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My surgery-induced hair loss has only just started to turn around, so I know what you are going through and how distressing it can be. I have done two things to help. One is using minoxidil every night before bed. I found a 3-pack on Amazon of a spray (not a foam, which I find too messy) that is so easy to use and costs under $40. For a woman's dose (4 squirts per day), each bottle is supposed to last 60 days. I find it doesn't last quite that long, but I probably get about 6 weeks out of each bottle, making it cost maybe $2.50 a week. I've been using it about 14 weeks and I am seeing tons of regrowth, I would say definitely beyond what I lost. The hair is all short right now, a couple inches in length, but by the summer I hope it will be closer to my above the shoulder hair length. Which beings me to my second trick: hats. I live in a cold weather climate and I bought a bunch of hats, although I had some wide fabric headbands and crocheted bandanas in the fall when it was warmer that also got the job done. Not sure if you are male or female, but for women's styles, try searching for either "slouch caps" or "chemo headwear" online for some lighter weight hats that can help you hide the thinning until it reverses and that are comfortable indoors. Once your weight loss slows, the hair should regrow even on a maintenance dose of Zepbound. It just takes time, way longer than you think! Oh, I should say I had my surgery in Feb 2024, so in terms of when my major weight loss was happening, I'm betting we're at kind of the same stage with the hair loss. And I'm almost 51, so ditto on the age-related issues. But the minoxidil is a game changer.

Happy New Year 2025 everyone!!! 12 weeks out sleeping comfortably on both sides with arms under my pillow. No more aches or soreness waking up. Our December holiday getaway was a wonderful diversion feeling it aided greatly to next stage of healing. The surgeon mentioned colder temperatures might exasperate nerve pain, but I had no issues. We loved the crisper + snowy days. Invigorating! And, samplings of Penn State ice cream was the best medicine indeed.

I live alone too so I had no support in my home. I told a few people, one of which had had the surgery, but apart from phone calls to see how I was I really did it alone. I did get a lot of support and information from this forum and my GP was also supportive and interested in my progress. In saying that, I’m pretty independent and organised & I was very confident and comfortable with my decision to have the surgery. I didn’t have any psychological or emotional issues, was very mobile & didn’t have any co morbidities before my surgery. My recovery was pretty smooth though slow as I had issues with low blood pressure & hypoglycemia. Both of these I had experiences with before but occasionally not regularly and o knew how to manage them. I had no issue getting in or out of bed and my pain was easily managed with the prescribed meds (for about 4 days) and then didn’t need anything. I prepared well with all the over the counter meds my surgeon recommended (not that I needed them all) and had shakes, broths, soups for the first two weeks on hand. So I didn’t have to go anywhere or get anyone to shop for me. I think looking back I probably would have got my groceries for purée and soft food stages delivered simply for the convenience and not having to deal with weight restrictions for carrying things and the lethargy. Grocery shopping can be exhausting, (I did it after my hysterectomy last year & wish I’d done after offer my sleeve and gall removal.) I had a cleaner and a gardener so I agree with @BigSue’s suggestion about that even if it is for just a couple of weeks or so. Not everyone’s recovery is the same. We come in to it at different weights, with different medical histories and different existing medical conditions. There will be similarities but also variations. Do your research. Lots of people have shared their recovery and journey here to give you an idea of what you might experience and give you an idea of what you might experience. All the best.

1kg a month is perfect right now. Instead of thinking in terms of a specific number you should be losing, think in terms of a percentage of your overall weight. This has an advantage in that the actual number to shoot for drops as your weight goes down. The ideal amount for most people would be one to two percent per month (and certainly no more than three percent). This is right where you're at. Believe it or not, slower is actually better here. The faster your weight loss, the more likely you are to be causing your body to decide you're starving to death. When this happens, your body starts doing things that slow down your metabolism to try to keep you from dying. Of course we know intellectually that we're not actually dying, but your body's metabolic regulation system doesn't know that. It's an amazing system, but it was designed before we had almost instant access to unlimited amounts of highly palatable foods. Thanks for clarifying on the new goal. 65kg sounds like a good goal for now and there's nothing wrong with adjusting up or down even more as you get closer to that. Regarding diet, calories and macros, I'd obviously tell you to defer to your dietitian, though I will say I'm very surprised by the recommendation to lower your protein. When dieting, there are literally hundreds of studies that show the advantages of eating more protein. You should know that overall, I personally am not a huge fan of tracking calories. I know that some people here seem to do so effectively, but for me it just does not work. As I mentioned, most of us aren't very good at actually tracking calorie intake accurately. Even more important to me, none of us have any way at all to know how many calories we are actually burning in a day so tracking intake is only showing you one side of the energy balance equation. Plus, energy expenditure can be highly variable day to day, so even if you did somehow know the exact amount you burned today, it's not going to be the same in one month or one year from now. With all that said, if tracking is working for you, don't change it. Do keep in mind that you may have to reduce calories as you continue to lose since the biggest contributor to metabolism day-to-day is body size. Regarding exercise, I'm going to recommend you stop thinking of exercise as part of your weight loss goal. It simply doesn't work. I don't say this lightly, nor to discourage you, simply to state fact. We have a huge amount of evidence now to show that our bodies tend to slow down in other ways in response to exercise. This is something called the constrained energy model. On a practical level, exercise is still critically important for your overall health. In addition, we do have a lot of data that shows people that have lost a lot of weight are better able to maintain the loss if they exercise on average 1 hour or more per day. In short, do it because you'll feel better, because you'll live longer, AND because once you reach goal, you'll have a much easier time keeping the weight off. I think I can speak for most of us here on this board that we have experienced the exact mental anguish you're feeling. It's normal to worry and let doubt creep in, so know that you are not alone, Mental health is not my area of expertise, so my advice will always be please seek help from a mental health professional if you think you need it.

I'm norwegian, and had my surgery in Norway at the best private hospital, so I'm in good hands. I just think the procedure is different here. You are supposed to be on luquid diet for one week, then one week on pureed/soft food, then after two weeks normal food, which means you can eat anything. The guideline is to chew my food very well and eat slowly, a meal should take 20 minutes. And also the drinking-rule. We are also put on Somac after the surgery, that we have to take uptill 3 months after surgery to help with reflux. And I am in contact with my team of doctors, I just wanted to see if anyone else have experienced this.

I actually got below my goal weight around 7–8 months post-op—down to about 161–163 lbs—and stayed there until I got my boobs done (lol). I had the surgery just before hitting my 1-year post-op mark, and honestly, I wouldn’t change that decision for anything. I know people often say to wait until your weight stabilizes, but my plastic surgeon only required that I’d maintained my weight for at least 6 months, which I had at that point. Right now, I’m sitting on the higher end of my weight, around 170–173 lbs, but I’m also lifting a lot more, so some of that is definitely muscle (and the implants, of course). I still fit into size 4 pants and S-M tops, so I’m trying not to stress about that number. (Easier said than done) I work out consistently, with a mix of heavy lifting and cardio. Eventually, I’d love to get a 360 body lift, but one thing at a time, plastics are pricey! Even if I could afford it right now, I’d still want to wait at least another year. I had to take seven weeks off lifting weight after my surgery, so I’m focused on rebuilding and seeing how much I can tighten up on my own before committing to the next step. You're doing amazing! keep it up!

I had a funny one this week. I was walking along a hallway at work with someone I don’t see often. This person said, “I think you are shrinking” to which I responded, “Oh, I’ve never been very tall.” 30 minutes later I realized what he meant - LOL!

That's a great suggestion! I'm actually starting to feel hungry again (5 weeks post op now) so I need to nip this behaviour in the bud now.

I'm an old VSG Vet, had my surgery in 2014. Initially lost a successful amount of weight. had some serious 'life' events- change of job, change to night shift, loss of parent, went to grad school and graduated, went to a second grad program, changed career path, etc. I was told in 2017 I had a serious metabolic issue with my liver and that helped me really get focused, went to keto and lost all the regain I had plus much more, resulting in 100lb total loss. Since then, though, I've regained probably 50-60 lbs. I still feel some restriction which is great. Long time issue has been GERD, it was severe PRE surgery but my quite renowned surgeon assured me that with the weight loss, the GERD would subside. It did. But with the weight gain over last 2 yrs, it's back and BAD. I have EGD and colonoscopy coming up in a few weeks to assess the damage. I'm very scared due to the ongoing severe nature of the symptoms I'm having. I'm a healthcare provider so I know all of the 'things' that could present. Because of all this, I'm heavily considering a revision. I have been on PPI for over 20 years. While my magnesium is fine, my bones are already having a lot of issues AND I'm scared to death of the brain effects. What should I consider with revision, same doctor, different doctor, etc? Also I know that weight loss can be slower, but what type of rate of weight loss can be expected? Lastly, what kind of time off from my career can I hope for? I took 6 solid weeks with my VSG and it helped get my brain, behaviors etc really corrected before going back into the workplace.

I had my gastric sleeve in Turkey on 1/10/24 couldn’t believe have smooth it went, 2.5 weeks post op and not loosing anything this week 😕

This happens now for me, too. It's definitely normal/inevitable. When people are in maintenance (or just people who are not doing anything to lose or gain weight who have not had surgery), weight fluctuates by a few pounds up or down based on all sorts of factors that are not fat-related. When we're losing weight rapidly those first several months, we don't see it because we're losing way more than that small fluctuation. At most, we see that we lose less some weeks than others. But when you get to 6+ months out from surgery, weight loss usually slows enough that you'll start seeing those fluctuations. It could be anything. Going to the gym, eating more sodium yesterday, the time of the month, not having pooped yet... I went up 4 lbs in 4 days last week, and yes, it was right after Christmas and I'd had some sweets, but I'm fairly confident I did not eat almost 20,000 calories in 4 days, so it wasn't from gaining fat. Now that I'm back to my normal foods, the weight is dropping almost as quickly.

Hi guys, I've been very up and down with my emotions on this journey I have taken only 6 weeks ago. I am struggling mentally with intrusive food thoughts and I am coming to terms with just how serious a problem I had around food and still do, its early days. I know many of you have been through the same struggles emotionally. I was just looking for your experiences to reassure me that I'm not alone in this and that things will get better. I don't regret having the sleeve because I am feeling so much better health wise, I'm just struggling! I don't eat or crave junk food anymore, I just miss eating and my mind is telling me I'm hungry when I know I'm not! Thank you for hearing me out again! x

Awesome I am putting this terminology in my notes to ask about. Thanks. I am hoping that if I have someone who’s really trained that I can return to my exercise routine faster than they typically recommend because they’re monitoring me specifically instead of the cookie cutter let’s just be safe and say eight weeks or whatever. Also, I really do think with the lymph nodes being removed that I’ll have to be pretty careful with weights and I’d rather have someone who knows what my limit should be.

Its a tough ask to ask people who are very overweight to eat like a sparrow. We all feared this part. I thought it was bitterly cruel doing 3 weeks of milk and vegetables. I was so over this diet I ran into the operating theatre. The only thing that kept me on the straight and narrow was the fact that if my liver was still fatty, the surgery would stop and I would wake up with out the surgery. It has happened to a few people on here and they were heart broken. We are with you and if you want to vent, somewhere in the world, is a person on here ready to listen

I am so thrilled for your loss and the way you are feeling especially. Just try not to get too wrapped up in making a goal in two weeks. That’s a pretty short timeframe and just a one week stall could prevent you from reaching it. Even though we all know the way our bodies work, you may drop it all two days later. I like to try to predict my loss as well and I know that it has messed with my head a couple of times. Perhaps it’s just me but I get discouraged when I don’t need a goal even though it’s an imaginary one this morning. I was really expecting to drop that few pounds that I usually drop after stalling for a while and gaining a bit, well, I did not even drop one and I felt pretty bummed Until I realized it’s 6 AM and I jumped up the moment the alarm went off and got right into my walking because I was able to sleep at a reasonable hour to fall asleep easily and sleep all through the night waking up refreshed which I haven’t done in years because of all of the changes that have occurred In the last few months. That in itself is a huge win and I don’t want to lose sight of that as I try to achieve these other goals. I am looking forward to getting under 200, getting to overweight instead of obese, reaching my goal, eventually getting to a normal BMI if that’s in the cards for me, and finally reaching my secret goal. I am just really trying to figure out a way to wrap my head around the fact that even if I don’t reach my secret goal or get to a normal BMI, I am still 100 times healthier and happier than I was before. I really really really do not want to lose sight of that. I got so discouraged about 18 pounds with my sleeve that when I started gaining I think I gave up too easily. I still don’t think about the sleeve was the right surgery for me and what my body needed, but I probably could have kept some of the weight off a little longer. anyways, I am really glad that you decided to do what you thought was best for your body and that it is working for you it’s such a shame that these nutritionist are a little bit more helpful to giving more individualized plans. I am off to my surgeons office this morning, and the automated recording that called me said I was in to see the PA and not the NP that I have been seeing. I am really hoping that he gives me the same help with my food to make sure I am on track and my fitness as well. At the very least, I will find out what my labs looked like though I got an email that the results were ready four or five days ago but I decided not to even look. I figured it would only panic me trying to figure everything out on my own and with my anxiety I would’ve worked myself into something that’s not necessary. oh, and I found a local gym that has a lot of classes that look fun and when I added it up will actually be cheaper than what I’m doing now. It’s pretty tiny and when I popped in to the main gym part, it did not really seem my scene but I’m hoping that the classes are different. My friend told me that she would go to check out a class with me Saturday morning and if it seems promising, I’m going to check out a couple more this week. They have a day pass rate They don’t have yoga early in the mornings at this new place, so I probably will still take my yoga class, but even if I did both, it would still be a little less and I would have the added benefit that I could add more classes at the gym since those are unlimited. I really like to exercise every day for now. Eventually, I think I will probably give myself a free day or two, but until I feel like this is absolutely cemented in my brain as my new normal I want to just keep it up daily.

I am so thrilled for your loss and the way you are feeling especially. Just try not to get too wrapped up in making a goal in two weeks. That’s a pretty short timeframe and just a one week stall could prevent you from reaching it. Even though we all know the way our bodies work, you may drop it all two days later. I like to try to predict my loss as well and I know that it has messed with my head a couple of times. Perhaps it’s just me but I get discouraged when I don’t need a goal even though it’s an imaginary one this morning. I was really expecting to drop that few pounds that I usually drop after stalling for a while and gaining a bit, well, I did not even drop one and I felt pretty bummed Until I realized it’s 6 AM and I jumped up the moment the alarm went off and got right into my walking because I was able to sleep at a reasonable hour to fall asleep easily and sleep all through the night waking up refreshed which I haven’t done in years because of all of the changes that have occurred In the last few months. That in itself is a huge win and I don’t want to lose sight of that as I try to achieve these other goals. I am looking forward to getting under 200, getting to overweight instead of obese, reaching my goal, eventually getting to a normal BMI if that’s in the cards for me, and finally reaching my secret goal. I am just really trying to figure out a way to wrap my head around the fact that even if I don’t reach my secret goal or get to a normal BMI, I am still 100 times healthier and happier than I was before. I really really really do not want to lose sight of that. I got so discouraged about 18 pounds with my sleeve that when I started gaining I think I gave up too easily. I still don’t think about the sleeve was the right surgery for me and what my body needed, but I probably could have kept some of the weight off a little longer. anyways, I am really glad that you decided to do what you thought was best for your body and that it is working for you it’s such a shame that these nutritionist are a little bit more helpful to giving more individualized plans. I am off to my surgeons office this morning, and the automated recording that called me said I was in to see the PA and not the NP that I have been seeing. I am really hoping that he gives me the same help with my food to make sure I am on track and my fitness as well. At the very least, I will find out what my labs looked like though I got an email that the results were ready four or five days ago but I decided not to even look. I figured it would only panic me trying to figure everything out on my own and with my anxiety I would’ve worked myself into something that’s not necessary. oh, and I found a local gym that has a lot of classes that look fun and when I added it up will actually be cheaper than what I’m doing now. It’s pretty tiny and when I popped in to the main gym part, it did not really seem my scene but I’m hoping that the classes are different. My friend told me that she would go to check out a class with me Saturday morning and if it seems promising, I’m going to check out a couple more this week. They have a day pass rate They don’t have yoga early in the mornings at this new place, so I probably will still take my yoga class, but even if I did both, it would still be a little less and I would have the added benefit that I could add more classes at the gym since those are unlimited. I really like to exercise every day for now. Eventually, I think I will probably give myself a free day or two, but until I feel like this is absolutely cemented in my brain as my new normal I want to just keep it up daily.

I have been keeping up with this thread and vitamin supplements can easily be confused. I can only tell you what I know. I took advice from my surgeon's team, including the nutritionist. Initially I was told to take 45 of iron, then later to take 18 due to my age and being post-menopause. I was also told that the over the counter medications for the multivitamin may not be enough as the bariatric vitamins. Bariatric vitamins are specifically made for the bariatric patient, so it follows the ASMBS standards usually, but you need to look at the "fine print" and look how many mcg, mg, IU, etc of each of the vitamins are in each of the multi-vitamins. Iron, B12, B50, B1, Calcium etc. should be based on your surgeon's recommendations. I have had the RNY Gastric Bypass 2 weeks ago, and I had options to choose from regarding my vitamins, but I followed what my surgeon's team recommended. At my 1 month appointment I am to bring my vitamins with me for the nutritionist to review, and to ensure that I am taking what I am to be taking. As for what is considered a by pass and what is not....Sleeve is not a bypass, but it is the first part of the SADI. That's all I know because a SADI patient told me this. Otherwise, I don't think it matters. I don't like to get into arguments online. I wish you well as you determine what vitamins that you should be, or not be taking.

It's been 5 years since my gastric bypass. Have done fairly well in staying in my safe zone. My goal weight was 170 initially although mentally I wanted to put 150. After starting at almost 400 lbs, I wanted to see if I could even hit 170 which I did. For 2 days about 2 years ago I briefly 'dipped' down to 167! LOL. Fast forward to 9 months ago, I hit a rough patch and went up to 180'ish. I knew some folks going to a local place that compounded their own semiglutide if I understood them correctly. After asking repeated questions about whether taking this would disrupt the supply to diabetics who needed the medicine, I decided to try it. I was never one of those fortunate ones who after bariatic surgery lost the desire to eat (grehlin?). Even though I obviously had the 'restriction' kicking in due to the pouch size, I had to white-knuckle SOMETIMES during the first 6 months. Part of me feels like I cheated by introducing semiglutide but there are also people who think that weight loss surgery is the 'easy way out'. I can tell you that none of those people, in my opinion, have ever had the surgery. I actually really like the semiglutide, it removes the..trying to think of it as I saw on someone else's post, it is the first thing that has ever removed the mental 'food chatter' in my head. Sometimes I will skip weeks on the injections and I'm already making plans to taper off now that I'm down to 163. I realize I will need to be able to then try to maintain in my new 'safety zone of watching for a weight gain of more than 5 to 10 lbs over current weight. I like to nip those things in the bud. Just curious if anyone else post weight loss surgery (by years) has brought semiglutide into the picture whether to break up a stall, or to get weight gain that has started to creep up halted.

Hi all. My name is Carrielee. I am 33 years old and have been on the fence about WLS for the last few years. I have struggled with obesity since I was quite young and the weight keeps piling on. I am 5 foot 1 and just hit 325 pounds. I now have a BMI of 61.4. I have uncontrolled Hypertension on multiple meds, uncontrolled Type II Diabetes, and high cholesterol, sleep apnea, severe fatty liver disease (nearing cirrhosis), severe arthritis, IIH, angina, past history of PE. I can barely walk and have been told if I don’t lose the weight I likely won’t live to see 40. I’ve backed out of this so many times but now that I’ve surpassed the 300 pound mark I know I have to do this. I’ve ended up in the ER twice in this last week with abnormal EKGs and the idea of having a cardiac event before 40 terrifies me. I have to do this. My mom died at 50 at over 400 pounds due to multi organ failure from obesity and I am so scared the same will happen to me.

It probably depends a lot on what your normal diet looks like. If, for example, you normally drink protein shakes and want to continue having those, then you could take protein powder that you mix with water or milk. Honestly though, if this is just a week or two, why worry about it? I'd say go have fun and eat whatever you want on the cruise. If when you get back home you find your weight has creeped up, just reduce your intake a bit for a while until you get back to your current weight (assuming you like being at your current weight).

@Odougz I feel you on that! My surgery is next week and the anxiety is getting real. I think its completely normal though. I mean, who wouldn't be at least a little concerned?! It's a major life changing surgery! You're right though, we've got this! Stay Strong December buddies!

I love thrifting. I never found clothes either. I’m starting to find them already, though. I am buying them in sizes smaller than I am now. Giving me something to look forward to. Thrift stores are an excellent place to find exercise clothes. Many of them are practically brand new and then people that do use them drop sizes like we are so they are always being donated. I need to go and start looking for something for holiday lunches. I have a few craft groups so I will have at least three lunches in addition to the family stuff. And for that I guess I need clothes too. I have been living in my exercise clothes for the past two months because they fit and they are so comfy. I guess now my incisions are healed I should find some pants that fit. 🤣

I think trying to compare yourself to others to determine what's "normal" is a losing game. Plenty of people struggle with various things like fluid intake or nausea early on, but lots of others (like me), had very few issues at all. There really is no normal here. Regarding weight loss, it's only been a week. I'm quite sure you've actually lost some fat in the last week, but you are probably hanging onto some water weight after the surgery. That's quite common. I would suggest that you keep in mind that you're "playing the long game" here. Daily or even weekly variation in your weight are not things to be concerned over. It would be physiologically impossible for someone to eat 600 calories a day and not lose fat. It probably takes more calories than that just to keep your brain alive (much less the rest of you), every single day. If I can give you one piece of advice, try not to stress the process because stress can derail your success really quickly. People sometimes don't realize this, but stress can have a bigger impact on weight loss success than just about anything else. Stress will suppress your metabolism and also cause you to retain fluid, thus even further masking weight loss. I know it's hard, but trust your doctor, trust the process, and follow your post-op diet. It will work, as long as you do what you're supposed to do.

In the last 3 weeks, I've been dealing with crazy weird constipation. But my poop isn't hard, it's really soft. Just won't come out. TONS of gas. Bloated stomach. I was diagnosed with IBS-C about 7 months after my initial surgery (sleeve). I was on the 145mcg dose of Linzess for about a year and a half, and between that and Miralax (and every once in a blue moon, a combo laxative/stool softener) I was very regular. Pooped either every day or every other day for the most part. No bloated stomach. No real gas. Then 3 weeks ago, the constipation just went crazy and got really weird. Gas has been the most insane of my life. Stomach super bloated and uncomfortable. Linzess was increased to 290mcg and has done NOTHING. Miralax was increased. Added more Fiber to my diet and even a fiber supplement. Even started taking more laxative/stool softener meds. Added prune juice. And still, I've had a good poop exactly twice in 3 weeks and 3 small poops. That's it. Nothing is working. I drink 100 fl oz daily. I don't drink soda or anything with sugar. I honestly don't know what else to do. Any advice or suggestions? Oh, I've also added magnesium. I tried Colon Broom. Literally....nothing. I JUST WANNA POOP!!!!!

I have my surgery on the 18th if you ever want to talk! I am also working on figuring out some plans on what to eat the two weeks before surgery gets here. You are going to do amazing!