Maribelle76

I was banded back in 2008 and I had a great online support group of about 15 other people. Most of us kept in touch over the years. By the time I had my band removed in 2014 via emergency surgery, I was the last one on the group to have it removed. At least 12 other people who had been banded the same month with me in 2008 had had their bands either removed in schedule surgeries or in emergency surgeries like mine. It was not a good 6 years for any of us.

Those meds do initially usually have pretty good weight loss, but from my own experience and the experience of others I've followed on a forum, the effectiveness usually diminished between 2 to 3 months. It wasn't working for me after the third month, and I had terrible side effects like really bad gas.

It depends on how quickly you heal. I could have done that on the third day after surgery. It would have been a little uncomfortable. I think I was feeling better a little more quickly than most people, though. Have you had surgery before? That might give you some sort of indication about how quickly you will bounce back.

I used to be the most restless sleeper ever. I would wake up and change positions multiple times in my bed. I would get up to go pee. I would have a hard time falling asleep. I've experienced all of these things as far back as I can remember probably from age 7 or 8. Ever since I've had surgery, I have been sleeping so soundly for 7 and sometimes 8 hours in a row. Previously I was a light sleeper and any small sound would wake me up. The other night a mouse trap went off in the kitchen just across from my bedroom and I didn't even hear it. My Garmin says I'm getting 3 hours plus of deep sleep some nights! I have no idea why this is different. I don't think I had sleep apnea before, so I think it might have to do with the reduced amount of sugar that I eat. Or maybe it's something else. All I know is it's really nice to be a normal sleeper now after so many years of having seriously disordered sleep. I hope it helps you as well!

We're almost the exact same numbers-wise. I started at 260, was 244 at surgery on July 13, and I'm 223 now. I've been eating 1000 calories a day for about the past week, and I'm fairly active.

Not sure if it would work depending upon where the thinning is happening, but they have so many neat new hair pieces out there. Is it long enough that you could pull it up into a ponytail and put one of the fake hair wraps around it? If so I would be glad to PM you a hair wrap that I get on Amazon made out of real human hair. It's only like 25 bucks and it looks so cute.

I have a weird trick that works for me. Everyone was eating cake earlier this week for the office birthdays and I was tempted to eat a piece. Then I reminded myself that I have already eaten that piece of cake. That piece of cake is in the fat in my belly. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I ate it a year ago or two years ago or whenever it was. I already had my serving of cake and I opted to take it earlier lol. Like I said it's weird, but it works for me.

I am a sugar addict. I had the same concern as you do, and I told my doctor I would prefer the gastric bypass because I would have dumping syndrome keeping me accountable. He said he thought that the hormonal changes that occur with the sleeve would be enough for me, and I decided to trust him. I am only 7 weeks out but so far I don't have those same sort of cravings for sweets like I did before. They still sound good but I don't have this obsessive drive to go out at 10:00 at night while my children are sleeping to buy a candy bar (I never did it but I was tempted to). I think if bypass is available, you may want to do that as it will give you an extra level of protection against the sugar cravings, but I can say that the sleeve definitely helps.

That's awesome that you could get it done so soon if you want to! I am usually an upbeat person, but over the past few years I was feeling depressed about my weight, too. Having the surgery helped SOO much. I finally felt like I was doing something productive about it. I hope it helps you, too.

Hi! I think a lot of people start to feel a little down after surgery not only because it's stressful on the body, but also it's when the reality of losing one of our most comfortable coping mechanisms becomes evident. The next few months will be a time when you'll think a lot about what triggers you to eat and how to come up with alternative feel-good tactics. I had the band before and with the band and now the sleeve, there is this mental recovery period. But soon you will start figuring out new ways to deal with those negative triggers like stress or sadness, And then you will find yourself happier than you've ever been before!

Thank you guys for the wonderful support and suggestions! I'm going to try all of them. I did survive last night. I ended up eating some cheese and olives. I was feeling guilty about the extra calories, but then I thought about how much worse it could have been (and usually was) in the past. That made me proud. And I lost a pound today. Yay!

This is the first period of stress that I faced since I had my sleeve surgery. I'm an English teacher and It is time to grade research papers. Normally in the past, I would turn to sugar and lots of snack to help me get through the many hours of long grading in the next few weeks. When I had the band, even though I couldn't eat a lot, I could still eat sugar and the other foods that make me feel better and help me focus more. Now I am struggling to get through this without turning to those old habits. After 6 weeks I have healed up great, and I have very little restriction and no food intolerances so far. Unfortunately in this case, it is making it easy for me to eat foods I shouldn't be eating. I am just looking for moral support and people to cheer me on to help me get through this hard time. If you are a good cheerleader, I could use your help right now lol!

Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you have an amazing attitude. I would be flipping out and eating everything in sight! I'm impressed with your focused mindset despite the stress.

Oh sorry if I sounded mean! I just wanted you to know that what your experiencing is probably very normal and par for the course with the pre-op diet. It's most likely not anything you have to worry about.

Actually I was just directing that at the original poster because of his height and the special requirements of the post-op diet. I think having lightheadedness during the pre-op diet is very common simply because of the dramatic shift in calories. I had that as well.

What about your blood pressure? Your probably drinking way less fluid than before and eating less sodium. And I know a few tall men who have low blood pressure.

One big concern I have with surgery is the possible damage it could do to my metabolism. I had a decent metabolism before, but I just ate too much and it couldn't keep up with me lol. I have been looking at calorie cycling as a way to maximize loss while best preserving my metabolism. Has anyone tried it with the sleeve? If so, what pattern do you follow?

Oh no! That looks so painful! Hopefully they can fix you back up quickly.

I think it's because you're skinny already

That's so excited that you're facing your fears and taking a step to stop serious health problems before they develop! It is MUCH easier to prevent them than it is to reverse them. I always say the same thing when people post about pre surgery anxiety: first, the sleeve has a lower mortality rate than a c-section. Also, read through a few of the monthly threads. I read through the March, April and May threads before my surgery in July. I was reassured by how many people had no or few complications. It was the majority for sure. Hopefully that will help you. I can say personally that I have done band and sleeve surgery, and both times I had no complications and I was back to work quickly. I'm feeling amazing now about 6 weeks after my sleeve surgery. I have so much more energy and I'm sleeping well for the first time in my life (I think because I cut out the caffeine and sugar). You can do it!!!

Hello! Since I've had the surgery, I have realized it is taking a lot more actual effort to lose weight than I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, it is still much easier than when I had to do it on my own. But I have to be careful about tracking calories, and I have to consciously decide to make the right choices and overcome head hunger. However, I think the doctor cut my stomach relatively big because I have had no issues with any foods at all and I don't really notice any restriction. Ultimately what it means is that my weight is not just falling off of me. I think the only type of surgery patient who might lose too much would be a person who has a lot of complications or an extremely small sleeve.

I had the band for 8 years and then it was removed in emergency surgery after it slipped. It has been about 6 years from that point, and I was recently revised to the sleeve. I'm not sure if you're looking for people who have experience with a direct band to sleeve in a short period of time. But if you have any questions I'd be glad to answer them.

300 sounds impossibly low! How would you have any energy to get through your day? I'm averaging about 900 to 1,000 calories per day at 6 weeks out.

That means you've lost the equivalent of 6 gallons of milk! Woohoo!

I've been on here while, but I've never figured out how to change the basic information in my profile. I want to fill out the part of my profile where it asks me when my surgery was, starting weight, goal weight, etc. When I go to my profile and I click on the pencil to edit, it brings me to a different section with my location information and the blurb I would write for my bio. Does anyone know how I can change the other stuff? Thanks