Berry78

Definitely take it as you lay down for bedtime. Take it after drinking or meals, so it can stay in your stomach as long as possible. When we drink now, the liquid pretty much just pours right through the stomach, washing anything that is in there out. The liquid antacid works while it is in contact with the stomach, not after it leaves.

Wow, Fluff, you make it sound like I said for him to not lose another pound! There is a danger we all face, and it is called Anorexia. Anorexia does not EQUAL being too skinny. Anorexia can LEAD to becoming too skinny. Many of us have a skewed perception when it comes to our body image. When we're heavy, we tend to think we're smaller than we are, but when we get down to a normal weight, the pendulum can swing the other way, where we perceive we're still much too heavy. Feedback from friends and family can be useful to modulate our perceptions. Thank you for pointing out that friends and family can start getting concerned before it's warranted. That is absolutely true. That's why we need some kind of metric to go by, and the body scans are a super idea. That way it's no one's "perception".. it is actually cold, hard numbers that don't lie. A size 34 pant, if there is no overhang/love handles/muffin top.. is actually pretty close to ideal for a man who is 6'1. But, lots of guys carry excess above the belt, so "size 34" may not mean much at all.

My energy levels went up and down a lot postop. The body, once it gets into fat-burning mode, is actually very efficient, and you don't feel tired from lack of calories. You DO feel tired from having just had major surgery.. but not necessarily every minute of every day. I was SUPER winded for the first couple months doing things that wouldn't have made me winded before. So, yes.. things can be tough with that. And walking is important for the recovery.. it helps rid the body of the gas they use in surgery, and helps prevent blood clots. Frequent little walks are more important than long distance ones. Pain management should be an issue you bring up with your team so you can remain as mobile as possible postop.

Alright, then you have a plan. I do think you're more concerned about the HCG than you have to be. Just get a note from the abortion place that you had an abortion and the date, that should take care of it for the surgery. It will all work out, I'm sure!

I'm hearing a lot of uncertainty. I think you should talk to someone (preferably a doctor) to find out just how risky this pregnancy would actually be. You should absolutely do what is right for you, but I hate for you to make this big of a decision based on an insurance deductible. Money comes and goes, but regret might be there forever. You may also be feeling some pressure because of your hubby getting a vasectomy. You are closing the door to the possibility of a post-op pregnancy as well. (There are less permanent forms of birth control if you decide to go ahead with the surgery now, and leave the possibility of another pregnancy open for a later date after you've lost weight). Don't worry about depriving your kids of a sibling. Kids don't like to share, anyway. This is about you and your vision of the future.

I actually don't remember.. Maalox or Mylanta will work. Just read the bottle for dosing instructions. And it's only for a couple weeks until things settle down. When I looked up antacid to try and remember which I took, it popped up Alka Seltzer. WHATEVER you do, DO NOT TAKE Alka Seltzer. People have died from taking it right after surgery. The gas bubbles were more than the poor stomach could handle..

It is usually recommended to abstain for the first 6 months to a year. There are several reasons. 1. Your liver is likely not the healthiest yet since obese people tend to have fatty livers. Then, as we are losing weight quickly, the liver has a bigger job to do as well. When we drink, our blood alcohol levels get quite a bit higher than non-bariatric folk after drinking the same amount. Higher blood alcohol levels means more work for the already-taxed liver. 2. Addiction transfer is a real thing. People with food addictions need to be extra cautious about this one. Those of us with addictive personalities would do best to not ever start drinking postop. 3. Since we can't eat much, it's hard to not drink on an empty stomach. Which means more drunk faster, and possibility of passing out, injury, and accident goes up. Also hypoglycemia. 4. Alcohol may irritate the stomach, and in Bypass patients it has been shown to cause ulcers. 5. Most of the alcohol-related posts made here are people asking about drinking, followed up by people having had a problem after drinking. One or two passed out cold (after a single serving), several have addiction transfers, me personally.. I had a single glass of wine after 6 months, and almost couldn't walk. (I hadn't done the research at that point to know to stop after 1/2 the glass.. oops.) If you still decide to indulge, drink only half a drink after a good meal, and have a designated driver.

Welcome!!

It IS a difficult decision.. but I guess I'm confused. You've gone all the way through the process, and now that you get your date, you're thinking of backing out? Was "backing out" always a possibility in your mind? Was it one of those.. "well, I'm not sure I wanna do this, but just in case I decide to, I'll go through the process and decide at the end"? That kind of open-ended decision is fine, IF that's what you did. On the other hand, maybe you decided early on to do it, there was no question that it was the right thing.. and these are just last minute cold feet... When you started the process, did you make a list of reasons? Many times, if we get nervous, we can refer back to all the reasons we wanted to pursue the process in the beginning. There IS a bit of a leap of faith required. I know for me, once I set my mind up to do it, that was it, I didn't let my mind carry me away from the decision. Sure, it's scary, but then I'd remember some show or movie (or real life) that I'd seen where someone has an accident, and their life is changed forever. Things can and do happen all the time, and if something were going to happen to me from the surgery... well, who is to say that something wouldn't happen due to me NOT having the surgery? Maybe if I wasn't safely tucked away in the hospital, I'd be out driving on the highway and get into a terrible accident. It may seem like a weird way to look at it, but our perceptions that we can control anything.. that's the illusion. Get the surgery, don't get the surgery.. the choice is yours. Which way leaves you with the fewest regrets?

I came across an interesting study. Basically, people with the sleeve end up with GERD mostly because of unrepaired hiatal hernias. People without bariatric surgery get GERD because of ... guess what? .... hiatal hernias. Anyone with GERD should be carefully evaluated for a hiatal hernia. (According to that study, it looked like only 5% of GERD was NOT due to HHs.) There is a complication of the sleeve.. where basically the sleeve gets pulled a bit up through the diaphragm (maybe because of vomiting). This is essentially the same thing as a hiatal hernia, and may explain some of the correlation. In this case, a bypass could fix it, since the intestine kinda "pulls" on the pouch, keeping it below the diaphragm.

Eggs are hit and miss. Lots of people have trouble. The first time you try eggs, cook them extra soft, and eat them when you aren't in a hurry to go anywhere. That way if they don't agree with you, you have time to recover. This is a good habit to get into with any new food. Good luck! (Eggs are wonderful for me).

You may want to shop for another PCP. Mine does tons of bloodwork, no problem. As a DS patient, this is SUPER important! Keep on fighting for proper care. Good luck!

Mushroom and pineapple pizza and a fruit pie (I don't remember, cherry or blueberry).

Welcome! The forum you've chosen is correct. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I have no physical problem, but so far have been just too lazy to start exercising. I'm 7.5 months postop with a sleeve. I'm 39 year old female. And I've lost 100lbs. (I still have about 50 to get to goal). So, long story short, you absolutely can/will lose weight without exercise. Will you get to goal? I don't know. But at least I'm proof that a person can lose a substantial amount. Now, my metabolism is higher than most, and if yours is slower, then you'll have slower results. A good indication of the weight you'll lose postop is how well you can lose preop. I lost 16 pounds on a strict liquid diet in the month before the surgery.

I can't really say yes or no about the tums. The texture is ok, it's just what it is made of I'm not sure about. Maybe someone else knows. Always best to ask your team about meds. The capsule is probably ok. I could swallow those better than actual pills early out. Ice chips are great! If you consume a lot of them, weigh them out since frozen water takes more room than liquid. Sometimes people have to sleep in a recliner for a bit. A pile of pillows can do a similar thing.

I just went to the grocery store. Preop, I got my protein powder from GNC and Walmart. Postop I couldn't tolerate it, so stuck with dairy and other food.

I'm not sure if that is a question, but I think I'd call that moderate diabetes.

Ok, first off, you need to be on an acid reducer. That isn't optional during the first weeks/months. That hungry feeling is probably acid. Whenever I'd have discomfort that felt like hunger, I'd take a swig of liquid antacid (in addition to the PPI pill). Ask your team about this. The heightened sense of smell is totally normal. Happens to everyone. Keep working on trying different liquids, different temperatures. Warm herbal tea worked well for me, ice water works for someone else. Go through it systematically. Room temperature, warm, cold, ice cold, frozen (like frozen popsicles) Every 5 minutes, take a sip of SOMETHING. The more dehydrated you get, the worse you feel, and the less you want to drink. Ask your team about pain medicine.. I was also a stomach sleeper, but found by making a "horseshoe" of pillows around me, resting my back on some, and my tummy on others, I could rest on my side. (I never before slept with more than 1 pillow, so this was a unique situation). After 2-3 weeks, I could sleep normally again.

Woo Hoo!! Sure, it's a big deal!! Can't wait to be merely overweight, myself! (Only 14 more pounds ). When people start telling you not to lose any more, it is a good time to take stock of where you actually are. BMI is NOT gospel when it comes to a healthy body. First metric is waist to height measurement. 6'1 is 73 inches. Your natural waist should be, at most, half that number... 36.5 inches. (Find your natural waist by looking for the area in your side where your ribs and hip bone almost touch. Place the tape measure between the bottom rib and the top of the hip bone. Measure horizontally around that area.. easiest in the mirror). Once you are below that number, then you've reached a healthy size.. and any extra losses are just icing on the cake. (It's not a bad idea to overshoot by an inch or two to guard against a bit of regain). Of course, the most accurate way is to get a body composition analysis done. They aren't free, but you get very good information from them. (I haven't done this yet.. plan to when I get close to goal). If you have a particular goal to reach, it's easier to dismiss the concerns of friends and family. "Oh, I haven't reached the healthy waist measurement yet" or "My body fat percentage is still higher than the healthy range". Sounds a lot better than "I wanna get as skinny as I can!" Lol! (I know that's not actually what you say, but hopefully it makes my point clear).

20lbs is average for the whole first month. Usually a huge rapid loss like that is followed by a lengthy stall while the body catches up. Totally normal.

21 is significantly above average. A portion of that wasn't fat, but water instead. Now that you are getting rehydrated, the water weight comes back. The scale will regularly go up and down by a few pounds. If you weigh every day, you'll get used to it. How I minimize the psychological impact for me is I write down my weight only once a week. I weigh every day and keep in mind the lowest number I saw that week. That's what I write down. I'm 7 months postop and have only had 2 weeks that logged a zero loss. I'm sure if I didn't do it this way, half my weeks would be zero losses! Lol. (The other half would be double). You're doing great!

This early in the healing phase, you should contact your team. Everything is probably just fine, physically, but you should hear what they have to say about it. In the future, make a plan. If you don't have access to something that is on plan, you can always just sip on a drink. Eating out won't feel "normal" for most of the first year. But this is the time to get into new habits.

I came across an article a while back, that gave a way for physicians to make an educated guess as to which procedure would be best for their diabetic clients. It split the patients into 3 groups: mild diabetes (short time, easily controlled with 1 medication), moderate diabetes (up to 10 years, controlled with 1-2 meds), severe diabetes (long time or uncontrolled or need lots of meds) The mild cases are likely to respond with sleeve or bypass. Moderate cases really need a bypass Severe cases are less likely to respond at all, so the sleeve might as well be chosen since it has fewer complications. There are no hard and fast rules, but this gives some food for thought.

This is an interesting one for me. Preop, I never used anything on my skin. Body wash in the shower. That's it! Postop I started using lotion after every shower to try and ward off loose skin, if at all possible. So, I had 10 years worth of lotions laying around that were almost never used. They are all used up now, and I had to buy my first bottle. I found a huge bottle of cocoa butter for like $2, so am using that right now. Actually smells like chocolate! Now, for my face, I use a facial moisturizer that has sunscreen. First I grabbed Cetaphil, and it seemed to work well. When that ran out, I went with CeraVe, but noticed my pores seemed to be clogged a lot more. Took a while to decide to change moisturizers. So tried Aveeno. Same thing. Went back to Cetaphil, and within a week the clogs were gone! At like $14 a small bottle, it's rich, but I'm sold. It does last a while. I do notice a bottle of body lotion used to last a couple weeks, now lasts over a month. Smaller body uses less!