catwoman7

depends on how much you have to lose. I started off at over 300 lbs - took me 20 months to lose it all. Some people lose it all within a year - but I'm guessing most of them started off at much lower BMIs than I did.

may or may not be related to your surgery. May be something like SIBO (bacterial overgrowth in your intestines) - or some kind of inflammatory bowel disease or...whatever. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's going on when they do the colonoscopy.

yes - buyer's remorse is common the first month or so. Many of us have been there. also - yep - many women mention their hormones being out of whack the first few weeks or months. In addition to weird moods, many often experience weird menstrual cycles. All that eventually stabilizes taste & appeal of food - many of us lose that for awhile. It's common to lose your sense of hunger for up to a year after surgery (a small minority never get it back it all - honestly, I wish I would have been one of them - it would be so much easier to lose & maintain my loss!). It's very weird at first, but you get used to it. My hunger came back at five months out, and things got much harder then. It is SO easy to lose weight when you're never hungry and couldn't give a flip about food. Take FULL advantage of that!! It'll never in your life be easier to lose weight than it is right now when you're not hungry and don't care about food!! Just make sure you're eating and drinking enough to maintain your health. So I know this sounds weird, so enjoy that "feature" while it lasts and milk it for all it's worth - because it your hunger and "food appeal" will almost certainly return at some point this year. drinking - you'll be able to drink a lot more as time goes on. I can drink normally again. But for now, just do whatever it takes to get the required amount of fluids in, even if that means sipping all day. Dehydration can land a lot of people back in the hospital...so keep at it!

there are a lot of food restrictions the first few months, but after that, there are none. That's not to say that there might be some foods you can't handle anymore - because there might be - but your clinic will lift all food restrictions once you're a few months out. I eat pretty much the same things I ate before surgery (except for heavy, fat-laden meals), but in smaller portions than I did before. P.S. I should add that I was a pretty healthy eater even before surgery - I just ate way too much. If you eat a lot of empty calories now - like pastries, cake, etc - then yes - that will change. But I still enjoy some of those things occasionally.

that's what I was going to say - it might be a stricture. I had two of them - easy fix.

you might want to check with your clinic. If you get nauseated after eating any food, there might be something going on - like a stricture. Strictures are very rare after the third month post op, but you're not TOO far beyond that. I'd definitely check - especially if this is a fairly new development.

in most cases, gastric bypass improves if not outright cures GERD. Mine went completely away for 2-3 years. I do have issues occasionally now, but it's really minor reflux rather than GERD. Nothing a couple of Tums can't deal with (as well as not eating things that might set it off). And it's just occasionally - not every day like it was before surgery (and certainly much milder). P.S. I had gastric bypass almost seven years ago. Not a revision. I chose bypass over sleeve because I had GERD.

it's really a crap shoot. Some people have issues with it, some don't. The statistic I see thrown around is that around 30% of sleevers deal with it - but that would include people who already had GERD before surgery. I wasn't willing to take the risk because I figured I'd be one of the unfortunate ones (I had GERD prior to surgery), but a lot of people are comfortable with that and many of them never develop GERD. So......??? Not sure what to tell you. Maybe have a chat with your team??

I've made chocolate hummus before (using unsweetened cocoa powder and artificial sweetener, such as Splenda). I sometimes use cannellini beans instead of chickpeas since they're softer and not quite as "beany" tasting (although chickpeas work well, too)

constipation is MUCH more common than diarrhea - for both bypass and sleeve patients. diarrhea is more an issue for people who have the duodenal switch surgery.

they can happen, yes, but if the risks were that high, we'd see a lot more postings about it on bariatric forums. I've been on this and other forums for over seven years, and we do see an occasional post, but not that many. I think that stat he gave you sounds a bit suspicious. (Actually, I just now did a quick google search. Here is a peer reviewed study that also says 4.6% - same as what someone above said) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24234733/ also - PPI's. It's common for surgeons to have their patients on them for 3-6 months after surgery while they're healing. But after that? No. Unless people have GERD or something, which is rare with RNY. avoiding ulcers is the reason they've told RNY patients for years to avoid taking NSAIDS - and recently I've heard of more sleeve patients being told to avoid NSAIDs as well. honestly, I'm not sure where he's getting these numbers.

candy cane syndrome used to be pretty common with RNY. You almost never hear about it any more. I think this is the second time I've seen a posting on it in the seven years I've been on here. They've modified that surgery so that people don't get that any more -but then, you had your original surgery before they made that change. I'm glad to hear you were able to get a revision!

I lost 16 lbs the first month and started at 373 lbs. And I ended up losing over 200 lbs. You are doing fine. also, like the above people said, you are likely in the infamous "three week stall". If you do a search of this site at that, you will find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding. Happens to the vast majority of us.

if it turns out to be a stricture (about 5% of bypass patients get those), it's an easy fix. When they're down there, they'll just stretch it back out to where it's supposed to be. I had two of them (at four weeks out and again around eight weeks out). Painless, easy fix - and you'll feel 100% better afterward.

yea - most of us do. Chronic constipation is very common after sleeve and bypass. A lot of us take a capful of Miralax every day to keep on top of it. Been doing it myself for almost seven years now...

1) you were a bit early trying chicken. Most people can't handle chicken for the first couple of months - it's pretty dry 2) if this keeps up for more than another day or two, check back with your surgeon. If you can't keep anything down, that could be a sign of a stricture. You're in the right time frame for it (they almost always occur between months 1-3. Very rare after the third month).

P.S. wanted to add that after the first month, this IS a lot like Weight Watchers. Unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", you're not going to drop 30 or 40 lbs a month (or whatever). People typically have a big drop the first month, because that's mostly water weight - and then you'll settle in to about 10 lbs a month, give or take, for several months - and then, as you approach your goal, it will really slow down. the difference this time is that you have a tool that makes your efforts pay off. It actually works as long as you stick to your plan. The most I could ever lose before surgery was about 50 lbs - and then it would gradually come back on. No way I could have EVER lost the 200+ lbs I did - and keep most of it off (I did have a 20 lb rebound after hitting bottom - which is very common). The surgery was the only thing that made that possible.

I agree with everything liveaboard15 said. Plus you may have started your three-week stall a little early. I did as well - mine was weeks 2 & 3 (most of us have our first major stall sometime during the first month of surgery. We call it the "three-week stall" because it's usually the third week, but not always). Just stick to your plan and stay off the scale for a few days....

LOL! Same here. I was never so glad to be rolled into an operating room as I was that morning. That damn pre-op diet was OVER!!!!

dumping is when you eat too much sugar (or for some people, fat) at one sitting, and your intestines go into overdrive trying to deal with it. It involves sweating and/or chills, dizziness, rapid heart beat, and diarrhea, usually. Some people get nauseated, too - but that's supposedly not as common. you said it happened after you drank a protein shake. Did the protein shake have sugar in it? If not, it could have been the lactose or whatever artificial sweetener they use. Those typically don't cause dumping, but some people are very intolerant of them and that can also cause the symptoms you mentioned. or it just could have been your stomach rebelling against...something. I had that kind of thing happen occasionally the first couple of months out. I'd eat something one day and be fine - and then eat it another day and my pouch would rebel. Just keep monitoring it and see if some kind of pattern emerges. If yes, it could be dumping or it could be a reaction to lactose or some artificial sweetener (and you'll figure out what's setting it off sooner or later). If there's no pattern, it may have just been some random thing that may or may not happen again. Your pouch may have just been unhappy for some reason...

my center has them but I'm a few years out so most of the topics aren't of interest anymore - although occasionally there is one. So when there is - yes, I login and listen if I can. Unjury also has online support groups on Tuesday nights for pre-ops and under one year post-ops - and on Wednesday nights for people who are at least a year out. (although anyone is welcome to go to either). A lot of the Wednesday night ones aren't of particular interest, either, but if I know ahead of time what the topic is and if it's interesting, then I'll tune in.

welcome to the club. Chronic constipation is pretty common after WLS - or at least sleeve and bypass. It's due to the high protein diet plus some of the supplements (namely, calcium and iron). A lot of us take a capful of Miralax every day. I've been doing it since I had surgery (almost) seven years ago.

if you're in a lot of pain, I'd go to the hospital.

it's pretty common. And it'll all grow back. I had loss from months 5-9. the best thing to do is just keep on top of your protein and vitamins so it won't get any worse than it will otherwise...

yep - I had my husband take pictures of my from all four sides on the 3rd of every month (because my surgery was on June 3rd) until I hit maintenance 20 months later. I love having my journey documented - and also, while I was losing, it was a great way to see my progress!