cduval04

mdhannant-i went and got it! did my first nasal cleanse and don't feel much different, but I am excited to see if this helps. I really didn't want to go on another antibiotic! thanks for your suggestions :smile:

thank you so much for this tip. I have severe allergies to dust mites (IgE antibodies came back at 20x the normal limit). Shortly after starting full liquids abt 9 or 10 days post op my post nasal drip got really bad, and it was deep in my throat not something I can blow out or even hack up, whenever I blow my nose the pressure from doing so gives me a headache.

I think what may have made it act up initially is my much higher than usual dairy consumption. I do not like any Protein shakes, so have been eating fat free yogurt, milk, FF SF pudding, cottage cheese, creamed Soups, my entire diet is pretty much dairy which I have since read is a HUGE culprit for PND.

I also have an air purifier in my room, which I set to high every night, is has helped with the dust, but I can tell the humidity in the room is VERY low. SO I am thinking of getting a humidifier.

I am also sensitive to drugs and don't like taking too any antibiotics cuz yeast acts up, so I prefer natural. Thank you for telling me about neilmed, I am def going to try it. Tried the neti pot, and it works, but you are right it is annoying and takes practice to get your head just right, holding your head at the wrong angle it will come out your mouth haha.

According to a bariatric nurse that I know, these are symptoms of a dilated pouch and/or slip:

Being able to eat more, weight gain or failure to lose, not feeling full, heartburn, and reflux.

I'd consider these signs as over a period of time, not just one occurrence. I've had all of these (except weight gain) at one time or another, but not night after night or day after day. If I had the signs for more than a few days, I'd call my doctor.

Relax. Follow MOST of the rules MOST of the time and things should be OK.

holy *** melissannde, I don't mean to change the subject on this thread but I just saw your band date as less than 2 years ago and you've lost 173lbs?....I just thought that deserved a public congrats!!!!!!! That is amazing.....I am just starting on my journey and would have to lose about 150-160 to get to "normal" bmi---it seems like worlds away. Any tips for success? (how old are you? everyone in my group was saying "you're young you'll lose it fast b/c I was the youngest in my group, not that older folks can't lose it)

haha....it would be interesting to hear how you guys are doing now....I had the same darn thing. fine in hosp. then a few hrs after being home I was nauseous ALL THE TIME. I was banded on the 20th didnt get better till about the 24th...I think day 4 was a big turnaround day in terms of less pain, smoother breathing, and being able to "feel" every sip I know exactly what you are talking about...your chest hurts for a minute it feels really tight then goes away

Are you on full liquids or Clear Liquids? If you are on Clear Liquids I would strain and only drink the liquid. If on full liquids you should be able to have the liquid and any veggies (so no meat or rice) blended.

true confessions, I am on day 7 post op, and last night and tonight I had some nuts after my parents went to bed. It really sucks, cuz all this week I have been returning and trying new Protein powders and (I think I've tried 9 in total, whey, soy and egg) and they all start to make me feel sick after 3 or 4 sips, though I tried and liked them pre-surgery), so for the last 7 days I have probably gotten not much more than 60grams Protein in TOTAL and they told me to get 60grams a DAY (that would be 420grams by now! So I have been living on broth, Jello, sf ice pops and Water + Powerade zero for a week!

I was soooooo good I didn't cheat at all until last night...I'm really trying but I am getting NO nutrition which is probably why I am craving the nuts (salt, fat and protein)

I am calling my dietitian 1st thing tomorrow about the protein thing, but I am so afraid that I have displaced it. I am REALLY going to try NOT to go off plan anymore. I go to full liquids tomorrow which opens up A LOT more choices so I think it will be way easier not to cheat b/c I will have something besides Water in my system

As far as fullness goes after 1/3c mixed nuts (less last night) I def could not eat anything else because I feel I would be sick (and I certainly could have b4 surgery of course), but I don't feel sick and although I am thirsty I am going to try hold it on the fluids for an hour (or at this stage should I actually drink NOW because then my stomach wouldn't have to churn as hard?)

I didn't know some surgeons filled during surgery so I didn't even think to ask that. I just hope I didn't cause any slippage....I'm really worried

Thanks for the info; I've actually been a bit concerned about this. I also have a lactose (or maybe dairy, IDK) sensitivity/intolerance. I've tried a few of the sample of whey Protein powders I received from my nutritionist and seemed to have a similar, though less severe, "response" like I do with milk products. The thought of too much soy makes me nervous as well...what to do? I start my pre surgery diet on Sunday so I'll see how sensitive I really am to all this stuff; let me know what works for you!

I went to the Vitamin shoppe today and decided on spirutein, it is a blend of rice Protein, pea protein, and soy protein isolate. I bought the banana one. I didn't have high hopes for it, infact I didnt have any hope at all for it because so many I've tried have not worked. But I was wrong, it smelled like a banana split, and it was really good. Like not just "its tolerable but I have to get it down" but I actually enjoyed drinking it. It came out green tinted cuz of the pea protein, but tasted nothing like peas at all. It only has 14 grams per scoop, but I figured some protein was better thank no protein at all. After consuming it, I perked up like a watered plant (I have had zero protein since sunday).

I too am concerned about the soy, b/c of my fam history of breast cancer and my thyroid issues, but as I said I only have till tuesday and then I can start eating yogurt and ff sf puding, and strained cream Soups, and other thin pureed stuff, so I wont need to rely on the soy as my sole protein source-I mean-one vanilla chobani has 14g protein! (i hope i tolerate the yogurt ok, if not I will have to find an alternative). and then when I get on solids a 3 wks, I wont need it anymore! they encourage you to get ur protein from solid foods like fish and meat etc. they don't want you to rely on Protein shakes and say they should not be used for meals unless you are really pressed for time. So its not like I will be eating soy for the rest of my life (b/c I am not a vegetarian like a lot of people here are), just a few weeks, so I am not really worried.

Ok so I have bought all the powders highly recommended on this forum including Syntrax fuzzy peach nectar, optimum nutrition gold standard whey (Cookies and cream) and another one by optimum nutrition called hydro-whey which is good also, and it's not that they don't taste good, its just that I cant drink even 8 oz before I start to feel gross, sick, bloated and gassy.

So, I remembered I went to a really good naturalist a while back when I was having issues and she ran the "ELISA" testing on me which tests not for acute allergic reactions (called IgE antibodies), but delayed intolerances/sensitivities (IgG antibodies) which can range from anything to gas, bloating, cramps, to muscle/joint aches to neuro issues like mood swings/irritability.

So, I looked at the results which I had not reviewed in quite awhile, and it says I have severe antibodies (>5x the normal amount) to milk products and moderate antibodies (>3x the normal level) to eggs, yolk and white.

Now my mom argues with me that I could always tolerate milk and eggs fine before surgery, but I always tell her it's not that I tolerated them, but I really didn't care if I spent a half hour on the toilet if it meant that delicious pint of ice cream (I know, true confessions), and I also made the point that I think I took A LOT more of the offending substance to affect me so that I did care (because my stomach was much larger), and I usually didn't get to that quantity. And my third argument to her, and I have no clue if this has any credibility, but I did tell her that maybe I didn't notice it that much b/c I was eating so much other crap, bread, Pasta, oats, fruit, veggies etc. etc.

and when I first got the results back for "milk" sensitivity I just thought "oh I can take a Lactaid and I will be fine", but then just learned yesterday that milk intolerance is NOT the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose is only an intolerance to one part of the milk-the sugar, which is called the lactose. but milk is made up of whey (which is the watery stuff, and makes up 20% of the Proteins found in milk, and casein, which are the lumpy white globs seen in sour milk. Therefore "milk intolerance" is very different that "lactose intolerance." and unfortunately there is no way to avoid symptoms like with lactose intolerance, you just have to avoid milk products.

sorry if you already knew all that, but I found it interesting b/c alot of people who get tested and have a "milk" allergy or intolerance just think they are lactose intolerant, which is what I did.

so then there are the eggs, which I don't have as high of a sensitivity level to, but I would like to avoid.

which leaves soy. Now I do have a history of breast cancer in my family, and I know soy messes with your thyroid and also mimics estrogen (and my doc thinks I may be estrogen dominant already), but I also know that for the next couple weeks, I have to get my Protein in somehow, and this seems to be the only way, because the only Proteins I know of are milk Protein concentrate/isolate, egg white, whey isolate/concentrate, (which is made from milk), and soy isolate/concentrate. My antibody level to "soybean" came back completely negative. I also I don't think by taking soy protein for a few weeks until I can eat solids is going to give me breast cancer. I think it is long term use that many professionals advise against.

So, I really don't know why I gave all that info, (maybe it will help someone else, and I had also been asking for whey powder recommendations and I wanted to explain why I am all of a sudden now asking for soy). But because the only powders I didn't mind the taste of were recommended by users on this forum, and I know NOTHING about the world of soy protein isolates/powders, maybe there are some soy lovers, vegetarians/vegans who can give me some good tasting ones?

thanks and merry christmas/happy holidays and for those of you that are a day or two out, today is day 4 for me and I am just today starting to feel "normal" again, less bloating, etc.

Went out and bought some Mirilax and downed a capful with my Soup and.... nothing ! It's just making my stomach rumble all sorts of something serious.. actually a little nauseous. This normal?

its been the same with me, lots of rumbles, nausea (don't know if its from the miralax) and the added bonus of diarrhea.....

on the label it says 1-3 days...i took it at night and the next morning i am embarrassed to say i had "lost control" while sleeping.....ever since then i have been having diarrhea.....i'm kinda sorry i took it.....but i have taken it b4 surgery many times and it has worked well. maybe it was the fact that i mixed it with chicken broth, the very high salt content added to the laxative effect.

It is also a very weird feeling when I try to drink anything...almost like a gas bubble just below my breast bone. It lasts for a couple of seconds, gurgles, then moves on down. I can only assume it is where the band is and it takes a few seconds for it to go through.

omg this is exactly what is happening to me (was banded on 12/20) but I couldn't describe the feeling in words. Nice to know someone else has this!

Call your doc and tell them about everything. I wonder if you've had an allergic reaction. Maybe you can go to the surgery center and have a patch put on?

For whatever reason, they don't want to give me the patch.< /p>

They told me to get OFF the roxicet that is a huge cause of nausea, and eat and drink everything at room temp and hot and cold can do that.....this sux...it's like I'm both nauseous AND hungry at the same time, I know that makes NO sense at all, but that's the only way to describe it....I really hope this is all worth it in the end....only good thing is I have lost almost 3lbs in 3days

Right after surgery and the day after in the hospital. I was doing better than expected. I actually could not wait to get home and have my gold standard Cookies and cream whey Protein. About 3 hrs after getting home, I removed the scapolamine patch from behind my ear (didn't know it was 72 hrs thought it was 24. A couple hours after removing it, I got nauseous and have been ever since. Every time I even look at the Protein powder, I want to puke-not b/c they taste bad-but because all of a sudden the didnt appeal to me at all. However, I tolerate Jello, sf ice pops and broth fine. My dr said the most crucial thing immediately post op is Fluid. Prob is I can't even get that in either I'm sposed to get 64 and I can barely get 32 in.

I asked her to PLEASE prescribe some of the Patches for me, and she said they don't usually write scripts for those but prescribed me zofran, another anti-nausea med. I've taken it twice (4mg dose) and it's really done nothing except make me indescribably itchy, and give me headache and diarrhea) I can't be having that with so little Fluid intake or I will end up back in the hosp.

I tend to be very sensitive to EVERYTHING and did have some issues with motion sickness pre-op ( I ride the bus & train a lot to commute) I have tried nauzene chewables and I have those sea-bands that press on the accupressure point for nausea, nothing is working, only that patch helped.

Even when I do get hungry, I only want Jello pops and broth and cannot tolerate the Protein. I ordered the unflavored powder from bariatriceating.com hopefully it will b here soon and I can put it in broth until I graduate to mushies in 4 days then I can start putting it in pudding, yogurt etc.

Did anyone have prolonged nausea like this after removing their patch or just since u woke up? What can I do about this, b/c right now I NEED more fluid and I know that. It seems every day I wake up I feel worse than the day before.

Tips, please? I don't know why she can't just prescibe me the patch, maybe I will cal her again and tell her the zofran is not working

***side note: I have cankers all over my tounge, is this a reaction to something in my roxicet or more likely from a lack of essential nutrients? Anyone else have this?

Thanks in advance. Btw, the gas is finally starting to exit me.

Ya no nausea for me at all yet-(knock on wood but it'll come eventually....everything seems to hurt more than yesterday..but my incions itch which means they are healing(or it means I'm allergic to the dermabond or the purple ink that it is colored with lol)...they put one of those Patches behind my ear I think that has something to do w/ the abscence of the nausea It took me like 15 hrs to drink that 32oz...I didn't chug it all at once lol. Same with the Jello. 1.5 snck size cups over like 16 hrs..anyway I'm glad I'm peeing now. No gas yetn although I have gas pains I haven't even tooted once.....do they allow u to take gas-x?....does it actually work in our situation?

Thanks for all the help guys!

Ive put out an additonal 1300ccs or so since my last post...I lost count at like 5 bags but an educated guess is that I'm probably on the 8th or 9th bag of lactated ringers since I got here...I think each bag is 1000ccs not sure though.....so I still have quite a bit of Fluid ine.....but at least its coming out....I also probably havent taken enough oral fluids becuase I haven't "gotten to kno" my new stomach yet and I am afraid of hurling ive only had about 32oz by mouth plus about 1/2c Jello and 1/4 cup of chicken broth since I got here yesterday....I am just petrfied of puking...I dont know if there's such thing as "vomit-aphobia" but if there I have it...last time I puked was summer of 1999! ya I remeber i becuase lets just say it was one of those memorable pukes...if you catch my drift....I'm sure I probably will at least once cuz I wll probably push my limits, but I hope not at least for a while...and if I do it in the hospital they said they were going to keep me another night...and I'm set for discharge in a few hours...so I wuld not want to blow that.....cant sleep in these hospitals..

thanks....ive lost track of my total but I've been on a 200cc drip every 1/2 hr for 10+ hrs + finally managed to get out a pathetic 150ccs......I could have probably been peeing hours ago if I had registered in my drugged out brain that the commode I had over the toilet was too small it was a standard sized commode like not for LB patients, (the bigger one was sitting off to the side in the shower lol...smart hospital....believe me if there was a faucet in the bathroom i would have turned it on a LONG time ago but there's just a shower - the faucet is outside the bathroom in my room) and therefore literally squeezing me "shut" (women, you might get what I'm saying a little better) I should start peeing my brains out soon now that I took the commode off and theres a space for it to exit

God, the obvious things we miss on pain meds lol + the "inconveniences" of being a fatty lol.....not for long I'm on the other side now!!!

I started peeing a few hours after surgery, probably 3 or 4... but it wasn't like a full stream or anything, it was an embarrassing dribble. I probably made a mess, but I was so doped up I didn't really care...

It's kind of annoying since it affects the way I pee, BM, and uhhh, ejaculate

well can't say I can relate the last part of that lol :wink3: but it has now been 12 hours for me since I peed......I've had Water, chicken broth, and Jello......I've never experienced anything quite like it...it's like someone stuck a shield up there.....then again I have never had any kind of surgery to my abdomnial cavity

I think I might know what you're going through. When I first got out of surgery and tried to pee, I had a trouble. I also had trouble taking a BM. It seems as those the muscles you use have lost their "muscle memory" or at least that is my theory. I can't really "bear down" to take a BM, I just have to kind of wait it out. I think it has to do with the way they cut into the abdomen. I know it's a real pain...

yeah thats exactly what it feels like....I lost my "pushing" muscles....I don't know how to explain it better than you did......so....now how to convince them I just need time, and not a catheter.......they said they cleaned my out bowels completely while they were in there so I'm not expecting a #2 for a while, but how long was it before u peed? my venodyne boots fit fine this morning and now they are popping off when they inflate...I am going to have to ask for a lg instead of a med if I dont start PEEING soon....uuggghhh sooooo annoying

I am in the hospital on my 3rd bag of saline.....each one is 2000mL (for those of you not familar w/ the metric system thats about equal to 1.5 gallons...I have tried to pee 3x since I woke up from sugery at 10ish this morning....each time it feels like I'm going to....but nothing comes out after I sit for 5 min...they did an ultrasound of my bladder and said it is pretty darn full.....they are going to put a catheter in me and REALLY don't want that.....has this happened to anyone? surgery was at 7am its now 6:15pm

last minute thoughts?? why can't they just give me a diuretic?

Ya that's the one jess! I'm looking forward to trying it-havent found a bad review on this forum yet!!

I started my clear liquids today, and I got to work a little while ago and it is horrible, I have no energy. Plus there are Cookies and chocolate covered pretzels on the counter taunting me. I just keep telling myself it won't be forever that I won't be able to have one.

Also been thinking about the post op diet and how I am going to get the Protein in, I can't use the unflavored powder, it is nasty and the clear Liquid Protein drinks are nasty too. I did find one that is a little tolerable but I've only had a sip so far, the muscle milk h2o, but it is only 10 grams for 16 oz, so I'd have to drink a ton of it.

This stuff along with hunger is putting me in a bad mood

I am very "picky" with the Protein supplements too...I have hated a lot of them so I was really dissapointed to find out on here that the unflavored powders were not really "unflavored", but then I was looking through this forum and found this post on one of the threads:

I found an awesome product at bariatriceating.com. today was my first day to use it so i was a bit nervous. but you go their site and click on shop and protein powders. it is called BE Pure Isolate Protein. IT HAS NO FLAVOR AND NO TEXTURE. No Fat no or low carbs (i dont have the package in front of me). It mixes with anything. I promise. i drank it with chicken broth for lunch today and it turned it a little milky but no bad taste or grit. I praised God for this. Cause i did not want to drink a RTD shake. they are too thick and too sweet. please give this site a try. they have other flavors also. But i know that i would not make it through this pre-op plan without it. Good luck !

this poster sounds pretty confident...plus on the website one of the testimonials reads:

I ordered your PURE Unflavored Protein and I just have to tell you I am a big fan. So often people say that their unflavored Proteins are not truly unflavored and that they smell - your product is truly unflavored, top quality, no smell. I mix it with my Decaf latte and get a Protein Drink that is heavenly. Thank you – Tammy Edwards

I seriously think I might try this one, as soon as i get sick of milky/sweet shakes and Powerade zero and SF Jello and popsicles. This stuff really sounds iike it's legit and I am willing to risk my money on it. The site is www.bariatriceating.com and they also have some other really good looking shakes called "inspire" in like a million different unique flavors.

OMG I am so getting nervous now......I called for my surgery time yesterday and it is at 7:30 am they said I have to arrive at 5:45am. The hospital I am going to is almost 40miles away takes a lil' over an hour with no traffic, so we are going to have to leave at like 4:30 and doctors orders were to wash abdomen with hibiclens right before coming to hospital so I am going to have to wake up at like 3-3:30am.....I really don't care though I would rather that than 3pm. my surgery will be over b4 9am.....kind of like when I woke up for black friday except the "purchase" is a new lap band lol Good luck to EVERYONE I should go to bed now b/c god knows I probably won't get any sleep tomorrow night!!

Hello,

I might actually be able to help you out here as I am a Certified Herbalist by trade and have gone through some of the same pill issues as you have.

You can get your Probiotics in liquid form. Just check with your health food store or even vitacost.com A great website that carries many of my favorite quality brands at fabulous prices.

You can, if you choose, switch to flax seed oil. It is actually higher in Omega 3's than fish oils. Barlean's makes some great flavored flax seed oils. The strawberry banana is so good you can take it by the spoonfull. Even my 8 year lold will happily take a spoonful of Barlean's strawberry Banana Flax Oil. I know that some people don't like to swtich but they are both excellent sources of Omega's and the flax doesn't have that nasty fishy flavor.

N-Acetyl Cystine does come in a liquid . Just google it online and find a brand you are confident in. You could also crush it into a smoothie or Protein drink (which you can also add your flax seed oil to for great flavor). If you are also interested, Coenzyme Q10 also comes in a liquid.

You'd be surprised at how we can get in our herbs, supplements & Vitamins even with a lap band. Almost everything comes in more than one form. There are only a few supplements out there that, due to their nature, don't come in anything other than a tablet. But nature usually provides us with an alternative that does the same trick. I'd consult your closest natural health care provider if you get really stuck. Most smaller natural health stores are happy to help.

I hate to say it but generally places like GNC don't really know their herbs and supplements unless you get lucky and find a knowledgeable staff member.

Your ginger and valerian also come in tea form. As I type I'm sipping on some Fenugreek & Skullcap Tea for a sinus headache I developed yesterday and it's doing the trick.

I actually teach a class in medicinal teas. Teas are just as effective as pills and for we banders, much easier to swallow. And the good news is that they are much more cost effective. And if the valerian doesn't work well for you, I would suggest Kava Kava, Melissa, Chamomile, or Melatonin. All come in liquid forms. A few drops in Water, tea or juice will usually do the trick. There's always something soothing about a hot cup of tea.

Oh, and don't forget about your multi-vitamins. There are some amazing liquid vitamins out there. Life's Fortune, Nature's Sunshine Vita-Wave, and many others are comprehensive, decent tasting & best of all, liquid!

I hope this helps and feel free to ask any other herbal questions. I'm here to help. I've spent the last 15 years of my life studying natural health & herbal healing. So feel free to pick my brain anytime.

wow that was a big help....does the flaxseed oil really taste good? I guess if an 8 year old would take it, i could. Cuz I spent a lot of time looking around at Omega 3 gummies/softchews, and they all just sounded gross and even if I found one I liked I would probably end up trying A LOT before finding one that was tolerable and that is a lot of wasted $ I don't have lol.

I ended up buying this stuff called coromega-its like a little ketchup packet that is citrus flavored, the guy an viatmin shoppe said all his customers like it and it does have a tart citrus taste but no fish taste, you can suck it out plain or add it to a smoothie etc. its has 350 of epa and 250 of dha. Although I could not try it cuz my surgery is monday and no-omega 3's allowed pre-op I had my bro and his GF try it and they didnt find it very good, but they can be overdramatic sometimes .

If that doesn't work. I'm going to ask my nutritionist if Omega 3 "mini" gels are ok. I don't know if you've heard of them but as far as I know 3 companies make them, one is made by a company called prothera, one is made by is NOW foods, and the other is made by puritans pride, (all easily located with a google search) and they all claim to be less than 1/2 the size of the regular fish pills, and prothera's site was the only one with a picture of the pill and not just the bottle, but I can't really tell from the pic the exact size, nor do I know which one is "actually" the smallest of the 3.

Being an herbalist, have you seen any of the mini softgels? are they "mini" enough for us LB patients? Also some people on this board say they were told not to take anything bigger than a tic tac, and other posts I have read said they were told they could take standard sized capsules, so I'm a bit confused about that. I am confused as to the message are they saying "take them if you can tolerate them without gagging/throwing", or "even if you can tolerate them they are still not good for your band"?

I think the other stuff wont be too too hard to find, its just I am really sensitive to gross tasting stuff and that is the last thing I was after LB surgery lol. So if the coromega and the mini softgels both don't work out, nice to know I have the flaxseed oil idea. One other question though. I have been reading up on Omega 3's and found this article blip while researching

Not all omega-3s are the same. The three main forms are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). EPA and DHA are considered long-chain forms of omega-3 and are found in fish, fish oil supplements, and algae extract. ALA, the short-chain form, is found in plant sources like walnuts, flax seed, canola and soybean oil, and, to a lesser degree, green leafy vegetables. The body needs to convert the short-chain version to a long-chain version in order to make use of it—but this conversion doesn't happen very rapidly, says Willett.

So knowing this, are there any forms of flaxssed oil that provide EPA and DHA instead of just ALA? I've never delved into the flaxssed linseed oil business b/c I am not vegetarian, so that is new for me.

thanks for the help!

ok, so in my little handbook/guide thingie it says that the best absorbed Protein are the isolates, milk and soy. I get that, but a lot of the shakes like myoplex, muscle milk and pure protein (to name a few) consist of a "protein blend" which usually consists of milk protein concentrate, Caseinates/Casein and maybe a soy product thrown in there.

So my question is does this really matter. Or should you at least get some isolates in (like isolates from 1/2 your daily protein) and then you can have some of the other kinds.

I know all protein is not created equal, I just don't know how equal, so if you would please share how much of your diet these drinks are made up of.... sorry if I'm getting a little neurotic, but I just really don't want my hair to start falling out etc. b/c I am not absorbing my protein. Plus this is a whole new routine and there is so much to learn and so many rules to retain. Did your doctors specify type of protein? or just amount you should be having?

thanks!

ok I only take like 3 precription meds and they are all tiny, but a lot of the supplements I take are capsules with "contents in them" or super big horse pill Vitamins. The multivite, thats easy I can get a chewable. I also take an acidophilus probiotic for my tummy and to help prevent yeast infections, I think thatt wont be too hard to find a chewable. but other questons.....

I take a fish oil supplement, and it comes in a BIG softgel. (I get the omega-3 ones from puritans pride, my whole family takes them they are a mix of like sardine, anchovy and mackeral oil) I will no longer take fish oil if I have to take it by the spoonful or in any other way as a liquid. SO does anyone know if you can buy "tiny" or small fish oil softgels? I dont mind if I have to take 4 or 5 of them, I just don't want to choke.

ok now here is the tricky one. I take this amino acid called n-acetyl cysteine. I take it to help with OCD symptoms, mainly compulsive skin picking. It is currently being used in several clinical trials around the country for obsessive habits such as hair pulling, nail biting, and skin picking with promising results. It also is said to help prevent insulin resistance and diabetes. The thing is, it STINKS and when I say stink, I mean smell the bottle, make you gag stink. It's main odor is rotten eggs because it's primary component is sulfur. I would not take it if it were not in a capsule, the thought of opening the capsule and putting it in ANYTHING makes me want to puke. I may take it if it were in pill form.

And then I take other things that are in capsules, like ginger for nausea, and valerian root for sleep.

pre-surgery I am like the pill taking queen. I could put 20 pills in my mouth and swallow them down all at once with no issues. I don't know about post-op however

what were your restrictions about standard sized capsules?? can you take them at all? please help I am mainly worried about the fish oil but any of these if you can help with suggestions, I would appreciate it. thanks!

yup....its standard for EVERYONE at my hospital who's getting lap band to stay overnight...young or old, healthy or not healthy...sleep apnea or no sleep apnea.....but at least its just overnight...I can deal with one night...any more and I get a little crazy lol...the biggest frusteration I have is getting my normal meds that I take at home ON TIME!!! it seems like no matter how good the hospital is I NEVER get my meds on time...and it really throws my body off...so I have learned now to bring them and just slip them down when theyre not looking....and if they see me and say that I'm not supposed to have those...I say "look, I'm really sorry, but if you guys brought them anywhere NEAR on time I wouldnt have to bring them" even after I ask for them...it takes 1+ hours to finally get them....I am so obsessive with my meds at home....I just cant have that...throws my whole body off....other than that...I dont mind the hospital....esp. since the hospital I am going to isnt unionized so you can actually understand the nurses because they are not all foriegn...

How did your pre op visit go yesterday? My went well.. I was scared for no reason, they DIDN'T find anyway to cancel the surgery. YES!!!!!! I'm sooooo excited!! I can't wait till the 20th... sure wish it was tomorrow!!! Well hope all went well for you too!!

mine is still a green light too.....phew!!!...she was a little dissapointed that I had only lost 3 lbs on the hmr....but I think 3 lbs in less than 3 weeks since I last weighed in is just fine...esp since I have a screwed up thyroid....its getting really close....I'm getting really nervous...good luck with everything...I will be thinking of you!!!!