catwoman7

i wish my food cravings had stayed away. I found it very liberating to never be hungry and not give a flip about food. Although you're far from the only one who doesn't like that aspect. My hunger and appetite came roaring back about five months out and it made things much more difficult. I did end up losing a crap ton of weight, but it became much more challenging once my hunger and cravings were back.

I'd lost 11 kg in that time, which was no where near 10-20% of my starting weight. people lose at all different rates for all different reasons. The first few months I felt I was behind the rest of the pack (and one very insensitive resident told me I was), but I ended up losing ALL of my excess weight (I've gained back about 20 lbs since i hit bottom, which is pretty common). I ended up being one of their "model" patients and for three years I helped lead the pre-op groups at the clinic. there are so many factors that can affect your rate of loss - age, gender, % of muscle you have, metabolic rate, genetics, starting BMI, whether or not you lost a fair amount of weight before surgery, activity level, etc. The only two things you really have any control over are your diet and activity level. If you do well with those, you WILL lose the weight, whether fast or slow. I was definiteily slow - but steady - and turned out way more successful than I'd hoped to. so you are doing fine. Try not to compare yourself to others because you don't know what factor(s) are in play for them that might be affecting their rate of loss.

I definitely lost most of my weight in year 1. Year 2 was super slow - sometimes only a couple of pounds a month - and I kept thinking, "well, this must be it" - and then I'd drop a couple more pounds. I finally quit losing for good at month 20 - at that time weighing in the 130s (like many people, I had some regain in subsequent years but have been pretty stable for a long time)

this is ridiculous! Can you switch over to your regular PCP, maybe? (we were encouraged to have our annual check-ins with our regular PCP once we were 5+ years out and had had no issues). I wouldn't want to see a nurse like that again. And no, I don't eat an obscenely low level of carbs (my surgeon's program wasn't ultra-low carb to begin with - they stressed balance - protein, healthy carbs, and healthy fats). And you have been amazingly successful. Most successful bariatric patients make it down to "overweight" or "class I obese" (which is not very obese - we're talking like 30 lbs overweight). You're only barely in the "overweight" category - and like you said, you've got loose skin, which probably counts for a good 4 or 5 lbs. Sheesh. That nurse needs a new profession. (P.S. I'm 10 years out)

my surgeon had us eating purees as soon as we were home from the hospital. I ate a lot of Greek yogurt and refried beans, IIRC (it's been 10 years!). Also, protein shakes.

to be honest, I've heard of RNYs being revised to DS, but never the other way around. I'm so sorry you're going through this!

there's just regular gastric bypass (RNY) and mini gastric bypass (the latter done mostly in Europe - I don't really hear about it in the US). I don't know of any surgery that is done specifically for people who eat sweets - but I had my surgery 10 years ago, so maybe things have changed (??)

I don't know if I got it from surgery, but some meds will give me dry mouth. In addition to drinking more fluids, dry mouth toothpaste, dry mouth lozenges, and dry mouth spray help somewhat. When I'm having issues with it, I even keep a bottle of dry mouth spray on my nightstand next to my bed.

They seem to work better for some people better than for others, but it seems a lot of clinics don't recommend them (probably for the reasons the commenter above listed). I do have some that I take with me when I'm on vacation since it's a lot easier than lugging around all my vitamins - but that's the only time I've ever used them. I figure even if they don't work very well for me, a few days of using those instead of vitamins in pill form is probably not going to cause any damage.

I had my bypass 10 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat. No problems or issues (other than a stricture early out - which happens to about 5-8% of us and is an easy fix), and I lost a crap ton of weight. A majority of us don't have complications and for those who do, most are minor and "fixable". I'm so happy I had this done. I'd go back and have it done every year if I had to! My life is so much better now!

as others have said, the weight does seem to redistribute and you start to look less gaunt (although I think you look great now!). Also, don't forget that it's very common to have a 10-20 lb regain during year 3 - so I wouldn't get too worried if your weight continues to drop a bit. I thought that regain would never happen to me - but it did!

water fitness classes were my main form of exercise when I was at my highest weight. I loved them. I still go to them - but now mostly in the winter when it's too cold to exercise outside or when I'm tired of doing things in the weight room or on machines.

weight gain is unfortunately pretty common - it usually seems to happen in year 3. For most people, it's about 10-20 lbs, but then there are those who don't gain anything at all, and those who gain a lot more than 20 lbs. Obesity is a chronic disease that takes lifelong management. I'm 10 years out and if I'm not careful about what I eat, my weight will start heading north..

I had an estimate from him, too - but it's been several years. I'll see if I can find anything from him. He was a very well-respected plastic surgeon.. Dr. Sauceda! That was him. I'll see if I can hunt him down - hopefully he hasn't retired! UPDATE: Here ya go: https://drsaucedaplasticsurgery.com

I was always able to drink more than what they said we should be able to. The PA at my surgeon's office said as long as it doesn't hurt my stomach, it was OK. If you're an RNY patient, fluids go right through you - so you can consume more fluids than you can solid food. As Spartanmaker said, though, definitely prioritize fluids.