CaribeRidge

I had my surgery, gastric bypass, on 1/22/19. What I notice the most is head hunger. My mind wants food but my stomach says no. I find myself wanting to put a lot of food on my plate when it is something I really like and being disappointed that I can only eat a bit and not a lot like I used to. So I have to remind myself that I can no longer eat like that, nor do I want to, intellectually. Granted all this happens in a couple of seconds. "Mmm, I want more...no I can't have more... sadness... (pep-talk) this is the way it is now and how it should be" Then I hope my brain will eventually train itself to not be so greedy. For the most part, I eat because it is "time to eat" and not so much because I feel hunger. When I do it is typically a side effect of some of my meds which cause hunger or I missed the "time to eat" cause I was busy and eventually my stomach says "hey, remember me?" I think I am probably one of the luckier ones in this. It would be so much more difficult if I was dealing with stomach hunger as well as mind hunger.

These used to fit me normally, like tights do. This is how they fit me now. I had my surgery on Jan 22, 2019.

It's crazy that not enough Water can make such a big difference but it does. I'm seeing a very clear correlation between not getting the minimum water and stalling. When I go to bed I take stock of how much water I actually drank. If I didn't drink 64 oz I know the next morning I will likely not see any drop in weight. Sometimes it actually goes up a lb.

I was told to start my Vitamins 2 weeks after surgery and not before. I bought the citracal petites and they are still big horse pills. Two of them at once hurts my stomach. So I take 1, then 2 hours later I take the other one and so on. I bought chewable multivits and they are by far the easiest to take. They are ProCare Health Bariatric Multivitamins with 45 mg Iron and you only take 1 a day.

You look awesome!

Same here. It was the i.v. fluids. They give you a lot. I think even while you are in surgery they are pumping fluids into you. It does go down soon enough.

Has anyone used this for at least a little while and did you notice any effects? Just started using it on the loose skin areas.

I had a lot of itching too and my doc said to apply Benadryl since it is not an nsaid. Others are so be careful.

That is exactly where my pain was. It lasted over a month after surgery and only went away when I started using Gas-x. My doctor wasn't concerned when I reported it since I didn't have any other symptoms. But let me tell you, it was excruciating at times. Definitely check with your doc because severe pain can be a sign of many different things.

You look absolutely amazing! You are inspiration, thanks for sharing 🤩

My insurance only wanted the weight I was on my first appointment. I was at 135 bmi with a lot of comorbidities. I was worried about that low BMI as well. Particularly since I wanted to lose as much as I could before the actual surgery so I'd have less to lose afterwards. I was at 132 BMI on the day of surgery and until they rolled me into surgery, completely worried that someone would say "nope, stop, she has lost too much weight" but I worried for nothing.

eggs fall in my stomach like a ton of bricks and hurts so much no matter how soft I scramble them. so I stopped eating them for now. It seems I also swallow a lot of air at times causing incredible pain. I finally got permission from doc to take Gas-x or something similar. It works right away and the pain is gone. Whenever I have a "delayed a bit" after I eat pain, it is usually gas. I can feel and even hear the gurgling of the air moving around my stomach. I try burping naturally on my own but if if that doesn't work fast enough for me, I'll take a Gas-x and that solves the problem. Check with doctor first before taking anything.

I'm only at 46 days, but I have already experienced a stall for like 2.5 weeks. Like you I kept going up and down 3 lbs. I was getting really depressed about it too. But the doctor said (and from what I've read here) is that this is pretty common. The is a lot going on in our bodies right now that can seem like we are not losing weight. From swelling, Water retention, Constipation, and just your body adjusting to this new calorie intake. He said not to worry, the weight would start going down again soon enough and it did. This is when I started taking my measurements. I have lost 1 inch in each of my thighs and 4 at my waist. It is a consolation when the scale is not moving much. I bet when you start seeing the PT you will see your weight going down a lot faster again.

6 minutes ago, JessLess said:

I was very lucky that I got my doctor to do a single incision sleeve. My doctor did it through my belly button. She did have to make two other little incisions because I was too tall. My doctor told me I wouldn't need to use anything, but I did have faint scars so I am using Mederma. It was inexpensive and seems to be slowly fading them.Mederma

If your scars are only on the belly button you can always get a belly button piercing to cover them up. 😁 I used to think that if I ever lost a lot of weight I would get one because I do think they are sexy. But at 54 yrs old I'm thinking I'll be better served investing in a GG Gucci belt 😂🤣 which is my reward when I reach goal weight since they are pretty expensive. But it has always been a dream because my own initials are GG.

I used to work at a doctors office in the 90's and at that time we recommended Vitamin E oil applied directly on the scars. It really worked wonders to reduce the appearance of scars. I tried it while my scars were still healing and it caused an incredible itch so I stopped. I am at 46 days out and your post remind me to try it again now. If it still itches, then it might be too strong for the skin on my abdomen. The capsules are 640mg per soft gel. If it does I'll try the Bio-oil. reading the ingredients it looks like a great product. Thanks for the idea and reminder. 😀

My pajama pants are falling off!!! 🤗😁👍 The only thing that's holding them up is my big butt. 😆 I guess I'll have to switch to "dress" pajamas. So not sorry about that 😀.

....it's the little victories.

I've been experiencing this but didn't know it had a name or that I could get the pressure adjusted. Breakfast is a painful meal for me. I can tell it's because I have air in there. I can hear and feel the air moving around so I try burping. I push the breakfast down slowly and it helps get the air out. Do you contact your pcp for the referral to the cpap dr or contact the bariatric surgeon? Did they do another study on you or just lower the pressure?

I'm 54 and had my surgery on 1/22/19. My husband is very fit and very active. We used to do outdoor things together but as my weight got bigger my back pain started keeping me from walking or cycling. The day I realized I could no longer fit my kayak comfortably (and I have a wider one) much less get in and out of it easily was a very sobering thing. I had to tip the kayak to the side and splash myself out of it. Where we kayak is a pretty busy lake for that. Everyone is in shape. Some people are even doing yoga standing on paddle boards. While no one looked at me judgingly, I felt utterly humiliated. When I couldn't actually kayak anymore I'd still go and just read on the shore and people watch. But then I'd see older thinner women chatting up my husband because (not because he is MY husband) he is a pretty handsome guy. He loves me and would never cheat but it still made me feel awful about myself. So I stopped going and saw my husband go alone.

Since I couldn't ride a regular bike anymore I bought a recumbent tricycle, my sweet husband who rides 40-50 miles every Sunday and every day rides to work got one too so we could go together and I wouldn't feel like the old fat lady riding a tricycle while he rides in circles around me in his very expensive bike. But soon enough I could hardly breathe riding and I give you 2 guesses of where my trike is but you'll only need one.

I live in the state with the least obese people in the whole USA. That's because there so many things you can do outdoors in any season and everyone takes advantage of that. I used to go hiking and chase down waterfalls to take pictures of them. Sometimes going for miles in tough terrain uphill both ways 😉 to reach my goal. It felt wonderful to be out in nature, catch a glimpse of a deer every now and then and get to see the most spectacular and majestic scenes God created.

Now I am sooo looking forward to being able to do all those things again. The thought of me hiking again with my camera brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. 🤗 And yes, vain or not, I even look forwards to feeling like a million bucks when we are out there and some woman is making googly eyes at my husband knowing that he is mine and I finally feel like I deserve him.

So should I have gone through the surgery at 54 yrs old? You bet I should have. And the bonus is I have a chance to live longer and see my 15 yr old grow up. I'm already off my blood pressure meds and the diabetic meds and all my levels are still normal 🤩🏆😁. Can't wait to get rid of the cpap and the other meds. It's been 1 month and I have lost 11 lbs from my weight prior to surgery. I am cycling at the gym for 30 mins without losing my breath. Same for going up and down the stairs. I can walk the mall without having to sit every 5 mins or wearing a back brace. And that is "just" 11 lbs!!! Can you imagine what I will be able to do when I lose another 30!!! I am surely looking forward to finding out.

Age is nothing but a thang.

For the few that had complications, there are countless others who did not. People tend to post the complications more in order to get support and ideas but if a person did or is doing great they don't necessarily create a post about it. Don't let the few bad experiences keep you from doing this. It's not just about the weight loss. It is also about the comorbidities and just living longer. You also have to be realistic about your ability to lose weight and keep it off. If you can then great! But most of us have tried losing weight in all kinds of different diets only to gain it all back. From what I've read here and from people I know, even those who have had complications, after a year or 2 out or more they say they would do it again knowing how it all went down for them.

I bought the cinnamon bun one and it is delicious. Better than any other Protein Powder I have ever tried. I had my son and hubby taste the powder and they thought it was really good too.

eggs sit like a ton of bricks on my stomach. It hurts even to swallow one or two bites. I tried mixing them with cottage cheese which makes them softer but that didn't help. I have decided to give them up for now.

You might also want to look-up recipes that contain the items you can find close to you easier. The Vitamins are forever but the expensive shakes are not so don't be turned off by the cost there. Also it's true that you wont be eating much so you will need to buy less. You can also try combining a bit of expensive with much more cheap stuff. In Hawaii you might want to grow your own veggies for fillers. Look up recipes for the specific stages in Pinterest There are tons of them.

I bought these vitamins here ProCare Health "1 per Day!" Bariatric Multivitamin chewable - 30-Day Supply for $22.99 That's .76 cents per pill. I also bought the citracal petites 400 mg calcium citrate With 500 IU Vitamin D3 on Amazon 200 pills for $10.89.

My last suggestion is to talk to local store manager and ask if they would be ok ordering some things for you when they place their orders to save on shipping.

4 hours ago, Jazzy1125 said:

let me know how it is. I am almost out of what i have!

Will do.

I have not tried it but it is cheaper at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QQA0M88/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1 Same size. I'm orderin the cinnamon roll flavor one.😀

I had my surgery on 1/22 and just today they let me go home. The surgery went well, the problem was that my heart rate was very high, my red blood cell count was really low, and my sugars also crashed. I also had a very large bruise at one of my incision sites that kept growing and growing.

The main concern was that I might have an internal bleed. So they ran a cat scan and found no leaks inside of me. Eventually I tracked down the source of the bruise. One of the cna's gave me a heparin shot on the belly close to that incision right after surgery.

Now I'm home having to test my blood pressure and sugars twice a day.

In general, I feel pretty good considering I just has a RNY. I have gas pains but nothing that would make me scream. Walking helps a lot even though it is the last thing you want to do when you are in pain. I can swallow liquids fine. When I get up, it feels like my internal organs just drop to the bottom of my torso. It is a very weird sensation and it hurts too. I can't believe how happy I feel when I burp or fart! Never thought that farting would be anything to be proud of. At this point, I don't even care who is there😂