Djmohr

For me, Vitamins will forever be in my life. That being said, they probably should have been a part of my life before surgery. I had it in my head they would not really do anything for me.

Most people dont realize that when you are morbidly obese, you are also likely malnourished.....yet malnourished! We ate too much of the wrong things!

I am not aware of any one Vitamin that will give you everything. Most Vitamin regimens are given to us based on the results of a nutritional panel.

For me i take a multi, D3, B1, B12 and lastly the most important one is calcium citrate chews. All of them are cheap with the exception of the Calcium. I buy my other Vitamins at walgreens on a buy one get one free deal. There is enough in one bottle for a years use on the multi and the D3. B12 is a sublingual liquid and i only take that once per week...those bottle have lasted me two years.

Calcium on the other hand....I use bariatric pal chews and they are about 30.00 per month. I either buy them on here or Amazon, whoever has my favorite flavors for the cheaper price.

Calcium is not cheap but critical.

- I dont miss walking down the aisle of the airplane and having people almost pray out loud that I won't be sitting next to them

- I dont miss having a booth be the only table and the table cannot be moved so i could fit

- i dont miss missing out on any and all activities that required me to walk because my knees and feet were so bad

- I dont miss wanting to get into a bathing suit to go in the pool and feeling like the whole world was thinking what a fat cow i was

- I dont miss climbing the stairs and feeling like i was going to keel over

- I dont miss having to do all my clothes shopping at Lane Bryant or on line and never feeling good about myself. Now i can shop anywhere and pretty much anything it try on looks great. (It makes it hard to choose)

- I definately dont miss having an entire wardrobe of black clothes

-I dont miss the limited shoes because my feet swelled so bad - now i can wear any shoes....my feet are a normal width!

Most importantly....i dont miss my bi-pap machine, high blood pressure meds, diabetes medications, and i dont miss how close i was to needing kidney dialysis.

I am very very thankful for where i am! And how i feel!

@@annagene12

Thanks! I love them alot but for me it was very very painful. My surgeon did laser Lipo first to remove residual fat and then removed the skin. That approach allows them to do more contouring.

As far as time off goes, they claim you can go back depending on what you do. For me that was not true.

I had alot of burning, searing and itching. This was likely caused by the adhesives that were used. We believe it was an allergy and nothing was helping. At 3 weeks post op, when we removed the mesh bandage off the would, that burning and itching stopped so we know it was an allergy.

I had my arms literally packed in ice round the clock for 3 weeks straight. Then after the bandages came off, i used ice only when they swelled. I also wore compression until 10 weeks post op and used biocorneum silicone gel to help the scars flattened and turn lighter in color.

I could have gone to work at 3 weeks, before that not so much but we believe that my allergy is why things were so painful for me.

Lastly I would tell you to think about how you combine surgeries. You cannot use your arms at all to lift yourself out of bed out of a chair anything. In talking with a friend of mine, who had multiple procedures at the same time having your lower body and your arms done at the same time might prove very uncomfortable for mobility.

If you put undue pressure on your arms, you can cause more severe scar damage. My doctor who is conservative told me no lifting my arms or using them for leverage for 8 weeks.

Just food for thought.......alot of these doctors will do anything to get you in there. When you look at realself and listen to some of them you realize they sort of smooth over the reality a bit so as not to scare you.

Many of them performe surgeries a few weeks apart. That is not the best for your body. A good surgeon will wait a minimum of 12 weeks before the next surgery and they prefer 6 months.

Oh yes......and it can get bad. I refuse to take them anymore unless I a, absolutely so miserable that I cannot function.

They actually cause a lot of weight gain in the neck and face. I call it bloating and it sucks.

I am sorry you are having such pain. Maybe there is another option for you? Just remember if you do go off you need to ween off.

Be patient.....it takes awhile to get your energy back. As long as you are getting your Water and Protein you will feel a little better every day.

I remember it was about 7 weeks before I felt somewhat like myself again. I remember that because I went to Las Vegas for 11 days at week 7. I had to be very on purpose to stay hydrated and get my Protein but i felt pretty darn good and walked all over the place.

I came back and had lost 11 lbs during that period.

Be patient and be good to yourself.

I had one of the most severe cases of gerd that my endo had ever seen prior to RNY. I literally coughed every day all day long. It was extremely disruptive and embarrassing because many times i could not even catch my breath it got so bad.

They changed me from meds i had been on to what they called the gold standard in gerd medications. I was on a double dose of Nexium. It did absolutely nothing for me. For my I ended up drinking alot of mylanta, chewing on tums, drinking Alka selzer and walking the floors.

In the end the only thing that solved it for me was RNY. I have never had a single episode of even basic heartburn since my surgery.

By the way....they did determine that this severe gerd was brought on by my bi-pap machine. They had increased my pressure slightly and that weakened the sphincter in my esophagus. We had to keep reducing the pressures and although it helped slightly the damage was done.

But RNY resolved it for me thank goodness.

I would definately call your doctor immediately tomorrow given you never had it before this test.

Welcome!

Everybody has to start somewhere. I would suggest taking some time and searching on this site. There are so many great posts about WLS and there is a ton on here about having it done in Mexico.

As of the ibuprofen question, you are right....in both Bypass and sleeve they prefer you dont take it as it can cause ulcers which can be very serious when a good portion of your stomach is no longer there.

I suffer from severe osteoarthritis and Psoriatic arthritis. I used to have it something fierce in my ankles and knees. I also have it badly in my spine and shoulders. I take NO ibuprofen ever. Since losing weight, My knees, ankles and feet no longer bother me at all but if they did, I would go and have some cortisone.

My back on the other hand is much worse and i suffer with pain everyday. I use alot of heat, ice, bio freeze and when desperate i take tylenol and muscle relaxers.

I have also used essential oils for pain relief and relaxation. Regardless of the pain in my back, I feel 1000 times better than when i weighed 310lbs. I have more energy and get way more out of life.

It is very likely that your arthritis will improve greatly with weight loss. I wish the very best for you and hope that you are able to get in and get things moving so you can enjoy life. You are young and have lots of time to bounce back.

I always say if I have had any regrets it is that I waited too long but thank goodness i am there now. I am 53 and was 51 when i had bypass.

Two years later I still take medications for Constipation daily. Doctor finally put me on Linzess. That works very well.

I had a terrible time with the pureed stage for the same reasons you list. I would gag and end up vomiting and it was a total aversion.

I pretty much stuck to things that would not gag me such as greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken broth with added Protein power. My bariatric team had me switch to premier Protein shakes and milk them down with fair life so they were thinner. Premier does not have that disgusting Protein taste or smell and they are ready made. In the beginning weeks i would mix 1/3 of the 11 oz shake with 2/3 fairlife protein milk.

My tummy did not and still does not tolerate regular milk for some reason. I can eat other dairy but not milk so i buy lactose free milk which fairlife is.

You really need to get some protein in your body, besides getting sick you can lose your hair.

Everyday it should get a little better but you really need to try some different protein options.

Best of luck to you.

Room temp water......and I still drink room temp Water. If I want a treat I will have a mug of Bariatricpal hot chocolate.< /p>

Follow the plan the doctor gave you. You are in charge of you.

Your families normal will not likely help you. Ask them to attend a session with your nutritionist if you need back up.

No one decides for me and if they did, I never would have met goal nor been able to maintain it. My families normal is NOT normal.

Normal is healthy Protein, veggies and fruit once your body is ready.

I have severe Osteo Arthritis as well as Psoriatic Arthritis. Before I had RNY 2 years ago I could barely walk with the pain in my knees, hips and ankles. That got better after losing the first 60lbs which happened very fast.

I have more energy than ever. I will say the pain in my spine has definitely gotten worse. It is nerve pain and has been more present since surgery.

I know that I would not be walking today if I had not lost 152lbs. It is worth it and even though i am in a lot of back pain, it was still very worth it!

I will be your friend and i am not as bitchy as @@LipstickLady! LOL

She is actually hysterically funny!

@@MeganE

I will say that is one of the longer programs but please dont get discouraged. It took 9 months for me to get through all the hoops and in the beginning i was pissed, mostly because i was sick and my kidneys were failing and the only thing to improve their performance was getting rid of fat and medications. I could not lose weight anymore because my metabolism was so screwed.

The beauty of that long wait was that it gave me the ability to make some really hard changes before i got the surgery (my weight loss tool). I am not sure i would have been as successful without that time to change some things about my eating patterns.

You can work on a couple things per month that will make huge changes over time. I started by #1, eating 3 meals a day. Prior to that I would skip Breakfast, miss lunch and by dinner i was starving and would eat all the way up until i went to bed. Very bad behaviors when you want to get your metabolism operating well again.

I also did things like learn to slow down while eating, remove distraction like watching tv and mindless munching. I learned to chew more effectively.

Had i been smoking or drinking caffeine or carbonated beverages i would have used this time to stop those things because they are a requirements for surgery and take time to make happen. You dont want to be going through withdrawal while recuperating. It is hard enough to get your Protein and liquids in the few months following surgery.

That time, if leveraged properaly can set you up for a successful outcome. Many insurance companies and surgeons know if someone cannot make the changes in the pre op phase it is not likely to land for them post surgery.

The surgery really isn't the biggest part of this, it is the head game and getting rid of the bad habits. That is why you see a shrink and a dietician that whole time.

Try not to let it discourage you, enjoy yourself the next 12 months while prepping for surgery and it will be over before you know it! My 6 month supervised turned into 9 months and it flew and i mean flew by.

Best of luck to you!

@@OKCPirate

Wow, I love your post!!!! Thankfully i am very lucky and have a man that after 29 years of marriage knows exactly how to help me relax.

He is the date night guy, I am the family travel coordinator for vacations. I prefer he take care of date night and we usually have a quick conversation so he knows what i am up for.

Tonight we are having date night.....my favorite steak place in Milwaukee. Nice slow relaxing meal, lots of great conversation (yes, we still have plenty to talk about). And who knows ......maybe that will lead to some fun at home for us! LOL

Lest not forget a couple of really great glasses of wine! Wine makes me very mellow!

I never used an actual binder post op RNY. I did however and still use Spanx to tuck away all my lose skin.

Is that your goal hiding the loose skin? Or are you wanting to use one for some other reason?

If it is to hide loose skin, I have bought many brands over the last two years and found for me that spanx is worth the extra money.

And they have many different shapes.

I had a very difficult time and followed a 1200 calorie high Protein, low/no carb diet before and literally lost 5lbs over 6 months.

My doctor told me he was not surprised give how bad my metabolism was.

I will say that when i went on the liquid Protein liver reduction diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery i literally lost 14lbs in that time.

Its a touch diet but if you are really stuck and following the plan, you might consider doing that with your surgeons approval of course.

It is absolutely ridiculous how the pendulum has been swung. I hate pain medication but there are times with my back problems that it is necessary. Well, it is near impossible to get a prescription for pain anymore unless you have had surgery.

I think ultimately what will happen is actual drug addicts will become more addicted to alcohol because they can get it very easily.

I take nothing for pain now at all and of course cannot take nsaids so there are times when i feel absolutely useless because i either have a heating pad or an ice pack on my body mostly every day all day long. Tylenol does absolutely nothing but then again neither did pain meds so.......the moral of the story is pain meds are good for acute type pain and work in the short term but do nothing for chronic pain. I do miss alieve, at least at one time that seemed to take the edge off.

This has been my experience.....anyway.

YAY! Love these types of NSVs!

Those of us who have bariatric surgery can pay no attention to what MFP tells you. I use is simply to track what i eat and where i am at but dont count on it to tell you what your intake should be.

Follow your doctors plan for that and my fitness pal will provide awesome tracking.

@@momto3E

I know you will be feeling better soon. Keep us posted!

Here's the deal....the first several months is rough. That is a reality but I promise it does get better every day.

My surgeon had me stop my Vitamins 2 days before and did not start me on them again until i was 30 days post op. Every surgeon is different.

Just take it one day at a time and focus on liquids. If you dont get enough, that it itself can make you feel miserable.

You are not doing anything wrong and trust me that is a significant weight loss for the time post op.

You have to remember, your body needs time to breathe in between all the changes. Keep following your plan and if you are thirsty keep on sipping that Water and Protein shakes. they will only help you in the end.

Be patient. The weight did not come on in a month or two and it wont come off that way either. It took me 18 months to lose 152 and i feel like that was so fast that it still did not give my brain and body time to catch up.

Dont be in a hurry.....just follow the plan and you will be good to go!

This all depends on the person. I had rapid weight loss for the first 4 months losing between 15 and 20lbs per month. Then things began to slow down to about 10lbs per month until i hit the 1 year mark.

My last 25lbs took another 6 months to completely lose. There were some months where i was stalled completely and others where i would lose 3 to 5lbs.

When i did get to my goal of 165 I quickly surpassed it losing another 7lbs and then everything stopped in March. I was exactly 18 months post op. Now of course since March i have gained and lost that 7lbs multiple times but I am still below goal.

Best of luck to you!

Congratulations! You are doing well!