Softtacocrumbs

So, when I was first talking to my nutritionist I had already been logging all my food into MyFitnessPal for around a year. And I've always had a problem with low body temp, brittle hair and nails, exhaustion, and high body weight set point.

She tested for the standard TSH, T3, T4, Vitamin D, retook the standard ha1c, LH, FSH, cortisol, and something else I don't remember. It was quite a few vials.

My intake was typically around 1200 kcal-1600 kcal. And I workout a lot. I typically spend 2 hours weight training on odd days and cardio on even days. And I had a symptom for when I eat I get super cold and my hands feel freezing.

Hope that helps you also know what to ask an endocrinologist. That's at least what was afflicting me.

For me I ended up having pretty high TSH (upper range teetering on over) and incredibly low T3 and T4.


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Thank you so much. I was so scared I was crying. It's been a couple days and I'm down 8 more pounds, putting me at 190lbs. I'm dropping so fast it doesn't seem to feel real. My body temp is finally up from 92F to 96F which I think is contributing a lot to things, and I don't always feel cold now.

As everyone has said, I think you all are right. I'll change my PCP and find someone else. I really feel like he may be fat phobic and I'm not sure if the surgery will be good for me since my daily calorie intake is around 1200kcal normally. He said if I got the vsg I could get my calories down to 500kcal, and things just sounded off to me. I guess in my heart I felt like I had no hope and I couldn't get my PCP to take my concerns seriously because he would always say I needed to lose weight before I was allowed to discuss hormone problems with him, which turned out to be the case.

I really appreciate everyone who replied. I'll update the thread with my progress. However, at this rate I may not qualify for a vsg. At least when I reached out to my nutritionist, she said I probably wouldn't qualify by the time my hormones equilibrate.

Thank you so much everyone.

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Thank you so much. I was so scared I was crying. It's been a couple days and I'm down 8 more pounds, putting me at 190lbs. I'm dropping so fast it doesn't seem to feel real. My body temp is finally up from 92F to 96F which I think is contributing a lot to things, and I don't always feel cold now.

As everyone has said, I think you all are right. I'll change my PCP and find someone else. I really feel like he may be fat phobic and I'm not sure if the surgery will be good for me since my daily calorie intake is around 1200kcal normally. He said if I got the vsg I could get my calories down to 500kcal, and things just sounded off to me. I guess in my heart I felt like I had no hope and I couldn't get my PCP to take my concerns seriously because he would always say I needed to lose weight before I was allowed to discuss hormone problems with him, which turned out to be the case.

I really appreciate everyone who replied. I'll update the thread with my progress. However, at this rate I may not qualify for a vsg. At least when I reached out to my nutritionist, she said I probably wouldn't qualify by the time my hormones equilibrate.

Thank you so much everyone.

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Thank you so much. I was so scared I was crying. It's been a couple days and I'm down 8 more pounds, putting me at 190lbs. I'm dropping so fast it doesn't seem to feel real. My body temp is finally up from 92F to 96F which I think is contributing a lot to things, and I don't always feel cold now.

As everyone has said, I think you all are right. I'll change my PCP and find someone else. I really feel like he may be fat phobic and I'm not sure if the surgery will be good for me since my daily calorie intake is around 1200kcal normally. He said if I got the vsg I could get my calories down to 500kcal, and things just sounded off to me. I guess in my heart I felt like I had no hope and I couldn't get my PCP to take my concerns seriously because he would always say I needed to lose weight before I was allowed to discuss hormone problems with him, which turned out to be the case.

I really appreciate everyone who replied. I'll update the thread with my progress. However, at this rate I may not qualify for a vsg. At least when I reached out to my nutritionist, she said I probably wouldn't qualify by the time my hormones equilibrate.

Thank you so much everyone.

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Hold off!! You will feel more energy. Your hair will grow, skin will feel good, best of all you will loose weight..

Like others have said, trust your instinct and if you aren't 100% committed to the surgery, don't do it. It also sounds like you have lost trust in your PCP. You may want to look into switching to a different PCP (if possible with insurance) not only for this situation but for the long term. No one is a better advocate for yourself than you! Find someone that you trust and respect; someone who listens to you and adjusts medical plans accordingly.



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Sometimes doctors are so used to hearing the same old stories day in and day out that they just assume that they have heard them all and quit actually listening. The ONLY remotely logical reason I can think of them wanting you to have surgery while you are actively losing on your own would be if they expect you to lose some and then stop losing. If you lose and get below the BMI threshold you would no longer qualify unless you gained again. My question would be how close to a normal BMI you can get on your own. If it were me I would wait and see how much you can lose on your own. Only you know how you are really eating and if it’s all related to this illness that is now being treated it should reverse itself. You can always have the surgery down the road if you don’t lose like you think you will. Sounds like your gut is already telling you to wait. I say trust it.

Thank you so much for your answer!

I'm 5'4" and my BMI went from 39 to 34.5 in 3 weeks on my meds. Starting from 230lbs and now at 198lbs. My endocrinologist asked if I considered that my PCP is fat phobic... Which is what makes me concerned. I'm just not sure if that's why he didn't want to check my hormones before sending me to bariatrics. I knew he didn't listen to my concerns much, but I didn't realize how much of an impact that would have on this outcome. I kept thinking I would be getting a vsg and it's good for me, but I've almost been nutrient deficient my entire life. Now, am I being biased to think this way about my PCP or is this me being sensitive?
If this helps put things into perspective:

Nutritionist and endocrinologist= female
PCP and surgeon = male

I appreciate everyone's replies!

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I'm a bit scared to go through with my surgery. It's planned for late November. I talked to the nutritionist for pre-op and she realized something was wrong with my hormones, because I generally don't eat much and I work out a lot. She protested with my PCP to look at my hormones, and told him I needed to see an endocrinologist. Long story short I'm on meds for hypothyroidism, but my bariatric surgeon and PCP still say I need the surgery. My endocrinologist says don't do it. I've been on the hypothyroid meds for 3 weeks and I'm down 32lbs and officially under 200lbs. Am I being too sensitive and thinking my PCP and surgeon are fat phobic or should I trust them? My nutritionist is saying hold off on it because she doesn't think it's an eating problem, but a hormone problem, and I can't help but believe her since I've seen crazy results on my thyroid meds.
What should I do?
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100% agree. Waiting won't hurt, so I'd say wait and see what happens now that you're working with the endocrinologist.

talk to your endocrinologist and listen to your instincts. it sounds like you found the cause of weight gain and it is resolving.


you can always do the surgery later if you stall out!

I don't know your stats, as far as height for the weight and medical issues but I would definitely hold off and see what happens with the meds and getting your hormones balanced.
It really hurts nothing to hold off for a few months and see how it works out.

I am a high BMI girl (over 60 ) but have changed my diet, worked on eating disorders and just tried to change my life this year. Been doing pre op Keto diet since late august waiting on my surgery date. Down 70 lbs this year so yay there..
My NSV was my wardrobe changes! i was buying mostly size 34 shirts ( a few bigger). I saw a shirt on Amazon that i liked that was biggest at size 28. I ordered it for “later” after surgery- but as a lark i tried it on and it fit quite well!!
I wore it yesterday and got asked for the first time if I had lost weight. Guess clothes that fit make a difference;) I went and ordered four more size 28 shirts. If they fit too, I am going to purge most of those size 34 and higher and never look back!
I am trying to get below 60 BMI for surgery (somewhat a stall right now, but that’s ok - i am staying steady) but I am really enjoying this victory!!!

sorry for all your troubles. You CAN do This! I went to Mexico and had mine done. No one could go with me so i did it alone. Even flying 2 days after surgery alone. The laparoscopic surgery really is quick healing. I was able to do everything slowly but i could. I did not have kids only myself to attend to. Have everything you need for eating after surgery pre made and ready before surgery. I was walking a mile by day 5 and off all pain med. You can do this. Have your cell phone and talk to people for encouragement! I wish you the best.

I'm pre surgery right now, and I've been trying so hard to lose weight...
Well, my aunt told me to die today... She said I was so fat that I have no value as a human because of my weight. She shouted at me that fat people deserve to die.
So, I'm Asian, and I weigh 220lbs 5'2", where the average weight her family is is around 80lbs, and underweight. She's very proud of it.
She says she's cursing for me to die an early death. Because fat people are ugly and I'm not worth anything more than my weight, and I have no value had a human. I used to think that about myself because of how toxic she made my life, I started more self improvement and better thinking to accept myself. But I'm getting so tired of the "Why can't you just be anorexic? You should just stop eating entirely. I fasted my children for a month and look how well they turned out." ... One was hospitalized because she was 5'7" and reached 75 lbs...
I'm trying so hard to not let it get to me, because her daughter look terrible off, and I feel bad for them.
But the cherry on top is this:
I was very sad, because they slap my mom because she's overweight too... I know part of my problem is hormonal that I got from her. It's ok to insult me, because I can get past it. But my father's side of the family physically abuses my because of her weight. It was ok when it was only me being beat, slapped, kicked, and punched, but my mother is getting along in age. And she can't get away, because it's so hard to get a divorce in China. I'm at least here in the US.
I'm so heartbroken. Why are we only worth nothing more than our weight?
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

I ended up going to an endocrinologist multiple times and found out I have a hormone problem, so they're reconsidering trying to get me in for surgery. I'd recommend you checking it out. I had a similar problem when I was only in taking 1600 max a day with lots of working out.

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I'm pre surgery right now, and I've been trying so hard to lose weight...
Well, my aunt told me to die today... She said I was so fat that I have no value as a human because of my weight. She shouted at me that fat people deserve to die.
So, I'm Asian, and I weigh 220lbs 5'2", where the average weight her family is is around 80lbs, and underweight. She's very proud of it.
She says she's cursing for me to die an early death. Because fat people are ugly and I'm not worth anything more than my weight, and I have no value had a human. I used to think that about myself because of how toxic she made my life, I started more self improvement and better thinking to accept myself. But I'm getting so tired of the "Why can't you just be anorexic? You should just stop eating entirely. I fasted my children for a month and look how well they turned out." ... One was hospitalized because she was 5'7" and reached 75 lbs...
I'm trying so hard to not let it get to me, because her daughter look terrible off, and I feel bad for them.
But the cherry on top is this:
I was very sad, because they slap my mom because she's overweight too... I know part of my problem is hormonal that I got from her. It's ok to insult me, because I can get past it. But my father's side of the family physically abuses my because of her weight. It was ok when it was only me being beat, slapped, kicked, and punched, but my mother is getting along in age. And she can't get away, because it's so hard to get a divorce in China. I'm at least here in the US.
I'm so heartbroken. Why are we only worth nothing more than our weight?
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

I think she's too introverted. She lived here in the US for over 20 years and refused to go out so she wouldn't have to speak English. She says she's a Capricorn, which is why she can't do it, but I think she really has a problem... I can't really understand, but all I can do is support her. [emoji20] Her friend never finished elementary, so she still has problems ready and writing her maiden language. But I appreciate the thought and kind words.

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Hi everyone! I sincerely apologize that I didn't update you sooner, but I wanted to take a little more time for healing before I came here to share how things went, and my outcome. My surgery in Mexico went very well, and Dr. Illan & his staff are truly amazing. I can tell you 100% that the experience in terms of surgical skill, and post-op care, was as good as, or if not better than what I have experienced in the US. They are true healers and I am so blessed for having found them. I was literally terrified, even going over my account numbers and password with my son before being wheeled off into surgery, and redoing my will & ensuring all financial directives were in order before heading to Mexico, in case something terrible happened. But I can report to you that my experience during the immediate postop, and since then, in the almost two weeks since I got home on July 20th, has been uneventful in a wonderful way. The day after surgery was the most painful day, and I did vomit a little bit of blood. I also experienced a low grade fever and high blood pressure for the first 4-5 days after surgery, as well as the continual gas pains from the CO2 that you are blown up with during surgery, and overall dizziness and exhaustion. But those are all normal reactions to a major surgery. Dr. Illan told me that he used a 36 french bougie on me, rather than the 34, maybe due to my low BMI (?), and dissected my antrum 3-4 cm from the pylorus to help negate after-surgery GERD, and was careful to remove all my fundus & tightly oversew the staple line; but my son said that the photo he took of my stomach was surprisingly small, although I never saw that photo. I will see after time how large my stomach is, and hope it remains tiny enough to restrict food and hunger for a long time. My 4 incisions are healing well, and the worst gas pain which occurs right under my sternum and radiates to my left shoulder, is almost gone at day 13. That type of pain can be a late leak, so I watched it carefully, but it has abated, so I think all is well. I never experienced the dehydration I was afraid of, because I have carefully drank electrolyte enhanced beverages sip by sip as soon as I was out of the hospital. I also surprisingly did not have the expected Migraines except for the first few days after surgery, because I have been a nazi about liquid intake. I graduated to smooth Soups and low fat greek yogurt a few days ago, and even tried some pureed hamburger today, and was able to get that down after burning it to a crisp in the microwave. My diet staples have been sugar free pedialite popsicles, 0 calorie Vitamin Water, chicken broth and several brands of pre-mixed and self-mixed Protein Powder. I was dizzy and exhausted into the second week, and on day 7 added in liquid vitamins, as well as half of an Iron tablet chewable, because my hematocrit and hemoglobin was low & I felt I was becoming anemic. Within a day or so, my energy came back strongly. I am always careful to take some Protein Drink or greek yogurt with my liquid Vitamins, and take the acid reflux meds away from the vitamins so they can be absorbed. At almost two weeks, I feel like the swelling in my stomach has gone way down, because I can drink liquids quite easily again. I have lost about 17 pounds including the pre-diet, but I was not a super-high BMI to begin with, so I expected a slower weight loss. I have to say that it has been surprising that many days I lose 1/2 pound or less when I am eating 300-500 calories per day. I have had no sense of hunger since the day of my surgery, and pray to God that continues. The head hunger has not been an issue while I am awake, but only during sleep, when I have strange dreams involving food, wherein I obsessively dream about food, chowing down on thousands and calories, and then awake in fear I have destroyed my new sleeve, before quickly realizing it was all a bad dream. Those dreams have subsided somewhat over the past couple of days, and were the most intense on the night of surgery and first week of post-op. My unconscious mind was coming around to the realization that something had happened to my body, and was trying to process the loss of food as a comfort tool.
I am struggling now with lots of fatigue, and alternating between feeling so much better that I want to get out and exercise again, and having no motivation to do anything. I am attributing this to the low calorie diet, and hormonal or neurochemical changes that happen after extreme dieting imposed by a surgery like this. My period came a few days early due to the surgery, and was extremely painful with cramps, etc, which I learned through research is attributable to "hormone dumping" which happens when estrogen stored in fat cells is released quickly into the blood stream after quick fat loss. I've been tracking my blood ketones with a meter and I am solidly in ketosis each day, which I expected with a low carb, high Protein & low calorie diet. I wish I could exercise again, to try and improve my energy levels, and improve my mental fog, but am afraid of causing a leak, as I have read stories about people who opened their incisions, or developed an abdominal leak from exercising soon after surgery. I am walking every day, and did some heavy yard work yesterday, but look forward to getting back into a sustained and vigorous exercise routine, if for nothing else my state of mind, as it feels odd to have days of exhaustion and no motivation to do anything. I'm sure that's serotonin/diet related, and surgical healing related as well, as the body works very hard to repair itself after a surgery like this.

That's about all I can think of to report on right now, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about Dr. Illan, my experience in Mexico, or my healing from the surgery.

take care!

I had VSG in Tijuana, Mx. at HospitalBC with Dr. Illan, so I can only speak to my own personal experience, not Dr. Corzo. I did about 200 hours of research before my surgery and based on that research, finances, and other personal considerations, decided to go the Medical Tourism route and have been very happy with that decision.
These hospitals ONLY do bariatric surgeries and are geared towards medical tourists. They run a VERY well oiled machine from intake to discharge. The process was so smooth, I was completely confident going alone. The surgeon I chose is highly accredited, has done thousands of WLS procedures, has relationships and mentorships with some of the most well known US bariatric surgeons for continuing ed, is board certified, etc. He is just as qualified, if not more so, than many of the bariatric surgeons in my area.
The reality is, there are amazing surgeons in the US and just as many in Mexico and other places. Conversely, there are terrible surgeons here and everywhere else. There are pros and cons to each, and every person has different needs. Ultimately it boils down to doing your research, finding a surgeon you trust, and a program that fits your needs.

Hi everyone! I am scheduled for my gastric sleeve for August 17th. I am 5'3" and 230 lbs so the doctor said I need to lose 100 lbs. Honestly I am super nervous and keep having thoughts of excitement but then I think well maybe I will just cancel it. Is it normal to feel this way? I would love to meet other people that are scheduled on the same month or around so we can somewhat do this process together.

South Carolina I paid $16000.00

I live in the UK but had my surgery in Turkey at very affordable Price. It nearly cost GBP 4000 to me and smooth process. They gave me a diet plan and still checking me. Clinic name is Surgerytr and the surgeon is Dr Can.

I am in a support group with a woman who had her surgery in Mexico and she had severe nausea after surgery but was too out of it to advocate for herself. Luckily the sister of the woman who she shared a room with was there and was a nurse and told the doctors that she needed help, and that the medications she had weren't working. But she did not have a great experience. She went to one of the most popular and highly rated places there.
You could have a good or bad experience at any hospital, but my advice is to try (If you can afford it/insurance will cover it) is to get it near home where someone can come with you to be your advocate. This is not just for WLS but for any medical procedure where you will be unconscious.

I didn't buy any travel or catastrophe insurance. I got a quote and it was crazy expensive. I figured I had done my research and made the decision, so the insurance was a bit overkill, but I completely understand why some folks get it.
I've posted here a few times about my surgeon and experience, so I won't bore you with the details, but feel free to check out some of the other posts for personal experiences!