catwoman7

it's just a liquid that goes right through you, so your stomach will be fine with it volume-wise. If you're lactose intolerant, though, that could be an issue. There ARE some lactose-free protein shakes out there, though.

oddly, my weather-related headaches pretty much went away after WLS. I rarely have them anymore.

I have arthritis in my knees and right hip. I was really worried about not being able to take meds for it after RNY. The first few months post-op I got cortisone injections in my hip (it's worse than my knees), but then I stopped - the pain just wasn't as bad anymore once I lost all that weight. The damage that was done is permanent, but not carrying around 200 extra pounds made a huge difference. I walk with a slight limp due to the damage, but it's just not all that painful anymore.

I've always taken Centrum or the generic equivalent (Walgreens and CVS both have generic equivalents of it). In the early months I took the chewable form, then I switched over to the regular tablet. To get 200%, you take two a day. I take one in the morning and one in the evening.

I lost the most the first month - after that I lost 10-12 lbs a month up until about month 6. Then it dropped to maybe 8-10 lbs, and so on....so a gradual drop. Once I got to a year out, it was crazy slow - maybe 2 lbs a month. But I kept losing for 18 months.

a 10-20 lb gain after hitting bottom is REALLY common. Not inevitable, but it seems to happen to most of us. Could be we get complacent - we aren't as strict with ourselves as we once were - we're not weighing/measuring/tracking our food as carefully and constantly monitoring our weight. I know I sometimes eat things that I NEVER would have eaten during the weight loss phase. At any rate, the only way to lose it is to cut back on calories, unfortunately...

I decided to enter maintenance after a DEXAscan. I thought I had about another 10-15 lbs to go, but my body fat according to the scan was 22%, and the technician said no - it was time to think about stopping. My PCP said the same thing. She doesn't like her older patients (which is evidently me...) dropping too low and having no cushion if/when they get sick. So I started coming up on calories until I found my "sweet spot", which for me is in the 1500-1700 range. As long as I stay within that range, I can maintain my weight. If I have more than that more than a couple of days a week, my weight starts inching up. So it's trial and error. Keep in mind, though, that most of us (not all....but most) do have a 10-20 lb bounce back after we hit bottom, so you may want to account for that when deciding where to stop. It's not inevitable, but it does seem to happen to the vast majority of us.

yes - it sounds like the calorie level you were at was too high for you (what it takes to maintain weight is a very individual thing). Sounds like you're taking the right steps to reverse it. It does take awhile to re-lose once you're out that far, but lots of people have done it!!

Good to know - I hadn't heard about that. Thanks!

if you don't get any response here, check out www.realself.com It's a doctor review site (i.e., patients reviewing doctors), most of the doctors being plastic surgeons. You'll find a lot of before & after photos there.

lactose intolerance makes sense - it seems like a lot of people develop that after surgery. Sometimes it's temporary; sometimes it's not....

I'd be surprised if it was related. I know some people develop gallstones after a quick weight loss (thus, they put a lot of us on ursodiol after surgery), but I haven't heard about people developing kidney stones. Still, you're right - being well-hydrated should help. Sorry you're going through this - I've heard stones are really painful!!!

honestly, I found this to be the hardest part of the whole thing. Just white knuckle it. It's just for two weeks. It does get easier after about the third day. You can do it!!!

this sounds an awful lot like the chocolate croissant person...

what are your symptoms? You're also in the time range when strictures appear, too. I thought I had an ulcer once. My first PCP did a bunch of blood tests to rule out anything else, and then assumed it was probably an ulcer, so she had me taking omeprazole and something to coat my stomach. I changed PCP's about a month after that, and the second one did an H. pylori test, which came back negative - so I don't know what was going on. Probably just some reflux or something (??) Anyway, I didn't have an endoscopy, although I would guess they could spot one with that - unless it was in the part of your stomach that's been closed off.

this early out, you should be sticking to your program. You're still healing and can injure your stomach if you don't. If your friend cares about you, then she'll be fine with you eating what you're supposed to be eating.

that's really low. Some WLS patients get infusions when it gets down to 20 or so. I know it's technically in the range, but...low. Some of us really feel like crap when it gets down to the low end of the range. Are you feeling OK? If so, then maybe you'll still be OK for awhile - but monitor that for sure! (mine has always been over 200, so I haven't had that issue (yet....), but a lot of WLS patients have) P.S. that's getting too low for oral iron to do much good. It's supposedly kind of difficult to bring your ferritin level way up on oral supplementation alone. Usually they do an infusion or two (or maybe more), and THEN put you on supplements to maintain your (higher) level. Watch that..

Mine didn't really change - although my sense of taste was more intense than before. What I mean is, it's not that I didn't like things that I liked before surgery and vice versa, but everything tasted more intense to me after surgery. Sweet things tasted sweeter; spicy things tasted spicier. At four years out, I don't notice it any more, though. Not sure if it's gone or I've just gotten used to it.

Not sure although your breast density changes a lot when you drop a massive amount of weight. There are a few women I know who've been WLS patients who've had call backs after mammograms after they lost all their weight because things looked a bit odd - although in all cases, it turned out to be nothing. Maybe he just wants a baseline?? At any rate, if he requires a mammogram for surgery, then he requires it - not sure you're going to be able to fight that one.

I still don't do pasta at four years out. Empty calories that take up stomach space. I have eaten zoodles a few times, and they're a decent substitute. condiments - they do have sugar, although I still used them occasionally. As far as spicy things, if you can tolerate them, there's nothing wrong with eating them. My sense of taste intensified after surgery, so sweet things tasted sweeter and spicy things tasted spicier. I couldn't handle spicy things quite as well as I could pre-surgery, and to top it off, I couldn't slam a glass of milk after eating something that was too spicy for me since we're not allowed to drink right after eating. SO...I did shy away from spicy things for awhile (I still don't eat anything *super* spicy, since I can't drink anything afterward to cool my mouth down!!)

some plans allow for it. Lots don't, but some do. Some surgeons want their patients following ultra low-carb diets; others recommend more balanced diets. Mine was one of the latter, but I tended to go lower carb than what his clinic recommended.

You need to follow your plan. This early out, you could seriously injure yourself by doing crap like that. Plus why are you already trying to sabotage your surgery after only two weeks? Do you have a therapist? It sounds like you've got some issues that need to be addressed.

OK - that makes sense. You could also bring some protein bars along. I don't eat them often, but I sometimes take a few when I travel. They're a little more convenient than shakes.

RDA is 15-25 grams a day. People early out from WLS probably don't get nearly that much because we have to focus so much on our protein requirements (actually, most Americans in general probably don't get that much every day). So anyway, if you're in or under that range, theoretically you won't be overdoing it.

am I reading this correctly in that the cruise is 11 months after your surgery? If so, most people are off protein shakes by then. You can usually get enough protein through your food by that point that you don't need to supplement anymore. A few people do (like me - we discovered early on that I malabsorb protein, so I need way more than the average WLS patient), but for most, no..