alittlejoy

@@nmsugirl06 I was diagnosed with sleep apnea five years ago. Getting onto CPAP changed my life, literally. Getting restful sleep is really important for people with issues like anxiety. I know it's a requirement from your surgeon but you might be really surprised how much better you feel if you get onto CPAP - it will certainly help with recovery after surgery. And then hopefully we won't need the CPAP after a while

@@nmsugirl06 this is one instance when I'd really encourage you to advocate for yourself until you can do this sleep study in a way you're ok with. Whether that means it's at home, at a different sleep center, or in the same sleep center but with a woman present so you feel safer. The study itself is really pretty boring but the anxiety it could cause you could throw off the results anyway. I'd see about the at home study first and then if not, see if you can go to another sleep center. Best of luck!

I asked my doc for Ambien to take the night of my first sleep study because I knew I'd have a really difficult time falling asleep. If you're mot comfortable with something that strong, a small dose of Xanax might help settle your nerves. I'd also ask if they can have a female sleep tech, as @ suggested. One thing to note is they don't need a ton of active sleep time in order to make a diagnosis - they don't need a solid eight hours or anything. I know that isn't very calming but it's good to know from a practical standpoint.

My husband likes burgers and steak well done so I sear on a cast iron skillet and then cover and turn down the heat. The cover will keep some of the juice in. Make sure to take it off the heat before it's too done and let it rest. It will keep cooking while resting. And you might invest in a meat thermometer so you know when it's done before it's jerkied.

I do think this is a serious topic. Even if you don't enjoy being fat, if you did things to get fat or stay fat, then it was doing something for you, even if that wasn't something healthy. I know I'm going to have trouble with feeling more visible. I already hate that I currently feel both highly visible because I'm big but also invisible because a lot of people choose not to see me. It's frustrating! It's important to look at why you do things while in the process of changing one's behavior. I don't enjoy being fat and I'm doing whatever I can to change it but that doesn't mean it hasn't benefitted me in some way.

Some people note that they have difficulty falling asleep but keep in mind that they don't need a full night's sleep to diagnose you. I think they need a full sleep cycle or two but not a solid 8 hours or anything. I'd say it's a somewhat annoying but necessary experience. I've actually had three, the last one was overnight and then all the next day. The wires are annoying but other than that, it's pretty mundane.

Does your surgeon have support groups available that you can join? Or anything like that? Or maybe you could have a few sessions with a health psychologist? Not saying that online support doesn't help - I've found it very helpful - but I've been in a support group previously for anxiety and depression and it really helped a lot to have a group of the same folks to see for support and feedback.

I've been wondering how I'll function on so few calories and it seems like a big part of it lies in that part of the stomach that's removed, the part that makes hunger hormones. If I tried to live off 700 calories right now, my stomach would NEVER SHUT UP. I'd be hungry and pissed off all day. I'm hopeful that the surgery will help that! I think doctors have to take the bad with the good. It is a bit like a medically supervised crash diet but they're able to monitor it and keep tabs on your health. So the good parts outweigh the bad there. I try not to think too much about the reality of what I'm getting myself into - removing a large portion of my stomach and all that. I'm just staying present in the process and looking toward an end goal of health and a better body weight. I feel like it can be done in a healthy way, even if it seems extreme.

I think it's fair to say that if a person is fat for a really long time, they might have difficulty adjusting to being thin. I've never been a thin person and I suspect that adjusting to being smaller might be a challenge for me. I admire people who have no difficulties in that process but for me, getting attention even after just losing 25 pounds through dieting has been slightly awkward. Someday, I might miss that being fat keeps away a lot of unwanted male attention. I take public transportation a lot and I'd rather not have to deal with that.

You could start using Instagram or a blog to chronicle your journey. There are a lot of VSG folks on instagram, look for the #visginstacrew tag.

Ditching my CPAP (maybe, hopefully) Less joint pain Not feeling like a 65 year old person in a 35 year old body Seeing the scale go down instead of up (this is a current victory!) Not worrying about the structural integrity of every chair I sit in Being able to sit in any seat at Wrigley Field Traveling and enjoying it Feeling less self conscious

I reallllly think you need to research this surgery more and come to terms with reality - you WILL NOT be able to eat like you are now and lose weight. If you're not willing to give up fast food, you're not going to lose weight. That's the case with surgery or without.

I've had three sleep studies - one to see if I have sleep apnea, one to get the right pressure for my CPAP and then another because my sleep doc suspected I might be narcoleptic. They're really not a big deal, mostly just boring and somewhat annoying. If you think you might have trouble sleeping at all, ask your doc for Ambien. Also, they don't need you to sleep for 8 hours or anything, just enough to see if you stop breathing and for how long.

I've just been doing MyFitnessPal and trying to lose 2 pounds a week. I couldn't do a liquid diet that long, I'd never make it.

I started in November. I just went to a seminar this week and submitted my application so the process hasn't started yet. I felt like I needed to do something, though, since I have so much to lose. It's also keeping me occupied while I wait and wait on the process. Your BMI is on the cusp, though so you might want to hold off and see what your surgeon says. You might lose too much to qualify for surgery.

It took me about two years to become fully compliant with CPAP. That's not to say that it can't be done more quickly than that but it was hard for me to get in the habit of putting the mask back on if I woke up at night. I had to commit myself to it 100% without exception and now I'm just used to it. The thing with sleep apnea is that treatment has to be consistent to be effective. You really just have to suck it up and put the mask on, even if you hate it. I know it sucks but so does all of the risks associated with the disorder. I know a lot of people get set back a little if they're diagnosed but believe me, being compliant is worth it. I can't imagine trying to recover from surgery while feeling like junk from sleep apnea. It's just too dangerous.

Just to clarify on the peeing at night and thirst - the apnea will irritate your throat and make your mouth dry because you're gasping. As for peeing, it's not that you have to pee more than anyone else, it's that your body is awake enough to tell you to get up and go. In normal deep sleep, the body slows down to ignore those signals. People will sleep apnea get very little deep sleep, so you get all the signals that tell you to get up and pee, drink Water, etc.

I'm going to a seminar next month and then I plan to submit my application and hopefully get started on my journey. I've been reading a ton - books, forums like this, etc. and I feel like I'm fairly well prepared. I know there's even more of that to come. I've started using MyFitnessPal to cut back on calories. I'm hoping to lose some weight but I just want to get used to being more conscious of what I eat. Does anyone have tips for other things I can be doing now? I can't do much "officially" but I'd love ideas for things I can do to help me be more prepared.

@@bobbyswife Thanks! I'd have to lose a LOT of weight to get to that point, so that's not a problem hah!