DoOver

I think most of us have been told to avoid NSAID's completely or only in case of real need. Does anyone know of any others meds that are advised against? Any you've been told in your program to avoid or not take?

For 4 weeks out I was at about 350 calories a day but I think it depends on your source of Protein. I was using the EAS drink that has 17 grams of protein in 110 calories. And it was hard for me to get things down so 3 of those drinks was enough of a battle. But I agree that you are doing fine. I've lost very slowly and I really believe a part of that was because my first 2 months were less than 500 calories a day. I know how bad I felt and I think it's unnatural. I'm at 700 ish a day now and feel much, much better. Still losing slow, been in a long stall, but I feel much better so I can wait this one out. I didn't get to move to puree until week 5. You may be moving through the food groups faster too.

Thank you! You know what's interesting..... My place doesn't seem to know this. I'd love to share it with them, but they don't really care for common folks to help them learn. If I were to start this journey over again, I would look for a place that has at least one person who'd have WLS. No one who works with my program has so they'd not been personally invested. It makes a difference.

I've been using My Fitness Pal but not that happy with it. Are there any good alternatives? Would appreciate any suggestions.

There's another thread about blood pressure. If you take BP meds, make sure it's not dropping too low. But I was also weak and exhausted for the first couple of months. It was a combo of BP, blood sugar and the extreme caloric restriction.

Miralax has no taste???? I think it's horrid. To me, it makes everything taste like spoiled milk. I was reading this to see how people take it. I've decided to go for a full whammy tomorrow evening by putting miralax in prune juice. If that doesn't work, nothing will. I'll just chug it and hope I don't gag. I am also going to try the pro-biotics but thought I'd wait until after my next doc appt. just to be sure.

Yea, there's technical failure and your expectations. I've always been a very slow loser. When I'd do Weight Watches I had to undercut their "points" by about 20% to lose 1 pound a week. Now that my body is sleeved it's fighting me tooth and nail to stay fat. I know I will never be thin but I think this surgery will save me from being morbidly obese for the rest of my life. To me, that's success. Although I will agree that my sugeon does not see it that way and that's difficult. I think the real answer is the standard answer. It's a tool. You still have to watch your diet to win completely.

Just as a side bar comment, I have a good friend who has lost 65 pounds using low carb. Now, at about 155 pounds she has settled in on 140 carbs a day to maintain. I think that falls in line with the above comment about a husband who can still lose at 150 carbs what with the difference between male and female bodies. With her story the devil is in the details. That 150 carbs are good carbs. If she takes in crap carbs, she starts to gradually gain and typically sees this during the holidays. We need good carbs. She's been at this for about 8 years now and has convinced me that veggies and whole grains are nothing to fear. Especially if you are only taking 700 claories a day and having those little things helps to make this an easier ride.

My program is a bit whacky on this one. I've recieved no less than 4 different answers. The most generous was 90 days out. The tightest answer was never. I'm 4 months out and I get a coffee about once a week. 1/2 caf 1/2 decaf. I find I tolerate that level in a large coffee. If I just get a small, I get full caff. What I have noticed is that even the decaf coffee ( I drink it black ) increases my acid reflux. It's one of those things I drank by the gallon pre-surgery. At this point I really don't miss it much but it's nice to be able to occasionally have a cup but that's good enough.

I agree that if it works for you, you feel great and are losing, have at it. On the other hand, my people also said no liquid Protein after moving to mushies. Frankly, l only get about 650 calorie a day on average so 250 of them from liquid might be a bit too much for me. When I did get wild and drink one, I used EAS Carb Control which was 110 calories and 17 grams of protein. Usually that 17 grams pushed me over my 60 for protein for the day and was enough. There are stats about how much of any one thing your body can absord at a time so I just stuck with the 17 gram drink that I found palatable.

This thread is good information. I had no idea so many people went back to drinking carbonated drinks. Diet soda is the only thing I miss. I always drank cafeine free so if I go back to the soda, it's not a double whammy in terms of any possible negative, acid and caffeine. I saw a Dr. Oz recently where he said one of the issues was the salt content., that you lose when you stop drinking it because you are cutting sodium out of your diet and dropping Water. But the person he was talking about drank a huge amount of diet soda. I was a one drink a day person. Eventually I will try it again. But I would like to hold off until next summer. But it's nice to know giving it a try won't make me drop over dead. Honestly, sometimes you'd think things like this were fatal to listen to my program people. ( Doesn't chewing gum mean you will swallow it and block yourself and die??? )

I've only lost about 5 pounds in the same window of time. I stopped comparing myself to those who are dropping faster, slower or whatever. I hope to be occasionally posting here in 3 years and at goal. That will be my test of success, not how fast I get there. And, by the way, a pair of all cotton capris I bought around that time are too baggy on me now. So I'm not sure pounds off and inches off happen in the same window of time. Put on a pair of baggy pants and smile. You're doing things right and the weight will come off.

I've tried everything. I've taken up to 4 softners WITH Miralax. Can you imagine? And I get a pretty balanced diet in these days. Little bits, but balanced. I even went to complete committment by removing cheese from my diet. It has not been fun. :mad2: That's what I look like when working the issue....lol

Yep, I had about 8 weeks of feeling like I was dead. Ditto what he said above me. My program is not anti carb either. The other day I read a post that said "follow your program: high Protein, low carb..." Just for those who read here for data, not all program diets are high protein and low carb. Mine is high protein, moderate carb. As stated above, the idea is healthy carbs. My NUT loves blended foods (something like Speical K protein cereal) where get both protein and carbs. I lean toward vegetarian so I get a lot of protein through soy. I might be losing a bit slower than others, but I really do believe it's a healthy slow since I added carbs back in upon having my diet smacked by my NUT at about 2.5 months out. I could not do high protein, low carb for the rest of my life. So I need to learn now how to eat healthy and for me that does mean carbs too. As you go forward you will find what makes you feel good. Right now give those mushy or full liquid carbs a try. It's not going to hurt. You are in the very first days of a long journey.

I'll trythis. How do you take that tbls? Is it mixed into liquid? I live in a small town but this would be worth a drive to the big city and a health food store. Closest thing we have to a health food store is a Dollar General!

Good luck. Don't spend too much time concerned about the actual surgery. It was a breeze, It's the next 5 or 6 weeks that can be a challenge, but we all survive and go on to thrive.

Did this part change over time? At 4 months out adding anything just seems to take up more space. Especially bread seems to really take space. When my boyfriend and I go out to eat together, I will typically get baked unbreaded fish. Then I take 2 bites of something he has to test it. Those 2 bites really impact how much of the fish I can eat. When I'm alone and only get the fish, I can almost eat the whole serving. Those 2 bites can impact being able to take as much as half of the fish. But I do love being able to test the foods and get a bit of variety.

What about your blood sugar? Do you know where it's at? When mine is low I feel weak and shaky. It's not fun but you could also try buying some individual pills. If you can't take a major Multivitamin, could you take an individual potassium supplement, an individual magnesium? Along that line? I have several different types that I take. I mix it up. I could not tolerate the actual barriatric ones but after healing to where I can tolerate pills, I've not had any trouble. How long have you been feeling this bad? I'm very glad you are going to your doctor. It can feed off itself. If you are feeling bad, it's hard to force yourself to eat. And if you don't eat...well, you know how that goes. Good Luck. Please post how you do over the next few days.

I was sleeved in April of this year. I was at 326 when I started my program. I was somewhere around 309 when I started my pre-op liquid fast. As of today I am at 253. I'm happy with my progress and proud of what I've accomplished. Unfortunately, I am a slow loser in terms of those in my program so I get a lot of negative feedback there which is why I've come to this forum. I kept my surgery private. Just my choice. I am a very healthy fat person except that my knees are shot. I will be having 2 knee replacments and I dread it. This surgery was to give those operations and my future mobility a shot. I'm older, at 50, but I have a few good years in front of me and I don't want to spend them all on the couch! The plus side of this surger to me: The restirction. Yes, there are days when I wish I could eat more like I used to but I tell myself to woman up and suck it up. It's not like I didn't have time to eat all the great food I wanted to in my life. I hate to say this (because there are times when I know this just isn't so) but in terms of my relationship with food, I had to face that I simply needed to grow up and accept that this is what I had to do. So far, after 5 months (including the liquid fast before) I'm able to be at peace with this situation. Frankly, that is a great suprise. I wasn't sure if I would be one of those people this threw into a funk or not. Glad to say not at this time. Now, unfortunatly, there are some real negatives. And I think that knowing them and being aware that they will or might happen is a big part of what helped with my acceptance stated above. For me the negatives have been: 1) Serious issue in the first 3 months with low blood sugar. So many have high blood surgar pre surgery that those of use with low blood sugar get over looked and my surgeon couldn't have cared less. I would wake up every morning 2 hours before my alarm shaking and concerned about the walk to the bathroom. Had to sleep with a Protein drink in a thermos by my bed and when I woke drink, and then dose back off until I found my strength. When I finally got to 600 calories a day, this issue resolved itself. 2) Bad headaches, ironically basically hunger headaches, the first 3 months. Again, the surgeon blew it off. He does not like to hear any negatvies. But I had daily headaches and took boat loads of tylenol. My vision would blur and I was really afriad I had just traded disabilities. They also cleared with 600 calories a day so if it happens to you, know it will get better. 3) CONSTIPATION. I can't say it enough, CONSTIPATION. I hate Miralax. It gags me. I have used 3 bottles of the suppositories in 3 months. This didnt' start until 1 month in. Honestly, I know it seems silly, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Like when I was a kid and they told me about having periods every month, I thought for sure I could dodge that bullet. But most of the time I am torn up and in mysery. I only pray I don't die like Elvis minus the drugs. 4) Oddly the bagging clothes are driving me nuts. It's not just about weight loss but all of the spandex. Even if I think I have bought something that fits, it fits at 9 a.m. and is falling off at noon. I'll be glad when i settle into a size and can have things that fit. So that's where I am. I try to stay off of the scales. I really am doing this about health, not looks. At 50, the looks ship has sailed. I want to be in "regular" sizes some day, maybe next year this time. Otherwise I'm not in a big hurry and am trying to just let myself not be driven by food. I think the more I ride the scales, the more I am still living the life of a fat woman and I want that to be behind me some day.

I'm very lucky. I was also sleeved in April but I can't eat sweets at all. I didn't care for them before surgery but now, after ---- yikes. I took 1/2 of a cookie at a grocery store deli one day 3 weeks ago to "test" it and when I got to my car I felt like I could have crawled into the back seat and slept for an hour. I wasn't this way before the surgery but maybe it's just because I've been so long off sugar that I feel it now. I'm glad I'm this way. Do you know how many calories you are getting per day? Do you track everything? Unfortunately, some of this is our same old problems. That's why I believed the sleeve was my answer. Don't like sweets but love salty crunchy. I have found fabulous soy Snacks and I can only hold the 1 ounce bag so it works for me. I only wish they were cheaper and locally available. I find myself eating dust from a soy chip bag about once a week where it was smashed in transit. I'm realizing how lucky I am because for salty/crunchy there are easy, more healthy options. If you are tracking every bite, it at least keeps you aware of where you are so you know just how far off the path you're going. It's not easy that's for sure.

Anyone considering WLS should start the Biotin now. It needs to be in your system for a while to help protect you from the severe hair loss. We were actually told when attending our seminar to start taking it! It's cheap and a little pill, easy to swallow. I'm 4 months out and have been on it, thanks to that seminar, for about 18 months. From what I understand, 4 months is when the typical shed begins, so I'm hoping everyone is right about how much this helps. And for your calcium, buy calcium citrate. It's highly recommended over calcium carbonate as your body is able to absorb and use it more. Calcium citrate is available on a lot of forms. I take 1 chew and 1 pill each day to get my total in. I love the Calcate Lemon chews but they are pricey so it's just a daily treat and then I use a pill for the rest.

I don't see info about how long you have been sleeved. I'm 4 months out and I can honestly say I experience hunger much more now than I ever did before I was sleeved... and I mean in comparison to pre-sleeve dieting. I think the thing that concerns me about your information is that you experience the hunger all the time. I don't. First, I also absolutely know mine is not head hunger because I'd eat anything if I could. When that hunger is gnawing at me, green Beans would be wonderful. In fact, I don't really crave any "before surgery good food". The only single item I miss is diet cola. And I'm pretty sure my frequent hunger is due to my small capacity. One hour ago I had 1/4 cup egg substitute and 4 trisket crackers. That totally filled me up. Now, I should not eat for 2 more hours. I can promise you that in one hour I will be hungry. And I'm pretty sure it's because I need more than 500 - 600 calories a day. To make this even less fun, I'm not losing much weight and never have. I think that after my initial 6 weeks on liquid my body just rolled into starvation mode (2 weeks pre-surgery, 4 weeks after). I think I'm being given the hunger signal to try and make me fix the problem. Basically, I think my body is not stupid enough to think 560 calories a day (yesterday's count) is enough long term in spite of me trying to make it think it is! But the key is that after I eat, the hunger is sedated for at least an hour, sometimes two. I'm never hungry while I'm eating. I don't doubt you are experiencing real hunger. But I have no clue what the issue is and it's great that you are checking in with your doctor. I guess I'm just posting my experience so that others who are pre-sleeve know that this might not be the cure for hunger if that's their motivation in having the surgery. I am surprised by how much and how often I am hungry but that was not my main issue. I did this for the portion control part and man, I got that in spades!