NovaLuna

It takes anywhere from 5-10 days for it to come off. At least that's what I was told. I avoided my scale for 10 days.

I'm 9 months out now and just 33 pounds away from my personal goal! My surgery weight was 321 and I'm 213 today so I've lost 108 pounds in those 9 months! What blows my mind is that I only have 14 more pounds to go to be under 200 pounds! I haven't been under 200 pounds in about 20 years (I'm 33) so it's exciting and scary at the same time. It just doesn't feel real sometimes

Are you buying all your vitamins separately? Because the bariatric multivitamins HAVE Thiamine in them. I don't take B-Complex at all and I'm 9 months out and other than a slight Vitamin A deficiency in my 6 month labs (which was normal level in 9 month labs) and a potassium deficiency, my other vitamin levels are all normal and I just take the multivitamins and calcium and the occasional vitamin A. Or were your Thiamine levels low in your pre-op labs and they wanted you to take extra?

Welcome to the site and congratulations on the beginning of your journey! I was 31 when I started my journey, 32 when I had my surgery, and now I'm 33 at 9 months post-op. I only wish I'd done it sooner! I had the Loop Duodenal Switch surgery (also called SIP-S) and if you are exploring all types of surgeries and if you get curious about the Loop DS please don't hesitate to ask and I'll tell you about my own personal experience with the surgery. Do all the research you can and find the right surgery for YOU! (though personally, I think Gastric Bypass looks the best at first glance because of your acid reflux. VSG isn't the best option because of that and my surgery has a sleeved stomach... but in the end it's very much a personal choice and very much up to you) I wish you the best!

I was also told when your fluid levels are low you will think you're hungry, but in reality you're actually thirsty. Try drinking a bit more. It might help!

Reading is how I cope. I enjoy it and it takes my mind off of any stress I'm feeling.

I had cravings too... trust me, it happens! You just have to remind yourself why you did the surgery and stick to the diet plan. If you are having issues with getting your protein in definitely call your surgeon and ask them for advice on something else you can try! I know there is a protein jello that they sell on Amazon so there is likely a ton of other options as well. Try looking into it. I'm sorry you're struggling and hope it gets better for you!

Considering your surgery date I'm guessing you're likely in the three week stall. It's VERY common! Also, during stalls weight can go up a bit by a pound or three and bounce back and forth before your weight loss kicks back in. Just my own experiance anyway... my longest stall was 27 days. I also had one that lasted 23 days. Your body sometimes takes a while to get used to the changes and will stall you on occasion. I've had so many stalls I lost count... but, I've still lost 106 pounds in the 9 months since my surgery so you do get past it. Just continue eating like you're supposed to and try not to stress yourself out about it (almost impossible, I know)

Surgery How long will surgery be? For me it was a little over an hour, but it really depends on the surgeon and if everything goes to plan. With surgeries you never know and every person is different. How long will I be in the hospital? For me it was three days and two nights, but again, it depends on the person. Will I have a drain? I didn't. But again, everyone is different. Conditions that need to be met to be discharged? For me it was having my pain under control, making sure I was up and walking, and drinking enough. I stayed slightly longer because I wasn't drinking enough to where they could at least keep track. I was more comfortable chewing ice, but they couldn't keep track of that so they eventually took it away from me and gave me a bunch of these little 1oz cups so that they could track how much I was drinking. Recovery When can I give breast milk? Ask both your surgeon and your child's doctor when it's safe. What does pain management look like post-op? It very much depends on the person and their pain tolerance. I have TN so I have a very HIGH pain tolerance and so I basically took four of the 30 Norco pills my surgeons office gave me. I mostly stuck to tylenol. It's not a walk in the park by any means, but it was bareable. When to return to work? How much time off? They gave me 4 weeks off. I, however, was only back at work for two weeks and then went on leave again due to different health issues. Non-surgery or weight related. What do you think about vitamin patches? When can I take pills post-op? I was told not to use vitamin patches for the DS or Loop DS and to stick to pill or chewable vitamins. Maybe your surgeons office is different? They're super expensive though if you do the patch thing for the amount of vitamins you need for the DS/Loop DS so it's not the way to go imo. As to vitamins... I was told to take chewables for the first month, but not to start them until day 7, but your surgeons office may be different so ask. What is normal for the first 6 weeks post-op? I'm 9 months out and my memory is a little shaky when I think that far back but I remember being really sore and hurting from both the gas and the incision from where they removed 85% of my stomach from. I had low energy for three or four weeks. I also had to sleep on the couch for the first several days after I came home because my bed was too hard to get out of and it hurt. I needed help showering for the first week or so as well. And getting up hurt because of that incision where they removed my stomach. Sitting hurt also because of it. Once I was up though it wasn't so bad. Post-OP What is my goal weight? You're goal weight? No idea. My goal weight is 180 pounds. I have low standards I guess lol, but my surgeons office said it was a good and realistic goal weight. They want me to get to 160 if I can, but I'd be happy with 180. Heck, I'd even be happy at 185 as both take me out of obese and into simply being 'overweight' BMI wise. I have low standards lol. It comes from being over 300 pounds for 15 years. I'm 215 right now and that's smaller than I was when I started HIGH SCHOOL! (I was in the 230's then) I was 32 when I had my surgery btw. I'm 33 right now. How long does it take to digest food? I think that depends very much on how much you eat. If I eat a little snack I feel like it digests faster, but sometimes when I eat a meal I have on occasion eaten too much because I ate too fast and it took a while to process that it was too much for my stomach and felt full and nauseous for about an hour or two. What will my stomach capacity be at 3 months, 6 months, 12 months? I think I was eating about 1/3 cup at 3 months (about 3 oz), 1/2 cup at six months (around 4 oz), and now at 9 months I can eat about 3/4 cups (about 6-7 oz). But I feel like it's probably different for everyone. I hope this is helpful in some way...

Do you eat banana's? Banana's naturally stop you up a bit and I can't eat them every day because they lead to constipation issues. If you're having the opposite issue maybe try eating a banana to see if it'll help a bit... it does for me when I'm having the same issue.

I'm sorry that your surgery was delayed. I hope that they're able to get the testing you need done as quickly as possible and hope they can get your surgery in if they do decide to cancel elective surgeries any time soon. I know it's hard, but try and remain positive and hopefully everything will work out!

Congrats on your upcoming surgery! The hospital stay is different for everyone, but DS-ers tend to stay slightly longer so just be prepared for that. I spent three days and two nights in the hospital and they almost kept me for another night but I begged them to let me go home lol. Remember to walk, walk, walk to get rid of the excess gas and try to sip as much water as you can or they may keep you longer (the drinking thing was totally my issue, I had trouble with it and found sucking on ice was way easier, but they couldn't track the ice verses the water so kept having to tell me to drink rather than suck on ice)

The decision whether to have the surgery or not is a very big decision because once you have the surgery you can't exactly go back and change your mind... I bounced around back and forth about whether or not to have WLS for about 10 YEARS. I did numerous diets and nothing worked. Eventually it was the realization that if I DIDN'T do something about my weight and my declining health because of that weight then I wouldn't be around to watch my three nieces grow up. I was a little over month away from my 32nd birthday and 389 pounds with a BMI of 61.8 (I'm 5'6.5, they don't give you that half inch on this site) when I took the first steps by seeing the bariatric surgeon I learned my brother was going to be having another daughter. And 2.5 months AFTER my surgery I learned my sister was pregnant again and just 2 weeks ago gave me my first nephew. I'm not going to tell you that surgery is the option for you, because every person is different. Surgery is very much a tool to help you get to heathier eating habits that'll help lead you to a healthier you. It is in no way easy. People who tell you WLS is the easy way out are ridiculous and know absolutely nothing about everything involved. It's a life choice. I will be on vitamins, expensive vitamins, for the rest of my life. But do I regret it? No, I don't. Would I do it all over again knowing everything I know now? Yes, I would. But again, this is very much my own choice and you are your own person. I was 321 pounds on my surgery date and the last I weighed was a little over a week ago and I weighed in at 218 which is 103 pounds since my surgery and 171 pounds overall. I suggest you weigh the pros and cons. Think long and hard about everything WLS would mean to you and how it would change your life. It's understandable that your husband is worried because surgery of any kind has risks, but the risks nowadays for WLS are pretty low. Go over statistics with him if it'll help relieve his mind a bit. Take him to appointments with you if you feel it'll help. Maybe sit him down and explain just why this step is something you feel you NEED for yourself.

I'm sure it'll be fine as long as you don't go crazy and have a ton of processed food or greasy food, which I doubt you'd do anyway since your stomach seems to be sensitive. Just do what you can and if what you can is not do the pre-op diet because it makes you sick then the doctor will just have to understand. Your health and nutrition is more important!

I'm almost 9 months out. Just had my 9 month check up and found out I once again have a potassium deficiency (it showed up in my labs in my 3 month check up, disappeared in 6 month check up, and is back in the 9 month check up...), bright side though is the Vitamin A deficiency that I had in my 6 month labs is gone and my levels are normal again with only taking extra Vitamin A every two days. In every lab my calcium has been high. After the three month lab I went from 3 calcium pills down to two and now they want me to cut it by a half so now it's 1.5 calcium pills. I also have slightly elevated iron even though I was alternating my iron multi's by taking 1 one day and 2 the next. They told me to just take 1 a day and if it's elevated still at my year labs they'll have me do 1 every other day. Also, forewarning that despite the fact they claim dumping syndrome doesn't happen with DS I call bullsh*t! If I eat wheat I get dumping syndrome so I avoid it like the plague because trust me when I say you don't want to experience it! My trigger is not going to be everyone elses though and not everyone will experience it. I'm just unlucky like that... Bright side though is that since surgery I've lost 102 pounds (and 68 prior to surgery) and only have 39 more to go to reach my personal goal!

I had the SADI-S like yourself. I didn't have my first stall until month 3. The stall was 23 days. I've also had a 27 day stall as well. Right now I've been stalled for exactly 14 days. But stalling for more than a month would absolutely stress me out. I would definitely contact the surgeons office. Maybe also you could measure yourself. You may be putting on muscle, but losing inches so it wouldn't show in pounds. Just a suggestion...

Well, I had a different surgery than you so my experience so far may be very different then what yours will be. For me, I've had a lot of stalls along the way though my first one was when I was 3 months out (it lasted 23 days) and I've currently been in one for two weeks now though that may very well have to do with muscle gain as I've been at my sisters house and am taking care of her 1 year old who likes to be carried and I'm walking constantly up and down her stairs... I was told the Loop DS (the surgery I had) doesn't have dumping syndrome, but discovered that is a MYTH because wheat give me dumping syndrome so I avoid it like the plague! Constipation issues can and probably will happen with EVERY surgery though in my case it's when I have too much iron in my diet. I just had my 9 month check up and was told to cut back my iron even more even though I've been alternating it from 1 iron multi one day to 2 iron multi's the next. I was told to stick to just 1 because my iron was very close to being too high as it was on the upper scale of normal and like two points away from being way too high. I had a potassium deficiency in my 3 month check up but it was normal in my 6 month check up but now it's back to being too low. My Vitamin A was deficient in my 6 month check up, but is normal again as of my 9 month check up. My calcium has been a little high at every check up and they advised me to lower it again even though I was only taking two calciums a day they told me to try taking 1.5 a day. I'm currently 33 years old. My high weight was 389 pounds. I was 321 pounds on the day of my surgery and right now I'm 219 pounds and am 4 days away from my 9 month surgiversary. The farther along I get doesn't really make it any easier. I find I still have to actively work to stay on track because I'm the only one in my family eating healthy while everyone around me is eating the foods that I used to love. I find I have to pep talk myself into eating right and so far I've been good. The worst I've done is eat a snack size Kit Kat or the two times I ate a cookie. I refuse to get down on myself for that though as it's something I've only done a few times and I make sure it still fits into my carb intake and allotted sugar intake so it doesn't feel like I'm cheating as it fits into my diet plan. Even my surgeons office said it was okay to treat myself as long as I fit it in to my diet plan and didn't overindulge. I find that it's helped me not go crazy by allowing myself a little treat on rare occasions. The protein intake for my particular surgery for women is advised to get between 80-100g a day. I try and get the minimum of 80 but since I drink 1 30g protein shake a day I'm only responsible for getting a minimum of 50g on my own. I tend to average (with the protein drink) around 90-95 a day. A weight loss journey is not easy. I don't think it's meant to be, to be honest. I've used this time so far to try and get myself used to better eating habits so that I can keep them up even when I reach my goal weight. I NEVER want to get back to being as heavy as I was. I used to be a 32 in pants and a 34-36 in tops. I'm now a 16 in pants and an xl in tops. I can just buy things without trying them on and they actually look GOOD, which is shocking to me! I like that I no longer have to shop online because stores don't carry my size. I like that I'm no longer plus sized now and can shop in the regular womens section of the store. I like that when I have to visit the doctor the cuff can now fit on my upper arm where before they had to put it on my wrist because it wouldn't fit on my upper arm. I like that when I have to wear a hospital gown for a test or a visit to the ER I can now fit in the regular sized ones and don't have to embarrass myself by asking them for the plus sized ones. So yeah, the journey isn't easy, but it's 100% WORTH it! You will have ups and downs, but sometimes you have to celebrate the non-scale victories to uplift yourself when you're in a stall or frustrated about something. I like that when I go see a specialist or go the ER they don't bring up my weight at all, where before that was ALL they seemed to do. I love that I'm only 39 pounds from my goal weight when I had been over 300 pounds for 15 YEARS!

Considering you started at a lower weight compared to many others (my surgery weight was 321) you are actually doing REALLY good! I lost 59 pounds in the first three months (and I was 63 pounds heavier than you on surgery day) and you've lost 36 so far. I also admittedly had a different surgery than you though I do have a sleeved stomach with my surgery. Honestly, you shouldn't feel discouraged at all, you're doing amazing! Be proud!

Statistically speaking Gastric Bypass is 3rd for overall highest average percentage of weight loss. 1&2 are Duodenal Switch and Loop Duodenal Switch, but typically you have to be super morbidly obese to have the DS surgery (having a of BMI 50+). So for your weight right now Gastric Bypass is statistically the best one available for you. Some people can lose just as much though with Gastric Sleeve, Balloon, etc. It's very much dependent on the person on whether they follow their guidelines and the way their body works imo.

You probably still have a lot of fluids in you from your surgery. It took about 10 days or so lose that fluid for me.

Honestly, if you feel like you'll drive yourself crazy weighing every day and if you hit a stall stress yourself out, then definitely avoid buying one. I kind of wish sometimes that I hadn't bought one because when I hit a stall I stress the hell out about it despite the fact that my doctor told me stress can actually prolong a stall... so if you think you'll be like me in that respect just go without.

You won't lose weight every single day. And weight loss stalls happen. The three week stall is very common. I've had several stalls over my journey and the longest one lasted 23 days (that was in month 3), in fact I just got over a two week stall yesterday as I finally lost another pound. Also, since you're exercising you may put on muscle which weighs more than fat so it may not look like you're losing weight when you weigh yourself, but if you take measurements you'll be able to tell the difference with that. Try not to stress yourself out during stalls because the stress can prolong them (almost impossible to do, I know).

I had the Loop Duodenal Switch (also called SIPS). I originally was also looking into gastric sleeve, but as you can see when I started my journey I was nearly 400 pounds and my surgeon told me that the statistical average of gastric sleeve would not be enough to lose the amount of weight I wanted to lose and same for the gastric bypass. I was very much on the fence but eventually I chose the surgery anyway due to the surgeons experience and I figured he knew what he was talking about. Vitamin wise you do take more than the average WLS, but not that much more. I process iron REALLY well so I do a switch on my vitamins where 1 day I take 1 multivitamin with iron and 2 multivitamins without iron and then the next day it switches and I take 2 multi's with iron and 1 without. I also take 2 Calcium Citrate a day (because I process Calcium really well as well). In my 6 month labs I showed to have a minor Vitamin A deficiency so I take 1 dropper of liquid Vitamin A a day as well. I'll find out how that worked out in two weeks since I just did my 9 month labs today and my 9 month check up is on the 13th. I was 321 pounds on my surgery day and this morning I weighed in at 221 so I've lost 100 pounds in 8 months (and 1 week). Which, honestly, I'm very proud of. I don't have bad body odor, if that's your concern. It's more your bowel movements... stink. REALLY bad! And avoid anything with excess sugar alcohol because it may give you gas (like it does to me) and it's smells terrible. There are not as many people who've had the DS or Loop DS, but I've noticed it's been gaining slightly more popularity lately so there are quite a few people on this site that you can ask for advice from who've had the surgery. If you have any questions for me feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer them.

I weighed in at 321 on my surgery day and today I weighed in at 221. So I'm officially down 100 pounds since surgery and have just 41 more left to lose! 😊

I would love it if my health issues would be resolved, but I've been stuck with them for over six months now and they are still being figured out and because of Covid it's taking FOREVER! I just did a test to check if it's one of the two things my doctor is most suspicious of it being (the two mimic each other) and am waiting for results, but I'll probably have to wait MONTHS for the other test as I was already told they are scheduled several months out and they haven't even called me about scheduling for that particular test... As for excess skin, yep I have it. A LOT. It's not noticeable with clothes on though. I have bat wings on my upper arms lol. Also lots of excess skin on my... chest area. I was a DDD and now am a C so it happens. I have loose skin on my belly, where my bra rests on my sides, my legs, arms, my neck, etc. Honestly though, like I said it's easy to hide under clothes and I'd much rather have the loose skin then the extra 167 pounds that I used to carry around. And yes, I'm happy with my surgery and don't regret it at all.