ouroborous

You can buy generic prilosec (omeprazole) at Costco in bulk rather cheaply. That's what I do, and at one 20mg pill a day before bedtime, it's a trivial expense.

Well, when I say "haven't gained" an ounce, I mean that -- despite the normal peaks and valleys -- it's not like I've lost a bunch of weight and am slowly regaining it. I assumed that's what the question was asking. Instead, I'm still losing. I assume that when I hit my "target" weight (maybe 200-ish pounds, or ~140 lbs lost), my weight will fluctuate... I assume that as I get older, it'll take more work to maintain, and so on. But those are the "normal" problems that "normal" people have, and I am HAPPY to have that problem instead of being morbidly obese with a BMI in the "you gonna die, son" range.

At ~18 mos. out, I haven't gained an ounce. I've lost more than 120 lbs. and am still losing. Who knows, ten years out might be a different story, but I'm perfectly willing to lose 130-140 pounds and gain back 10-15!

You really don't need to tell them anything on a first date; the odds are that nobody will ask. If they ask why you're not eating much, just say "I get full quickly" (the truth). If they ask why you're not drinking, well... why are they asking that? Honestly, if someone pushes you to drink, that's a bad sign; just order a glass of Water. If you choose to volunteer the info, that's up to you, but frankly you don't OWE them any information. There are PLENTY of other things to talk about!

Hate to say it, but if you're typical you're going to have LOTS of stalls and LOTS of periods where the weight just melts off. The important thing is to learn to be patient and not obsess over the scale too much. If you eat right (Protein first, small portions, chew chew chew), drink lots of Water, and exercise, the weight WILL melt away, but you have to be patient. Easier said than done, I know...

Holy crap, that's amazing. To be blunt (we guys are known for that), you've gone from someone I'd put into the "I like her like a friend" category into "she's probably too hot for me" category. Congratulations -- that's tremendous!

There's just no realistic way that carbonated beverages are going to stretch your sleeve after it has healed. That's a very important point: the mechanics of the sleeve while it is healing (less than about two months) and afterwards are very different. Tissue regeneration CAN respond to subtle pressures and stretch out. That being said, once your sleeve is healed and the scar tissue fully formed, it's simply NOT going to happen; carbonation will just got out either end (ie, you'll burp or fart) and won't stretch the sleeve, which I'm told has the consistency of football leather. Find an old football and try to stretch the pigskin on it -- you'll see quickly that a few cc's of carbonation just aren't going to budge that. Still, I don't drink carbonated beverages because they tend to be VERY acidic, and long-term exposure to high-acid environments CAN damage your sleeve (leads to higher risks of things like gastric cancer and staple-line ulcers). It's all empty calories (or in the case of diet pop, just chemical soup), so why not take your sleeve as an opportunity to quit? Pre-sleeve, I drank nearly two liters of diet Coke every day. Now, I haven't had a diet Coke in nearly 18 months. The habit breaks pretty easy once you're past the first month or so

First: I AM NOT A DOCTOR... ask your doctor Second, symptoms of hypoxia (not enough oxygen) would include a bluish tinge to the lips or fingertips. If this is happening -- CALL YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. If you cannot get through to your doctor, call 911. See Wikipedia: Hypoxia (signs and symptoms) Third, figure out what you mean by "difficulty breathing." Can you not take a deep breath? If not, why -- does your breath "catch?" Is there pain, wetness, a cough when you breathe deeply? Any of those might be post-op pneumonia and DEFINITELY should result in a call to the doc. Can you take a deep breath, but it doesn't feel like you have "enough air?" If so, there are two major possibilities: one, some sort of significant oxygen exchange problem. While very dangerous (if true), this is also very rare. Second probable cause is, I hate to say, anxiety. Symptoms of hypoxia OR anxiety include dizziness, "tingling" in the extremities, and nausea. I suffer from anxiety quite a bit and sometimes think "I can't breathe!" The way I combat this anxiety is by closing my eyes (to remove distractions) and forcing myself to take the deepest breath possible. I am always astounded by just how much air I CAN inhale, and this helps me combat the anxiety. Bottom line, you really need to ask your doctor, but these are some basic steps you can carry out to "triage" the issue a little bit.

Thanks for the kind words, all! And, when it rains, it pours -- I weighed myself this morning and I'm down another 2 lbs; 216.1. About one pound from my (new) GOOOOAL... I'm thinking 200 is a reasonable "final" goal.

It was the workouts, pure and simple: if you look at my weight chart on my ticker, you can see that it was leveled out almost to flat, and then started dipping again around June-ish. This is almost exactly when I started hitting the gym again. I didn't change ANYTHING else -- diet is just as good (or bad) as it always was. So it's 100% about MOVING... The nice thing is that I've probably put on 5-10lbs of muscle since June (I bulk up fast), so that my "real" weight is probably even lower (if you subtract the muscle weight). But hey, who's counting?

My high-Water mark weight was just a tad over 338 lbs (scary, now that I think about it). Today, I weighed in at 218 lbs. HUZZAH! In addition, my original goal was 225 -- sorted, thank you very much! -- and then revised down to 215... only 3 lbs away. BAM! I think I'm going to re-revise my goal weight down to 200 lbs now that I'm losing weight again (THANK you, regular gym workouts + cardio!)

Hmm, it may simply be that I'm not using the right shoes. Apparently, as someone with fallen arches, I'm susceptible to "overpronation" (a term that I'd never heard of before!) and I need a specific type of shoe ("motion control") to help keep my gait correct and help absorb shock. The highest rated motion control runner's shoe apparently is "Brooks Addiction 9." Now I just need to find someplace locally that sells them (I won't buy clothing over the internet; how do you know if stuff fits before trying it on?) HOPEFULLY I can keep running, but I'm NOT going to jack up my knees for it. I have a perfectly good recumbent exercise bike in the basement. It's not AS intense as running, but I can ramp up the difficulty level and get a "pretty good" workout.

Yeah, the sweats that I'm wearing while reading this -- working up the gumption to go down to the treadmill and run! -- are way too big and baggy for me. The kicker? Six months ago they were too tight, to the point of pain. Now they're falling off me. And these are the ones I moved down to from my REALLY big sweats...

Keep your doctor informed of your pain levels, and especially any new symptoms. Pain after the surgery is common, especially if it's coupled with a hiatal hernia repair. Quite often this exhibits as pain when taking a deep breath. Consistent, worsening pain that radiates through to your back, inability to take a breath (not pain, but inability), vomiting, and high fever are the things to watch for; if you experience those symptoms, you need to rush to the doctor since you may have a staple line leak. But my guess is that you're just experiencing the normal pain from a VSG plus hernia repair. It will get better! Edit: I should mention that staying mobile (get up and walk around as much as you can) and sipping Water as much as possible will help you recover MUCH quicker.

Well, my scars are still hard lumps of tissue at 16 mos. out. Everyone heals differently. Supposedly taking care to moisturize and massage the scars and the surrounding tissue can help to reduce scarring.

I think that the running may be making my knees sore, which makes me sad. If it's true, I'll probably have to stop running; it's GREAT exercise, but you can't mess around with your knees. Ruin them and you're in for (literally) a lifetime of pain and limited mobility. One piece of advice that I saw in re sore knees and running was to work on really beefing up the supporting muscles (quads, hamstrings, etc.) I may focus on that at the gym for a while, and go back to my recumbent bike for a bit. Maybe when I'm 10 pounds lighter I'll try again...

B12 is arguably the MOST important of the Vitamins that we take, so don't fool around with it. Unlike the other vitamins, B12 deficiency can cause permanent, irreversible neurological damage. So if it's low, do whatever the doctor recommends in order to get it back up. One suggestion is to try different kinds of supplements; not all bariatric vitamins are created equal, and if you use the cheap bulk stuff you may end up doing more harm than good. IMO, it's worth it to spend a few extra dollars on vitamins, especially as a sleever. They're essentially our lifeline.

You have nothing to be ashamed of. Instead of focusing on the 6 pounds you've regained, focus on the nearly 70 you've lost, according to your weight ticker. I find that redirecting focus from the negative to the positive is one great way to get back on track. I strongly doubt that the pouch "reset" does much aside from remind you how little food you actually "need" and changing your habits a little, but if it helps you, go for it. The BEST thing for you, I think, would be to focus on your goals and be task-oriented; instead of dwelling on what a "failure" you are (which gains you nothing, discourages you, and may send you into a spiral of emotional eating), focus on "what needs to be done." Doing this removes the emotional component and clears your head to let you figure out "what's next." That's how I (mostly) stay on track.

The hair loss will stop and (slowly) reverse on its own. All that these supplements will do is drain your bank account (and possibly make you sick if you're not lucky). Just like people who take zinc swear that it makes their colds go away (when in fact, colds go away on their own), people who take Biotin or silica (aka: sand; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica) will "swear" that it makes their hair grow back -- when in fact that's just the body's natural regrowth process happening. I know it's hard to be patient, but unless there is significant *scientific* research showing that it stimulates hair growth, you're better off just waiting and taking care of your general health.

Ascorbic acid is Vitamin C. Citric acid and ascorbic acid are both non-toxic preservatives and flavor enhancers, but they are STRONGLY acidic and will definitely make your acid reflux worse. And yes, OTC omeprazole (I get mine bulk at costco, and it works a treat) is identical to the much-more-expensive Prilosec. If prilosec works for you, Omeprazole will too. Expect to have acid problems for a few months until you learn what you can safely eat and get your acid-blocker regimen figured out. It's not pleasant, but (in my opinion) it's a small price to pay in order to leave the ranks of the obese... And it DOES, eventually, get better (although I suspect it will never 100% go away).

...is hard! I'm up to 10 minutes at 5.5mph now, followed by 10 minutes at a walking pace (3.5mph/4.0mph) to cool down. I'm hoping to get up to eventually 30 minutes at 5.5-6.0mph, but I can tell -- it's going to take a while. That being said, 10 minutes at 5.5mph gets me dripping sweat, so it must be pretty good exercise for this middle-aged guy. My heart rate gets up to around 155, which is right between the "I can still talk" range and "I can... *pant*... still talk... *pant*". I'm just hoping to build cardiovascular strength and endurance, and burn yet more calories. <20% body fat, here I come! Edit: one thing I'm thankful for: now that I weigh 220 instead of 330-ish, I can actually RUN without, you know, blowing out my knees or crippling myself for a week!

Well, I finally broke my six month stall around 225-230. I'm down to 222 as of today, and consistently losing about .5% body fat per week. The trick? Nothing really, aside from exercise. Around the beginning of June, I started going to the gym really seriously again, and for the past few weeks I've been walking about 2.5 miles per day (plus ramping up to a little running). It's paying off; along with losing a great deal of fat, I'm getting sort of buff! Anyway, looking at my body weight chart (if you click on my weight ticker you can see it) you'll see that right around the end of June, my weight curve starts dipping again. Now that I'm taking accurate body fat/skeletal muscle readings with the gym's body composition monitor, I can see that my body fat is decreasing and my skeletal muscle % is increasing about .2% per week. This is exactly the direction you want. IF I can keep this up -- continuing to lose .5% body fat per week -- I should be able to get to my "dream goal" of under 20% body fat by around December. That will put me squarely in the "healthy" range for both body fat and BMI, with a weight around 205-210. And by that time my muscle should be up 2-3%, which works out to around 5-10 pounds of solid muscle packed on (so actually my weight might not drop to 205 if I keep packing on the muscle; I might end up at 210, just buff as heck and relatively cut), which is damned good for a 41 year old man who was 330 lbs just over a year ago! Now I just need to figure out how to start changing up my gym routine to keep it interesting and challenging!

I'm pretty sure that just eating lots of fiber won't damage your colon in ANY way, no matter how old you get. In fact, I have yet to see any indications that a high fiber diet has any negative consequences, aside from possibly a little flatulence at first, and in the specific case of someone with diverticulosis during a flare-up. That's it -- otherwise, taking lots of fiber (including "laxatives" like Metamucil that are just megafiber) won't hurt you in any way. In the short term, however, I wouldn't worry too much about not pooping unless you're suffering in some other way (pain, vomiting, etc.) Of course: talk to your doc

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110821141128.htm

Thanks for the kind words, folks. I know what I need to do -- stick with it, count my calories, stay healthy, and exercise as much as I can tolerate. It's just frustrating that this last little "jelly roll" won't go away (and no, it's not loose skin, unfortunately, although that's a separate issue!)