songsmith

I get cramps all over my body since I started high blood pressure meds four years ago. They're horrible: quads, hamstrings, calves, abdomen, tongue (I kid you not). Your likely culprit is an electrolyte imbalance (especially since you're exercising/dieting pre-op and no doubt loosing a lot of fluid). Calcium is the easiest to rectify (chew on one or two calcium-added Tums). No-Salt is a potassium salt (and safer than a supplement since potassium is fat-soluble and stored in your body) and should help with potassium intake. Neither of these helped me (again, the meds). I finally realized that magnesium and manganese are also electrolytes. Now I take a magnesium tablet once a week, which seems to help. My primary physician also suggested "No cramps" or something like that. They're OTC quinine tablets. I take one if a really bad cramp starts up. They work, but I always wonder if they really work or if it's the placebo effect. I find that drinking something like sugar-free Gatorade helps just as well. Hot compresses help to loosen up your muscles.

Mine has been horrible. I'm required to see her once a month. She asks me what I've been eating, whether I'm taking Vitamins and if I've kicked my caffeine habit yet. That's it. I asked her what I should be shooting for: calories or carb/protein intake or something. She said, "Oh, you've dieted enough to know what you need." I feel like I'm floundering. OTOH, the post-op binder they gave me looks to contain a lot of helpful information.

Beck Gal, congrats on your date! My insurance requires 6-month diet before surgery, so my pre-op educational class will be in December and surgery some time in January (gastric sleeve). Nervous. Super nervous I'll mess up the diet and/or lower my BMI and my insurance company will retract coverage.

I'm doing the six months' prior diet right now (three months' in). I see a dietitian once a month. She asks me what I've been eating, do I take Multivitamins, am I off the caffeine. She has offered no suggestions for what type of diet to follow. I gained 3 pounds last month (after losing 10). I know why and am definitely back on track, but it would be so much more helpful if she'd offer some guidelines. What am I paying her for? Sorry, what is my insurance company paying her for? They might as well waive the requirement for all the help she's provided. OTOH, the post-op binder has diet suggestions. They should have handed me that right off instead of making me see the dietitian! There was a prevailing attitude when I was growing up that WLS was the "easy" way out. I think it's still that way. A lot of people don't realize that people still need to watch what they eat, that WLS is not a magic pill that does the work for you. It's a tool.