catwoman7

my exact reaction...

I also had a lift with no implants (I was tired of having big boobs. I'm very happy being a B cup size!)

it's the infamous "three week stall". Almost all of us experience that. In fact, if you do a search on this site of the three week stall, you will find about 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding!). Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll break and you'll be on your way again. It usually last a week or two - but for a few people (a minority) it last for three. And just so you're prepared, you're likely to hit a few of these on your journey. It's a common part of weight loss...

I've heard mixed things, but that was quite awhile ago. I know there was a class action suit against Dr. Almanza five or six years ago, but he may be gone by now. I don't think I've heard anything in the last few years about them.

I"ve never been told I couldn't take capsules - just gummies (I was told not to take gummy forms of anything - not just calcium) and yes - Caltrate is calcium carbonate, which we don't absorb well. We're supposed to take calcium citrate. Although one of the other posters doesn't like Bariatric Advantage chews, most people do. You have to order them online. Bariatric Pal carries them, as do a few other Web sites. I've also taken "petite" calcium tablets, which are smaller than the standard ones. I also used to use a powered calcium citrate that you mix into food or beverages - Upcal D. You have to order it online.

this was really a really good video - thanks! And yes - I've heard from the get-go that most people gain 10-20 lbs (about 10% of what they lost) after hitting their lowest weight. I swore it would never happen to me, but it did! I've come to terms with it finally. My challenge now is just keeping it there and not letting it go up anymore.

I've never heard that about bipolar disorder's effect on weight loss. There are a lot of WLS patients who are bipolar, though - I've seen MANY people post about being bipolar in the seven or so years I've been hanging out on bariatric forums. my weight loss finally stopped at 20 months out. Those last six months or so my loss slowed to a crawl, though - we're talking like two pounds a month some months. So don't give up yet! You may still have some loss and get down to where you want to be. But it's true that the closer people are to a normal BMI, the tougher (and slower) weight loss becomes...

of course, that's totally up to you. Regain is unfortunately very common in year 2 or 3 - most people put on 10-20 lbs, so you might want to factor that in (I swore I'd never be one of them, but...it happened!). If you don't want to lose any more weight, you can always increase your calories a bit. I just kind of let mine keep going until it naturally stopped - and in retrospect I'm glad I did because I did experience a 20 lb regain.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but the original post was from six years ago, so not sure if the person is still active on the board or not. But I just wanted to say that high liver enzymes are not uncommon after bariatric surgery. Rapid weight loss can be tough on livers. My enzymes were high for the first year or so - after that, they went back down to normal. My PCP at the time didn't know this and thought I had "fatty liver" - but I checked around on the internet and on bariatric boards and found that this is actually fairly common. And mine DID go back to normal once my weight loss slowed down (she had them checked again at that point --- normal).

we didn't get calorie goals, but I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for the last seven or so years. 300 calories seems pretty common the first month when you're doing liquids or purees, but after that, most people are eating around 600-800 calories/day until they get to about 10-12 months out.

I don't pay anywhere near that for vitamins. For multis, I get the generic equivalent to Centrum at Walgreens or CVS (they may have them at other places, too). It seems like they have buy one/get the second half-off sales at least once a month, so I stock up during sales if I'm starting to run low. I take one megadose of B12 every other week, so even if it's semi-expensive, a bottle lasts me forever. Calcium - Walgreens and CVS have generic calcium citrate, too. Iron with vitamin C -- I take Vitron C, which is pretty cheap - but I noticed the other day that CVS has a generic of that, too, so i bought some for when I run out of Vitron C (if you take that, keep in mind it's 100% elemental iron, so depending on your labs, you may only need to take one tablet (65 mg) of it, as opposed to the 300+ mg you have to take of some of the Ferrous <whatever> tablets that are only like 20% elemental iron (elemental iron is the part of the tablet that your body actually absorbs. Vitron C (and other brands of carbonyl iron) is 100% elemental).

I agree with what GreenTealael said. For really severe cases that can't be managed otherwise, they'll sometimes suggest a revision to bypass (which often improves - if not outright cures - GERD)

a 100-lb loss at the year mark is definitely within the average range (depending on your starting BMI - people with lower starting BMI's probably won't by down that much at that point), so you're fine.

I was only allowed to walk until I was about four weeks out - at that point, my surgeon cleared me to do most exercises other than weights. I had to wait eight weeks for those. So until you see your surgeon for a follow-up, I'd just continue walking.

I'd only take those as a last resort. That's a really strong laxative, and one you could develop a dependence on if you take it regularly. lots of us deal with chronic constipation. Things you can do more regularly to keep on top of it are stool softeners, Miralax, or magnesium tablets. Some people eat prunes regularly - or drink Smooth Move tea. Also, a fiber supplement like Benefiber can also prevent it - but don't take that if you're already really backed up - it can make it worse. But once you're "cleaned out", you can take that pretty much daily to keep things moving. Just try a few things to see what works for you. I've taken a capful of Miralax every morning for the last five or six years. That usually does the trick, but I still get really backed up maybe once a month. When that happens, a night or two of milk of magnesia will usually resolve it.

I lost my sense of hunger for about five months - and I could have given a flip about food. In my case, I saw it as a positive - it was never in my life easier to stick to a program and lose weight than it was when I honestly didn't care about food AT ALL. In some ways, I wish it all had never come back. And btw -- loss of hunger after bariatric surgery is very common - and it usually comes back sometime during the first year. however, I'm not sure about the twisting sensation. Some of the things Arabesque mentioned may be what's going on - but I'd check in with your medical team on that just in case - if nothing else, for peace of mind.

you look fantastic! Congratulations!

dumping syndrome is pretty rare with sleeve, but it does happen to some people. However, it occurs very shortly after eating - like within an hour or so (usually less), so yours might be something else. Reactive hypoglycemia (sometimes called "late dumping") happens to some people who've had bypass - not sure about sleeve. Similar symptoms (well, the rapid heart rate, anyway - and dizziness), but that happens two or three hours after eating a bunch of sugar - but that doesn't sound like what you have, either. Not sure what's going on. Maybe you should check with your bariatric clinic and see if they know what might be causing it. I'm wondering if maybe you've developed an intolerance to certain foods or something (??).

I just get generic ones at Walgreens or CVS. Most of the calcium tabs they have are calcium carbonate, but they do have calcium citrate, too, if you look for it.

it used to be standard years ago that they'd remove people's gallbladders when they had bariatric surgery. Now they typically wait to see if the person actually has any gallbladder issues after surgery, because most of us actually don't. So to answer your question - yes, that used to be pretty routine a few years ago. There may be some people on here who've had that done.

^^^^ ditto everything Arabesque said. Super common - and it will grow back! Fortunately, for most of us anyway, WE notice it, but it's usually not enough that others notice it.

Whoops - I meant to say (first sentence) that there are a lot more people who don't make it to goal than there are who get too thin.

honestly, there are a LOT more people who never make it to goal than there are those who make it. And only about 10-15% make it to a normal BMI (most people who are successful end up in the "overweight" or "class 1 obese" category (which is WAY better than being 100 lbs or more overweight!)) if you're one of the ones who makes it that far, though (and some of us do....), you can always stop the loss by increasing your calories. I was one of the ones who made it to a normal BMI, and my loss just sort of stopped on its own. keep in mind that most of us experience a 10-20 lb rebound after hitting our lowest weight, so consider that if you feel like you're getting too thin. I eventually put on 20 lbs after hitting bottom, which in my case was a good thing. P.S. class 1 obesity is defined as a BMI of 30-34.9. So...not very obese. I started out around a 60 BMI, so I would have been totally happy if I'd even made it to that range!

you're probably going to have to call them directly to see if your particular policy covers it. A lot of insurance companies cover it, but employers can pick and choose which services they want in the policy they offer their employees. Some don't want bariatric surgery coverage included because it adds a lot of the cost of the policies. my insurance company (not Empireblue) has offered coverage for years, but until two years ago, my employer decided not to include it, so when I had surgery six years ago, I had to switch to different insurance. hopefully yours will cover it...

I had one in the hospital, but they didn't send it home with me. They just gave me some pain pills (which I don't think I even opened - i really had very little pain)