colorado

So I have read this one too many times. A pound is a pound. A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of ball bearings. Saying the muscle weighs more than fat is an urban myth and so untrue. You may be contouring your body differently - your body fat content may be reduced but you cannot say muscle weighs more that fat, a lb is a lb.

So I have read this one too many times. A pound is a pound. A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of ball bearings. Saying the muscle weighs more than fat is an urban myth and so untrue. You may be contouring your body differently - your body fat content may be reduced but you cannot say muscle weighs more that fat, a lb is a lb.

I am just coming up on a 1 year anniversary of surgery, I had left knee replacement on may, 28 2013, I had the right one done, in 2011, prior to bypass, this recovery has been much easier! I'm 53, had the 1st one at 51. Either osteo or psoriatic arthritis, Dr can't say definitively which. Pain relief since having to give up Celebrex & NSAIDs has been, h!!!. Almost stopped me from going forward with surgery, they really don't address this issue well. Tylenol is barely useful, but when I don't take it, I notice pain even more so I guess it does a little something. I use the extended release arthritis formula, the only strength that touches pain. Be careful not to take too much tylenol if you are still using narcotics as they also contain tylenol. narcotics do work for arthritis pain, but make me feel weird & you can't drive when you take them. tramadol, also known as Ultram also works but make me feel weird too & it gives me insomnia, apparently there is about 15% of the population that Ultram can do this too. So, my advice for knees, is go for replacement, don't wait, it's the only cure.

Thanks for your post. There seem to be many people who have had the textbook outcome from surgery with a lot of weight coming off quickly and I want to applaud their success! however, I am one of those with less than textbook success. I am 9 months postop and have lost about 60 lbs of 100 I wanted to lose. I am been at standstill since January:( Same few pounds up and down - I seem to be at an impass now - I am eating about 1/2 the amount of calories that I used to eat but apparently not enough to get below this point? I feel a frustrated but my mantra is - It is what it is - I just am moving through each day with the hope that the scale will start moving again. It just doesn't seem possible that I am not losing weight - the amount of calories I am eating now is about the same as I did on the pre-op diet that I LOST weight on - how can I be stuck? I echo the previous post - that my body seems to get at a set point and not want to move from its weight for quite a while - I am just going to keep going forward - move scale move!

I often listen to Dr. Radio on Sirius/xm and I hear a dermatologist talking about T.E. she emphaisized that you really just have to "wait" it out but DID recommend on supplement called:
VIVISCAL - www.viviscal.com
She said Biotin would not help T. E. - but did recommend this supplement ( unfortunately quite expensive) (she was not a stockholder in the company) this is just the only thing that was found to sometimes help.
It might be worth it for you to try with your previous incidences of T. E. best of luck with your hair!

I took the full six weeks and needed every day of it - then I went back on a 4 day week - which really helped. Give yourself time! Its major surgery - just behind heart bypass.

The Hair loss that we experience after roux en y is called tellogen effluviam. Our system basically goes into stress mode to heal our bodies from the inside out and it stops sending the signal to make your hair grow. So more falls out than is replaced. This also can happen after pregnancy or other traumatic event. The good news is that hair grows on a 3 month cycle - so it starts about 3 months out - and should end about at 6 months - although if you don't get everything balanced it can go to 9 months out. It will grow back and your hair follicles will recover. supplements and special shampoos and conditioners are mostly a waste of money - people perceive that they work because the cycle stops and hair grows back - it generally is not what you used or took (not talking here about the recommended Vitamins and supplements) but just that cycle that hair grows in.
Anyone else have advice about the hair, or has your Dr given you any useful advice?

The Hair loss that we experience after roux en y is called tellogen effluviam. Our system basically goes into stress mode to heal our bodies from the inside out and it stops sending the signal to make your hair grow. So more falls out than is replaced. This also can happen after pregnancy or other traumatic event. The good news is that hair grows on a 3 month cycle - so it starts about 3 months out - and should end about at 6 months - although if you don't get everything balanced it can go to 9 months out. It will grow back and your hair follicles will recover. supplements and special shampoos and conditioners are mostly a waste of money - people perceive that they work because the cycle stops and hair grows back - it generally is not what you used or took (not talking here about the recommended Vitamins and supplements) but just that cycle that hair grows in.
Anyone else have advice about the hair, or has your Dr given you any useful advice?

Best of luck with your surgery. As you know, each person's journey is a little different. I did not have an easy recovery, took six weeks off work and needed every day of it! I had two return trips to hospital for complications - the 1st 4 hour after release which turned out to be a bowel obstruction, which resolved itself in a couple of days, and the 2nd trip for pneumonia. ONCE I was home for real, I was able to take care of myself; however, it was really nice to have someone to make me some broth and bring me drinks, etc. It was also nice to have someone help pull me into a sitting position as your stomach is very sore (think about 250 situps sore) for several weeks. There is not much you are eating so you don't really need anyone to cook for you:) although homemade broth is very nice and someone to whip up the Protein smoothies is nice too - but not necessary. Hopefully your jouney will be one of the smooth ones mentioned here but give yourself a chance to heal and don't push things. Oh, the last thing I really needed help with was I didn't drive for about 10 days - but you really don't want to go anywhere anyway. Good luck.

This is a great plan for increasing the walking - but remember its just a plan. Every person is different. I really wasn't able to move much for almost two weeks - I did have two complications that required two more hospital stays - so I had really low energy. Encourage yourself - don't use recovery as an excuse - but remember to take things at your own pace. You will really know when you are ready to get moving - give yourself time to heal - its a HUGE surgery - even though then send you home in 2 or 3 days you have weeks of your body trying to heal itself from the inside out. Gentle short periods of movement will get you on the right track. This 1st ones may just be the trips the bathroom and back, then the mailbox, then around the block. Best of healing to you

I am 7 months out. I have been taking zyrtec for almost 4 months - life is intolerable without. The Dr has said there is really no way to know how timed-release medicines work in our bodies. They don't know if it works, if it is more effective, or less effective. It is unknown. The best best would be to ask the Dr. if you can take a medicine and see how your body reacts to it. Does it last as long as before surgery? Does it wear off sooner? Does it last about the same? Because the medicine is traveling through the stomach and digestive track at a different rate and path than with most people, you may have to do some "self-experiments" I also take tylenol arthritis strength which is a stronger dose in a time-released 8 hour form and find it to be more effective than regular or extra-strength tylenol. Oh - how I miss Celebrex - now a big no-no because of fear of a ulcer:(

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).

My Dr has had me on a proton pump inhibitor since surgery, it helps protect the new stomach (pouch) and keeps the heartburn at bay. food causes heartburn so eating different food will probably not help. I also used zofran - an anti-nausea medication - for the 6 weeks to help with nausea - which was unrelentling in the beginning. I also took Tums after every meal not only for Calcium but it helps make the food stay down. I'm sure your Dr will be able to help

Greetings fellow roux en Y friends. I have been a long time lurker and have finally decided to post. I am 7 months post surgery - July 24, 2012 and am doing well. I have not lost at the rate of some I read about here but am happy with what is going on. I have experienced major stalls over and over again and am currently in the midst of yet another one that I hope will break soon. My philosophy and mantra "It is what it is" and I just have to keep moving forward each day with the hope for continued weight loss. Pre-surgery weight was 255, current 195. I can eat most anything but in much smaller amounts than before. This being said I try to make the most diet advantageous choices each day. I feel frustration that I am eating about 1/8 of what I used to eat but the weight loss is slow - then - I remind myself of my mantra "It is what it is" and go on from there!
I have chosen to tell NO one but my immediate family that I had this procedure. This is a very personal choice, but I have never been encouraged or helped by others "watching" what I eat. When people ask me what I have done to lose weight I say eat less - a LOT less- and exercise more. Which are both true. I feel the most angst about keeping silent about this when I encounter others who I know, have had a lifelong struggle with weight and they ask me how I am achieving success - I give my standard answer but know that this really will not help them, It has only been the tool of gastric bypass that has allowed me this success. Although I have the desire to give them information about this has helped me achieve weight loss - it is a slippery slope - once I tell one person - it gets around. Choosing not to make this choice public has protected me from the stigma of taking the "easy" way out from those that view the inability to lose weight as a social or self-discipline problem, not a medical condition. "It is what is it" and these are my thoughts.

So, the teacher in me wants to remind my fellow weight loss friends that you LOSE weight - you don't LOOSE it. We are losing weight - we are not loosing weight! Now - our skin is loose and our clothes are loose as we LOSE this weight - but we are NOT loosing the weight! Hope this little english lesson helps! Keep up the losing weight so that our clothes are loose (and unfortunately our skin is loose too).