catwoman7

ice cream is a slider food - it melts quickly in your stomach and goes right through - and it's full of calories to boot. If you're still feeling restriction after "regular food", you haven't killed your sleeve (and I'd be surprised if you'd "killed" it in the first place!). you'll have to try to get back to what you were eating before the pandemic started....focus on protein first, track everything that goes into your mouth - you know the drill. If you feel a binge attack coming on, get out of the house - or if that's not possible, be sure you have lots of safe stuff around, like raw veggies (you can even make a dip for them out of plain Greek yogurt if you want - I stir in or season it with different things), SF Jello, SF popsicles, lots of fun zero or ultra-low calorie beverages, maybe some grapes.... your surgeon will not be mad. They've seen this before - and probably moreso than usual with the pandemic going on. edited to add that sometimes when I'm starting to binge, I'll have a big bowl of something like All Bran or Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal. They're super filling because of all the fiber (but you may want to start with a more manageable amount if you're not used to a huge fiber intake, though -- or you may be sorry a few hours later!)

weight loss from revisions is usually not nearly as fast as it is with virgin surgeries. Also, if your BMI is comparatively low, that would mean a slower weight loss rate, too. also, if you haven't lost in a week, you may be in a stall. Most people have their first stall during the first 4-6 weeks after surgery. all that said, as long as your weight is gradually going down (even if you stall now and then, which you will...), you're good.

alcohol has a lot of calories, plus cross addiction is unfortunately not uncommona among WLS patients - some people who've never had addiction issues pre-surgery can develop alcohol issues or alcoholism. early after surgery I'm guessing it could be damaging if you're not fully healed. After that, that's probably not a huge risk -- but I'm guessing they think alcohol addiction may be more likely to happen within the first few months or something - or it may be the calorie issue - I'm not sure. I do have a glass of wine or two maybe two or three times a year, but I didn't have any alcohol at all until I was about three years out. Be forewarned that it hits you FAST.

chronic constipation is very common with both VSG and RNY patients. I think it has to do with the high protein diet plus the iron and calcium supplements (if you take those - RNY patients usually take those - not sure if all VSG patients do). All of those things can cause constipation. even people who've been off the shakes for years still deal with constipation, so although they may have some effect, there are other things contributing, too...

actually, most of us DON'T have much pain after these surgeries. I had almost none. I had a morphine pump in the hospital which I felt I didn't really need, but the nurses made me use it since they wanted me to get up and wal a lot. I was sent home with pain killers, but I don't think I ever opened them.

except for iron, deficiencies supposedly aren't that common as long as you stay on top of your supplements. Iron can be tricky because some people have a hard time absorbing oral iron, so they have to get it from infusions. But the majority can absorb oral iron just fine. also, most deficiencies can be corrected by increasing your supplement intake. Iron, of course, is the one that can be tough to increase once it's low. I've been able to bring mine up by increasing my (oral) iron intake, but some people can't and have to have an infusion to bring it up. you'll be getting regular labs drawn to see where you are, and they'll have you increase or decrease supplementation if your levels get out of range. I've had to increase my iron and decrease my calcium in my five years of being post-op. So just stay on top of your supplements and get your labs done when you're supposed to, and you should be fine.

most of us were several months out before we started counting calories. You're not physically going to be able to take in enough calories this soon after surgery to worry about it. Just focus on your fluid and protein goals for now.

that question and line of thinking is very common. I think a lot of us can relate to that... I pretty much spent my entire adult life gaining and losing the same 50-ish lbs (I'm 60 years old). I had over 100 to lose (more and more as I got older, as my weight inched up by a few lbs every year). During my six-month supervised diet (required by my insurance company) and my two-week liquid diet, I lost 57 lbs. I thought the same thing - if I can do this on my own, why do I need surgery? But then, I had lost and gained 50 lbs more times than I can remember - and at that point, I had over 200 to lose. I had to be honest with myself. Maybe this time it would be different, but then, I knew it probably wouldn't. if you think you can lose your excess weight and maintain it without surgery, then go for it. I knew I couldn't. And statistics show that only about 5% of people can do it. So yes - some can and have. But the odds are not that great. Having weight loss surgery doesn't guarantee you're going to do it, either, but your odds are significantly better.

I think bariatric clinics should let pre-op patients know about this (some do - but it doesn't seem like most). Almost everyone goes through this early stall, and people really freak out about it when it happens because they weren't told about it. If the clinics would let people know about it, it would save a lot of their patients from panicking or thinking they failed the surgery within the first month!

my husband was there with me (5 years ago), but I slept most of the time, so it may not have mattered in the long run if he was there or not. Although it was nice of him to stay with me! (he even slept in the guest chair!)

it's been a few years so I can't remember exactly - but I think it was a lot easier to get in and out of bed after the first four or five days. And it was maybe three weeks before I could sleep on my side again.

once you get close to a normal BMI (which you are), it's really hard to lose weight. It could be your body is happy where it is, so it's going to be a fight to get more off. Not that it can't be done, but... And getting down to a 27 BMI is pretty amazing. The average loss for bariatric patients is about 70% of excess weight, and only 10-15% make it down to a normal BMI. So your accomplishment at this point is actually pretty amazing... also, I should add that at 20 months out, most of us have stopped losing. That's not to say it's impossible to lose more, but 18-ish months out is kind of where most of us naturally stop. My weight loss stopped at 20 months out, too.

I never had any issues (and I only had to take a chewable multi for the first few months after surgery - then I could switch over to a regular tablet. With my other vitamins, I had (and still have) to take B12 as a sublingual, but everything else I've been taking as a regular tablet as soon as I got out of the hospital. I never had issues with meds. As someone else said, check with your prescribing doctor - it could be that some meds may need to be adjusted. And you can't do extended release versions any more. But outside of that ????

yes - it's common. But for most of us, it doesn't last long. The first few weeks can be rough - but once we're through them, most of us are really glad we made the decision. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

this looks great!!

he's back again - posing as a woman.

that was my first thought when I saw this. He's B-A-A-A-C-K! And ruder than ever!

OB/GYN's are usually considered primary care providers (along with internal medicine and family physicians), so this should work. Just ask her...

do I search on this site for the "three week stall". There are 17,501 posts on here about that early stall (usually the third week). And no...I am NOT kidding. 17,501 posts. We get that question at least twice a week. Almost EVERYONE has that early stall.

dumping usually involves heart palpitations, sweating, weakness, severe diarrhea, and sometimes nausea and vomiting - so if you have any/all of those symptoms, then yes, maybe....

true - before I had a DEXA scan about three years ago, I thought I had another 15 lbs or so to go. Nope. My body fat was 22% - normal, but on the low end of the normal range for a female. The technician - and my PCP - both said I was done losing weight. That "fat" I saw was just extra skin.

oatmeal is actually pretty good for you, but I don't think I ate it much if at all the first year because my stomach was so small and the protein requirement was high (esp for me, since I have to eat more protein than most). I do eat it occasionally now that I'm in maintenance. watermelon is mostly water, so it should be fine unless you can't handle the sugar in it. Or if you're on a really low-carb plan (also because of the sugar)

btw - no one on here has argued with the fact that a normal BMI is between 19-24.99. Anyone halfway aware knows that. We are trying to reassure someone who made it to a 25.5 BMI that she's not a failure. Far from it - she's a huge success. The fact is that the average loss for a WLS patient is about 70% of excess weight. And depending on which research study you read, only 10-15% of us make it to a normal BMI. So she's done better than at least 85% of people who've had weight loss surgery.

no inconvenience at all! Sorry if it came across that way - sometimes it's hard to tell someone's intentions or emotions in written communication. Ask away!

evidently that poster doesn't know many of us. Several of us "several degreed" people are on here... Not sure how this really matters, though.