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I would for sure take the initiative and call. You are having the surgery and you are paying the premiums. Had I not continually called I would have never known that, the office sent my claim to BCBS of Texas and not BCBS of CA. Be proactive not reactive.

I am hypo and have lost nearly 75 pounds. I'm 16 months out. At my one year mark I had lost enought that my thyroid levels were a high, so my doctor reduced my dosage of synthroid. He checks it now every 4 months and said as I continue to lose I will continue to have it adjusted. So far I reduced my synthroid medication, I've cut my blood pressure meds in half and completely got off my bladder control medication. The band is wonderful and I feel great! Before surgery, I was convinced I would never lose with the band. I thought with hypothyroidism I was sentenced to a life of obesity. I was wrong. I've been pleasantly surprised.

i have had hypothyroidism for almost 15 years...I had my surgery 13 months ago and I am down 148 pounds. My low acting thyroid has not slowed my weightloss down so far. I have 32 left to lose to reach my goal. I hope that it doesn't decide to kick in now! Have faith...I am one success story of someone with hypo!

I have been hypo for seven years now. As long as you have your levels under control with meds, there is no reason why being hypo would keep the band from working. I did have to lower my Synthroid dosage after losing about 65 pounds.

Go Shirley, you are doing great with your weight loss! Hang in there hypo bandsters!

I'm not in agreement with your doc's logic about doing nothing now then repeat the tests. If you're hypo new it won't magically change to normal. And since getting the dosage right to get your level back to normal can be tricky, waiting makes no sense. I'm hypo thyroid due to a total thyroidectomy. It took a year to get my dosage correct to bring me back to normal.

This is common even for those who were not diabetic prior to surgery. It is called Reactive Hypoglycemia. Here is a link. https://www.ridgeviewmedical.org/services/bariatric-weight-loss/enewsletter-articles/reactive-hypoglycemia-postgastric-bypass

Kel----maybe start throwing him a line now!!!! Let him know you loved that attention so he knows to give it to you! My man will do anything for me, but sometimes he does need directed---as do I!!! Let him know he is YOUR choice, but to be on his arm and being ogled by other men is not a bad thing in your eyes! Let him know as the new you emerges, he can be free-er (even a word??) to treat you like a new you! This can make your marriage incredible (I know!) or it could as you fear cause problems. I always tell my kids this----so even though you are older than they are--I'll do my MAMA routine!!! BE PROACTIVE----------NOT REACTIVE!!!!! Work on it now, prepare it rather than working later to repair it!! Good men (or women) are really hard to find, and I would hate to see yours hurt by you getting healthy and just wanting to be appreciated for something new! Good Luck! Kat

I usually get my K and Na from propel or Gatorade zero - no sugar but electrolytes. Mu Fe is normal, I had medical issues before surgery, so I have elevated RBC, C - reactive protein, and platelet count, but low Na and low K. I by no means have a high sodium diet, my average intake is less than 1,000 and average around 700 with the propel or Gatorade. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

You know guys, this is turning into a bit of a bash session and I don't think that helps anyone in the long run. Just as the band itself is adjustable, there are many different ways to approach living with it and many paths to success in losing weight with it. Jachut's approach has been to keep restriction light, eat well and throw herself into exercise to compensate for the higher calorie intake. Wasa's approach has been to keep restriction tight, eat 600 cal a day and exercise too. Both have done well and have lost weight successfully, but that's not the only possible approach. There's no doubt that fewer calories + more exercise = fast weight loss, but some of us prefer to take our time and get to our goals in a little more leisurely fashion. While Jachut is my personal band-hero and I admire Wasa's success, I'm not following either of them faithfully on every point. Personally, I can't see myself ever running a marathon, whether it was for pleasure or hating every minute of it but doing it for the benefits. I couldn't bear to live on 600 cal a day and I chose the band BECAUSE I didn't want to spend the rest of my life dieting or on an extremely restricted calorie regime. I try not to "diet" but focus on healthy eating, exercise sporadically but am finding I can increase it as I get more fit. I'm not going to win any speed races in losing the most weight in the shortest space of time. I plan to take at least 18 months to get to goal and at my current pace, I'm right on target for that. That doesn't mean that Jachut's or Wasa's or my approach is the right one for everyone. Each of us needs to work out for ourselves how this band works best for us. Now Brandy had an unfortunate start to her bandlife. For whatever reason, she was unaware that the band wouldn't help her limit her intake of slider foods and and struggled to find the right balance for her between restriction, food choices and exercise. She knows better now and is trying to find a pace that suits her. She knows her own mind and has stated that focussing directly upon diet and exercise causes her to become obssessed and then rebellious and she defeats her own efforts with that approach. Fine, I can relate - say the word "diet" to me and my immediate reaction is "Oh my god, where's the chocolate!!" If she feels that she will get better results by NOT triggering those reactive emotions in herself, then good luck to her. My advice to you, Brandy (and remember it is only advice, take it or leave it as you will), is to chill out a little and stop stressing about calories, diet or "focussing" on anything. Keep restriction light, aim to eat good healthy food, and let the band do it's job in helping you to not feel hungry all the time. Don't forbid yourself anything, because you know that will only make you crave it all the more, but keep in mind that it was the junk that got you to where you are now. A little treat now and then is good for the soul; icecream, chips and chocolate every day is not going to get you to goal. When you are not hungry, because you've been filling up on good quality food, it's easier to make good choices and limit the treats to the occasional small one instead of binging. Exercise when you can - look for easy ways to start this, rather than throw yourself into a strenuous routine that you can't sustain. Use little tricks like taking the furtherest carpark space at the shopping centre, instead of the closest, using the stairs instead of the elevator when it's only 1 or 2 flights up. As you get fitter, increase this at a pace that suits you. You won't see the pounds melt away with this approach. Accept that and embrace it. They WILL drift away slowly, a pound here and there, and that will add up over time. As you see it start to go, you might find that you become more motivated and want to put more effort into dropping the weight faster - you can do that too! It's all up to you and your choice. Take the examples of everyone in here and find the bits that fit with your own personality. Work out what works for you and change it to suit your needs, when it feels right for you. Good luck with your journey!

Hello: I read all the posts through page two, and I just wanted to add my two cents to the pot. Lots and Lots of good advise has been given...... I along with MANY here was the "fat" girl with the skinny sister. I started my period at age 9 and hid it from everyone including my mom for 3 years, because I was mortified of being so different. I played sports while young but was always one of the biggest girls on the team..... On the outside I was self confident, popular, involved... but on the inside I was miserable ALWAYS aware of my fat.... crushed when talked about or rejected.. because I started my period so early I WAS EXTREMELY HORMONAL... I would have major mood swings and since no one but me knew I was on my period.. I just was reguarded as a terror. (this is me thinking back on those years) Later at a realitively young age of 22 I was diagnosed with hypothyroid, as a matter of fact the endocrinologist made me come in 3 times because he thought the test was done wrong due to the fact of me having the thryroid of an 80 year old man... he was suprised I was functioning. Also I was diagnosed with PCOS.... both factors make it very hard for me to lose weight... and slimfast.. well I GAINED on it... because of the sugar. Eating Low Carb is the only way I can lose weight, and once I'm banded it will be THE way I continue to eat... and most of the stuff in your pantry is LOADED with carbs, including the fruit. Someone mentioned the MEXICAN doctor who does the band on teenagers, and my doc is working with a 16 year old now (in Kansas).......... the band is NOT easy, NOT a quick fix, and she would still be able to gain weight if she continued to eat the crap.. which as any inventive person can soon find.... that is why she will need to be emotionaly ready to do it........ I agree with others who say to BUILD her up from the inside.. she needs the self esteem, but also she needs to find something that will help her to shed some pounds.. enough that she sees the difference and feels the power of having control, and I'm betting that if she cut down the SUGAR... (ALL FORMS OF SUGAR) she would start losing...... and go check out those trendy clothes sites.... a girl DOES need some cool stuff to fit in even if It may be a little pricey. Most of all GOOD LUCK oh and I might mention... I was infertile, (both hypo and PCOS) factors... I was blessed at the age of 33 with a child, due to following a LC eating plan..... all this makes me more at risk for things like breast cancer.. so getting her checked out now is vital........ I hope some of what I said helps a bit.

I am 27 I had mine done Jan 26 and I have no regrets at all I have hypo thyroidism I went from 125 pounds to 225 in like 2 months BC it was so out of whack then I had two kids and was married my highest weight was 261 I am now at 240 in only three weeks!! I've never been so happy w it my parents were very supportive and I even got into a gym because the excess skin I do not want that at all my surgery went great he said it was textbook I had a little reaction to the sturry strips but no infection nothing I missed for for about a week and then I got OK w it ! Im so glad y'all divided to do it it is so life changing ! I feel 100% better already @lesleslosinit ur surgery was two days after mine

I have never seen a true "foreing body reaction" to drains. This is because the drains are veny inert and are designed not to be reactive. Also, they are in for too short a time (1-3 weeks) to really cause a problem. Sometimes people have a reacion at the skin, where the drain exits. This may become very sensitive and may bleed easily - but this gets better almost immediately after the drain is removed. The more likely cause of an internal FB reaction is the sutures - especially permanent sutures. This may be cause hard lumps and tenderness over the sutures.

Absolutely. When I had my VSG ten years ago, most bariatric surgeons were just learning how to do them - while they are in concept simple and straightforward to perform, like anything else technical, there are subtleties and techniques in doing them correctly - "twenty years of doing bypasses and they think they know how to do a sleeve..." was the refrain from one prominent surgeon at the time. While the sleeve does have some predisposition toward GERD (much like the RNY is predisposed toward dumping, reactive hypoglycemia and marginal ulcers,) this was compounded in the early days by surgeons who hadn't yet figured out the technique to consistently get them right to minimize that predisposition, and to some extent continues today in areas that were slower to adopt the sleeve and are behind the learning curve. This is a good part of the reason that I travelled 400 miles to a practice that had been doing them for twenty years (at that time) rather than a local practice that had been doing something else for twenty years. Talk to your doctor on interpreting this. Hiatal hernias are common with morbidly obese people, and a common cause of heartburn. They can easily be fixed during the WLS procedure, so if that is the cause of your heartburn, things look better for you. A hiatal hernia can be described as a diaphragmatic hernia, but not all diaphragmatic hernias are necessarily a hiatal hernia - so get some clarification on that.

Hey girls, I have a hypo active thyroid and diabetes as well. Between those two and the required meds weight loss is a struggle but I keep at it. I take 200 mcg of synthroid daily.

There is no universal carb limit prescribed by surgeons after WLS that I know of. My surgeon / NUT / bariatric PA never mentioned any carb limits at all. Just Protein limits. Therefore, I never, ever focused on low-carb during all my weight losing phases. Also, I read early on posts by the very small percentage of folks who developed post-bariatric reactive hypoglycemia. It seemed to me (just a theory here, no serious research about it done that I can find) that these posts were all made by people who'd gone significantly low-carb for most of their weight-losing phases. So I decided I didn't need to lose weight super-fast anyway and would just eat plenty of healthy, unprocessed carbs. And I did. Coincidentally, I wound up matching my protein and carb levels. Early on, my Proteins / carbs were around 60, with daily cals around 800. Then in Month Five I ramped up to 1000 cals, and proteins and carbs went up to 80. Then in Month Seven I ramped up to 1200 calories, and my proteins and carbs went up to around 100. I reached my weight goal (150 pounds) 8.3 months post-op. I've lost another 6 pounds since then (in the last 3+ months), but I think I'm now stabilized. By now, my daily maintenance calories range from 1300 - 2000, and my weekly averages are over 1600 cals. I think my final maintenance calorie budget will be 1700-1750. Honestly, looking back, I think I lucked out by not going super low-carb or super low-cal during my weight losing days. I have online friends who ate a lot less during the weight-losing phases, and some of them (not all) are struggling to maintain their goal weights at 1200 cals/day. And who knows what I'll deal with in the coming years as I work to maintain this weight. So that's been my experience. Take from it what you will. And realize that our bodies don't all respond the same to food. If we were all alike, this whole weight loss / weight maintenance business would be a helluva lot less mysterious.

I have too. ( Reactive Hypoglycemia ) But it was after the sleeve. And only a few months ago! I eat 6 times a day and very little refined sugar. I eat complex Protein. That means a carb with a protein and it seems to be working better for me......

I have to say I am surprised your dietitian would recommend regular rice. Like bread, rice is used as a "filler" in past years when families had a lot less money and food, adding a cheap filler like rice and bread to meal made the meat and other items go further. I also have found that to much rice can affect my RH (reactive hypoglycemia). I know at 4 months I was still eating about 3 oz at a meal, so I went for stuff that I knew would keep me sated longer.

I have grave's...which is from hyperthyroid. At first I lost, then gained a bunch. My weight went up and down. Surgery...the band has helped so much...and I make sure to get my levels checked every 4 mths. I take my meds like I should(most of the time) which really helps. Having a thyroid disease can cause your weight to go up or down...whether your hypo or hyper. Everyone is different.

From a past post it appeared that you had surgery on September 26, almost a week ago. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. In part not meeting these requirements can cause you to be tired. Tiredness can also be a side effect of some medication. It might also be due to low blood sugar. If you were diabetic prior to surgery and took prescription medicine for the condition, it might be time to reduce your medication. Also some people who had no signs of diabetes prior to surgery also developed reactive hypoglycemia after surgery. But all in all, you are only one week out and your body may need a little extra time to mend.

I was told 80 grams of mozzarella a day was OK that's why I split it over 2 meals and I was having home made air fryed chips instead of the seafood sticks but I suffer from reactive hypoglycemia so I tent to avoid potato as much as I can and switched to seafood sticks and the advice I was given from the hospital also was a boiled egg is a perfect snack between meals

As a clinician I would suggest a referral to an endocrinologist if you have a history of hypos during intense workout. Maybe he/she can work out peak times of your insulin levels and possibly have you work out during those times.

Here is some more info on Reactive Hypoglycemia. http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/Handouts/hypoglycemia_nutrition_reactive.html

I was surprised to find this thread is so current while I was searching Reactive hypoglycemia post–gastric bypass. I was having a few sugar drops recently so my GP had me do a two hour glucose test. My two hour blood draw was 36. To me the scariest thing was that the week before I had two incidents in one day where the room started to spin and I was sweating profusely. After driving myself home from my blood work I entered my kitchen and then the symptoms kicked in. So how low could I be getting before symptoms? I would have never driven if I had known I was that low. Tomorrow I go to an Endocrinologist. I have never been a diabetic so I am not very happy with this new issue.

Yes mere. I have high thyroid .. Whatever that is. I just haven't been scheduled for surgery yet. This is my last month for the journey and I meet w the surgeon June 4.. Super excited If you have high thyroid then you have HYPERthyroid. Do you think I'll be approved ? Yes, I don't see why not... SOme docs say that after your surgery maybe your thyroid can resolve itself. It's not a guarantee and I am no doctor but I do read like a mad woman and research everything. If you have hyperthyroid that means you have a super fast metabolism and maybe you will lose weight. Do research it, it's called graves disease, my husband was diagnosed with it (hyperthyroid) and I have the hypothyroid (slow thyroid) maybe opposites do attract. Ask your doc all the questions and then go home and look it up. Take good care of yourself as hyper or hypo affects all of your cells, your entire body and brain. Good luck. I am here for you if you need. Thank you so much. I've done all the appointments I just have the psych Eval, and the pcp follow up all this week coming. Then my second visit with my surgeon June4th. I have a bmi of 47. Weigh 253lbs ...