ShelterDog64

The BP meds got me as well. I would stand up, get light-headed and pass out. My BP was 80 over 35. I asked my surgeon "How long will it take for me to no longer need my BP meds?" He told me immediately. Wow. Yep! I was told to suspend my lisinopril the day of surgery, and never took another one! My pressure is consistently 120s/70s now. It's magical!

I was on Lotrel, which is a combo of a Calcium channel blocker and an ACE inhibitor. It took about a month, but I developed a dry hacking cough, kind of like kennel cough It resolved immediately when my doc took me off the Lotrel and put me on an ACE inhibitor alone (lisinopril). Did your doc make a change for you?

I never thought I was a foodie until I got sleeved. Things that I just did subconsciously are blatant and they are wrong. When I am tempted, a little voice pops into my ear and asks "How long will you be dead?" This is just the beginning of a new life. Life will open up in so many different wonderful ways. We will say to ourselves "So this is what is meant by "When you have your health, you have everything" I need to trade my evil little voice for your angelic one, Donell1000! You know, when I was doing my research about having WLS, I read so much about 'starting a new life', etc and kind of brushed it off as melodrama or being overly 'feely' about things. I'm a pragmatist, so I looked at the surgery as a tool to help me lose weight, nothing more or less. But some of the changes that have come about are truly life altering and are making me look at the procedure as more of a global change in my world than just a restriction of my stomach size. I LOVE the way you always have something spiritual and positive to say!

I was discharged on post-op day 2, no drain but I was on liquid narcotics for a few days. By day 5, I was walking over a mile (flat ground, not San Fran hills!) with no issues at all. But everyone is different...3 of us had the sleeve surgery on the same day at my hospital, another woman and I were up walking within an hour of arriving from PACU, the other patient didn't walk at all for 2 days, he just didn't have the energy or desire. Someone mentioned a hop on/hop off bus tour option, that could be a great option...if you find yourself feeling great, hop off, if not, stay on Best of luck and I wish I was flying to Australia too!!

I'm in my 5th week post-op and water continues to be my biggest challenge. I'm using water enhancers like Mio drops to help, I've found that even a few drops adds enough smell that the water is more palatable. My sense of smell is off the charts right now...I'm about to turn 52 and my sense of smell had deteriorated a bit in the last few years (I think my CPAP nasal cannula contributed to it), but it's BACK!!

One more post and I'm done, I promise! This one is a rant/lament. I went grocery shopping with my son this afternoon, and I had the WORST time seeing all the chips and Cookies and baked goods. I'm over a month out now and this is the first time I've really wanted something junky...of course, I didn't allow myself to buy any of it, but MAN, I could have chowed down on some donuts from the deli! Now I'm at home, I had half of a Syntrax nectar and I'm fine, but....it was hard. I told myself that I've broken the sugar monster and that it would be stupid for so many reasons to even consider a BITE of something like that, but the other voice, the BAD voice, was trying very hard to sway me! I'm thankful my son was there (he's on a high protein/low carb diet getting ready for college soccer season) to help me through it. Have any of you had a craving that strong? I've barely been hungry, so it totally shocked me to have such a strong gut reaction to seeing crappy junk food.

I'm using PatchMD, too. Have you had any labs done yet? My dietitian is very skeptical about the efficacy of Patches, which has me a bit concerned, too. I just can't tolerate any oral Vitamins except some Disney Princess kids gummies but they're full of sugar and I have to eat a bunch of them to get what I need.

I wish Maggie would poke her head in and let us know what's up with her

Do you want to talk about what you're eating/drinking and see if any of us can point out anything that might look out of whack? I agree completely with donell1000 that you need to speak to your nutritionist/dietitian ASAP, but maybe we can offer some suggestions based on what we're all doing. How much water are you managing? If you're dehydrated, you're going to feel terrible, and you may not lose much because of it. My top priority is water, Protein is a close second. Please let us know how you're doing, ok?

I found a recipe for breakfast bites that use grated cauliflower and cheese as the 'crust', then you add an egg. I'll find it and post it later, I'm going to try to make them tomorrow and freeze them.

I used BariMelts for a couple of weeks, until I started vomiting them up. Now I'm using PatchMD Patches. My doc will run full labs soon to see what all my levels are, then I'll know if they're working or not. I'm a little skeptical, but I can't find anything oral that I can tolerate. My fingers are crossed

@@Sherbear2 Your endotracheal tube is routinely removed as you're coming out of the anesthesia, while you're still in the operating room. You aren't likely to remember anything prior to getting to the post-anesthesia care unit. I woke up there with a horrible pain right at my sternum...they quickly gave me IV dilaudid and did an EKG to rule out anything cardiac. No oxygen, no drain, no urinary catheter. The dilaudid made me very sleepy, so the next thing I knew, I was in my room and my nurse was taking vital signs. I was up and walking, and went to the bathroom, within an hour of getting to the nursing floor. I was put on a morphine pump (PCA pump) which has a button that you push to give yourself a dose of pain reliever as you feel you need. My pain was minimal and I walked a lot to help with the gas pain that you get after a laparoscopic surgery. Good luck!!

@@spunkyheather I'm only a month out (surgery was 6/21), but I'm off my lisinopril for hypertension (in fact, my bp went down immediately post-op so I never started back on it after being admitted). I also have fibromyalgia and although I'm still taking the amitriptyline for the peripheral pain I have, the trigger points on my back are completely gone and I've been able to discontinue my weekly acupuncture treatments. This has made a HUGE change in my quality of life. I've also got a great deal more stamina and am able to easily walk several miles, which would have made me winded, miserable and in pain prior to surgery. It hasn't been all roses and unicorns post-op, but it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience. My only regret is that I didn't opt for this 10 years ago!

Thank you so much for you kind words God bless you:-) . i dont really have alot of support with this from my family. They have seen me lose before so they dont get it. Im so blessed for the support im getting here thank you. Little tia My family has watched me lose weight on WW several times before, so I got a lot of 'why don't you just do that again?'. For me, I had to quit yo-yoing up and down...yes, I can lose weight on my own but I haven't been great at keeping it off long-term, and I could never get to my goal with Weight Watchers. I started searching for a tool that would let me achieve those long-term goals and that's what led me to WLS. You sound determined and motivated, I think those are qualities that will make you successful, especially with the extra help you'll get from having a sleeve or bypass. Best of luck to you, I hope you stick around and join in with all of us here...I'd love to hear about your experiences as you go through this all!

Congratulations and welcome to the June Losers!!

Men lose differently after sleeve surgery than women do, I was hoping another male would answer after you posted the other day. I'm only consuming 500-600 calories a day right now, trying to keep my Protein above 90g/day and carbs under 15-25g/day. I'm logging every bite that goes into my mouth, and religiously tracking my Water. I'm supposed to get in 64 oz/day but I do well to get in 48 oz. I'm also walking at least 3-5 miles daily. I had an 8 day period (all of week 3 plus) where I lost nothing, but I just stayed on my program and broke out of that and have lost a pound a day again since. I'd log your food, and increase your water and/or exercise. I don't think I'd be losing on 1000cal/day, and I don't know that I could eat 1000cal/day of 'good' foods right now, but without your weight/height, etc, theres no way to say what you might need. A typical day for me would be as follows: B: a cup of decaf coffee with a scoop of protein powder and 1/3 Premier Protein RTD for creamer/sweetness, then later, 3T oatmeal with 3T Fair life milk, with stevia for sweetness L: 2 oz lean protein 2 oz vegetable S: fresh mozzarella, maybe 2 of the little pearls that come packed in water a couple of dried apricots D: 3T refried Beans, thinned a little with water 1 scoop protein powder 1 T grated cheese or sour cream S: sugar free popsicle 12 oz water with Syntrax nectar It's pretty low volume still, so I'm adding protein powder where I can, and getting as much water as I can between meals. Good luck, let us know how you're doing!

First, it would be impossible to stretch your sleeve significantly at any time, much less with liquids a month post-op, so I think you should take that off your list of worries! My procedure was 21 June and I'm on whole foods and have been for 2 weeks, with no issues, so you should be able to tolerate liquids fine at this point. I never had a feeling of fullness from liquids, but definitely do with solids. It also takes a while to get chicken and vegetables in, small pieces, chewchewchewchew...meals take 30 mins easily. I've eaten a lot of oatmeal, pudding with Protein powder, Soups with protein powder, the Ricotta Bake recipe from the Eggface website, cottage cheese, refried Beans, etc. Those all gave me a sense of fullness, and it's unmistakable. I bet you're going to be in for a fabulous surprise when you unpack your scale and weigh yourself!

@@bg9249 I agree! I like the app a lot, in some ways better than MFP.

I don't think she was asking to stop the ads, I think she was asking for some healthier alternatives. And fwiw, there are plenty of PSAs about not drinking, not doing drugs, etc.

@@susie66 Have you ever tried Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup? You mix it with club soda to your own taste...it's very good and not as overly sweet as most mainstream tonic. I love Q Tonic and Fever Tree, too, but those little bottles don't last long

@@Unbridled My sleep is better than ever and I don't seem to need as much as I did prior to surgery! I also have twice the energy I did before my sleeve. Good luck to you!

Every program is definitely different! My doc released me to full food at 2 weeks, some programs require liquids for a month post-op. I don't really understand no alcohol for a year, though? Is it for weight loss purposes? Our dietitians are very strict, but they're for guidance in my world, they don't tell me what I can and can't do, only my MD does that. I've been advised by our dietitians to use fake vegetable Protein, to use aspartame, to use only non-fat dairy and on and on. There's also been quite good advice, but I take what makes sense to me and leave the rest. I actually get a lot of advice and support from my case manager, a successful 9-year RnY patient. She's been there, done that on so many situations and is a wealth of info. I cherish her

Oh, summer just isn't the same without a nice Hendricks and tonic on the patio :-) I have a little taster glass that I fill halfway with beer and sip on it...I usually end up pouring out half of that because it gets warm. I think right now I like the idea more than the beer!

I've had a little beer and a little hard cider, maybe about 3 oz of each, with no issues. My doc told me that I can have beer, wine or cider (in moderation of course) but no liquor. I did try a little white wine about a week ago and it really burned going down. I think I'll wait a while before I give it a try again. All alcoholic beverages are high in sugar carbs, that's why I'm being very cautious with them, but my life is full of social situations where everyone has a glass of wine or a beer, so I'm happy to be able to have a little of either :-)

Quest bars are high in carbs, although I think the sugar content is relatively low. I tried a Think Thin bar yesterday, the nutritional profile is great, but it honestly tasted and felt like chocolate sand in my mouth I'm still searching for a bar that I like that also meets my needs. I don't necessarily want to plan them as Meal Replacements, but use them like you're talking about...keeping one in my handbag would give me a decent option in a pinch.