mousecat88

Visiting some friends over the weekend that I haven't seen in 4 years. They are totally stressing about what food to have in the house for me. Mind you, I am still on puree due to my ulcer. I keep assuring them not to stress and that I'm bringing my shake mix and some ham salad but they don't believe that's enough. lol! Seriously, dudes. It is. They have NO concept as to how little I eat. I was like "if you NEED to get me food, get me a can of green beans. it'll last me 4 days." lol! I mentioned to my best friend yesterday how I had 3oz of chicken breast and a few slices of cooked zucchini (against doctor's orders, I know) and was SO FULL (I got foamies) and she was like "there's something wrong! that's too little!" No it's issssnnn'tttt. No one gets it. Visiting my grandmother on Xmas and plan on just nibbling my ham salad and maybe some dip. That side of my family has always been obese, except my father who is rail thin oddly, and they eat A TON at a time.... so it is going to be one. interesting. experience. I am now tiny nibble lady.

Try some Pepcid, even OTC. I have been having serious nausea issues since last Tuesday and was given like 5 nausea meds... none of them worked... so I was like... screw you docs, and popped some Pepcid and it was like a miracle. I took 40mg. Didn't have any other signs of acid reflux issues, so they thought it was some mystery nausea for no reason.

I always measure out my food exactly but sometimes I have "meals" where I can't finish that portion, even if it's only 2oz. BUT, I took the Magic Mouthwash and it didn't do anything except numb my throat for about 5 minutes so... that's that. lol.

I decided pre-op that I was going to be loud and proud about the fact I had gastric. Everybody in the world knows. lmao. Two of my bosses at the Xmas Potluck last week didn't know and I had 2 cheese cubes, 2 green beans and 3 shrimp on my plate and I casually joked that it was the first time I had veggies in 6 weeks and they asked why and I was like "because I had gastric bypass". BOOM. Now they know. lol. Most of the time people think it's awesome OR they just shut up. EDIT: CRAP I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS WAS THE WLS VETERANS FORUM I AM SORRY FOR THE INTRUSION! LOL! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME. *disappears*

Could just be too much so soon out of surgery. I did a Jillian Michaels workout one month post-op (stupiddd) and got sooo nauseous and dizzy afterwards. 2 weeks later and I do fine. Still get some head rushes occasionally and have to take more breaks. Maybe give it another 2 or 3 weeks of healing up. Every day is an improvement.

Highmark BCBS is the best. Definitely the easiest insurance I've ever had to deal with. Glad you found a new surgeon that knows what's up.

Cushing's can be caused by taking corticosteroids or from a pituitary tumor. Either or, it would be unrelated to the surgery. I was on prednisone for 6 weeks and developed that very common buffalo hump fatty deposit on my neck that is associated with Cushing's (but I didn't actually have it yet). I had that removed surgically. So many of your symptoms are associated with Cushing's. Hypertension, muscle loss and weakness, tiredness. Once you get that straightened out you will feel SO much better! I have had dumping-like symptoms on foods that should not cause dumping (like strained cream soups). I don't think it's "officially" dumping because it's not the sugar or fat, but some things do not sit right and I get the shakes, etc. Trial and error.

I can only reply with what my surgeon has told me, not from personal experience as I am still very much a freshman to this. Yes, my maintenance calories are 800-1000 max for the rest of my life. I am only just shy of two months and just started tracking and eat about 350-450 daily. Yes, I was told that by 18-24 months that's going to be your stable weight (with more off if you're actively exercising). My insurance considers 18 months your stable weight - that's when they OK plastic surgery. I've never heard of a pouch reset. But you can have a revision done to shrink the stomach again once you tackle your food addiction issues. I would think if you can eat again 20 minutes later, it could be stretched? It stretches out naturally over time anyways. From 2oz to about 8oz or so. It's fixable, though, with surgery again. What does your surgeon have to say about all of this, especially your long-term caloric intake? Do you have a dietitian on-staff?

I think a good idea is to put away my scale. If I don't know how much I weigh, I can't compare myself to anyone. Just put it away and check it once every 3 weeks or something. That's the ultimate issue. I mean, the judgment and envy is an issue LOL but if I can hide my own weight from myself, I have no point of comparison with respect to weight loss rate.

Another alternative are coconut wraps. I haven't tried them, but they are lowwww carb and lowwww fat and so much better for you!

Cauliflower bread!! I ordered some from Cauliflour but haven't tried it yet. My mom says they are fantastic.

Dang. I was told never to have bread ever again! Or potatoes, or pasta, or rice... Never, ever going to chance it. Us bypass patients have the dumping risk that you don't... but the diet in my book is the same for sleeve and bypass.

I keep getting notifications when I post that my email address is invalid. It isn't - I've had this email address for like a decade and have used it since I signed up. It tells me to put in a new one, so I put in the same one since it's the only one I have and reenter my password... but then it takes me back to put in an email address again. Not sure what to do?

That... is... genius.

Yeah, it's definitely a challenge. I wonder if those injectables like Humira have NSAIDs in them? Those could be an option.

You've lost almost 90 pounds in three months! That's amazing! I'm *almost* two months and have only lost 32. (The other 10 lbs it shows was pre-op) I wish I were you! You'll get through this stall and keep on keeping on!

Can we put them in gift bags if we don't know how to use wrapping paper?

I never add anything to my water. I've drank it plain since Day 1. I do drink it warm because I have an ulcer and it's more soothing, but ZERO issues with taste. Tastes just like... water. lol.

Yup - this is how they do it. For what it's worth, I have Highmark BCBS and it took them 3 days to get back to the doc with the authorization. Super quick.

I have RA. I was diagnosed with juvenile RA when I was a toddler; I'm 30 now. I couldn't take prednisone because it caused massive weight gain. I was taking oral prescription NSAIDs and a TON of Ibuprofen. My surgeon said topical NSAIDs are fine - that seems to vary between surgeons. I haven't used it yet, though, so I don't know if it works. I haven't had much pain lately, and I try to avoid taking anything unless it is very severe. I can tell you that even when I was thin (and a child), being smaller did not have any effect on my symptoms. In fact, the worst flare-ups I had were when I was a teenager and I was 130lbs then.

I found categorizing helps distract me when I am anxious. Like I pick a color and name every single thing I can think of that is that color. It stopped a lot of panic attacks from ever happening.

God bless you. LOL. Fage is just sour milk. Buhhhhh. My friend eats it plain with apples cut into it. NOPENOPENOPE.

Dannon Light and Fit Greek is life! It's less calories than Oikos, and is made with sucralose instead of stevia. It has 7g of sugars, but only 8g of carbs and have caused me zero problems. Plus has like 15 more flavors than Oikos and just generally tastes better. 8g of carbs is fine. I was stuck on Oikos for forever until I realized it was a scammmm and Dannon Greek has better nutritional stats (much less calories and carbs). Oikos has 14g of carbs!

Are you still on full liquids or puree? You should *try* to get 72oz of water a day, but I'll tell you I'm 7 weeks out and I'm lucky if I hit 50. I am usually hitting 40. The first 2 weeks I got about 20oz a day if I was lucky. If you feel dizzy or your urine is dark brown, contact your surgeon. I'm clearly not dead. Some days are worse than others. Some days are better. Calories I was told should be up to 500. I hit about 400+/- a day. Really depends on what phase you're in. And really you should just try to meet your protein goals, regardless of calories. If you're on liquids, I doubt you'll be at 500 a day... Do you have a dietitian you can call?

I'm scared to cut the cord! lol! I'm such a Millenial. I will never say that again. LOL. I wish I could just not be a crazy person and obsess over what other people are doing.