catwoman7

hair loss to the point you have to wear wigs is pretty uncommon. Most people "shed" - some a little, some a lot - for many of us, it's really only noticeable to us, not to others. I didn't lose much hair. I did notice extra strands in my comb when I combed it out after washing it, but had I just looked at my head, I would never have noticed. Some people shed to the point of getting some thin spots on their head, but again, often they're the only one who notices it.

no reason to take it if you don't need it. Constipation is constant problem for many of us, but not everyone. Consider yourself lucky!

my husband stayed home with me the first week and it was helpful having him around to get things for me, etc, but I probably would have been OK on my own. Especially after the first couple of days, it really wasn't needed.

the generic name is polyethylene glycol, so the brand name(s) might be different if you live outside of the US. It's just a mild laxative that's safe to use every day (well, unless you take a ton of it - but a capful or less is fine for daily use, according to my doctor). It's a tasteless powder you mix into beverages. A lot post-ops take it to stay on top of the constipation issue.

it'll stop. Then it will grow back. And for many of us, we're the only ones who really notice it.

loose skin is a very individual thing depending on so many factors. Some people have a lot of it, others don't. It's hard to tell how yours is going to be. Like the above poster said, your age is a big advantage, but you're probably going to have at least some with a 100 lb loss. For most of us, though, it's pretty easy to hide. I knew mine was there, of course, as did my husband and doctor, but no one else did. Most of mine was in my abdomen, so I just tucked the skin into my jeans or leggings and wore slightly oversized, longish tops to cover it up. Ta da! Gone. I did finally get sick of looking at it, though, and had it removed, but I highly doubt anyone who sees me can tell a difference. Naked - yes - but with clothes on - no. I just want to add that a majority of pre-ops and early post-ops seem to be really obsessed with loose skin. I've worked with pre-op groups for the past two years and that question comes up EVERY TIME. I would also say that after losing all that weight, many of us (me too!) wonder why we wasted even one brain cell worrying about it. Losing a ton of the excess weight MAJORLY offsets the loose skin thing. I would take my loose skin any day over weighing 300+ lbs again. ANY DAY!!!! btw - here is a picture of me BEFORE I had plastic surgery. I lost over 200 lbs. See all that loose skin? I don't, either...

I only kept those that were one size larger. Everything else - out!! Figured it'd be an incentive to stay where I was weight-wise. I did have a 12 lb bounce back after hitting my lowest weight (and keep in mind a 10-20 lb regain is pretty common). Also, having a few things in the larger size helped after plastic surgery because I was too swollen to fit into some of my things (esp pants). But I had no need for size 4x and 5x things anymore...

a lot of surgeons don't seem to have an issue with coffee (some do, though). The smoking and alcohol restrictions seem to be pretty universal, though.

UGH!! I would hate that!! I guess if she doesn't stop, just pass it on to a friend, neighbor, or take it to work. She may even stop doing it if she knows you're just giving it away to someone else. Or another idea - if she refuses to stop, tell her you're tossing it into the trash from now on??

depends on the surgeon. I didn't have one.

I just take it when I'm backed up - maybe once or twice a month. I do take a capful of Miralax every day, though.

You started out at a lower BMI than many of us; thus, your weight loss is probably going to be slower. That said, you are doing great!

it's pretty common. I had a breast lift as part of my body contouring surgery. Ta da! They look better than they did when I was 20!

re: the GERD - no, it doesn't happen to everyone.

you're the billionth person to hit that early stall. almost all of us get that. It's called the 3 week stall, but it can happen anywhere within the first 4-6 weeks of surgery. Just stick to your plan and it'll eventually break

I haven't blacked out, but I used to get dizzy spells occasionally. This started happening when I was about two years out. I had a complete work-up, but they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Then the next time I had one, I noticed it was about an hour or two after I ate some cake at a retirement party. I was kind of wondering if my blood sugar had crashed. I asked my PCP about it the next time I saw her, and she said that was definitely a possibility, and it could be that during the work-up my glucose measured normal, so they didn't suspect that. She said she could arrange for me to have a glucose meter to be absolutely sure that that was what was triggering it, OR I could just eat something every 3-4 hours - either a protein or, if a carb, then paired with protein (e.g., apple slices with peanut butter). She said that's what she would recommend ANYWAY if it was definitely a glucose issue. So I've been doing that, and haven't had a problem since.. if this doesn't resolve it, see your doctor. A black out could be caused by several different things, so they'll want to do a work-up. Or better yet, see your doctor NOW since it could be something else...

a lot of people don't lose much the first few days after surgery - reason being is they pump you full of IV fluids at the hospital. Not only is it a ton of fluid, but those IV fluids contain sodium to boot, so if you're salt sensitive, you'll retain it for a few days. You should see a drop-off after the first week, though. It takes a couple of days to work the fluids out of your system - more if you're sodium-sensitive.

I originally said 199 and they said no problem (after being 300+ for years, 199 sounded like a pipe dream!). When I got down to around 220, I told them I wanted to aim for 170-180. They said as long as I worked really hard at it, that should be do-able. Got down there no problem. Once I got there, I said I wanted to be a normal BMI, so I was aiming for 150. They told me that that was pretty unrealistic - only about 10% of their patients who started at my weight could achieve a normal BMI. They said my weight at the time (around 175 or so) was perfect for me. Ha! That was pretty much all the incentive I needed. I doubled down and got down to 150 - actually, below!

I was allowed to have clear liquids only. Sugar free Jello counted, but not pudding.

some people lose weight in a stair step fashion (lose some, then stall, lose some, then stall - rinse & repeat). Others don't stall as frequently and have bigger drops between stalls. You may be one of the former. You don't have a lot of control over your pattern of weight loss - the only thing you have control over is whether or not you stick to your plan. So just stick to it - the weight *will* come off. I didn't have a ton of stalls (maybe 3 or 4?), but I was a slow loser from the get-go. I just stuck to my plan throughout the whole weight loss stage. It took awhile, but the weight eventually did come off - all of it!

according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons (attached), most gastric bypass patients should get 3000 IU's of vitamin D a day (obviously, if your bloodwork is showing deficiencies, you should be taking more than that, though). If the daily total of D3 in your calcium citrate supplements equal at least 3000 IUs, then you may be OK - but I've always taken a separate D3 supplement. here are the supplement recommendations - you have to scroll down a bit to find how much of each you need: https://asmbs.org/app/uploads/2008/09/ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

I'd say 4-5 weeks for me as well - basically, when I was allowed solid food. I did go out once or twice before that, but it was really hard to find anything that worked for me while I was still in the puree stage. I think I ended up getting soup (the pureed kind). once I was allowed solid food, I could order things like shrimp cocktail - which many restaurants have on their appetizer menu (I could only eat 3 or 4 of them - those were the days!!) btw - I tried moving most of my friends over to coffee rather than lunch or dinner. Easier to stick to my eating plan that way, and most friends were fine with it.

I still weigh daily. And I also still track food. I can't even tell you how many times pre-surgery that I lost weight, stopped doing those two things, and then gained it all back. Not happening this time. I worked WAY too hard on this. So I will do these two things for the rest of my life. and yes to your third question, too. 150 lbs is my "oh crap" level. If I hit that, I spring into action to get my weight back down.

I did chewable Centrums the first couple of months after surgery - then I switched to the regular tablets. I was also told to avoid gummies.

did I say bypass patients never develop GERD? I also did not say it ALWAYS improves or cures GERD. I said it USUALLY does.