300PoundsDown

I am about 7 months out and mine has slowed down. I don't really know why b/c I'm not eating any differently. I just know that it slowed down quite a bit. On the other hand, it's still going down and that is what is most important. I haven't been able to exercise like I was before due to an injury and that's not helping . However, I don't and never will again overeat like I did before. Eventually the weight will leave!

How far out are you? Has anything changed to bring this on? I have gone through stages where I've been more hungry than usual. I have to be very careful about sugar. I try never to eat or drink anything with more than 4 grams of sugar in it. That can mess me up. Most of the time, things go well but recently I found myself getting hungrier than usual. It was starting to worry me actually! It seemed like all of a sudden I was hungry again! I did some research on these boards and several people suggested taking an antacid like prilosec or tums. They said that your body can sometimes overproduce acid and it mimics hunger. I had never heard this before and bingo! I tried taking 2 tums the next time I felt this way and it worked. I really would suggest it.

Are you only 2 weeks out? Truly you are just at the beginning. It took me several months to get a lot of the junk out of my head. It's a process. If you're like me you have built up a lot of years of emotional eating and now you're learning a whole new way of interacting with food. I can only speak for myself but this was a lot like going through a break up. A bad one!! I went into a depression in fact over it . Mourning the loss of my twinkies! The good news is that they cut out the part of your stomach that makes grehlin. I believe it takes a little bit to work its way out of your system though. For me it took a little while but as time went on I found myself less hungry. A lot less hungry. Things DID change. So that's the good news! Just hang in there

Hi everyone! I am so happy to see how many of us started at such high weights and have been successful. This surgery has totally changed my life in so many ways. I started this thread and I remember still writing that first post. I was so hopeless. I felt nothing could help me. I thought the rest of my life would be spent in a constant state of hunger. It took me years to make up my mind to have the surgery but in the end it was the best decision of my life. I have lost 125 lbs in the past 7 months. I post regularly on my blog about my experiences and I love to hear from others on this journey. It has helped me so much learning from others experiences!

Christina, I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with this. I know it has to be hard. It is such a life changing experience for us to have this surgery that it just changes everything. I know that has to be hard both on us and the people who live with us. I think you are in a situation a lot of people find themselves in. I know that I had friends who I would eat with. We were all overweight and our favorite thing to do was eat. That was almost the thing that brought us together!! Then suddenly you change drastically and they don't. It creates a bit of an earthquake in the relationship and you have to find your grounding again. I am divorced so I probably shouldn't be answering a post about husband issues...lol. However, I do know this. I was never able to convince my husband to do anything he didn't want to do when we were married. In fact, I'd venture to say my attempts at getting him to change only sped up the demise of our marriage. People generally don't change unless they want to. And even then it's tough. There are a lot of people who want to change and still don't! So you have to be truly internally motivated to do it or it won't last. Any time in my life someone tried to tell me about a diet or influence me to lose weight, I did the opposite. I would probably even gain weight as a result. So I would say it's almost a losing battle to even go that direction. I have a friend who is very obese. We became friends b/c we identified with each other. He loves to cook. He loves to watch food shows etc. He now has a ton of health issues b/c of his weight. It's essentially ruining his life. We both talked about the surgery but I went through with it. For whatever reason, he's just not willing to pull the trigger. For a long time, I was on the edge but I still wasn't desperate enough to do it. I don't know what has to occur in someoen's life for them to reach that point. I just know that it's different for everyone and there seems to be almost nothing that we can do to speed up the process. I wish I had something better to offer!

This just proves what a miracle this surgery really can be in someone's life. You know I just had a conversation the other day with someone who insisted that this surgery cannot cure people of diabetes. When I told her that I knew people in real life that had been able to go off their meds she literally didn't believe me. I tried to explain that it happens and within no time at all but she insisted it couldn't be real. Here you are living proof!

Wow I am so happy for you!! This is so exciting!!! I can't wait to hear how it goes!

I was so overweight for so long that I had irregular periods for years and even when I had them they lasted 1 day and were mild. After surgery almost immediately I began having regular periods and they all last 3-4 days and are heavy. I also noticed that I am hungry around that time. I never noticed an increase in my hunger before surgery but that was b/c I was always hungry! there was never a moment before this surgery that I wasn't famished or starving. I think if it increased at tom I woudln't have noticed b/c I was constantly hungry regardless. this is the first time in my life I feel like a normal woman. I've heard others talking about getting hungry around TOM but to me that was an every day occurence. Now I actually feel normal!

I know how you feel about anxiety. I suffered with anxiety and panic attacks for years and I still struggle with it on occasion. The best thing to do is to prepare yourself with knowledge. I know you will do great!

I don't know how many mine had done to be honest. I don't think I asked. I did, however, research reviews of him online. I read tons and tons of reviews on here and on the obesity help website. To me, reading patients reviews over time was what sealed the deal. Good luck!

I think a lot of it could vary according to how overweight you are. I know for me personally I started at a very high weight and my liver was enlarged. The doctor needed me to shrink my liver as much as possible. I was put on a 2 week pre-op diet as a result. In reality, he did not require me to do it but he firmly suggested it lol !! Good luck!

My pre-op diet was an atkins shake every 2 hours from the time I woke up until i went to bed. I can't remember how many I had in a day but for me it went fairly well. I definitely screwed it up on several days lol but all in all it worked b/c my surgeon said my liver had shrunk a lot. That is mainly what this is for. Think of your liver and how it will help the doctor not having it be as large and in the way. Good luck!

Don't stop thinking about it! lol....Enjoy it!! This is going to be possibly one of the most exciting things to happen to you in your life. It was completely life changing for me. I totally agree with the person who said research as much as you can to prepare yourself and if at all possible start an exercise routine. I would highly recommend the Leslie Sansone walking videos. Even if you did 10 minutes a day it would be helpful. Good luck!!

Is this pre-op testing? Well I'll admit that my surgeon did not seem to do the kind of extensive testing you're having. Maybe this just means you have a really careful surgeon!! To me that's a good thing. I would bet that any one of us who is significantly overweight would show up similar results if we were thoroughly tested. A lot of us have had things wrong we didn't even know about simply b/c we weren't tested for it . And those things were then cured by the weight loss without us even knowing. I'm going to be thinking of you and looking for an update!

I've had 4 csections and I can honestly say it is like night and day for me. No comparison. I would have this surgery any day over a csection! I think having had 4 csections made this seem like no big deal. Plus this was done lap as opposed to a csection which is open. Very big difference. If you've had a csection you will probably feel relieved afterwards to find it's not the same intensity! Of course this is only my experience and I know we are all different

Hi there! I know everyone has a different experience but I'll add mine . My pain wasn't that bad. Maybe a 4 or 5. It was sore and uncomfortable mostly. I will say, however, that I've had 4 c-sections, gallbladder removed and a hernia repair all in that same area. I think I've been cut so many times in my abdomen that I have lost a lot of feeling there! That worked to my advantage. For me, the best thing is preparing yourself ahead of time. If you just mentally prepare yourself that there is going to be some pain then you will be a lot better off. This can be a lot more difficult for someone who has not had surgery in that area before b/c you don't know what to expect. I would even tell the doctor ahead of time that you want to make sure you have plenty of pain meds. Let them know!! I have done this in the past with surgeries. I believe I had a pain ball. Here is one thing I've learned with surgeries. Take the next dose of pain medication during the first day or two even if you think you can tough it out. Once in a surgery, I thought I could tough it out and I skipped the next dose. I regretted it. The pain meds build up in your system too so skipping one made it take longer the next go round . I would advise just keeping up with when your next pain meds are due and if the nurses don't come in buzz them. As far as Water goes, start sipping when you wake up until you go to sleep. I had a hard time getting it in .I woudln't stress about it but I would actively be sipping away constantly. Good luck with everything!!!

It has been done different ways for different surgeons. For me, I stayed 3 nights but I was a self pay and it was part of the package for you to stay up to 3 days. I could have gone home after 2 but since I already paid for it I figured I might as well stick around just in case. The most important thing is to just pay attention to your body. Let them know how you're feeling at the time. Monitor yourself and how your body is reacting. I'm sure you will do great!!!

Wow! Let me just say again...WOW! I love your letter and as an English teacher I got giddy over you citing your references!! lol...seriously though...this was great. Thank you so much for posting it so others can have a template of what to go by. I am really going to be pulling for you. You are a fighter! I had to fight too for years to get my surgery. So keep fighting the good fight. You will get there! I am looking forward to hearing about their reply! 300 pounds down

I'm sorry for all the horrible things you've had to endure! I completely relate! I had the same thing go through my head..."I'm losing weight on my own so why do I need surgery?" For me, I always was able to lose weight on my own--for awhile--but inevitably I'd backslide. I just can't explain to you what this surgery did for me. It was a miracle. I hope your consult goes well and I look forward to hearing about it. 300 pounds down

Here's my new post about Eggface's giveaway! Enter the contest and check out her blog. It has helped me a lot with recipes.

Thanks everyone!! I appreciate all your comments. It really means a lot! And thanks writer girl for the advice. I'm sorry you are dealing with your illness. I appreciate the encouragement!

Here's my recent update!

You are such an inspiration!!!

I know how you feel!! Don't worry it does get better. Hang in there! Beef is in your future!

Congratulations! I know it is an ordeal going through the surgery but you made it!! You are really on your way now!!