catwoman7

it's very common in the weeks or months AFTER surgery have unusual periods. Haven't heard about before - but the reason for having weird cycles after is due to estrogen being released from fat cells during rapid weight loss (estrogen is stored in fat cells) - so that might be what's going on with you now...

we started out at about the same weight on the day of surgery. I just checked, and I'd lost 63 lbs at the fie month mark, but then, I had RNY - weight loss is usually a bit faster with that than it is with VSG (although you usually end up at the same place in the end). Two lbs a week isn't unusual once you get out that far. Honestly, I still drink a protein shake every day because I'm supposed to average 100 grams of protein a day (we discovered early on that I malabsorb it - so the usual 60-80 grams/day wasn't doing it for me). I could probably get that high from food alone, but I don't like to obsess all day about whether or not I'm going to meet my protein goal. I know I WILL meet it if I have a protein shake for my mid-morning snack. I know some dietitians and surgeons don't like people to stay on protein shakes for long, but I know a few people who hate eating breakfast whose dietitians told them to just have a protein shake for breakfast, then (so they're OK with it in some situations) - but opinions seem to vary among dietitians.

it's been a while for me, but I had to buy shapewear (e.g. Spanx - although I think mine were Maidenform? Can't remember) and wear it for several months. The surgeon actually recommended it, and I'm glad he did. I didn't have any lymphatic massages - not sure if anyone around here does them.

I'd never heard of that - although thanks to Arabesque for posting the article.

People who lose 30 lbs the first month, unless they're the size of the folks on "My 600 lb Life", are outliers. Yes, you'll find a few, but most of us "normal" WLS patients lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month. On top of that, your surgery day weight is a little lower than a lot ours was. I think you're doing fine. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I weighed 100 lbs more than you do.

could be either - hormones or absorption issues. Some people have to get their dosage adjusted after bypass.

not really. When I was 6-12 months out, I averaged about 5 lbs a month. After I hit the year mark, there were months when I only lost 2 lbs. At 176 lbs, you're getting closer and closer to goal - and the closer you get, the slower it goes. Just keep at it. I continued to lose until I was 20 months out, even though those last few months it was very slow going.

it's an individual thing, but most of us are supposed to shoot for 60-80 grams of protein a day. Calories are all across the board, depending on your body composition and activity level. There are people on here (well, women - men can usually eat more) who maintain on 2000 a day, and others who can only have 1200 a day. It takes some trial and error to figure out your maintenance level. Log your food for a couple of weeks (if you're not already) and note your average calorie intake. If you're gaining weight, slowly reduce your calories. If you're losing weight (and don't want to), then gradually increase them until you reach a point where you want to be - and are maintaining that.

yes - some sleeve people can do this - but very few with the malabsorption surgeries (RNY, DS, SADI) can. The consequences of not taking supplements are much worse for us.

we were told taking vitamins (and other supplements) was for life. The malabsorption of vitamins with either RNY or DS (and its other versions - like SADI) is permanent. That said, I was told by my endocrinologist (whom I see for osteoporosis) not to take calcium supplements anymore, because I was spilling a ton of it in my urine, and my blood levels of that and that other value (forget which one it is - but it's the one that indicates whether your body is leeching calcium from your bones) indicated I had hypercalcemia - which can damage your kidneys. I have my levels tested regularly, and it's clear that my body is absorbing enough calcium from my food - but I think I'm an exception.

1). I lost 16 lbs the entire first MONTH, and I went on to lose over 200 lbs. Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month (yes - MONTH). So unless you're an outlier or the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", you are doing very well! 2). sounds like you are experiencing the infamous "Three-week stall" right now - right on time, too! The vast majority of us hit our first major stall within the first month or so after surgery - and it's usually the third week;, hence, the name. If you google the site for the three-week stall, you will find something like 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding). A slight bump-up in weight is not unusual, either. It's almost certainly just water weight. The best thing to do is to continue to stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you remain compliant with your program, the stall will break and you'll be on your way again. It usually takes 1-3 weeks. 3). you won't feel much (if any) restriction or "full" until you move to solid foods. Liquids go right through you, and purees pass through pretty quickly, too. Plus you had nerves cut during surgery, and it takes awhile for them to start to regenerate. You'll feel it fairly soon. However, "full" doesn't always feel the same way for many of us that it did before surgery. I don't feel "full" the same way at all - it's more a discomfort - sort of like pressure - in my chest. Once I start feeling that, I know I'd better stop eating or I'm going to be sorry. Others have even weirder full signals - like a runny nose or sneezing.

You might want to post this in the DS forum as well, as I know their requirements are different than those of the other surgeries. You guys eat more calories and more fat the rest of us (plus I remember certain carbs ar tough on DSers - they can cause G/I distress). I just looked up the nutritional value of eggs, and yes, your stats on both protein and fat in them are correct. The yolks are mostly fat. But then I would think eggs would be great for DSers - they're very nutrition, and you guys don't have to be as concerned about fat.

I never had issues with drinking fluids. That said, I still tried to slow it down a bit so I wouldn't hurt anything in my stomach - but I always drank faster than I was told we would.

you should be fine. It's mostly the first couple of months that can be a real challenge.

yep - most of us lose our sense of hunger for up to a year. I know it seems weird at first, but honestly, I found it very liberating after a while. I was free of "food noise" for the first time in forever! I hoped I'd be one of the very lucky few whose hunger never comes back, but I was not. it came back at five months out. Anyway, yes, norrmal. and take full advantage of that!! It's never going to be easier to lose weight than it will be right now. when you're never hungry and don't give a flip about food!

it's been over nine years for me, but I think they did test for certain vitamins because I remember I was deficient in vitamin (as are MANY people), so they had me on prescription vitamin D for a couple of weeks to bring my levels back up to normal.

that's totally up to you. Some people count their highest weight, others count the day they start their liquid diet, and still others count the day they had surgery. It makes no difference.

you could always get a Dexascan to see how much fat, muscle, etc you have. Not the kind you get at the doctor's office - those only check for mineral (bone) density. You need the kind they have at some sports places (some university sports labs have them) or at commercial places like DexaFit. Those scans will also tell you how much fat, muscle, etc you have. I got one when I weighed 146 lbs because I wanted to see how much more weight I could lose. The technician said nope - I was done losing. I had 21% fat at that point, which is pretty lean for a woman (unfortunately, I'm not that lean anymore!). but I found it pretty helpful. I think it was around $100.

I didn't have mine weighed after it was removed, but a lot of people claim theirs only weighed 4 or 5 lbs. I guess if you have a lot of liposuction you could lose more than that. I don't think my weight went down much. I looked about a zillion percent better, though!

one of my favorite desserts is to get some vanilla Greek yogurt (Chobani makes a 60 calorie one - and Light and Fit aren't much more than that), stir in some unsweetened cocoa powder, and then add a dollop of sugar free Cool Whip and a few raspberries.

yep - super common. It's just the IV fluid.

I think most of us were told to shoot for 60-80 grams of protein a day, but as far as sugar/carbs, plans vary quite a bit. Some are low carb, some are ultra low carb (almost keto-level), some don't count carbs at all and insist their patients follow a balanced plan (mine was one of the latter). I've never counted carbs, but I'm not particularly sensitive to them, either (I know some people are). That said, during my first few months post-surgery, I rarely ate more than 80 carbs a day, and never over 100 - although that was just because I ate very little in those days, and there was such a push for that 60-80 grams of protein that I didn't have room for a ton of carbs. I don't pay attention to carbs at all any more - I just watch my overall calorie level and still make sure I'm meeting my protein goal.

I went back and forth for at least 10 years on this. Fortunately, I didn't have the health issues you have, but I knew if I didn't get the weight off, I wouldn't live to see my 60th birthday (I was 55 at the time). I went into it thinking it was a "dangerous" surgery, but I thought it was even more dangerous for me to stay at almost 400 lbs. I was happy to learn that these surgeries are no longer dangerous (like they were years ago) - they're actually very routine now and quite safe - safer than hip replacement surgeries, which they do all the time. So I took the jump. Absolutely the best decision I've ever made! I'd do it again in a heartbeat - in fact, I'd go back and have it done every year if I had to!

yes - it's super common. For some it's temporary, for others, it's permanent.

revisions do work the vast majority of the time. But not all the time - we see people on here once in a while who had one, but it didn't work for them. But most of the time, yes, it works.