AmberDawn

My hair loss started at 2 months out and is still going on at almost 4 months out. It comes out EVERYWHERE. Shower, brush, brushing my fingers through my hair. Its awful. I would say my hair volume has been cut in half since the loss started. I just hope it stops soon before i'm bald lol.

I replied to another post with this but thought others might find this useful also. I'm almost 4 months post op. I hate drinking Water but i force myself to drink 1, 16.9oz bottle every day. Then i drink the rest in Protein shake, decaff tea or crystal light. Protein is so important so you dont lose muscle. I drink for Breakfast every morning 1 scoop of chocolate Supreme 100% casein, 1 scoop of lIsopure mixed with 10oz of cold water using a Blender Bottle. That right there is 50grams of protein. On days that i exercise i also eat a Quest Protein Bar which is 20grams of protein, thats 70 out of the 80 my Dr recommends. So 10oz of water in my breakfast shake @ 8am 16.9oz of plain water before 11:30am when i eat lunch 16.9oz of decaff tea at 2:30-3pm finished by 4:30pm. Protein bar snack on the way home from work at 5pm. Exercise about 6pm for 30mins drinking about 8oz of water mixed with dinner about 7pm Finish drinking last 12oz of water/decaff tea/crystal light between 8pm & 10:30pm Now on days that I dont exercise I make up for the lack of the protein bar by eating more meats for lunch and dinner. Hope this helps give you an idea of how to keep up with your protein and water. Oh yea and at least 8 hours of sleep. I think i've finally had a light bulb go off and figured out when i get less than that my weight loss slows and stalls.

Hm, I dont know if i buy that, I dont see any studies that would suggest that. However I would say its better to have more than enough than too little. Also Casein is a slow digesting Protein where isopure is more like a quick shot. So even though i'm getting 50g in one setting 25g of it is slow digesting and keeps me full for 2 to 3 hours. Basically I get 50g for breakfast, probably 10g for lunch, 20g protein bar snack and 20g for dinner. So really i get 100g spread throughout the day. Even if my body only absorbs 30-40 or my morning 50g i'm still getting 80g per day. Though i can say without a doubt, you shouldnt drink a 50g Protein shake for breakfast, have a 20g protein bar for lunch, eat junk food for dinner and think "hey i got in my 70g of protein!" That much i know is true lol

Thanks. Yea I realized my slower loss during the last 2 months has had 1 thing in common. I was only getting 5-7hours of sleep every night. The last few days this month i've been getting at least 8 and the weight has started coming off again. I'm going to put every effort into getting at least 8 this whole month and see what kind of results i get. (keeping my fingers crossed!)

I hate drinking water also but i force myself to drink 1, 16.9oz bottle every day. Then i drink the rest in protein shake, decaff tea or crystal light. Protein is so important so you dont lose muscle. I drink for breakfast every morning 1 scoop of Chocolate Supreme 100% casein, 1 scoop of low carb dutch chocolate isopure mixed with 10oz of cold water using a blender bottle. That right there is 50grams of protein. On days that i exercise i also eat a quest protein bar which is 20grams of protein, thats 70 out of the 80 my Dr recommends. So 10oz of water in my breakfast shake @ 8am 16.9oz of plain water before 11:30am when i eat lunch 16.9oz of decaff tea at 2:30-3pm finished by 4:45pm. Protein bar snack on the way home from work at 5pm. Exercise about 6pm for 30mins drinking about 8oz of water mixed with Xtend during exercise Eat dinner about 7pm Finish drinking last 12oz of water/tea/crystal light between 8pm & 10:30pm Hope this helps give you an idea of how to keep up with your protein and water. Oh yea and at least 8 hours of sleep. I think i've figured out when i get less than that my weight loss slows and stalls.

I started taking biotin also, i'm still losing hair but i can tell its slowed quite a bit. and of course protein at least 80grams a day. Also for acne make sure you're getting in at least 64oz of water. Hang in there!

Hey all, I was sleeved 12/12 and have lost 45 pounds since surgery. I feel like this is awful progress and have been really bummed lately about how slowly i'm losing considering how much I still weigh. You can see in my sig my weight lost per month is going down and down, I only lost 7 pounds last month and only 8 the month before that. I just dont get how I can not be losing more so soon out after surgery, I understand that after a year weight loss slows but after 3 months and its already slowing this much? I'm also not losing inches as i've been checking that. I get in more than enough Protein every day and really close to 64 if not 64 oz of Water ever day. I've tried switching from treadmill to elliptical to see if that would help but still nothing. Tried adding more veggies, nada. Sooo frustrated. Glad to hear everyone else is having better success at least.

I was considering the band until I heard of how many people fail with it and the constant fills/unfills you have to do. Also my Dr said the band is more dangerous if you plan on getting pregnant, it can slip and move from the added pressure during pregnancy. As far as bypass or DS, hell to the no. Never even considered the two. I know 1 person who died from it and another who ended up with tons of complications.

My hubby informed me my breath has been really bad lately I guess its just a side affect of losing weight. I just keep mouth spray with me all the time now.

Hey I feel you on the stall, I had my sugery on 12/12 also and this whole month has been a stall basically. I've lost 36 pounds since sugery. I've only lost 5 pounds this month. Last month I lost 15, so it's been a very disappointing month. I know a loss is a loss but 5 pounds seems very low for being only 2 months out.

This is probably a silly question but do you gain when aunt flow comes and how much? I know before surgery i gained during AF so i'm assuming its normal to gain after surgery. I'm just kinda depressed because AF came this week and i've gained 3 pounds :banghead: . I'm 1 month post op. On the bright side before surgery I would break out the week before AF, this time no breakouts. yay

Being at 5 weeks post op i can 100% say it does get better. Hang in there!

Thanks for the replies. Sometimes i think i freak myself out reading these forums with all the people who have had problems :\

So today was 1 month post op for me. All last week i had an awful cold, i'm still getting over it actually. So i think that slowed my progress a bit. Since the 28th of December i've dropped 5.5lbs. Then on Tuesday afternoon I came down with a nasty stomach virus, between Tuesday and Wednesday i dropped 4 pounds and had a really hard time staying hydrated. Still not feeling 100% today but definitely better and have been able to get almost back on track with my fluid intake. I had an early stall from December 21st till December 28th. Glad that's over with. Now I seem to be getting back to the .5lb a day loss. Not bad I guess. I've been doing great with food, still sticking to mushy things or making something mushy if it wasnt already. I have yet to throw up or slime. A couple times i did get uncomfortable because i over did it. I find i can eat about 2-3oz now before i get a weird kind of full burpy feeling but I can drink about 6-8oz in 15 minutes now. I can also now take regular size swallows without any weird feelings. Since there were a few times where i just couldnt take the 30 minutes to eat i've gotten pretty good at knowing how many bites it takes to get me full but not overly. Speaking of no time, we also took a 3 hour plane ride up north for a wedding last weekend and for the first time in i dont know how long i didnt need the extender but on one of the 4 planes(since they dont seem to have any standard belt length on planes.) Granted it was still a tight fit but it was a great feeling not needing it. Now that we're done with holidays/family visiting/traveling i'm going to finally be able to get in my much needed walking. Weight lost so far since preop diet, 35.5lbs

6 days post op: Two nights ago was hell for me i was up with severe gas pains like the worst i've had. i ended up having a very loose BM and felt a little better the next day. Today my lower left incision still hurts but i havent taken pain meds in 16 hours. I've also been having these random sharp pains throughout my body, like one in my lower abdomen, one in the side of my neck, one in my back and a slight headache. I've done good and got my full 64 ounces yesterday, today i'm on track to do the same. I've been having little pains in the back of my legs since surgery but i've been trying to walk at least 5 minutes once an hour. and 2 times during the night between 4 hour blocks of sleep. Last night i had hell getting to sleep. Everytime i would reach the point of falling asleep i would stop breathing, wake up with a start and take a deep breath, this happened over and over till i went online read some articles to distract myself and finally fell asleep. I've never been diagnosed with sleep apnea but i suppose i could have it. 12 Days Post Op: So today i'm feeling much better than 6 days post op. I have my first follow up Thursday and the Dr said I had lost 34 pounds since my first weigh in and my incisions were healing great.( I took off all of my steri strips about 4 days ago due to the itching and a few blisters they were causing). The Dr actually cleared me for swimming or baths already. Also the Dr said i could try a bit of mushies on Christmas day(tomorrow) if i wanted. Thats a week earlier than what their diet plan is. So far the last 3 days i've been trying to hit my protein goal of 70grams. I've been having 1 scoop of Isopure Dutch Chocolate and 1 scoop of Muscle Milk Light Chocolate for breakfast and lunch and that alone is 74grams. Then i usually have a creamy soup for dinner. I missed my water goal the last couple days due to xmas shopping but i'm back on track today. I find that i can now drink regular small drinks of water without pain, not sipping, i hope thats normal lol. I do still get tired easily and i'm so glad that i ended up being able to take 3 weeks off of work. I thought i would be able to go back after a week lol yea right, no way in hell. A few days ago i went from sleeping in my recliner to my bed. It's been ok but i dont think i could have done it any sooner. I'm barely having any pain at my lower left incision anymore, the suture that was sticking out of it already fell off. Been getting in my 3 daily fusion vitamins, luckily i like the orange cream flavor. I'm going to start walking 30 minutes 3 days a week as recommened by my Dr.. They've cleared me for all exercises. And i've heard of the 3 week stall but for some reason i'm already stalled on week 2. I've been sitting at 287 since wednesday fluctuating by .5 lbs each day. Its frustrating to stall this early into the game. I hope it doesnt last long. I've been having a hell of a time with hunger. It's been a b***h . So i have my morning shake about 9 or 10, then i'm usually hungry again by 2, then at 6pm hungry again, then staying up late like i usually do (11pm) means i'm starving at bed time. Seems i cant go any longer than 3 or 4 hours if i'm lucky before i'm so hungry. And i've been taking my daily pepcid so i dont think its acid causing the feeling. Being hungry all the time and having a stall at the same time really sucks. Hopefully something gives and soon.

Hello December Sleevers. Guess i'll join the party. I was sleeved 12/12 and have lost 13lbs, unfortunately i hit a stall already last wednesday and have been stuck at 287 for 6 days. Not sure why i hit it so early. Maybe its due to the fact that i've been able to get in my 70grams of protein every day. Who knows but I hope it hurries up and unstalls.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I went ahead and emailed my Drs office and they said walk every 2 hours 5 minutes each time. And i did NOT need to wake up every 4 hours at night. DOH! I must have misunderstood the nurse at the hospital. Also they said i could take tylenol in pill form so that helps. Thanks again.

I'm still having gas pains also. not terrible but annoying. like the kind where you force yourself to burp, not a real burp.

So I figured I would make another post since I left alot out of my last drugged up blog lol I've now been home from the hospital for 2 and a half days. Today has been ok, better than yesterday. I got 8 hours of sleep in 4 hour blocks. I went a full 8 hours without pain meds for the first time but i think only because i was asleep during most of that. I've got this huge bruise on my inside arm from where they did one of the IVs, looks like chopped liver and turning all sorts of colors now. The backs of my legs have been itchy since the surgery, its very weird. I'm not sure if its because of the inflatable things they had on my legs while i was in the hospital. Its not as bad as it was but still concerning. I've also got 2 blisters under my steri strips. One is much larger than the other and its near the outside not near the incision. I just cut off the steri strip section that was covering the blisters and dabbed it with some hydrogen peroxide. Hope they clear up tomorrow. My stomach has also been itching all over since surgery. I think i'm starting to get dehydrated, my tongue is whitish on top. I only got in 44 ounces today and i know even less yesterday. Its weird that I get more gassy when i drink plain water than when i drink crystal light water. The gas is still a problem. Sometimes i have a gas bubble when i take a drink even if its a sip and it feels like i have to burp but usually cant. I've also had sharp gas pains that feel like they're near my back spine area. I've been trying to walk every hour for at least 5 minutes at a time, not sure if this is enough, the Dr didnt really say how much. I'm confused on what clear liquids mean because the box of powder they gave me to make into soup surely isnt clear, its also disgusting so i started taking canned progresso soups and draining them and having the broth from them. I figure as long as its pretty runny liquid(nothing creamy) it should be ok. I've decided to stop reading the forums as they started freaking me out with the stories of leaks etc. Being self pay I literally cannot afford a leak. So i'm just keeping my fingers crossed and trying to follow every rule. On the bright side the scale said 298 today, its the first time i've been under 300 in like 7 years. So I lost 16lbs on the pre op diet and another 2lbs since Monday and i know I still have alot of water weight. Well that's all i can think of for now. Off to bed.

Glad to hear you're doing ok, sounds like our hospitals stays went a bit different. I've just been sipping water and broth, every time i sip even the tiniest bit i have this gas bubble try to come up, its very annoying and making it hard to get liquids down. Hang in there.

Had my sleeve 12/12 Monday at 8:30 am. After I woke up from surgery it was like living hell. The gas pains were pretty bad all centered in my stomach and ribs, i stayed doped up on morphine pretty much all day. My family was all there and very supportive. Tuesday was just as bad in a different way. I started having burning in my stomach and esophagus on top of the gas pains. I asked for the lortab elixir on monday but they never brought it to me, they just gave me tylenol which helped somewhat. I had no sleep monday night into tuesday morning. I finally got lortab on tuesday and that helped a lot. It made me drowsy at first then i'd be alert and ready to go. I was able to walk the halls about 6 times on tuesday. I got about 3-4 hour blocks of sleep tuesday night into wednesday morning. Was feeling much better but didnt have the energy to shower. Got discharged about 9am this morning and i feel great as long as i'm on my lortab. but once it starts wearing off i'm in quite a bit of pain. Also got in a shower when i got home. I wasnt able to pick up my lortab prescription till 2pm and i was in quite a bit of pain by then. The gas pain is still there and still annoying and painful. I'm trying to get down all the liquids i can in any form. i'm looking for some broth recipes since so far i havent liked any plain broth that i have. I've had a couple emotional spells since i got home, and been wondering if i did the right thing. I'm hoping it gets better. Also been having itching on the backs of my legs thats driving me crazy. Put a call into my dr to see what they say. Wrapping up this drug induced rambling, i'll keep you posted

Thanks I've been lucky and haven't had any nausea the entire time. Unfortunately gas x doesnt seem to do anything for me. I'm just trying to stay positive.

1 week till surgery. O.o 1 week done on the preop diet, 1 more to go. I've done pretty well. I had 1 sort of cheat night for my Brother's birthday on Saturday but it was just Caesar salad and maybe a few more than 3 oz of meat. I didn't have any appetizer or dessert, man was that tough lol I'm down 12 pounds since the 10th of November. 6 of those pounds have been lost since i started my preop diet last Monday. Hoping to get a few more off before next Monday but wouldn't you know it Aunt Flow has made her unwanted appearance. So that might make things difficult with retaining water. And I'm dying for some Midol right now but I'm not sure if its ok to take so I sent an email to my Dr's office to see what they say. I am happy that I'm now in my 1 size smaller pants again, LB's 7s instead of 8s. I've been doing good on my shakes and nighttime meals. I've learned I like 2 scoops of Muscle Milk Light - Chocolate with 8oz of water better than Chike's Chocolate. Been doing pretty good getting in at least 54oz of water every day with most days hitting the 64oz We've been making dinner every night and I've been measuring out my 3oz of lean meat. So far it's mainly been chicken and pork. I still need to take my before photos. For some reason I keep putting it off lol. Think I'll try to do that tonight. I've been doing awful getting in my walking every night, last week i only walked 2 nights for 30 minutes. I'm determined to get back to it tonight. I've also started getting all the things i'll need for surgery day. I've got my clothes I'm wearing there, a new pajama set coming in the mail and some nonskid warm socks. Got the gasx I've heard everyone recommend and the rest of the stuff I already have on hand. Also got most of my post op diet stuff. Got chicken, beef & veggie broth. Sugar free jello and Popsicles. The nerves are starting to kick in. I've had a few nights that were really hard. My mind is still trying to divorce food. Every where I look there's something that's tempting and the nights where i have hunger pains its really difficult. The real challenge has been between lunch and dinner since thats usually about 6 hours or more apart. I do just fine 4 hours between protein shakes but the 5 and 6 hour mark i start getting pretty physically hungry. I also have fears of not being able to have large amounts ever again of the foods i love so much, but i know this is awful thinking and i'm trying to put it behind me. I'm also worried about what my body will look like after all the weight loss. I'm absolutely dreading the saggy skin and wonder if i'm trading one ugly look for something even worse. My hubby has been very supportive and says that we can get the skin removed after but It's expensive, comes with its own risks and then i worry about the scars after. It's like i dont know if i will ever be truly happy with my body. But i know for my health and if we're ever going to be able to have a baby I have to get this weight off. Well I'll keep y'all posted. Good luck to the others having surgery soon!