catwoman7

they're both good surgeries, and they both have their pros and cons. Malabsorption is rare as long as you keep on top of your vitamins. tooth rotting is also rare. If it were common, we'd see postings about it here, and I almost never see them, even though I've been on this site for seven years. If you're concerned, have a chat with your dentist. Mine said he'd never seen that issue in his patients who'd had WLS, although he'd read about it in the professional literature. As a precaution, he wrote me a prescription for a super-high-fluoride toothpaste to use before I go to bed, and he also does a fluoride varnish on my teeth every six months. He said those would go a long way toward preventing any problems, but to be honest, I think he did it more to placate me than anything else, because I was so concerned about it. But that's fine by me!! I've been super happy with my bypass and would make the same decision if I had to do make that decision again today.

which surgery did you have? If gastric bypass, I'd suspect a stricture - happens to about 5% of RNY patients, and it's an easy fix. Plus you're in the right time frame for one. In any event, you need to contact your clinic. This isn't normal and they need to figure out what's going on.

I wouldn't jump into things your body isn't ready for. For one thing, I wasn't cleared to do anything other than walk for the first four weeks - and I had to wait eight weeks for strength-training. Plus you want whatever fitness routine(s) you select to be sustainable. When I was still over 300 lbs, my fitness routines consisted mostly of walking and water-related stuff (swimming and water aerobics). I can now do pretty much everything, but at that weight, some exercises were too hard on my joints. I eventually was able to do them, though. so wait until your body is ready - and pick things that are enjoyable so you'll be likely to keep up with them.

they make dissolvable ones (I have a bottle of those). They dissolve right away in your mouth. Those should be fine.

that wasn't dumping - but yes, early on it's common to have food intolerances which eventually go away. Or your stomach just isn't ready for certain things - but again, temporary.

they usually charge insurance companies way more than they charge self-pays. Happened to me when I had plastic surgery. Once the insurance company denies it, you'll get the bill, and it should be whatever you agreed to pay the surgeon.

first of all, that was due to malpractice. They should have taken his complaints seriously and done diagnostic work. If they had, he likely would not have died. Secondly, although bowel obstruction is more common in bariatric patients than it is in "normies", it's still very rare. And normal people can have bowel obstruction, too - my mother-in-law had it a year ago - had to go to the hospital for emergency surgery. She weighs around 110 lbs and has never had bariatric surgery. that said, I'm very sorry about what happened to your father.

I can only answer the question on crushed pills. No, not forever. In fact, I was able to swallow all but two of mine whole as soon as I got home from the hospital. I had to wait about three weeks before I could swallow the remaining two whole.

Seven years out. I probably SHOULD take 20 minutes to eat, but I don't always. I usually eat as quickly as I did pre-surgery, although slowing down wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe I wouldn't eat as much. I still wait at least 30 minutes after I eat to drink anything. That's a lifer rule. You get used to it pretty quickly. But no, I doubt a small sip would hurt anything.

I remember reading somewhere that that's happened to people (don't know how common it is, though). I believe it's temporary.

the closer you are to a normal BMI, the slower and harder it is to lose. The last 20 lbs were a BEAR to lose for me - we're talking like 2-3 lbs a month. it isn't just us - I remember very clearly going to Weight Watchers meetings before I had surgery. I'd overhear these barely overweight women b*tching and moaning about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs, and I just wanted to roll my eyes. Yea - try losing 200 lbs! But now I totally get it...

the first couple of years I weighed myself almost every day, but the (normal) fluctuations were getting to my head, so since then I've only weighed myself once a week.

once you're a few months out, there aren't any food restrictions and although you can't eat large portions of food at one sitting, you'll be able to eat enough that people won't guess you've had weight loss surgery. I'm seven years out, and I eat around 1700-1800 calories a day (but that'll vary for everyone since it depends on several factors, including how active you are and what weight you're trying to maintain - someone maintaining at 160 or 170 lbs can eat more than someone trying to maintain at 120). as an example, when I go out to eat, I'll usually order an appetizer or else order an entree and eat half of it (and take the other half home). Honestly, that's pretty much what many of my never-been-obese women friends eat. No one ever questions it or asks if I've had surgery. They just assume I'm a "light eater".

let your clinic know. Those symptoms could be indicative of a stricture. (note I said "could be" - not "definitely"). They may want to do an upper endoscopy and check it out. If there's one there, it's an easy fix - they'll fix it while they're in there. I had two of them - at four weeks out and again at eight weeks out. About 5% of bypass patients get them, and they almost always occur 1-3 months after surgery (very rare before or after that time frame) - so you're in the right window for one, if that's what it is.

vomiting shouldn't be an issue as long as it's not severe. A lot of people vomit the first few weeks after surgery because your stomach is still healing and certain foods this early out could irritate it (I know your concern is with a stomach virus, but the same holds true...)

you'll have swelling the first few weeks which really limits how much you can eat. After that all goes down, from what I understand, it does loosen up a bit over time, but not THAT much, unless you're chronically overstuffing it.

I know this sounds funny to say now, but enjoy it while it lasts. Because it won't. Honestly, once I got used to it, I hoped it would never end because it was so easy to lose weight when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. My hunger and appetite came roaring back at about five months out, and then things got A LOT harder. For all but a very small minority of people, your hunger and interest in food WILL come back sometime during the first year. So take full advantage of this period to lose as much as you can while it's relatively easy.

I never had issues with the store - but then, I'm several years out so I no longer buy bariatric-specific food, so it's probably been six years since I bought anything from there. I suspect they're dealing with the same issues everyone else is - shipping delays. re: vitamin patches - the jury is out on those. My clinic advises again them, and from what I've read here over the last few years, they're not alone in this. Patches seem to work well for some people, but not for others. I've never tried them since with my luck I'd be part of the latter group, although I've considered getting them for traveling since it would mean no vitamin bottles to lug around (and take up space in my suitcase). Since I'm almost never away from home for more than 10 days or so, even if they didn't work for me, no harm done.

my tastes didn't really change, it just got more intense for awhile. Spicy things tasted spicier; sweet things tasted sweeter. It was temporary, though - either that, or I just got used to it. I pretty much lost my interest in food, though - as well as my sense of hunger - for about five months. Although it was weird to get used to, I wish it'd never come back. It was so much easier to lose weight when I didn't give a flip about food!

this article from Cedars-Sinai hospital in LA says there's little scientific evidence that these work. Sounds like a big profit maker for these places. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/iv-vitamin-therapy.html

our clinic advises against those, but YMMV

yep. Normal. That first one (that can take up to a week to "arrive") is often a doozy. You might want to try some other products - like milk of magnesia - or magnesium citrate. We were advised to take daily stool softeners at first to make it easier...but you may be beyond that at this point.

as far as food, once you get a few months out, there are no restrictions. Obviously, you have to eat less than what you were eating before surgery or you'll gain the weight back, but as far as not being able to eat certain types of food, no - no restrictions there. At seven years out, I still have to track my intake and measure/weigh some things, though. Otherwise, my weight starts heading north again pretty quickly. beer - we were allowed to drink alcohol at one year out, but like someone else said, some people's stomachs can't handle anything carbonated (mine can't). caffeine - there seems to be no consistency among surgeons on this. Some say you can never have it again for the rest of your life, some allow patients to have it while they're still in the hospital. I would say the majority are OK with it after a certain time period (for example - a month or three months or six months). Our clinic allowed decaf pretty early on (maybe 3 or 4 weeks out?), and caffeinated coffee at six months out.

I had a desk job. I took three weeks off but could have gone back after two. I had very little pain with this surgery, and no other issues, but I was pretty tired for awhile (that actually lasted a month or more, but of course, it gets better and better every day). I suppose if I had to I could have gone back after one week, but I appreciated the time at home to sleep and also get used to the food progression. I would say two weeks is fine for most people who have desk jobs - but some may be able to swing it after one if they absolutely have to.

pain is all across the board, but most people have very little pain after these surgeries. And if you're one who does, you'll have pain meds for it so you can keep on top of it. It just lasts for a few days at most, and again, you'll have meds for it (I never bothered to open the bottle they sent me home with since I really didn't have any pain). the liquid diet isn't pleasant, but it's temporary. And not all surgeons require it.