ChunkCat

I wonder if Allegra crosses over? That's what I take when I need it. Though to be honest the big winner for me is Nasonex nasal spray. I have the itchy, burning, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing symptoms primarily and had two allergists tell me nasal sprays are by far the best for controlling those symptoms--especially the eye symptoms. I use it twice a day, when I wake up and at bedtime and if I miss a day man do I feel it. Much more effective than just a pill and no systemic side effects!

For reference, I have a complicated medical history including several co-morbidities, an autoimmune disease that has affected my gut, eyes, and spine, with a history of small bowel ulcerations, and a history of iron deficiency and vitamin D deficiency that only respond to high dose pills (Vitamin D) and regular iron infusions. A while back I saw my first bariatric surgeon and had an awful experience. The guy was dismissive of my concerns, brushed off my questions, and was in the room less than 5 minutes and told me the DS was my only option and anything else would fail. His nurse was rude and took my blood pressure with the wrong cuff and when it came out at 175/112 told me I was just too nervous. (I know what "white coat hypertension looks like and mine does not look like that!). They rushed me through, didn't answer my questions, and I felt like a number. I saw my second surgeon today and the difference in visit was like night and day! He was much more engaged, has the same concerns about my surgery that I do, and said that it may be possible to only do a sleeve but if that ends up being the case we will make the best of it! He even volunteered to call my Gastroenterologist and chat with her to get her opinion and risk assessment if we go for a more invasive surgery. She has treated me for almost a decade so I really trust her opinion but I couldn't get an appointment to see her. He thanked me for giving him an interesting challenge to work on! And I got to meet my case manager who was super sweet. So all in all I am feeling much better at this place, super thankful for the long chat the doctor took the time to have, and incredibly relieved that the concerns are not all in my head like the last surgeon made me feel! To anyone with lots of questions and a doctor who won't answer them, it was definitely worth the effort to get a second opinion. As one of my doctors said "You need to be REALLY confident and comfortable with the surgeon that's going to cut into your gut and rearrange your insides!" LOL Oh, and my blood pressure was 104/67. ?

Great job!! I know its been hard going for you. But you are persistent and that will pay off in the end! BTW you are beautiful and those frames suit you to a T!

Wow, you look amazing!! That's some impressive loss! Have you been making offerings to the weight loss gods?? LOL So happy for you!

Woot!! That is fantastic!! I've read about your experiences and am so happy to see things working for you now! I'd totally be bawling like a baby. ?

This is so encouraging, thank you for posting! I have been researching my options as I'd prefer to go with the sleeve but have over 100 lbs to lose and I have been told that's not possible to do and maintain long term with the sleeve. It really helps to see those who have done it and maintained! Great job putting in all that hard work, you look fantastic! And thank you for your service. ❤️

You look awesome and so happy! Great job!

What an awful experience to be having! It sucks when you get the rarer reactions to things, its no fun being a medical challenge! Have they tried any other nausea medication? They like to go with Zofran because its what they give chemo patients and for some it works REALLY well. Sadly I always get breakthrough nausea with it. Plus it causes awful stomach pain and constipation for some. I find promethazine works better for me alternating with the Zofran and the scopolamine patches are nice too. So if they haven't tried other meds, definitely ask about it, there are lots out there! I also wear those seasick wrist bands. For me it isn't one thing that works so much as a combo of things together. My nausea isn't from surgery but from iron infusions, they make me violently ill for weeks! But needs must. The brain fog is probably from dehydration, lack of actual balanced food and nutrients, and sugar fog from the Sprite. Have they checked your electrolytes? Sometimes when those get unbalanced it can make nausea and brain fog worse. Have you tried those vitamin B lollipops pregnant women use? It might help and will at least get some vitamins in you if you tolerate them. If you are really miserable and have spare cash, I'd find a local acupuncturist to see. Acupuncture has been proven to be effective for chemo nausea so I expect it might work for this too! Good luck with finding something that works! In the meantime keep trying. I know that sounds awful but the more things you try the better the odds are you'll find a few things that will stay down. ❤️

Aww, great job! Look at that protein count! Celebrating the daily wins is wise, it helps reinforce what is going right!

My partner is Chinese and from New Zealand so we have these "I call it this, you call it that!" discussions all the time. LOL It is very informative! OP, have you tried different temperatures of fluids to see if they all cause the pain and bubbles? Sometimes warm fluids go down easier, or really icy ones, depending on who you are. Also, some can't stomach water but do well with broths, teas, and sugar free drinks which all count toward that fluid requirement. Even skimmed milk would be better than getting dehydrated and it may feel smoother going down... Or a thinned out, pureed soup? @Big MattyI had not considered mixing a meat puree into a soup! Good call. I'm remembering this for my surgery... LOL

@PennyinAL I highly suggest you hire a nutritionist that specializes in bariatric care. You can find someone who will do telehealth appointments and you can see if you can find someone who takes your insurance! At least a few sessions to get a much better diet plan structured. 500 calories seems too low once you are out of the liquid phase. The surgery (in my understanding) resets your metabolism so you don't want to crash it with going too low on your calories. What used to apply for you for weight loss pre surgery may not apply post surgery because of the change in hormones. You really want professional guidance on this, everyone here varies in their macros because there is no standardization in the field at the moment.

Ohhh, the soda thing is good to know. I don't have a habit of drinking them, but this is incentive not to develop one before surgery! Also, to the OP, have you checked out the little bento box containers you can get on Amazon? There are a variety of them. I have two different ones and love them because they make it so easy to prep meals and snacks! I have the Kinsho small bentos and the Easy Lunchboxes bento snack boxes. The sugar free drink mixes can be overly sweet but you can cut them with unsweetened tea! Or carbonated water if you are craving carbonation and don't want to quit. Or just use a portion of the pack/dilute it more and add fruit/lemon slices. I find I crave the taste of sour fruit things, so adding lemonade powder and lemons or limes to things usually cuts the cloying sweetness some of those other fruit flavors have. I often use the unsweetened Just Lemon or Just Lime powder in things. I think you can even get a grapefruit one. Just avoid the sugar alcohols, they are brutal on the gut!

Dollar Tree finds are so fun! I wish I liked salmon, mini packets would be handy for snacks! It may not be the best place for electrolyte waters though as stated above, check and see if they have sugar in them. I have some that don't but they were pretty pricey and not from the dollar store. Who knows though, you never know what brand you are going to find at Dollar Tree, sometimes you luck out! As for protein, it is the same thing, check the sugar, cheaper formulas often use sugar to sweeten and that will ruin your low carb efforts. Also check the protein source. If I recall correctly bariatric patients tend to do best on whey protein isolate or whey hydrolysate because they are gentler on the stomach and absorb better. Plus they should be lactose free, lactose intolerance is common after surgery as your stomach heals...

I feel you! Being in this situation is no fun. I don't have a surgery date yet, I didn't like the first surgeon I saw so I go see a new one on August 3rd. Hopefully one that will answer my questions and think a little outside the box. I'd talk it out with the surgeon (or his nurse/PA) a little more to understand his thought process. He sees more patients than you or I do, he should know what the risk of GERD is vs the risk of not absorbing your meds. I think I read about 30% of sleeve patients get new or worsened GERD/gastritis from the surgery?? That means there is a 70% chance you won't have that issue. For those that have it, it seems very frustrating, but I haven't seen any data on how many sleeve revisions are from GERD. I wish my meds (and autoimmune disease) were flexible enough to give me 3-6 months to figure out new dosing strategies, but they aren't. If I go into a med induced depression flare I will lose the benefit of the surgery because I won't be able to function well enough to make good food and get exercise. Not everyone has depression that severe though. I think a lot of patients have some flexibility there and can afford to play around with their meds to find a new combo. I will be fine with handling some tweaking to the dose, but I don't have the option of another med combo. Everyone is different though and it is worth talking it out with the doctor until you feel sure about your choice!

It could be acanthosis, but it could also be eczema. That can flare with stress and surgery is definitely stress! Heat can make it moody too. I wondered if your decreased fat absorption was causing the dry skin too... If you are prone to acne you might ask the derm about tretinoin. It helps with it a lot, though it also can make your skin drier and more sensitive and you have to be VERY diligent with sunscreen daily.

Oh no!! I don't get why people have to be that way. It is a personal choice and has nothing to do with her! I am so glad you are past that stage... Here's to smooth sailing going forward!

Following. I haven't had surgery yet so I can't say, but I am considering the sleeve in part because I take very important psych meds that I can't afford to have malabsorbed and mine don't come in a liquid formulation. I also have a history of GERD and am on a PPI already. I talked with my psych nurse about the meds and she said the ones with the best chance of absorbing are the sleevers, she rarely has to do more than a tweak here or there. But she's had patients with bypass and DS who have had issues with passing their meds without them breaking down, so some have had to go to liquid forms which can be more challenging depending on what med you are on. I can only metabolize about 25% of psych meds so I already have a limited pool. I don't want to limit it further, it took too much effort to find a combo that works! So I'll definitely be asking the next surgeon about this...

Congrats on getting cleared!! They sure do put us through a lot of hoops. I'm not looking forward to the psych eval, I have a history of depression and PTSD and new doctors always want to dig at it a bit. It's annoying. But I just remember it is for a good cause and in general everyone on these teams want their patients to succeed and have everything be optimal for them to do that!

Yeah, as you lose weight you release estrogen, which can cause irregular bleeding. If you ever had irregular bleeding or irregular ovulation before, this is probably compounding it. That said, I agree you should talk to your gyn about it. Any irregular bleeding should be closely monitored to ensure it's the weight loss that's doing it and not something else. They can do an ultrasound to see what your lining thickness looks like and if there is any reason to be concerned.

No, albuterol is not a steroid, it doesn't really take down inflammation, it just helps to open your airways. A steroid inhaler is different!

I gain weight on steroids, every time. It makes cravings so intense and all I can stomach for days after I take them is ice cream. LOL It is weird and annoying. I know I'm not the only one that gets cravings on steroids. That said, if I needed them, I'd still take them. I'm prone to bronchitis and immune compromised. We never want it to turn into pneumonia so I end up on steroids for it each time. I think my weight gain averages about 10 lbs per round, which is frustrating but not worth risking my health for in the long term. But that's just me, everyone will have their own opinion and experiences. Have they tried giving you an inhaler for the bronchitis? You can get a steroid inhaler. I don't gain weight or have cravings with that. And they are really effective!

Also, this goes without saying, but congratulations on your 10 years of remission! That is a fantastic milestone!

I'm in the process of getting approved and had uterine cancer last year. My oncologist is on board and feels the weight loss will actually reduce my chances of recurrence. I didn't do chemo/radiation though because I was diagnosed so young. I do however have an autoimmune disease that has caused ulcerations of the small intestines and colon in the past. I'm stable on a biologic currently but that may not always be the case and off medications the ulcerations will probably come back. I saw a surgeon and was surprised he advised I get a DS with my history. My GI is not in favor of this plan. I think the sleeve would be a lot safer, so I have an appointment with a second surgeon to see if we can go that route, even if it may not result in as much weight loss as the DS. I also have a family history of cancer of the colon and small intestines and for me being able to have full imaging studies is important as I age, which will be much more complicated with the surgeries that affect the small intestines.

Yay for no more leg cramps!! (and for less constipation!!) I have like 5 different sugar free electrolyte powders around because I'm crazy prone to having low potassium and waking up screaming in pain isn't my favorite way to wake up. ? I wondered if bariatric patients could take Miralax, I find it much kinder than some other meds/methods. If you ever have to have a colonoscopy definitely ask them for the Miralax prep! It just tastes like whatever you mix it into...

Yeah, I have to do all the standard things like 6 months of supervised weight loss visits, nutritionists, psych, etc... I just thought the weight clause was particularly cruel. I'll be taking @summerseeker advice and putting heavy things in my pockets. LOL I can't even tell what stage my cycle is in to make sure I go in with the period bloat (hysterectomy) so that's super annoying. @SleeveToBypass2023 I don't get an option about which insurance plan we have, this is through my partner's workplace. It costs too much to go with someone else. But I'm glad you didn't have to fight as hard to get your surgeries, BCBS was good when we had them! @New To This23 That sounds like a nightmare! I am so sorry you are going through that! I am worried about this scenario because my body is given to weird spurts of weight gain that have nothing to do with what I'm eating or how I'm exercising. I did 18 months with a nutritionist and lost 10 lbs, which was really due to the Ozempic I started. LOL I've never been able to lose more than 15-20 lbs, my body is just wicked stubborn. I will keep my fingers and toes crossed that you make that weigh in with room to spare!! Keep us posted!