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- Before surgery Compare procedures, plan ahead, and get honest pre-op answers.
- Post-op Recovery, food stages, symptoms, and support.
- Long-term Regain, labs, habits, and life after the honeymoon.
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Everything posted by catwoman7
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Abdominal Binder
I didn't have one for my gastric bypass (some people do, some don't - probably the same with sleeve). I did have one after my tummy tuck, though.
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Food
the no weight loss since last week is almost certainly a stall. They're completely normal. They usually last 1-3 weeks, and you're likely to hit several of them on your weight loss journey. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. They'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again. the nausea part - I'd let your clinic know that...if nothing else, for peace of mind.
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Stretching Exercises
I think I'd probably hold off on the sit ups and toe touching until you see the surgeon. Not sure about leg lifts. I wasn't supposed to do anything other than walk the first four weeks. You could always call the clinic and ask...
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Not eating, drinking or walking enough…
our clinic didn't give goals. There are so many things that affect rate of weight loss that you have little to no control over - like age, gender, starting BMI, metabolic rate - that it's really kind of pointless and can be discouraging to those of us "slow losers". If we stuck to the plan, stayed active, and our general weight trend was down, we were good. even though we didn't have goals, I lost 16 lbs the first month, and ended up losing 100% of my excess weight, over 200 lbs.
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Dizziness and fainting 10 weeks post op
I had an issue with that about a year after WLS. They checked several things because they said there could be any number of reasons - low blood pressure, reactive hypoglycemia, inner ear imbalance, or even at UTI! They didn't find anything, but my PCP suspects it was probably glucose-related, and my glucose level just happened to be normal during the work up. So she suggested I eat something every three hours - preferably a protein. I haven't had that issue since, so that might have been it - or at least it was for me. I know a lot of people experience that because of low blood pressure, though - that seems to be the most common culprint. hope they figure yours out!!
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Dizziness and fainting 10 weeks post op
dumping isn't very common with sleeve - although that said, it's not unheard of. this sounds more like a blood pressure or blood sugar issue, though - that is definitely NOT uncommon the first few weeks or months after WLS. Mention to your PCP - he/she might want to do a workup to see what's causing it.
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Stall with water retention
10 days on a stall is normal. They normally last 1-3 weeks (although I've heard of them lasting even longer). The bloating combined with infrequent urination sounds like you're retaining water. I agree with summerseeker - may be due to salt intake.
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How painful is gastric sleeve post-op?
I get nauseated after anesthesia, so I now ask for one of those patches they put behind your ear if I'm having surgery. It helps - or at least it does for me.
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Loosing teeth after gastric bypass and the easy way out?
acid can cause decay - but probably not chipped teeth. Not sure what's going on there. Let us know what the dentist says.
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Weight gain
if you're on a liquid diet, that gain wasn't a real gain. Probably water retention from the IV.
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long term effect of surgery
hunger/appetite usually come back sometime during the first year after surgery (and a minority of patients never lose it at all). After that, things get more challenging. It's hard work - but it does "work" as long as you're committed and stick with your program. during year 3, most people experience a 10-20 lb regain as your body settles in to its new set point. Of course, some people can gain much more than that if they aren't careful. basically, the surgery keeps you from eating a lot AT ONE SITTING. I'm over seven years out, and I can't eat nearly as much at one sitting as I could prior to surgery. As an example, before surgery, I could easily eat half a large pizza. Now, I can physically only eat 1-2 pieces. Again, at one sitting. the major problem is grazing. If I eat 1-2 pieces of pizza at 6:00 pm, and another piece at 7:30 pm. and another piece or two at 10:00 pm - ta da! I've eaten half a large pizza. So you really have to watch that if you want to maintain your loss. like others have said, though, it gives you a huge reset. I lost over 200 lbs, which I could have never done on my own. But after that loss, it's on you.
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Teeth Issues After Surgery?
I read a bunch of horror stories before I had surgery and had to make myself stop. A lot of these stories are about things that rarely happen. You have to keep in mind that people post when they're having issues because they're looking for advice or support. The vast majority of us either never have complications or have minor ones that are easily "fixed" or managed. If things are all going well, people generally don't post about it. All those issues like tooth decay, bowel obstructions, etc, can certainly happen, but they're pretty rare. I had bypass. Strictures are the most common complication (besides dumping, which affects about 30% of us), but strictures only happen to 5% of us. And that's considered a "common complication" - if that gives you any idea...
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Teeth Issues After Surgery?
thanks - I neglected to tell the OP that we just had a discussion about this three days ago!
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Teeth Issues After Surgery?
no - a lot of people do not have these issues. Although it can happen, it doesn't seem to be a common thing. I've been on this site over seven years, and have seen maybe two posts from people who are having tooth issues. I also talked to my dentist about this before I had surgery, and he said although he'd read about it in the professional literature, he's never seen it in his patients who've had WLS. my dentist said decay is usually caused by acid, and the people who have these issues are likely frequent vomiters or have untreated GERD. I was still freaked out about it, so he prescribed a super high-fluoride toothpaste for me to use before going to bed, and he also puts a fluoride varnish on my teeth every six months. To be honest, I think he probably did this just to placate me because I was so worried about it. if you stay on top of your supplements, take care of your teeth, and have regular dental checkups, you'll likely be fine.
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Please give me hope and tell me there's someone out there who hasn't lost their hair !
it doesn't matter if it's bypass or sleeve. As someone else said, any major surgery can cause hair loss because of trauma to the body. I think we see it more often after WLS than some other surgeries, though, because in addition to the surgery stress, we're also taking in very few calories those first few months. not everyone loses hair. I lost very little. I barely noticed let alone anyone else. And for most people, you're the only one who'll notice it. Most pre-ops and early post-ops worry about hair loss (and loose skin, too), but I think i can speak for most of us who are a year or more out that in the grand scheme of things, it's really a blip on the screen. I don't know why I wasted even one brain cell worrying about it.
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Is this it? Is my body done?
one can always lose more weight by cutting calories, but you have to decide if you're willing to do that. Given that those of us who've lost a lot of weight have heavier bones and muscles than "normies" (because you needed extra infrastructure to hold that excess weight up. Granted, you lose some of it when you lose weight, but not all of it...) - plus you may have some excess skin to boot, you probably look 10 lbs less than you weigh. even if your body isn't quite done losing, I can tell you from personal experience that those last 20 lbs are a BEAR to lose. I was losing something like 2 lbs a month the last couple of months, despite a momentous effort. The closer you are to a normal BMI, the more you're eating at equilibrium (your calories in and calories out are about the same). It's a challenge to eat less than that. SO...either your body is done losing and it'll be a struggle to lose more - or your body is NOT done losing and you're just at the point where it's really tough and slow going to get those last few lbs off.
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Surgery Date In a few Days
you may or may not have pain. I would say based on what I've read here for the past seven years is that the majority of us have little to no pain with these surgeries. They'll send you home with pain meds, though, so if you're one of those who has pain, you'll have something to control it.
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Sugar intake question
I'm several years out, but I can handle sugar just fine (unfortunately). Most restrictions are temporary - at some point, you'll be able to eat most (if not all) things, just in smaller portion sizes. P.S. about 30% of bypassers dump. Sleevers can also dump, but it's not nearly as common. But even dumpers can handle at least *some* sugar.
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Puree week
you're probably going through the infamous "three week stall" early. I did as well - mine was weeks 2 and 3. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you stick to the program, the stall will eventually break and you'll be on your way again. They usually last 1-3 weeks. constipation is a common issue for WLS patients. It's due to the high protein diet and some of the supplements some of us take (i.e., calcium and iron - both known to back people up). I've been taking a capful of Miralax every morning for years, and so do a lot of others. Other people take things like stool softeners or magnesium tablets - whatever works!
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Loosing teeth after gastric bypass and the easy way out?
I haven't really heard about losing teeth (that i can recall, anyway), but I'd read about dental issues (i.e., decay) after gastric bypass. I asked my dentist about it around the time I had surgery seven years ago. He said although he'd read about it in the professional literature, he'd never seen any of this in his patients who'd had WLS. On top of that, I rarely see any posts about people experiencing dental issues either here on BP or on other WLS sites. So my take on this is, although it can happen, it's pretty rare. My dentist said decay issues (with or without WLS) are usually due to too much acid in the mouth, which can happen with excessive vomiting or acid from GERD. I rarely vomit or have issues with reflux anymore (although I did have GERD prior to WLS), but because of my concern, he wrote me a prescription for a super-fluoridated toothpaste that I use before I go to bed. He also puts a fluoride varnish on my teeth every six months. He said those two things should go a long way toward preventing any damage. To be honest, I think he did this more to placate me than anything else because I was so freaked out about it, because I have regular dental appts and take good care of my teeth - so it's likely I never would have had any issues anyway. so long way of saying - this doesn't seem to be a common issue - and if you're worried about it, have a chat with your dentist (oh -- and keep on top of dental appts, too!)
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Questions to Ask Before Surgery?
it's sleeve - there are different bougie sizes. But I'm not sure if all surgeons ask for your preference. there is one revision to bypass where they can bypass more of the small intestine for some additional weight loss- but that doesn't seem to be a very common form of revision. For a virgin surgery, I don't know that anyone ever asks for your preference...or I should say, at least I've never heard of that.
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Jack link's meat sticks
yes - but only after you're approved for solid food.
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Questions to Ask Before Surgery?
that doesn't really apply to bypass. I've never heard of people getting a choice in that.
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Simple DUMPING question
I agree with Arabesque. Plus, dumping is not very common with sleeve patients. I suspect you just overate - or ate something that disagreed with you.
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Will I ever be hungry again???
yes. Most of us do lose our hunger for awhile, and for the vast majority, it returns sometime during the first year. For me, it came back at five months out - and to be honest, I wish it never had. Although it was bizarre to get used to never being hungry, it was never in my life easier to lose weight those first few months when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food.