Daisee68

@@UsernameTaken - Is it the kind that dissolves under your tongue or a tablet you swallow? I found the sublingual worked much better. If not that kind, you might call a dr and see if they can prescribe that instead?

@@UsernameTaken - So very sorry you are going through all this! Not sure if Zofran is what you are taking for nausea but if so, be sure you stay hydrated or it doesn't work. (A tip given to me from my doctor when I was vomiting so much and Zofran wasn't working....)

@@DebraM04 - Let me tell you what my therapist would (has) told me. First, take a deep breath and forgive yourself. Seriously.... don't give yourself reason to do it again but just FORGIVE. This thing isn't all about willpower. It is some (it has to be) but you have a tool to help and will learn a new lifestyle. I don't know about you, but I have a very rebellious personality (only when it comes to food), so my therapist has really had to work with me on that. Yesterday she asked me if one of beloved nephews that I spend so much time with is rebellious / strong willed and if so, how I handle it. (I don't have children.) My response was that I try to take a deep breath, not yell, send them to their room and give us both a minute to calm down and then go back and try to discuss calmly if they understood why I sent them to their room and how we can handle it better next time and then we go do something else. (See, can't you tell I am not a parent? If I had to deal with my own children every day, I KNOW I wouldn't be that calm. Not that easy!) But what I am trying to say is, if you just try to push / pull your way through this chanting "next time I will be better", you will likely "relapse" again. My therapists says she sees so many that work the program this way and then end up in her office just exhausted and have a "break". I am 1 year post-op tomorrow and I have had my struggles and my breaks and binges (mostly on chips and cheez-its) but when my therapist said this to me this week, it is like it finally clicked in my brain! If you are able to see a therapist, I strongly encourage that you do (but I understand with 5 children that may be very difficult). This is a very long process (life-long in fact). You will eventually learn to take it not one day at a time, but truly one bite at a time. Eventually (hopefully) it all becomes habit. I am still working on that.... trust me, I don't have it all figured out. I just wanted to reach out to you and say - Ok, you did it. It's done. You cannot undo it. Just try to search why and how you can stop it from happening next time. With regard to the hunger part, if you suspect it is at all acid (which is VERY common), it is possible you need a stronger PPI. I had to take a prescription strength Protonix (Pantoprozole) twice daily for a long time to keep mine under control. I hope some of this helped!! HUGS!! Tomorrow is a new day! You got this!

This thread made my day!! I wish I was even half as witty and clever as you all! Thank you! I haven't LOL'd like that in a while! Keep posting!

Premier Protein chocolate for ready to drink. For powder, I like Precision Engineered whey Protein Isolate - Chocolate and Vanilla are both great. Number of shakes depends on how many grams in the drink you are using and how far out you are from surgery. The further you get, you should be able to decrease the shakes as you get more protein from your food. I am 1 year post-op in 2 days and I still drink 1 per day.

Thanks so much @@MichiganChic! Very helpful! Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

Ok so I had my first PS consult today. I went to Dr Peter Fisher in San Antonio (thanks to several folks on here who highly recommended him). He said good things - I was a good candidate, at a good weight (in fact wouldn't lose anymore than 5 or 10 more pounds IF that), had good muscle tone, had a good figure already, etc. All good things to hear. He wants to do everything in 2 procedures: First procedure - Lower Body Lift (which includes tummy, butt, lipo of thighs and some thigh lift) and brachioplasty - procedure last 8 to 12 hours! Second procedure (no less than 3 months later) - Thigh lift and Breast Lift / Augmentation - 4 to 6 hour procedure I am not necessarily worried about the pain and in fact, his theory in doing so many procedures together is less recovery time and less anesthesia long term (i.e. only 2 times instead of multiple). I was watching something about PS recently and the advise was to steer clear of drs who want to do lots of procedures at once. Now I don't think that necessarily applied to this type of surgery since we have to have so much work done but it still is stuck in my head. How does a dr actually perform surgery for that long? Don't they get fatigued? And is there more long term hazards of being under anesthesia so long? Ok - and lastly, my NUT says no surgery until at least 18 months post-op RNY. I am just going to be 1 year on June 4. Dr. Fisher wasn't at all concerned about that (all labs are good and in good health, exercise, etc.). He questioned me about nutrition, counseling, past weight struggles, etc. and didn't seem concerned at all. My therapist (who I have been seeing for 16 months and no end in sight) seems to think it is not too early. (She specializes in bariatric patients and is actually an RN so she has seen others go through this.) I haven't talked to my bariatric surgeon yet though I will at my 1 year follow up in a couple of weeks. Thoughts? IS it really too soon (given my weight is right and has pretty well stabilized the last couple of months)? I really want to get it all done this year if I can because I currently work from home and it will be much easier to recover without missing work since I don't have to drive / sit at a desk AND I have the potential (hope) of getting another job I have wanted but they are looking at hiring at year end. As always, appreciate all the advice.

You look great and are doing an awesome job! It takes a while for us to see the changes in ourself. I will be 1 year post-op on Saturday and am down 120 pounds since surgery (146 total) and I am just now really realizing the difference. Keep up with the pictures. That will help. Take your measurements. And every once in a while try on the largest pair of pants (or a dress) you had. (I only kept one thing - my size 28 jeans.). I only put them on maybe 6 weeks ago and I think that is when I finally realized how far I had come. Keep up the great work! Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

Hmmm... that's a tough one. If it is something someone has brought to your attention, it must be bad. Perhaps timing taking GasX before work or a little before a lunch break so that it can help the gas relief before you are at work?

@@Autumn Riley Arnold - Honestly, I think you will have to ask your dr or NUT. I have read lots of things lately about "clear liquid" diet and I know I was supposed to be on it, but I don't know that I really did what I was supposed to! The day before surgery, they said Clear liquids and I understood that to be nothing with red or blue dye and that you could see through so I used the premixed Isopure drinks on that day (UGH!! I hated those BTW. Some like them but just the smell makes me shiver... ) I was only in the hospital one night and I am sure I was supposed to do "clear liquids" but I think I drank my chocolate Protein drinks mixed with Water right away. I am not sure that was correct though. I am hoping to have plastics in the fall, and the instructions for that are also clear liquids for 2 days prior to surgery, so I will have to get it clarified for then too! I am just not sure how you get protein in on a clear liquid diet. I know that wasn't helpful other than to say, I did it and was confused about it (and still am!)

@@StefanieSparklePants - Just wanted to say I love your screen name!

@@LolaSerena - I'm glad it helped! And thanks! I was just telling someone else how shocked I am that it has all added up and here I am at goal at 1 year post-op. Never thought it would happen! But boy you should see some of my posts from the first few months! Just couldn't get past the "what have I done?!" stage. I am well past that now.

Oh girl! Trust me, I totally understand! I think I have weighed every single day since surgery (and well likely for the 4 months before surgery!) I am approaching maintenance stage and am going to have to stay off the scale myself! It is so weird to not see the pounds dropping anymore and a tiny bit of panic when it goes up by 1 pound. I just have to get used to that part. I don't want to lose anymore but I don't want to gain either! Promise your stall will end! And the best part is, once it breaks, it sort of free falls for a week or so (seriously some people see 3 to 5 pounds in one day!) My therapist asked me today "did you ever expect to be down 120 pounds in a year when you started this?" Um, nope. I sure didn't. I thought I was a pretty slow loser too but boy does it add up! You got this!!

Completely normal feelings. Give it some time. I felt the same way for probably 3 months but then the weight loss picked up, the nausea went away and I am SO thrilled! I will be 1 year post-op on Saturday and I am down 120 pounds since surgery and a total of 145 pounds. Diabetes is gone. Off cholesterol meds. Can do so much more than I could have before! Worth every second! But I promise you I didn't feel that way in the beginning. Just know you are among friends and you can come here and vent. You will be amazed when you look back at this in a few months!

You are smack in the middle of the famous (or infamous perhaps) 3 week stall. You are doing everything right. It is totally normal. Your body just has to catch up. Ride it out. It will break soon and typically breaks by a pretty significant amount. in the meantime, stay of the scale for a week (if you can) and concentrate on your Protein, fluids and Vitamins. As @InnerSurferGirl says, "Embrace The Stall"!!

It is a good product. The Vitamins are "free" . It is the Nascobal (for which you have to have a prescription) that is expensive. But my insurance paid for it without issue once I had used my deductible last year.

I used Nascobal for about 8 months post-op. It comes with the Vitamins which is great. I got laid off though and starting over with a new deductible, the prescription for Nascobal is really expensive - $500 range I think. I was sad to stop because I got such great labs with those vitamins but I ended up finding (on the BariatricPal store) another brand called BariMelt which has exactly the same vitamins / amounts.

Yes, it is normal. It is MAJOR surgery and you are only on day 4. (I recall day 4 and 5 being my worst.) Try to be patient. Use some ice or heating pad and take your pain meds if needed. It gets better but give your body time to heal.

Here is one I forgot and just realized this weekend - I was so looking forward to my shirts being small enough that they would stop falling off hangers! I have achieved that and just realized this weekend that my now size "large" shirts (not 22/24 or 2X/3X) actually fit the hangers!

@@aelovelady - Have you seen the recent news about Biggest Loser and the contestants who regained so much because their metabolism was ruined by eating so little? I am very surprised your NUT gave you that advice, but too each his own I suppose. Just so newbies are aware, I will say that you are certainly in the minority on this subject though.

So sorry you are going through this! Glad you can sit out of work a little longer and SO glad someone at ER listened to you! We know our bodies best and yet sometimes drs just think we are wimps or exaggerating. So frustrating! I was in ER with a "nope nothing's wrong" after CT scan and blood work and 2 days later I am getting balloon dilation for a stricture because my stomach openness basically scarred over and barely a pin hole opening so nothing was getting thru (and coming back up). That was just 4 short (or frankly quite long) days after 3 month checkup saying I knew something wasn't quite right. Quick fix and much better now and no way they would have known differently but glad I kept calling after not holding anything down for 4 days straight. Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

Well you have come to the right place then. Tons of advice and support on here regardless of your geographical location! Eating too little can actually be counterintuitive and slow your weight loss. Remember that you have to start thinking of this as a lifestyle of new habits and eating - not a "diet". I don't know that I have any great suggestions for food given you have different types of food than we do. I ate things like hummus, soft cheeses, refried Beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, sugar free pudding, etc. in the soft food stage but I struggled with that for a while because I had a stricture (which I didn't discover until the 3rd month) so I had difficulty keeping too much more solid things down until after that. Hopefully some others closer to your part of the world can make some suggestions.

UGH! That would be tough! Hope you sleep well when you get home. Meanwhile - drink, drink, drink while you are running your errands. Get some of that Protein and Fluid in before you fall asleep. Good luck! You are almost there!

One other thing - I just read your other posts and see that you are a revision patient. My understanding is that revision patients tend to lose slower. Given that information, I would say you are doing OUTSTANDING! Give it some time. You have been through this before and I can only imagine how anxious you are given the past surgeries, but try to put that behind you and just press on. You got this!

It is the famous 3 week stall. You have lost 15 pounds in 20 days! That is amazing! I actually gained coming out of the hospital due to the all the fluids (and imagine you did too) so given that, the loss is great! I thought I was a slow loser too and I will be 1 year out this week and down 120 pounds since surgery (145 total including pre-op diet). Those losses add up! Here are some suggestions: 1) Stay off the scale for a week (admittedly, I was never able to do that but just thought I would throw it out there ). Hopefully the stall will be broken in a week and you will see the loss and can decide how you want to weigh going forward. 2) Are you able to eat more than 1 meal per day? Seems that is a little low. If you are able to eat more than once, I would look in to having at least 2 (maybe 3) small meals per day at this stage. Take no longer than 30 minutes to eat. If you are not done with your 4 Tbsp in 30 minutes, put it away and have it at the next meal. Do you need some suggestions for foods other than fish or were you instructed to just have fish? 3) Are you able to drink something other than Optifast for shakes? I think there are some much better options - but it may depend on what your dr instructed and where you are located geographically.