catwoman7

if it turns out to be a stricture, it's an easy and painless fix. They'll stretch it out while they're scoping you - you'll be out of it, so you won't feel anything. And you'll feel about 100% better afterwards (been there - I had one at 4 weeks out and another at 8 weeks out)

yes - I do that every morning, too. For the most part, it keeps me from backing up - but on the occasion when I DO get backed up (maybe once a month or so), I'll do the milk of magnesia. And if THAT doesn't work, it's magnesium citrate time...

you're lucky. A lot of us have to clear liquids and 4 or 5 protein shakes a day - no solid food. That is TOUGH. I think I could have handled your pre-op diet!

different class of drugs. Either one should work, but I've always thought PPI's like Prilosec had to be taken regularly - like every day - whereas Pepcid you can just take when needed (one of the medical people on here will probably know for sure, though). PPI's tend to work better - but they also have more side effects. just so you know, most surgeons have us on omeprazole (Prilosec) or some other PPI, like Protonix, for about 3-6 months after surgery. You might want to let your clinic know what's going on - they may be willing to prescribe it for you.

yes. Granted, I haven't eaten ground beef in about 20 years, but I started eating burgers occasionally again when Beyond Burgers and Impossible Burgers came out. Maybe if they're plain you'd notice a difference - but I put lettuce, tomato, ketchup, light mayo or light Thousand Island dressing on them, and they taste just like a burger to me. I've only had an Impossible Whopper at BK once since I don't do fast food, and I couldn't tell the difference (although those have a lot of "fixin's" on them, too). I have one friend who's been a vegetarian for 30 years who tasted one once and said she'd never eat it again because it tasted like beef to her, and she's lost all her taste for meat over the years.

oh OK - if it's just half a scoop, then that price is pretty much in line with other brands

you WILL lose some muscle. You'll also lose bone and fat. Weight loss comes from pretty much everything - bone, muscle, fat, water. Although regular exercise and getting enough protein will help preserve enough of the muscle so that you remain healthy. Also, at a much lower weight, you're not going to need as much "infrastructure" (bone and muscle) to hold up your new weight. and I can guarantee you will not be eating a tiny piece of food forever. That's just the first few weeks. No one would be able to tell that I had weight loss surgery at this point. They would just assume I'm a "light eater", if they even noticed at all. I eat about the same amount as my never-been-obese friends who are watching their weight. you shouldn't have nutrient deficiencies if you're taking vitamins. And in a few weeks you'll be able to eat more food - and a larger variety of food - so you'll get more nutrients then, too.

I love them!!!

yes - call your clinic - they may want to scope you to see what's going on. Could be something like a stricture - but it's hard to tell without scoping you

Oddly, I'm not a frequent night eater (my bad time is late afternoon), but when I do get the urge to eat at night, it's usually SF popsicles or some SF Jello with a dollop of light Cool Whip.

check with your clinic first since you just had your gall bladder out two weeks ago, but if they say it's OK, yes - that stuff works, but you can get it much cheaper at Target (Walgreens, too - but it's usually the cheapest at Target). It may not be that particular brand, but it's still magnesium citrate. that stuff is really strong (some G/I doctors use it to clear people out before colonoscopies), but I've used it when nothing else works (including Milk of Magnesia).

I think I was about a week out when I started driving.

I never really had trouble with fluids, even at the beginning. also, stalls are very normal. I had several along the way. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for awhile if you need to. It WILL break...

this totally makes sense - I hadn't even thought of that!

I'm not as far out as you are (six years in June), but unfortunately, I can eat a lot. It's a constant, daily battle to control my cravings and my calories. Granted, I can't eat half a large pizza at one sitting like I could pre-surgery (I would be in severe pain!), but I could definitely consume half a large pizza over the course of a few hours, eating a piece or two, then another piece or two an hour or two later, etc. So even though I can't physically handle massive amounts of food at one sitting, I can overeat (unfortunately!!)

Never heard of it - and it's pretty expensive (I checked their Web site). We were told to just use whey protein isolate while we were early out, so that's what I drank. Now that I'm almost six years out I don't restrict myself to whey protein isolate since I get most/all of my protein from food, but I haven't run across Humapro yet.

just know that at the point you feel you've had too much, you've often overdone it and it can come back up. This early out, just follow your plan's guidelines. If they tell you you can eat 1/4 C (or whatever), then just eat that. Your nerves are still healing and you don't know your body's cues yet that you've eaten too much. you won't get full on a full cup of soup because it's a liquid and goes right through you. You'll feel restriction once you move to solid food. It feels differently for different people, but I never feel "full" the same way I did before surgery. I start to feel some tightness and then know it's time to stop or it's going to come back up.

most people don't feel restriction until they move to solid foods. Plus you had some nerves cut, and it takes awhile for those to regenerate. Also, your "full" cues are likely to feel different than they did pre-surgery, and it sometimes takes awhile to figure out what they are. The first few weeks I just ate what they told me to eat and didn't try chasing the "full" feeling.

I didn't, but it's not uncommon.

I would not recommend that. Too many people push the envelope and never make it to goal or gain back a significant amount of weight.

1) you're in the infamous three-week stall that almost all of us go through. To get through this, you just have to stay on your plan and stay off the scale if you need to, and your weight loss WILL start up again. Usually takes 1-3 weeks, and it'll likely be the first stall of many 2) on top of that, you may be dehydrated

deficiency in B vitamins can definitely cause nerve issues. Keep on top of your vitamins for sure!

it may be a bit early, but it could potentially be the "hormone dump" that a lot of women experience the first few weeks or months after surgery. A lot of women experience mood swings and screwed up menstrual cycles when they're early out (it eventually stabilizes). So maybe...??? Or the others may be on to something when they mention the stress of surgery.

are you afraid you won't lose all your weight if your rate of loss drops? That drop happens to everyone -- and a lot of us have lost a ton of weight. I lost 16 lbs the first month, then about 10 lbs a month from months 2-6, then maybe 5-8 lbs a month until around month 14, and then about 2-3 lbs a month after that. And I ended up losing over 200 lbs. No reason to be concerned if your rate of loss drops - it doesn't mean you won't lose the weight. Plus expecting to lose 20+ lbs a month is unrealistic, other than the first month or two. P.S. I should add that I lost my first 57 lbs via the six-month supervised diet that my insurance required and the two-week pre-op diet the surgeon required - so I was rolled into the OR the morning of surgery weighing 316 lbs

after the first month or two, weight loss rate drops off A LOT. You really get your biggest drop during the first month. I settled into about a 10 lb a month loss from about month 2 to month 6. That's actually pretty typical.