vikingbeast

Ramen noodles are made with an extremely alkaline solution known as kansui, and if they're the kind that come in the cheap cellophane package, they're also partially fried to help them dry out. You could be reacting to the alkalinity, to the high fat content (a package of Maruchan chicken ramen has 14g of fat even though it only weighs about 65g before cooking), or to the extremely high sodium content. Or some of all three!

Did you buy new, closer-fitting clothes?

Not a ton. I had bulked up for a strongman contest in April which put me at 376, and today I was 356. I’d love to be under 350 for surgery (yay liquid diet) but if it doesn’t happen before surgery it sure as shootin’ will after surgery.

Good luck lizonaplane!! I’m Tuesday so will be following any updates you feel ready to make!

Congratulations on your surgery date!

My surgeon told me to stock up on Gas-X (simethicone) and to make sure I chew it to basically liquid.

Mine is being covered by my insurance. I owe my 20% co-insurance up to my out-of-pocket max, so this should cost me somewhere around $2,000.

Thanks ShoppGirl! I got the variety pack delivered. Also some Protein2O, which is WAY too sweet, bleah. I'm having to cut it 1:1 with Water even pre-op.

From experience not with surgery, but with way overdoing it with legs, it's possible that you were clenching your back or just holding your shoulders to stop your midsection from moving. Is there someone who can give you a shoulder massage? (I wouldn't do a massage gun so soon.) Can you use Salonpas Patches? It's methyl salicylate, but it doesn't go into your stomach so hopefully it would be allowed.

4 hours ago, Jacks133 said:

Lizonaplane,

My daughter may be atypical, but she is bipolar and had a RNY bypass over 10 years ago. She was on three meds; antidepressant, psychotic and anxiety. They tried crushing the tablets which made her throw up, so they changed her to Epilim as it was a liquid. Part of her weight gain had been the bipolar drugs. After her surgery she started to lose a lot of weight. Unknown to me, she weaned herself off the drugs, going cold turkey with the anti anxiety meds, because she started running. She found the endorphins from running made her feel good and moderated her condition. At her peak running she was doing 2 marathons per weekend many weeks. She is highly unusual as a Bypass patient in being able to do this! She injured her hip, and couldn’t run, so now she lifts weights. She was determined to take control of her life in every way. She has been drug free for years and is fit, healthy and active. I wanted to share because her psychiatrist at the time said the Bypass would not help her with her mental health, and refused to sanction the op. We paid a psychiatrist to assess her and they concluded she was sane enough to make her mind up. As a person who had previously attempted suicide on more than one occasion, she is an example of the positive outcome possible from gastric surgery. It saved her life, literally, and has given me my daughter back.

I wish you all the best.

This is an amazing story. Thank you for posting it. It gives me hope that my own issues may resolve with hard work and control of my life.

Civility on the Internet? Oh my gosh, I need to go buy a lottery ticket. (Seriously, kudos to you both.)

My high weight was 392. Currently 358 and surgery is a week away.

1 hour ago, Bloodhound said:

Thanks, Vikingbeast. Can you tell me what the name of the test is that tests for nicotine? I didn’t see anything in my lab order that said cotinine or nicotine.

I suspect if he’s going to give it it will be the day of surgery via ua.

Quest calls it nicotine and cotinine (and expanded metabolites), and offers three ways: urinalysis, blood specimen plasma, or LC/MS/MS (liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectometry).

Yes, using a patch or Nicorette type gum WILL show up on your test. Don't do it. And make sure you drink enough Water, if allowed, to dilute your urine.

https://testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com/test/results?q=Nicotine and Expanded Metabolites, LC%2FMS%2FMS, Urine

1 hour ago, Starfyre115 said:

I just had my pre-op appointment with my Dr....they are moving sleeve patients to outpatient surgery, but there's a chance that my bypass will have to be rescheduled....I'm going to be so devastated!!!! I've even had 3 Covid shots!!!!

Sent from my SM-G998U using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh no... here's hoping you can squeak by and get it done! I'm nervous too but our county posts the numbers every day and they've started to level off so hopefully I'm in the clear.

3 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I keep reading posts like this and thinking long and hard about what I will do if someone asks me but so far NoOne has asked?? I have lost over 50 pounds. I know it is noticeable. I am down from XL bottoms to medium and XXL tops to Large. I think I would just tell the truth to anyone though. Those who I have told have been so supportive and I think those who aren’t are just not educated and I would just brush off whatever response they gave if it was an uneducated one. I totally understand ones right to privacy and why they may choose to keep it private or disclose a version of the truth but for me it’s easier to just tell the whole truth.

A lot of people don't want to be that... I don't know how to say it in English... metiche. (Kind of like "nosey" but more like "has to be involved in everything even if it's none of their business".) Even if they think, "Wow, ShoppGirl looks fantastic, she's putting in the work," they might not feel it would be polite to comment.

2 hours ago, GottaLearnToSlowDown said:

Oh there was a machine, like scales, but measures everything like bone density and muscle mass as well, by sending electricity through your body and measuring resistance apparently!

Those scales are notoriously unreliable, so don't take it as carved in stone.

I have not had a nicotine test, ever, in my entire life, so it's clearly not a tried-and-true insurance thing.

That said, I worked for a while in a drug test lab. Nicotine and all its derivatives leave your system within 96 hours (4 days) and is no longer detectable in your urine after that. So give the vape pen to someone else for the next six days and don't fret.

I'm pre-op but have lost 17 lbs. since I started seriously considering this process (and 34 from my high)... today I had to park in a somewhat tight spot, and only had to open my truck door one "bump" to get out. Surgery is in exactly week... I can't wait.

I'm the day before you, though I'm a sleever, not a bypasser. I had my upper GI, EKG, chest x-ray, and bloodwork last week and I have my final appointment with my PCP on Thursday to clear me for surgery. Tomorrow is nearly-all-liquids diet for a week (my choice, not a requirement, but applauded by my surgeon). I am RIGHT THERE with you on the anxiety! It's been ramping up bigtime. That's why I've been posting like a caffeinated squirrel on here.

I just spoke to my psychiatrist and she put me on standard (not immediate) release bupropion (Wellbutrin) in advance of my surgery next week (AAAAAAA NEXT WEEK). I'm a bit nervous about it. But since so much of my depression is bound up in my weight, I'm hoping to be able to titrate down a bit.

Congratulations!

I am six days before you.

Il n'y a malheureusement pas de forum francophone icitte mais je parle français, si tu préfères communiquer en français tu peux m'envoyer un mail privé, t'as qu'à passer ta souris sur mon nom et cliquer sur "message". 😁

(Translated so as not to be rude to English readers: "There's unfortunately not a French speaking forum here but I speak French, if you prefer communicating in French you can send me a private message, all you have to do is hover over my name and click on "message".)

Don't beat yourself up. And don't look at the past. That's not the direction you're headed.

2021's been terrible for me, lost my mom early in the year and spent a huge chunk of time across the country eating whatever the heck I wanted and doing no exercise because it was the COVID spike and everything was closed or snowy. I gained 25 lbs. in three months. And I didn't do anything about it until I started seriously looking at this in July, and guess what? I'm down 22 of those 25 lbs.

Get yourself the help you know you need with stress management and stress eating, and give yourself some grace. Sure, you gained some. But now you're on it. And it will come off!

Unfortunately he's one of the only ones in my insurance for that speciality.

That said, he treats one of my co-morbidities, so I am really looking forward to the day I get to tanz into his office and tell him I don't need him anymore.

You have a separate topic about this open with nine replies on it...

My bariatric clinic's nutritionist just quit, and they're not sure how long it'll be before they find a new one.

Anyone have a NUT they love in Southern California (specifically OC)? I know I won't need a NUT right away, but I don't want to be casting about trying to find one when I do.