CrazyJaney

I'm 5 months post. It was at it's worst the first 2 months. Miralax started to do nothing for me. I would have to take MOM a few days a week in addition to get me going. Then I switched from Miralax to generic stool softners without lax. That eventually didn't help. So I tried stool softners with a lax a and now I only take something 3 times a week. I added berries back to my diet and that has also helped. It is frustrating!!! I'm a nurse. When it gets bad, you have to address from the top and the bottom. Now I just try to stay ahead. Travelling makes it so bad.

Great post! You're gonna do great and you'll find your voice and the tools to deal with it all. I know we PM'ed about this but I just have to say, you are so normal going through all this preop! I so get what you're saying!

I regret many, many things in my life. High school boyfriend. College boyfriend. Not going to Europe when I was in college. The horrible female mullet with big bangs haircut in 1990. But I don't regret having lost 90 pounds in the last year. I don't regret that I still have 70 to go and it's getting harder. I would greatly regret still weighing 325 pounds and being flat out miserable. I know the surgery isn't for everyone. It is work. But to image going back and the struggle it was to lose just 20 pounds back then - I can't even fathom it. There is work, no doubt, but regret for me would be never having done it. To those of you searching threads on "regret", think about how you feel NOW, last year, last time you wanted to do something and couldn't. That is regret EVERYDAY. Research every option and educate yourself thoroughly. Don't let any ONE experience (good or bad) influence you. It is a huge decision that you can't turn away from but this is not a one size fits all.

I just re-read the original post. I hit 90 pounds gone this morning and my clothes are falling off. I went to Kohls and bought an XL sweater in the regular women section without trying it on. It was way too big. I can't wrap my head around what size clothes I really am. It is such a strange phenomenom when you have been shopping plus size for so long. On the down side, I am very pear shaped and pretty sure I won't see a size 12 or 14 until I am at goal. I haven't even tried on anything yet because I don't want to be disappointed. But, overall - what a thrill to shop now! I am probably a bit too old for Victoria Secrets but I find sexy stuff all the time! I wore a fitted black sweater with black pants to work the other day, people were awestruck at work. It was crazy how the tight black accentuated the curves and weight loss. Crazy! Now to lose the last 70 and finance my house for plastics - lol - just kidding - well….. maybe!

Amen!!!!!! Living well is the best revenge!

Hubby is right. Sit back and laugh at their ridiculousness. You will be surprised how much confidence you might find in yourself in the months to come. This is all about you and you are worthy of the good things that will come. Smile, be the bigger person, and focus only on you and yours. Good luck!

I had a period the day after surgery (light), then one a month later, and then none since May. But I'm 46 and was becoming regular. Keep feeling pms-ish but never start. Frustrating.

I'll be 5 months post op on Aug 13th. 85-ish gone but sooooo far to go. Struggling with the fact that I have done well but it's not as easy as it was. I'm headed home from the beach with my girlfriends. Had a great time despite my first experience with dumping (note to self: Bushwhackers are made with ice cream and will make you feel horrible, even if you ALWYS have one at the beach - no more). I look at the pictures and I'm so far from being happy where I am right now. I guess that is motivation to keep going. A year ago I was 325 pounds. This is better but it's not enough. This trip (and the photographic evidence) has been hard on my brain. People telling me I look great, me seeing pics and just wanting more. It's like I see every flaw now. Keep me in your prayers this week. It's also my 46th birthday and just not feeling the self worth I should have. ????

At what point did it become harder? I've lost 86 (28 of that was preop). Starting weight 325. Surgery was 3/13/14 so I know I've done great in 4.5 months but I'm starting to have to work a lot harder. I've been at 238-240 for what seems like forever (only 2 weeks but feels like forever). I'm increasing my exercise. What "levels" did you start to have to do extra work?

All of my attempts at weight loss have been in good faith and with, what I thought, was a fairly educated mind about how to do it - yet I always failed. What I didn't do, until I was getting ready for WLS, is to address the emotional part of HOW I GOT to 330 pounds. I mean, how does that happen to someone? How can I be college educated, seemingly successful in other areas of my life and be squarly on a path to an early grave at my "own doing"? I had never really let go of my ego. I always had that bargaining voice in my head that rationalized and minimized dieting and weight loss. What this site did was to help me see that I AM NOT ALONE! There was power in that for me. I can't explain why, it just was. My parents are both alcoholics. My mom has 30+ years of sobriety and has dedicated her adult life to helping others with addiction. My dad has never gotten free from his addiction. I was exposed to the tennant of AA and the 12 steps a long time ago. As a teen, the foundations were laid but I NEVER really embraced the concept of accountability. I think this surgery MAKES me be accountable. It also gives me a control I have never experienced. That concept of "control" is one major difference between food and alcohol addiction. It is not a one size fits all. It's not like there is a perfect recipe for how to be successful in this BUT there are similarities of how people become successful. For an alcoholic, you don't go to bars, you don't take the first sip. For a food addict, it's not as simple. But there are lifestyle changes that support my goals. Again, I had NEVER, EVER considered the emotional side of weight loss (except for attending one, solitary OA meeting at age 23 in which I was so full of shame I could never go back). This time, at 45 and in a very different place in life, I was able to say "I am a food addict and the data (weighing 325+ pounds) supports that. I can't run from it." And all of that self realization brought a huge amount of shame in the beginning. I am coming up on my one year anniversary for my first doctor appointment (mid August). It's gotten easier to think about my failures in the past without shame. It's still there but it's less and less. I do know that if I get too far away from this site, the voices in my brain that tell me "it's okay to cheat today" start to creep back. This site, belonging to a community, helps me stay focused and accountable. I am far from perfect (I ate a half piece of cake yesterday) but I have come so far. People tell me how great I look and I minimize it. Not because I am not proud of myself, but because it doens't support success. When I say I have so far to go, they say "but you've come so far you should be proud". I have started explaining to people that I can't "celebrate" in the same sense of before. Celebrating tells my brain that it's ok to reward myself with an extra calorie or two or two hundred. It's a slippery slope and always will be. I still have a LONG way to go to get to a goal of "normal". The hardest work lies ahead. It scares me but I have some tools for success and I am going to keep coming back here checking in and being accountable. Thanks to all who commented - it helps keep us going!

Andrea K my friend! You are gonna do fantastic! Have faith and go with it. I know the fears. You were there for me when I was stressed preop. You got this! So many good things lie ahead. I won't lie, the first week, not so good. But you get through it. So excited for you!

Awesome!!!

I 4.5 months post, almost 85 down. I've purged 3 times so far. The good stuff I give to a girl at work. The rest to Goodwill. I am so pear shaped that nothing fits the same and it's do hard to find pants that fit. When the girls at work tell me to get new clothes, I listen. I bought 2 maxi dresses from Target to get me through the summer. I don't really have any pants that fit and I hate buying pants - really hate it. I think I have body dysmorphic syndrome too. I bought an XXL shirt without trying it on a few weeks ago. Too big. Went back and bought a XL. Too big. No way can I consider a L??? It's mind boggling to get out of plus sizes. But I'm still an 18-20 on bottom. Sigh....

I've been a critical care nurse for 18 years. MD means they went to medical school but it doesn't mean anything else. It doesn't mean they are Board Certified. Board Certification is a gold standard for physicians/surgeons.

That's almost a month out. It probably warrants a call. When is your next appointment? I was on soft or purees then. You might be eating too fast? Or it just might be normal as it is with some. I still get instantly nauseated if I drink water on an empty stomach. But I've never gotten nauseated from food unless I pushed the limit or when I was newly advancing textures. It will get better though.

Can I just say this is one of the most bizzaro threads, EVER. It's 40 pages long and I haven't read all the threads but let me get this straight: Latin-lover-type Omar seduces American women then dumps them. He works for a surgeon but it's a non-US business. And the OP wants to "out" him? Is there more? I would hope to find legit info on here if I was looking to go to MX but if you're a grown woman, who falls prey to a stereotypical Don Juan, and it was consensual, what do you expect to happen? Rape is another matter entirely. But I would think people who travel to MX to have surgeries would have been prepared for avoiding the seduction part. I'm thinking of doing plastics there but I wouldn't go alone and I would be suspicious of any "personal" attention.

I had water nausea for months. Day 5 I thought I might die after feeling good on day 4. Day 6 I turned a corner and decided I would live. 4 months later, I've lost 83 pounds. I can eat small amounts of anything. I discovered Diet Green Tea doesn't make me nauseous (try Diet Arizona Green Tea). Life is good. You WILL get there. The first month sucks but hang in there. I feel ya.

It took my taste buds 4 months to find something I could drink. It's not fun in the early days.

I wish I'd have known the pure joy of buying a dress (albeit a size 16) in the "normal" section at Kohls. NOT THE WOMENS! I was giddy at the checkout. It's sleeveless (bummer) but it's perfect in every other way. I've lost 83 and have 70+ to go. I'm only 4 months post. But shopping is fun again!

You are so right!!!!! Such a good point!

i I stopped taking them day 4 and it helped. I tried to find sugar free children's Tylenol liquid but could never find it. They don't make Tylenol dissolvables for kids anymore either. I did fine but I would have liked to have taken plain Tylenol a few days longer the first week or two. Get some if you can find them.

You know, this was one of my biggest worries preop as I've experienced major bouts of nausea with any surgery I've had. I had a ton of nausea for the first few days and maybe up to a week post op but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Really it wasn't near as bad and mostly related to narcotics and not the surgery. It's all very individual I suppose but I was thankful it wasn't as bad as I feared.

I added fish oil and saw a slight (very slight) improvement but I'm not sure what dose I should be taking????

I made Greek Turkey Meatballs. Used ground turkey, feta cheese and black olives. Cooked them in the mini muffin tins. Dipped them in dill yogurt dip. Delish. Oh, I added basil and oregano too.

How's everyone??? How's everyone's labs? I started taking iron. It's awful. Didn't think constipation could get worse. I'm up to a total of 83 but still have 70+ to go. Exercising going much better. Hair loss in full swing.