catwoman7

I had that reaction to ursodiol (that many of us take the first few months post-op to prevent gallbladder issues), but if that were the case with you, it would have shown up before now. It may or may not be related to your surgery. Keep us posted!

nope - it's not the cashews. You're eating 700 kcal/day, so it's just a stall. Stick to your plan and stay off the scale. It'll eventually break.

8000 steps is pretty high for being just a few days out of surgery. Your body needs to rest and heal. It's been several years since I had surgery, but I think I mostly walked around my house a little the first three or four days, then did a jaunt around the block every day for a few days after that. It's good to be up and moving, but don't push yourself too much - again, your body needs to heal. as far as poop, it often takes a good week for the first one (there's not much in there yet), and the first one tends to be a doozy. A lot of us start taking stool softeners a couple of days ahead of it to prepare for it. After that, a minority of people experience occasional diarrhea, but most experience constipation, often chronic (it's due to the high protein diet plus the iron and calcium (if you're taking those). I still take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it. watch out for reflux - I'm a little surprised your surgeon recommended VSG since that's been known to make GERD worse, but that's not the case for everyone. But just keep tabs on it and manage it if it doesn't resolve or gets worse (a minority get it so badly they end up getting a revision to RNY, but for most, it can be managed with PPIs). You just don't want that to get out of control - but again, you may not have issues with it. Some people have said theirs even got better after surgery, so you never know.. I haven't seen many posts about hiccups, so I don't know how common that is, but it doesn't surprise my since your stomach's been sliced and diced. And the painful transitions (when you go from lying down to standing up, or whatever) - yep, that's very common. That's really the only time I had pain. It felt like I'd just done about 1000 crunches. that went away after a week or so, I think. sounds like things are going well over all, though. Welcome to the losers' bench!

it's not uncommon to not lose weight the first week because most people actually GAIN weight from the IV fluids they give you in the hospital (some people "gain" as much as 10 lbs - although it's not a true gain, it's just water). also, it often takes a week for your first BM. There's not much in there...

don't take much, because you'll probably be sleeping most of the time. Your phone and a charger. Very comfy easy-to-put on clothes for the ride home (although I just wore the same outfit that I wore TO the hospital). Some people use Biotene spray (for dry mouth) and Chapstick - so I did take those, but i don't think I used them (but a lot of people do use them). I also took toiletries, but I didn't need to because the hospital gave me a bag with travel-sized shampoo, deoderant, soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste. You'll get a hospital gown and slip-resistant socks, so no need to take your own unless you want to (although those gowns do make it easier for them to do things like listen to your lungs (if they even do that..) since they're open in the back. Although some people take something like a robe to put on while they're walking the halls (because they'll have you up and walking pretty quickly) - when I say those hospital gowns are open, they ARE open - all the way down...

not all bariatric diets are low-carb. Some are balanced. Also, once I got a ways out, I mostly just counted calories (although making sure I met my protein and fluid goals) losing weight via exercising is of course possible, but really tough. People overestimate how many calories they burn by exercising. According to research, exercise is much more effective in helping to maintain weight than it is to lose weight. Of course, it's always excellent for your overall health and people should do it (if they're able to, of course) - but as the primary weight loss tool, it's supposedly not that effective (well...unless you're spending a few hours a day at the gym or are into running marathons - that kind of intensity would probably do it!) I'm eight years out and have never reached the point where I've been able to eat without being concerned about my weight. I know from experience that if I eat too many calories for more than a couple of days, my weight will gradually start heading north again. Honestly, a lot of my never-been-obese friends are the same way- they have to watch what they eat. Unfortunately I think that's the way it goes for a lot of people - obese or not. Not many are blessed with the ability to eat whatever they want and not gain weight. also, you'll eventually get to the point where you can enjoy the things you do now in moderation. Nothing is off-limits for me And DS patients can generally eat more than RNY and VSG patients because of the malabsorption (RNY has some malabsorption of calories, but only for about a year, and it's not as strong as it is in DS people). Although if I'm not mistaken, I think DSers do have to be more careful with carbs - IIRC, they don't digest them well - and I know traditional DSers don't have to worry too much about fat (but not sure about SADI patients) - but check with your clinic. They'll know for sure.

after years of being "class 3 obese", I was ECSTATIC when I hit the point I was merely "overweight"!

according to this table, I was definitely a slow loser (because I'd lost 28 lbs by the end of month 2, so I probably hadn't reached 25 lbs at the six week mark (I was in the 300-400 lb group)). But I stuck to it and almost never went off my plan, and I ended up in the normal BMI range almost two years later, having lost over 200 lbs. So again, your level is commitment is by far the biggest factor in your ultimate success rate.

is it flavored yogurt? If so, it could be whatever artificial sweetener they use. Some people are sensitive to certain artificial sweeteners.

other than people the size of those on "My 600 lb Life", most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month (yes, you can always find some who lose 30 lbs, but unless they're way bigger than the average WLS patient, they're outliers). Since you've lost 15 lbs in 18 days, you'll likely end up on the higher end of that range by the end of a month. I don't remember where I was at 18 days out, but at the one month out, I'd lost 16 lbs, and I was MUCH heavier than you (and starting BMI is one of the factors that affects your rate of weight loss). So stop worrying about it - you are fine. there are so many things that affect your rate of weight loss that you have little to no control over - age, gender, metabolic rate, how muscular you are, genetics, starting BMI, etc). The only two factors you have much control over is how closely you stick to your clinic's plan, and your activity level. If you do well with those, you'll lose the weight, whether fast or slow. In the end, it's how well you stick to your plan, and not your rate of weight loss, that determines your success. If you're good at following the plan and rarely veer off, you'll do fine.

I had RNY - so a different surgery - but I had no issues at all, and almost no pain (didn't even bother opening up the bottle of pills they sent me home with). I wondered if they even did the surgery. So no - not uncommon - and the other shoe may never drop for you.

I've known several people who've had adjustments or revisions, and the weight always come off much slower the second time around. It'll come off again if you really work at it, but yea - it's usually a long, slow process...

yes - just because it's unflavored doesn't mean there's no taste. There's just no artificial taste (like chocolate) added to them. All of the ones I've tried do have some taste. I'm several years out, but for the last several years I've only used unflavored protein powder in baking.

I'm a side sleeper as well, but I think it took about three weeks before i could comfortably sleep on my side again. Until then, I had to sleep on my back (ugh...not used to that..)

I took that for the first few months (3? 6? can't remember), but I think it was a tablet - and it was just one per day. I don't remember the mg, but it was likely equivalent to your three capsules. Yes - just call your nurse and ask (ursodiol is a generic - so whatever version you have must have come from a different company than mine)

not being able to tolerate eggs early out is very common. I could handle them, but a lot of people can't for the first few months.

I agree with everything Arabesque said. I don't know your starting weight, but generally speaking, the lower it is, the slower the weight loss is (usually, anyway). I was a slow loser rom the beginning and lost 100% of my excess weight (over 200 lbs) (I've had some regain since then, but within the 10-20 lb regain range that most of us experience after hitting our lowest weight). If you stick to your program, the weight will come off, whether fast or slow.

I couldn't have eaten steak at six weeks out - it would have been too hard on my stomach. I'd stick with softer foods for awhile longer. Maybe things like canned tuna, flaky fish or ground meats.

I understand the urge although I decided against doing that. I did go out to a couple of our favorite places and enjoyed a favorite dish, but I didn't do a "food funeral" as I didn't want to binge after doing so well for so many months. Although some people do choose to do that.

normal. Many women experience weird hormone-related things the first few weeks or months after surgery (screwed up menstrual cycles and emotional weirdnesses). This is supposedly because estrogen is stored in fat cells, and during rapid weight loss, that estrogen is released. It'll eventually stabilize and you'll be fine..

like someone above, I was also diagnosed with mild sleep apnea during my pre-surgery sleep study. The technician (or whoever it was who called me with the results) suggested that I get a CPAP machine, but when I mentioned it to the PA at my bariatric center, he said it was up to me, but it was pretty likely the sleep apnea would be gone after I'd lost about 20 lbs or so. I didn't have a repeat study after losing the first 20 lbs, but I was in a research study a few months post-surgery that involved three sleep studies (they were studying brain waves), and the pulmonologist who ran one of the studies told me I did not have sleep apnea. So yea - my weight loss "cured" it.

My B12 always runs high (1000+), but it's usually met by a shrug at the bariatric clinic. It wasn't until it once went up over 2000 that they suggested I cut back a bit on my supplement. So a high B12 after surgery isn't necessarily unusual, but 3000 is pretty high. Yea - maybe check with your regular doctor just in case. It can sometimes be caused by some serious condition, but they could also find nothing and just have you cut back on your supplementation. But it's probably good to get anything serious ruled out (and it could be that they could tell by your other lab values that there wasn't anything odd going on - but then, I don't know that. I'd just check with your PCP if you're concerned) High AST and ALT aren't uncommon after surgery, but they usually normalize around the second year. But like the person above said, sometimes it takes a little longer. I can't remember when mine went down (actually I just checked - at 2 years 3 months out, mine was still high. It did eventually drop down to normal, though) P.S. I just looked through my MyChart and noticed that when I had AST/ATL checked at 2 years 7 months out (as part of a metabolic panel) they were normal. So it was during my third year that they normalized (although I lost weight until month 20 since I started out at over 300 lbs)

I wouldn't worry that much about the yellow stool because weird stool colors aren't uncommon the first month or so after surgery. Your insides have been mucked around with, so you're likely to see weird things until everything settles down again. I had yellow stool for the first month or so, too. and the diarrhea part isn't unheard of. Yes constipation is a LOT more common, but some people have diarrhea instead. the vomiting, stomach pains, and not being able to keep water down is a bit odd, though. I think I'd be tempted to go to urgent care or the ER this weekend if this keeps up - if nothing else, for peace of mind.

39.5 lbs in three months is failing? Ah...no. That's actually pretty average, unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life". I was about there at that point, and I started off much heavier than you. stick to your plan and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you stick to your plan, the stall will eventually break and you'll be on your way again. This is all VERY normal.

it looks like you're hoping to lose over 100 lbs. If so, you may have loose skin. I had a ton of it (I lost over 200 lbs), but it was easy to hide in clothes. I eventually had mine removed, though. Honestly, lots of pre-ops and early post-ops worry about loose skin, but I think I can speak for most of us who are 2+ years out. We would take the loose skin any day of the week over being obese again!