jhope71

Dumb question . - In remission from depression on two medications, how are you in remission? Is it not just the meds are well.. doing its job and working?

Saying prayers. It sucks. Now what everyone doesn't want...duh duh dunnnhhhhhh--yes, that's right! It's time for the "Advice from a Pre-Surgery Newbie" Show, starring? FluffyChix!
Ok, so now for some practical advice. You are a medical professional--so you must be aware of this stuff--if not, get to know it!
1. Take baby steps. Begin again. Today. Right now. Only focus on the next bite. Today your one job is to dump the carbonated diet drinks. Dump em baby. Use LaCroix as a sub if you must.
2. Tomorrow or when you feel you can, work on the next step...make your Snacks healthy and filling: 2oz of Protein, or PB3s, or 2oz of GS apple + 2tbsp Peanut Butter (I'm presurg and this snack right here fills me for 3 hours).
3. Next step, STOP drinking while eating. You can do this. It's actually the easiest step. Make it the first step if you want!!!
4. Next step, go back to eating protein first with every meal. Follow the baby step meal order: protein, non-starchy veg, high carb bs, dessert.
5. Next step, get rid of all the sugar and carby nonsense. Lose the Desserts and high carb nonsense. Dump all the sugar from your diet. Tighten up your daily food intake. REALLY this is the fish or cut bait time. It may take several days...get rid of the CRAP.
6. Go back to planning your meals for 1 day. Weigh and measure everything. All. The. Things. Each day, recommit to weighing and tracking (and planning--don't forget the planning) for that day and that day only. Each day. Every day. Recommit.
7. Start walking every day--just around your house, inside your house if necessary...just 5 minutes if that's all you can do. Work up every day to more.
And that's as simple as it gets. Don't eat within 3-4 hours of bedtime. sleep elevated. Make low acid choices. Chew the crap outta stuff and makes notes on what makes the GERD and your esophagus feel worse. Take your PPIs. Treat yourself kindly and with respect. Congratulate yourself on getting through some serious ****. Congratulate yourself on graduating and improving your life.
Go back to basics. Each day plan and log your food. Only focus on taking the very next BEST bite. Don't forget to surrender to your higher power.
Read about CBT and food addiction. It's an awesome tool for overeating or eating with abandon.
And lastly, don't put off a revision if it's called for with the GERD. Just jump in and get it done. Don't waste any more of your life on this. But you do need to get the overeating/eating off plan stuff together cuz as you know, you can eff any surgery if you're determined to do so. Do OA or Greysheeters. Go to therapy. Just concentrate on changing one thing at a time. Take baby steps and you can turn your life around.
This is exactly how I backed into starting my new life on the pre-surgery plan. Before I could even do my plan, I had to slowly and gradually back into it until I had strung together so many successful days that I'd built momentum and resolve. Resolve and commitment grow exponentially with success. The more you see the scale move (or whatever your marker of success may be), the stronger the resolve to stay on plan.
Good luck. If I can do this, you can do this. I'm the queen of recidivism. I practically wrote the book on it.

If I could read your name and the state in which you're licensed, I'd be on the phone with the licensing board first thing tomorrow morning. Please discontinue your unethical behavior. If you don't understand that what you're doing is unethical, please seek consultation.

If you are a psychologist, what you're doing here is unethical and actionable. You're making evaluative statements under the umbrella of your professional expertise that are damning, based on information posted on an anonymous peer support forum, where you have not formed a client/professional relationship. Please discontinue, or I will push for you to be banned from the forum (and I encourage you to seek peer supervision on your conduct).

I saw the question in the "Recent Topics" sidebar and answered it. Please forgive me for contaminating your precious man-cave with my estrogen.

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

Will do, thanks for the reminder. Though I think a few of us would really like to stop being harassed a particular individual who is not providing any actual support other than upsetting other people on this particular page. No one deserves to be attacked for a post they are making and looking for suggestions and encouragement. I honestly did not expect such a thing from members of this site, but I was definitely wrong.

Reminder: Please everyone read the forum rules you agreed to abide by when signing up for an account here https://www.bariatricpal.com/guidelines/. The cursing and calling each other names need to stop, immediately! If this behavior continues, we will suspend accounts permanently and without any warning.

PCOS causes Hair loss, not Metformin. It's from the imbalance of hormones, and having an elevated testosterone. I took Spironolactone to help with it before my surgery, but that's not safe to take if you're trying to conceive. My doctor recommended using extra-strength Rogaine, too. I'm not sure about the safety of it - you'll have to read the package.
My surgeon took me off all PCOS meds after my bypass, and even though the PCOS is under control now through diet, I lost even more hair after my surgery. I'm hoping it stops falling out and starts growing back soon. It's getting pretty thin up there! I don't have any other suggestions. Coloring my hair helped it look a little thicker, but not much.
Best of luck!

It depends upon the surgery. For RNY gastric bypass patients and Duodenal Switch patients taking Vitamin supplements is an absolute must.

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

I'm wearing a shirt today that is NOT PLUS-SIZE! First time in 25 years. This is blowing my mind, in a good way!

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

I'm wearing a shirt today that is NOT PLUS-SIZE! First time in 25 years. This is blowing my mind, in a good way!

You have always been worth dating.
I hope you never forget that.
Has this guy told you he has an issue with your weight or is that your perception? Some people are genuinely afraid of dating bigger folks (both guys and gals, it goes both ways) or being labeled a "chubby chaser". Society makes us feel like a fetish.
I met my thin, fit partner on a video game when I was 225lbs. We fell for each other before we exchanged pictures and once we finally did, I sent him the "myspace" angles, nipped and tucked a little in photoshop, and hoped when we met he could see past the real, fat me and like me for who he thought I was. I got sick of keeping up the photographical lie and one day sent him a full body photo and said "this is who I am - take me or leave me". 24 hours later he made a 600-mile trip to meet me in person, moved in 8 months later, and we've been together for a total 5 years.
He watched me struggle with an eating addiction that stemmed from my childhood and lose 30lbs, only to put on 100lbs. He's exercised beside me and did crazy diets with me when I felt like thinness was my only way to happiness, and encouraged me to seek therapy to get my mother's aggressive, hateful words out of my head. He attended VSG orientation, held my hand for hours in the hospital bed before surgery, and slept 2 nights beside me in a crappy hospital chair while I recovered.
My point is that there is someone who is thrilled to date you at all stages in your life. The good, bad, fat, thin, poor, wealthy, sick, healthy...and those who think you look amazing when you can't even look in a mirror. There are also those who will threaten to leave when you no longer fit their idea of what someone should look like. Spend your energy on the ones that make you feel good now and forever, not ones who hold stipulations.

Nope...I can comprehend the notion of subforums. I can also detect your thoroughly indignant annoyance regarding this issue.
My initial post in this thread was an honest mistake. Get over it and stop complaining. An internet forum is not really the hill upon which I plan to die, especially one that lines another person's pockets via advertising revenue and supplement sales.
You might be a man, but you're bitchin' like a petty old woman.

It is common to have some limited weight gain after weight loss surgery. They call it a 20 pound bounce. The important thing is not let go beyond this 20 pounds. Most times this weight gain is due to a poor choice of Snacks. Snacks should be limited to primarily to whole food options: nuts, natural nut butters, fruits, veggies, boiled eggs, string cheese, yogurt with berries and almonds, tuna pouches. Avoid processed packaged foods as much as possible.
Also do not expect to lose weight at a rate similar to right after surgery. Generally if you gained the additional weight over a couple years, then it may take a couple years of watching what you eat to get back down.

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

A little of it was because food=love for me growing up, but the vast majority of my weight came from PCOS. But I still have a bit of an issue with wanting food as a reward. I saw a great quote the other day, though: "Do not reward yourself with food. You are not a dog!"

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

Crackers and toast are empty carbs, so be careful with them. I try to limit my "crunchy stuff" to raw veggies, parmesan crisps, nuts, Pork rinds, etc. Most of those are for later on, after the soft foods stage, though. Hang in there!

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

Glad you found the cause. I was gonna say at this early point, it could just be after-effects from anesthesia, or body trauma, or just being in the hospital. I don't have the "equipment" you do, but heck, your body's been through a lot and plenty of us had weird stuff going in those first few days. Good luck!

You're off to a great start with that attitude! I like the non-food rewards idea. I shop at thrift stores for smaller clothes while I'm shrinking. I also look for fun ways to get fluids in. Flavored waters, iced coffees, cute Water bottles, etc. Anything that makes it more doable! :-)

I survived... In a good amount of pain and just started pureed foods. Not a single throw up, haven't passed gas yet nor had a bowel movement but i did take Magnesium citrate on Sunday morning to clear my bowels out so it might be a while.
Just thought i would give everyone a heads up and show my gratitude for the support i have received.