catwoman7

yes - probably 99% of us. If you spend more than a few minutes on this site, you will see that we get this question several times a week. In fact, I just did a search of this site for "the three week stall" for you (it usually happens during week 3, but not always - sometimes it's earlier or later). There are 17,501 posts on this. And no, I am NOT kidding. Here they are: https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall you don't need to do anything special. Just stick to your program, stay off the scale if you have to (it's going to last 1-2 weeks), and your weight loss WILL start up again. I promise!

I can only speak for myself, but I pretty much spent my entire adult life (I'm 60) losing and gaining the same 50-ish lbs. Over and over again. And my weight kept creeping up a couple or more lbs every year in spite of it. I finally admitted to myself that I couldn't do it on my own - at that point, I weighed well over 300 lbs and was afraid I'd never live to see my 65th birthday. Yet I still second guessed myself in the days before surgery. I lost 57 lbs pre-surgery, so I figured maybe I could do it this time. Maybe I COULD lose all the weight on my own. But then again, I'd been in that spot (down 50-ish lbs) many times before, and it always came back. anyway, only you can answer that question for yourself. btw -- the recovery for most of us is pretty easy. There are definitely some who have a rough time of it, but for most of us, it's pretty painless. I was wondering at first if I'd even had surgery! And the hair loss part - ask anyone a couple or more years out, and I can guarantee most of them will say they wondered why they wasted even one brain cell worrying about it (yet almost all of us did when we were pre-ops or early post-ops!). Yes, some people lose a lot of hair (but it grows back!), but for most of us, we're the only ones who notice. It's very uncommon for it to come out in big clumps -- it's more like shedding. I barely noticed mine, so I'm sure no one else did. A friend lost a third of hers and she's pretty sure only she and her hair dresser noticed. So it may not be as bad as you're thinking.....for many of us, it's not.

a burger shouldn't be a problem (maybe not early on, but later). I can't do fries anymore - well, maybe five or six of them, but that's it. Too much fat makes me barf. But some people can tolerate it. I do eat Egg McMuffins occasionally if we're on the road. 300 kcal and lots of protein. I'm in maintenance, though - I wouldn't have eaten anything like that in weight loss mode.

you may end up being fine - some people don't lose much - if any. I was really worried about it as well, but I hardly lost any. I barely noticed let alone anyone else. So maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones!

an egg intolerance isn't that uncommon after surgery - although most people can eventually eat them again.

you'll be fine sleeping on your stomach after awhile. I'm a side sleeper, but I had to sleep on my back the first three weeks or so. I was the same with the pain. I had pretty much zero unless I was trying to get out of bed - then I felt like I'd just done about 1000 crunches! It'll all go away fairly soon, though...

I've never heard this - it sounds a bit odd, though. I'll see if I can find anything on it. LATER: not finding anything in scholarly literature about it (I'm a retired university research librarian and still have access to the university's databases). I see things in popular articles, but I never know how much to trust info in these. Although in the case of a lot of WLS patients, the skin is so stretched and damaged by weighing 300 - or 400 - or more lbs, that if autophagy did have some effect, it would probably be minimal. A lot of us have really damaged skin - I don't think there's much you can do about it other than have it surgically removed.

a little over 5 years out

some people seem to have luck with patches and others don't. I never tried them because I figured I'd be one of the ones they wouldn't work for, and then I'd have to play catch up getting my numbers back up again. But you'll never know which side you'll fall on unless you try them...

I had my lower body lift 26 months after my RNY and my arm lift & breast lift almost three years after my RNY. I never asked the surgeon how much all of that weighed - I probably should have!

of course she should be allowed - but only 10-15% of bariatric patients make it to a normal BMI, so she's already one of the few who pulled that off. also, that range you gave - it depends on age, too. I don't know how old she is, but a lot of doctors these days like their older adult patients at a 23-27 BMI. Older folks in that range have the lowest mortality rate.

I would highly recommend it. Otherwise you're likely to end up with a couple of $40 two-lb tubs of some kind of protein powder that you hate. Definitely get some samples first to test drive!

^^^ that was my reaction, too. You've done much better than the vast majority of WLS patients, and you're at a normal BMI to boot. What were you expecting?

yea - mine also said they were OK for very occasional use (I'm RNY), but i know not all surgeons agree with that for their RNY patients.. I haven't taken any since I had surgery 5+ years ago. I can't handle narcotics, either. They give me horrible headaches and nausea. I had them after both my plastic surgeries but gave up after the first day. I'd rather deal with the pain.

actually, ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric surgery) now recommends that sleeve patients (which would include DS since they have a sleeved stomach) avoid NSAIDs as well. So that may not make as much of a difference as it once did...

I don't know if it does for EVERYONE, but it did for me (and I love spicy food!), and others have reported it, too. It doesn't seem to bother me anymore, though - but it definitely did the first few months post-op. I'm not sure if it went away, or if I just got used to it.

most companies use your starting BMI - but I don't want to say yours will in case they're one of the minority that doesn't. You could always call them and ask. Or your bariatric clinic might know if they've dealt with that company before.

noodles and rice cakes may not be the best options early post-op (some people have a hard time tolerating them, and even if you can, you don't get a lot of nutritional bang for the buck with those. You'll have a pretty tiny stomach, so you want to stick with nutritionally dense food the first few weeks and months - like proteins and vegetables). spices are OK as long as you can tolerate them. I mean, they won't hurt your stomach or anything - but some people (including me) have an increased sense of taste after surgery, so anything spicy is going to taste WAY spicier after surgery. And you won't be able to gulp down half a glass of milk if it's too much spice for you, given the eating/drinking separation rule. I guess one option is too cook the food with less-than-the-usual amount of spices, and then add more at the table if your stomach seems to be tolerating it well. P.S. when I ate any kind of Asian food the first year or two after surgery, I'd just eat the meat and vegetable part and skip the noodles and rice (I do eat those occasionally NOW, but I limit them - even at 5+ years out. They make me feel weird if I eat more than a little, and I'm still cognizant of focusing on nutritionally dense food even though my stomach is bigger now) so the answer to your question is a qualified yes.

you're right - weight loss is usually greater with the DS, but on the flipside, there's a greater risk of complications with it, too. So....??? Either way, though, major complications with either surgery are pretty rare. if you have GERD, however, bypass would be the way to go. If you don't, it really comes down to personal preference. i'd just do a lot of reading on both surgeries. One thing to consider is that pretty much all doctors are familiar with the RNY because it's so common. I "know" people (at least from online forums) who've had the DS who've had to educate their PCP's because not all of them are familiar with it - it's not a very common surgery. other than that, most people seem to be happy with their choices. I don't think you can go wrong either way. Edited to add that you're correct - DS is usually done on people with severe morbid obesity. Although I know someone who was around 250 lbs (a woman) who had it done - so they do do it on lighter people occasionally, too.

things do slow down at that point. I remember at six months out my loss dropped to 5-8 lbs a month - and at some point dropped even lower than that. After the year mark, it was like two lbs a month. But it kept going until I was around 18 months out

I think I mentioned to you at some point that I only lost 16 lbs the first month, and we started out about the same (I was a at a higher weight than you, but I'm also taller, so it's kind of a wash). I did end up losing all of my excess weight, so don't think a 15 lb drop is any indication that you're not going to be successful, because that's clearly not the case. Your level of commitment is what will determine your ultimate success, not your rate of weight loss.

I was on a liquid diet (including 4-5 protein shakes a day) for two weeks - and I think just water for the 12 hours before my morning surgery, so that seems kind of weird she'd tell you to eat a decent meal the night before. Although did your pre-op diet include one meal a day (some do...). If so, if your surgery is in the morning, then dinner the night before would be at least 12 hours earlier, so maybe??? Hmmmm....not sure about this. Anyone else?

theoretically, yes, but it doesn't work that way for everyone. There are obviously other things that factor into this - because I have to eat well below my supposed BMR to lose, let alone my supposed BMR + activity level. there is a test you can take to get your actual BMR (as opposed to using one of the online calculators). They have you breathe into something. I don't know how accurate those are - but probably moreso than the internet calculators. The easiest way is to just experiment with different calorie levels and see where you maintain and where you start to lose. It took me awhile to figure mine out - it was just trial & error. I was eating 800-1000 calories from about eight months out to around the year mark. After one year, I was at around 1000-1200 and still (S-L-O-W-L-Y) losing. I've been in maintenance for the last 3.5 years, and I figured out I could maintain it if I stayed within a 1500-1700 range most days. But this might be different for you. The best way to tell is just to experiment with different ranges and see what happens. are you losing weight at 800-1000 now? Do you want to, or do you want to stop losing and maintain? P.S. if you start playing around with different calorie ranges, you really have to do it for two or three weeks to get the full effect. It may take that long to see to the effects on the scale. If you want to lose weight but the scale hasn't moved from whatever range you're working with at the time, then you'll need to go a bit lower.

the BMR is what it (supposedly) takes to run your body even if you lie in bed all day. You have to factor in your activity level to get at the level that it supposedly takes to maintain your current weight. So to lose, you'd have to fewer calories than that second figure (BMR + activity level). But in my case, the BMR level alone is the high end of my maintenance range - so I'd have to eat quite a bit lower than that to lose. in other words, theoretically I would burn 1717 calories if I just stayed in bed all day. But since I'm pretty active, I can supposedly eat 2500 (slightly more) to maintain my current weight. But I'd gain weight like crazy on that. Even at 1717, I'd just be maintaining my current weight, so I have to go lower. I guess with a more statistically "normal" person at my weight/activity level, they could drop down to their BMR (1717) and lose, but I can't. My actual BMR is evidently lower than what the BMR calculator indicates.

you really have to experiment with it because it doesn't seem accurate for everyone. Mine is supposedly 1717 and at my activity level, I'm supposed to be able to eat 2515 calories. I would gain weight like crazy on that! I had to find my maintenance calorie range through trial and error. Mine is 1500-1700. If I go over 1700 too many times in a week, my weight will start to creep up. And if I stay at or under 1500 most days, I'll lose. So I think my actual BMR is probably more like 1000-1200-ish.