BajanSleeve

Perhaps this post will help someone who is seeking to do VSG or some form of WLS because I will be honest with you about my journey. It has been 8 months since I had VSG surgery and I have lost only 44 lbs. Up to a month ago I had lost 55 lbs but I have since gained 10 lbs. There are a couple reasons for my weight loss failure and I am just putting them down in writing not so much so that folks can be critical, but more for the folks out there considering this surgery or might just have had it.
I have not been committed to the process of changing bad habits or incorporating exercise into my lifestyle. I must have thought that having VSG was going to magically take away my appetite and food cravings for bad food. Guess what? I was starving the day after surgery! My appetite really never left. So if I did not CHOOSE what to eat and what not to eat, you could pack in tons of calories even in small portions. To cut to the chase, VSG does not work if you are not disciplined with your food choices. That shouldn't be a huge revelation but I actually had a mindset that my stomach would be gone and I would not even want to eat anymore so all the weight would just melt away. It does not happen that way!
I did not follow the instructions and guidelines post surgery about not eating and drinking at the same time. I had been told not to do it, I read that it would stretch your stomach pouch, but I still went ahead and did it. Guess what? My stomach has stretched and I can basically eat a small 'normal' size meal at only 7 months out when it should not be like that this early. Again, not being committed to the process
I am a type II diabetic. The catch 22 is that taking insulin makes you GAIN weight. That is just the nature of insulin and the more insulin you have to take, the more you gain weight. The first 4 months after surgery I was taking hardly any insulin at all but as my stomach expanded and I was able to eat more I had to increase insulin intake. So as a diabetic I'm really supposed to be exercising to compensate for that but cant seem to get this life style discipline into my life. I have a tread mill in the spare room - what is wrong with me!!!!
I am hoping that I can gather the motivation, the inspiration that inner push that I need to develop discipline in my life. i'm almost 50 years old and its really hard changing the way you have lived for so long but there are no short cuts, not even VSG 'saved' me. Sometimes I think the biggest problem and hinderance is just me because discipline does not depend on emotions - discipline is 'just do it' no matter if you 'feel' it or not...………..I NEED this, I need to get this translated from my head knowledge into practical living...….I'm rambling now
I'm hoping my update in the next 3 months will be a very different one in a more successful direction

Lee's Summit - I think a lot of people may not get how exhausting and emotional chronic pain is . My heart goes out to you. You have gone through A LOT but yet you persevere and press on. Admirable

now this is going to be weird because that is EXACTLY what happened to me too! I did the ultra sound and I had a plethora of fibroids but a very thick/enlarged uterus lining. So I had a biopsy which was VERY painful - Lord have mercy - I cried. She put me on pure progesterone (norcolut) and the instructions were to immediately take 4 pills. So I got the prescription filled at the supermarket pharmacy, took 4 pills. 25 minutes later I had a TOTAL meltdown at the cashier. I started to bawl, shake, I was crying and throwing in my groceries into the bags telling everyone to ignore me, snot dripping down my nose, I'm crying saying its the pills, its the pills. I sat in my car and just bawled for 15 minutes straight as people walked by and one nice old man stopped to inquire...…….I was so very embarrassed. The gyno said I might get a 'little emotional' but that was an understatement.
Fortunately once I split the dose into 2 pills every 12 hours, I did not get the emotional overload. I do get some hot flashes that I did not get before and it does drive my blood sugar right up. Thankfully the biopsy came back negative.
But the reason why we keep bleeding like a tap is because when we have a period, towards the end our body released progesterone to trigger our body to turn off the period tap. (you know all this, you are a nurse LOL) So if we are in peri menopause and are not producing progesterone the period just keeps going and going. Not only that but I was expelling chunks, not clots, and I was getting very anemic. Its just incredible how hormones impact our body functions. I can tell you that I am even having better bowel movements since I have been on them.

Guys, I am so happy to say that I have a positive update and one that might help other women in the 45 to 55 age category who are going to do VSG or in the process of having had it and experiencing difficulty getting weight to move.
I am very hard on myself. While I was not being perfect on my journey, I have a tendency to always feel that if something is not going right, it is all my fault. I was a food addict for so many years and did everything wrong that I almost felt like when my weight plateaued and then stopped and then I started to gain weight that it was just because I let myself down.
To cut a very long story short. I had a gynecological emergency about a month ago and ended up having to go through a bunch of tests. It was discovered that I was producing next to zero progesterone and my estrogen was also extremely low. It was causing me SO MANY problems which I will not get into so that I will not digress from the main point. As a result I was put on hormones and almost immediately I started to loose weight again! I have lost 10 lbs since I started taking hormones 3 weeks ago. The reason why is that hormones have a major role to play in weight loss and weight gain. The reason why I was gaining and not loosing was not because I was being so terrible in my disciplines but because the lack of estrogen and progesterone, the total imbalance was actually causing me to GAIN weight.
So I am working with my doctor now to see how HRT may be able to not only help my perimenopause/going into menopause issues but also to help bring better balance to help the weight loss process kick in further. I feel like an entirely different woman - I cant even articulate it the difference in overall feeling but certainly the fact that I have lost the weight I had gained and now back to making the scale go down instead of up.
You can read my previous thread to get a better context of where this post is coming from. If you are having similar struggles and are female in the age range of 45 to 55 it might be well worth your time to have your hormone levels tested and see if hormone therapy can help you get balanced again and improve your weight loss.
I am just one lbs away from being in another weight bracket and after not loosing for 4 months I feel like a million bucks
There are many articles and information on Google that you can look up and research regarding hormonal imbalance and the role it might be playing in extremely difficulty in weight loss, especially in women of a certain age. I am just putting this out there for your consideration in case you are a woman like me that may be struggling in this area and not even know it. Talk to your gyno and get your hormones tested. I will soon post an updated photo when I hit that next weight bracket

Perhaps this post will help someone who is seeking to do VSG or some form of WLS because I will be honest with you about my journey. It has been 8 months since I had VSG surgery and I have lost only 44 lbs. Up to a month ago I had lost 55 lbs but I have since gained 10 lbs. There are a couple reasons for my weight loss failure and I am just putting them down in writing not so much so that folks can be critical, but more for the folks out there considering this surgery or might just have had it.
I have not been committed to the process of changing bad habits or incorporating exercise into my lifestyle. I must have thought that having VSG was going to magically take away my appetite and food cravings for bad food. Guess what? I was starving the day after surgery! My appetite really never left. So if I did not CHOOSE what to eat and what not to eat, you could pack in tons of calories even in small portions. To cut to the chase, VSG does not work if you are not disciplined with your food choices. That shouldn't be a huge revelation but I actually had a mindset that my stomach would be gone and I would not even want to eat anymore so all the weight would just melt away. It does not happen that way!
I did not follow the instructions and guidelines post surgery about not eating and drinking at the same time. I had been told not to do it, I read that it would stretch your stomach pouch, but I still went ahead and did it. Guess what? My stomach has stretched and I can basically eat a small 'normal' size meal at only 7 months out when it should not be like that this early. Again, not being committed to the process
I am a type II diabetic. The catch 22 is that taking insulin makes you GAIN weight. That is just the nature of insulin and the more insulin you have to take, the more you gain weight. The first 4 months after surgery I was taking hardly any insulin at all but as my stomach expanded and I was able to eat more I had to increase insulin intake. So as a diabetic I'm really supposed to be exercising to compensate for that but cant seem to get this life style discipline into my life. I have a tread mill in the spare room - what is wrong with me!!!!
I am hoping that I can gather the motivation, the inspiration that inner push that I need to develop discipline in my life. i'm almost 50 years old and its really hard changing the way you have lived for so long but there are no short cuts, not even VSG 'saved' me. Sometimes I think the biggest problem and hinderance is just me because discipline does not depend on emotions - discipline is 'just do it' no matter if you 'feel' it or not...………..I NEED this, I need to get this translated from my head knowledge into practical living...….I'm rambling now
I'm hoping my update in the next 3 months will be a very different one in a more successful direction

Perhaps this post will help someone who is seeking to do VSG or some form of WLS because I will be honest with you about my journey. It has been 8 months since I had VSG surgery and I have lost only 44 lbs. Up to a month ago I had lost 55 lbs but I have since gained 10 lbs. There are a couple reasons for my weight loss failure and I am just putting them down in writing not so much so that folks can be critical, but more for the folks out there considering this surgery or might just have had it.
I have not been committed to the process of changing bad habits or incorporating exercise into my lifestyle. I must have thought that having VSG was going to magically take away my appetite and food cravings for bad food. Guess what? I was starving the day after surgery! My appetite really never left. So if I did not CHOOSE what to eat and what not to eat, you could pack in tons of calories even in small portions. To cut to the chase, VSG does not work if you are not disciplined with your food choices. That shouldn't be a huge revelation but I actually had a mindset that my stomach would be gone and I would not even want to eat anymore so all the weight would just melt away. It does not happen that way!
I did not follow the instructions and guidelines post surgery about not eating and drinking at the same time. I had been told not to do it, I read that it would stretch your stomach pouch, but I still went ahead and did it. Guess what? My stomach has stretched and I can basically eat a small 'normal' size meal at only 7 months out when it should not be like that this early. Again, not being committed to the process
I am a type II diabetic. The catch 22 is that taking insulin makes you GAIN weight. That is just the nature of insulin and the more insulin you have to take, the more you gain weight. The first 4 months after surgery I was taking hardly any insulin at all but as my stomach expanded and I was able to eat more I had to increase insulin intake. So as a diabetic I'm really supposed to be exercising to compensate for that but cant seem to get this life style discipline into my life. I have a tread mill in the spare room - what is wrong with me!!!!
I am hoping that I can gather the motivation, the inspiration that inner push that I need to develop discipline in my life. i'm almost 50 years old and its really hard changing the way you have lived for so long but there are no short cuts, not even VSG 'saved' me. Sometimes I think the biggest problem and hinderance is just me because discipline does not depend on emotions - discipline is 'just do it' no matter if you 'feel' it or not...………..I NEED this, I need to get this translated from my head knowledge into practical living...….I'm rambling now
I'm hoping my update in the next 3 months will be a very different one in a more successful direction

hopefully we can all encourage each other to break out of our lagging and bad habits. The battle is mainly in our mind.
you: 'I'm fighting the downward spiral of not being happy with myself.'. I can relate. For me this means that I am not happy with myself BECAUSE I am not doing what I should do and I have no good reason not to. So I am disappointed in myself more so than not happy with myself. Again, this is a battle of the mind. But not loving yourself goes deeper and VSG is not the issue in that regard. I pray your love for yourself will grow because it has started by your stepping out to try to change your life and get healthier. That is actually a courageous step. I did this to try to reverse diabetes and get HEALTHY. Honestly, and I mean it, my main goal is not to be skinny but to be HEALTHY so I am not dependant on insulin. And weight/obesity ties me to diabetes so I hope to loose enough weight so that I don't have to take it anymore.
How about we both FIGHT!?? Starts in our mind...……..we decide to fight

Perhaps this post will help someone who is seeking to do VSG or some form of WLS because I will be honest with you about my journey. It has been 8 months since I had VSG surgery and I have lost only 44 lbs. Up to a month ago I had lost 55 lbs but I have since gained 10 lbs. There are a couple reasons for my weight loss failure and I am just putting them down in writing not so much so that folks can be critical, but more for the folks out there considering this surgery or might just have had it.
I have not been committed to the process of changing bad habits or incorporating exercise into my lifestyle. I must have thought that having VSG was going to magically take away my appetite and food cravings for bad food. Guess what? I was starving the day after surgery! My appetite really never left. So if I did not CHOOSE what to eat and what not to eat, you could pack in tons of calories even in small portions. To cut to the chase, VSG does not work if you are not disciplined with your food choices. That shouldn't be a huge revelation but I actually had a mindset that my stomach would be gone and I would not even want to eat anymore so all the weight would just melt away. It does not happen that way!
I did not follow the instructions and guidelines post surgery about not eating and drinking at the same time. I had been told not to do it, I read that it would stretch your stomach pouch, but I still went ahead and did it. Guess what? My stomach has stretched and I can basically eat a small 'normal' size meal at only 7 months out when it should not be like that this early. Again, not being committed to the process
I am a type II diabetic. The catch 22 is that taking insulin makes you GAIN weight. That is just the nature of insulin and the more insulin you have to take, the more you gain weight. The first 4 months after surgery I was taking hardly any insulin at all but as my stomach expanded and I was able to eat more I had to increase insulin intake. So as a diabetic I'm really supposed to be exercising to compensate for that but cant seem to get this life style discipline into my life. I have a tread mill in the spare room - what is wrong with me!!!!
I am hoping that I can gather the motivation, the inspiration that inner push that I need to develop discipline in my life. i'm almost 50 years old and its really hard changing the way you have lived for so long but there are no short cuts, not even VSG 'saved' me. Sometimes I think the biggest problem and hinderance is just me because discipline does not depend on emotions - discipline is 'just do it' no matter if you 'feel' it or not...………..I NEED this, I need to get this translated from my head knowledge into practical living...….I'm rambling now
I'm hoping my update in the next 3 months will be a very different one in a more successful direction

hopefully we can all encourage each other to break out of our lagging and bad habits. The battle is mainly in our mind.
you: 'I'm fighting the downward spiral of not being happy with myself.'. I can relate. For me this means that I am not happy with myself BECAUSE I am not doing what I should do and I have no good reason not to. So I am disappointed in myself more so than not happy with myself. Again, this is a battle of the mind. But not loving yourself goes deeper and VSG is not the issue in that regard. I pray your love for yourself will grow because it has started by your stepping out to try to change your life and get healthier. That is actually a courageous step. I did this to try to reverse diabetes and get HEALTHY. Honestly, and I mean it, my main goal is not to be skinny but to be HEALTHY so I am not dependant on insulin. And weight/obesity ties me to diabetes so I hope to loose enough weight so that I don't have to take it anymore.
How about we both FIGHT!?? Starts in our mind...……..we decide to fight

Perhaps this post will help someone who is seeking to do VSG or some form of WLS because I will be honest with you about my journey. It has been 8 months since I had VSG surgery and I have lost only 44 lbs. Up to a month ago I had lost 55 lbs but I have since gained 10 lbs. There are a couple reasons for my weight loss failure and I am just putting them down in writing not so much so that folks can be critical, but more for the folks out there considering this surgery or might just have had it.
I have not been committed to the process of changing bad habits or incorporating exercise into my lifestyle. I must have thought that having VSG was going to magically take away my appetite and food cravings for bad food. Guess what? I was starving the day after surgery! My appetite really never left. So if I did not CHOOSE what to eat and what not to eat, you could pack in tons of calories even in small portions. To cut to the chase, VSG does not work if you are not disciplined with your food choices. That shouldn't be a huge revelation but I actually had a mindset that my stomach would be gone and I would not even want to eat anymore so all the weight would just melt away. It does not happen that way!
I did not follow the instructions and guidelines post surgery about not eating and drinking at the same time. I had been told not to do it, I read that it would stretch your stomach pouch, but I still went ahead and did it. Guess what? My stomach has stretched and I can basically eat a small 'normal' size meal at only 7 months out when it should not be like that this early. Again, not being committed to the process
I am a type II diabetic. The catch 22 is that taking insulin makes you GAIN weight. That is just the nature of insulin and the more insulin you have to take, the more you gain weight. The first 4 months after surgery I was taking hardly any insulin at all but as my stomach expanded and I was able to eat more I had to increase insulin intake. So as a diabetic I'm really supposed to be exercising to compensate for that but cant seem to get this life style discipline into my life. I have a tread mill in the spare room - what is wrong with me!!!!
I am hoping that I can gather the motivation, the inspiration that inner push that I need to develop discipline in my life. i'm almost 50 years old and its really hard changing the way you have lived for so long but there are no short cuts, not even VSG 'saved' me. Sometimes I think the biggest problem and hinderance is just me because discipline does not depend on emotions - discipline is 'just do it' no matter if you 'feel' it or not...………..I NEED this, I need to get this translated from my head knowledge into practical living...….I'm rambling now
I'm hoping my update in the next 3 months will be a very different one in a more successful direction

I have read of quite a few people who battled with hunger immediately after surgery. Some people said it was dehydration and then emotional hunger but you know what, I ain't too sure bout dat! When I was researching VSG I was reading how my appetite would be next to nothing with a reduced stomach and how the hunger hormones would be reduced etc. I NEVER experienced this. The only thing that restrained me from eating was the size of my stomach and that if I ate too much I would become nauseous or it would physically hurt me. NOT because I was not feeling hungry . If felt SO disappointed that an expectation I had built regarding reduced hunger was not what I experienced

Updating me at 10 months post op. Doing really well, weight loss has slowed a lot as I approach "normal" BMI with only 12kg to go to ultimate goal weight. I have booked in with a local plastic surgeon for an initial appointment in June to discuss possible skin removal surgeries starting from the end of this year. Once I meet the "weight stable for at least 6 months" medicare requirement I will be possibly looking at the following skin removal surgeries: belt lipectomy (aka 360 degree body lift), extended Tummy Tuck (likely including fleur de lis vertical incision), breast lift and possible reduction (the poor girls are now maybe 2/3 their original size but only 1/4 their original volume), upper arm lift and inner thigh lift.

I'm feeling well, still not keen on walking in place or lifting weights at a gym thus far, but enjoying a lot of physical movement and activity doing gardening work (including now some paid casual gardening work helping another lady at her place) and beach fishing.

I'm down to mostly size small/10 Australian tops, skirts and dresses, and size 10-12 pants but the excess skin remaining still requires larger undies and jeans. I STILL have calves too chunky for most gumboots (thanks genetics! lol) so although the rest of me fits well in standard fishing waders I still need custom ones, and have taken my previously XXL custom pair back to the manufacturer across town the other week for them to use the same cut-down boots but attach a size small body-section to them

Tomorrow I'll enjoy going back to a local large second-hand place to look at some smaller autumn/winter clothing for me as the size 16 stuff from last winter/early spring is much too big now I got a few lovely dresses and tops there the other week (with a friend there to help me select suitable stuff to try, and giving honest feedback on how things look on).. I took a friend as I realised I have no concept of suitable styles yet for my much smaller and differently shaped body! I had to previously make do with whatever fit best / looked least bad from the very small selection of plus size clothing available.

I hope everyone else is doing well and feeling good.

(note, my friend photobombing my blue dress photo is actually wearing one of my old plus-size t-shirts)
(the watermelon is one I grew this summer, an Orangeglo melon with bright orange flesh and it weighed 12.2kg. This was the first photo I posted on my Facebook recently that showed my weight loss and sparked a lot of surprise/questions from those who hadn't heard about my surgery)

It has been a very big struggle for me. Being on insulin and then having hormonal issues related to peri /menopause and having to go on hormones, I have hardly lost any weight at all. I have been through so many stages of frustration and feeling of failure but had to come to terms with the fact that my body is not the same as everyone else's……...I have only lost 56 lbs

Hey don't feel bad about it. Losing 56lbs is still a great achievement!
Just think, how else would you have been able to lose that amount of weight in such a short time, don't beat yourself up

It has been a very big struggle for me. Being on insulin and then having hormonal issues related to peri /menopause and having to go on hormones, I have hardly lost any weight at all. I have been through so many stages of frustration and feeling of failure but had to come to terms with the fact that my body is not the same as everyone else's……...I have only lost 56 lbs

I had my surgery May 2018 and I have only lost 56 lbs. So 26 lbs after 2 months - you are doing well

I had my surgery May 2018 and I have only lost 56 lbs. So 26 lbs after 2 months - you are doing well

I hesitate to post photos because I am not feeling great about all the hanging skin and the after in this photo is me wearing boy shorts in my messy closet, however...it will give you an idea of the way my 54 year old body is dealing with extra skin. Keep in mind that just 8 years ago, I was 260.
I'm 5ft, 5.5 inches. Large bone structure. The photo on the left is me on December 26th at somewhere in the 140's, I think. The photo in the boy shorts is me on Feb 8th at 124, same weight I am now. My arms, belly and inner thighs are very loose. My back and chest are very loose. I can pull this skin away from my body like it's a cat suit. That said, it's easily covered in clothing, even tight clothing. And mild control underwear flatten my belly skin skirt. These boy shorts gave no control panel and do NOT do the job! But here it is...

FANTASTIC!!!! I soooooooooooo hope you get some relief and help. remember to ask specifically about progesterone. That is the one that kicks in your metabolism again. Estrogen, eh, not so much. Do some Google research as well on the role that hormones play in weight loss in menopausal women. My gyno has been so supportive and has agreed that weight loss is the primary focus for me and outweighs the cons I am experiencing taking the progesterone. And to think that this all happened 'by accident' because I had a gyno emergency. God works in mysterious ways

I am so glad this post helped you consider getting tested. That is the whole reason I joined this forum, to be very honest and in sharing everything, hopefully helping others along the way.
Remember that you would want to inquire about progesterone and not estrogen as much. Its the progesterone that helps the metabolism kick back in. If I had only knew how taking it would have made me feel like a whole new person I would not have waited. It was only because I had an emergency that I ended up finding this out. They put me on the progesterone to stop me from bleeding because I was having a heavy, heavy period going into almost 3 weeks and I thought I was dying.
There is a HUGE difference in my energy levels as well. In studying since I was put on the progesterone, extreme lethargy is also a side of effect of hormonal imbalance. Thanks peri / menopause! I am grateful for the help, lemme tell you. I wish I had taken more time to actually research and study menopause. I mean I knew it existed and would happen but to be honest I had no clue of what to expect and I had not been prepared.
Any women considering WLS within the peri /menopause age range should consider the hormone factor and its actually not a topic I saw discussed anywhere. Here I was thinking I had spent all this money on VSG and I was a total failure. There must be other women like us in this forum and out there who will benefit from these threads

I just made a post about my experience with VSG and my hormonal imbalance. I am not sure if I can copy the thread to you or tag you in it, but I will try. You sound very much like you may be struggling with menopausal hormonal imbalances. Its extremely frustrating because you just don't know what is wrong with you but you feel like you are falling apart. Menopause is something I am learning about through research as of late because I was going through so many strange things (including the anxiety and depression even though I know that is not my nature). Hormones have a LOT to do with how we women function or lack of function. If you stopped having a period that long ago, you are in menopause. It may be worth your while to ask your gyno to give you a hormone test.

Here is the post I made about hormones

I have not had to take nay hormones, after going thru menopause in my late 40's. I probably wouldn't anyway due to high risk for breast cancer in my family. I do however take black cohosh for my hot flashes and have noticed it does not work as well as it used to. I am wondering if the sleeve is keeping e from absorbing it properly?

This is really good information to have! You and I are very similar in size/weight and probably age. I knew my hormones have been all over the place since surgery, but didn't put 2+2 to consider that they're affecting my weight loss. I've been losing very slow and once in a while I'll go up a couple pounds. Fortunately, I've been able to lose them again and continue on a downward trend. I've also been blaming myself and have contented myself to just being a slow lower/glad it's going down even if it's going down very slowly.
I saw my gyno at the end of the year. I don't think we did any bloodwork at the time. I think I'll be following up on this! Thanks!

Glad you got it figured out! Congrats on being back on track losing!

I'm really pleased you found out what it was that you lacked!
I'm 51 and I agree that hormones do rule your life in hidden ways. My life was made very difficult by an excess of oestrogen years ago, when I had endometriosis, and only a hysterectomy could fix it. Because I was young, I was put on HRT and I did very well on it, but I had to stop taking it before I had the sleeve, because of the increased risk of blood clots during and just after surgery.
I'm managing OK without it now, so I haven't bothered to start taking it again. But when I first started taking HRT, it made such a big difference to me - and I'm glad it's working for you too. It must feel really good for you not having to struggle against your own body to lose the weight now.