Camella

I have found that I physically cannot eat food and drink. As WL Warrior said, it is like a sink. If you poor cement into the sink and then poor liquid on top, it won't go down and for me it just comes back up. So one of two things happen to me. 1. I throw up or 2. If it sugar (e.g. cookie and a sip of coffee) I then get dumping syndrome as the food has been sent to my upper intestinal tract too quickly. I then spend an hour sweating and wanting to vomit - usually involves me lying down for an hour. So I avoid drinking/eating at all costs. It's not a big deal, I just need to wait 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the meal.

Try and compare your Sleeve Gastrectomy operation to a sink. Think of your new small stomach as a very small sink. Imagine pouring liquid into such a sink – if you pour the liquid too fast it will overflow, but if you pour it slower or wait for a minute the liquid will eventually drain thru the sink hole. Now imagine putting thick, dense sludge into such a sink – the sludge may never make it down the sink hole unless we add Water and stir.
Once you start eating, no drinking with your meal – do not liquefy the food you are eating. You will be able to eat more, and you will be hungry sooner if you are drinking while eating. Never put a glass of any liquid next to your meal – the habit to eat and drink at the same time is very strong. You may not realize that you are even doing it till it is too late. Do not help mother nature – your pouch can liquefy the food on its own without your help. Your pouch will take longer on its own, thus giving you prolonged satisfaction and hunger control.
The point is that you DON'T want to add Water once there is food in your stomach so that you can stay full longer. Will it stretch your stomach? I don't think so, but everyone seems to have their own opinion on this one.

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I am two years out. Initially I was unable to tolerate any sugar, then by about six months out I could tolerate a little sugar. I am now once again a full blown sugar addict. The good news is that I can't eat all the sugar I want in one sitting, however it can easily be consumed throughout the day. My best advice is give up sugar when you have the surgery and NEVER touch it again. Honestly, for me it has been a very slippery slope and I have now regained 15 lbs. The surgery will not prevent you from returning to your sugar addiction. Sugar is a toxic substance and we grossly underestimate how addictive it is and what it does to our bodies.

I am two years out. Initially I was unable to tolerate any sugar, then by about six months out I could tolerate a little sugar. I am now once again a full blown sugar addict. The good news is that I can't eat all the sugar I want in one sitting, however it can easily be consumed throughout the day. My best advice is give up sugar when you have the surgery and NEVER touch it again. Honestly, for me it has been a very slippery slope and I have now regained 15 lbs. The surgery will not prevent you from returning to your sugar addiction. Sugar is a toxic substance and we grossly underestimate how addictive it is and what it does to our bodies.

Have you had your ferritin levels checked? It may be a more accurate measure of low iron/anaemia. I have also been exhausted and my Iron levels came back normal but ferritin levels were very low.
I was recently reading that up to 40% of sleeve patients have Iron deficiency one to two years out (especially women).

Have you had your ferritin levels checked? It may be a more accurate measure of low iron/anaemia. I have also been exhausted and my Iron levels came back normal but ferritin levels were very low.
I was recently reading that up to 40% of sleeve patients have Iron deficiency one to two years out (especially women).

I had terrible issues with PF before surgery and could only wear Ecco shoes (the only shoes that didn't hurt me) and flats where out of the question. Since surgery I am happy to say that I get the very occasional arch ache but I wear heals every day to work and stilettos when I'm heading out in the evening. I'm so happy to be able to buy pretty shoes again!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I had terrible issues with PF before surgery and could only wear Ecco shoes (the only shoes that didn't hurt me) and flats where out of the question. Since surgery I am happy to say that I get the very occasional arch ache but I wear heals every day to work and stilettos when I'm heading out in the evening. I'm so happy to be able to buy pretty shoes again!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I can relate to you so well! You are far too young to have so many health issues and to be concerned about your longevity for your children. I was exactly the same. Pre-diabetic, PSOC (although I didn't know it at the time), I struggled to keep up with my young son and I felt like I would probably die by the time I was 50. I was terrified to have surgery and terrified about what life might be like if I didn't. It is not impossible to lose the amount of weight you need to lose on your own, but statistically the odds are highly stacked against you. If I were you (and only you can decided what is best for you) I would have the surgery in a heart beat. It is life changing in the best possible way. It has been two years since my surgery and I don't even remember who the morbidly obese person I use to be was. I now run three times a week and swim twice a week. I have an active social life (I use to hide away). I have a great job/career that I may not have had, if I hadn't lost weight. If you have the opportunity to have surgery, I would jump at the chance. It has been a gift for me!

I am two years post op and I feel a lot of shame when it comes to my weight gain since surgery. I feel like I have failed and that once again food is winning and my waist line is losing. After weight loss surgery gaining weight is quite terrifying. I feel like I am slipping down a rabbit whole and the other side is all too familiar. There isn’t a single person that has weight loss surgery that doesn’t promise themselves that this will NEVER happen again, and for some of us it does happen. I suppose for me the first thing I need to do is stop punishing myself because that has never helped me gain control of my eating, the second thing is to take stock of why it has happened. For me that is very simple, I didn’t work on my head, I only worked on my body, I didn’t unfriend my toxic friend food! We are still in a dysfunctional relationship. The surgery limited my food intake, but it didn’t equip me with new coping mechanisms and unfortunately food still plays an important role in helping me relax, sooths me when I’m down, occupies me when I’m bored and helps me hide from the world when I don’t want to be seen.
I have gained 15lbs since my surgery 2 years ago and some may even say that’s normal, but I know my eating is out of control.
I have gained 10 lbs. in the last two months. For those of you that have been post –surgery for a long time, and have successfully maintained, how did you fix your head and your relationship with food?

I had RNY surgery, so the same protocol may not apply. But I suspect that the weakness is due to not meeting the Fluid, Vitamin, and Protein requirements. Also drugs may interfere with the process.

Thanks sewin-quiltin for your update! My two year anniversary is in two days and I have also been reflecting on my journey so far. There have been massive highs and some lows, but overall I am in a much happier and healthier place in my life. The person I was 2 years ago seems like a distant memory. Like you I have also gained exactly 15 pounds. I realise that from this point on my success is 100% up to me. I am determined to get the 15 pounds off and continue to live a happy healthy life!

So my 2 year anniversary is coming up soon. I look back and reflect on life before and after surgery, would I do it again. Yes, I would do it again, because it changed my life in so many ways. Year one I put myself as the priority, year two has been full of distractions that I let get the best of me. I have put 15 pounds back on, and have given in to my demon of eating candy. The surgery is physical and mental and it is for life.
I am getting myself back on track and the weight is starting to come off. Surgery or no surgery being consistent is the key, excercise, food tracking and keeping those trigger foods out of the house.
So how's everyone else doing?

I had huge amounts of hair loss between the 5 to 12 month mark. Fortunately I have extremely thick hair so it wasn't that noticeable. I would say after 12 months my hair started to thicken up again, but remember that if you have had significant Hair loss (I had massive handfuls coming out in the shower and clogging the drain) it takes a long time for that hair to grow back to a reasonable length. If you are patient I think it should eventually return to normal, provided you are getting the Vitamins and minerals you need.

I think this is a good question for your doctor. Maybe the change in hormone levels that comes with weight loss is responsible for your decreased libido, or it could be that your decrease in calories has depressed your energy. In any case, my guess is that this change is probably temporary and will work itself out.

Well done for making it to three weeks! As Gingi said, It's highly likely that what you are experiencing is not hunger but some type of reflux. It's very rare to feel hunger so early on. I know its very common to mistake reflux for hunger in the first few weeks. Make sure you are also getting enough Fluid (could be another mistaken trigger for hunger).

It really varies from person to person. I was in a lot of pain for at least 10 days, more pain than I ever expected. I had a c-section with my son and I felt pretty good after that and recovered very quickly. I thought this would be the same, but unfortunately for me (no idea why) I had a really rough time immediately after. You will need to play it by ear.

It really varies from person to person. I was in a lot of pain for at least 10 days, more pain than I ever expected. I had a c-section with my son and I felt pretty good after that and recovered very quickly. I thought this would be the same, but unfortunately for me (no idea why) I had a really rough time immediately after. You will need to play it by ear.

Your most important step was putting it out there with us, your community of normal people who are right here with you. We understand and support your honesty. Stay true to who you are and trust that you have people who will ALWAYS SUPPORT YOU!