summerseeker

Luckily we have always cooked our food from scratch, so fast food is not ever been part of our families diet. Mostly we eat the same food and I mostly omit the carbs. as I have no room for them yet. So we eat roasts, casseroles, stews and curries. I have learned to up the protein in my foods using beans and lentils, my family haven't noticed the difference. It really works well for us

I have fibromyalgia and have found I need much less of my pain medication now. I am very active now and in my case this really helps.. I have only had one bad bout where I needed masses of medication. It came about because I caught covid for the second time. The pain was as bad as before surgery. After surgery, I was quite ill with nausea and vomiting and it took me some time to be able to take any medication. I think it was 2 months until I could swallow tablets whole. I had patches in case of an attack but thankfully managed on crushed, disgusting tasting pain meds

We are smack in the worst of an English winter, its freezing and snow is on the ground. My heating is at max and I am freezing cold all day. I sit with a hot water bottle on my lap and a fluffy blanket over me. When I am busy I am warm enough but unless I am in bed, I go back to cold again. I hope I will manage the cold better next year

Well done, you are doing so very well. An inspiration

I was never told to quit drinking coffee, My first drink in hospital was a milky coffee.

It was smack in the middle of Covid so it was a telephone chat. It cost me £150 and I felt it was a total waste of my money and time. It lasted about 10 minutes. I have had issues in the past with depression and worried what would be made of it. I was never asked about it ! I worried over nothing

I occasionally use a sun bed for eczema issues. The one time I went on the sunbed I never thought about my surgery scars and they didn't react.

You need to do as your pcp says and eat. First find things to drink, you sound as if you are dehydrated. Water and milk and thinned protein drinks are safe starting options. Have you tried protein water? Have you tried broth? Find the temperature you can tolerate. I managed hot drinks better than icy cold. You need to eat and the calorie content will not matter for a couple of weeks. Once you get some calories in you will start to feel better. To start you eating again, can I suggest yogurts, high protein tinned or homemade soups [blitz it if you need to] mashed potato and gravy, Custard, instant porridge. and soft baked crustless quiche or cheese souffle. Aim to eat [ or drink your food ] a good amount of foods every 2 or 3 hours. Eat whatever you can, its critical to you getting and feeling better Lack of protein will make you weak. Lack of liquid makes your throat slimy. You feel nausea because you may not be drinking enough. Getting hot or in my case shivery cold is because we have overeaten. Getting the foamies [spitting out foam] is because you have put too much in your new stomach in one go. Eat or drink smaller sips until you get a hang of your limits. Lastly, have you been tested for a stricture? because I had similar problems until about 10 months out because they found my internal stitch line was still swollen. I just had to do the best I could until it settled. You should be getting more help from your team than you are, when did you last speak to them?

Thank you for sharing your weight loss journey. Its very useful information for the future

Congratulations, you look fabulous. I am very envious of the Cinderella shoes

Hello Lindsay. I have had Fibromyalgia so many years and before my sleeve, I took 8 co-codamol a day and one , 10 mg Amiltriptyline for it. Now I can exercise so much more, I find I need much less pain meds. I just take 2 at night and the amiltryptaline, one hour before bed. I have had one spell whilst sleeved that made me take more pain meds. I still have all the other fibro symptoms to deal with but if I can get some sleep then I can cope.

Me too. Had to pay for myself and never had the money till I was 62. Wish I had the money sooner but I feel so healthy now, it hopefully has added years to my life

Hello Kimberley. Welcome to this wonderful forum. While you are waiting for your surgery, read the back pages of this forum. It has so much information that I found invaluable. Good luck with your journey

Unless you have a religious reason not to, make pork broth. Its a personal favourite. Chicken and pork mixed is good too.

There have been foods that my body/ brain will not tolerate. I always try them every two months or so and until now, my body said no way. This weekend I have enjoyed hummus and I also tried Avocado again. They were delicious. I am going to try some really fresh fish too, fingers crossed because fish was a fav food before surgery Anything smoked, like cheese, salmon or bacon is still off my food list. To me it tastes like an old ashtray. Yuk Anyone else had this long term aversion ?

As @catwoman7 says, people who have a revision on this site seem to have lost weight. You have done well so far and are probably in a stall. Ride it out. Stay off the scales as much as possible. Your weight is on the lower scale so it will be slow going from here but you should get lower. People who have a virgin surgery can get to a lower weight but not all. It must be heaven to get rid of the GERD

I am enjoying the different way strangers treat me now. On a recent crowded, train journey, I was invited to sit by people and was smiled at. Its great to feel normal.

Hello Tina. Can you give us some stats to go on. What weight did you begin at, what weight did you get to with your sleeve, height etc. A 25pound loss seems really good in 6 weeks but we need to know more about you

1. I had not restriction on Straws. Used them without any problems right from day one in hospital 2. I got an adult dose of vitamins from the supermarket, Dieticians recommendation. Changed to ones without iron because of nausea. I take calcium tablets. Every 3 months I have a vitamin B12 injection which really helps with my energy levels. 3.I was tested for swelling of my incisions but nor leaks 4. Sodium is never an issue in the UK. I could have broth 5. I could not have a shower until my staple were taken out at about 10 days. They didnt want the dressings getting wet. [ strangely I was given new dressings for after showers, so I ignored the first set of instructions and showered] Pack a blanket if its cold outside, I was freezing. Take a pillow to hug in the car ride home. You can put it under the seat belt. Bumpy roads are the norm over here and a pillow did help. Lip balm and biotin was very useful

My iron levels have been fine and I still got hair loss so I think the doctor is telling fibs

Hello back at you. You are doing super well and must be feeling so much better already. That is a huge chunk of your BMI gone. BTW I have a passion for Canasta too

Once you get onto real foods your restriction will kick in. Its really hard to get a feel for it before that. I sometimes got a runny nose or began sneezing when it was time to put the spoon down. At other times I missed the signal and would get the foamies. Its a tough learning curve at the beginning. Are you allowed toast on a pureed diet? Remember your stomach has to heal together and if you are eating off your plan it can be dangerous. Contact your team

What does your team say ? That's all that matters. We all travel at our own pace. We are all different by sex, age and levels of activity. For some the road is short because they have less to loose. There will never be an average weight loss per month because of our variables. Just keep plodding on. You will get where you want to be. I think you are doing ok but I don't know your diet or how many calories you are eating or what kind of foods you can manage.

You are taking a leap into the unknown and are bound to be a little scared. We all went there. The surgery is one of the safest going. I can't find the figures but they are amazing. I personally ran into the operating theatre because I was so sick of my three week pre op diet. In the end I just couldn't wait for it to be over

Hello it's a huge problem for a great many of us. I once went 15 days and oh boy did I suffer. I had hot sweats and nausea every day. I was on two sachets of benifiber a day. Eventually the dam burst and I was so thankful. I found by accident that unsweetened dried cranberries work wonders for me. I hope you find the magic formula for you soon.