desertmom

Feeling in your stomach can be acid.Are you on a PPI? I felt the same for the firs 10 days.Just sat with my earphones,watched cooking programs and wondered how did I finally manage to ruin my own life? Rest,sip,try and distract yourself a little with tv or something else.Its ok to feel like this because it will pass. Just "be" for a few more days. And sip,sip,sip...that your job for now. Hang in there,it will get better. Please keep updating on how you are doing!

Hi,sorry for all the loss in your life. The problem with us overweight people is we do not have external coping skills.We often cope with food.Unfortunately the only ones to make the choice not to do that anymore is you (and me for myself) You have to find an alternative to eating away the emotions.I find hard,agressive exercise to be the only thing that helps me.EVEN AND ESPECIALLY WHEN I DONT FEEL LIKE DOING EXERCISE,this is usually when I benifit most from it. This results in weight loss that does make me feel better and more optimistic about life in general,which in turn helps me to cope with the stressess that we just cannot escape. Good luck and hang in there.Life never just cycles in disaster.At some point you will be able to look back on these 2 very difficult years and sigh of releaf that things are looking up.

I can eat slightly more because my sleeve is slightly bigger.But I dont. Non of these surgeries really work by themselves.If people dont make the changes in their diets and exercise habits permanently,they will fail. I dont think this has anything to do with the slow weight loss in the weight losing phase though.I personally think it always feels like we are losing to slowly.But most of us that complain about that will be successful anyway. Band to sleeve was for me like sleeve only.I cannot see any difference than with other sleevers.Ok,only maybe we know more tricks to how to eat and wait out feelings of fulness and vomiting doesnt bug us as much because we are kind of use to it. The sleeve works if you work the sleeve.

Hi I dont know how far out you are but this seems normal to me,happened to me as well.I've often wished I was one of these people that now feels no hunger and forgets to eat and complain that they dont get enough cals..blablabla...lol But at 7 monyhs out I have made peace with it.I still buy a big tasty burger once in a blue moon,sit down with it,take a big bite of the burger,try a little of the bun,just to have it come right back up in my mouth and have to spit it out..TMI,I know, but I somehow dont feel the frustration of not being able to eat it anymore.I just go and make a protein pancake with lots of sf syrup and Im happy. It will come,you'll see.Some of us have real food issues that takes a little longer to resolve.Also the closer I get to goal,the better I feel about not eating a lot anymore. Just hang in there.Make your food choice daily.Dont decide for forever today.Just choose every day to choose to eat right for this one day,dont know if this makes sense but good luck and remember to be nice to yourself with things oer than food.

My only issue with this is that people who dont know constantly talks about how little I am eating,especially now that I have lost so much.Telling me how unbalanced it is,just like eating too much.I now silence them by telling them about the surgery....they mostly just dont know what to say and frankly I have found that after they've been told they frankly just dont care about it anyway,unless they are very overweight themselves.That makes for some uncomfortable discussion on weight loss again. Sometimes feel damned if you do and damned if you dont...but I wont lie if someone asks me about it. You choice!

today I weighed under 90kg's for the first time in many years.For people that weigh in pounds 200 seems to be the big number to break through but in kilos being less than 90 is the ultimate YES! Interesting stat from my dr this morning.In 4 months I have lost 20kg's which translates into 44 pounds.It averages out to 11 pounds per month in the last 4 months.Which is not something that I could see for some reason. Of course my first thought was to celebrate with food.This is something I will have to really work on.I dont mean bad food,just more food.I've been eating really little lately and I do miss eating tasty meals. Because of the protein struggle (and to keep my cals below 800 when eating dense protein) I've been eating protein pancakes made with egg white and protein powder,too often. If I could cut the amount of milk I use per day it would be easier but I like my tea and coffee with milk and 4 cups (3 tea) translates into to much milk. Anyhoo,awaiting the blood results now but the dr isnt too worried about the petechiae as it is already clearing up a little.I did have a B12 and D injection again as well.And I have been wondering how do people get off their blood pressure meds.My blood pressure is now 120 over 80 which is normal but with the very strong meds I am taking.How does the dr decide to stop it?Do they just stop it or go on lower dosage or what?I forgot to ask. Still,it is not normal and only bloods would tell if it is something to worry about.The dr wasnt to sure about the blood work needed so I kind of told him a few I thought was important.Will read up on it a little and maybe have the rest done with my GP. Beach weather here in Dubai so this weekend,starting today will be spend working on the Vit D

I started liquidizing meat in Soup to get my Proteins while on mushies as the shakes made me feel horribly sick..headache,tdeadly tired almost directly after I drank it.

Hi No stuck food with the sleeve.But I've had to learn to eat very slowly with the sleeve and chew the food well. The band is a nightmare.Not only the stuck food.The expectation that it can do something for you and then you just have reflux and heartburn,stuck food ,vomiting.Port that cant be accessed.(sticking a needle in your stomach 9 times to hit the port isnt any fun I can tell you) As you've said.You are young.You dont want to be spending your life struggling with all those post op issues until you have to have the band removed anyway.

When I was so mad about stalling for so long,I started cheating little bits too often.I had to stop sulking about it and decided to kick the fat's butt.I decided to up my Proteins to about 85g per day. What I did was go back to Protein only for a week.Protein pancakes with sf syrup for BF,tuna or chicken for lunch,kebab for dinner.Salmon,lots of fish,beef Jerky,ect ect. The only cheat was milk in my coffee and tea.O and the protein pancakes are sweet I would sometimes have it for dinner,felt like dessert to me. After day one it was much easier and let me tell you I didnt put a restriction on my portion size but the sleeve surely did.I was very full and satisfied the whole time. Just start doing more protein.Have a protein snack ready for when you feel like eating.You can do this.Let us know how its going!

How much more painful is this than the sleeve?I am now petrified of surgery and the sleeve wasnt that bad to begin with.My friend had tummy and boobs in one and arms and legs in another surgery and all in all it took her all of last year to do and recover from this.

O,and if you just want one WLS go with the sleeve.If you dont mind more than one...the band!

Ok,short and sweet this time...lol Lapband for 7 years.....bad idea,no really,dont do that to youself. Sleeve 7 months 100 pounds lost,FREEDOM at last! I feel normal and not like a big fat failure (like I did with the band for so long) anymore.

Jip,this is super frustrating.No matter how many additional calories I exercise away,the weight loss is so slow now.And to top this at 197 and 5'8 I still wear a size 18.Just before I read your post I was sitting in the bath think how I will not be satisfied until all the fat is gone....and how the heck am I going to be brave enough to do all the plastics this jelly body now needs...lol Maybe slower is better but faster would be so much more fun!

tomorrow I will see my physician.Since surgery I have had 4 episodes of petechiae.Those tiny little point bleeds that is a rash on my trunk and thighs and this time also on my back.This has scared me when it happened but I always got it after I had my B12 shot and it did go away in about 5 days. This time it seems to be increasing and I havent had a shot.I also have bruises all over and some inplaces that you know it wasnt caused by anything. I hope he can shed some light on this as it is quite scary to think it might be related to low B12 or low platelet count.I am a registered nurse and I know that we do not think too much of the fact that our intrinsic factor has been cut out but that this can cause some serious issues for some people. So I will fast tonight and hopefully he will do thorough baseline bloods and vitamins bloods.It is quite difficult here to convince the dr's to do a lot of different vitamin bloods at a time as some of the tests are still send away and it is very very costly to do.I just wish I knew what bloods we need to do as a standard anyway. O well,lts see what he says.

Hi Coops The 4am thing I can relate to.But for now thats it.I really sometimes worry so much about the day sweats returning.Boy,I was so uncomfortable and depressed by it.Dont know how I will cope with it again.I wish there was a way around it. I love doing research and will now go and look for natural ways to help this.I am not joking about the hand fan though.Those little suckers you can carry in your handbag.It dis save my life and if I just sipped ice Water and fanned myself the moment I started feeling it coming on,it really stopped a lot quicker.Everyone new me and my little fan.I dont know about the 15 year thing.The dr would have to give me strong happy pills to get me through that...lol Will let you know if I spot something that people say helps a little with the flashes. xxx

I really do.I am 45 and my younger sister went through menopause at 43 last year so I really did think it was the same.I still get times at night when my 21 degree aircon in my room seems hot to me and I chuck of some blankets but the flashes during the day is completely gone. I must say my sis got the flashes for only about 8 months from beginning to end and it was done.Maybe early menopause is shorter.The thing is what can you do about it?HRT is not really such a good idea (my mom was on it for years and after she had a heart attack they took her off it...she then flashed for about a year at the age of 70)and once you are through it life seems good again.My sis says the nightmare of last year is almost out of her head now and her life is great again.She did gain about 15 pounds last year but is losing it fast now. Did your doctor say anything about soy products that has the natural phyto oestrogens to help aleviate symptoms?Read up on natural herbs and stuff,some of them really helps.specific Vitamin support also makes a big difference..or so Im told. Good luck and I really am thinking of you.It is a hard time to get through when you should just be enjoying the newness of the sleeve.But once its over,its over and us older biddies will still have to go through this,no way around it.

Yes,I felt like that too.To me it was almost like a tiny contraction pain.It only lasted a few days but I had to take 5 ml in my mouth at a time and let it run to the back of my throat over my teeth before I swallowed it for it not to hurt.(that is a strange way to describe it but thats exactly what I did)Tiny sips. It does get better though.Hang in there!

Are you taking an antibiotic post op?I got thrush in my mouth post op but I was taking antibiotics for 10 days post op.Do get some meds for the thrush but start taking some sort of live culture (pills you can open and take directly on your tongue if you are not eating yet.)There is also drinking yogurt with live cultures in them that should help.

This was really the most depressing thing that happened after the sleeve.I even posted about it on here but didnt get any feedback,like I was the only one ever to experience this.I really hated dealing with this at the time as I wasnt planning on ever doing hot flashes,ever...lol I am also a RN and did some research and found the thing about the B3,Niacin. But like I've said,maybe it just went away by itself after some time. So,check those multi's for niacin and use a little portable fan the moment you start feeling it coming on.O,and I did cut out all hot food and beverages at the time because this did trigger it for sure. Let us know when it goes away.Info like this is valuable to future "flashers" ...lol

Well,complex carbs are more than just bread.The thing about the losing phase at least is this.You have about 6 months to maximize your weight loss.After that it slows down sooo much.To use those six months optimally you have to cut your carbs a lot.Bread is one thing that doesnt sit that well in the sleeve anyway in the beginning.Yam,sweet potato (those orange ones) they are great complex carbs.But do let go of the feelings about the bread.60g of protein is the minimum anyone should have per day.How much do you have at the moment?Have you tried tracking to see? My friend had a kidney transplant and she is diabetic.She still loves food and she doesnt do so much proteins but she doesnt do a lot of carbs either. (I can see when her sugar is about to crash,thats when she will grab these slices of bread and db jam..lol) she loves making salad with qinoa or couscous with feta cheese and lettuce with sweetpotato,olives tomatoes....that type of thing was my staples for the first few months after my surgery.However,I had to cut carbs more now as the weight loss have slowed down.Do discuss this with your NUT. But you cannot have an emosional attatchment to bread.Thats the type of thing that got us overweight in the first place.And you will be able to eat bread again.In controlled portions every now and then.It cannot be your "go to" thing in the future though. Does this make sense to you?I was such a bread lover.All kinds of wonderful bread.And I loved butter..still do.But the bread doesnt do it for me anymore and I would rather have a melba toast with a little butter once in a blue moon now. Good luxk on your journey.

Some weeks you wont lose.Others you'll lose more than expected.Are you tracking your food and carb intake?

Are you on a PPI?Acid is sometimes masked as hunger. And if you are still on liquids this is quite normal for some of us.Once you start eating you will feel satisfied as you WILL feel full. Hang in there.Not long now before you can eat.

I was convinced that the surgery triggered menopause in me...lol It was so bad and I use to have a flash almost every half hour for about 2 months.It was so embarrassing to me as I would just go red in my face and the sweat would be pouring from my head and face. The Vitamins I was taking had quite high Niacin in it (B3) and that can cause hot flashes so I changed to a new multi.But I cannot say for sure that that was the cause.It did stop shortly after I changed though at around 2,5 months out. Hope it stops soon for all of you.

Not that I am drinking it but I just dont understand the stretching of the sleeve with sodas at all.Is the premise that the gas gets trapped in the stomach thus putting pressure on it and then it stretches? Just a question.I do drink red bull sugarfree but opens the can and let it stand in the fridge until it is completely flat. Is that ok to do?

It is now Tuesday.If your surgery depends on the 5 pounds (I cannot always understand this but whatever) then you have 2 days of cutting away all your carbs and doing about 1200 cals of Protein a day which woud give you at least 3 to 5 pounds of Water weight drop by friday.(chicken breast,white fish,tuna,fillet steak,egg whites ect ect) you dont have to go hungry and can have a little protein snack every few hours if you so desire.Just dont do any carbs at all. Just do it woman....lol Its important enough to just do it. Good luck