Tiffykins

I have decided that Pringles, Cheesy Poofs, and Chex Mix is all "of the devil". I'm serious, that crap is like my sleeve's crack addiction. . . I'm just glad that 5-8 chips satisfy me, but if I grazed them, I could put away quite a few of them.

I realize it's not easy. I'm in maintenance, and a band to sleeve revision patient as well. It's really a slippery slope because some days I can eat a lot more than others. Some days those little food demons are still there, but if I want to use the sleeve, and continue to see success, then I have to make the right choices. You'll feel restriction when you eat more of the dense Protein as prescribed. I wasn't scolding you, but explaining why you didn't get restriction with the food choices you made. I never get full on stuff like mashed potatoes, or Pasta, heck Pringles slide right down without issue. I never feel satiety with sliders foods. I just know that I don't need to eat those things, or overindulge on those foods. The only way I would feel full is if I slammed down an entire cup of mashed potatoes in less than 15 minutes, and even then I'm pretty sure the full feeling would not last long. You asked for our thoughts, if this is normal, is this supposed to be happening, etc, and stated that you were worried because of the lack of restriction. I was simply explaining "why" it happened. It's just like the band essentially. If you eat sliders, no satiety. If you choose more dense Proteins, you'll get a better gauge of how it all works.

You'll do great, update on Facebook while you're there, and I'll keep tabs on ya. Vodka/crystal light for your cocktails. Nothing pre-mixed like margaritas, rum drinks are usually super high sugar. 1oz of Vodka is 65-70 calories depending on the brand. Grey Goose has 69 calories per ounce. It seems most of them are closer to 69 calories per ounce. I heard the orange early rise flavor and/or raspberry flavor mixed with vodka on the rocks is yummy. I'm not a vodka drinker, but that sounds pretty good. Of course, tank up on Water after drinking to avoid a hangover, or dehydration once you break the seal, and start urinating a bunch. I notice when I drink, oh lordy, I urinate 4 times as much. My surgeon advised me to avoid red wines. I enjoy Riesling, and Gewurztraminer wines. I tried some sangria couple of weekends ago, and all it did was make me sleepy. Hope this helps. Just stay on track, and do not beat yourself up having a cracker. I know you're trying to establish good habits, and I think it's great, but try to not let your vacation revolve around what's going in your mouth. I think you'll actually find that it's nice to not have to obsess about it once you're there. You'll find that you've laid a good foundation of new habits, and those will carry you through the vacation.

Lis, I do struggle with tighter restriction on high humidity days. I don't know why it happens, but happened it with my band as well. It's not as bad as what you are describing or as bad as it was with my band, but it's an inconvenience. I live with it, but I'm not having painful issues. Usually, warm fluids cure my super tight sleeve days. Have you had an endoscopy performed recently? I'm eating the same amounts quantity-wise as I was at 7-9 months out and this week I'm approaching my 13 month post-op mark. I, too, wonder if you've got scar tissue around your esophagus, or around the top portion of your stomach that could be causing the pain. To me, and this is my non-medical, lay brain thinking, but it sounds like you are having spasms. If I were in your shoes, and I know you are tired of dealing with doctors, but finding a gastro doc that can do some nerve testing, or other diagnostics to figure out what your esophagus does when you eat and drink. I know with my band I had a fluoroscopy done. I had to stand up in front of a machine, and drink some contrast Fluid. It was not barium, but kind of like what they use for leak tests. As I stood there sipping, the surgeon watched the fluid go down, and how my body reacted to the swallowing to ensure that my esophagus hadn't been damaged. Maybe something along these lines would help. You could have a minor stricture. Strictures are caused by scar tissue from the surgery interfering with the normal function of the stomach. I'm not telling you any of this to scare you, but I think you need to go back to your sleeve surgeon and tell him something is not "right". There is no reason at this point for sliders to hurt. I can eat 6-8oz of sliders within 20-40 minutes depending on consistency without issue. There has to be a reason this is happening, and it's either something with your sleeve or esophagus.

All that extra stuff you ate is essentially slider foods. It goes in, and slides right on through. Our stomachs don't have squeeze the food like chocolates, lettuce, cherries/strawberries/bananas, crackers, granola like it does meat, or dense foods. That 1.5 ounces of chicken isn't going to last that long if you're putting stuff on top of it that is slick, and can go right through. The sleeve only does so much, we have to do the rest. Sometimes restriction with the sleeve does vary. I find when the humidity here is super high, my sleeve is tighter. I'm not sure how long it took you to eat all of that, but if you stretched it out over more than 20-30 minutes, by my guidelines, that is called grazing, and you're not going to get "satisfied" when you keep snacking a little pieces here and there.

I've had the band, and over a 2 year period the band is more expensive than the sleeve due to follow up appointments, fills/unfills, and the other issues with the band. With the reoperation rate of the band, it's actually way more expensive than the sleeve. Hug your doctor, and thank them for being honest and giving you an option. Some surgeons prefer the band because it's the real money maker of the bariatric surgeries. I've had both the band and the sleeve, and my personal opinion is that the sleeve is superior over the band for several reasons. The band has the lowest and slowest loss stats, highest rate of long term complications even outdoing RNY with the exception of Vitamin deficiencies. The food restrictions alone with the band are horrific. I couldn't eat meat, any type of breads, lettuce, raw veggies, and most fruits caused major issues. The less ghrelin thing is true. Just because you fill up your little pouch with the band doesn't mean you are satisfied. That hunger is still there, and once the food slips through, you'll be hungry again, and really aren't supposed to eat because you're on a forced diet. The maintenance thing is true. You don't even need to go to a general surgeon. Your family doctor or primary care doctor can pull your labs, and monitor your levels. This is a post I share often when people ask about VSG vs. Band, or VSG vs. RNY, or VSG for a revision from band vs. band to band revision. At the very bottom, you'll find some research links that I enjoyed reading for research purposes. Hope this helps. This is directly from the band manufacturer so there is no skewing facts or stats here. This is their own study.

I'm originally from Texas, and when I went back for Spring break in March this year, I met several of the wonderful ladies from this site. I'm trying to plan a Florida/Alabama get together as well once it cools off down here. Leaning toward end of September, early October. I have 3 friends that I've referred to my surgeon/program for surgery so I have people in real life that have gone through the journey as well. One of my friends has surgery this week, and I'm so excited for her ! ! !

I wasn't a fan of hot dogs pre-op. It was kind of a ballpark, cookout food only. Even then, it'd be the last thing I order. But, I have had this weird craving for them over the last year. I actually only wanted barbque weenies. Just a hot dog sliced up, and then heated in a saucepan until super hot with Kraft barbque sauce. I found out that I can't eat them anymore. I tried eating a couple of bites of a corndog. That was a no go as well. I did try to eat some of those "little smokies" or cocktail weenies at a get together a couple of weeks ago. They were in a crockpot full of barbque sauce, and once again, I was nauseated, and felt like a brick hit my stomach. I'll just keep away from them from now on.

Foods that don't stay with us long. Typically, empty calorie foods such as chips, crackers, pretzels, popcorn are sliders for most. For me, rice, Pasta, and potatoes are all sliders for me in addition to the stuff listed above. I can eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of rice, potatoes, pasta, without issue. I get full, but not like I do when I eat dense Protein or even chicken or tuna salad.

Liv, you just can't do this to yourself. We didn't get fat overnight, and we can't lose it all overnight. Yes, I know I dropped weight fast, but that doesn't mean I was always happy with the scale. When I had to slow down my loss, honestly, I was kind of pissed when I quit losing so quickly. You hit the 3 week stall, 95-99% of WLS hit that same stall, and it last a minimum of 2 weeks. Like I said, take measurements, do you feel like your clothes are fitting differently? If you aren't sure, go put on the clothes you wore home from the hospital, and I'll bet you money they are looser? If you are following your dietary guidelines, and exercising, then you will lose. If you are low on calories, throw in a couple of string cheeses, toss in another 50-100 calories ESPECIALLY if you are working out. Every time someone stalls I tell them the same thing, keep doing what you are doing, but throw a wrench in the system. shake things up for your body, and give it a little more fuel. You've dropped 25lbs in 5 weeks, right? When in the past can you say that you've ever done that before. I know it took me a minimum of 2-3 months to drop 25lbs, and that was extreme dieting, and killing myself at the gym. Don't give up on yourself, and don't give up on your sleeve. This stall you are experiencing is super normal, it will break, and try to remember you're body is just now healing 100% on the inside. It's trying to adjust to what you just did to it, essentially, it's pissed off at you. You took away a huge part of a major organ, you fed it a bunch of liquidy crap for a couple of weeks, it's missing the donuts, and soda (or whatever you ate, just using those as an example), it went through a traumatic surgery, anesthesia, stapling, poking and prodding. Let your body recover, let your mind rest, and give yourself some credit for your amazing results this far. If you continue on this pace with 5lbs a week on average, think of how quick you'll get to goal.

Honestly, no. I have never felt any shame in admitting that I couldn't do it on my own. I think it's a bigger shame, embarrassment to not ask for help, to sit back and deny that we can't do it on our own, to allow our bodies to be constantly plagued by disease and conditions related to obesity. I got off that hamster wheel, and have zero shame wearing my size 4s proudly. Surgery or not, I worked my ass off, literally, to be living this life.

I drink right up until that first bite. I do wait 30-45 minutes after eating to resume drinking. Occasionally, if I'm eating spicy/salty foods, I will take small sips to just "wet my whistle". If I'm having wine with my meal, I do sip it throughout my meal without issue. I could not do this early out, but now I have zero issue with taking small sips, never big drinks, while eating occasionally. For before meal drinking, we have a pyloric valve, and no pouch. The liquids go in, swish around and go right into the intestines. It doesn't hang out in that little banana shaped belly we have. This is the explanation that was given by my surgeons and 2 nutritionists.

It's just become an official stall if you haven't lost anything for 14 start days. The longest stall I've read about is about 6-8 weeks. Hang in there, stick with your program, and the scale will move. If you haven't already taken measurements, do it now so you can see that you're probably losing inches instead of pounds. I know it's frustrating, but don't give up and try to not stress. When we stress, our bodies will hang onto weight, Water, etc.

I use myfitnesspal.com to track food. They have a free app on smartphones, and I use it on my IPhone if I'm out and don't have an idea on the gram counts on certain items.

On mushies, I did eat a few tiny bites of mashed potatoes on occasion when I wanted them. I ate green Beans, broccoli, and other low glycemic veggies. Most of the time, all I had room for was 3-4 cut green beans, or 2-3 broccoli florets. It's kind of hard to count carbs for 2-4 pieces of veggies when an entire cup of green beans is only 15 carbs. So, I didn't freak out about those carbs. My dairy intake gave me most of my carbs during the mushy stage. I mainly stuck to Protein. I didn't add more carbs and calories until I was 4ish months out. I had dropped 80lbs, and my surgeon wanted to slow it down. So, I added in some more carbs, but I rarely got in over 50-60grams of carbs during my losing stage. I really didn't stress about carbs after 6.5 months because I was still dropping weight. I no longer count the carbs from non-starchy veggies. Essentially, I only count white carbs, and even then I don't flip out over it. I average 100gr of carbs per day. Some days I hit 150ish because I load up on veggies. No more than 30-40grams of carbs during the losing stage was my surgeon's recommendation.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh how I miss El Fenix ! ! ! I never feel hunger, and I only eat because I know I need to do so or because I want to eat. As long as I'm staying in my calories, I eat. I have normal cravings just like skinny chicks. A lot of times I crave Mexican and Thai food. If this happens, I go eat Mexican or Thai food. I try to make the best choice just like I do at home, but if I want 5-6 tortilla chips with salsa or queso, I'm eating those chips. If I want to eat Pad Thai, I order Pad Thai with chicken or steak. I eat 3oz of the meat, wait a few minutes, and then eat some noodles. Box up the leftovers, and eat it on it for 3 more days. Skinny people have cravings too. It's the choice we make once we read the menu that makes the big difference. I eat fajitas when I eat Mexican. I eat the meat, Beans, and sauteed onions first. Then if I have any room left, I eat rice. I load everything up with sour cream and cheese as well.

A lot of people do not have a "full signal" because the stomach nerves have been severed, and liquids pretty much just slip through. I didn't get a true "full" feeling until fuller liquids like yogurt/cream soups/pudding. Mushies I got major full feelings.

Fingers crossed that Prevacid works for you. Once the spasms get under control, Prevacid (not the solutabs) are available OTC and it may be less expensive that your co-pay. I know a few members love, love, love their Prevacid. I hope you get some relief soon. Check the RX pamphlet and make sure you don't need to wait 30-60 minutes before eating after taking those solutabs. With Prilosec and Nexium, it's recommended to wait a minimum of 30 minutes before eating after taking them.

Thank you bunches. I've had zero surgery. I do not wear shapers, pantyhose, anything to "suck my belly" in. I hate wearing panties. I sure as hell ain't wearing that stuff. I tried, it sucks, and I threw it away. $30 bucks down the toilet. My surgeon advised me to NOT do any plastics for at least another year. My tummy tuck will be covered by my insurance. He said that my skin looks amazing considering how fast I lost it, and with the 140+ pound loss in less than a year. He told me that he'd seen worse out of people that lost less, and slower. Considering I have smoked for 15 years, that I'm in my early 30's and have been fat for over 15 years, he thinks my skin looks phenomenal. I have zero back fat. I have some flabby skin and a little fat on my stomach still, my arms are flabby, and my inner/upper thighs are wrinkly. I promise it's not horrible, and I'm not bothered by it all that much. My advice, moisturize, exfoliate with a good sugar/salt/oil scrub, I've posted a homemade recipe that I use somewhere around here, or you can google them. It's cheaper to make them at home, and you can pick how "grainy/oily" you want it to be. Grapeseed oil is my favorite oil to use. If you can't find it, extra virgin light olive oil works the same, it just doesn't smell as good. I don't use any fancy lotions. Just some bath and body works body cream and lotion my husband buys for me. I like the Vaseline Deep Creamy moisture, and use that a couple times a week. I lotion up, and wrap a towel around myself and do not put on clothes until it's absorbed.

Reglan definitely helps with the nausea and that full feeling. I think one of the members here was on a low dose valium to relax the esophagus and help control the spasms. Are you on something like Prilosec, Protonix or Nexium? The Zantac and Pepcid drugs work a little different than the PPI drugs. The Zantac and Pepcid only treat the symptoms of acid reflux or peptic ulcers. Where Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix all stop the acid from producing and causing you discomfort? I had a weird gnawing feeling an hour after eating. It was acid even though I didn't have any "heartburn" the Prilosec RX I went on resolved the issue completely before it got worse.

Hi Dale, and congrats on getting the ball rolling with your pre-op stuff. * How many more appointments will i have before surgery - I can't help you there, but I would contact Jane_J here on the forum. She's in the UK, and I think she is familiar with NHS. Here is her profile Link: Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery (VSG) Forum - View Profile: Jane_J * Is all these appointments necessary It depends. Every program is different, every surgeon has different requirements. I had a lot of pre-op testing, but no sleep study. A lot of appts with a nutritionist and 2 psych evals. It's all about the type of program offered, and some is completely related to insurance requirements. * How are your emotions pre and post op I was fine pre-op. I had a band first, and it was misery. I was so ready to get it out of my body that I was elated when surgery date rolled around. Post-op, as a woman, I was a raging lunatic some days emotionally. I hated everyone then I'd love everyone in the next minute. When we drop weight fast, all the estrogen that is stored in our fat cells releases into our system. We can get a little batcrazy. But, it gets better LOL. * How long till you are up on your feet again I didn't have a typical recovery due to me being a revision patient and complications. * Is there a limit what i could lose Yes, if you don't change your eating habits, and continually make unhealthy, fatty, carb loaded choices, then you can limit your own success. The sleeve only does so much. It's our responsibility to make the necessary changes for a lifetime success. * Does your mindset change post op Yes, my entire relationship with food has changed. My core personality has not changed. I was confident, outgoing when I was fat. I enjoy a life without limitations that are related to obesity. But, for the most part, I am the same woman I was 150lbs heavier. * How long did it take to adapt yourself to new eating habits not long, the fact that I lost all of my hunger made it pretty simple to be honest. I actually had to set alerts on my IPhone to remind me to eat every few hours or I'd go all day and not eat. I still do it occasionally on accident. * Does the NHS have much to do with yourselves post op Sorry, I can't help you with this one either. Best wishes with your appointments. Be patients, it's really a fabulous surgery, and stay positive. Keep us all updated on your progress.

Terrie, I'm sorry you're having a difficult recovery. Are you on any type of medication that could relax your esophagus? I know a couple of members that had hiatal hernia repair, and struggled with spasms as well. They ended up going on some medication that helped resolve the issue. I'll search around and see what medication they were prescribed, and try to come back here and post their replies. I hope things get better soon. I'll keep you in my thoughts.