irishaggie

You folks in progressive states make me insanely jealous.
Stay green, brothers and sisters!

I had a pretty frank discussion with my surgeon's assistant about herb. I'm in a state where it's not legal and she couldn't legally make any recommendations (also, it was a Catholic hospital so they're pretty restrictive about discussing a lot of topics to begin with). We talked around it and in a lot of hypotheticals.
The gist: smoking is bad. Look, I'm a fan of the green. But it's STILL smoke that's going into your lungs. If you do it regularly, it's not great for that soft pink tissue, people. Vape it - spend the money on a volcano or some type of vape pen that works with dried herbs. Eat it - I got lucky to get a bunch of edibles from a friend out west and the lozenges... well, they kind of taste like cherry cough Syrup and bong Water, but the dosage is dependable and they act fast.
Also, don't partake and sit. Partake and go for a walk, do yard work, something, anything.
There is nothing inherently dangerous about marijuana and being post-op with the sleeve, but what you do AFTER you partake is what matters.

According to http://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/bariatric/risks_of_bariatric_surgery.html
Intestinal obstruction (blockage) In some cases, scar tissue or inflammation can narrow the new connection between the stomach and intestine. This is called a stricture. Strictures usually develop four to six weeks after surgery, and affect less than five percent of bariatric surgery patients. Patients with strictures will notice that they are progressively less able to take in fluids and food. Strictures can be treated with an endoscope, which is a thin, flexible tube with image sensors and special tools at the tip. A doctor will use an endoscope with a tiny inflatable balloon at its tip to open the stricture. An ulcer may narrow the outlet of the pouch as it heals after surgery. The ulcer can obstruct the passage of food, or cause bleeding. Such bleeding is usually controlled by medications. To prevent ulcers, patients must take an acid-blocker (like Pepcid) for two months after surgery. If you are already on an acid-blocker, such as Prilosec, Nexium or Prevacid, you can continue this medication. In addition, all patients must avoid aspirin (unless you take aspirin for your heart or to prevent a stroke) and other medications that increase the risk of bleeding (such as ibuprofen, Advil) for two months after surgery. Only in unusual cases is surgery needed to revise the stomach-intestine connection. After any abdominal surgery, internal scars (adhesions) form in the abdomen. In rare cases, the lower intestine (bowel) can become twisted around an adhesion and cause an obstruction. This keeps digested food from passing through the body. An obstruction can happen at any time, even years after bariatric surgery. Because the obstruction must be repaired before the intestine loses its blood supply, an emergency operation may be necessary.

This is so true… for awhile after surgery, I obsessed about what I could eat and when, but after a routine kicked in, I did not miss a thing… I ate some of my faves before I started my 2-week liquid diet, but can't even remember what it was now… I was unprepared for how much the surgery would change me mentally, how it makes you not desire what you used to crave… Best of luck to you, @cruelirony!

I agree. I big part of this process is "forgetting" all our old bad habits and building new ones as we emerge from a successful weight loss. Time is the only way to do this.

Truth be told, the post op through goal attainment point diet is much easier than maintenance.

The more time that passes between your old eating habits and your new eating habits,?the better!

This is so true… for awhile after surgery, I obsessed about what I could eat and when, but after a routine kicked in, I did not miss a thing… I ate some of my faves before I started my 2-week liquid diet, but can't even remember what it was now… I was unprepared for how much the surgery would change me mentally, how it makes you not desire what you used to crave… Best of luck to you, @cruelirony!

This is so true… for awhile after surgery, I obsessed about what I could eat and when, but after a routine kicked in, I did not miss a thing… I ate some of my faves before I started my 2-week liquid diet, but can't even remember what it was now… I was unprepared for how much the surgery would change me mentally, how it makes you not desire what you used to crave… Best of luck to you, @cruelirony!

Take comfort in the fact that after a while, you won't even remember what your "last meal" was. Or if you do remember, you will look back on it and shake your head wondering why that food seemed so important at the time. I think back to the biscuits and gravy and shudder at the amount of fat I used to eat every weekend. I tried it about a year out, just not what I remembered. It was pretty gross actually.

Wow, time flies, right!?! Hope you are all well! I'm doing great My weight loss has screeched to a halt, but I know that is due to my not exercising enough. So happy I got the surgery, though it still feels so surreal sometimes, all this rapid weight loss. I am determined to keep it off! Happy Surgiversary Month, everyone!

I'm scheduled for the 24th of October. Hope all goes well to the other persons with surgeries this month
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My one year anniversary is on the 22nd. I can't believe it's been a year already. I'm down 146 pounds. Hope everyone is doing well.

We are into our 1 year anniversary month. I'm wondering how everyone is doing????

@@anewme2015 I don't eat near 1200, probably closer to 900-1000. My loss is around a 1/2 lb a week, depending on how much walking I do if any. I don't eat much at a time like I use too. I try to quit as soon as I feel slightly full. I notice I snack more than I use to. I try to only snack healthy, but when the company is here I get into their Snacks. Not good. I bought some healthy choice fudge bars 80cal, & eat one a day, which seems to satisfy my sweet tooth. Normal, not sure yet.

I love all of these updates! And congrats to those of you at goal. My calories are between 1200-1600 but I don't want to be in maintenance. I wonder if I should lower them a little since that seems to be where people are when they want their weight to stabilize! I still have more to lose.
Is everyone else able to eat considerably more since 8 months? I feel almost normal. Not the old me. But what would be normal eating.
Normal eating. Imagine that?!? Lol

@@chavonjb Good to hear from you! You look great in your picture!!! I just have 12 lbs to goal too! This is the hardest of them all! We will get there!!!

Hi all! Just an update. My weight loss has slowed down dramatically - in fact, I went a little over 4 months not losing anything. Then I dropped another 10 lbs. when my NUT had me increase my calories from 800 to 1200 per day.
At my last visit my surgeon told me he didn't want me to go under 159 lbs. He said 'for a woman my age (lol) and height that 159 was perfect. Well, I told him I would like to get to a healthy BMI which is 155 - even though secretly I still want to get down to 150. We will see how it all turns out.
I am between a size 12 and 14 now and am happy as a clam! I just bought another swim suit and am enjoying the choices I have in clothing. I am still losing fat and don't have too much loose skin on my arms or legs yet. I just had my annual mammogram. Let me tell you - the difference between last year and this year was pretty phenomenal. Seems like two low hanging flat pancakes hurt a lot less than what I had last year!
As I said before, my NUT put me at 1200 per day and wants me to go to 1600 per day when I reach goal. 1200 calories is still an awful lot it seems and I can hardly imagine getting up to 1600. I still eat 5 times a day and am really enjoying the large amounts of fruits and veggies available in the summer (even if I can only eat a few bites).
I eat around 70 grams of Protein every day but still struggle with getting enough fluids in. Most days I get in around 55 or so ounces and I really have to push to get that!
I still am not exercising like I was able to before my surgery. I walk every day and do Water aerobics 3-4 times a week. I don't have a whole lot of energy, though so I nap on days I can. A couple of months ago I started having night sweats. On the nights I have them I wake up several times fully drenched in sweat. I immediately thought of low blood sugar - but tested and it is always okay. My doctor ran lots of blood tests and they all came out fine. She did a chest x-ray and it was clear. I don't think it could be menopause since I went through that over 8 years ago when I had a hysterectomy. My doctor is theorizing that my body could be releasing hormones that were locked up in the fat. Hmmm - sounds plausible - anyone ever heard of this? Anyway, I follow up with her in a couple of months.
Anyway, am enjoying reading how other folks are doing and hope that more folks will check in. We have all been on quite a journey; our challenge in the next part of our lives will be maintaining what we fought so hard to obtain. My best wishes and blessings to all of you.

I fell into this discussion backwards, if you will… I was not looking for any problems, been happy as a clam since my gastric bypass last October 2016… However, in the last month or two, I started feeling increased anxiety for no reason at all… I started to recognize the old signs, those overly anxious feelings that I had many, many years ago, before I went on antidepressants. I am on Pristiq (extended release) and have been for 5+ years. When the all-too-familiar feelings arouse out of nowhere, I chalked it up to the mental and physical changes that happen after weight loss surgery, but it just did not feel right. I started researching how medications are absorbed (or not) after gastric bypass and stumbled upon this post. I have contacted my doctor and will post updates. To summarize, I read learned that a non-ER (extended release) medicine may be the answer, but changing from an antidepressant that has always worked for me is scary. There definitely needs to be more research on this topic!

You look great!

WLS can affect absorption of nearly every med, add to that hormone dumps from rapid weight loss, and some meds are weight specific. Medicine is an 'art' as well as science. Your body, and your brain is complicated so please give your doc some grace as you work together to get a handle on this. With my ex wife, I kept a journal for her because if she went to see her doc on manic day, then "everything was great" and visa versa. The more hard data you can give your doc, the better. Good link here: http://www.drpritikothari.com/weight-loss-surgery-and-medications/ and take a look on crazymeds.us.

I have custody of my 9 yr. old grandson since he was 3 mos. old. I told him that my body was processing food into too much fat and not enough energy and that the doctor was going to do a surgery that will help me get healthy again so we can go hiking and biking again and that it will help me not have to take so many medicines because I will be healthier. I also told him that I was going to have to eat healthier and asked him if he minded very much if I didn't buy so many junky Snacks and stuck to the healthier choices. He was all for it!! He loves fruits and veggies anyway so that wasn't too hard for him. lol I told him I was going to be tired right after surgery and sore, but not for very long. He was great, saying he would help Papa take care of me and he is so excited to be able to do things together again. Be honest, but age appropriate and include them in your journey. You'll be pleasantly surprised, I think. I know I was. Good luck with "the talk" lol. Let us know how it goes.
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I've noticed the same… I am a wine drinker and have been drinking it occasionally since around the 5 month mark. At first, it barely affected me, but I was being super careful. After I relaxed enough to enjoy it, I noticed it would hit me fast (nothing I could not control), but the buzz would fade fast, too. So, like VSGAnn2014 said, I now know I need to be careful. One night, in a social setting, I drank too much wine, but just to keep my buzz (helped with the social situation)… I never got 'drunk'… not good for my liver, I know, so I am trying to be super careful now. This is just another one of those areas, post surgery, where I am learning anew… I don't plan to stop drinking wine occasionally, but my post surgery health comes first and I am trying to find the right balance… Just being honest

I've noticed the same… I am a wine drinker and have been drinking it occasionally since around the 5 month mark. At first, it barely affected me, but I was being super careful. After I relaxed enough to enjoy it, I noticed it would hit me fast (nothing I could not control), but the buzz would fade fast, too. So, like VSGAnn2014 said, I now know I need to be careful. One night, in a social setting, I drank too much wine, but just to keep my buzz (helped with the social situation)… I never got 'drunk'… not good for my liver, I know, so I am trying to be super careful now. This is just another one of those areas, post surgery, where I am learning anew… I don't plan to stop drinking wine occasionally, but my post surgery health comes first and I am trying to find the right balance… Just being honest

Yes... I am this way lately, too... and from what I have been reading, it is very common AND I've read we snap out of it, so don't worry

I agree... I've had some of that, as well. I have to admit that I am still more than happy to not be at my old lowest weights... not sure it is just me used to being bigger so I am happy with anything less now or if it is because I am healthy and active than I have been in years so not worried about being "thin"... I'm gonna go with the second reason

I'm almost 20 pounds from goal, too! We both saying we need to walk, lol, and it still holds true for me. I am barely hitting 8000 steps a day, so i need to kick it up. Now that my weight has slowed, I'm more motivated My doctor says that exercise shows more result now, post surgery, than it did for our pre surgery bodies... good to know!