HilaryInRC

This afternoon I took liquid Vitamins and immediately got a sharp cramping pain in my stomach. It hurt really bad. This was followed by sweating and chills. But then after about 15 minutes I felt okay. I have no idea if this is related to what happened later. Then, about three hours later, I went to the bathroom with diarrhea three times within in a half an hour. All three times the toilet bowl was filled with blood (not bright red, but not dark either). It looked like A LOT of blood!!! I'm 4.5 months post-op. I called my surgeon's office, but got a different on-call doctor (a general surgeon, not a bariatric surgeon). He says he thinks I have an ulcer and to call my surgeon in the morning. He said if I start to feel bad to go to the ER. I feel fine, except for all of this worrying I'm doing!!! I'm not going to bleed to death or anything, right? Shouldn't I be in a lot of pain for all of that blood?

Hi there, I got my last problem figured out - intestinal blockage! Now that everything is back to normal there, I'd like to ask for advice about fatigue. I'm 5 months out and have some pretty extreme fatigue. If I don't take my stay awake medicine (150 mg nuvigil) and have coffee in the afternoon I simply can't keep my eyes open/start seeing double. I often go home and fall asleep right after dinner. I recently had some bloodwork done and am not deficient in any Vitamins, no thyroid problems. I also have a number of dizzy episodes every day, mostly when I get up too fast. Could this be because I take a beta blocker to prevent migraines? Maybe my dose needs to be adjusted - too low of blood pressure? I don't really mind the dizziness, but I can't be this tired! I don't have the energy to work as hard as I used to or to do any sort of exercise beyond being on my feet all day teaching. Some mornings I have to sit down in my classroom because, whew, I think I might keel over if I stand any longer. I have been tracking my calories and am getting about 500-700 a day. At 5 months out, should I be eating more calories? Help! I don't have the energy to keep up with my life! -Hilary

I have not been tested for reactive hypoglycemia. How do you test for that? Also, an interesting development...a family member I live with was just diagnosed with acute Epstein Barr (mono). I'm thinking reactive hypoglycemia and possibly mono might be what is going on.

Thank you for this info! I take propanalol 60 mg 2x day to prevent migraine. I'm am pretty sure that is what is behind the dizziness. I'm a bit nervous to switch off of it because I don't want the migraines back and when I miss a dose of propanalol, I get the racing heart too! If I go off, I will definitely wean myself down and not go cold turkey. I think I should talk to my doctor about those Botox shots! Wouldn't it be great to get some injections every so often and be off the propanalol completely?

Hi Sassy, I'd love to get Botox for migraine! It would be great to be free of the beta blocker. Does your insurance cover it? I'm a teacher and still an intern, so money is a bit tight. Could you tell me more about your experience with Botox? How long until it started working? How often do you get the injections? Is it as effective for you as proflactic meds? -Hilary

Hi everyone, Thank you for your responses. You all have great advice, which I've mostly taken - more Water, more calories, more Protein etc. I've started really paying attention to the fatigue and I've noticed an important pattern. It is only after I eat lunch and dinner that I feel the extreme fatigue. I get so tired that I either go to sleep or nearly go to sleep. The other day I had an English muffin with Peanut Butter (I was so hungry I nearly ate the whole thing) and ended up in a "food coma" - I fell asleep for 3 hours! I'm finding that if I have anything heavier than just a Protein Drink, little bit of meat, or salad/veggies/fruit with cheese that I feel that fatigue. My aunt is a retired RN and having witnessed me eat this week has said she thinks my body is releasing too much insulin, which is knocking me out after eating. She has encouraged me to take my blood sugar before eating and then during the slump after to see what is going on - I will do this next time I eat a heavier meal (which, for the first time ever, wasn't Thanksgiving! - salad and turkey for dinner here). She thinks my body just doesn't understand how much insulin I need, but that it will get better as my body adjusts more to my new eating habits. That being said, I have an appointment with both the sleep doctor and my bariatric nurse on December 10th. Hopefully, they will be able to shed more light on what is happening. And, finally, I'm thinking I should schedule an appointment with my nutritionist too. Thoughts? Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know how to better control insulin? -Hilary

Nurse04, I ordered the rhythm and blues bracelet with the rose gold gardenia plate. I'm planning to get a few more bracelets. -Hilary

Rome, let me know when you get answers!

I've been trying to up my calories. Most days I come in right at about 700. Some days I can get in 1000. The fatigue is still present. I am sometimes falling asleep at lunch. I am really hesitant to try to get more calories than my body wants naturally. I'm afraid that will lead to bad habits. But, I feel that it must be necessary because my weight loss has stalled out. I don't think my body wants to give up any more fat right now. I never imagined I'd have this problem. I'm part stuck in a mental game where I'm scared to eat more and part stuck physically where I just don't want to eat more. I wish my surgeons office wasn't 4 hours away. Really feeling like I could use some support!

I'm 5 months post op and my experience with Protein drinks has been funny. Pre-surgery I loved unjury, any flavor. Then post surgery the only Protein Drink I could tolerate was Unjury strawberry. Now, a few months out the only protein drink I will drink is nectar Pink Grapefruit. So bizarre. I recommend giving it some time and trying Protein Drinks again later. Also, look online for sampler packs of various flavors. I bought lots of them and then ordered the big tubs of the ones I liked...of course I still have vanilla and chocolate flavors from pre-surgery and I can't tolerate anything vanilla or chocolate now!

Hi there, I am a band to RNY revision patient. I'm 5 months out. My surgeon didn't think the sleeve would work for me. He said, "Why go from one restrictive procedure to another? You need the malabsorption." My recovery went beautifully and I had no complications. Now, at 5 months out I'm dealing with a few minor issues: had a partial colon blockage (a lot of enemas, Probiotics, and stool softeners fixed that), and am very fatigued. I just don't have the energy I had pre-surgery. And, my anxiety/stress level is much more aggravated than it was pre-surgery; I've had to go way up on my psych meds. Here is some important information for you: *I love my bypass and am so glad I chose it. *I've lost over 65 lbs in 5 months pretty much effortlessly. *I rarely feel hungry. I take in about 500 - 700 calories a day and have to force myself to eat frequently. *I have no head hunger. *My blood pressure has plummeted. Maybe too low, I get dizzy a lot. *No more snoring/sleep apnea. *People keep telling me the weight is just falling off. *My hair is falling out big time. *I had dumping one time - I apparently cannot tolerate icecream (I don't eat cake/cookies, etc, I stick with sugar free popsicles). *My tolerance for bullshit has been greatly reduced. Oh wait, I think that is because I'm so dang tired all the time. All in all, the benefits far outweight the downsides. Now if I could just get some energy back...

Hi, I have some questions for those out more than 5 months: 1) How many calories a day did you eat when you were losing? 2) How many calories a day do you eat to maintain? 3) Do you crush your pills? I'm almost 5 months out, should I crush my pills? 4) I just had blood work and am not vitamin deficient. Why am I so very fatigued? 5) Do you take stool softeners daily? I'm recovering from a partial blockage in my colon. I'm not sure if I should make a habit out of stool softeners to prevent this problem. Thanks! -Hilary

Hi Helen, I contributed to your survey. If you do any sort of write-up or report on the survey results or your findings, would you mind terribly emailing it to me? I am curious about your findings. I struggle with nourishing myself adequately and would love to read about your conclusions. Thank you for considering. I'd be glad to pm you my email address. -Hilary

I bought my medical bracelet from www.laurenshope.com. It is beautiful and I get compliments on it. Mine says: Name No blind NG tube Severe NSAID allergy ICE (emergency phone number) I wear it every day.

I am 4 months post-op and having some issues. I'm currently experiencing depression/moodiness/anxiety, fatigue, hair loss, severe muscle cramping in my legs and sometimes hands, and have just discovered a horizontal ridge on each of my thumb nails. I also have bags/dark circles under my eyes. I've lost 60 lbs, and am down to 176 and still losing about 15 lbs a month. My job has felt incredibly stressful this year and I think it is because I'm not handing stress well, not so much because the job has changed. Although, it is a somewhat stressful job. My daily routine goes like this: 5:45 am - wake up, take meds including nuvigil to help me stay awake 7:00 am - go to work w/ Protein drink w/liquid mineral supplement mixed in 11:45 am - eat a few bites if I can (I'm usually too stressed from work to eat and end up throwing up if I try) 12:30 pm - cup of coffee because I'm starting to get tired again 5:00 pm - home from work, usually super hungry, have small snack 6:30 pm - dinner, try to remember to take Vitamins, fatigue setting in again 8:30 pm - passed out w/exhaustion, try to remember to take nighttime pills I'm getting plenty of sleep. I'm not really counting calories but I know I'm not getting many. I'm going to see the doctor about having some blood drawn on the 27th. I know I'm doing this all wrong, I need to eat more, I need to take my vitamins, I need to find a way to de-stress. So, I guess I'm just looking for some general advice. Does it get easier? Is what I'm experiencing normal? I think I've made a mess of things with not being good at taking my vitamins. Do I need super strong vitamins to counteract any deficiencies I may have?

I see that this thread isn't very active at the moment. But, I know that struggling bandsters are out there. I went ahead and had the gastric bypass surgery. It is the best decision I've ever made! The weight falls off effortlessly, I'm rarely hungry, I'm not obsessed with food anymore, no stuck episodes, no port pain anymore, and more scale and nsv's than I can list. If you are considering revision, my advice is just do it! Looking back, the band was very bad for my self-esteem. For years I called myself a failure. Well, now on the other side of revision, I can honestly say, the band failed me. The band was the failure. Not me. For 40% of bandsters, they have fantastic success. The rest of us suffer. Please don't think of yourselves as the failures! 4 months post op with the rny and I'm down 61 lbs. Easy peasy. Good luck everyone!

I had the lap band and then a revision to bypass. The band was hell on earth. Bypass has been such a blessing. Barely eat a thing and the weight just falls off. It is almost effortless. However, I am having some problems with malabsorption of my bipolar meds. So if you need lifelong meds unrelated to obesity, that is something to consider. People ask what my goal weight is and I say, I'm not sure. I guess whenever the weight loss stops. If I was happy with my weight now, hypothetically, and didn't want to lose more weight, I'd still lose it anyway bc I have no control over the weight loss. I'm at 176 now and it is still coming off 15 lbs a month effortlessly. I'm actually hoping the weight loss slows down some as I get smaller. Btw. I have no dumping. Perhaps if I ate cake or icecream or something it would happen. But, the only sweets I even care about now are hard ginger candy (3 before bed) and sugar free Popsicles. I can easily turn down cakes, cookies, and other sweets.

You have the confidence to do daring things. Like consider starting your own business! You aren't afraid to have your picture taken. You love the scale now. Instead of looking in the mirror and thinking bad things, you are like, "wow, I'm doing good!" Food is an afterthought, not something you are obsessed with. Well, maybe a little obsessed with protein now. When you go to a restaurant and eat so little it confused the waitress. She asks if everything is okay with your meal and you tell her it was delicious and she looks at you like you didn't even hardly eat anything.

When you can wear sandals with buckles because you can reach your ankles. You can cross your legs. People call you skinny. What? Me? Thank you. You get that short sassy haircut previously mentioned (but bc your hair is falling out) When you can put on clothes you wore a decade ago, but then realize you can't wear them. Not because they don't fit, but because your sense of style has changed so much! Your sisters are jealous because now you are the "thin one." You are sad to see your fat clothes go because you really liked that shirt! By the time you get your sweater/pants back from the dry cleaners they don't even fit anymore! You put clothes in the donation bin every 2 weeks bc you are shrinking so fast. You don't snore anymore and you don't need that cpap!

I have Bipolar I. I had no problem being approved for the lap band or my revision to gastric bypass. I did have to see my surgeons psychologist one time, but he requires it of all patients. However, I am 4 months out with the gastric bypass and am struggling with depression/anxiety/moodiness. My psychiatrist gradually ups my meds due to the malabsorption. If that doesn't work we will go to liquids, but he warns me it will be a battle to get my insurance company to approve the abilify and celexa in liquid form. I highly recommend gastric bypass to all, it has been amazing for me. However, I am currently not well controlled and a bit frustrated that I feel so different than pre-surgery. I had a meltdown at work and got really angry with my boss and then cried for about 15 minutes. Now they are "adjusting" my caseload/work responsibilities. All of this because I need more time to get my meds right. And of course I can't tell them at work that I have Bipolar and I'm struggling because, well, because their is so much stigma. I think if I told them, it could seriously mess up my job. Anyway, my point is that you need to really coordinate with your psychiatrist pre-surgery and make sure s/he understands the malabsorption issues. Have a plan for that in advance. I didn't tell my psych until 2 months post-op and now I'm paying the price!

I just had my one month revision anniversary and I have to say, I couldn't be happier! I am thrilled to have the band out and that uncomfortable port gone. My recovery has been smooth and I'm feeling great. And, in one month, I've lost 22 lbs! Hurray! I was one of those people that was terrified of the RNY surgery. I was scared of the surgery, the potential pain, and the adjustment to RNY from being in banded life for so long. However, I have found this recovery to be much easier than when I originally had my band placed. So, I'm jumping for joy and so glad I went through with the revision. :-)

If I could give gastric surgery advice, it would be two things: 1) Don't do the band! 2) Don't be afraid of RNY. RNY has turned out to be what I always wanted the band to be. Thanks for all of the kind words, everyone! :-)

Hi Cherry, It would be great if you could add a comment section at the end of the survey. The questions toward the end that asked about the last 4 weeks, I think were skewed for me because I'm only 2 weeks post-op. I think if I would have taken the survey at the 6 or 8 week mark, my answers would be very different. Just FYI. -Hilary

I had surgery on the 9th. My stool for the first week was black. Then, it changed to a variety of different colors. The first week there were a few days that I was having a bm like 6 times a day! It was horrible. I'm so glad to be past that part. But, good news, is that you are normal! -Hilary

I started losing again. I'm down two more pounds. So, that is 14 lbs in 15 days. I started having an extra Protein drink. I'm not sure if that is what has made the difference...