AZhiker

I am only 4 months out, but I would highly suggest giving up your addictions Pre-op so you don't have to fight them post-op. Sugar, soda, caffeine, processed foods, etc. It is hard enough getting through the surgery and immediate post op without having to deal with headaches and cravings. give yourself a jump start by getting rid of this stuff before hand,

Follow your doctor's advice on this. My father couldn't travel long distances after hernia surgery for 8 weeks, due to risk of clots. It would be a good idea to wear compression stockings and take a stretch band along so you could do leg exercises on the flights. Is the place you travel to somewhere you could get help and good diagnostics should a situation come up? Some surgeons put their patients on Lovenox injections for a couple of weeks post op. Does yours?

I walk every day for at least an hour, and I definitely could not do it without my water bottle. It goes with me everywhere. I cannot gulp - still have to sip and take just a few swallows at a time. So every thousand steps or so, I stop for a few seconds and fill my mouth with water (6 sips per mouthful!) and continue small swallows for the next minute.

Do you mean long distance travel or just driving back and forth to the office? I was back to nursing 2 weeks after surgery, but made sure not to exceed my lifting restriction. I was driving my stick shift just fine. As long as you are not on narcotic pain meds you should be able to drive within a couple of weeks. Long distance, though, would be a more of a worry, because of blood clot risk. I wore compression stockings every day, started walking the day of surgery, and was up to 10,000 steps a day 2-3 weeks post op, and I STILL got a blood clot in my leg! Eating was not a problem right away, as it is mostly broths and protein shakes at first. However, several months down the road, I cannot take "real" food to work because i can't eat it with my half hour lunch break. So I take a protein shake or soup - something easy to slide down.

You are under a lot of stress and have turned to comfort food for self medication. The thing about sweets and sugar is that just one little bit will trigger bigger cravings. You just have to make the firm decision to not eat any sugar, period. Sugar causes insulin spikes. Insulin drives calories into fat storage. The more insulin you have spiking during the day, the more fat will be stored. When your insulin levels drop from not eating or from eating low glycemic foods (your protein and veggies), then the body starts breaking down fat stores. Sometimes understanding the physiology helps with resisting foods that cause insulin spikes (sweets, processed foods, simple carbs, carbs that are not protected by protein foods.) Sugar activates the same pleasure/addictive centers in the brain as does cocaine! It is truly an addictive substance. Once you go a few days with no sugar, the cravings will stop. Your energy levels will be better. Getting some regular exercise will also help stop the cravings and stimulate good brain chemistry so you feel better about life and not have such a strong pull by the addictive foods. You can do this! Your weight loss is truly and inspiration. This is a small bump in the road and a learning opportunity to take your resilience to another level, as you learn to deal with stress by other means than eating, Pulling for you!!!!

I am nearly 4 months post op RNY. The biggest problem I am having is knowing how to tell when I am full. Prior to surgery, i never felt full. I could eat endlessly and still pack more in. Now I will start to eat what seems like a reasonable amount of food - maybe 1/2 cup of whatever. I chew slowly and assess my fullness after each bite. Then BOOM! About 10 minutes after eating, I am ready to vomit, except I can't. I have such bad pain, my mouth is watering with slime and foamies, a cold chill breaks out, the vomit sensation is so strong but it won't happen. (I never could vomit - maybe 10 times in my entire life.) It's just awful. It doesn't happen all the time, and this is what is so confusing. Some days I can eat whatever looks normal, and then other days, I just want to die. The pain and discomfort can last for hours and leaves me sore inside. My normal weight daughter tells me that I need to stop eating a lot sooner - like eat half of the meal and then literally wait 10 minutes to see if I feel full, rather than trying to tell if I am full while I am still eating. She is probably right, since I never had the sensation of fullness before. The confusing part is that the symptoms are so inconsistent day to day. I'm either feeling empty or in agony. How are some of you dealing with this? When do you feel full - while you are eating or after? How do you know how much to even put on your plate? I would love to get my protein from food sources, but I can't possibly eat 60-70 grams of food protein a day, so I am still relying on protein powder (adding it to anything I can.) Would sure appreciate some feedback on fullness sensations.

You are an inspiration! Thanks for posting.

sounds great! So glad he is getting such good care. When was his last colonoscopy? Do you know what his actual thyroid numbers were? T3, T4, TSH?

I gave up ALL sugar in any form prior to surgery. I had already given up wheat years ago, but once the sugar was gone, guess what? My joints never hurt again. Sugar is the most inflammatory food on the planet (with wheat next in line). Once you are off sugar, you will lose your craving for it, but just one little bite can cause the cravings to come back instantly. This all has to do with brain chemistry. Do you know that sugar activates the same brain receptors as cocaine? I know everyone must make their own choices about what they will eat, but I would encourage you not to sabotage your success by a few seconds of sweetness. Fruit is plenty sweet for me now. Some Greek yoghurt with fruit is so delicious - and guilt free!

Optisource post bariatric surgery chewables from Walgreens. Also biotin, B-12, Calcium citrate, D3. I like the Optisource. Some people say that are chalky, but I don't get that sensation. I tried the well known brand of chewable multi and calcium - like little caramel squares, but they were too sweet, too flavorful, and way too much like candy. It really triggered a desire for sweets which was dangerous for me. I have not had my 6 month blood draw yet, however, so that will really tell the story about how good my vitamins are (and my diet).

Is he at his goal weight? Just wondering, because the back pain is often relieved by weight loss. He may need to see a pain specialist - injections can be incredible when they work. But the NSAIDs are big no-no. There are other ways to work with pain and the pain specialist can offer other choices, Thyroid issues can definitely contribute to fatigue. Sounds like he needs a complete workup with all the vitamin levels, an endoscope, and general over all screening for other stuff unrelated to the surgery, How old is he? Does he get his annual physicals with *all* the exams? Has he had a screening colonoscopy? Is he eating a really healthy diet? Getting some red meat, fish, maybe some liver? Eating his veggies, legumes, nuts/seeds? Any processed food? Has he been taking all his vitamins since surgery? After surgery, every bite one takes needs to have maximum nutritional value. No room for junk food and processed stuff. The endocrinologist would be a good step, maybe also a nutritionist, but don't let the speciaists miss the general health issues. It is easy for them to focus on just their specialty. A friend of mine had chest pain, and his kidney doctor thought it was the kidney tumor coming back - missed the fatal heart attack!

AMEN!!!!

i only told my family and one trusted co-worker because i needed some cooperation with work schedule changes to accommodate the surgery date. My co-workers noticed and a lot of people asked about what I am doing. I told them "major lifestyle and diet changes." If they press, I tell them, "A lot more exercise, no wheat, no sugar, no alcohol, no snacks, no soda or coffee, no processed foods, no artificial sweeteners/coloring, low carb, intermittant fasting..." Somewhere between the sugar and alcohol their eyes glaze over and they change the topic. I don't want to lie, but the truth of the matter is that if someone is not willing to make lifestyle and dietary changes now, they have no right to any additional information. If someone actually told me they have been doing all those things and still struggle with weight loss, i would ask if they had considered WLS as another tool. But so far, no one seems willing to actually make serious changes. Everyone wants a magic pill. Since then, I have changed departments, and NO ONE says anything because they didn't see me before. I FEEL LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! And it feels great! I'm not the biggest gal at work anymore, and it is kind of weird, actually.

congratulations!!!!!!!

No for me. I figured if I cheated before surgery I would cheat after. I lost 15# prior to surgery. It is hard - no doubt, because you still have your normal appetite function. That will change after surgery. Hang in there! This, too, shall pass!

One other thought - basically a matter of WASTE or WAIST! I'd rather throw it to the chickens or in the trash than back on my belly and hips! That would be a real waste!

Good job. I might add one other idea. Basically, insulin surges are what make our calories go into fat storage, That's what insulin does - drives the calories into storage (fat). When insulin gets real low, guess what? The liver tosses out glycogen for energy and after the glycogen is gone, the fat stores start being utilized. The key is to keep insulin levels low throughout the day. Every time you eat, there is going to be an insulin surge. Now protein will raise it a lot less than sugar or simple carbs. This is why fruit should be eaten AFTER the meal when protein is on board, And eating less frequently during the day results in less insulin surges, The worst thing you can do is snack throughout the day or follow the silly strategy of 6-10 small meals a day. All that does is keep your insulin up all day long. ***It's not really how much you eat, but WHAT you eat and WHEN you eat it.**** Eat healthy proteins and meals ONLY 3 times a day with NO snacking. This is the bare minimum. The next incredibly powerful strategy is eating those 3 meals all within a restricted time period which can be 12, 10, 8, or even 6 hours. This is called intermittant fasting and gives long periods of low insulin levels, resulting in fat breakdown and killing off the "zombie" cells which contribute to aging, fraily, and mental decline. It is quite amazing how eating the same food, but in restricted time, can melt off the last pounds. Several of my relatives have experienced this, and there is a ton of literature to back it up. IF is not something a lot of WLS patients can do right away because we are just trying to get in the bare requirements for the first several months, but it is a goal to shoot for down the road. I was doing 18/6 (18 hours fasting, 6 hours food) before surgery and it helped me a lot, but am back to 12/12 right now until I can eat a bit more with each meal. This is basic physiology of how our bodies work. A calorie is not a calorie. Our bodies do not respond to the same calories of olive oil as they do to sugar. It's all about insulin. Best of luck to you. Keep up the great exercise! Give IF a try and you might find it does the final trick for you.

At least it will be so much easier to get a decent mammogram!

My adult daughter has started eating better - no snacks, more veggies, and doing intermittant fasting. She is not heavy, but has still lost 12 pounds. My husband eats crap - hotdogs, processed meats, junk snacks, sweets, simple carbs, cheap pizza, sweetened beverages, hardly any veggies. He will never give this stuff up. He is not overweight, but has a bowling ball on his belly. I think years of poor eating has started to affect his memory and his mood. His choice. Am I tempted? Nope. The only thing I asked is that he not bring tortilla chips into the house - my nemesis. I basically eat my healthy food and he eats his crap. It is what it is. I am only responsible for me and after all this surgery has done, I AM NOT GOING BACK. Nope, not tempted by his junk food because I know where I would end up and I am not going there again. IT IS JUST NOT WORTH IT.

I worked to get my RNY surgery for almost a year. As the date approached, I got more and more nervous. It is a big deal - choosing an elective major surgery. As I was lying on the pre-op bed, I started crying and thinking maybe I should get up and leave. My surgeon came in and assured me that it would be OK and that none of his patients had ever come back regretting the procedure. My PCP previously had told me that if I had been able to do it on my own, I would have by now, Both doctors were right. This is about the best thing I have ever done for myself. Yes, I had a complication of a blood clot and am still on a blood thinner, but after 70+ pounds gone I feel like a new person. I am doing things I have not done for decades. I wish I had done it sooner in a way, but I really did need to come to a place in my life where I was willing to make the needed lifestyle changes first, and for the right reasons - health. And my commitment needed to be total. My life slogan now is "I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" If that means no more sugar, wheat, soda, coffee, alcohol, or processed foods, then so be it. My health is worth more than any of those things. Yup, my skin is getting saggy - but I am 63 years old, and the collagen just aint what it used to be. But so what? I am happier and healthier and saggy skin is just a badge of the journey. Haven't lost any hair yet, but again, if I do, so what? It will grow back. (have been taking Biotin 10,000 mcg since week 2 and nails are super strong so I hope it will also prevent hair loss). I have so much energy and stamina, my mental health is better, my sleep apnea is nearly gone, asthma improved, no GERD, my back and joints don't hurt anymore, I am not embarrassed in public, and I actually feel cold instead of sweating all the time. What's not to love? Being scared is normal for a lot of people. It just means you realize the risks. But you will never realize the benefits until you get to the other side. And this is the chance you have to take. If you could have done it on your own, you would have, It is still going to be a lot of work. This is not easy, but WLS is a tool that can give you the jump start you need for health and happiness for the rest of your life.

Go up to the top menu bar and click on "Create" and then "ticker." That will give you the prompts to custom design your own progress ticker to follow. I walk a lot, too - 14,000 steps a day. What I don't get at work, I do on the hills around my house after work. I also am climbing 14 flights of stairs a day (working up to 20.) And upper body weights 3 times a week. I really do think this has helped me, too. I feel so much energy now, even though I can only get down about 600 calories/day. I really want to take advantage of the first 6 months and the 'honeymoon" stage before the appetite starts coming back. Hopefully the major dietary changes I have made (no sugar, wheat, soda, alcohol, coffee, snacking) along with the exercise will work to keep the weight off forever.

What is your exercise routine like? I have lost fairly quickly, too, but I exercise a lot (walking hills, stairs, weights) - something I could never do when I was heavier. My joints just couldn't take it. But now I am afraid NOT to exercise. What are you doing? And super congrats on your progress. Make a ticker for us to follow!

I just want to cry in gratitude for how much my life has changed in 3 months. I feel so much more alive with energy to do whatever I want. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have been able to have this surgery. It has changed my life. My ultimate goal now is to hike the entire Arizona trail - 830 miles from Mexico to Utah. I could barely walk up a flight of stairs 3 months ago. I sure have a lot of saggy baggy skin and a wrinkly face now, as the collagen isn't what it used to be. But the flaws are beautiful now to me. Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather a skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, "Wow! What a ride!" Hunter S. Thompson

I am now officially overweight and not obese. This is such a mile stone for me, as I have been obese for 40 years!

I saw yet another patient this week who was 1.5 years post gastric bypass. Lost 150 pounds, and developed an ulcer. I asked one of the GI docs about why it happens and he said that the protective lining is gone and so anything that causes inflammation or irritation of the tissues can lead to an ulcer. This includes alcohol (extremely irritating to tissues) and smoking which increases inflammation. Regular acid reducers cannot reach the area of the ulcer, which is why Carafate is used. Yes, ulcers can heal with the medication, but ulcers can also kill you if they perforate and bleed badly.