these drugs. They stop working and you are instructed to double the dose. You make an effort to stop, but it all backfires on you. Your throat burns like its on fire and your doctor tells you that if you don?t take the drugs you may develop esophageal cancer. Who wouldn?t be frightened? Now for the good news; there are non-pharmaceutical things that one can do to survive "acid reflux rebound" and get back on the right track. At this point there is most likely damage to the esophagus. One cannot hope to improve until the esophagus is well again. In order to heal the esophageal damage, there are a few things to be considered. First and foremost one must temporarily change their diet. By now everyone should be aware of what foods and beverages trigger their acid reflux. Replace these offending foods with mild, easy to digest foods. Instead of a slice of pizza with acidic tomato sauce, have a salad. Substitute that morning cup of coffee with a cup of tea. Have a glass of white instead of red wine with dinner. It?s just a matter of common sense, but these changes are necessary during the acid reflux recovery period. In order to defeat the acid reflux syndrome, one must attempt to become as alkaline as possible. Anything which has an acidic effect on the body should be eliminated. Smoking is perhaps the most acidic thing one can do. Eating too much at one time causes an over production of stomach acid. Aerobic exercise actually causes the body to become more alkaline in nature. Drinking copious amounts of clean fresh Water will help flush out the acidic toxins which accumulate in the body. A body which is properly hydrated is rarely acidic in nature. A glass of water after a meal is a good idea, but drinking much of anything with meals is counter productive. This dilutes the digestive fluids, causing the stomach to produce more acid. Believe it or not, chewing gum between meals is beneficial. Chewing produces saliva which is very alkaline. Chewing gum after meals puts more alkalinity in the stomach to counteract the over production of acid. There are many natural ingredients found in grocery and health food stores, which can help during the acid reflux recovery period. Herbs, such as marshmallow and slippery elm have wonderful healing properties. Licorice, natural honey and aloe vera juice can sooth the esophageal lining and assist in the healing process. There are very few cases of acid reflux which can?t be successfully treated if one understands what causes this condition. Simple things like eating slowly and chewing food thoroughly, in a pleasant relaxed atmosphere, can reduce ones chances of having acid reflux. We do not have to be prisoners of this drug oriented "acid reflux rebound" effect. It is unfortunate that most doctors rely on pharmaceuticals as the only solution to the acid reflux condition. With a little education regarding the causes of acid reflux and the knowledge of natural medicine, one can survive "acid reflux rebound" and go on to live a normal life. We are at the brink of a new era where the patient must sometimes also be the healer. ? 2007 Wind Publishing By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: July 02, 2009 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner Earn CME/CE credit for reading medical news SAN FRANCISCO, July 2 -- Proton-pump inhibitors may cause or aggravate the very acid-reflux symptoms they're used to treat, according to a randomized trial. Action Points Explain to interested patients that the study supported the hypothesis that PPI treatment induces compensatory mechanisms that result in rebound acid secretion after discontinuation of therapy. Note that the study included only asymptomatic, healthy individuals, who may differ from symptomatic patients in important ways. After a two-month course of esomeprazole (Nexium), 44% of asymptomatic, healthy volunteers had clinically significant heartburn, acid reflux, or dyspepsia, compared with 15% who had taken placebo (P<0.001), according to researchers led by Peter Bytzer, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen University and K?ge University Hospital. This apparent rebound acid secretion, to a point above baseline levels, could lead to PPI dependence, the group reported in the July issue of Gastroenterology. Treatment guidelines support the typical primary care practice of initiating a trial of PPI treatment empirically for dyspeptic symptoms, the researchers said. However, up to a third of these patients keep taking the drug in the absence of symptoms, with physicians in some studies reporting that withdrawal or dose reduction in long-term PPI use is hard to achieve. "Thus, patients with ambiguous symptoms that are not truly acid related may be prescribed a PPI empirically, but may find it difficult to withdraw from therapy because of the development of true acid-related symptoms," the researchers said. The hypothesis, though controversial, has been that PPIs perpetuate symptoms and necessitate their continued long-term use. The proposed mechanism for this so-called rebound acid hypersecretion is that elevated gastric pH caused by blockage of the proton-pumps stimulates compensatory mechanisms leading to increased capacity to stimulate gastric acid secretion. Dr. Bytzer's results supported this theory. Symptoms in the PPI group continued, even in the final week of the study, after gastric acid suppression measured by plasma gastrin levels had normalized, with sustained elevation in the acid secretory capacity reflected by chromogranin A levels (P=0.02 at week 12 versus baseline). In an accompanying editorial, Kenneth E. L. McColl, MD, and Derek Gillen, MD, both of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said the findings should challenge current "liberal" prescribing habits. Among their recommendations: Restrict PPI use to patients likely to derive benefit, such as those with symptoms accompanied by endoscopic evidence of erosive esophagitis or of increased esophageal acid exposure. Limit the PPI trial to one or two weeks as a diagnostic test for possible acid-related symptoms to reduce the chance of inducing hyperacidity and associated symptoms. Adopt a "step-up" approach rather than "step-down" from medications to lifestyle alterations and milder medications such as antacids or alginates. Inform patients about rebound acid hypersecretion and its potential effects as part of the discussion about side effects and safety. To prove that the "acid rebound" symptoms were not simply a relapse of symptoms from underlying disease, Dr. Bytzer's group conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 120 healthy volunteers without any prior acid-related disease, symptoms, or treatment. These participants were randomized to receive 12 weeks of placebo or eight weeks of esomeprazole 40 mg/d, followed by four weeks of placebo. None of the symptoms reported on the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating scale questionnaire patients filled out each week was different between groups through week eight. But after the PPI group discontinued therapy in week nine, their dyspepsia and reflux syndrome scores on the gastrointestinal-specific scale climbed in comparison with the placebo group. For weeks nine through 12, the esomeprazole group had significantly higher overall mean combined dyspepsia and reflux syndrome scale scores (1.35 versus 1.12, P<0.001) and isolated reflux syndrome scale scores (1.36 versus 1.13, P=0.009). The only individual symptoms with elevated incidence at week 12 among PPI-group participants compared with placebo-treated subjects were heartburn (difference 12.1%, P=0.006), acid regurgitation (difference 10.3%, P=0.013), and dyspepsia (difference 12.1%, P=0.017). Other symptoms included on the questionnaire, such as indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea, were not different between groups. The typically mild to moderately severe reflux symptoms showed up within the first two weeks after discontinuation of esomeprazole for the majority of patients. The duration of the rebound symptoms, however, was unclear because they were still present at the end of the monitoring period four weeks after discontinuing the treatment. The researchers acknowledged that the symptoms seen in these healthy individuals could differ from those in symptomatic patients. "On the other hand, rebound acid hypersecretion could be even more relevant in patients with reflux disease or other acid-related disorders," they said, if those patients find it difficult to quit PPIs because of rapid recurrence of symptoms aggravated or even provoked by rebound acid hypersecretion. The study was funded by the Danish Medical Research Council, K?benhavns Amts Research Foundation, and Region Sj?llands Research Foundation. The study medication and placebo were provided by AstraZeneca. Dr. Bytzer reported conflicts of interest with manufacturers of proton-pump inhibitors -- AstraZeneca, Wyeth, Nycomed, and Eisai. A co-author reported conflicts of interest with Wyeth. The editorialists reported no conflicts of interest.

Just so everyone is clear I am not against PPI's. I was given pepcid after surgery and was still having acid issues so I asked the doctor what we could do and was given a RX for Protonix. Still not sure the Protonix is working either not that I have reflux but I feel hungry a lot which apparently can be from too much acid in the stomach. I think if your doctor wants you to take a PPI then you should. We just need to remember that they are for short term use. Also, I really wanted to make people aware of the rebounding effect they have so we don't get so scared coming off of them that we end up right back on them again. I think many people don't realize that's what happens and think that their reflux has gotten worse or is still there when really they need more time off the drug to find out if their reflux has resolved or improved. From what I've read the best way to stop taking them is gradually and then take acid reducers like pepcid or tums as needed while watching your diet for trigger foods until the rebounding effects are over. I think the PPI's are definitely very helpful in the beginning stages as I was sleeping sitting up a couple of nights it got so bad. Although it may not be a bad idea to start like I did on the pepcid and see if you really need the PPI if you doctor likes that route.

I actually had my gallbladder removed several years prior to surgery. I had it removed when I was about 21. Which I guess is pretty young to have your gallbladder removed. I had a phase at about 19 that I lost about 70 pounds in about 5 or 6 months. It was the smallest I ever was at about 140-150. But as you can probably guess I never ate anything and when I started to eat again it didn't take that long to put most of the weight back on and then a few years later almost more than I started with. But I am pretty sure that rapid weight loss is the leading cause of gallstones with or without weight loss surgery. I can tell you that I started having symptoms not long after I lost all the weight and it was dreadful but no one could figure out what was wrong with me I suppose because no doctor thought someone my age would have gallstones. I went to the hospital several times as I didn't have insurance. I was going to school and waitressing so insurance wasn't an option I had at the time. I was sent home every time with mylanta and gas medicine. It wasn't until a stone got lodge in my bile duct and I was vomiting no lie every 3 minutes and in so much pain that I thought I was going to die and I called an ambulance to come and take me to the hospital as I was home alone that anyone actually took the time to figure out what was wrong with me. In the end my gallbladder became very infected and in turn I became septic. It was ugly my whole body turned yellow my urine was brown. I had to spend a week in the hospital still in pain on heavy antibiotics before they could even operate on me due to the sepsis. This is a long story and the only reason I am telling it is because I would never want to go through it again. It was the worst experience of my whole life and i have had to corrective orthopedic surgeries for scoliosis which were very rough on me but did not compare to the pain I was in with my gallbladder. If I knew what I know now I would definitely want the surgeon to take it out ahead of time if that was an option, especially if you have a family history of gallstones, which now I know I have. Also, even if your surgeon does not like to remove gallbladders at the same time, as I know some don't, please do not ignore the signs of gallstones because it is actually a very simple procedure with little recovery time but if you let it go on like I did you could spend weeks in the hospital and actually have to have an open operation if the infection doesn't clear in time. Which I was very close to having, luckily the antibiotics worked and I was able to have it laproscopically. Anyway, that was longer than I meant it to be but just beware because gallstones are really not that serious but they definitely can be if you let them.

I am just curious about all this drainage tubes and stitches stuff. I did not have a drainage tube or any kind of stitches. Mine were closed with a glue that came off completely in about a week and a half. Mine were all closed and considerable small. Seems strange that doctors would give stitches and drainage tubes if the procedure could be done without them. It would seem to me that it would be better and less invasive for the patient. I didn't have stitches or a drainage tube when I had my gallbladder removed either and that was 5 or 6 years ago. I don't know. I am sure there must be some reasons for it maybe someone could enlighten me?

Tiffy, I wish I had a better answer for you but I wasn't given specific reasoning. I looked over all my folders but could only find information saying do not take nsaids ever without first getting a rx for cytotec or misoprostol, which is the stomach coating medicine. I will ask my doctor at my next follow-up appointment. I actually really hate it when someone including doctors tell me to do something without backing it up with a reason why. I am assuming it is for the same reasons as the RNY and Lap-Band patients, higher risk for ulcers and what not. I know once the stomach heals it should act as a normal stomach but maybe he is conservative still since research is still fairly limited. That is my best guess without asking first. By all means I am not saying anyone on here or their doctors are wrong. I actually read a lot of information online saying that VSG was a good alternative for patients with things like RA who take a lot of NSAID medications. It seems to me that all the doctors have varying opinions about pretty much everything I am sure this is no different. But I will certainly ask him and get back to you. Sorry I wasn't more help.

My doctor said no nsaids or aspirin ever, as in for life, without the use of a stomach coating medication which you have to be prescribed. This includes steroid injections. Tylenol only. He is pretty strict I guess. I think it sucks too as ibuprofen is the only over the counter medication that has ever helped me with my back and neck issues but I have been going without and doing ok I guess. I am hoping as I lose more weight my back and neck will feel better anyway and I won't need any pain reliever anymore. Although I have to admit I have come home from work with a bad neck and headache that tylenol just can't fix and taken leftover pain meds which is probably not very good for me either.

I get the gurgles like crazy. I am only 3 weeks out but they are insane. It doesn't really bother me all that much but makes it hard to drink and eat sometimes. My husband laughs at night when we go to bed and he lays his head on my chest. He said it sounds like a lot is going on in there. I am curious what causes all the sounds. Hope it doesn't last forever though. I have not had any real pain since I came home from the hospital on the day after surgery, however, today i think I may have pulled something at work as the left side of my stomach and across my back was hurting. It was like a cramp and then itchy needle prick feelings. I don't actually know if that made any sense but hey. I probably just overdid it at work.