catwoman7

yes. I don't think it's all that uncommon with bypassers once we're a couple years out (not common - but not UNcommon, either). I have to eat every 3-4 hours and if I eat a carb, I have to eat a protein with it. I rarely have problems with it since I started doing that. (well, and more importantly, I watch my sugar intake, too. I can eat some, but not a ton)

are you still logging your food intake? I find that really helpful for staying on track. I've been doing it for many years - not just post-WLS.

that is crazy cheap. I had the full lower body lift plus the arm lift and breast lift (no augmentation) and I forked over around $40K in Chicago - but part of that is probably Chicago prices. Plus I had it all done in a hospital and had to stay overnight there (I had it done in two surgeries), so that adds to the cost, too. The price you got is more Mexico prices (I got a quote from a surgeon there - I think it was about $16K for all that)

that's pretty common. It seems to be about a week give or take for most of us. There's not much in there, so....

it's the infamous three-week stall - it just came early for you. Mine was weeks 2 & 3. Almost everyone goes through that early stall. Just stick to your program and it'll eventually break. It always does!

yes - a lot of people have dry mouth after surgery - maybe from the breathing tube. I think I was OK (although I had my generic Biotene spray with me...), but I know a lot of people experience dry mouth after surgery

get your labs done. This far out it's a lot more likely to be a vitamin/mineral deficiency than a side effect of the surgery.

it's easier (I could NEVER maintain before - now I can), but that's not to say it's not a struggle. It IS a struggle. But I don't want to go back to 300+ lbs again, so I do what I have to do to stay where I'm at. Luckily, although it can be a challenge, it's do-able for me.

I can't remember exactly when you were on or when it happened, but a lot of the former "experts" left a couple of years ago. They went over to Obesity Help for awhile, but then most of them dropped off of that, too. I guess most people leave these kinds of boards once they're a couple years out if everything's going OK (and sometimes even if everything's NOT going OK...). I'm off and on them. One advantage is that it does help to keep my head in the game. And now that I'm retired and we're trapped in the house because of COVID (or at least until spring), I've become pretty active again.

it depends on how heavy you are, how long you've been obese, how much you lose, how old you are, etc. If you're talking 100 or more lbs, then you'll almost certainly have excess skin regardless of other factors. Your skin gets stretched out and damaged to the point that it just doesn't bounce back. I would say most people DON'T have plastic surgery because it's pretty pricey and most insurance policies won't cover it unless there's a medical reason to do it (e.g., if you have chronic rashes because of it that don't respond to conventional treatments). Fortunately, most of us are able to hide it pretty well in clothes. Here I am after a 200+ lb loss, before I had plastic surgery And I had a TON of loose skin - esp on my abdomen. I also want to say that it seems like most pre-ops and early post-ops worry incessantly about loose skin (and I was one of them....), but I think I can speak on behalf for most of us "vets" that in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of a minor thing. Most of us would take our loose skin any day of the week over being morbidly obese again. ANY DAY!

yes - that 30/30 rule seems to be pretty universal. We were told to do that at first - and then when we moved to solid food (at about six weeks out, I think), we were told we could drink up to the point of eating, but then we couldn't eat while eating or for an hour afterward. I'm still doing that six years later (although there have been a few times when I couldn't wait a whole hour because of timing issues, but I at least waited 30 minutes, since most surgeons recommend just 30 minutes, not 60 like mine does - so I figured it was probably safe). You do get used to it after awhile.

btw - did you have a picture of a dog (husky, maybe?) as your profile pic at one time? If so, I remember you from a couple of years ago, and in fact a couple of months ago you crossed my mind for some reason. Have you been away for awhile? (I've been on here for five or six years - but I'll go away for awhile and then come back - rinse and repeat). If you're the same person, you were here right before I disappeared again last time.

absolutely. At one point I reached a low of 138 lbs, but it would have been nearly impossible to maintain that. I'm much more comfortable where I am now. It's still work to maintain it, but it's tolerable, and I'm willing to do it.

my dietitian (and surgeon, too) told me specifically NOT to make normal BMI my goal, since, as I said, he told me only 10-15% of his patients make it that far. When I went in for my first consult, I told them my goal was to weigh 200 lbs. They said that was very reasonable. When I got there, I told them I now wanted to weigh 170-180. They told me if I worked really hard at it, that was do-able, too. When I got there and told them I now wanted to make it to a normal BMI (which at my height, is under 155 lbs), they looked a bit alarmed and warned me that very few people make it that far, so that wasn't a reasonable goal. I did eventually make it, but I'm very aware that this isn't the norm. Honestly, I would have been happy weighing anything less than 200 lbs, after being over 300 for so many years. I mean, I'm glad I was able to lose all of my excess weight, but I would have been really happy even being under 200 lbs for once in...well, forever.

yea I've wondered that as well.

that's often due to low blood pressure (although you might want to check it out with your PCP or surgeon, as there are other things that can cause that - like low glucose level, inner ear issues, etc - but it's usually a blood pressure issue). The medical term is orthostatic hypotension, and it's pretty common in the early weeks after bariatric surgery. If that's what it is, just get up more slowly. It'll usually resolve on its own, but as an above poster said, if you're on blood pressure meds, check with your doctor as they may need to lower your dosage (or even take you off them).

the no-hunger thing is great and makes it fairly easy to lose weight the first few months. It doesn't happen to everyone - but it seems to to most people. I had no hunger for the first five months. It was wonderful - wish it would have lasted! I don't remember feeling bloated (although I might have - it's been almost six years) - but it's probably gas or fluid retention from the IV. Some people report gaining up to 10 lbs from the fluid. Takes it a a good week or so to work its way out of your system.

it won't be the last time eating it. Yes - you won't be eating it for a while - months - but there will come a time when you can eat pretty much everything again. Just not in huge quantities (well, unless you want to regain the weight you lost - yikes!). I thought about doing one of those "food funerals" before my pre-op diet, but I didn't do it. I'd lost 57 lbs before my surgery and was pretty proud of that and was gung-ho to have the surgery and keep losing. We did go out to dinner a couple of times that week before the pre-op diet to some of my favorite places, but I didn't make a pig of myself - so I kind of did a semi-food funeral...

my surgeon said only about 10-15% of his patients make it to a normal BMI. The research I've read backs that up. A lot of people don't want to believe that, but....

I wonder about that when I read posts from people who are a ways out (like a year or more) and still eating something like 800 kcal a day and training for marathons - or otherwise exercising compulsively. Are they really going to be able to keep this up long term? And what happens when they settle into a more "normal" life?

for most people (not all, but most), bypass improves if not outright cures heartburn. I had it prior to surgery, so my surgeon recommended I go with bypass instead of sleeve. It completely went away for about three years. I do get mild heartburn occasionally now, but nothing like before I had bypass. A couple over-the-counter antacids like Rolaids will usually do the trick.

actually, some people don't have to do a pre-op diet at all. Maybe just the day before - like you have to do with most surgeries.

I get what you're saying. Before I had my lower body left, I hated the way it felt when I did hip thrusts (or whatever you call them - when you lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor - and then you raise and lower your hips). That butt skin would start pooling under me before I even got my butt down all the way to the floor. It drove me INSANE!!

they'll know what's going on. Pretty much everyone has that stall. It's frustrating, but...it's part of the process.

mood swings and other hormone-related weirdnesses are pretty common after WLS. It's supposedly due to estrogen being released from your fat cells (where it's stored). It'll level out and stabilize after a few weeks or months (hopefully weeks, though!) bypass patients have issues with extended release meds, but I don't think sleeve patients do. But they may need to play around with your dosage or have you switch to a different brand if this one is no longer working.