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I agree with the others, contact your surgeon and let them know. It isn't unusual to have intolerances to protein shakes early on. I couldn't stomach them for the first several weeks. I could get in my fluids though, with diligence, but they had to either be very cold or very warm, my stomach didn't like anything in between, and even with fluids I would get this intense twisting pain with every swallow, like my stomach was trying to cartwheel inside me! But after the two week mark this started to ease. I was able to water down protein water and get it in. Then I was able to thin out protein shakes with milk and get them in. I was still nauseated daily until the 8 week mark, but meds helped with that. My surgeon said this whole track wasn't unusual, I was one of those rare patients that got the side effect of stomach spasms post surgery and they usually calm down after a few weeks. He was right! By weeks 3-4 I could drink most things without pain, as long as I kept sipping rather than trying to gulp. I'm 3 months out and still can't gulp... But this is definitely a situation where you want your surgeon's office aware of how you are feeling so they can send you in for fluid infusions if you start to show signs of dehydration. Dehydration is the number 1 complication of bariatric surgery in the early weeks, plenty of people end up with hydration infusions until the swelling goes down in their tummies enough they can get their water in.

This is a very informative research article from the NIH website that should help put your mind at ease. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3345131/ The TL/DR is you can have a safe pregnancy and can certainly have a natural delivery if there are no complications, just as you would without bariatric surgery. Most doctors suggest waiting a year or two before getting pregnant. You want to lose the weight first, and you want to be at a point where you can eat enough calories to sustain the pregnancy in a healthy way. By losing weight, you are likely to have increased fertility and a healthier pregnancy for you and the baby.

Yeah, I got a pack of these freezer safe glass 4 oz baby food jars on Amazon and they've been really helpful with portioning!! At first I could only eat about half of one, so about 1/4 cup total. A bit less if it was solid protein in meat form other than fish (beef, chicken, and pork sit heavier). That was it for about two months. In this third month my portion size suddenly increased to about 1/2 cup in total now! As far as meat and veggies are concerned at least. I have always been able to eat a little more of soft things like yogurt and pudding... But my PA told me that increase at 3 months is perfectly normal, and I could expect it to increase in stages throughout the first year or two, to not panic over it, hunger is natural and mine never went away from surgery, so I've really had to cultivate a healthy relationship with it. Because those stomach nerves are still healing, I watched my portion size carefully and really paid attention to discovering new fullness cues. For me those are a runny nose, hiccups, burping, and aggressive sneezing fits! Plus this building pressure or weight in the center of my stomach. These are all normal signals for bariatric patients, but we all get our own unique combination so be on the lookout for discovering yours! I think 2-3 shakes a day paired with things like yogurt and soft cereals seems really normal. It is great you are progressing so well! The problem with forums and support groups is we get used to seeing people post with problems and then we expect to have a slew of problems ourselves! And sometimes we do. But often times we don't... The majority of bariatric patients have no complications, progress their diets easily, and worry about eating too much and if their surgeon even did their surgery. 🤣 Your metabolism has been reset, it will handle calories a bit differently now. Just stay on the conservative end with simple carbs, as they can slow weight loss sometimes. Focus on that hydration and protein, and later on when cleared for all foods, on adding complex carbs like veggies, beans, and some fruit. Protein will help with the hunger, as does healthy fat and the fiber once it is safe for you to digest. My dietician told us to think more about macros than calories. So, to make sure things had less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, more than 20 grams of protein per shake, less than 10 grams of fat per serving, and keeping our total carbohydrates for the day under 50 grams in the early months...and that was their advice for all surgeries, with varying protein goals for each different one. Baritastic app has been really helpful with the tracking!

Stories like this make me so sad... My condolences to her family and friends. She should not have been released to fly so early, the most dangerous post op complications usually show up in the first two weeks after surgery. It is absolutely ridiculous that people from countries like the US and UK are having to risk their lives going to places like Turkey for surgery because they can't get coverage for their surgeries thanks to **** insurance companies, or because they are on a waiting list that will take 5 years and require a crazy amount of hoops and delays. Obesity is a disease, not a moral failing. Bariatric surgery is life saving, life giving surgery that in the long run saves insurance companies and government healthcare a **** ton of money because patients who are successful with it often lose their pre-existing conditions, go off numerous medications, and avoid the complications of obesity in their lifetime... A good friend of mine recently had her company change insurance providers. She was in the process of getting her last appointments done for bariatric surgery. But the new insurance excludes all bariatric surgeries... She can't travel to Mexico even if she could afford it because of her complicated medical history. I'm so angry that ANY company or ANY insurance company can just decide not to provide coverage for these surgeries.

Hi all. I have been on bariatric pal since last June. I was scheduled for a Loop DS September but had a complication with AFib. This has been addressed and I am scheduled for Monday 1/29/24. I just wanted to say this topic for me has been most helpful. I see many posts about protein, eating often and low carbs. I think for me this is very helpful. The nutritionist I'll be working with works in the bariatric department. I expect I'll be utilizing her often. Just as an aside I have been on Atkins type diets often including the original Atkins in 1971. Great information, thank you.

I think most doctors tell their revision patients not to expect much weight loss. It disappoints many. I remember mine telling me 20 lbs. at most and only in the beginning since hunger comes back by year 2. Something like that. I had my revision done due to complications of the lapband, and then gerd from the sleeve. I think you'll find the RNY much more comfortable to live with compared to the lapband. For one, it's a lot easier to eat. I remember I couldn't eat bread and many things without gagging when I had the lapband. I can eat anything I want now without that feeling. I think if one wants to lose a lot of weight after a revision, they have to really follow the rules and work at it. Especially after the hunger comes back. I really think you'll be able to maintain the weight that you are happy with.

Hi! I was banded with a Realize band in 2008. Went from 235 to 150 and I've been between 150 and 165 for years. I'm now having serious complications with the band. Lots of complications but the worst is an "oozing sore" around 75% of my Esophagus. I've had such great success with the band and I'm nervous about going to a RNY. I really don't want to weigh less than 150. Is a revision just going to put me back into rapid weight loss? Any revision weight loss/gain stories are greatly appreciated. I need someone to hold my hand!

Wow, you look amazing!! What a stressful month though! I wonder why your body decided to kick out your implant. This isn't weird for people who have autoimmune diseases (our bodies are extra emo about foreign occupants), but I have heard of it in perfectly healthy people too. I'm glad the asymmetry isn't too dramatic, that gives you time to heal up and consider what to do next. You had soooo much done at once, I think given the complications you've faired pretty well all in all! I am so glad to hear you feel at home in your body now. That is a priceless win and well worth the pain. I hope you have a much smoother healing process from here on out!

None of them. Get it because it's all a waste of money. The biggest waste of money I have ever spent. You pay for it. Then you have all kinds of complications and problems. So basically you pay for medical problems. I hope they start some kind of lawsuit against them for it. Because they don't care what they do to people just as long as they're making money. When I was getting mine taken out? I was told that people are constantly getting them taken out. The place that I went through to get mine isn't even in business anymore. What is that tell you?

I had my lap band removed in November of 2023. It was the best thing that ever did. Getting a lapband was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life in the biggest waste of money. It was a complete rip-off. They give you nothing but false hope. I paid for it on my own. I basically just threw $10000 away. I never lost weight. What did happen was a bunch of complications and side effects. Reflux excessive gas. Severe pain in my chest and shoulder blade area. Vomiting food up of course. I wouldn't recommend getting a lap band to my worst enemy. 2 months after getting it out. I still have excessive gas. On a good note, most of the other things that I mentioned have subsided. I can't wait for the lawsuits to start being filed. I will be right there with them. My money should be returned to me because it never worked. Like the old saying, goes. If it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.

Holy hell, that's an insane amount of complications!!! Do your doctors think they are from the specific type of surgery you ad, or maybe from having a major surgery in itself?

Yes my date is Monday 1/29, starting the diet this Sunday 1/12. I'm having Loop Duodenal Switch. I am also pre-diabetic and have had GERD for a long time. I'm mainly nervous about surgery complications. I'm 68 years old. I think as long as the surgery is successful without any major complication I am strong willed enough to handle most anything after the surgery. As they say, we'll see.

My god that is terrible and I wish you all the best. I had sleeve surgery in 2023 and had side effects but nothing to that extent and I am not sure what was due to possible hospital errors or just bad luck for me. I ended up with severe pancreatis and then infections because of a hole in my stomach. The hospital tried a few attempts of clipping the hole but that didn't work and now I have a coil/tube in the hole to hopefully have the hole heal around it over the next few months. If that doesn't work I may have to get bypass. I spent three months in hospital instead of just the one expected night, some for weeks on a feeding tube , had to get a transfusion and a lot of antibiotics. I am suffering severe exhaustion, not sleeping well and at times feeling quite down. I can't walk far without feeling weak and if I do something one day (like go to supermarket) I need the next day to recover. At times I question if I would have been better going down the medication route, but as I don't have diabetes and there are no studies yet available on how the injections impact long term I thought surgery was the safer bet, I really doubt that now. I still get stomach pains at times and I honestly don't know if that is due to the surgery complications or if everyone gets them. I nearly called for an ambulance on new years day I was in so much pain. I keep trying to be strong for my family, as they don't live in the same country as me and get very worried, but I find it is adding to my exhaustion. Some days I just have a bit of a cry as I feel there is no-one to compare myself to and it is all such an effort.

My goodness, that's a very severe incident. Given the very low complication rate for your surgery, I would guess you might only find a handful of people in the country who had an experience like that. Since it's been a year, I'm curious how have things gone since that time? Have you made a full recovery? Have you had additional issues? Did they ever figure out what happened?

most people with bypass don't have complications- and of those who do, they are usually minor and correctable (or in the case of dumping, preventable). Major complications with bypass are pretty rare. only about 30% of bypass patients dump. I never have, and neither do most of the other bypass patients I know. For those who do dump, it can usually be prevented by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting (which none of us should be doing *anyway*). I threw up occasionally the first few weeks after surgery when I ate too much, too fast, or something that my stomach wasn't going to tolerate, but now I throw up about as often as I did pre-surgery - that is, very rarely. And as for food intolerances, most of those are temporary, but some can become permanent. But you'll figure out what your body will and won't tolerate pretty quickly. re: only eating a couple of bites of food. That's only in the first few weeks after surgery. For the last several years, no one would be able to tell I've had bypass surgery by watching me eat. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", like many of my women friends who've never been obese. When I go to restaurants, if I'm not that hungry, I'll order something like an appetizer, soup, or a salad. If I AM hungry, I'll order an entree, eat half of it, and box up the rest to take home. Most of my women friends do the same thing. you're probably seeing more issues with bypass for two reasons: 1) it's a much, much more common surgery than SADI. As in a LOT more people have bypass than SADI, so of course you'll see more on it. 2). after people get over the first few weeks (which can be tough with either surgery), they usually only post when they're having some issue, because they're looking for advice or support. People who've never had issues (which would include most of us) aren't likely to post that everything is hunky-dory. as far as which to choose, they're both good surgeries. Advantage of SADI is it's a stronger surgery, and you'll likely lose more weight with it. Disadvantage is regular doctors (as opposed to bariatric surgeons) know a lot more about bypass than they do about SADI, so your PCP may not be able to help you if you have issues - they may have to refer you to a bariatric specialist (which, of course, is fine - but just something to keep in mind). Also, if you have GERD, bypass is usually the better choice, since it tends to improve GERD, if not outright cures it. SADI involves a sleeved stomach, which can cause GERD in some people (or make it worse if they already had GERD before surgery). It doesn't happen to everyone, but it IS a risk... good luck with your decision!

Hi there! Been on my surgery journey for a few years now and I'm finally coming up on my RYGB surgery date in a couple weeks. It might just be nerves but over the last couple of months I've started to rethink whether I'm making the wrong decision with the going with the bypass. I spoke to my surgeon about a week ago & expressed I might want to switch to SADI. She said it's ultimately my choice, but she feels like RYGB is a better fit for me personally as I have a history of GERD (currently mild) and that she's concerned I might lose too much weight with SADI - I need to lose 100lbs. I've been reading & watching a lot of posts from people that have had each procedure & I'm really concerned with the idea of throwing up & having to eat a couple of bites per meal the rest of my life. The thing is, I rarely see anyone post complications with SADI. They seem to eat small meals but not as small as restrictive as RYGB patients & while they experience diarrhea - I don't see posts about vomiting. I mean, does everyone experience vomiting & dumping syndrome with RYGB? Does anyone know people that have had poor experiences with SADI? Ultimately, am I making the wrong decision by not going with SADI?

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I originally had a sleeve and had several very rare complications that led to needing 7 surgeries in a year to correct everything. I had a revision to the bypass, which made all the difference and was life changing. I hate that the bypass wasn't the same for you. I'm glad you're home and starting on the road to getting better.

Due to complication I am only just now starting a regular diet. I’m doing everything sugar free, but wondering does no sugar mean no sugar ever? Can I eat an occasional slice of pie at an event?

Hello all I was wondering if anyone else has had this rare complication. I got my sleeve done in Mexico Oct 2021. About a year ago, January 2023, I noticed I started to have excessive saliva. It started randomly but picked up more. Well fast forward to January 2024 I got an endoscopy and was told my sleeve is “tortuous” and I have a hernia. This means that my sleeve has a lot of turns. I don’t feel any pain but the acid reflux which was manageable completely prior with one 20mg Prilosec, some days didn’t have to take it at all, has now been more annoying. I’m getting a referral to a Bariatric surgeon here in the states even tho the gastro told me I’ll be fine and don’t need to do anything. I’ve read that a twisted sleeve happens to about less then 2% of sleeve patients. I’ve also read some great success stories of surgeons fixing the twist and hernia without revision to bypass etc. I’m hopeful and not in any pain. But I don’t want it to get worse and it’s just a little overwhelming. Thank you!

Hello all I was wondering if anyone else has had this rare complication. I got my sleeve done in Mexico Oct 2021. About a year ago, January 2023, I noticed I started to have excessive saliva. It started randomly but picked up more. Well fast forward to January 2024 I got an endoscopy and was told my sleeve is “tortuous” and I have a hernia. This means that my sleeve has a lot of turns. I don’t feel any pain but the acid reflux which was manageable completely prior with one 20mg Prilosec has now been a little more annoying. I’m getting a referral to a Bariatric surgeon here in the states even tho the gastro told me I’ll be fine and don’t need to do anything. I’ve read that a twisted sleeve happens to about less then 2% of sleeve patients. I’ve also read some great success stories of surgeons fixing the twist and hernia. I’m hopeful and not in any pain. But I don’t want it to get worse and it’s just a little overwhelming. Thank you!

Hello, my sleeve surgery was done on the 9th with no complications. Very quick recovery from the anaesthetic and no pain, regular paracetamol is enough. A bit of nausea which comes in a wave but only a few times in the past 48hrs. I was up walking after 4hrs post recovery and sipping water. Yesterday I tried jelly and a few spoons of soup. Managed them both but the jelly felt a bit solid. Found raising my arms above my head alleviated the slight discomfort of feeling something stuck in my oesophagus. Going home today, probably could have left yesterday but my oxygen sats we’re sitting at 96, and they wanted them to improve slightly. Walking and moving has achieved that. A much less traumatic experience than I expected, I was concerned about vomiting and was glad this did not happen. I feel grand and am looking forward to developing a new and improved relationship with food and the health benefits that will bring. Good Luck to the other January surgery buddies. 💪

Figured I'd join in! Had DS surgery on 12/18. Pre-surgery weight (about 1-week before) was 415, currently down to 375. Had to spend 4 nights in the hospital due to some complications (had very LOW blood pressure for a couple days due to kidney's not working properly) but improved each day. Felt very little pain (unless coughing/sneezing). Glad to be a part of the community here. Currently in pureed food stage, looking forward to the soft food stage in another week!

The first couple days, just walking up down the hallway or across a parking lot will be all you'll feel like doing, but doing that while moving your arms is enough to get the gas pain to ease up considerably. You will get tired quickly those first few weeks, so plan to do things in short bursts followed by a short rest so you don't overdo it. I had my surgery on a Monday and I went back to work the next Monday, but I do work online from home. I've heard of people getting the sleeve go back to work after like 4 days, but I don't think I would want less than a week. I was able to walk a total of 3 miles on Day 4, but I was still on pain medicine and not thinking clearly. After I weaned off the meds I actually had to slow down for a few days until I adjusted. I did wait a week after coming off the pain meds to drive, but they did make me feel a little loopy and I wanted to play it safe. Physically I guess I could've driven sooner, but ask your doctor to be sure when it would be safe. Pain wasn't bad, just uncomfortable from the gas, but it would've been distracting to try to go back to work sooner. Other procedures are more involved and may need more time off. Same if there's a minor complication, or if your liver didn't shrink enough during the pre-op diet. It won't hurt your healing or weight loss, but the more they have to move around inside you, the longer you'll be sore.

I am struggling for energy also months after the op but did have serious complications so that is part of why recovery is slower but I hope it it kicks up a bit soon. I find I can do one thing during the day like go to shops or for a walk and then need the next day to recover. I am not sleeping well though it is slowly improving however I do struggle to get out of bed most days and I used to be a morning person.

Hi Fifi, from another Fifi I now into my 7th month since sleeve surgery but I had a horrible experience afterwards and spent most of July to Nov in hospital with complications so I have no-one to compare myself against and finding it stressful. I think we just have to remind ourselves that we lose what we need to and don't put pressure on yourself, you have already done great. If going by the BMI charts (which I don't believe in 100% as outdated and everyone is different) you are already almost out of the overweight category so well done. 70.7kg is already slim. I am losing about 1kg a week. Started out at just over 120kg and now down to just under 87kg so still have some way to go to my target but I am already very happy with what I have lost but do hope to get down to within the 'normal' BMI category.