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hey hey! Sorry I missed you! I don't get on the computer often to check this site and for some reason I do not get notifications on my app of people responding to me. I am officially 175.8 lbs today and it is day 168 since surgery:) I see you still have not had surgery yet. I just wanted to encourage you. The fears of loose skin, complications, failing to reach goal, and wondering if bariatric is best for you are all very common emotions and concerns preop. There are truly no words though to explain how amazing this journey of self love is! I am not only losing physical weight at an incredible pace but I swear I am being healed from emotional baggage that has weighed me down for years at that same incredible rate as well. There's no way to fathom exactly what I am talking about until you experience it, but I hope you give yourself this opportunity because you deserve it! No more back pain, no more hip pain, no more sweating profusely, no more FUPA stickin out like an awning over my vag, no more getting creative about how the hell I'm gonna reach my hand to my butthole to wipe... LOLOL...seriously, I could go on but I may be a little too transparent for some folks lol. I have been the happiest that I have ever been in my life since surgery though so please update us when you have it and I hope to see the update at that time! I am cheering for you and am excited for you to experience this journey!

Congrats on your surgery. What’s your plan? At 4 weeks most are just starting soft food - think mushy foods, soft fish, stews, etc., foods with little bite, crunch or chew. Pork skin wouldn't be considered a soft food neither would pizza or a pizza alternative. It’s important to go through the stages so you don’t damage your tummy, etc, post surgery - you’re still healing. Were you given a a food plan of what you can or can’t eat in the first couple of months by your surgeon &/or your dietician? At 4 weeks, I wasn’t hungry at all & was lucky if I could eat about 1/4 cup of food three times a day, no snacking. Are you really hungry or is it head hunger? If your craving foods you used to eat like chips, pizza, etc., it’s likely head hunger & not real hunger. If it’s a legitimate hunger, try eating small pieces of protein like cheese, chicken, egg, yoghurt or sip a protein shake or some broth. I found that sprinkling a little extra salt on food like egg, cucumber or chicken helped with any desire for a salty snack. There’s a lot of learning about why you eat, what you eat & why you eat and the weight loss phase is the best time to understand what all that means for you. Now’s the time to break old food habits & start new ones. You’ll be able to work it out. If you’re feeling lost or confused, speak to your dietician, your medical team or bring it up in this forum - lots of people here happy to help. Hope I don’t sound like I’m lecturing. ☹️ We all have our own experiences on this journey. Good luck on yours.

I found pork skin have satisfaction with salsa have same effect and taste of potatoe chips when hunger is running also a boiled egg will help u get over the hunger hump! I’m 4 weeks out and am losing 2 lbs a week no complications any body got ideals about a pizza replacement???

I know this guy...he's the typical skinny nerd type, bad skin, computer guy, has lots of money. The first time I met his wife was at a fundraiser for a Catholic school, and she had HUGE fake boobs and was wearing a super low cut dress. It was super inappropriate given the type of event, there were priests and nuns there, etc. LOL!! The guy has a very long last name that's kind of fun to say, if that makes sense. My husband whispered in my ear "Mrs. Lastname" in the funniest voice, and ever since that day when we see someone with huge fake boobs, we always say "Mrs. Lastname" in that same funny voice and tone. So needless to stay, I'm allowed to go big, but not Mrs Lastname big!! ha ha ha ha!!! Even if I did 650s I would still be much smaller than she is! LOL!!

I remember when I looked at my stomach for the first time. I was convinced my belly button was too high! I know they don't move it, the just move the skin around it but it looked really high. I actually went online and looked at underwear sites to make sure it was ok! The problem was I had so much swelling I couldn't tell where my waist actually was. And, after I thought about it, I realized I hadn't seen my belly button on a flat abdomen in so long I wasn't sure where it was supposed to be! After all the swelling went away I finally have a waist now and my belly button is fine! And I can't believe how my measurements have changed!

The skin on my body improved too. I used to have dry skin with bumps on my arms & my legs would get super itchy. Didn’t matter how much moisturiser I used or how much I exfoliated there was never a change. Now I have soft smooth skin. My legs still get a little itchy in odd occasions but no dry skin anywhere. It’s like the lotions are working now but I use less than half the amount I used too. Lol! I love my skin now. So soft. I often find i’m gently caressing the skin on my arms & legs. 😂. I’ve even had people compliment me on my skin. I think it’s because of the greatly reduced sugar & carbs in my diet. It’s a great non scale victory.

I totally understand what you are saying. I saw an immediate improvement in my skin, with it being more soft, no blemishes, and generally looks 100% better and more healthy. I am day 6 post surgery and I had comments from hubby about it too. Small wins.

I know this sounds weird, but I feel like fat is *actually* coming out through my pores: my skin is super soft and it feels like I've put lotion on when I haven't. My husband noticed too. Is this a thing? I'm not complaining mind you, it's just really odd, especially given that it's winter. I know that in some extreme diets you're not allowed to use conditioner or lotions because it absorbs in the skin (supposedly).

AWWWW Jaelzion - Thank you for keeping me in your heart !!! Yes, I am still around ! More than 10 years later you CAN take some control back. If Depression is a problem, talk to your doctor - even your regular doc and ask about a referral for therapy or for some medication - antidepressants are a wonderful help - and although they take 6 to 8 weeks to kick in well, they can really help you to lift yourself out of a chemical imbalance that causes us to have depression. (yeah, I am a therapist/social worker too !!) But do not allow yourself to be depressed about YOURSELF. Take one thing. Just one thing and turn it positive. Mine was "no more fried potato food" I stopped eating french fries and potato chips. Then I added more healthy foods back to my diet. I remembered how much I really liked eating healthier .... and I added more and substituting a healthy choice for a not so healthy one is a VICTORY EVERY DAY. And not eating out ? I forgot how much added salt is in things. THAT took weight off me too. No, it isn't easy. But I did it. I have kept those 45 pounds off since October 2020 and here it is January 2021 and .... I have lost another 2 pounds. I know, not alot. But I had told myself that at 45 pounds I was stopping and going to maintain my weight. Maybe lose 5 pounds in the next year. Maybe not. And look at that. 4 months and down 2 more pounds ! YES AND WHOOPPEE for meeee !!!! Celebrate your victories like crazy ! I will be 65 years old this year - actually in a couple months... and I will weigh what I did in graduate school when I was .... 25 ! I am not thin. I won't ever be thin. I am "overweight" for my height and age. And you know what ? I am okay with that. Because I WAS SUPER MORBIDLY OBESE. I weighed over 300 pounds. I now weigh 173. My BMI WAS 58 - it is now 31. And IF i were to have the extra skin removed ? I would probably lose another 10 pounds easily. But I don't need to do that. Or want to. I'm good. Figure out where you can be "good" with yourself. Then start on the road. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Hi everyone! Thank you for your kind replies! ❤️ means so much to me! So here is the update. I had my gastric sleeve surgery on November 29th 2020. I am now 1 month and approx 1 week - The first week post op was HORRIBLE! my doctor and nurses didn't give me strong enough pain killers. There was more pain of the Gas they insert + the anesthesia rather than the actual surgery! 3rd day when i got back home i had a fever for about 3 - 4 days so the doctor kept me on antibiotics for a full week. Thankfully everything was fine - was just my body adjusting. After the fever ended i had trouble sleeping. First week and half I slept sitting on the couch - my neck, head and everything just hurt all the time. Was a complete struggle! Onceeeeee i was able to sleep things started to get better. I got annoyed of the liquid diet into the 3rd week and when i was allowed to have purreed i was a little happier. Finally now i am on soft/all foods - Nutrionist has told me to go slowly see what my stomach handles what it doesn't. I've managed to stay away from GERD and ACID reflux i am very happy about that! But yes - i have had dizzy spells, have puked. I've managed to loose approx 13kgs till now. January has been slower every since i started solid foods. So a little disappointed but too early i guess to be disappointed. People already see a huge change. I started work again so that does make me quite happy. Still a very longgggg way to go. question - doctor has kept me on 800 calorie diet for the remainder of the year with low card low/no sugar and lots of protein. out of your experience is that the right path? Im keeping up with all my vitamins, thankfully I'm easily able to swallow pills - so I'm very happy abt that. Will start working out properly soon - have already started walking and even riding a bike =D Thank you for the insight. Apologies for the delayed update - the surgery took a whole month out of my life :P! but I'm here now! I've written my update above Yay! good to know i made the right call! Hello fellow Dubai-ite! glad to see you here! I'm glad this forum has people from around the word helps us see everyone's experiences - it surely has helped me this past few months looking for answers.

I think you should warn the surgeon about everything. Because we are all human and we can't always see all the important details. He can be a good surgeon, but perhaps because of the stress at work, he may not notice any of your sleeves, so it is better to warn him about everything in advance. My friend recently had cosmetic surgery after she went to a skin clinic care to remove scars on her body and she also had a face thread lift skin care clinic and she was very satisfied with the results. Before she talked with the surgeon about the operation, they discussed everything in advance, and only after that, the surgeon examined her.

I think it's very similar. I think the progression through the food staged are the same. You may experience dumping or not. You may initially loose weight from the surgery but you can maintain your weight if you are diligent (or gain weight if you are not careful) You may also have a different type of full sensation (or lack thereof) Recovery may be similar to your first WLS or slightly faster (especially if this will be done laparoscopically) since it will correct a problem. Good Luck ♥️

Hi I haven't been on one of these forums in a looong time. I had a sleeve done in 11/2010. It has gone well and MOST of the time I hovered between 185-210 (which was fine with me as I was nowhere near my high of 300). about 1.5 yrs ago I started having trouble keeping some foods down...I figured I was just eating too fast or too much. I was losing weight but not too fast. I had post-menopausal bleeding in 12/2019 so we did the whole cancer check thing (esp with the vomiting becoming more of an issue). Everything came out fine so I was referred to a GI who found a hernia. Had this repaired in 6/2020. Since then I have done well to keep anything but liquids down. I had an upper GI done and my stomach is the shape of a barbell. (1/3 normal sleeve, middle 1/3 severely narrowed, last 1/3 normal sleeve). Referred to another GI who did another EGD and colonoscopy and found I had almost a complete blockage in my stomach (11/2020) (he also got a good view of how I look like skin and bones without clothes which I think REALLY concerned him). He sent me straight to the ER to be admitted and I had surgery 2 days later which ended up being them taking the scar tissue that was wrapped around my stomach out. Still no improvement. My new GI had his nurse call me because he wanted to have an appointment (12/28) and see how I was doing post surgery (5 weeks out). He immediately ordered ANOTHER upper GI (12/30) which looked exactly like the one from October. We discussed going to a different surgeon and I picked a new bariatric surgeon (I tried a few but they wouldn't take me since they didn't do my original surgery in 2010 and the one who did is no longer in network). Once the surgeon saw my upper gi results he had his nurse move my appointment up a week. (1/5). My GI sent a message to the surgeon prior to my appointment so he had a heads up about me. First he wasn't happy I hadn't been referred earlier to him by my first GI. He said there is no fixing the middle part of my stomach and the only thing to do is revise to an RNY. He wants to do it as soon as ins approves. (Today I spoke with them and it is marked high priority and I should have an answer by tomorrow). I made sure they knew I could only keep liquids down and it had been thing way since June. I also mentioned I have gone from a size 14/16 in Dec 2019 to 4/6 now. (I just bought a size 4 straight skirt and it fits perfectly). I have a TON of loose skin but clothes hide it. In July I just bought a new bra 36 B now I am a 32A. The guy on the phone at Aetna took these notes to add to my file in addition to the ones my surgeon sent (the upper gi series, etc). Originally my file wasn't marked high priority until someone on the clinical team looked at it. SO, now you have my LOOONG backstory. I am kind of scared about the RNY. How is the recovery? This will be my 3rd surgery in 7 months. My body has not been getting the calories it needs for quite a while now (even protein shakes take a long time to get through). It's actually probably a miracle that I am still able to function as well as I have been at work. All of the covid changes have been kicking my rear but it has been a very productive year for me despite this whole mess. Thankfully I have an amazing admin assistant and colleagues who have been pitching in here and there to help when I absolutely needed it...but I am a workaholic so I have taken very little time off for recoveries. What can I expect of an RNY rather than the sleeve? Has anyone had any complications like this so far out from the original surgery? Obviously I am not doing this to lose weight...I am actually doing it to gain weight. This has really been crazy mentally after all those years worried about losing weight. sorry for the book. I would love input from anyone :)

Thank you for posting this question. I have been in the same moment. 4 weeks post op and 17 lbs down. The scale not moving but my clothes are hella loose. I have always gained muscle first then lose the weight. Let's hang in there.

Just got back from pre op. I went into with the idea that I wanted 225cc implants. The surgeon wants to to go bigger. She promises they will look great. So we agreed anything between 350 and 550, and she will decide during surgery what looks best. I like that I’ll be surprised. Lol!! She wanted me to consider 650s but I drew the line there! I said maybe if I was 25 but I’m too old for those kind of boobs! Lol! As for the TT she is going to extend the incision past my hips bc I have so much loose skin which I’m happy with! She also said that I don’t have any fat to lipo on my flanks (it’s all skin) so she found a little on my back to do instead, but it won’t be 1 liter. I’m glad I don’t have much fat but hope I can still get that snatched look without lipo to the flanks. Hoping she’ll find some more fat when she gets in there! No matter what I’m excited!! Attaching pics of me in all my saggy glory. This first pic is without implants. The rest are with the 350s. I’m showing my saggy thighs too for research purposes bc sometimes the TT can give the thighs a little lift. I'm hoping to get a little oomph but am prepared if that doesn't happen.

I had surgery on Nov 17th and have been dealing with this as well. I did fine for the first two weeks of liquid post op and first 2 weeks of purees. Then the excessing loose bm started. At the suggestion of my surgeon and dietitian I went back to clear liquid for 24 hours and it stopped. So the general feeling it's food related. Now I'm adding things in slowly and figuring what foods are triggering it. So far artificial sweeteners and certain proteins have triggered it. I'm only in my second week of reintroducing things and I'm hopeful it will continue to improve!

I have had loose, frequent stools ever since my surgery. I will occasionally take Imodium in the morning if I know I am going to be in a situation where I might not have easy access to a restroom for a while. I carry an "emergency kit" when I go hiking, and there have been times that I have needed it. There has always been a lot of gas as well. This is the only down side so far to my surgery. I'm hoping it will improve as time goes on. I'll be asking my NP about it next month at my 2 year follow up.

Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and is not used to treat nausea, loose stools or UTI's.

I had my gastric bypass done Oct 23rd. While in the hospital immediately following surgery I developed loose bowels. Still as of today Jan 5th I still have this issue. I constantly feel nauseous and get frequent urges to go, which I always end up going. I'm following all directions, and when I advised the doctors/PA/dietian, etc... They all say the nausea will go away. If I'd have known my body was going to react this way I would have definitely rethought about it. I'm now also dealing with my 2nd UTI in a month! I have another appointment scheduled on the 13th but I'm not feeling optimistic. Anyone else with these issues, if so any suggestions?

LOLolololzzzz...I had to re-read this sentence as at first I was all "What the?? she can see through her eyelids? Or Are her eyelids drooping over her eyeballs??" Then I realized you were talking about looking at yourself in the mirror. Duh. (I'm tired, I really need to go to bed lol). Armpits. They are concave now, so they are so much harder to shave (although there is a lot less to shave as my armlift had removed much of the part that grew armpit hairs!) Head circumference. Hats that were snug or well fitted 2 years ago are now loose and floppy. Back of neck hump. I used to have a fatty piece of flesh at the base of my neck at the back. It made me look like I was jutting my head foward when looking at me from the side. That lump is gone now, and like you, my neck looks longer, and also curvier from the side (at the front too, lol) Stretch Marks/Cellulite. I thought these would be with me forever even after the weight loss, but to my surprise, they are gone (mind you, I did have plastics, so some of that skin may have been cut off, but areas that weren't touched by plastics have dramatically improved: back of legs, side of thighs, lower part of butt). Nose: Everyone I've asked says they see no difference, but *I* do. Its smaller/less wide now.

I’m going to second what catwoman said. I was very worried about loose skin pre op. Boy, do I have it! Belly, breasts, thighs and arms. However, I wouldn’t change my decision to proceed with my VSG. I’m so much healthier, have so much more energy, look better in clothes (and can choose clothes that I actually like rather than just what fits). I’m scheduled for plastic surgery next week and the loose skin will be gone. This surgery is by far the best decision I ever made.

I'd rethink the lapband. A lot of people have had those removed, and most surgeons won't do them anymore. They've largely been replaced by the sleeve. you may or may not have a lot of loose skin. A lot depends on how much you have to lose and how long you've been overweight. If you're talking 100+ lbs, then yes - you'll probably have loose skin no matter how fast or slow you take the weight off. I want to add that most of us are worried about loose skin when we're pre-ops or early post-ops, but for those of us a ways out from surgery, most wonder why we worried about it. It's such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. It's really easy to hide for most of us, and I would say most if not all of us would take the loose skin any day over being morbidly obese again. ANY DAY! also wanted to add that I did eventually have my loose skin removed, but this is a picture of me BEFORE I had it removed. I lost over 200 lbs, so I had a TON of it. See it? Nope. The right clothes will hide it well!

Hi, I'm located in NYC. I'm 25 years old and considering lap band surgery at NYU. I am 5'4 and 260 pounds. While about 75% of me is for the surgery i still do have concerns that hopefully some of you can inform me on. I was wondering how many of you have had the surgery and had loose skin afterwards? I've read that the younger you are the less likely you are to have loose skin . I've also read that because the lap band doesn't make you loose weight as fast as the sleeve or bypass, another reason why i many not have loose skin. But i wanted to know how common it is with the lapband. Secondly, how many people have had this surgery within the last 2-3 years and have complications? I've been told that the newer lapbands are causing less complications in comparison to the older ones.

Hey thank you all for responding, I asked my coordinator and she couldn't really answer this. I will make sure I check with my surgeon also. I really want to try to loose some weight during this 6 months so this really helps ! Thank you

Thank you so much. That really did help. My BMI is 34 and I qualify due to hypertension, sleep apnea and high cholesterol. Believe it or not it was the sleep apnea that qualified me the most. I did loose 20 lbs since May, but it is creeping back pound by 4 pounds. Thanks for the good advise.