Comfy_Blue

I am four days post opt and have found that every time I eat/drink anything, when I go to swallow, i get this pain/pressure that seems to come up from my stomach and it sits in my chest. It is hard to describe, but it sits there for 3 to 5 seconds then it goes away. That is until I swallow again. Sometimes it comes when i am not eating. It makes me not want to eat. I am eating slowly (ie: yesterday i took six, slow bites to eat a spoonful of pudding.when i drink my 2 oz of Fluid, i don't guzzle, but use a spoon and it takes me about 3 slow, teeny sips to finish each spoon full. I put the spoon down and take little breaks in between). And yet, i am still having pain. It is making me not want to eat/drink because it hurts. But i cant avoid food because i need to stay hydrated. I dont know if they are related, but when i burp or hiccup my chest and esophagus hurt. My nutritionist is out of town so no help there. Please can u all help me.

They're absolutely right, you do look like your daughter (or should I say she looks like you?). I don't think they were joking when they asked if you guys were sisters. If you had posted this picture without an explanation/caption I would have assumed I was looking at two sisters about 2 - 4 years apart. Talk about an awesome NSV!

Ah, the dreaded (but necessary, lol) liquid diet. What got me through was LOTS of GNC Total Lean Protein shakes and various flavors of broth from the Swanson brand. Not sure if it's still going on right now, but when I was doing my clear diet (I started on Dec 14 - 22) GNC was having a holiday special where it was buy two cases of Protein shake and get 1 free. The cases are 4 bottles of 12oz drink, and each case is about $10, so it saved me a good amount of money.

Wow! I can definitely see a difference. It must feel so good to be making steady progress toward your goal. Keep up the good work (I also like the new hair style. Very chic)

WOW, thank you all for the awesome answers. I'm a few days post opt, and so far I think I'm just having gas/indigestion/heart burn pain. I'm definitely experiencing head hunger and I felt what I think was a small actual hunger pain my first day home because I'd only had like 28oz of my required 48oz (6 cups) of fluids for the day. I'm just hoping that my hunger doesn't become intense and is more "normal" when it does return. Prior to WLS, when I'd get hungry, it's like all my other senses would shut off and all I could think about is when I could stuff my mouth and once I did get food I wanted to cram in as much as possible as fast as possible to turn off the "OMG I'M STARVING! FEED ME!!!" signals my body would scream at me.

OMG get out of my head! That's me to a t! When I was a teenager, my two best friends were a sz 0 and a sz 00 (so basically extra small and extra- extra small) whereas I was 150lbs and a sz 6/8, so I felt like I was enormous. People always told me I was thin and one of my friends posted a picture of us from high school recently and I was SHOCKED at how thin, shapely and good looking I was. Here I felt like Ugly Betty in high school but looked so beautiful. I think you have to try and love yourself where you are as you work to lose weight because what I always found is that I'll feel and think I look disgusting fat at a certain weight, then once I surpass it, I look back at pictures of myself at the previous weight and I'm like, "I wish I could go back there." I remember I was mortified when I hit 200lbs. I actually went home and cried for like an hour because I swore to myself I could/would never get that big and that my life would be over if I did. I recall my mom telling me to work to get smaller because pretty soon 200lbs would seem small if I kept gaining. I did some crash dieting, binge eating, didn't believe her, ballooning up to 245lbs at my heaviest. I'm not saying you shouldn't work to lose weight, just try not to beat yourself up and hate your body because (in my case anyway) it's a downward spiral that leads to self loathing and all these negative feelings that I end up eating away. When I see my rolls, my thighs mashing together, my double chin, etc, I feel a little bad but remind myself that I'm making permanent moves to fix them

I got sleeved on the 23rd and underneath all the gas pain and general soreness that comes with surgery, i realize that i don't feel hungry. Now don't get me wrong, i have head hunger (i smelled some carrots and peas in another hospital room and was like "mmmm" and the same when i smelled a strawberry muffin.) however i don't feel physically hungry. Is that going to change after i'm healed or are those of you who are much further out like that? I'm not having trouble getting down my Clear liquids thankfully, i just am not eating/drinking for hunger snd thirst, but because i know i have to.

I was assigned to do a 7 day diet, but ended up tacking on an extra two days because I wanted to give myself time to adjust. I haven't eaten anything since last Saturday. Even though your time is shorter than mine, it's hard to not eat (hence why we're all on here. LOL). I don't know what to say to make it easier except try to drink a lot of Water, drink your Protein shakes (they help with hunger) and find a couple really good broths. I like Swanson's tender beef, roissterie chicken and another one that's used as the base for tortilla Soup. I got some of Rachel Ray's beef broth and it was okay at first, then I heated some up yesterday (so it'd been in my fridge about 3 days) and while it tasted okay, it smelled like wet dog. I don't know if they're all that like or if I just got a bad batch. You can do it!!!

WOWZER! You look amazing! I love that your vibrant smile and sparkling personality shine through in both your before and after photo. Sometimes I see before shots and the person looks so sad and miserable and in the after they're thrilled. I like that you still look like you, just a lot less of you if that makes sense.

I'm loving all these updates! I go in tomorrow at 10 a.m. and my procedure will be at 12Noon. It's so crazy to think that this time tomorrow I will be on the other side. I'll be sure to post an update.

I assure you're I'm very real and one day away from surgery . I've had all those thoughts plus: 1. What if I am that rare person who they put under and I don't come back? 2. What if I'm miserable and end up gorging myself because I can't change my ways and I rupture my belly? 3. How could I have let myself get into the position to need WLS? Is it revenge for prank calling Jenny Craig with my bff when we were 13? (We'd call and pretend to have food in our mouths and go, "OMG, I CAN'T STOP EATING! HELP ME JENNY!" Then hang up laughing. ) 4. If i'm strong enough to do the pre opt diet, shouldn't I be strong enough to change WITHOUT the sleeve? 5. What if I back out, then I decide later I want to have the surgery because I can't lose on my own? I'll probably never get approved again because I wasted everyone's time and resources. LoL, believe me, you are NOT alone. What I've been doing to help destress is venting to my husband and parents, coming on here, reading books, watching A LOT of Netflix, trying to focus some on work, watching youtube success videos, writing a diary about my feelings and I've got a binder I'm using to chronicle my journey and keep all the recipes I'll need for Stage Three (mushy stage) and Stage Four (regular food). I've also been reading a lot of "The World According to Eggface"

I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow and woke up this morning to find that my period has started. When I first joined this site, I thought I remembered someone saying that you can still have the procedure while on your period because they're not going into your uterus, but I couldn't find that post. So my questions are: 1. Will starting my period delay my surgery? 2. Assuming I can still have surgery, is it better to wear a sanitary napkin or tampon tomorrow? (i heard that some people use a catheter after surgery. I'm not sure if I will be one of them because I'm only supposed to stay overnight Monday and go home Tuesday) 3. For those of you who were menstruating while having the operation, did you find that it was hard to change your pad/tampon because you were sore from surgery? Which would you recommend using while you're recovering post-op during those first few days? Thank you and sorry for the TMI, but it's Sunday, so I can't call my surgeon to ask.

I'm so sorry your family has not been supportive. I completely understand what you mean about needing to talk about it because just like it's new/different/scary for them, it's even newer/different/scarier for you because you're the one that has to go through it. I don't know if they would be interested, but maybe you could offer to bring them to an information session or one of your appointments? When I decided to do this journey, my husband was skeptical and kind of like your family. Not against it, but not 100% supportive. So I brought him with me to an information session held by the surgeons at the hospital where i'm having the procedure. We learned a lot, asked questions, talked with other people, etc. He also attended my first meeting with the nutritionist and got to ask a lot of questions. Now he's my biggest cheerleader and I don't feel alone anymore. With my parents, I wrote up about 3 or 4 pages and we sat around their kitchen table and I talked about why I wanted to have this procedure(lower my blood pressure, reverse the knee pain I'm starting to have, increase my life span, break my dependence on food, decrease my risk of diabetes, increase my chances of having a healthy pregnancy, etc). I also talked about the pros and cons of having the procedure, the insurance approval process, etc. When my parents saw that I was confident and had a good understanding of what I was getting into (plus answered their questions) they got on board. I think if I had just come to them and said, "This is what I'm doing" they wouldn't have been so supportive. If those suggestions aren't helpful, then I would try to find a support group. Maybe your hospital has one (mine does). I've also been considering Overeaters Annoymous. Plus, you have our community here. I know it's not the same, but all of us know what you're going through and can provide e-Support. I'm hardly an expert in any of this, but if you want to reach out to me, you're welcome to private message me anytime.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time sleeping. Is your incision sore? Have you tried the pillows like the other poster said? If that doesnt help what about sleeping on your back?

Hey, I know this thread is super old, but SkinnyJean, if you are still out there, how did it go? Was it as scary as you thought it was going to be? I am scheduled for my procedure in 2 days and i am very anxious. Today i burst into tears. Same thing yesterday.

Two weeks ago around Thursday, i caught a bug from one of my students. Sore throat, fever, chills, coughing so much i could barely sleep at night. It was awful. I started to feel better and by Tuesday i was Still coughing a bit but nothing like before. I started my liquid diet the following Saturday (so 1 week after i caught the bug) and i found that while i don't feel sick anymore(no fever, body ache, sore throat, etc), I'm still coughing up A LOT of mucus, especially in the morning. last night i woke up around midnight and had a bad coughing spell that lasted sbout 10 minutes. Each cough brings up mucus. It's disgusting to have productive coughs b/c i keep having to spit. I don't know if I'm sick or if this is a weird side effect of the diet. I can't call my nutritionist until about 3 today because of how my work schedule is, so i thought i'd ask here. My mom suggested that maybe my body is removing impurities of excess mucus that's in my system sincenwhen i got a colon cleanse a few months ago i was told there's a lot of mucus in my stool (the woman who did it said i should stop drinking milk, but i didnt. Lol) I dunno what to think.

Even though I'd read prior to my pre opt diet that food funerals are a bad idea, i had several small ones last week. First We husband and i ate out every night for dinner at all my favorite places. I took Chipotle, Applebees, pizza Hut and other leftovers from dinner to lunch everyday. On thursday mom and i went to olive garden after i got off work. She said a salad and Soup and i had 2 bowls of soup, linguine alfredo and 2 sprites. On friday i ate hot wings and macaroni around 3 then at 7, i got together with friends and we made pork spring rolls and the three of us shared a large, chocolate, peppermint pie. (Surprisingly they ate as much, if not more than me for dinner but both of them are thinner than me. One if them has even had 3 children and she's barely a size 6! Not fair!)

My diet didn't say how much protein, just that i could have up to six clear liquids a day ?broth, protein shakes, jello, sf popsicle, etc). Anyway, I get in about 50g of protein a day because i drink at least 2 of GNC's lean shakes which AMAZING. they are about 170cal, 2g of sugar and25g of protein I feel pretty good during the day, it's just around 5:30 to 6 i start feeling weak and tired. What's keeping me going is each day i get on the scale, i've lost a pound of two. When i started i was 241. This morning i am 232. Almost dow. 10lbs in 6 days. Not too shabby

Thanks guys for all the responses. I was freaking out a bit because I remembered once a few years ago i was VERY stressed and cluldnt stomach any food, so I drank like two 12 oz cups of coffee and maybe a bit of danish everyday and around day 3 my stool was complete liquid.

...to still be having rather solid bm's even though today starts Day 5 of my pre opt liquid diet? I promise I won't keep askng but it's really weird to me that I have had nothing but liquid (only protein shakes, clear broth, water w/lemon and cucumber) for FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT and even though I'm only going once a day instead of 3 to 4 times like i did on solid food, I'm not having a liquid stool. how is this possible? Am i normal? Is the fact i'm having a solid stool an indicator that i still have a lot of food stored in my intestine or something? I havent cheated and had anyrhing other than the broth, water, and protein shakes (except i do take 2 women's one a day and i take a zicam because i work with small kids and have a small sniffle that i dont want ti turn into a surgery stopping cold)

Whoo hoo! Way to go you! I'm so glad to hear about your success. It must feel so good to see less of yourself and achieve such a tremenous weight loss. I'm sure your joints thank you. Being able to get in a 16 is amazing. Pretty soon it'll be a 14, then a 12, and the nrxt thing you know you'll bbe inthe single digits club. Keep it up and keep us posted!

I'm so glad your husband is supporting you! without that, this is twice as hard. anyway what helped me is i started my diet on the weekend so whenever i was feeling weak, tired, cranky, and went through withdrawal, I was home and could lay down, journal, etc. It also helped that I have a lot of different varieties of broth. We stocked our cabinets w/beef, seafood and chicken stock, Thai Ginger broth, roitesserie* chicken broth, Mexican tortilla broth (i think swanson makes it), some kind of white wine and garlic chicken broth, etc. I also really like the Lean shakes from GNC. the strawberry ones taste the best imho. i really like that they're premade so i can grab and go. I'm starting day 5 tomorrow and honestly, i do feel hungry, but i've fought so hard for this that i keep pushing until the 23rd.

That's awesome! 66lbs in only 3 months?! Way to go! I'm not at that point yet (my surgery is the 23rd of December) but I've been keeping a binder of recipes for when I get to the solid food phase. I like a lot of the things on ''The World According to Eggface'' website as well as a recipe i found for zucchini fetticine. If u google it, i'm sure it'll come up. Anyhow, congrats again and keep up the great work. Can't wait to join you on the losers bench

Way to go! Caffeine addiction is one of the hardest to break. I started my diet on Saturday and haven't had a soda or coffee since then. I was surprised I don't really miss them either. What's made it easier for me is I drink sassy water (cucumber, lemon, ginger, mint leaves). when u let it brew over night it tastes really good and refreshing the next day. What I'll miss more than soda is juice. I like drinking OJ with my breakfast. I also love strawberry lemonade

thanks for the advice! i actually ended up pooping later that day, but i'm still going to consult my nutritionist b/c again, i used to go like 3 to 4 times, so 1 feels weird. it's actually surprising to me that i even have solid poops when i've been on liquid since saturday