Melissannde

No trader joes in my area, never heard of smart or final. I've seen Torani or DaVinci at Walmart & Sams. Actually I order my chocolate Torani from Amazon.com.

Don't want to bust your bubble, but different scales will weigh you differently. I can weigh at home.. then go directly to the gym, no eating or drinking and weigh again, wearing the same clothes and be 3 lbs different.

Kroger (Big K Koolers) makes a diet canned Lemonade. Also a diet canned tea. Nice to have something in a can to drink to pack in the ice chest with all the rest of the families Diet Cokes. Along with all the other things mentioned....I also drink coffee every morning for my daily caffeine (normal amounts are good for you.. really). I use non fat powdered milk instead of that junky coffeemate stuff ( has partially hydrogenated oils in it.. not good) and sugar/free DaVinci or Torani syrups in it. Today was chocolate & Peanut Butter. Was like drinking a reeses cup. :smile:

A warm shower or SIPPING hot tea sometimes helps me.

Syntrax Nectar, all different flavors. BUT.. use Powerade Zero or Crystal Light or something to ramp up the taste/flavor.. it's on the weak side IMO.

I'm so appropriating this for another bariatric list.

I agree, the flavored greek yogurt has too much sugar. I prefer to buy the plain and add my own fresh or frozen s/f fruit. If it's a workout day (which most days are) sometimes I'll add a small amount of Bob's Red Mill Muesli. Higher in carbs, but it's whole grain and I burn it off fairly quickly.

There's another option to Fluoro (which entails radiation). My doctor's practice is to use Ultrasound when the port can't be located by palpation. Call the scheduling clerk and ask for an appt 1 month out. If asked why you're back so early.. feign confusion.. say.. OH.. was I supposed to wait longer? Or be honest and say I didn't want to wait that long. I need help with the hunger. Can you use ultrasound or flouro to find the port? There will probably be extra charges for the use of one of those.. my doc does charge a little more when they need to use ultrasound. Good luck.

Oh.. I forgot to mention. Dermatologist said to avoid tight ponytails, braids.. anything that puts tension on the hair. Ponytails are so depressing to me now.. I used to have so much hair I couldn't close my hand around my ponytail..now it's smaller in diameter than a quarter. However, I look at other women and what I have seems to be about what they normally have.. so I'm trying to retain some perspective. There could be LOTS worse problems to have.

Ya'll need to go to your PCP and have bld work drawn. Some hair loss is normal with weight loss/surgery/trauma, it's called Telogen Effluvium (google it and do some reading). However, there CAN be other things going on. Hair loss can also be due to thyroid issues, other (non thyroid) hormonal imbalances, lack of Iron, lack of selenium, etc. I started having hair loss BEFORE my banding. I finally went to my PCP, all my bld work was normal. Got sent to a dermatologist. He has put me on Rogaine. It won't make me regrow lost hair, but will hopefully prevent more loss. I think maybe it's helping a little. I'm about to go back to the Dermatologist and ask about some prescription meds. Btw, Dermatologist said he doesn't think my hair loss is telogen effluvium, but rather post-menopausal alopecia. Good luck to all!

My husband is a medical professional. I am a retired LVN. We have a sterile huber needle on hand IN CASE OF NEEDING AN EMERGENCY UNFILL and my doctor not being accessible for some reason. I might think about doing my own fill, but won't because that sterile needle must be saved for an emergency. Fills aren't emergency.. an unfill might be.