over65

Most surgeons say any pill up to size of regular M&M can be swallowed. Not many meds that large.

I have been able to swallow all my meds and nonchewable vitamins/supplements from day after surgery with no problems. I bought a pill crusher before surgery but never needed it. Everyone is different but not everyone have problems swallowing pills postop.

You also should have cholesterol checked. There are documented cases of people developing starvation-induced high cholesterol after high weight loss. Your symptoms correlate closely to what you describe. "A 25-y-old policeman who had sleeve gastrectomy for morbid obesity 10 mo previously presented with generalized weakness, constipation, and significant weight loss after severe dietary restriction." All of his bariatric lab had been normal. Transient Severe Hypercholesterolemia Following Bariatric Surgery Treated Successfully With Increased Food Intake https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26732832/?from_single_result=starvation-induced+hypercholesterolemia

Yogurt only has CFU in millions. Need CFU in trillions to do any good.

I bought Renpho smart scale from Amazon after I saw your data. Used first time today. Amazing info I can follow throughout my WL journey. It said my metabolic age was 74[emoji33] and I'm 67. See how that changes. My BMI is 38 down from 44.

Have postop visit Monday so can ask him.

I just started full liquids and protein shakes have more calories than protein water. I did 450 calories today.

I decided I will lactic acid ferment raw veggies all summer in mason jars. Same nutrition as raw plus get Lactobacillus and easier to digest. pickles, kimchi, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, almost any raw veggie. No canning. Just add sea salt brine and keep veggies in anaerobic state during fermentation.

My favorite is Fairlife Nutrition. chocolate taste just like chocolate milk. 30g Protein, 2g fat, 2g carbs. 150 calories That's premade. I use ISOPURE unflavored 25g protein per scoop. Whey Isolate

Thanks. I was getting worried.

I am a bit concerned that my pouch is too big. I never have had any pain or problems with swallowing. I was able to drink 6 oz Water at once first day after surgery with normal swallowing like before VSG. I can swallow large pills and tonight was able to drink 11.9 oz Protein Shake in 5 minutes. After reading all you struggling with 1-2 oz in 15 minutes, I feel very different. I am ONE WEEK post VSG.

Did your doctor recommend it? What brand and how many strains of bacteria in it? Why are you taking it? I am considering a probiotic for chronic constiptation for years which existed before VSG. I am in full liquid stag postop and already having constipation.

I was very disappointed with READY Protein Water. Taste was awful to me. I returned two cases to Sam's Club. Still have 9 bottles in fridge. Will probably dump it. The Blueberry was the worst. I also don't like having to drink 16.9 oz to get just 15g protein. So bust for me.

Microbiome affects everything. It will be years before they figure things out. Stanford Univ did fecal transplants on 19 kid on autism spectrum. 40% reduction in nervous behavioral symptoms for two months. I want to start a probiotic specifically for chronic constiptation. Research studies shows specific strains of bacteria greatly improved constiptation in elderly in nursing home. But cannot get reliable source. Probiotics are like Vitamins and supplements, not regulated by FDC. So you have no idea if the probiotic you buy is even alive, what it claims to be and even effective. ACTIVIA didn't help at all.

Oops, This is Gals only room.

Gallbladder pain is in UPPER abdomen, not lower.

I suspect you will have to do a bunch of paperwork to get surgery approved by different surgeon. It is possible that your new surgeon would have to resubmit everything your other surgeon submitted. I think they should accept everything you have done under previous surgeon but new surgeon would have to resubmit for approval. This depends a lot on whether your health insurance is through a PPO which requires you to use "network doctors". It could be worse and you have to start over. If you are already approved, you should have a good reason (in your opinion) to make such a change at this pointnin the process. You could call your insurance and ask them directly what happens if you are approved but you want to change doctors. Whether a different facility would need reapproval depends again on whether you arebin PPO. If you are in PPO and either your surgeon or facility is not in preferred network, will cost you money.

Just kidding. Not available in humans yet. Researchers experimented with mice. They had baby mice born in "bubble" and these mice had virtually no bacteria (good or bad) in microbiome (gut). No matter how much they ate, they were unable to gain any weight. They also had mice where the hormone leptein was blocked. Leptein is what tells your brain you have satiety and quit eating. These mice without leptein available ate nonstop and became extremely obese. Third group were totally normal mice, eating appropriately and maintaining normal weight. First experiment, they took fecal material from normal mice and transplanted to mice unable to gain weight. The skinny mice now had healthy microbiome and gained and maintained weight like normal mice. But what impressed me was the second experiment. They transplanted feces from normal mice to the morbidly obese mice that couldn't stop eating. The obese mice lost weight down to normal weight. If possible in humans, I could have had fecal transplant from thin person instead of having most of my stomach removed. SHUCKS. There is tons of research being done on microbiome and obesity. Scientists are discovering possible causes of obesity relating to the bacteria in their gut. We aren't to the point yet of identifying which bacteria are involved out of trillions in gut (either missing in gut or releasing a bad byproduct that causes cascade of problems in the body leading to metabolic syndrome). I find this fascinating.

Have you had your cholesterol checked. There is a case in journal about a young man (20s) who was exhausted all the time, could hardly crawl out of bed, had no energy. Turned out he had severe high cholesterol and diagnosis was starvation-induced high cholesterol. It is uncommon but does happen when a WLS patient maintains a low intake of food either due pouch size problems or development of an eating disorder afraid of regain. You should stay away from shakes at this point and figure out exactly how much real food you can eat before feeling full. If that amount is abnormally small at this point in your journey, you have a pouch problem. A barium swallow would show it. Another possibility is you have a severe malabsorption problem so matter how much you eat, your body doesn't receive the nourishment.

The attachment I have has great control of spray and strength of spray to stream to bullseye. I use both front and back and never have any problem with spray from back to splash front due to precise aiming and angle it's used. Be warned. If there is more than one person using it, one will inevitably forget to turn off the spray button. Your bathroom will get a spray all over the walls unexpectedly when you turn on valve. So you need to establish a ritual in the specific order you do everything. And I myself have forgotten twice and gave my walls a spraydown. And if you have young children visit, almost guarnteed they will misuse it.

I bought bidet sprayer attachment two years ago. Main reason was I could no longer reach my behind anymore. Haven't bought TP since. Was wonderful tool when prepping for colonoscopy. Europeans have the right idea.

Flexeril works for moderate pain. But once home, I didn't even need pain med. Most pain is GAS. So Mylicon, walking and spirometer. That little toy they give you to avoid pneumonia. You have to blow the little ball up and hold it there as long as possible. I read that taking deep breath for blowing moves diaphragm down and helps move gas out.

I know everyone loses weight in breasts requiring smaller bra sizes. My breasts are already quite pedulous (droopy). After WLS, if breasts get to floppy, do any of you wear sports bra or other support at night?

I just run Water through my Keurig. Stir in buillion powder and then add cold broth to cool it and then stir in Protein powder. . I use low sodium premade broth for cold and keep in fridge. (nasty by itself. Needs salt) It only takes minutes to prepare so I wouldn't bother prepping it.

Found a scientific paper of a case where a man in his 20s developed very high cholesterol after VSG. "Transient Severe Hypercholesterolemia Following Bariatric Surgery Treated Successfully With Increased food Intake" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26732832/?from_term=hypercholesterolemia+after+weight+loss+surgery&from_pos=5 He was diagnosed with starvation-induced hypercholesterolemia. They increased his calories and in three months, cholesterol back to normal. The paper concluded "Although dietary management of failed weight loss after bariatric surgery is the main priority for health professionals, this case illustrates the possible harm of severe dietary restriction after surgery and the need for judicious dietary and nutritional management. ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH CALORIES? Could be just need to increase intake a bit more. I hate it when doctors just write a prescription for a drug when if easy research they could discover the patient just needed a bit more food.