kc892020

My experience was similar to yours, I only lost 25 pounds in the first two months; however, my loss continued at a steady 10 pounds per month for quite a while after that. I know it seems like it takes forever, but at 10 pounds/month, it wasn't long before it started adding up. I was even more impatient because I had a cousin who had the bypass a few days apart from me and when I compared our progress it seemed like I was losing SO. MUCH. SLOWER. But comparing with other people doesn't work well because a lot of things go into the rate of weight loss, such as your activity level, your dieting history, your natural metabolism rate, how much you have to lose, etc.
Are you sticking closely to the eating plan your bariatric team gave you? Drinking enough fluids? Getting your Protein in? Eating more real food than processed stuff? Do you feel the restriction from your surgery and are you stopping when it kicks in (or just before)? Are you logging what you are eating? That really helped me, especially early on. One thing my surgeon warned me about was including too many excess carbs in my diet, especially refined carbs. So you might want to make sure you're not overdoing it there.
If so, you are doing all the right things. You've lost 28 pounds in two months, so you're averaging 14 pounds per month. That's actually good and will quickly add up to a big weight loss. If you keep losing at that rate, you would be 84 pounds lighter in 6 months! Just keep going, you'll get there...

I agree that change scares people. When they see you, they have to face their own flaws, fears and insecurities. It’s human nature, however, good friends will support you and toxic people will sabotage you. Use this time to cultivate new hobbies, interests, self worth and crummy tv. It’s tough with COVID, does your Dr have a support group?
You have support here, don’t forget that.
Keep your chin up, your goals in a tight grip and recognize toxic people, you don’t need them. Brene Brown always makes me feel more confident when I’m down. Her TED Talk on YouTube is amazing and so are her books and Netflix special.
”If we share our shame story with the wrong person, they can easily become one more piece of flying debris in an already dangerous storm.”
― Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Some people may feel threatened or jealous. This is something that scares me, that I will lose people. I think in the end the people that are meant to be on your journey stay. As far as the others you just bid them farewell and good wishes. I have to admit before finally checking into getting surgery done. I had two friends that went to Mexico and had the sleeve done last year. I am admitting that I was green with envy when I saw them dropping weight. Here I was struggling with Hypothyroidism and emotional stuff and they were posting pictures looking phenomenal. I felt it wasn't fair. I sat and cried my eyes out because I have been working hard on my own to do it and nothing was happening. Having the initial appointment today was overwhelming. You have to change everything, so it is hard work and the stacks of orders of tests from the doctor. This surgery is a tool, not a cure all. No one lives inside your body, they have no idea what you go through. I have one friend that I connected with who has gone through this process (not to Mexico) and she is supportive. I am holding on tight to that friendship, because she may be the only one that understands. You are not alone. There is support out there, you just have to dig for it. I'm scared of the naysayers myself, but I know I have this forum, and that helps out tremendously. Sorry my answer is so long. LOL. -Best Wishes

I'm so sorry this has happened to you!
I think it's time to find some new friends! I know it's hard to socialize during Covid, but do you have any hobbies or interests that would lend to joining a club? Gardening, hiking, skiing, cycling, golf, etc? If you could find some friends with non-food involved hobbies, then you would eliminate some of the problems. Likewise with dating, instead of going out to eat or to a bar, how about going hiking, skiing or playing mini golf. Just trying to think of a few ideas!

So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op?
I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll.
I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude.
Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed.
Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op?
I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll.
I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude.
Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed.
Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op?
I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll.
I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude.
Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed.
Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op?
I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll.
I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude.
Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed.
Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

One thing I was thankful for was that in my WL surgical center's WLS support group, there was such a great mix of both veterans and newbies.
Our moderator for instance, was a veteran was was almost twenty years out, and kept her weight off! We had a lot of veterans that were more than a decade out and managed to keep their weight off, and I found that to be incredibly inspiring.
I'm only eight (almost nine) months out, but the most important thing I've learned from veterans was to never fall back into old habits. We had a required reading assignment of "How to Self-Soother Without Food" and were given a ton of handouts about the different kinds of overeating. The most important thing I learned was understanding your root for overeating and triggers. For example, I overate as a way to cope with C-PTSD. Others overate to cope with loss (one lady for instance, started overeating after losing her daughter to childhood cancer), a bad breakup, etc. Then there were those who were just triggered by the smells of unhealthy foods, like anything fried, etc. The key thing is to understand your root(s) and triggers and sticking to those new lifestyle changes in order to prevent going to back to bad habits.
Anyways, I'm probably just rambling and probably don't have a place to say anything yet since I'm still technically a new post-op.
Good luck to you!

I'm on Lexapro, and although I have had my anxiety and depression under control for several years now, I am hesitant to stop it. So far, I'm losing weight just fine with it.


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I've been on Wellbutrin forever and nobody will make me stop. Although I am worried about my ability to swallow pills after my surgery. However, just be an advocate for your mental health! Sometimes it takes a LONG time to trial different medications to see how it will affect your mind and body. But just stick with it. I really hope you feel better soon!

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I've been taking Wellbutrin for several years. It didn't interfere whatsoever with my weight loss.

I was told the same too. Based on my own personal research that included countless journal articles and talking to both doctors and fellow PCOS patients, it sounds like as long you stay compliant, it will eliminate it.
However, there are the precious few exceptions. Remember, thin people can get PCOS too. While most symptoms of PCOS are heightened by obesity, some can linger despite weight loss. My endo./ob-gyn informed me that some times, patients still have to take spironolactone and progesterone. It will just be in smaller doses. But the insulin resistant medication/s (i.e., Metformin) you will no longer need.
Everything is determined by your post-op blood work. Make sure to keep abreast of your hormone panels and follow up with whoever is treating you for PCOS. Especially with rapid weight loss, your hormones will be changing at a constant rate until you've reached your goal weight and are at satiety.
I hope that helped some! Good luck with everything. Love from a fellow "cyst-er."

Hopefully!

[emoji3531]So far so good with no trouble losing but I'm not much help in regards to long term, hopefully someone else can fill us in because now I'm curious lol

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Thank you! I appreciate your comment. It gave me hope. I always get nervous thinking about the possibility of weight regain.

I'm not on them, but some are worse than others when it comes to weight gain. Paxil (paroxetine) is notorious for weight gain, but some of them are OK - just check with your doctor - he or she will know which ones tend not to have that as a side effect.

Hi!! I struggle with anxiety disorders with depression and have been prescribed Zoloft 100 mg for two years along with medical cannabis and both have worked WONDERS!! The day after surgery I skipped my dose of Zoloft but was able to resume taking it the next day and have not had any problems with the weight coming off (started 273, Day of surgery 249, current weight 169; surgery was 1/8/20). I hope you are able to get some relief soon, I know how hard daily life can be when you're struggling in your mind [emoji3531] Best wishes

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So, I live with PTSD. Prior to my surgery, I was taking antidepressants. My doctor took me off them when I got my surgery. For the first couple months post-op, I was doing pretty well and didn't feel I needed them. However, recently, my PTSD symptoms have been getting in the way of me having a good life. I think I need to go back on them. But I'm scared! So many antidepressants cause weight gain.
What do I do? Has anyone been able to take antidepressants and still keep their weight off? How about alternative treatments like CBD oil?
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Its been 15 years and 10 months since my surgery and I have lost 196 lbs and kept it off. I have a goal for this year of getting down to 164 lbs from 199 lbs where I'm at now. I was 24 lbs heavier just over 2 months ago. I've been using an app called myfitnesspal.com to lose the weight. It took my a little bit to get the hang of it but now I'm comfortable with it. I pick my foods and it gives my the serving size and calories and deducts the calories from my daily limit. It sets up your plan by diet, starting weight and goal weight. As you lose the weight you change your current weight and it adjusts your allowable daily calories to keep you losing weight. I tried it free for a month and was shocked at how much I had lost so I purchased a one year plan and it wasn't expensive. I have the app on my phone and it is easy to use. I hope that this information is helpful for someone.

Hey everyone! I haven't been on here in forever and just wanted to say hello and ask how everyone was doing.
How's everyone handling their journeys with everything going on?
For me, the journey's been a challenge. I lost my job because of COVID and have had to take an assortment of temp jobs as result. This has made being able to afford supplements and Protein Powder difficult. But I'm still losing, and that's all that matters to me. I can't believe I'm almost down a hundred pounds since starting my journey (I started the pre-op diet last July)!
Another challenge I've noticed is that there's SO MANY foods I can no longer tolerate. A part from the Protein Shakes, the only sources of Protein I can keep down without getting sick are lightly seasoned or canned chicken and Beans. Although on my allowed foods list, tuna almost killed me and I can forget red meat and pork. I bought the recommended lean cuts and still got sick.
Most raw vegetables and fruits make me sick too. Ugh. It's frustrating! Maybe things will get better over time?
Anyways, I hope this is finding everyone staying safe and well during these crazy times. ❤️ you all!

My period was regulated almost right away...only two weeks after surgery. It this was WITHOUT the aid of any of the meds I was on before. I was amazed.
Last month, it came back the same time and I'm hoping this month it will do the same. My hair wasn't affected. I found that as long as I met my Protein goals, hair will stay.
Now the unwanted facial hair? Eh, that's another story. It's still there, BUT it's definitely not as course or as noticeable as it was before. I dermaplane (a fancy way of saying "female facial shaving") to take care of it, and no one ever knows I struggle with it.
This week, I go in for my first hormone panel since having the surgery, so we'll see what it has to say.

I was never told no caffeine. It’s very frustrating the difference the surgeons have.

In regards to your complications , it happens. I had endless complications for 8 months after surgery. Multiple surgeries, infections, peg tube, PE, bowel rupture. Out of 8 months I was in the hospital 6 months of that. I joked with my surgeon once that anything that could go wrong did go wrong. But now I’m a teaching case. I’m 8 years out, and I hadn’t seen him in 6 years till this past August. I had some issues other specialists couldn’t understand all I had been through so I sought him out. He is now running a bariatric program 5 hours from where he performed my surgery. All his staff knew of me. He knew exactly what I needed and no more problems following his suggestions. These complications can hopefully help others that come after us by teaching these surgeons better ways of doing things.

I hope that is the extent of your complications and you can move forward and kick butt in this process. I used to think it wasn’t worth it from what I went through. But now I’m healthy inside and out.

I spoke to the staff about it, and they claimed they were not aware and were "very surprised." They apologized profusely and said in the future, they would reserve that particular kind only for those who are six months or more out (since that's when they say we can have caffeine again). Hopefully, they remember to do that.

Regardless of whether the caffeine that you consumed in this product cause your GI bleed you definitely need to question the surgical team regarding their policies.To be essentially prescribed a product that contains caffeine while their policy states no caffeine whatsoever is very inconsistent. I'm wondering if there even aware that this Protein Powder contains caffeine.