GotProlactinoma

Exactly the same. I Felt pretty dehydrated because after two mini sips of water I felt like I had eaten a thanksgiving meal. Just keep taking the little sips, and that bloated stomach feeling is air, so walk a lot to walk it off. Even just inside your home. No, you will not stay like this. You will get your strength back, you will be able to have little bites of real food (and chew them for a,long time). I'm almost 6 weeks out and I still get the bloaty stomach so I still keep my sips and bites small and chew well. This is what I wanted. I'm glad for the bloat. Because if I eat small amounts, slowly, it prevents it. Nothing else was going to cut my portions!

QueenTiff, it might feel better to know that your starting to burn your own fat for fuel releases a lot of excess hormones from your fat cells. One big one is estrogen. Estrogen affects your moods. So it could well be that right now, as you are getting used to this big change in your life, you are being hit with emotions that are hormone driven. To make yourself feel better, focus on protein without sugars or fake sugars. Liquid (water is best) without sweeteners. Sugars and fake sugars DO affect your pancreas both, and DO affect your gut bacteria which affect your brain and your moods. Think of it like this: it is GOOD your body is starting to burn its fats. There are some emotional side effects. But it is good for you. Honey, six months were going to go by in your life. August is going to turn into February whether you had the surgery or not. And this way, in February you will be smaller, some of your bad, hey, your worst, habits will be gone, and you won't be regretting. I am two days shy of 6 weeks. At 3 weeks I couldn't get enough water (still having trouble) and protein, though better at the protein. I felt a lot like you but not quite the same regrets because I'm probably older. And now things got a LOT better. I'm starting to have real foods. Soft, yeah, or I chew them soft. It is wonderful to have a taste of something I love and SOMEHOW I DONT WANT MORE than that bite. To have one bite and it be enough?? Isn't that the miracle you wanted, why you did the surgery? Please hon, hang in there. IT GETS BETTER. (if you can afford it I highly recommend getting an IV of vitamins and minerals. Some holistic doctors give it, and some "morning after party" companies give them (the docs are cheaper and maybe some can get it covered by insurance). I did it once a week the first 4 weeks. Makes you feel better, less dehydrated.)

Poor thing. That is sucky. I'm sorry you are in that situation. Try the wine first a few days earlier because getting sick in that party would only make things way worse. White wine with a couple drops of oj might look the same as what they are drinking and be better for your sleeve.

We are attempting to be as healthy as possible after bariatric surgery. No one should draw any smoke into their lungs. I hope anyone using cannabis switches to vaping or edibles. It's far healthier. We don't all have the same lifestyles and that is ok. But we support each other for the healthy long lives we all are here for! With love, I say please try not to draw smoke into your beautiful essential lungs. (I have had great success with cannabis for pain but I put CBD 2:1 oil under my tongue at bedtime so I'd fail a drug test too)

Exciting, actually. Focus on your pants! New sizes! Being a low BMIer, it's coming off so slowly I haven't dropped a size yet. I've measured and I am losing volume, lol, but not enough to get into even the 1X's. Losing is VERY SLOW. Hope it's at least steady! For all of us!

I have NEVER had extreme pain ever since surgery. I don't think that is normal. Please get that checked. I haven't even had any pain except tenderness after surgery and after eating or drinking some fullness discomfort that is not pain.

Yes, I know the body NEEDS vitamins. I took a lot of good supplements before surgery and I wanted to keep up a minimum of vitamins and minerals after, as well. Vitamin D to keep my immune system strong and magnesium were the two I knew I needed to keep up. So I did use those two bariatric patches right when I got home (1 week after surgery). I never finished the packages because I found I could go back to my capsules or soft gels a couple weeks later. But they were good to have for those first weeks! Magnesium keeps you calm and helps you sleep. even now, swallowing pills is a big deal, it feels creepy going down, and I can't pop two pills at once. But slowly I can take 5 capsules at night now, over a 20 minute period. Even big sips of water make my stomach feel bloated but it's working.

This is just a guess from a fellow sleever with no purging background, just a psych background. Could it be that it's that feeling the sleeve gives you, especially in the first weeks but even now at times for me at 5 weeks out, that is the trigger? I've started eating real foods (soft). I will put my 1-2 oz into a tiny stainless steel lunchbox container and sit down to a meal. And chew each tiny bite a lot. And still I will get a FULL FEELING before I've eaten the tiny portion I made. And that full feeling is not pleasant, it's like I ate a big Thanksgiving meal and it was only an ounce of soft food! And I stop eating immediately. Maybe that full feeling is triggering when you felt you'd eaten enough to purge, back in the day when you were bulimic. Maybe your therapist and you can work on a cognitive strategy for when that FULL FEELING hits. For me, walking really helps. It goes away faster than if I just sit there. And i don't drink for half an hour. Good luck, sweetie. You can do this.

I'll look at my sodium levels. They must be 1000 less than before though with me eating so little. Before surgery, I had been drastically lowering sodium, which never did help lowering my blood pressure back then. And now I take in dramatically less food. Maybe since starting real food the sodium has gone up a bit, though. Thanks, I will check. my protein drink is just grassfed whey powder with water or milk.

Yes. I waited until 4 weeks, then started Jillian Michaels app. I am doing her beginner program faithfully. Very proud of myself. I've done Day 6 and I'm getting stronger.

One of the factors pushing me to finally get the sleeve this last July was my high blood pressure. I got a cuff at doc's orders last March and started taking my BP twice a day. It was always very high, never normal, sometimes lower but within the too high range. Some days it was scary high. I really couldn't correlate it with stress. When I started the pre op diet in early July, BOOM. Blood pressure dropped down to normal. Then I had the surgery, and after a week, started taking BP again, and it was normal still. After 4 weeks, it started creeping back up. Now I'm getting high readings again! What does it correlate with!? What made it go down?? If it was calories, my calories haven't changed much lately. Around 400-500 right after surgery, then up to 700 and staying there. It can't be weight loss as the BP dropped down to normal the moment I started the pre op low calorie diet. I was the same weight. And since surgery I have barely lost 10 lbs. it's going down very slowly. Recently I have added a few more carbs like 2 oz granola a day, which helps fight constipation, and still very low carb. Can if be that ANY carb raises blood pressure? What am I doing wrong? I have done 6 days of a new exercise program, I thought exercise LOWERS BP. I'm not happy about this. Anyone know the relationship to weight loss, diet changes, and blood pressure?

I just found the little packets of high protein peanut butter. Made with whey protein so each packet has 12g protein. Perfect for the car, even on a hot day. There is a tiny bit of honey in there but it's low carb. Peanut butter is allowed by my nutritionist. To answer the original question, I've been eating 1-2 oz of granola lately with an oz of milk on it. I made the granola myself from oats and seeds. There is only one fruit, dried cherries, and not very many, but it is so good. I think it helps against constipatin because low carb doesn't give enough fiber.

I haven't tried many foods but I didn't get the taste change some of you are talking about. I take probiotics to keep my same gut bugs, I wonder If people who don't take serious probiotics have more "taste changes" because their gut bug population has changed? No idea why the tastes change. I can't do chicken yet because even puréed it seems too hard to swallow without fluids. It tastes ok, just the consistency, it's so hard and feathery. I bought tuna but I am afraid it will be like that too. I've had 1/4 burger on the grill with avocado oil mayo - tiny bites and the mayo helps it get down.

Yeah I'm close to 5 weeks out and am learning I need to take protein drink or powder EVERYWHERE in case I suddenly get shaky and need protein. I should invest in a little cooler so I can take Greek yogurt or other options. You won't need carbs when you are out and about. Not for the first months. Save those for at home.

Adding: I guess the most frustrating is that I lost 13 lbs on the two week pre op diet, and after surgery and eating far less, in five weeks I've only lost 9 lbs.

While this is working, it is upsettingly slow for this low BMI obese woman. Mid July was my surgery but I've barely lost 4 lbs so far in August only. It keeps going down by ounces each day, I am slowly getting my calories up to 700-800 (not always successful with that). I started Jillian Michaels workout app (on beginner). Getting my protein. But it is just slow. About 1.5 lbs a week. i know slow is good. I just need to be patient. I had this idea I'd be in a smaller size by Sept and maybe by Oct out of plus sizes. Ok, maybe not. I am shrinking, though more upper body than those wonderful lower body fat deposits that could keep a family alive through the winter! Attempting patience.

My eyes were opened with the pro op diet. I really had to think about it: my stomach was the same as always, I was drinking 2 protein drinks a day plus a small piece of meat or fish with veggies for dinner. I was starving for the first 4-5 days. Got used to it on the second week. Lost a bunch of weight. So I thought like you are thinking. What if I just did this, with no surgery? But the truth is that the only reason I stuck to what I called a starvation diet was because it was to shrink my liver so surgery would be safe. I would NEVER have stuck to it, NEVER, otherwise. Let's be real. i decided to tell everyone and I don't have the issue of trying to hide it. Life is easier this way, but I still have to deal with dumb questions like "I bet you are dropping tons of weight!" When I am not, and "Oh you look so much thinner!" When I don't, but whatever. Pasta and bread: it's how we got this way. I have been living gluten free for a few years, and I just don't eat bread, EVEN THOUGH IT IS DELICIOUS. It's just in a category for me of things I don't eat. However, if there is something you feel today that you couldn't live without, know that you will eventually have some spare calories and you can spend them as you want. For the first phase post surgery, maybe for a few months, you will just be focusing on getting enough water and protein to thrive. But eventually you can add in what you feel you can't live without. I'm only 4 weeks out and just starting "real foods" or soft foods. But already I have some good news for you. It takes only a few tastes and you are satisfied and done! Just what we always wanted! To taste something good and that taste is for real ENOUGH. You don't feel the need or desire to eat a gallon of it. So when you decide to enjoy a pasta dish, two forks of it will give you the same happiness a plate did before. And that's if you still even want it.

I so appreciate your insight! I'm one month out now. I was just wondering why milk and kefir have so many carbs. And I do wonder if some of the kefir carbs don't count because it's fermented. Somewhere I learned that fermented foods, the carbs are less because they were used for the bacteria... i cant tolerate cottage cheese. It has something in it that triggers migraines, maybe the carrageenan? But I am getting good use of the Greek yogurt too. i still have whey protein powder every day even if I react a little to it because I just need protein that is very dense so I don't need too much quantity. glad you lost 30 lbs the first two months, me only 8 lbs the first month. It will be slow for me.

What can I bring in? I'll be in there for up to 4 hours, in a major arena. I expect there is nothing I can eat, so I need to bring protein drink / powder to mix with water / anything else? I'm sure they won't let me bring in my great metal shaker to keep things cold, which I understand. So hopefully my plastic shaker (with metal shaker ball??? Hope I can keep it) with one drink made with powder for another one in the screw on tub. What have other sleevers done? I'm in soft foods stage but not very good at it yet.

I figured it out, and like you my homemade has plenty of protein, to be 9g a cup. So that is how I calculate it. I always use a chicken carcass with plenty meat on it and throw in 4-5 chicken feet (got them at Whole Foods and keep in the freezer). Drinking some right now.

Can I have the recipe for the southwestern ricotta bake? I think I see green chiles! we do soft foods from 14 days out, but it's not all it sounds. It takes me 45 mins to have an inch square of whatever, scrambled egg, smoked salmon, or homemade hamburger. I dont feel it is adding much to my food intake. Still now at 4 weeks out, most of my protein is still powder, Greek yogurt, and bone broth. Chicken didn't work. Too solid to get down. Refried beans is easy to eat, and you can melt cheese over it too.

I had trouble drinking too, felt full and gassy but no pain, but felt I couldn't get more than 2 sips of anything, then I had to wait. Now I am 4 weeks out and it is better. Still need to drink slowly but not that slowly any more. walking after drinking (or eating soft foods) really helps.

I had trouble getting even half the required water too. After two sips my stomach needed to wait a long time. It just didn't work. Four weeks out, I'm still not getting enough oz of water per set so I count my veg juice and my protein drinks - probably cheating. For the first three weeks, I went to a little natural MD and got a vitamin and mineral infused IV. I always felt much better after it. I'd suggest it and maybe your doc will even prescribe it, though you don't need a prescription if you are cash pay.

Thank you both so much! I'm relying on the Greek yogurt and the broth. I feel I need a more concentrated source though. LOVE the idea of the Lifeway Protein Kefir. I love kefir! Drinking some today. But the protein version doesn't come without sugary ingredients and fruits. I just want plain. maybe I should replace all my water with broth and watery yogurt or milk. i can't imagine blended tuna. I did try other protein powders. Ugh. Bought plain and vanilla Paleo Pro beef and egg protein powder, couldn't choke it down. Same with pea and hemp. Nope. our nutritionist said whey protein would be for our whole lives to get enough concentrated protein in once a day. sigh. Thanks so much.

I lost only 2 or 3 pounds the first week too. And now 3 weeks out I have lost 6 pounds. but I did measure around my arm and I was 1 inch less around. That cheered me up. And actually, I do want to lose slowly. I don't want to lose my hair or my gall bladder. Maybe I won't be buying new fall clothes but I'm thinking NEXT SUMMER I will be smaller. I'm thinking long term. I'm doing everything right except that I am still struggling with fluids and protein now too. Eating so few calories means my metabolism has shut down.