able2cope

I just recovered from my first dumping syndrome reaction and hooo boy, for a while there I was seriously regretting having the surgery.
I'm just over 9 weeks PO, and yes, I've had serious pain (and some vomiting or bad nausea) every time I stupidly re-try chicken breast. I thought that was bad enough.
I. Was. Not. Prepared.
So I had half a wrap yesterday for lunch. My boss bought our team lunch and he went out of his way to get me a plain wrap, no fatty sauces, with just chicken and lettuce. He bought me s gravy to dip it in so it'd be moist! I was so... touched and thankful that he'd thought so much about my restrictions that I decided to give the white meat one more try. I did NOT take into consideration the wrap (not whole wheat).
I ate a little less than half of it yesterday. It went down fine, no issues. Dunked in gravy and delicious.
Welllll today for lunch I ate the leftovers. Within 20 minutes of the last bite, I was forced to nap. (Looking back, felt just like an over-carbed/sugared diabetic nap.) Woke up an hour later to pre-period cramping. No big deal. Except by the time I got to the bathroom, the cramps became excruciating and I started vomiting bile. Then came the seemingly endless liquid diarrhea, fever and sweating so much I soaked my clothes like I'd been in the pouring rain. I wanted to die to make it stop. For a while, I thought maybe I was dying and this pain was a PO complication or my entire intestine rupturing, etc. (Yeah, I blame fever delerium for that). My mother tested my blood sugar while I was half out of it, and it wasn't crazy high but still much higher than my PO normal.
I hope to ALL the gods that I learn my lesson from this and can avoid it ever ever ever happening again. I logically know that more mistakes are bound to happen on this journey, but oooof that hit hard.

Hi Chrissylynn80

Its been many years since I have posted on here, but your post has just hit out at me. I'm sitting up, in the middle of the night in Scotland UK. You have a massive family here at Bariatricpal - and I'm pretty sure that each one of us can relate to how you are feeling at this moment!
You simply can not give up - and as the other lady said, you must get a second, even a third opinion if you come up against a door that first appointment you have. DO NOT GIVE UP!
I thought that it would never happen to me - they put me on new diets - meal packets - that they were using as a trial, I truly felt like a guinea pig - but I did it. It took me a full 6 years to get the sleeve done, from going to my doctor in the first instance, to going through those theatre doors. 6 years is a long time when you are struggling with weight issues and 3 young kids, to me it did feel like a lifetime, but sticking with it was what had to be done - and I got there in the end.
Thinking of you - and virtually throwing all my available willpower your way. Please don't be giving up - you owe this to yourself x

Thank you both. That helps a lot. I feel the odds are against me and yet it was so easy for everyone i know. I hear all these horror stories on here and i think that will be me. I waited too long. I gained my weight back 8 years ago and i should of done it then. I kept trying to do it myself and it was hard to admit i could not. I am ready to do what i have to. It has been a rough lonely day and i am so glad i found this place. I can finally get some sleep. Thank you guys again.

Hi Chrissylynn80

Its been many years since I have posted on here, but your post has just hit out at me. I'm sitting up, in the middle of the night in Scotland UK. You have a massive family here at Bariatricpal - and I'm pretty sure that each one of us can relate to how you are feeling at this moment!
You simply can not give up - and as the other lady said, you must get a second, even a third opinion if you come up against a door that first appointment you have. DO NOT GIVE UP!
I thought that it would never happen to me - they put me on new diets - meal packets - that they were using as a trial, I truly felt like a guinea pig - but I did it. It took me a full 6 years to get the sleeve done, from going to my doctor in the first instance, to going through those theatre doors. 6 years is a long time when you are struggling with weight issues and 3 young kids, to me it did feel like a lifetime, but sticking with it was what had to be done - and I got there in the end.
Thinking of you - and virtually throwing all my available willpower your way. Please don't be giving up - you owe this to yourself x

I feel like everyone else can get the surgery but there is no way it will happen for me. I will be the last fat person in my family and i'll die unhealthy, pathetic and hiding from the world. I lost 150 pounds before then got married to a food addict and gained almost all of it back. I can not do it anymore. If i can not get it i do not want to be alive anymore. I have no quality of life and now i have gout. I need some good news. I go in september 11th to see what the surgeon says. Anyone else feel this way?

Making the decision to have weight loss surgery is a very big deal. It seems obvious to say that when someone agrees to weight-loss surgery they're desperate for help to change the way they're living, or not fully living their lives. Everyone goes into the procedure ready and willing to surgically alter their anatomy hoping for a better future.


So why is it that so many will fall short of losing the optimal amount of weight for their health and will actually regain within 3 years much if not all of the weight they lost? Some studies say 1/3 of patients will regain most of their weight post-surgery. I think the number is actually higher because many people who regain simply fall out of contact with their bariatric surgeon and support staff because they feel ashamed, so the statistics do not include these people. So, why do most people regain the weight? What can you do to help insure that you will be one of the successful long-term losers of your excess weight? By examining why people fail you can create a plan for how you will succeed.
The government agency, National Institutes for Health (NIH) defines weight-loss surgery as "merely a tool that helps people get a new start toward maintaining long-term good health. The surgery alone will not help someone lose weight and keep it off. Together with a reduced-calorie and low-fat diet and daily exercise, surgery will help an individual lose weight and maintain the weight loss.” Please read that a few times. That is how important this quote is! The surgery alone will not help someone lose weight and keep it off.
We as weight-loss surgery patients have a history of seeking comfort, happiness and pleasure through food. We wouldn't be here if that weren't true. Me included. The process of surgically altering our anatomies does nothing to remove from us the tendency to seek comfort in familiar ways but assures there will be physical suffering if we do. Post-surgery we will still have the same brain that is used to comforting us with food, and we will still have the fingers and the arms that are used to lifting food to the same mouth to find comfort and pleasure. It is critically important that the WLS patient seek out new ways to soothe, comfort, and find pleasure in their world other than by eating.
ONE main reason patients regain their weight is they search for ways to get around the surgery, still thinking of food as primarily a source of pleasure, not a source of fuel that can be pleasurable. This is often done relying on liquid calories, which may pass more easily, like high calorie coffee or juice bar drinks or alcohol. This is also done post-operatively by trying to maintain the presence of “trigger foods” in their lives. “Trigger foods” are often foods from the patient's past that helped cause obesity, do not satisfy hunger but instead create a craving. Many are high-calorie and highly processed, not nutritious. Trigger foods can include chocolate, chips, crackers, bread, cookies, ice cream, pudding, lattes, frapuccinos and alcoholic beverages. Really, any food can be a “trigger food” if there is so much pleasure in the “mouth-feel” or taste that repeating the pleasurable experience takes on more importance than actually feeding hunger. Very successful patients cultivate a mostly trigger-free post- surgical life. Bariatric surgeons and the NIH know the most common reason for regain and the most common post- surgical complication is “noncompliance.” Non-compliance is a fancy word that means the patient is not eating and exercising the way he/she agreed to before surgery. These people “talk the talk.” The successful patient “walks the walk” after surgery and changes how they eat and move.
A SECOND reason people often regain beginning in the second or third year post-op is that the “honeymoon” is over. The “honeymoon” generally encompasses the first 12 to 18 months post- surgery. During this time many patients will say, "I could eat all the chocolate and ice cream I wanted and still lose weight. I didn't have to try and the weight just came off.” This is often true because the body has been through such a shock after surgery that it takes months for the body to reset itself and learn to function with its' new physiology. Patients who regain their weight often believe that this “honeymoon period” is the new way that it will always be and don't adopt healthy eating patterns. So when their “honeymoon period” ends as it will they believe that the surgery has somehow failed them. In reality they have failed their surgery! During the first 12-18 months post-op it is essential to develop healthy patterns around food and exercise. This is the time when it is actually easiest to do and to not do so wastes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to begin a great new life with positive momentum.
A THIRD reason many patients regain much of their lost weight is a lack of support. Humans are social animals and we desire and need the support of each other throughout our lives. For thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years people coming together as a family or a community over food has been a way we connect with each other. Post-surgery, when the patient isn't able to eat what others are eating or in the quantities others are eating, or others are eating their 'trigger foods”, life can feel very stressful and lonely. This can be compounded by being around unsupportive people or people who want to be supportive but don't know how. Patients fail by not surrounding themselves with supportive people in a safe environment where they also must be accountable for their actions and behavior with food and their bodies. It is key to have a community of professionals and non-professionals who understand the challenges and hardships faced by those carving a new life with a new anatomical structure. There are online and in-person support groups. Even patients who've gone abroad for weight loss surgery can often use the support services available with their local medical group's Bariatric department. Creating relationships that support and assist you in becoming a healthier person and that hold you accountable for making healthy choices are key.
These are my top three. What would you add to this list? What plan will you create to deal with the items you add to this list? Who will support you on this journey of your life.....for your life?

True or False: If a product says no added sugar, it’s sugar free.
That statement is false. It just means the manufacturer didn’t add sugar to a product that may contain naturally occurring sugar from milk (lactose) or fruit (fructose). Foods with natural sugars also provide other nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants that are healthy for us. A revision to the Nutrition Facts Panel may include added sugars, which will be a better way to determine what foods to minimize. This change won’t be for another year or so.


True or False: If a product says no added sugar, it’s sugar free.
That statement is false. It just means the manufacturer didn’t add sugar to a product that may contain naturally occurring sugar from milk (lactose) or fruit (fructose). Foods with natural sugars also provide other nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants that are healthy for us. A revision to the Nutrition Facts Panel may include added sugars, which will be a better way to determine what foods to minimize. This change won’t be for another year or so.
For bariatric patients, eating too much sugar after surgery can lead to dumping. Sugar is considered “empty calories” because all you get is calories without the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants or fiber that are good for your health. Other problems from sugar include increased triglycerides, decreased HDL (healthy) cholesterol, increased respiration rate, fatty liver, increased blood sugars, cavities and weight gain. Research is beginning to link too much added sugar with heart disease, inflammation, gout and premature wrinkles. Recent research points to people consuming too many added sugars dying from heart disease at twice the rate as for people with low sugar intake, even if the diet is otherwise healthy.
Obvious sources of sugar are the sweets: cookies, cakes, candy, ice cream, desserts and sugar sweetened pop. Sugar sweetened beverages like regular pop, sports drinks and energy drinks account for about a third of the added sugars we consume. Added sugars can also creep into your diet through condiments like catsup and barbeque sauce, salad dressings, canned tomato products, coffee drinks, pastries, smoothies, crackers and ready to eat cereals.
When reading the ingredients label, look for words like anything that ends in “–ose” (sucrose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, xylose etc..), syrup, juice, agave, honey, molasses, caramel, corn sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane guide, cane sugar, brown sugar, barley malt, and beet sugar. You now have information about how to read the label to see if what you are eating or drinking has added sugars. Next week, you’ll find out how to compare products to determine how much added sugar is in something you are eating or drinking.