Daydra

Thanks. Yeah, I've seen most of those and have several of them. These are the books geared toward "diet" that I was kind of trying to avoid because every "expert" seems to have a different story or twist. Lots of these have some good information, but I just don't have a lot of trust that any particular one is getting it right. I'm really looking for something more detailed and technical - more focused on what the body does, and less on how to eat. I may just be best served by a medical text on this one. Right now, I'm reading The Metabolic Storm, by Emily Cooper, MD, but I googled her and her practice (which it turned out is local for me) and found some really unfortunate posts about her lack of professionalism, both in interactions with patients and the way she runs her clinic, so I looked up her medical license and found that the state put her on probation for having inappropriate sexual contact with a client. I'm trying to read it with an open mind (it really hasn't challenged much of what I already knew so far), but I'm having a hard time with not assuming that unethical behavior in one area of her life to spill over in other areas, like perhaps her research or her presentation of the facts or her experience.

Many of you have probably read some posts of mine... I apologize for the ridiculous amount of time you must spend reading my excruciatingly detailed posts! I keep promising myself that I will learn not to type every relevant (in my opinion, of course) tidbit of information into the box! Unfortunately, I never seem to learn. Thank you, dear VerticalSleeveTalk member, for having the patience to read my ramblings and spending the time to think about them and respond!

Ha! A reasonably short post!

Have a good night!

Is there any point that I will be able to take a normal sip of things after surgery?

Like others said, Absolutely!!! I was at about 8 weeks and was starting to feel discouraged because I was still having to take small sips due to nausea. Got better nausea meds and now magically, I can drink reasonably! Maybe 2-3 full mouthfuls of Water or milk before I need to pause for a few minutes. If the forced sipping lasts a long time (like, maybe 6-8 weeks?) be sure to discuss it with your surgeon during your followup (or just call if you are experiencing anything that is distressing to you!)

Good luck!

I'm in serious learning mode here. I've been struggling a bit and want to learn everything I can about exactly how the metabolism works and how different actions, macronutrients, hormones, etc. affect it. For the layman, I have pretty much only found diet books, which is not at all what I'm looking for. I thought about purchasing a textbook, but am not real excited about spending several hundred dollars on a (current, up-to-date) book that may or may not be what I'm really looking for. Then, of course, there's the option to read some random crap on the internet (because they wouldn't let them put it on the internet if it wasn't true!!!).

I just came out of several weeks of forced semi-starvation between early surgery recovery and then fighting nausea (8 weeks of sub-500 cal/day. For my body, that is a real problem and was causing some really worrisome side effects). A couple weeks ago, we got it figured out and I have been able to eat in my calorie range as prescribed by my nutritionist. Now, I'm left with the aftereffects of weight gain and significant weakness/fatigue, which has felt glacially slow to improve. I immediately gained 10 pounds in about 10 days following beginning to eat "normally" (keeping in mind that "normally" is still 700-1000 cal deficit compared to what I was burning immediately prior to my semi-starvation period). My macronutrient ratios are pretty reasonable. Nothing is out of whack as far as what general guidelines would be. (For example: today I have 30% carb, 29% fat, and 41% Protein, with 78g of Protein so far and I will probably have a piece of lowfat cheese or something before I go to bed) I am not eating low-carb, as I am not confident that reducing carbs any further wouldn't have an adverse affect on my already very low energy level. I wasn't too worried at first, but then I lost 3 pounds over the weekend, gained 2 pounds on Monday, gained another 1/2 pound yesterday. The last thing I read (and who knows if it's credible...) is that this can go on for about 3 weeks, but I'm real close to that 3 week mark and feel like I'm all over the place. I want to read something credible and detailed so that I can work out what's going on, how best to address it, and what I can expect going forward. I haven't managed to come up with the correct search terms to find what I'm looking for without going with some diet book (and we all know how accurate all those things are...) or going full-on $300-something textbook for medical students. I will be discussing this with my surgeon during my next followup in a couple weeks, and am thinking I'll probably make an appointment with my nutritionist as well, but either way, I still want to learn. (and let's face it... I'm a bit of a do-it-yourselfer...)

Thanks for any info that can point me in the right direction!

Sadly, I'm unemployed. Gladly, it started right before my surgery, so I've had some nice time off during recovery.

But usually I'm an editor/website manager. And a jewelry designer (the hobby that took over more than 40 hours a week of my life! )

I looked up your website. Your jewelry is beautiful. I particularly like your Dogwood and Magnolia designs.

I agree, I hope the bariatric clinic contacts you soon as well. So, the constipation... (here comes my barrage of questions... not necessarily to answer, but to think about and consider) How long has it been since you had a bowel movement? They didn't find impaction? The enema was ineffective, did you hold it long enough? So, there is a bariatric clinic near you and you're waiting for a call. I would call and pester them. If you have to suck it up and pay out of pocket for an appointment, it will likely be worth it at this point. This is not something that you can just ignore, all potential serious problems aside, there is no reason you should have to sit around in pain just because you haven't been able to figure it out. If there is any confidence that it truly is Constipation and the enema didn't work, you could possibly try a colonic (I make no claim to the safety or medical appropriateness of doing a colonic while you are constipated, definitely run it by your doc if you think about doing it) (I've done a couple. They're weird and somewhat unpleasant, but once you get over the mental squeamishness, they're not a big deal).

If all your testing is clear, I think constipation seems like the most likely culprit. The tylenol 3 is only keeping your peristalsis slowed down, so it helps the discomfort, but also could be exacerbating the problem. During all this, are you continuing with a stool softener? (docusate sodium or Miralax, or whatever?) I really don't know... I think I'm tapped out of advice. When I was constipated, I hit it with everything I had. I started on the softener, used a stimulant laxative, followed up with a suppository, and then followed that up with an enema. Even that only got me about 1/2 way to where I needed to be, but continuing to thoughtfully hit it with additional treatments and sticking with daily Miralax eventually got me back on a reasonable schedule.

Good luck! Pester that bariatric clinic. They aren't going to feel any pressure to quickly contact you, you are the one suffering.

I really hope that you get it figured out and start feeling better soon!

Ha! That's so classic... It's so easy to take things so seriously! :-)

Thanks for all the advice Daydra! Ended up spending 9 hours in the hospital today after using ex-lax, metamucil and a suppository which all got things moving but the pain remained. And got worse.

Had a ton of testing done - bloodwork, xrays, contrast CT. My D-dimer was really high so they thought it was a pulmonary embolism but the CT was clear. I'm going for an ultrasound tomorrow. Thinking maybe it's my gallbladder or maybe acute pancreatitis.

Yikes! Sounds like you are having a heck of a time! I'm really glad you got in to the hospital, though 9 hours in the ER is never fun (I was there for 8 last Monday, doing much the same thing...) Did they only do the CT on your lungs? If so, I'm surprised they didn't do full abdominal to get a look at gallbladder, etc.

Good luck getting it figured out. I really hope that they are able to find an answer and get you on the mend, ASAP!

Sending healing thoughts,

dd

I'm low carb (dr orders)so Cookies are not yet on the list. I have to confess everything. For me secrecy breeds shame and shame leads to binges.

That is really awesome that you are so self aware. Learning what you need to do and following through to take care of yourself is the key to the whole thing. I know you are going to be super successful!

Thanks everyone for your replies. You've given me some good ideas for when/if I have to deal with it. I'm pretty fortunate with my hair. It's fine, but very very dense with lots of growth and it's always been very healthy and a bit on the oily side. Hopefully that will be a bit of insurance against anything too tragic. :-) I googled some pictures of headscarves, and I gotta say, I really don't think I'm going to be into that much fuss... Hats it will be, if necessary :-)

Best of luck to all of you dealing with it!

Having a couple thoughts on this. Disclaimer: You should always check with your doc if you are experiencing anything you're not sure about. You never know what might be indicative of something that needs to be checked out.

Having said that... I had some similar experiences. #1, if 500 cal is causing you to experience fatigue, that # of calories isn't sufficient to support you and you should consult with your doc on increasing your calories. We weigh about the same and I cannot function on 500 calories.

Are you experiencing any nausea? Getting a handle on that can help you get enough calories and Fluid to keep you going and reduce fatigue if that's the case.

Has the fatigue been causing you to spend more time in bed? I went about three weeks at that level or a little lower due to nausea and had so little energy that I was in bed every minute I could manage. The fatigue also got to the point where I very nearly passed out in the shower. Even on better days, I had to lay down for a little bit between my shower and getting dressed so I could rest.

Spending so much time in bed caused a backache for me that hurt more with deep breaths. My abdomen/torso also began to hurt with any deep breath. Mostly along my sides towards the front and around my diaphragm.

Are you having regular bowel movements? For me, whatever combination of circumstances were, it seemed like the backache was from being in bed so much, but I was also constipated. Once I managed to have a bowel movement (I was impacted. It took exlax, a suppository, an attempt at self digital extraction (that wasn't a good time...), and an enema to have a bowel movement and it was horrible...) the ache in my abdomen was gone, so I think for me that part of it was just being backed up and the discomfort of gas behind the blockage.

If you are having problems with gas, I read somewhere that the simethicone in the gasx or mylanta gas can't really help. They can only address gas in your upper digestive tract. Once the gas is in your intestines, it's a bit of a different game. My mother in law swears by this gas relief tea. I believe it's made by Traditional Medicinals. Might be worth a try.

At any rate, anytime it seems something is going sideways, you should definitely call your doc and ask the question. They would vastly prefer spending 5 minutes on the phone with you to you sitting at home suffering or worrying what might be wrong.

Best of luck!

I'm not really after an answer about how did you deal with it emotionally, I totally accept temporary hair loss/thinning as something I may have to address. It will either happen or it won't and according to my reading, there really isn't anything I can do to prevent it. I don't really care that much about the fact that some of it might fall out. I know it will grow back.

What I would like to know is how did you deal with it from a style perspective? Did you change your hairstyle? Did you cut your hair short? Start wearing hats? Scarves? If you used accessories like hats or scarves, what kind of style did you adopt? How does one wear a scarf? Is it going to be a pain in the arse? I'm so style challenged, you would think I was a dude, so I really have no idea what to do if I need to come up with something inventive. As a matter of fact, until I started letting my hair grow out, I was frequently called "sir"(one of the reasons I started letting it grow again, even though now I have to dry the damn stuff every morning), which was becoming extremely annoying. I once even had someone do a double take and then decide I was a dude. I swear, I'm really not that mannish! I was even wearing a women's jacket that day! :-) My style is pretty much all REI, all the time, and frequently men's hiking pants and shirts because they just fit better. I guess it doesn't really help that I have a job where I need to wear weather appropriate clothes and safety toe boots to work everyday, although I have to admit I prefer it to having to wear dresses or suits all the time...

I ate a few french fries at lunch just because I wanted them. Fortunately, I was able to pass most of them off to a coworker after I had eaten all I wanted (about 6). I gotta put that in the win column. Like I told my husband when we were talking about how long bags of Snacks last now... at least the bag of chips or whatever actually lasts about the number of servings on the label instead of the entire bag turning into a 15 minute snack in front of the tv. WINNING!

Just checking in. I'm about 9? weeks out now (July 23 surgery). From weeks 5-8, I really struggled with nausea - some due to a kink, some due to swelling, so I was eating extremely few calories. I finally got that worked out last Monday and am on stronger anti-nausea meds and have been able to get much closer to Fluid goal and make my Protein goal. I've also been able to eat at the top range of what my nutritionist wants (just below 1400 cal/day). I have gained weight every day since last Monday, so I'm 8 pounds up from what my ticker says, but today was the first day that I didn't gain. Not too worried about it because I know I was an unwilling anorexic and my body is kind of freaking out. My body is increasing Fluid, since I'm able to consume more, this is my pms week, so I'm retaining, and I've been eating higher carb than I have since I started my preop diet, so I'm guessing I might even be replacing glycogen stores, so the gain is pretty easily explainable without fearing that I'm having some kind of fat gain. Should start dropping again in the next few days. Ready to keep progressing!

I'm pretty pleased with my results so far and am learning my new signals as time goes on. It was a bit of a struggle trying to work through the nausea, but all in all, not a big deal. The only thing that I'm really not happy about is the fatigue and weakness the starvation has left me with. Shopping wears me out and after just a couple hours at the mall, my back will hurt, my head will ache, and I'll be limping because I feel like I can barely pick up my feet to keep propelling myself forward. This one thing has been the most demoralizing of this whole process. After having completed triathlons weighing over 300 pounds, to be less than 250 and struggle to shop really sucks. I am still recovering, though. I try to keep my calories consumed as high as possible and try to keep a healthy proportion of carbohydrate so that I can keep my energy up. Every day I have just a tiny bit more energy, and it is getting better, it just feels slow. I think in the next couple weeks, I'll probably feel capable of getting in some light exercise at the gym. Right now, I'm just stopping by the mall on my way home and window shopping for a bit, just to build a little stamina.

Anyway, onward and upward! (Or downward in this case!)

To the rest of you that are having some struggles, just keep at it. Talk to your doc. Try to figure out the cause and how to manage whatever challenge you might be having. There is no need for you to endure or muscle it out. This is a process with an enormous learning curve, and it's different for everyone. But most of all, whatever challenge you might be experiencing, you are not the only one, I guarantee you.

Best of luck to you all!

Good work on having a good attitude about it. It's going to happen. No one expects you to never eat a cookie again. We each just have to find the appropriate balance for ourselves. Keep up the good work!

I'm about 9 weeks out and have been able to transition to Bariatric Advantage's complete bariatric multi in capsule form. It has vastly improved my compliance... I have been unable to find any bariatric chewable that didn't make me want to technicolor yawn all over the place, and I've probably spent hundreds of dollars. I ended up just buying gummy vitamins that I double dosed and figured it was better than nothing when I couldn't get the bariatric Vitamins down.

No worries, whatsoever! Triathlon. I did have a bit of a rough patch and needed to get some nausea dealt with, but no major problems, thanks! Best of luck to you!

Oh please, please, please do me a favor!!! The next time the checker makes a comment about your lunch, say "Yeah, I'm trying to starve the tapeworm I swallowed to lose weight. I figure I've lost enough this way, and my doctor said this would make it much easier to remove." Then report back with the reaction! Video would be awesome, but probably a logistical nightmare. I'm sure the checker will believe you at first. The expression should be pretty priceless.

I'd say just play with them. It'll be way more entertaining than eventually blowing your top.

People can be so unbelievably stupid... I'm in public health, and I always figured I was of pretty average intelligence... until I started my current career. Now I have come to learn that there is a whole segment of the population that really skews the idiocy quotient...

Good luck!

Job 1 is to figure out the nausea. I experienced the same at about 5 weeks. Call your clinic. I had a kink and they were able to straighten it out with an upper endoscopy (just passing the scope through did the trick). I started experiencing some nausea again several days after that and was only able to feel like I was beginning to turn the corner after I got some better antinausea meds. I let the nausea go too long and was experiencing severe symptoms. I was extremely weak, nearly passed out in the shower, was vomiting regularly... While I don't want to be melodramatic, it really was fairly awful. Ultimately, what was happening was I had some nausea likely caused by the remaining swelling from surgery, which caused vomiting, which increased the nausea, which gave me an aversion to eating/drinking, which exacerbated the whole thing. It just kept cycling. Until I finally got some fairly strong antinausea meds, I couldn't get out of the cycle.

So... call your clinic. Seriously. Get it figured out so you can start feeling better. Don't worry about having not lost in a couple weeks. It's very typical at this stage. Let your body heal. It will do it's job, often in fits and starts. Good luck!

You mentioned trying to go back to liquids and softs. That will actually make it harder to stay satiated for any length of time. They will pass through your sleeve faster than solids. I would think that you're far enough out that you are not going to get back the restriction you had shortly after surgery. But you can still go back to good basic nutrition. High quality Protein, good produce, healthy fats, and complex carbs. Your metabolism has likely been significantly adversely impacted by consuming a restricted number of calories during your pregnancy. My advice would be to find a health professional that is experienced with treating people with eating disorders like anorexia. The goal would be to refeed your body so that your metabolism can be repaired so that your body can respond appropriately to your efforts to lose weight.

Best of luck to you. You can and will still be successful, your path there might just be slightly different than the average person. I know you can do it!

I would say that if you are losing 1/2 a pound a day, that there is little risk in increasing your consumption by 100-200 cal/day. Don't forget about fat. It is a macronutrient that's required as well as Protein. I know that we're always cautioned to limit fat, but I almost think that's because our eating culture goes way overboard with it. I think many of us limit it too far after surgery, but it plays a huge role in satiety. Also, there is no need to go to bed hungry. Have an oz of chicken breast or something shortly before you go to bed (just far enough before that it's not going to back up on you). If you're hungry when you go to bed, it might interfere with your ability to get to sleep. Also, if you have any issues with hypoglycemia, that last bit of Protein can help keep you even during the night.

A lot of good ideas have already been posted. There could be a million different reasons for your hunger sensations and a million and one possible solutions to investigate... Good luck and congratulations!!!

Well, idk. I would be terrified of dying if I was going in to have an exploded appendix removed or a cancerous tumor. I am scared of everything. My fears are irrational most of the time and I know this. I'm scared of living this life feeling like **** all the time. I'm scared of dying in surgery. Idk if that means I'm not ready. It could just mean I'm not ignorant.

After the episode I just had in my closet, I think I'm willing to risk it. My health IS bad. At preadmission testing the MD told me I'm basically a medical trainwreck waiting to happen. Pre diabetes, liver enzymes sky high, insulin resistance. I'm not sick now, but I could be soon.

Perhaps you are living with an anxiety disorder and could benefit from therapy or other medical intervention? I'm of course making suggestions knowing nothing about you, but if you haven't thought about that before, maybe it's worth a look. Even if you don't suffer from an anxiety disorder, it sounds like taking the opportunity to discuss your fears with a therapist can help you sort it all out. Truly, I wish you the best of luck as you move forward with whatever decisions you make.

I agree! You, and the shirt, look great! How does it feel when you sit? I tend to find that my shirts fit perfect when I stand, but my shape changes with sitting. It looks great standing. If its comfortable when you sit as well, I'd say you're golden!

I decided in the very beginning that I was going to be very open about what I was doing. I've always had a personal philosophy that it's usually better to be open about things (assuming you are the kind of person that can handle any negativity that decision might bring... it's definitely not the right decision for everyone) because you never know who might be struggling with the same problem and feel like some kind of freak or need someone to talk to about it and not know where to go. Being open about my surgery is already paying off in big ways, in my opinion. Benefitting myself in that I've been having some challenges, and it's much easier to miss work to deal with them since my boss and coworkers know exactly what's going on. There is no chatter in the background that I'm somehow taking advantage of our leave or FMLA policies. More importantly, though, the other day, a friend at work brought another one of our coworkers down to me to talk about what she's going through as she's trying to navigate all the decisions she needs to make as she decides to have bariatric surgery. I was really pleased that I was able to provide help and camaraderie to someone else that is going through this. I feel that being open about it was just the right decision for me, and it feels good that my being open might help someone else.

thank you. I'm actually still in the hospital. They found other problems...scar tissue that twisted upon itself at the top of my stomach and that my stomach dilated almost to its original size! My potassium levels are really low so I have to stay here until they level it...hopefully tomorrow. My surgeon said the bypass went well and that this time it's going to be successful. I have a drain this time, I didn't last time.

Fingers crossed all will turn out well.

I'm very glad the surgery went well and I hope that recovery goes very well for you. Wishing you the best!