catwoman7

Not a sleever, but a bypasser. I had surgery at age 55. I was a slow loser the whole time, but there are so many things that factor into that that I'm not sure how much of it was due to age - but probably at least some. It also depends on your gender, your starting BMI, how muscular you are, how active you are, genetics, whether or not you lost a lot of weight before the surgery, etc. If you really stick to your program, you'll lose the weight - whether fast or slow

for some of us, yes - that can be a normal pattern

I never pureed meat - it sounded too disgusting. It's been several years, but I remember eating a lot of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, hummus, fat free refried beans, and hummus someone mentioned eggs - those would work as long as you can tolerate them. Some people can't "do" eggs for the first few months (same with chicken - I don't remember having an issue with it, but I know a lot of people do.

if you haven't already, you might want to post this in the DS forum, too - there aren't a lot of DS'ers around (a few - but not like RNY or VSG), but you may get some additional responses if you post over in the DS forum

I didn't really have any health issues, but I'm also a "senior" - there are lots of us on here who've had surgery in our 50s, 60s, and even a few in their 70s. not being able to exercise much shouldn't be an issue. Weight loss is 90% diet and 10% exercise (exercise has a greater effect during maintenance, though (once you reach your goal weight) - but then, you can only do what you can do. But for losing weight, no - it doesn't play a major role). I've "known" several people on bariatric forums who rarely if ever exercised, and they still lost a ton of weight.

I had bypass, but recovery time is similar. I took three weeks off but could have gone back after two (but having that third week was nice!). I had a desk job (now retired)

it's not likely that your pouch has stretched out - but you ARE at the point when many of us get "diet fatigue" and let old habits slip back on. Keep on top of it - and try to continue to eat the way we're supposed to be eating. It's easy for your weight to start heading north again if you don't monitor your intake.

I think it depends more on the person - how quickly you tend to recover, etc. I had a bypass, and honestly I felt like I never even had surgery! (well, other than when I transitioned - from lying down to sitting up, or standing to sitting, or whatever - I could feel it in my abs - but then, I've heard sleevers say the same thing)

btw - just to clarify, when I said 2/2.5 months out - I meant I was still feeling low energy 'til around then - - but that was also the point when I started feeling more normal (as in - not tired all the time), so that part (hopefully!) will be ending soon for you. As far as food, yea - my stomach was pretty picky (and my tastes, too) for the first six months or so....and occasionally even after that. There are still a few things that I don't tolerate well. Pasta, for example, I can eat, but it sits in my stomach like a rock, so I can't eat that much of it - maybe 1/3 of a cup or something (and this is at several years out)

we were never given a sodium limit. Like Babyspoons said, most doctors and dietitians recommend no more than 2300 mg of it a day, so that's what I try to stick to. And once you start eating more normally, 2300 will not seem like a lot, because there's so much of it "hidden" in foods. Depending on how you eat, it can be a challenge to stay under that! If you're the type who tends to eat processed foods or restaurant meals (and I realize this isn't NOW, but later on), you'll be up to 2300 in no time!

I agree with the other posters. And a lot of people seem to have trouble with chicken the first few weeks or months out (I didn't - but it's not at all uncommon). Just try 'er again later on. Some people's stomachs just aren't as ready to move on as others, and that's OK! fluids will definitely help with constipation, so keep working at it - but just so you know, constipation can become a chronic issue with a lot of us. At eight years out, I still take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it. But for some, once they're able to get enough fluids and can eat things with fiber (like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains), it goes away. But for now, keep working on those fluids!

it gets A LOT easier! The first few weeks are tough. But you'll gradually have fewer and fewer food restrictions and at some point will be able to eat more normal amounts (still small compared to pre-surgery, but something that looks more like "light eating" than "I just had weight loss surgery" small). So hang in there! as far as what you're eating, crackers are not a good choice - not only do they have little nutritional value, but it's way too early to be eating them. Some of us are able to eat mashed potatoes when we get to the pureed stage (unless we're on an ultra-low carb plan, which some clinics push), but they have little (maybe nothing?) in the way of protein. WIth as little as you'll be taking in the first few weeks, you need to focus on protein. try to make yourself stick to liquids for now, if that's what your clinic wants you to do. You'll soon be able to move on to purees, where you'll be able to add other things, mostly protein-rich, like Greek yogurt, fat-free refried beans, hummus, cottage cheese (you may have to whip this in a blender first - can't remember), sugar free protein pudding, etc. Protein fills you up more (simple carbs like crackers tend to make people hungrier by spiking their blood sugar, which then drops an hour or two later, which means you just get hungry again). Plus your body needs the protein to heal. And since you're only taking in a few hundred calories/day the first few weeks (and maybe the first few MONTHS, depending on your plan), that needs to be your main focus.

that's a cute photo of you, SleeveDiva!

milk and yogurt both contain lactose, which is a sugar - but it's not ADDED sugar (unless you're eating sugar-sweetened yogurt). I never worry about lactose. It's not a "bad" sugar, and the amount of protein in milk and yogurt offsets any negative. yellow stools (or any weird color, for that matter) aren't usual the first month or two after surgery. The digestive system has changed and it takes a couple of months for everything to settle down. I think mine looked normal again after 4-6 weeks (it's been a few years so I don't remember exactly) weight loss is usually slower with revisions. And if you're still on liquids or purees, no, you're not going to feel restriction. Those go through you pretty quickly (or in the case of fluids, they go right through you). Plus you've likely had nerves cut that'll take a few weeks to regenerate. You should start feeling restriction about the time you move to solid food.

keep in mind that'll it take months before you see the final result. You're going to look a lot better right away (well, aside from the swelling and scars), but it's going to continue to improve. I've read it can take as long as a year to see the final results (although the majority of the swelling will be gone within a couple of months). Everything will look more natural, scars will have faded significantly (some will be barely visible), etc.

low/no energy is pretty common the first few weeks after surgery. Your body went through a lot of trauma, and it's getting very few calories now to boot. I think I was about where you are when I started feeling like myself again, so you may be close... as far as no interest in food (or being repulsed by food), I know this sounds really weird at this point, but enjoy it while it lasts - or at least take full advantage of it. Hunger eventually comes back for almost all of us sometime during the first year (mine came roaring back at five months out), and the going gets a lot tougher then. Even though never being hungry and not giving a flip about food was pretty weird for me to get used to, I honestly wish I would have been one of those lucky few whose hunger never came back. I'm eight years out and although I've maintained most of my loss, it's a challenge every day.

you need to eat or you're going to get very sick. If you follow your clinic's food guidelines, you will not gain weight. at 2.5 months out, you're probably not going to do much in the way of vomiting. I had some issues with that early on when I ate too fast or if something didn't agree with me, but by 2.5 months it was a rare occurrence. By then I'd figured out how fast/slow I could eat and what, if anything, didn't agree with me. Besides, vomiting post-surgery is different from vomiting pre-surgery. Your stomach is really small so there's not much to come back up, and your stomach also doesn't produce nearly as much acid as it did before, so you don't get that horrible taste in your mouth. I don't dread vomiting like I did pre-surgery.

yes the first few weeks and months can be tough, but it'll soon be behind you. I still log my food intake (at eight years out!) so I can monitor my overall calories, but otherwise, I don't really think about it at all - and haven't for a long time. At about six months out you'll no longer have any food restrictions (although you'll be encouraged to eat nutritiously and to watch your overall intake)), but you'll feel pretty normal.

I definitely would lay off the potato chips because they have zero nutritional value and they're probably going to be too hard on a healing stomach. sometimes hunger is actually thirst or can be caused by stomach acid. DId your clinic prescribe some sort of antacid, like omeprazole? A lot of them prescribe it for the first 3-6 months after surgery.

yes - all of the above. It's pretty common to have high liver enzymes the first year or so after surgery. Rapid weight loss is pretty hard on livers. They'll usually stabilize when your weight loss slows way down - usually during the 2nd or sometimes the 3rd year (mine stabilized the third year). We hear about that every couple of months on here, it seems. When my PCP noticed my liver enzymes, she freaked - but the bariatric clinic knew what was going on. And they were right - they did stabilize and have been normal ever since. My ferritin level is usually in the 200s, which is definitely higher than normal, but it's always been met with a shrug. I don't know about levels like 600 or 1022. If there's nothing else going on with you, they may just assume it's the supplements and have you cut way down on them for awhile. I wouldn't freak out yet, though. It may or may not turn out to be anything serious.

I can tolerate any artificial sweetener, but some people have trouble with some of them. Sugar alcohols (those whose names end in "-itol", like xylitol) are especially known for giving some people problems.

that's not normal. Strictures are more common in bypass patients (about 5% of bypassers experience them) but pretty rare in sleevers - but on the other hand, they're not unheard of in sleevers. I'm wondering if that's what's going on. I'm not sure i those will show up on an ultrasound or CT scan or not. Usually they find those on an upper endoscopy. I have no idea, though - that just doesn't sound normal at all.

I don't think protein bars would count. I think I ate a lot of things like cheese sticks, hummus, cottage cheese, hummus - although it's been several years so I can't really remember - someone not as far out may be able to suggest some options EDITED to add this that I just found on the Mayo Clinic's site. But your clinic may have guidelines as well.. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/gastric-bypass-surgery/in-depth/gastric-bypass-diet/art-20048472

I think I started eating sashimi fairly early on (after I was given the go-ahead to eat solid foods). I eat regular sushi now, too, and have for a long time - but I think it was at least a few months if not longer before I tried that (i.e, because of the rice)

I'm not a revision, but an eight year "vet" on here. Most people don't lose weight nearly as fast after a revision as they do after a "virgin" surgery. And also, you do have some control over that. You probably won't be able to eat much for the first few weeks after the surgery because of the swelling and healing, but once you're through that, you do have some control over how many calories you're taking in. You can always bump them up a bit if you think you're starting to lose too much weight