Arabesque

Forgot I do have one issue post my gall removal. (Can’t believe I f forgot to mention it.) I now don’t absorb protein as well & I also stopped absorbing my HRT med. I take creons to help with the protein & now use a patch for HRT. Apparently malabsorption with certain nutrients can be a side effect but it’s not common. I don’t know anyone else without a gall who has an issue. It’s probably just me.

I looked it up & it seems the cause is usually reflux/gerd so in my thinking that would rule out a sleeve. Personally I think your surgeon saying I don’t know what it is & you decide on your surgery is a cop out on their part. Go back to the doctor who diagnosed you & ask about the cause of yours to be sure & ask what the impact of the surgery may be if the cause isn’t gerd. And maybe ask them to send information to your surgeon. But also put it back in the surgeon. They’re supposed to be the expert on bariatric surgery & who are the best & worst candidates for each surgery.

Stop reading the horror stories is my my advice. Yes there can be side effects of the surgery but the ones you mentioned are temporary or can be managed. And yes it’s good to be aware of them but best to ask your surgeon about them. Ask about what they’ve see , many instances their patients have had, treatments, management, etc. Hair loss often starts at around month 4 +/- & lasts about 3months +/-. How much you lose or if you do lose is an individual thing. It’s just your natural hair loss cycle accelerating. This hair is dead & you would have lost it at some time anyway. Your new hair growth is still occurring just at it’s usual rate. Hair loss can occur for many reasons not just bariatric surgery. Pregnancy, stress, any major surgery, any weight loss, ill health, or dramatic change of diet can result in a temporary loss of hair. Foamies. Many only have a few experiences of it. It’s usually caused by eating too much, too fast or eating food that is too dry or too coarse & gets stuck. I had a bout last night - damn stringy bit on a sugar snap pea - I could feel it. I’m more susceptible to them but it’s more a idiosyncrasy of my tummy & digestion than anything else. Clots can occur after any surgery. At hospital you’ll be given compression stockings to wear and some also use those pulsing compression machines on your legs to keep your blood pumping. Walk, walk walk. Little & often is best & it will help you breath out the surgical gas too. Be aware of the symptoms but I’ve never heard of any one getting a clot post bariatric surgery on this forum in four years or with people I know. A little temporary hair loss, the odd bout of the foamies, are nothing compared to having lost the weight & the benefits that has bought to my life & health.

Gall removal is pretty common for bariatric & non bariatric people. Rapid weight loss can be a cause of stones & changes to your liver function which may have added to your enlarged bile duct. (Liver function usually becomes normal once your weight loss slows or stabilises.) High fat diets, menopause, Gilbert’s all can result in stones being formed which in turn can cause bile duct enlargement. Did the say if you had any stones? Or if they thought it occurred because of an infection or any non bariatric surgery/weight loss issues? I had my gall removed 2yrs after my surgery. I had a single stone. (Weight loss, menopause, Gilbert’s increased my risk.) My surgeon used the same incisions as he made for my sleeve so no additional scars. My recovery was okay. Home the next day. No issues. A bit tired. A bit achy. Didn’t need the prescribed opioids by day 3. I had gas pain this time after not having any with my sleeve. Big difference of course was not having to be on a restricted diet after the surgery. I had a bit of diarrhoea for about a month because the gall regulates bile entering your upper intestines to aid the break down & absorption of fats. Life post surgery is much the same as it was before surgery. Some people struggle with eating fatty food - my aunt describes it feeling liverish - nauseous, tired, abdominal discomfort. I don’t have an issue with fatty food but then my diet is pretty low fat anyway. My sister-in-law & I have random bouts of diarrhoea about once a month +/-. We put it down to our digestive system maybe getting a bit too much bile at times & it irritates the intestines. It comes on more quickly but not a sudden unexpected attack.

Good news about your sister @Starwarsandcupcakes. That soup looks pretty darn good for hospital cafeteria food.

Great advice from the others above. Yes there are many advantages the survey affords you. The other bonus of the surgery, which I think is most valuable, is the time & opportunity it gives you to change the way you eat. You introduce healthier, more nutritious foods. You discover healthier ways to cook food, better alternatives to old favourites, new flavours, portion sizes, nutrient content of foods, etc. You change your relationship with food, better understand how you ate & why you ate & better manage those impulses. (You can do this alone or do it with the support of therapy.) You understand more about what your body needs you to eat to function effectively versus what you just want to eat. You’ll learn what your body needs will likely be different to what someone else needs. And that there’s no one right way to eat. There’s only the right way for you. Don’t know about you, but no other diet I was ever on gave me this opportunity & I’ve been on a lot of different ones over the years. I saw a diet as being restricted or being punished. As soon as the diet finished I went back to eating the same way as I did before. I didn’t learn a single thing in all those years of dieting. Since my surgery I’ve made quite a few changes to my eating but I don’t think I’m on a never ending diet to maintain my weight. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. This is just how I eat. It’s a change of how I think about & look at food & eating. And yes, I still enjoy food & the flavours, textures, etc. I’m very grateful for all I’ve learnt & discovered since my surgery.

Glad your first dinner out went well. 🎉 First of many. As for the nosy people sitting next to you, just ignore them. It’s none of their business. You don’t have to explain your eating habits if you don’t want too. I was asked recently if I’d ever eaten at a specific restaurant by someone who worked there. I told them I had always wanted to but because they did a degustation menu it was too much food for me. They just nodded & told me they did also offer an a La carte so I could choose to eat just what I was most comfortable with. No fuss. No strange looks. Just acceptance from him. I think we can be more sensitive about our new eating habits at first & what others may think or say. In time you won’t notice the other people & won’t care either.

That does sound like dumping. Check your applesauce for sugar content - naturally occurring & added. Sugar & fat are the most likely causes of dumping. Maybe your body just decided on Sunday that it’s was too much for you.

A couple of months if I remember correctly when I was a couple of weeks into solid foods. I waited to make sure I was tolerating food more easily. Went for Chinese with my mum & her neighbours. I had braised chicken & cashews without the cashews & of course no rice. Everything was soft & easy to chew & swallow. Had leftovers for days & days lol! Actually had my first case of the foamies with the leftovers - a slice of carrot did it & it was soft & mushy too.

Yep. Walk, walk, walk. You can also try marching on the spot, lifting your arms & legs up & down, slow deep breathing. Surgical gas rises up behind your lungs putting pressure on nerves causing that shoulder pain. The gas is absorbed into your lungs & you breathe it out hence the walking & other movements to get you breathing more deeply. Heat packs can help with any discomfort.

Regardless what you do keep your fluids by your side & keep sipping. You may want to add some electrolytes to your fluids as energy drops are common. And don’t forget to check with your team first before starting any strenuous or lengthy activities. Possibly best to start slowly first to see how you go & then build up the intensity or extend the time frame as you’re able.

No hard & fast rules. It just depends on you & how your body reacts. Personally I split up when I took my meds. Like one multi vitamin in the morning & one at night. Just make sure to take your vitamins after you eat otherwise you may experience nausea. Having a sip or two of a liquid to swallow a med is generally okay after you’ve eaten or to wait a much shorter time after (like 5 or 10 minutes) & then go back to your usual waiting time. Of course if you are drinking a meal/snack (shake, soup, yoghurt drink, milk, …) swallow your meds as you drink. Hope it’s an easy transition for you.

My hunger came back gradually too into my second year. I had my first experience of real hunger at about 8 months after a busy day when I hadn’t really eaten but not again for months. I still have times when I’m not really hungry or don’t eat all my usual portion & I’m 4 years out now. Because I eat regularly throughout the day I don’t really feel HUNGRY just yep must be time for my meal/snack. Your portion sizes slowly increase as your losing until you get to a point where you are consuming the calories & nutrients your body needs to work effectively & your weight stabilises. It’s then up to you to manage your portions & calories by permanently adopting the changes & things you’ve learnt within your lifestyle (what you need & how you want to live & enjoy your life). I eventually I reached a point where I was I eating about the accepted portion size of the protein, vegetables, fruit, dairy, etc. for my meals & snacks & to get in my daily calorie needs to maintain. It’s plenty of food & I don’t need or want more. I consume about 1500 calories which is appropriate for someone my height, age, weight & activity levels. (Interestingly I consumed about 1300 when I first stabilised & though I eat more now I’ve pretty much maintained my weigh. I presume to do with my body settling & adjusting.) I choose to rarely eat sweet foods or drinks. I don’t eat bread, rice, pasta or potatoes but then they tend to sit heavily so an easy choice. I tend to eat whole or low processed foods most of the time. Do I experience head hunger at times? Yes. But I recognise now that it’s not real hunger.Of course there are times I give in to it but I make better choices - like a few nuts, a little fruit or am trying beef jerky at the moment. It’s funny but I rarely specifically crave salt, sugar or a specific food anymore except sometimes after I eat yoghurt I will crave salt. Don’t know why though. This is how I am. You may be totally different & that’s okay. It comes down to how you manage it.

Have to admit I’ve never heard of it so looked it up. I did read it said there is no sound scientific evidence of it helping with diabetes & reducing blood sugar, cholesterol, or weight loss though. Your surgery will definitely help with these if they are your concerns anyway. As with all natural remedies, check with your doctor first to ensure there aren’t any negative side effects or drug interaction issues with meds you are on so you can make an informed decision to use it or not.

How far out from your surgery are you? It’s quite common to feel lethargic, sleepy & have low energy after the surgery while you are healing and at other random times as your body adjusts to changes (weight loss, increased activity, etc.). What you are experiencing may just be part of the process & nothing to do with your vitamins. Listen to your body if it is telling you to rest or nap. (If you’re able of course. Not many bosses appreciate you curling up under your desk at work unfortunately. A little Seinfeld reference 😉) I loved those daily naps & rests I had after my surgery. Wish I could still justify them now.

I am so sorry you are experiencing this. What has your surgeon suggested as to the cause or done in the way of tests to discover why this is happening to you? And yes, I’d go to the ER with the chronic diarrhoea and foamies. You shouldn’t be experiencing any of this so there must be a reason for it. Hopefully you’ll get answers and an appropriate treatment soon.

It does improve especially as you start eating more & a wider range of food types so closer to your final stabilised weight. At the moment you are eating so little that not going every day is to be expected. Just don’t let it persist otherwise that’s when you’ll start to experience discomfort or at worst pain or you may need to use more shall we say ‘dramatic’ treatments/interventions. If I hadn’t gone by day 3 I’d take a stool softener so there’d be movement on day 4. That worked for me. Try adding a non swelling soluble fibre to your diet every day to help. Yes, you may continue to experience it as @catwoman7 said forever. I’m four years out & every week or two I can have a day or two of little or no action. I only take something if it persists into a third day but that rarely occurs now.

Oh My God @Starwarsandcupcakes. I’m so sorry. 😱 I read your post as your baby sitter not baby sister & thought you had a very close relationship with your sitter.

Oh yes I agree. Dr Pilcher is very good too.

Fingers crossed it will help @GMaJen. Back pain is awful. I have oozing discs in my lower back that comes & goes but standing or sitting for any time sets it off simply from the weight of my body compressing the discs. I had hoped the weight loss would help but only did minimally. ☹️ I have found gentle stretching does help a lot though & if I miss doing them for a few days I know about it.

I’ve had a few general anaesthetics over the years (three in the last four years) & it is like the others have said, like falling asleep at night & then waking up without the dreams. When I wake I feel a little off & a little doughy in the head until I fully wake. And yes it has come a long way since my first lot in 1985 when I had my wisdom teeth out - nausea, vomiting, disorientation but think some of that was from swallowing blood during the surgery & bring forced awake in recovery. Let them know about your fear & hopefully they will give you sometime first to take the edge off. The Anaesthesiologists I’ve had have been pretty good about keeping me calm distracting me though I don’t have any concerns about it. One of my last ones was discussing gin & whisky with me as he put me under. Another was making jokes about how I’d managed to slice off part of my thumb so I needed the surgery.

How awful @Starwarsandcupcakes. I’m glad your baby sitter is making improvement - a long way to go though I’d expect. She was very fortunate to have you supporting her. Make sure you make some time for you now the worst is over. Take care of the carer.

Thing to remember when approaching these & similar treatments is that’s what we have is more than just normal aging sagginess & skin laxity. So while people may have success with them they likely had laxity from aging not dramatic weight loss. Not sure when you had your treatments, but it takes time for the Morpheus8 micro needling/RF to work. It takes three months for your skin to cycle and for you to start to see improvement. I had 4 monthly treatments of SecretRF which is the same as Morpheus. I did it mainly to help with my acne scaring & any other benefits were a bonus. My skin texture & tone is more even & my skin is softer. There has been a slight tightening around my cheek bones - they are little more noticeable. My Beauty therapist thinks my acne scars aren’t as deep. And my unexpected bonus this month has been a reduction in lipstick bleeding. Whoo hoo! Do I still have saggy jowls? Yes & I may not see any real improvement there but that’s okay. I still have another couple of months to discover new wins. My cosmetic physician who performed the treatments said you can continue to see improvement for 6 months after your last treatment. What’s Evolve?

Knees, shoulders, ankles, elbows, wrists. I had bony aches with them all. I still wake every couple of hours because of shoulder &/or knee discomfort & have to rollover & reposition myself.. The strangest was my wrists. OMG so much pain using a mouse at work.

Your stomach is a muscle so it does stretch & it also contracts - it’s elastic. If you are very determined to eat huge volumes of food, overeat past your full signals, multiple times a day, for a very long period of time you may be able to stretch it or at least reduce the muscle’s ability to contract again (worn it out) as well as it did. As Dr Weiner says: eat & drink to your signals & when you get the signal stop. Together with eating your appropriate portions & not more often than your appropriate meals & snacks you won’t stretch your tummy. Eat up & get in your nutrients & enjoy. PS - Dr Weiner is fantastic. Great videos on a wide range of topics on his You Tube channel if you’re interested.