Arabesque

Congrats on your weight loss. That’s fantastic. I’m a real food person too. I didn’t touch another shake or protein supplement powder from the start of purées in week three. I got all my protein & nutrients from the real food I made which was always my intention - to start establishing my new eating habits, food preferences, etc. & develop a sustainable way of eating from as early on as I could. We can not live on supplements & shakes alone. It worked as by month 8 I was totally off my multivitamins & I continued to lose. Just watched my portions, met my protein goal & ensured I included a variety of vegetables, whole/multi grains, dairy & fruit in my diet. Still do. I snack on yoghurt, nuts, multi grain crackers, hummus, protein bar (my exception as I developed a protein malabsorption issue post gall removal & the bar helps me ensure I meet my now higher protein goal), fruit, peanut paste. I have a couple of purchased snacks in my cupboard which I eat occasionally (baked chick peas/fava beans, freeze dried mango, nut clusters) like once a month when I stay with my mum or if travelling. You’ll find what works best for you & if that’s including shakes or protein powders in your diet that’s fine.

My surgeon gave me permission to take nsaids after two years but only on rare occasions & never consecutively. I’d certainly contact your surgeon & question the ibuprofen advice just to be sure. Most find they don’t need pain meds at all by day 4+/- so maybe your surgeon said yes to ibuprofen because it’s only for a couple of days???🤷🏻‍♀️ But the concern for your healing & sensitive tummy to bleed & develop ulcers would worry me. As for how long the gas pains last, just take as long as they need to escape your body. Pain meds won’t alleviate that pain at all. Walk, try gas X, heating pads, marching on the spot, raising your arms up & down can help. I had no gas pain after my sleeve, but after he took my gall oh boy. It took a good week to completely disappear.

It’s just one of those frustrating things that are part of the weight loss journey. Mine started at around 4 months. Most people notice the hair loss persists for about three months +/- regardless of taking supplements like biotin. The hair on your head is already dead & you can’t save dead hair. The thing to remember is the hair you are losing is hair you would have lost anyway as part of your natural shedding cycle - it was destined to fall out. It’s just that this cycle has been temporarily accelerated. You still have new hair growing but it’s at it’s usual rate. Supplements may benefit this new growth. Best thing to do is not stress, take your recommended vitamins & meet your protein goals. I remember my surgeon told me my body had better things to do with the nutrients I was eating then save my hair. A bit harsh but true. When I hit my goal & was eating more & a wider variety of food the rate of the hair loss slowed until it was like it was pre surgery so at about month 7. I took no additional supplements. A lot of us cut our hair so the loss isn’t as noticeable & it takes less time for the new growth to catch up & be the same length. I cut mine from almost my waist to just above my shoulders. The shorter length of hair doesn’t look as bad in the bottom of the shower either 😁😁.

@Sleeve me alone! is correct. Stalls are just part of the journey. Your body becomes stressed from all the changes, weight loss, diet, activity, etc. It’s the equivalent of how you may shut the door & pull the covers over your head when you’re stressed or anxious. Let your body take the time it needs to come to terms with the changes & face the world again. It may need a week or even 3 or 4 weeks. There are no rules just averages or ‘generally’ with stalls just as with your rate of loss. There’s no right or wrong just how your body works & reacts. Stick to your plan & you’ll notice the scales moving again.

I have never read, written or talked about my bowel movements as much as I have since my surgery 😆😆. Don’t know what is worse the constipation post surgery or the hideous, absolutely no warning diarrhoea, which I had. Took a couple of steps & … well you get the picture. I added a soluble non swelling fibre to my diet. If I hadn’t gone for three days, I’d take a stool softener so there would be action the next day & so I’d keep on top of it. But certainly, you’re not consuming much & your body will be absorbing every bit of nutrition from it it can at the moment. Don’t be surprised that when you do start to go more regularly that it’s small & regular might be every two days. It does get better as you are able to eat more & are eating a wider variety of foods & food types.

No I wasn’t able to. Took me a few weeks to get to or about goal. But my surgeon was okay because I was making an effort. Plus I had a lot of swelling for the first few days so swallowing was very painful. Once that improved, I did things like diluted my shakes, soups & yoghurt smoothie, made my rolled oats extra milky & my scrambled eggs extra sloppy. I also sipped during the night (& still do.) I found drinking from a glass or mug easier than a bottle & I kept one beside me at all times. I also got into routines while doing chores. Like get in the car, drink. Park the car, drink. Red light, drink. Sipped every two pages when reading. Try warm or room temperature drinks as they are often more soothing & easier to swallow. Some people find setting an alarm on their phone helpful. As with all things, it gets easier.

Stalls happen. They’re part of the weight loss journey. I wish surgeons & medical teams would explain this to people so they don’t think they’re failing like you are. You’re not! The first stall (yes first - you can experience a couple) often occurs around the third week but you can have them at any time. They usually last 1-3 weeks. I always thought of them as my body needing to take a breath to get used to all the changes, weight loss, diet, activity, etc., that have been stressing your body. Just like when you’re stressed & you may just want to shut the door & hide under the covers. Generally you don’t have to do anything. Why stress your body more?? If the stall persists 4 weeks or more, you may benefit from talking with your dietician. A small tweak to your diet or activity may be needed. But you won’t be in maintenance consuming 800-1000 calories. Some are encouraged to eat a lot more that that while losing. Your weight loss is never a straight line. It goes up & down, zig zagging about & plateauing. As long as the general trend is downwards, you’re golden. Congrats on your weight loss so far.

A lot of sleevers have episodes of the foamies. It usually occurs if you eat too fast or too much or something that is too dry/coarse. Dumping is less common with sleeves than bypass. (Dumping occurs if you eat too much sugar or fat.) Both side effects can be managed simply by being careful about how & what you eat. I’m three years out & I had a bout two days ago. I ate too quickly because I wasn’t eating mindfully (I was having a ‘discussion’ with my mother 😉) & cough, spit & up came that last bite. I know you said your reflux developed as a complication with your band & once it was removed the gerd stopped, but I’m wondering if this may make you more likely to develop gerd post sleeve. I don’t know but it may be worth asking your surgeon if bypass might be a better option. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Seems like you’re going well. Yay!! But watch the heavy weights. We’re usually advised to not lift anything over a few kilograms to begin so you don’t pull the stitches & staples holding your tummy together. Check with your medical team to be sure. I love green tea & am so glad I had no issues drinking it post surgery. Wondering if you maybe drank a little too much too quickly. Or maybe it got too strong & bitter & upset your sensitive tummy as it seems to keep brewing even without the tea bag or leaves. Don’t give up on it though. Try it again next week.

No it’s not unusual for things to taste gross. Our taste buds can temporarily change after surgery. Things we enjoyed can suddenly taste awful & food we never liked can be delicious. Definitely try some soups. Soup seem to make you feel like your eating something more substantial. And warm liquids often are more soothing. I even used room temp or warm water to make up my shakes. Some meats can be hard to tolerate - chicken breast is the worst but others struggle with beef. I found minced meats the easiest to eat. I never understand the chew, chew, chew thing - it seems to make the meat dry & tasteless. Glad I wasn’t told to do it. Take small bites (a level teaspoon or less) & ensure the meat is very fall off the bone tender & moist. Use gravies & sauces. Yoghurt smoothies helped me reach my fluid & protein goals. Blend up a high protein yoghurt with milk to a thin easy to drink consistency. You may be in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment too. You feel nauseous so you don’t eat or drink. But not eating or drinking can make you feel nauseous. You may be dehydrated too which is a concern. What colour is your pee? If it is a darker yellow, you’ll need to go to your local medical centre for a fluid transfusion. Try a different anti nausea med. Most are quite small tablets so you should be able to swallow them at three weeks. I’m sorry your surgeon hasn’t been more supportive. And yes, definitely see if you can find a dietician.

It’s great you’re getting back into exercising. Remember muscle weighs more than fat. So you may still be losing some fat but it’s equalising a little on the scales due to muscle growth.

Stalls happen. You can experience several of them while you are losing & they usually last - 3 weeks but sometimes more. They are part of the process. Your weight loss will never be a steady decline but will have ups & downs & flatlines. Your body needs time to play catch up with the changes - weight loss, dietary changes, etc. - & your weight loss stalls. (Someone recently posted a link to a surgeon who described it as a pause which I like.) You have been putting it through a lot. Many find that while the scales don’t move they notice their clothes are still getting loser. But yes they can mess with your head. If it persists, contact your dietician. Your diet may need a small tweak or you may need to shake up your exercise (though moving house will keep you very active). Usually they will pass just following your plan.

Check with your dietician. Some recommend waiting for a while but it can depend on what type you eat. Personally I found the no added salt or sugar ones very oily & tasteless. I tried a couple of different brands & tossed them all. Oh & watch the lite versions - the nutritional difference & calories is minimal.

Welcome to the world of constipation. This will be a pretty regular occurrence while you are losing. Shakes are often high fibre which can bind you but the water should help keep things moving. You also are consuming very little & your body is using all of the nutrients so yiu don’t have a lot of waste. You may need a stronger medication or process to get things moving like a suppository or enema. Some people do need additional help when the usual methods (laxatives, stool softeners, etc.) aren’t getting the job done. It does get better as you near goal & are eating more & a broader range of foods.

Doesn’t matter how long it takes to eat you have to wait or, as you as know, you can experience discomfort. The other reason we wait before is so our tummy is fully empty before we start to eat. And we wait after so the fluid doesn’t wash what we’ve eaten more quickly through our digestive system. You often want something more when you can’t have it which could be why you are finding this hard. Someone has taken away your free choice about when & how much you drink. It can be the same with food for some people: they can’t eat chocolate so all they want is chocolate. The good news is you won’t have to do this for ever. You’ll be able to wait less time, be able to take larger sips, etc. When, how long & how much will be up to you & what you are able to do.

Often people have to change some meds they’re on because your bypass may affect the absorption of the medication. Often these are slow release meds. BUT they don’t take you completely off the tablets. (Except may blood pressure meds.) I agree with the others in that being taken of your meds cold turkey is contributing a lot to what you are experiencing. It can be dangerous to cut anti depressant meds. And yes, definitely contact your prescribing doctor. You don’t have to rely solely on shakes. (I found them awful too.) Try bone broths, wonton soup or pho broths (just strain out the wontons, vegetables, noodles, etc.) soups, yoghurt smoothies (thin yoghurt with milk). Many UK surgeons recommend drinking milk you enrich by adding milk powder. At three weeks we’ve often moved to purées. But of course all plans are different. I gave up shakes I suffered through at the beginning of week three. When do you start purées? Please take care of yourself.

I just adjusted a lot of my favourite recipes. If I was looking for something specific I’d google & then adjust the one I thought was closest to my needs: swap out an ingredient, add an extra ingredient, change the cooking method, etc. But I was someone who often tweaked recipes so it wasn’t really a change - pointless asking me for the recipe cause a lot of it would be made up on the go. 😁

It was 2 feels like -1 on Saturday morning at my mum’s (about 100km west of Brisbane) Brrrr. It would have been as cold that night at the restaurant as it’s on top of the Great Dividing Range. The days have been around 10 to 19 Celsius give or take (50-66 Fahrenheit I think) in Brisbane which is cold for us. And we were experiencing those temps through May which was unusual. We often hit 100 Fahrenheit or higher in summer so I feel you in that heat.

That sounds crazy unless your blood tests showed you were very deficient. Why take calcium with D3 & a separate D3??? And take multi vitamins as well which already include D & B vitamins. Do they have shares in the supplement company? Speak with your medical team & ask them to explain why so many & so much doubling up. I took two multi vitamins that’s all & stopped taking them at 8 months. But we do have different needs.

Ok breathe. You slipped but you also now know why there is a staged return to eating - to protect & support your healing tummy. What you are experiencing is grief & regret. This isn’t uncommon. You’ve been through a pretty major surgery, your hormones have gone haywire, you’ve had to make massive changes to how & what you ate & you can’t have food or alcohol which previously comforted you & gave you pleasure. This will pass. Before you know it you will be eating solid food again, eating more & eventually you will enjoy a drink again. Yes, your tummy may struggle with certain foods to begin but this improves too. You are really learning how & what to eat all over again & learning what your body needs you to eat. You’ll be trying new foods, new recipes, etc. too. I still enjoy food & I still eat out (went to a French restaurant last night). I’m just more careful with my food choices & portions usually without issue. I still drink (had a cocktail & a small glass of Grenache) but not as frequently - drink quality not quantity now. I look at food & alcohol differently. That old adage of eating to live not living to eat is true. I didn’t have any comorbidities either but I knew that if I continued as I was or put on more weight it would be a different story. I was obese & I didn’t want to be. I’m a clothing person & I couldn’t wear the designers I loved anymore. Though not physically limited in any way, my stamina was poor & some things needed more & more effort to do. My weight came on suddenly. I always bounced around but ten years before my surgery I was 59kgs. Six years later I was 91 (damn hormones & menopause). Best decision I made. Remember the reasons you had to have the surgery. You may find it helpful to meet with a therapist (your team should be able to recommend someone). Many find therapy extremely helpful.

It’s always best to follow the diet you were given as it will be to follow their post surgical plan. As @liveaboard15 said different surgeons require different diets. My surgeon would put different patients on different diets based on the amount of weight they had to lose, their weight loss history & their medical history. So my friend was on all shakes, her friend was on two shakes & a meal & I was on keto. You can always ask your surgeon why he requires you to follow the all shake diet. The first five or so days are the hardest as you break some addictions & dependencies. You may headaches, low energy, etc. almost like withdrawal symptoms but better to get past this before surgery than after. Some people slip on their pre surgical diet. A slip is okay but regularly going off plan isn’t. The diet is required so you lose some weight to improve your health, reduce fat around your liver so your tummy can be seen more easily during surgery &, as above, break some habits & food dependencies. You can do it. It’s only two weeks. Some have to do it for three or more weeks.

They often say to hold off on fruit for a little while - partly due to the sugar content I think. Avoid skin, seeds, coarse/fibrous/hard (like apples & pears) flesh, etc. I was advised to begin with berries but the first fruit I had was watermelon. I think it was a couple of months out. Check with your dietician to be sure.

A couple of weeks before Covid hit in 2020 & we entered lockdown I bought this outfit & it has been taunting me in my wardrobe ever since. Decided I wasn’t going to wait for a special event any longer so dinner wth my hairdresser current & former stylist was it. New French inspired restaurant in a small country town. My hair looked way better later as we had our regular hair appointment before dinner. The skirt is amazing. Known as the doona skirt as there is a layer of wadding inside. Still didn’t keep me warm enough though lol.

Dined out again last night. This time a French inspired restaurant in a small country town in a sympathetically restored & decorated heritage building. Stole a yummy prawn beignet from my mum’s entree (appetiser) & I had a double baked scallop soufflé in a prawn bisque for my mine. The soufflé was delicious but I could only eat half - it was super rich & didn’t sit well but still worth the bites I had. Very sad though because I left the left overs behind. Their plating needs a little refining but everyone loved their meals.

I had my gall removed 25 months after my sleeve (a year ago). My surgeon used the same scars as my sleeve. Similar recovery but while I had no gas pain after my sleeve I had lots after this surgery & they pumped me full of fluids because of my low BP. Came out of hospital about 3 kgs heavier. Groan. I probably had a little more general discomfort & took one opioid med at night on day 2 when I got home so I could sleep but no other pain meds after that. You’ll feel more comfortable going in this time because you’ve experienced abdominal surgery before & know generally what to expect pre & post the surgery. Plus you know the surgeon & their work 😉. Best thing, no liquid diet & phased return to eating after this surgery. I also wasn’t all that hungry for about a fortnight after either - bonus. PS - Developing gall stones is pretty common. They could have been pre existing or grew as a result of your weight loss. Some have their gall removed during their sleeve surgery (much like hernia repairs) if they were picked up. Have your cholesterol levels gone up? It’s a temporary side effect of the weight loss but stones will form as a result.