Aliana Wood

Wondering how other people manage period pain after surgery.
Before surgery, I would use iBuprofen and that worked perfectly. I would take a couple and it would completely get rid of my pain. Cramps, back aches, discomfort. All gone.
Now, after surgery, I'm not allowed to take it anymore, so I tried Tylenol and it simply doesn't work as well for me when it comes to managing period pain.
Are there any other options?

You have lost 21 pounds in a month. That is very good for weight loss surgery. As for the timing of it, it seems like sometimes the loss happens in a weird way, like not evenly. Some people will lose 5 pounds steadily every week, but other people will lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks and then lose nothing for the next 2 weeks. It can be weird like that. But overall, you have lost 21 pounds in 1 month, which is good.

What is your question?

I want to be honest, since I see so many success stories here and I know I can't be the only one struggling.
I am not doing well at all. I did lose about 50 pounds, which was great, but since then, I have been stuck at around the same weight since November. I haven't really gained any weight, but I also haven't lost any since then. It's strange. My body is just stuck. So, I have hovered between 250 and 255 since November and cannot get out of that area. I cannot seem to get below 250.
I'm not sure if this is my body rebelling. Because prior to last year when I reached my highest weight of over 300 pounds, I had weighed around 250-260 for about 5 years or so.
It's frustrating because it feels like the surgery was a waste right now. Maybe I will be able to get out of this rut soon and start losing again. I don't know. I feel like I am losing hope.

The month of August has been rough on me as far as weight loss. I started back doing in person work and they brought in catered food every single day of the first week. It derailed me a bit. Now, I am starting to get back on track with my Protein and Water.

If I were in your position, I would honestly go with what the insurance pays for. I wouldn't want to, but for me, cost would be very very important. But if you can afford it and you really don't want the bypass, then go ahead and self pay.

If I were in your position, I would honestly go with what the insurance pays for. I wouldn't want to, but for me, cost would be very very important. But if you can afford it and you really don't want the bypass, then go ahead and self pay.

I would 100% recommend the surgery to young people. I wish I had gotten it a few years ago when I was 23 and not waited until I was in my late 20s. I would have had the chance to enjoy my 20s a whole lot more. You have probably already tried dieting several times and it didn't work, that's why you're considering surgery in the first place. Doing the pre-op diet can trick some people into thinking they can lose the weight on their own. They Can't. If they could, they would have done it by now.
I don't know your situation, but for me, being very fat prevented me from truly enjoying my life the way that I wanted. I wanted to be that girl on the beach in a bikini. I wanted to go hiking with friends. I wanted to run a marathon. I wanted to date more and be confident about it. Being fat held me back from that.
If I had had a full time job with health insurance at 23, I would have run to get this surgery.

I would 100% recommend the surgery to young people. I wish I had gotten it a few years ago when I was 23 and not waited until I was in my late 20s. I would have had the chance to enjoy my 20s a whole lot more. You have probably already tried dieting several times and it didn't work, that's why you're considering surgery in the first place. Doing the pre-op diet can trick some people into thinking they can lose the weight on their own. They Can't. If they could, they would have done it by now.
I don't know your situation, but for me, being very fat prevented me from truly enjoying my life the way that I wanted. I wanted to be that girl on the beach in a bikini. I wanted to go hiking with friends. I wanted to run a marathon. I wanted to date more and be confident about it. Being fat held me back from that.
If I had had a full time job with health insurance at 23, I would have run to get this surgery.

I'm just guessing if you are thinking of getting surgery, you have already tried to lose the weight the old fashioned way and it hasn't worked before. You have no logical reason to believe that you can somehow lose the weight on your own this time when you weren't able to do it before. You NEED this surgery. Yes, the surgery is definitely worth it. It helps you lose weight and the weight loss actually lasts. Your quality of life will only improve after the surgery. Yes, the first month after surgery is hard and you can't eat the things you want to eat. After about 2 months, you are able to start back eating "regular" foods, just in smaller quantities. It will all be fine.

Honestly my tipping point was wanting to get some kind of enjoyment out of my 20s and also finally having a full time job with health insurance that covered it. I was getting into my late 20s and just didn't want my life to keep going by with me doing nothing with my life but coming home from work, watching tv, and eating. I wanted to live a more active life and I wanted to experience (just once) what it was like to feel young and hot! I know that's kind of vain, but it's the truth. I also have always dreamed of running a marathon or half marathon.

it's mostly Water. Plus most people lose a lot more the first week than they do the second week - but again, that's because a big chunk of that first week's loss is water. It's unlikely you'll lose another 10.5 lbs during week 2 of the pre-op diet - but even if you did, why would you worry? Most people would love to lose 21 lbs during the pre-op diet! You'll likely lose some more weight the second week, but probably not as much as you have so far.

I watched a lot of YouTube videos about preparing for surgery and found it very helpful. I also read Dr Duc Vuong’s Gastric Sleeve Success before surgery. His videos are extremely helpful, too.

Honestly my tipping point was wanting to get some kind of enjoyment out of my 20s and also finally having a full time job with health insurance that covered it. I was getting into my late 20s and just didn't want my life to keep going by with me doing nothing with my life but coming home from work, watching tv, and eating. I wanted to live a more active life and I wanted to experience (just once) what it was like to feel young and hot! I know that's kind of vain, but it's the truth. I also have always dreamed of running a marathon or half marathon.

Honestly my tipping point was wanting to get some kind of enjoyment out of my 20s and also finally having a full time job with health insurance that covered it. I was getting into my late 20s and just didn't want my life to keep going by with me doing nothing with my life but coming home from work, watching tv, and eating. I wanted to live a more active life and I wanted to experience (just once) what it was like to feel young and hot! I know that's kind of vain, but it's the truth. I also have always dreamed of running a marathon or half marathon.

I did not have to do a pre-op diet either. The only thing I had to do was 1 day of only liquids the day before surgery. I was surprised by it personally and it seemed to be the standard policy across my whole program.

Honestly my tipping point was wanting to get some kind of enjoyment out of my 20s and also finally having a full time job with health insurance that covered it. I was getting into my late 20s and just didn't want my life to keep going by with me doing nothing with my life but coming home from work, watching tv, and eating. I wanted to live a more active life and I wanted to experience (just once) what it was like to feel young and hot! I know that's kind of vain, but it's the truth. I also have always dreamed of running a marathon or half marathon.

Jease, are we talking about MJ? I read that post 3x and I don't know what exactly we're talking about here. Maybe I'm not hip enough?! 🤣

I only paid $100 and that was it. lol. My insurance covered pretty much everything.

I only paid $100 and that was it. lol. My insurance covered pretty much everything.

Can we focus on the original topic at hand which is the weight loss stall? I feel like some people are getting a bit off topic (talking about looking "gaunt") and taking the thread in a different direction than intended.

So sorry this happened to you. If I were in your position, I would be feeling the exact same way. Your feelings are absolutely valid. I know it's easy for people who have already had the surgery to say "Just keep trying." Those words sound good, but when you just had your dream crushed, they are very little consolation at all. I can't imagine being in your position. I honestly would feel like giving up as well because for me, this surgery was such a light at the end of the tunnel. I felt like it was my absolute last hope. All I can say is I'm so sorry this happened to you and you have the right to be devastated for a while.

14 lbs in two weeks is a lot, especially given your starting weight isn't nearly as high as some of ours was. I lost 16 lbs the whole first MONTH and I started out at 373 lbs. Not sure what you were expecting, but your loss is very normal . If you're trying to compare your loss to the people on "My 600 lb Life", don't. Those people start off MUCH heavier than the average WLS patient, and starting BMI has a huge effect on how much weight you lose initially. You are fine.

Don't beat yourself up too much if you slip up once or twice during the pre-op diet. Surgeons know that this will probably happen and they will not cancel your surgery over 1 or 2 slip ups. The whole point of it is to shrink the liver (if indeed you are on the liver shrinking diet pre-op). Your liver is going to still shrink a great deal even if you mess up once or twice in the course of 2 weeks.