ShianRaineDrop

Hello all. I wanted to reach out to you to ask if any of you have started taking ibuprofen for headaches or whatever, after a year post OP. Initially, my surgeon said no to taking it because it can be rough on our stomach in general. However, I kept forgetting to ask him at each of my 3 month post OP visits if it is okay to take on occasion. Now I won't see him for 6 months because he is happy with my progress so my forgetfulness has caught up with me. I have been able to take children's tylenol and it actually works most times, (where prior to my surgery, I might as well have been taking a sugar pill) but I know it can be tough on our liver. I don't want to take either of them regularly. I was thinking about trying children's ibuprofen because I feel like I am getting a headcold and feel a bit yucky all over. Ibuprofen has always been my go to for that kind of discomfort but I'm kind of scared to try it and I don't want to cause any stomach problems. Anyway, sorry so long. I just thought I'd reach out to my fellow 1+ yr post OP friends to get some feedback. I hope everyone is doing well!

Bypass patients, is it the same for gastric sleeve patients? All, thank you soooooo sooo much for your feedback and assistance! I cherish you all so very much. I did get some children's ibuprofen but haven't taken it yet. I just wondered if it would be okay to take in a pinch of tylenol didn't do its thing. I also worry about liver health. I hope you are all doing awesome!

Catwoman, my apologies. I had gastric sleeve. Thank you both so much! I have only taken Tylenol since surgery, and it's always been children's version of it and thankfully it does really well in most cases. I may try some children's ibuprofen and maybe just half a dose to see how I respond to it. I do take prescription prilosec (20mg) once a day. Should I take an additional one before trying children's ibuprofen?

Hey everyone. So I'm in my fifth week post OP and have been doing extremely well with food choices, slow eating, careful chewing, and sticking within the parameters my nutritionist and my doctor have given me. This morning, I tried eating an over medium egg (cooked whites, soft & runny yolk) over the shakshuka I have been eating all week for breakfast. (It is a pureed form of shakshuka with sausage that I've had zero trouble with over the last week.) I keep seeing that dumping syndrome seems to be only related to too much sugar. Since I'm not a sweets fan, that's not a problem for me. However, after just throwing up most of what I just ate, and it being the first time it's happened the entire post OP time, I'm curious if dumping syndrome can include things that our new tumtums just don't want? I may have eaten too fast. The yolk could have been too undercooked (I've been doing soft but cooked yolk up until this morning), or maybe even it was too much food? It was about and ounce and a half of pureed Shakshuka with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and an egg cooked over medium, (no frying so no oil..just a small egg sized non stick pan and then a bit of warm water to help cook the whites) and that's it. I started feeling flushed with sharp belly pains (not just where baby tum tum lives) and thought I had to go to the restroom. Once I got to the bathroom, I started getting cold sweats, sharp pains, then that weird tingly feeling I get around my jaw when I'm getting ready to throw up. Now that I have thrown up, I feel fine but I definitely don't want that to become a thing, especially as well as I've been doing after getting through the 2 miserable liquids weeks. I'm curious about other's experiences, if I should be worried, and if this could also be a type of dumping syndrome? Because my baby tum tum absolutely said hell to the no, and dumped that breakfast right out from the top. (Edit: oh yeah, I should probably lay off the red sugar free Gatorade that I love so I don't freak out and think it's blood, right? 😂 I think I'll go back to water with a couple splashes of sugar free cranberry juice for flavor.)

Miralax has become a daily part (one packet a day in my first Yeti rambler bottle of fluids) of my routine. Especially after talking to my surgeon and him telling me that it is one of the one best options in terms of avoiding constipation that is also incredibly safe and effective while not being addictive like Colace and Milk of Magnesium. It's a life saver after the bought I had a couple of weeks ago. I also stopped taking my calcium supplements for now and have had no problems since. Just need to figure out how to get enough calcium now since I believe those contributed to the painful experience I had.

I came here and typed in Constipation because omg! I wish I had known constipation was common for sleeve patients ahead of time so I could have started something like Metamucil before it got this bad. ! I have already had issues with hemorrhoids in the past and I swear, birthing this poo that is up inside me is more painful than it was pushing out a 9lb 1oz baby! After breaking out into a dang sweat this morning in the bathroom at work, I went to Walmart and got some generic magnesium stuff. I took half a magnesium tablet to see if that would help and nothing. By the time I got home, and took Milk of Magnesium, and sat for nearly 30 minutes (doing the whole knees above your waist with a stool), still nothing but some gas and screaming pain. I ended up popping in some hemorrhoid cream because I saw it had glycerin in it so I'm praying to the poop gods that it works because this sucks! I don't want to go back to the running to the bathroom, afraid I won't be able to hold it, lifestyle again but I definitely don't want this either. I'm afraid I'm going to damage my bum if I strain or let that rock come out without some sort of intervention (hopefully this cream stuff with glycerin will be that). I'm thinking about trying some colace too but have to go see if I can take it after taking milk of magnesium. Ugh. All of the amazing-ness of having this surgery is wonderful but this... This sucks! Lol!

I had my surgery on June 10th so I'm at about a month also. I feel better overall but I get tired so incredibly easy still. I went to walk around Lowes Home Improvement today and to get some things because my first project post OP today was supposed to be scraping popcorn ceiling in my recently acquired spare bedroom but I haven't managed to even start wetting down the ceiling. It's only 3:40 and I feel like I've done a ton which I haven't. I feel most days like I could take a nap every day (unfortunately I can't because of work) and by the time I get home M-F, I'm ready for bed by 8pm. Before surgery, I was a night owl, even on work days. So I'm with ya! I would love to know where to get some energy from. My eating and drinking is pretty darn good because of the Baritastic app and reminders so I'm not sure why I feel so tired this far out from surgery when I see so many others have tons of energy and they're not far out from their surgery.

Something I swore to myself before going into surgery (among many other personal goals) was that I'm going to not even try to care about the number and I'm definitely not weighing every day. I figure that if I continue to follow my surgeons and my nutritionists instructions, the weight will come off in due time. I am starting to slow down in weight loss and have started week 5. As a "lifer" to weight loss struggles, I've learned that our bodies know what to do and if it means holding onto a few pounds for a few days for energy or whatever, as long as I am doing what I am supposed to do, my body will work with me and do what it needs to do. I knew the weight loss would slow down after the first couple or few weeks and I'm fine with that. As long as I don't gain a bunch back, I am moving in the right direction. Also keep in mind that if we aren't losing pounds, we are losing inches. Typically we don't lose both at the same time. Additionally, if we are exercising, in a way that builds muscle mass, the pounds may not seem to be coming off when in fact, those pounds are showing up in the form of muscle mass which weighs a lot more than fat. Keep your chin up! You are doing awesome! Don't worry about the dumb scales. If your clothes are getting lose and you feel good, then you are definitely moving in the right direction! 🤗❤️

Hey everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well no matter what phase you are in of your new lifestyle! I am a newbie so thought what better place to reach out with my questions! This one has to do with the 30 minute rule with eating and drinking. Prior to surgery, I never drank during the time I was eating. I've been like that my whole life. I didn't drink until after I ate. However, now that we are supposed to wait 30 minutes before, and 30 minutes after, I'm struggling. I do it but dang I get so thirsty after eating and I definitely don't want to chug because I do not want that pain that I have experienced when taking too big of a sip absent mindedly. That all being said, I promise I have an actual question. Lol! When I eat, I eat slowly. And I mean slowly. It has taken me up to 45 minutes to finish a meal. For example, I am eating one scrambled egg (from my beautiful backyard fluffy butts) with about 2 oz of Grits with about a tablespoon of skim mozzarella and a teaspoon of parmesan and I started 20 minutes ago. I'm not even halfway through. So.... How do I know when it's okay to drink some fluids if it takes me so long to eat? Surely I don't need to wait 30 minutes before an after on the meals that take me longer to eat than the time I'm supposed to wait before and after, right? Thank you for any and all advice and experience you can share! 🤗

I have also felt bruised around my mid section but nothing near as bad as the gas pain I had. By the time the gas started working itself out a few days later, I finally started feeling a bit of discomfort from the surgery itself. I just took tylenol (I couldn't stand the pain medicine they gave me) every morning and every night and it seemed to work well. I just started week three and while I still have some slight discomfort, it's not bad at all. I'd say the worst days were the first couple after coming home. I use a pillow pressed against the right center of my abdominal area when I have to cough or sneeze and it helps a lot as that is when I seem to notice a bit more discomfort. I have a pretty high pain tolerance so that may be why I feel like the surgical pain was the least pain I've experienced compared to the gas pains but I promise you, it will continue to ease up each day. I'm trying to get back to being active again since I go back to work Monday and I feel like just sitting around is not conducive to a quicker recovery and it seems to be going well. Rest and relaxation is good for the first week though so take it easy maybe and just try to get up and move around a few times a day! Wishing you the best over the next couple of weeks! WK 3, puree week, is a game changer. I made homemade egg salad with my backyard chicken eggs yesterday and oh my gosh, it was amazing! Hehe!

So I can't stand light mayo or light salad dressings and I'm not sure I'll be a fan of Greek yogurt in its place. I get to start week 3 tomorrow and I'm so dang excited becuase I plan to make egg salad (I raise backyard chickens so can't wait to finally get back to eating their butt nuggets! 🤣), chicken salad, and tuna salad and I was planning on using regular mayo. My question as a new post bariatric patient is future plans with this eating lifestyle. My nutritionist said I won't be eating carbs for a while and even when I do start to introduce them, she said a lot of bariatric patients don't tolerate much of them. I was thinking low carb would be best for me as I have done it before but how would that work if I need to do low fat too? I've done keto before and to me, it's sooo much easier than low fat so I'm curious what others are doing successfully. Is there a way to find a happy medium between low carb and low fat?

I see you said WakeMed. Raleigh area of NC? I only ask because I'm in Eastern NC on the coast but am from Winston-Salem! I've been a NC girl my whole life with the exception of two years when I was out in Colorado. So happy you are doing well! I'm getting ready to start week 3 post OP and I can WAIT to make my chicken salad and egg salad in puree form. Other than some issues with gassiness off and on, and lower energy, I am doing awesome too and am sooooo glad I finally, after two years of my primary care physician recommending it, had the surgery! Now it's all about getting healthy and active again! Hoping some of the medications I was taking for scary stuff will eventually be weened! Also hoping my hypothyroidism takes a back seat in the near future. Hehe!

Oh my gosh on the needle part! Is that normal? So glad to hear your gas pains weren't bad and it sounds like you have a wonderful plan for fluids and water! Looking forward to following your progress!

I just had to come back to this post to see how yours went! So happy for you! That gas is NO JOKE! I think that was the worst part for me and walking didn't help at all because mine had gathered all up around my liver area and right rib cage. I swear, that had to be worse pain than giving birth was! Thankfully my surgeon was awesome and his recommendation helped and by the 2nd full day at home, it finally started moving around and out! So glad your procedure went well! I'll be thinking about you in the coming days as you adjust to your new lifestyle! ❤️

Hello everyone. So glad I found this forum and I hope it's active because I don't really have anyone other than my surgeon, his nurse, and my nutritionist to ask questions of and they don't have time to be my BFF. Hahaha! My surgery was Friday, June 10th so I'm am on day 10. I feel much better than I did this time last week but dangggg I'm starrrrrving and I am so very over jello, Popsicles, broth, protein shakes, etc. Surely there has got to be something else with a bit more body that I could start to try to get my mini tummy ready for week three, which I'll only have two days to adapt to before returning to work, that will also keep me from feeling like I'm starving. I've been super duper strict and had hoped to do so the entire time but I'm actually concerned about other things because of lack of nutrition. I have been dealing with dizziness, lack of balance, minimal energy (which is highly irritating because I had cleaning plans to work on the two weeks I would be out of work) and just overall weak as all get out. I am getting lots of water, some jello, broth, and Popsicles, and I try to do two protein shakes a day so plenty of fluids, but how in the world can I find something to give me some energy that won't ruin what my nutritionist gave me in an eating plan? I know I am SICK to death of sweet stuff. Blegh! Haha! I have backyard chickens. Would it be bad to try a backyard Fresh scrambled egg and see how my mini tum tum handles it? If not, what other ideas do those of you who are more experienced have?

I'm glad I happened upon this post! I am past due for my cycle and after being someone who has had "old faithful" periods my entire life, I subconsciously wondered if I should be concerned. I'm definitely not complaining but I will definitely talk to my surgeon about it at my post OP appointment today.

I had read that collagen was an incomplete protein also but I do have a question. If it is taken in addition to our daily protein goals, could it offer some help in the future? I'll have to add that to my list of things to do some more research on, which is getting longer by the day. 😋

Did your surgeon give you anything for nausea? Thankfully mine did and it has been a life saver. I had to take it regularly the first week but I don't seem to have to take it as much this week (WK 2). I take it at the first sign on nausea and it has allowed me to eat some cream of mushroom soup strained which helped a lot in terms of energy. I just learned about sugar alcohols too and plan today to severely reduce my intake of them because apparently, they can cause gassy and bloaty gut, nausea and diarrhea! I had a horrible first week because of that so I'm hoping that reducing them will help reduce some of those symptoms! That gas pain was the WORST part of the entire surgery process for me. It was worse than any pain I've experienced in my life but thankfully, my surgeon was available on my first full day home and suggested something that worked to start moving the gas around and within 24 hrs I was starting to feel better! I hadn't felt the gas move at all from the minute I got out of surgery, including no burping or flatulence to help get it out so his recommendation was a blessing!

That is hilarious!!! Love it! 🤣❤️

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I tried some cream of mushroom soup yesterday and it was actually really good and I seemed to have tolerated it well. I wonder if I can eat Grits for breakfast? They can be made pretty runny and my list for this week says watered down hot cereals. They are tiny pieces though so I may have to double check with my surgeon before trying on my own. I have done some reading on sugar alcohols and I think I may have found the culprit for at least the bloaty gassy type feeling I still have in my gut. I was reading the guide from my nutritionist and there was one short line about sugar alcohols and how they can cause gas/bloating, diarrhea, etc. I have been eating a lot of sugar free jello and Popsicles but had no idea that watching the amount of sugar free sugar alcohols I am consuming, is important! I learned, possibly the hard way, that reading each food label carefully, is super important! I wish I had caught that days ago because today will be a restart for me in order to try to reduce my overall discomfort which I am cautiously sure, may have been caused by sugar alcohols! I'm not a sweets person by any stretch of the imagination so it's just not something I have typically had to look a lot for. Crazy how surgery like this can make us smarter. Haha! I can see this journey will also be an incredible learning opportunity which is good for me because I love learning about all kinds of things. Thank you again! I appreciate all of the wonderful advice and experience I have already received since joining this forum just yesterday! ❤️

Hahaha! That was preop eggs. Now... I'm on the 2nd week of liquids which kind of sucks butttt, only 4 days from pureed week so it's definitely worth it! Sending my best of the best wishes to you! I hope you'll keep us posted! Super excited for you!

I'm surprised to hear that some surgeons recommend mostly liquid for preop prep. This is the first I've heard of that. My preop diet was stuff like eggs or lean meat at breakfast. A protein shake between breakfast and lunch. Meat and veggies (I usually did salad with rich greens and chicken) for lunch or dinner, and another protein shake at some point. I never felt hungry before surgery. Well, until I stopped eating at midnight the night before surgery. I didn't even have surgery until 5:30pm the next afternoon which was the weirdest time I ever expected to have my surgery done but I was definitely starving then. Lol!

You've got this!!! Just be prepared for the thirst that comes between surgery completion and the leak test that may follow a few hours later. I kept water by my bed to swish around my mouth regularly. My biggest regret is not working harder to get the gas out. Other than that, it has been a wayyyy less than scary process than I thought going into it! You'll do awesome!! Keep us posted! Sending positive thoughts your way!

Oh man, I'm so going to try some tomato soup then! 😂 Well, maybe I'll try the cream of mushroom first.... We shall see. Lol!

I was overwhelmed with the idea of supplements too but thankfully, my nutritionist gave me links to exactly what I need. I will basically take a 500mg calcium chew three times a day, a chewable vitamin D three times a day, a multivitamin chew once a day, and then 1000 mg B12 once per week. I plan to take the 3 times a day ones with my "meals". Then I'll do the calcium and vitamin d at bed time, and the B12 on Fridays. She really helped make that part of this process much easier. 😋