SleeverSk

I'm 3 years post-op. I did absolutely nothing to treat my incisions and I have no visible scars now. If I look really closely (I had to refer to old pictures to see where the scars were so I could tell where to look), the skin is ever so slightly raised where the incisions were, but the color is no different than the surrounding skin.

Also a super pale person and at 20 months my scars from laparoscopic surgery are just pale lines. To be honest they blend really well into my wrinkly tummy 😁

I went through the same thing and the same feelings; it gets better it really does. once you start eating normal food and drinking more than a sip at a time you will feel much better. once you get over that stage things go back to normal pretty quick to quick for me. My advice, don't rush it because this period of restriction can lessen a great deal anywhere from the 6-month mark to 2 years. I didn't believe my surgeon when he told me this but it's true. now I wish I had the fresh post op restriction. But yes it sucks right now but you will get through it and in 12 months you will know it was the right thing to do.

I went through the same thing and the same feelings; it gets better it really does. once you start eating normal food and drinking more than a sip at a time you will feel much better. once you get over that stage things go back to normal pretty quick to quick for me. My advice, don't rush it because this period of restriction can lessen a great deal anywhere from the 6-month mark to 2 years. I didn't believe my surgeon when he told me this but it's true. now I wish I had the fresh post op restriction. But yes it sucks right now but you will get through it and in 12 months you will know it was the right thing to do.

me too

Hi all,
I just had the gastric sleeve done on 6/21, and I am having so many feelings of loneliness and regret. I know this is a normal thing among people who have received bariatric surgeries, but even that thought doesn't bring me comfort.
I stayed up all night the past 2 nights feeling like I just made the biggest mistake of my life, wondering why I didn't just exercise and eat healthier and spare my body and mind from this irreversible change. The first 4 days after surgery were the toughest for sure. Physically, that is. The pain was unmanageable even with the pain medications my doctors prescribed. Now the pain is (mostly) gone, and the liquid diet is killing me. I can't even think about FairLife Core Power Elite Protein Shakes without gagging (I dry heaved just writing the name out). I've tried what feels like every Protein Powder under the sun, and nothing seems to be enjoyable. Normally if I didn't like something, but needed to get it down for whatever reason, I'd just chug it. And I can't even do that anymore. I've always been an emotional eater, so now that when I'm sad and I can't eat, I get even sadder.
Despite all of this, I think what keeps tearing me down is the feeling of loneliness. Now, I'm 19 years old with an awesome support system from my parents, siblings, and awesome friends. And I appreciate the hell out of all of them. But none of them understand. This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my 19 years and I have no one in my circle who can even attempt to relate to these specific feelings. I am staying with my parents right now, which is nice. But, my family is filled with people whose lives revolve around food. Every birthday, every special occasion, and even the rewards when my siblings and I were little were all food-based. That's how my family socializes and bonds with each other. And that's not something I can do (I know just for a little bit but time seems to be going by so slowly). I literally hide in my room from 6pm-10pm because if I were to go downstairs everyone would be out there eating something that looks so delicious and having a great time together. When I explain these things to my mom, she just says "Well just come down and drink a Protein Shake with us!". It's definitely not the same because of all of the sadness and FOMO I feel when I see them eating things I can't have for at least 5 more months. And with the 4th of July being tomorrow (a holiday that my family spends drinking and eating from morning until night), I feel like I have no choice but to spend the holiday in my room watching the Dodgers game by myself.
It just feels like I'm drowning in a swimming pool and no one can get through the gate to save me.
I'm sorry this post is such a downer. Maybe I'm just overreacting. I just needed to get this off my chest and I hope at least one person on this site can relate.
Thank you for reading.

From what I was told by my doctor, changes in hormones after surgery is normal and may affect mood. I know that doesn't help solve the depression, but it may help to know that it is normal and temporary. If you find it doesn't ease up or that it gets worse, consider temporarily going on anti-depressants. This surgery is difficult enough without trying to get through the mental aspects without help. After a few months, you can (with help from your doctor) taper off the meds and see if your mood is better. Also, if you are not already seeing a therapist, get one if you can. I see one and I can tell you, just having a stranger to spit everything out to that isn't going to judge is amazing. This is a hard time, there is no reason why you have to do this alone.

it's almost always temporary. The first few weeks post-op are hard. And yes, unfortunately, you will enjoy food again, and at that point this all becomes a lot more challenging. I know it probably sounds odd to you now, but there are days I wish it was like at the beginning when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food.

My surgeon told me that in January of 2022. It's not like it was 30 years ago. He said that "obesity is like cancer, it wants to come back." My surgeon's words, not mine.
Are there exceptions to every rule? Of course! But, in general, for most people, obesity is going to be a lifelong battle.
Weight loss medicine has come a long way and I expect it will only get better and better. But, it's not perfect. Heck, my surgeon told me that I might regain my weight and need to go on meds to get the weight back off.
There's nothing wrong with having realistic expectations.

@SleeverSk @Jeanniebug @summerseeker
Well thank goodness those are not the options people have to chose anymore!

Oh dear, yes me. I was fine on this drug, eating good home cooked non greasy food. Then we went abroad on holiday to Europe. I tried my best to eat what looked ok but not knowing how it had been cooked really messed with me. One day I had to run to the loo. I seriously could not believe the amount of yellow oily stuff that coated the toilet. I had a terrible time trying to clean my mess up. I never took another one of those tablets again, meaning to only stop them while the holiday lasted but once home I never bothered again.

did anyone else try the ones that stopped you absorbing fat and it came out in your poop? they were doozies if you ate anything slightly fatty it came out very quickly in your poop lol, oh dear, I remember it well, needless to say I didn't stay on them long.

did anyone else try the ones that stopped you absorbing fat and it came out in your poop? they were doozies if you ate anything slightly fatty it came out very quickly in your poop lol, oh dear, I remember it well, needless to say I didn't stay on them long.

it was ok, I think the first week you are tired and just concentrating on healing, week 3 however I was over it and regretting it big time, but I don't anymore.

this was me all over I am almost 2 years out now I don't regret it one bit. when I was in the stage you're in now I was even googling stomach transplants lol. but I know it doesn't feel like it now, but it does get better took me about 4 to 6 months to feel better then 10- 12 months to realise it was the right thing to do. Big Hugs you will get there.

Ok-- raise your hand if you just tasted your skin ...... LOL I did - nope no bitterness. I do have a wonky sense of smell though .I just noticed that I smell things that I'm not sure are real or not. My taste buds also changed a bit. Now to me - cottage cheese tastes so salty . Maybe it's all connected somehow.

Well, today is the day. SURGERY DAY. It's more complicated than when I had the gastric sleeve because not only are they doing a revision from sleeve to bypass, they are removing my entire lower and mid stomach (the part that is bypassed) because that's where all my polyps develop.
It's a 2 hour surgery, and I was told I'll be in recovery for about an hour after. It's like having 2 bariatric surgeries in 1, so the recovery/healing/down time will be worse than my original surgery.
I'll be in the hospital for 2 nights, so I'll be home sometime on Friday the 30th. That sucks, and is really annoying (I hate hospitals) but I know it's necessary and will be worth it.
I can't wait to get my life back. Working out, feeling good, no more in and out of the hospital, being ME again. This has been a looooong road, but I'm finally almost at the finish line. It's gonna be awesome when I hit my weight loss goal (I'm 70 pounds away and speaking it into existence now that THIS TIME NEXT YEAR I will be at my goal weight).
So wish me luck, and I'll see ya'll on the flip side

So - here is the real reason I stumbled into this forum tonight. Has anyone else noticed that their skin has a very bitter taste? That sounds a little weird. It's not like I go around licking my skin, but I do touch my lips with my fingers more than I realized. At first, I chalked it up to hand sanitizer and then my hand soap. But I use several different types of soap throughout the day. And I admit, I tasted my hand soaps and lotions to see if that was my problem. Nope. So, then, in addition to tasting funny(???), yesterday everything started smelling like there was coat of fuel on it. I was in my car when I first noticed it - the car is only a little over a year old - so I checked to see if the air intake was set to outside air. It would make sense. I live in a city and there are always stinky vehicles around. But, nope. It was on recirculating inside air. Then I notice it at home. I was tempted to check to make sure the pilot lights were still lit in my stove. But nope again. I have an electric stove. My next avenue to explore might be a Vitamin or mineral deficiency of some sort. Please feel free to "weigh in" on the topic.

this was me all over I am almost 2 years out now I don't regret it one bit. when I was in the stage you're in now I was even googling stomach transplants lol. but I know it doesn't feel like it now, but it does get better took me about 4 to 6 months to feel better then 10- 12 months to realise it was the right thing to do. Big Hugs you will get there.

I just posted this I’m regretting this hard! Its so hard. I’m even more depressed then before! 😨😫

I'm allowed to take them, just not regularly. My clinic says to take a reflux tablet at the same time.

When you have eating disorders I don't think it matters what surgery you have , its how you deal with the physiological side of things that will make it successful or not. I still have emotional triggers, and the night time nibbles. But there is no way I could eat as much as I use to when I felt like this but I still feel like I want to stuff my face and I realized I have some sort of sensory thing going on cause I constantly want to taste strong flavours and have always been like this even as a child

I have been in a stall for 12 months 😜

Once you have WLS, in the first couple of months post op - what is your mind doing? I know people struggle to hit their Protein and Water goals a lot. I know it's a huge learning curve to adjust to the new stomach and relearn your limits and to feel full faster. But for those of us with food addictions who are looking at this as tool to get us through therapy and really force change - what is your mind doing?? when you realize you can't anymore - are you ok with that? are you angry? are you still craving the food? are you sad? are you relieved? are you satisfied? what is your brain telling you and your heart feeling in those moments as you adapt to not eating foods you used to crave, or if you can eat them how does it feel to limit those portions? I understand this is a tool. I KNOW this is necessary for healing and retraining and to make it through therapy successfully but I'm really wanting to try to know what to expect my mind and heart to feel when this massive part of my life is just ripped away. I am probably to equating it (albeit maybe not fairly) to a drug addiction rehab where they make you go cold turkey... i know i won't have physical withdrawls (aside from minor, potential repercussions while i learn to adapt to the new food intake) but what is my mind going to feel? what will i tell myself? what was your experience?

This is where I struggled but I got through it, I felt all of what you asked, regret, anger, denial that I even needed the surgery, stupid for doing it, sad everything, it was like losing my best friend. I also didn't realise how much I relied on food so that was quite a shock too. the first 6 months were rough but once I realised, I could eat normally just in smaller amounts I was fine. Start counselling before you have your surgery, and you should be fine. Keep in your mind if you do go through rough Patches that it does get better, and you will be happy you went through it in the end. I don't regret it for a minute anymore and would do it all again if given the choice. You will be one step ahead of me because you are aware these feelings can come up. I had absolutely no idea and it knocked me for a 6 but I got through it.

I have been in a stall for 12 months 😜