theantichick

People tend to have some type of tolerance if they had pain meds before. So i guess the amount they gave you was little. You needed more. This is what i read on other forums. Im glad you are out of pain. Thank you so much for your reply Sent from my SM-G928F using the BariatricPal App Thanks. I'm a nurse, so I know they gave me plenty. It was dilaudid which is a synthetic opiate, and some people just don't respond to it. I wasn't hurting bad enough for me to ask them to have it changed to morphine, which I know works. I'd already had my doc prescribe tramadol instead of hydrocodone because I dislike some of the side effects of hydrocodone. The tramadol took the edge off and I didn't need anything else. We were trying the stronger drugs just to make it a little easier for me to sleep and move around. So I was in some discomfort, but it wasn't enough pain to mess with getting the orders changed. By Day 3 post-op my arthritis hurt worse than the surgery site.

Comprehensive sex ed instructor here. You know what we call people who use the pull-out/rhythm method? Parents. (it's a joke, but not really) As others have pointed out, fertility increases a LOT after surgery. And getting pregnant soon after is not a good idea if it can be helped. There are many other options besides condoms. IUD whatever the latest version of the implant is (used to be Norplant, now it's Implanon, I think?) cervical cap/diaphragm w/ spermicides spermicides (low on my list for reliability) the Pill some docs will still do a depo-provera shot (good if you don't want anything as long-term as IUD or implant) Things to consider for the Pill - will you be able to take it consistently at about the same time every day? for cap/diaphragm/spermicides - will you want to deal with the mess? I *strongly* suggest you speak to your doctor about the need to be on birth control for AT LEAST a year (though your surgeon has the best information about how long is best to wait) and get his/her input because you may have medical contraindications for one or more of these options. I personally LOVE my IUD (Mirena), but if I didn't have it I would go on the Pill for a year or two, consider the implant, or go on depo shots for a year or two -- but your doctor can give you the best advice based on your personal situation. I had Norplant years ago and it did great for about 3 years, then I started having issues and had it taken out. As for how long after surgery, I think I was about 4 weeks out before we had sex, the tummy was just too tender before that.

Did you have pain meds before in your life? Sent from my SM-G928F using the BariatricPal App Yes, there are other pain meds that work well for me. If my pain had been significant, I'd have asked the nurses to call the doc and change the prescription.

Yeah, if I'd had an active job, I wouldn't have been able to go back for at LEAST 2 weeks, and probably 3.

I didn't have a lot of pain. Which was good, because I found out that the pain medicine the doc prescribed does absolutely nothing for me.

@@LisaMergs Yes, my initial Vectra last year was 44. So not horrific, but still pretty high. Being a nurse and knowing the high incidence of auto-immune in my family, I was a pretty demanding patient. I had an atypical first symptom - horrible nodules in the arches of my feet (not RA nodules under the skin, this was like a horrible plantar fasciitis with fibromas) and I finally got a doc to give me a hefty round of steroids, and found not only did my foot pain completely resolve, joint aches and pains I'd been living with for years ALL went away. I had a pain level of 0-1 for the first time in recent memory. So I knew it had to be an inflammatory process, and wouldn't take no for an answer until my PCP referred me out to a rheumy. And my first 2 rounds of tests were negative because of the ridiculous amount of NSAIDs I took at the time (some 10,000mg a week) and the rounds of steroids I'd been on. And absolutely nothing on xray (and they xrayed SO many joints!!) When my ESR and SED finally popped, they jumped to over 2x normal, and then she ran the Vectra. That's when she dx me with seroneg RA. Then after she started seeing my daughter (who has Alopecia and some form of spondylarthropy - likely PsA or ankylosing spondylitis, they're still testing) she then took a closer look at my nail beds and said it was likely PsA but it didn't change the treatment plan. I don't know when she plans to re-do the Vectra, but I imagine she will soon.

Knowing full well the contraindications for NSAIDS, bypass was the only WLS that showed remission in autoimmune disorders. My docs are part of a center of excellence, both with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, and my rheumy is Duke- trained and one of the top researchers in RA and Lupus, so I felt pretty comfortable with their recs. Giving up ibu was mentally harder than anything else, considering I've not had to take more than 3 Tylenol since my surgery! Sucks about the MTX for you...wondering were you doing pills or injections? Pills had me puking and were much less effective than the shots. Plaquenil was useless, as were every other med...been there, done them all. My last drug, Actemra, provided a LITTLE relief- about 10%, which lasted a whole week after I was infused. It was the IV decadron that kept me going along with the daily pred. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Yeah, my rheumy didn't talk about remission, but said that especially since the sleeve completely removes some of the stomach tissue that drives inflammation, it had the potential to help a lot. I'd not seen any of the research with complete remission. However, I don't think I would have gambled my ability to take NSAIDs and steroids. My rheumy hates steroids, so I haven't been on them in forever, but she does like to keep it as an option for really bad flares. I haven't had any NSAIDs since surgery, I figure the less I take them the better even though they're allowed by my rheumy and surgeon and I'm on a PPI. My rheumy wants to keep all treatment options on the table, because we caught this so early there's no joint degeneration. Right now 3 months post-op, my pain level is less with zero NSAIDs and less than max dose of sulfasalazine than it was prior to surgery with over 10,000mg of ibu a week. And my inflammatory factors are almost normal. We'll treat even with normal inflammatory factors since I'm seronegative and we're trying to fend off joint damage. I was on the mtx pills, and woke up with a rash all over, and a severe episode of pleurisy. A higher than normal dose of benadryl didn't knock it down, so I went to the ER (it was the one I worked at the time, so that was fun) and got some IV steroids and fluids and more benadryl. My rheumy wasn't convinced it was the mtx, but it wasn't working for me anyway so we stopped it. I have wondered since if I might have had a better response if I was using injections. But oh, well.

A thousand times yes. I didn't go looking for anyone who knew about bariatric surgery. I selected someone who specializes in eating disorders and body image problems. The same mental processes behind anorexia typically are behind binge/emotional eating, it's just a different reaction to them. The reasons why are as different as the people themselves. For me, I have several things that intersect to result in my obesity. First, I have a PTSD-type reaction to vegetables because my father repeatedly pinned me down and force-fed them to me as a child. So I don't eat veggies or salads or anything like that, and the reaction extends to foods that are not in my comfort zone. There's also some emotional neglect that has resulted in my using food to self-soothe and I have a hard time with self-discipline. It's almost always about more than just the food. A good therapist is going to help you dig down and identify the root causes of the issues and then help you develop the skills and coping mechanisms to deal with it. I can't recommend therapy highly enough. Sometimes it's challenging to find a therapist with the right fit, but it's worth it.

This is very interesting to me, since I also have RA/PsA. When we started discussing biologics, I asked my rheumy's opinion of WLS. She was enthusiastically behind it, citing WLS as many times reducing the inflammatory factors. However, she and my surgeon (and my research) all said that the bypass was NOT a good option for someone with auto-immune because of the complete contraindication for NSAIDs and steroids, where the sleeve only has a relative contraindication for those meds. Not criticising you or your docs, just find it interesting how there are so many differing opinions in the medical community. BTW, biologics are now off the table for me for the forseeable future. My inflammatory factors are down, and we still have dosing room on sulfasalazine and we haven't tried plaquenil yet. Mtx failed and I developed an allergic reaction to it, so at least I don't have to give myself chemo anymore! LOL. So the sleeve has worked amazingly well for me. Not remission, but meds are working better and we're able to avoid the real heavy hitters indefinitely.

I have a desk job (IT). I had the surgery on Wed, took Thu and Fri off. Worked from home all of the next week, and it was a little rough. If I'd had a full week off, I probably could have managed the office after that week. I hadn't been at my job a year (about 10 months at that point) so I didn't have any FMLA protection. But I knew I could work from home as needed, my boss was super supportive. My preference would have been to wait until I'd been at my job a year so I'd have FMLA protection in case something went wrong. I would have waited until after a year if there had been any concern about the job. I gave my boss the heads up as soon as the decision was made, and then the actual dates as soon as I got a date. I think the more notice you give them, the better they take it. You didn't say what kind of work you do. If it's not desk work, you are likely to find a week off to be too short. If it is desk work, it all kinda depends on how fast you tend to heal and how much discomfort you are good working through. Also, while complications are rare, you might want to think about what would happen to your job if you had a complication and needed another week or two off. If it might mean losing the job, do you have other options, or is it a risk you're willing to take? Because I knew I could work from home (or the hospital with wifi), I was covered in case of complications. If I hadn't been in a really good place with my boss and had that work from home capacity, I'd have very likely pushed the surgery past my 1 year mark. Good luck! It's never easy deciding what to do about stuff like this when you're new on a job.

No, I don't, and my surgeon agrees. She says that her experience is that people love keto while they're losing, but eventually a lot of them start letting carbs creep in and they don't stay on it for the long haul. She thinks a more moderate approach is the most sustainable. She agrees that sugars and simple carbs are absolutely problematic when trying to lose weight, but complex carbs are good for most people to eat. The scientific data shows that the program that works is the one you'll stick with. There are a number of reasons it appeals to people. Some find that eating carbs, especially the breads and grains, is a slippery slope and they have to avoid it entirely. Some find that shifting to a paleo/keto diet feels really good for them. They might have a slight gluten sensitivity that they are treating by shifting their diet away from grains. Some find that it just works incredibly well for them in terms of weight loss and that keeps them motivated. So I don't want to slam keto. A *LOT* of bariatric programs push low-carb/keto, and you'll find a LOT of proponents here for it. I get what most people recognize as the "carb flu" but instead of being over in 3-5 days like most people, I stay in that miserable state and it doesn't seem to ever resolve. Granted, I've never been able to last more than 2 weeks in ketosis (and that was post-op) but it definitely seems that my body hates it. So I have to find what works for me, and so far that's complex carbs in the 80-100g/day range. We'll see if it works long term, I may have to tweak that. That was exactly what I was feeling. The "carb flu." I would rather avoid it if possible. Sent from my iPhone Most people get over it in just a few days, so it's worth it to them. At this point we don't know if I would EVER get over it. So I am going down a different path, and my surgeon is cool with it.

Each doc has a different diet progression plan. The best answer is to go with what your doc says. There may be reasons s/he has based on your personal situation for having it as long as you've been instructed. Or it's based on his/her experience as to what gets the best results. If you trust your doc, you should abide by his/her instructions.

Nammit. Hope they get you squared away very quickly!! Are you a nurse who makes a good patient, or one who makes a PITA patient?? LOL. When I was in for my surgery I couldn't tell if I was annoying them or if they appreciated it, but I'd pause my pump and disconnect my own tubes, go to the bathroom, log my output, and hook myself back up. I hate hitting the call bell when I'm a patient. LOL I am an administrator at the hospital (patient advocate) iso probably leaning towards PITA. I never volunteer that I am a nurse or an employee. Most (good) nurses figure out I'm an end pretty quick. When I had my WLS the nurse chargers with my post op "care" managed in three days to tell me that I should not be complaining of pain after elective surgery (day one) , that some who was admitted to the floor the same time I was went home 12 hours post op (day 2) and everyone who had surgery the day I did was already discharged AND I would probably regain all my weight (day three). My temp was 102 and my BP was 210/100... She should probably have read my chart. I don't usually volunteer it, but they figure it out. My hubby put it up on my communication board before I was completely awake, and I didn't see it until late in the evening. I'm not sure why he thought it was something they needed to know. Wow, I had amazing nurses post-op. I'd have gone ballistic on any who said to me what yours said to you.

Nammit. Hope they get you squared away very quickly!! Are you a nurse who makes a good patient, or one who makes a PITA patient?? LOL. When I was in for my surgery I couldn't tell if I was annoying them or if they appreciated it, but I'd pause my pump and disconnect my own tubes, go to the bathroom, log my output, and hook myself back up. I hate hitting the call bell when I'm a patient. LOL

Yes!!! Throw a flag on the play!!

Extra water helped my pre-op headaches.

No, I don't, and my surgeon agrees. She says that her experience is that people love keto while they're losing, but eventually a lot of them start letting carbs creep in and they don't stay on it for the long haul. She thinks a more moderate approach is the most sustainable. She agrees that sugars and simple carbs are absolutely problematic when trying to lose weight, but complex carbs are good for most people to eat. The scientific data shows that the program that works is the one you'll stick with. There are a number of reasons it appeals to people. Some find that eating carbs, especially the breads and grains, is a slippery slope and they have to avoid it entirely. Some find that shifting to a paleo/keto diet feels really good for them. They might have a slight gluten sensitivity that they are treating by shifting their diet away from grains. Some find that it just works incredibly well for them in terms of weight loss and that keeps them motivated. So I don't want to slam keto. A *LOT* of bariatric programs push low-carb/keto, and you'll find a LOT of proponents here for it. I get what most people recognize as the "carb flu" but instead of being over in 3-5 days like most people, I stay in that miserable state and it doesn't seem to ever resolve. Granted, I've never been able to last more than 2 weeks in ketosis (and that was post-op) but it definitely seems that my body hates it. So I have to find what works for me, and so far that's complex carbs in the 80-100g/day range. We'll see if it works long term, I may have to tweak that.

My doc says no. The part of the stomach that stretches is the part that was cut away. What's left doesn't have very much capacity to stretch at all, and certainly not from water or air. According to her, discomfort is all you can do with drinking too much/too fast or swallowing air.

Not according to my doc. The "dangers" with a straw are that you will swallow air and/or drink too large of a gulp. Neither will damage the sleeve, but can cause discomfort. That tends to (but doesn't always) go away over time. My doc said she has patients who do better with straws from day 1, others have issues until later. I can drink much larger swallows now than I could even a couple of weeks out. I don't get any discomfort at this point with straws or drinking larger amounts. I still can't guzzle water like I used to, but I can drink what I consider "normal".

Sorry, missed that part. I need to slow down when I'm reading. OA can be helpful, I went to a couple of meetings and it wasn't my scene. It is certainly worth a shot. For me, the therapist was thousands of times more helpful than a nutritionist. If you have a basic understanding of how food works (e.g. the difference between carbs Proteins and fats and even better the difference between simple and complex carbs) then a nutritionist isn't going to add that much other than to give you more specific guidelines that may or may not work for you. So if you have any funds available and are choosing, my money is on therapy. Also, if you have insurance check the coverage. Mine pays about 1/2 of my therapy costs. There may also be therapists available through the county mental health department on a sliding scale. You probably wouldn't be able to choose a specific therapist, but it's an option. Also, if there's a university nearby with a social work or psychology department, many times graduate students doing their internship are available for reduced fees (and they work under the supervision of a licensed social worker and/or psychologist). Hope that helps.

Just wanted to say that I ended up with a Water cup that had a straw yesterday (I mostly use Tervis cups without a straw, but they were all dirty so I need to do dishes LOL) and I drank twice the water while at work that I normally do, without even noticing. I think I'll switch to straws completely, because lately I've been struggling to get enough fluids in.

(putting nurse educator hat on) just wanted to clarify this. Ketosis or ketogenesis (sometimes called keto) is the state when you are eating low carbs (generally below 50g/day) and your body starts using protein and fat as fuel instead of carbs (sugar). You do not have to eat high fat to be in ketosis. This condition is not dangerous to most people, and in fact there is a large number in the medical community who think this is the best state to stay in, unless you have a medical condition that makes it a problem. You can "burn fat" without being in ketosis, many of us do. I get very ill in ketosis, and generally am eating between 80 and 100g of carbs a day. I'm losing weight and the SECA scan shows that most of it is fat tissue. Ketoacidosis or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the condition diabetics move into when their sugars get too high, and it is life threatening. DKA happens mostly in Type 1 diabetics. Generally speaking, people without diabetes cannot get to DKA just by eating low carb. You will show ketones in your urine for both ketosis and ketoacidosis. The levels indicate how far along you are toward ketoacidosis. Here's some more information http://www.healthline.com/health/ketosis-vs-ketoacidosis#Diagnosis7 It's confusing because all of these words sound the same, but it's important to understand the distinction, especially if you want to be on a ketogenic diet.

I strongly suggest finding a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Mine has been invaluable to me in this process.

Not to disrupt the ... ahem... size discussion, but this came across my facebook feed this morning and it made me think of this thread. We all need to find the other "penalty plays" and save them so we can just throw a flag in online discussions. LOL