Search the Community

I start to feel that feeling too, a little below my chest. I have learned to stop eating when that happens, bc I don't feel "full" yet, but I know from experience now that if I keep eating, I will be miserably full for the next 30-60 minutes (I haven't thrown up since my surgery, but I've had extreme discomfort from eating too much, and I think I've learned from that.) I think you're right though, feeling 'full' now is not going to feel the same as it did before the surgery. Sent from my LM-V405 using BariatricPal mobile app

Not feel like everyone is looking how much and what I order bc of my size. Love that I can control myself when eating now. Easier to make better choices and when I don’t make a good choice not binging on what ever food it is.

To look in the mirror and recognize myself again. To be able to play with my kids and not be winded or barely able to get up off the floor bc my back, hips, and knees hurt so bad. To shop for clothes that I like and not just what fits and is comfortable. To finally dig those tubs of skinny clothes I’ve been hoarding out and try my old jeans and bras on! To do basic things easier and not get out of breath: clipping my toenails and painting my toes, going up stairs, etc. To not have to worry about my thighs rubbing together and if I brought anti chafing gel/powder lol. To have energy to do anything and everything!!

Okay so I swear that for the first 6-8 weeks after being sleeved my stomach would NOT stop growling. It was weird bc no feeling of hunger was there, but my head kept trying to tell me it was time to eat bc my stomach was making nonstop gurgling noises. I learned to embrace the gurgling and would even make jokes about it. Now that I’m 3.5 months post-op, the gurgling has slowed down, but it still happens from time to time and it just cracks me up. The other day I was in a Pilates class and it was gurgling so bad the instructor noticed. all I could do was shrug and move on. For the record, I wasn’t even remotely hungry when it happened.

Interesting. I’m using the patches right now, but I’m using them with a dash of skepticism. I saw a ton of reviews saying they worked and their labs were fine. I switched to patches bc the pills cause stomach cramping. Hmmm... 🤔 Good to know too about the Ursodial. It hurts my stomach too, but I get it’s a necessary evil. I’m increasing my protein and water to see if that will kick my stall to the curb. Thanks for the info.

Right now I still get full off of 2.5oz of chicken or beef (always grilled no fat or sauce added) so if I eat veggies it’s usually between meals. An example of a “snack” would be 4 raw broccoli bite size pieces dipped I 1 T of hummus OR 1/2 a large pickle. I’ve done so well since I had my sleeve and it’s so scary bc really this is my first “stall” I’ve had. It’s like my body doesn’t want to get into the 160s at all despite eating the same foods I’ve always eaten 😒

My nutrition class says 1 cup 3x a day for sleeves. I prefer to eat 1/2 cup 3x a day to keep a lower bs, but once my diabetes is in remission I will go to 1 cup 3x a day.

You called telling them you were feeling sick and they told you to see a mental health professional? That would have made me feel bad as well. Maybe you just had a big bc you’re feeling better now right?

I’ve noticed recently that I am able to eat more than I was before. I had one occasion where I ate too much and got sick in the past but other than that I have eaten small, below the size portions that I should (bc I stop as soon as I feel anything). Is this normal? I have had a huge fear since surgery of screwing this up. I know I haven’t overeaten over and over to screw it up but how is it I’m able to eat more? I am still losing. Slowly but surely. Goal Dr set was 145. My goal is 135. Started st 231 Pre op-221 Current weight-143 I am very happy with the weight loss. I just want it to stay off.

So I hadn't lost weight much weight in 2-3 months had been upsetting bc I was only 5 months out. I decided Monday I'm doing a reset. 3 days clear liquids. 4 days full liquids. 1 week soft foods. (this is my own plan not doctor) I am happy with the reset so far! I was 187 and day 3 I'm 183. I am getting full again and noticing a difference. I feel like I did in my 2nd month. I'm happier and more optimistic about the weight loss. I'm almost to goal 170lb I'm so excited!!! I also found walmart had their own brand of SMART with electrolytes. I love it!!! Im curious how does everyone do their reset? Was it successful? Did it kick your metabolism back into gear? Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you...I will give it a try. It is so odd bc it is the only one that hurts. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry for the delay in response! My pre-op appts took a while bc I had to have a sleep study. They were really booked up. I had my initial consultation in October 2017 and had surgery in March 2018. I scheduled all the pre-op stuff myself. I had to have a mammogram too. The surgeon basically gives you a honey do list depending on what they think you need and what your insurance requires. Some people have to have nutrition counseling too.

Since starting my preop diet, I have lost 54lbs. 54lbs in 9 weeks just seems insane to me. I’m super proud of myself bc I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the surgery, but I still worry I’m losing to quick. Anyone else had this concern? Here are a few progress pics:

Sorry, i know i am late! I had my surgery on 5/6! First couple days weren’t too bad! Prepare to stay more than one night in hospital because some doctors require it if you haven’t passed gas! Thankfully mine did not! Remember to walk walk walk after surgery! The gas pain is unreal! No one could have prepared me for it! So walk it out! Once i got home it was a little harder for me. For one i am a side sleeper. I am still laying on the couch bc i cannot lay flat or on a certain side. But i hear this gets better with time and everyone is different! I still struggle with getting the right amount of water and protein in! At first just the sight or smell of food made me want to throw up, but not i am hungry but it is still hard to get them down because i feel so full constantly! Also, the feeling of not pooping for 6 days is completely weird lol! I had to have the doctor order me some Miralax to help my process along quicker! Prayers for yall who are having surgery this month! It’s been rough but i know will be worth it!

In 2015, I was at my highest weight ever of 420 pounds. I had high BP, High Cholesterol, Acid Reflux, Sleep Apnea, and had just been told I was diabetic with a BS of 7.5. I didn't have insurance so I searched around and finally found Dr Dirk Rodriguez in Dallas, TX who would do my VSG for 10,000 cash. I had my VSG on 6/23/2015. After a few weeks recovery, I began walking then fast paced walking, I introduced intermittent jogging, then jogging with intermittent sprints, inclines, stairs. I started bicycling. I got to where I was jogging/running 5 miles a day and cycling another 5-10 miles a day, every day. I was going to a gym and doing some strength training, hitting the rowing machine, doing some kickboxing classes, etc. A little over a year later, I was down to my GW of 190 pounds. Every single one of those comorbidities....GONE!! No more medicines!! I swore that I would never regain that weight, I felt better than I had my entire life. But then reality set in, you see, that whole year that I was doing this extreme cardio and other exercising, I was living off of my savings, not working, so I had all the free time in the world to focus fully on losing the weight. But, then I had to get back to work, my savings was pretty much gone. I am a career crane operator, over 20 years, it's all I know and it pays very well. It is also a very sedentary job, just sitting in a crane all day for 12- 14 hours, 7 days a week. Needless to say, it gets boring. I began to snack (graze) throughout the day. I mostly still eat healthy, just too much, that coupled with the fact that I have no time for all of the intense exercise I was doing....I have regained about half of what I lost. I am now back up to 320 pounds. So, since I have no intentions, at 45 years old, of trying to change careers, I have decided to try a revision to the Mini Gastric Bypass. I am hoping that the restriction of the sleeve, coupled with the malabsorption of the bypass, as long as I keep eating healthy, even if it's a bit too much, it will even things out. I know that I need to work on the grazing habits. I also know that I need to try and make some time somehow to get in some kind of exercise, even if only 15 minutes a day. I am scheduled for my revision on June 15, 2019, almost exactly 4 years since my VSG. I will be going to Mexico this time simply because it is so much cheaper, but also because I know the standard of care down there, especially at Bariatricpal MX, is just as good, if not better, than most in the US. Also because the Mini Gastric Bypass is very common there, but not so much in the US. I will be using the very well known and highly recommended, Dr Jalil Illan. I can only hope that I will have as much success this second time as the first. I do consider my VSG a success, I just don't think it was the right procedure for my specific circumstances. Hopefully, with the MGB, I will be able to lose the weight again and keep it off long term this time. For anyone considering weight loss surgery....If fear is holding you back, find a way to get past it. It truly is a great tool. But it is just that, a TOOL, it is not a miracle cure for obesity, you must put in the work, make lifestyle changes, dietary changes, a lot of times it means social changes. A lot of people can be negative or become jealous because you are getting healthy and better looking and they are not. I say this, if those people are unwilling to support you in your efforts to do whatever it takes to be a healthier you, then they are not worthy of being in your life. I know that is a harsh reality but in the end, you need to do this for YOU. It is your life, not theirs. You are the one suffering from Obesity and all the myriad of illnesses and complications that come with it. Do you want to be able to play with your kids, your grandkids? To see them grow up? To see yourself live longer, healthier, happier? To be able to do all the things you have been dreaming of your whole life? Do you want to finally, truly LIVE?? Then do it. Don't let anyone stop you, don't let fear stop you, don't let insurance stop you. Definitely don't let YOU stop you. Get up! Take back your life! Fight for it! Good Luck. YOU'VE GOT THIS.

I just recently had gout. I'm 11 weeks post-op. I've cut shrimp totally out and watching my red meat. It seems to be getting better. I took half a dose of steroid, but my bs was too high, so I stopped. I Hope he feels better quickly!

Thank you....With the RNY, there are two suture junctions (anastomosis) which is how they form the "Y". With the MGB, there is only one anastomosis. In an MGB done as an original surgery, they would leave the duodenum attached to the remaining stomach that is left after creating the sleeve, this would allow for the stomach acids to still flow down the intestine and meet the food further down. The newly created sleeve gets attached approximately 7 feet further down on the intestine. This MGB procedure couples the restriction of the sleeve with the malabsorption of bypassing the duodenum and most of the jejunum. This procedure is far less complicated for the surgeon, there are less complications health wise for the patient like bile and acid reflux that can be very common in both the sleeve and RNY. It is less time under sedation, as well as less recovery time, from what I have read. Now, the question I have yet to have answered from anyone is how this procedure differs in those of us who have already been sleeved and no longer have that remaining stomach attached to the duodenum, and therefore, no stomach acids flowing down to aid in digestion. If/when I find out, I will try to remember to update this. I should add that, even though the MGB seems to be the far better choice over RNY, it is still fairly new and not yet approved by the FDA or the ASMBA (American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) so there is most likely no US insurance that will cover it and also very few US surgeons who will perform it. It has become the preferred procedure of surgeons in Mexico and other countries that don't have all the strict bureaucratic BS to deal with.

Congrats on 289! I woke up to 278 this morning 😁 I'm headed to the store today to get containers for my sf jello too. I've been using box jello bc it's so much cheaper.

It has been 9 weeks since I started my preop diet and I have lost 51lbs. 17 before surgery and 34 since surgery. Super proud of myself. This hasn’t been an easy journey bc I have such a sensitive system, but I have no regrets.

And that's quite Okay, I had 2 wonderful nursing experiences out of my 3, and both boys had baby- led warnings. If I were younger and breast-feeding I would not stop either. I had to pump and dump after my tubal ligation but had loaded up my freezer with breast milk. Grandma. had bottles to put it in , but my son insisted on having it put in his sippy cup, pretty smart for a 15 month old, and yes I was able to step up and re establish once I was home, decided at 20 months to drop the last nursing. He is heakthy, healthiest of my kids and Tomkitten will be 40 on June 12th. Did you know Adele Davis ( she wrote back in the 70s) said if you tested formerly breast- fed adults they retain more favorable intestinal flora until they are 30 years old! :-* know she said much other good things but that's what sticks in my mind. God Bless you both and I hope your surgery goes extremely well.

Almost 5 weeks post sleeve to RNY and I just got the arm implant today. My uterus is heart shaped so I can’t get an IUD and stopped absorbing BC pills. Arm aches and I have a hormone headache but I’m praying it works out. I’m having dominant shoulder surgery soon and can not handle period with one arm!

Yes, they may catch on. Maybe wait till after your surgery so they wont give you unsolicited advice. People can be very judgemental and cruel. My Dr suggested the DS. I went with the sleeve though. Since surgery I have lost 50 pounds and and my diabetes is lowering. I only take 20mg of Lantus at night. My bs is still about 145 average, but I expect it to get better with more weight loss. Best decision I've ever made. Good luck!

Hey oakbay, it's Frustr8, how are you doing now? I have had I think 13 endoscopies, first one my ENT did transnasaly, we kind of b tricked my insurance on that. See I had a pretty severe pre-aurical cyst, right in front of my right ear opening, this kooky anomaly runs in my family through my daddy. His never gave him a moment's trouble, both my daughter and I had flare-ups where it would get infected, gather into a boil type thing and then skin would break, and pus would come out. I know TMI, too much info but there is a reason I'm relating this. My daughter had to have her one, we both had pinholes on both ears,only one flared, but she was only 5 years old.c Mine I kept longer, clear into late adulthood, okay at this time July of 2014, I had a pretty bad flare. United Healthcare which I had at this time,regarded such cyst removal, even if I had a chance to develop septicemnia as purely cosmetic, just a vanity surgery. But they would cover an Endoscopy happily. So offically that's what it was billed as. The next one was done June 2015. as a follow-up to acute pancreatitis. And the last in my home town was done December 2017 as part of my pre- surgical testing with different specialities. I. am told I had another one during my RNY surgery,by Dr Needleman , guess he wanted to make sure I had not changed anatomically from the previous one, I must have passed because I did get my surgery, those were my EGDs, subsequent to bypass surgery , the duodenum can no longer be visualized. So from then on they are technically EGJ, the surgical endoscopies look now at your jejunem. So the rest of them started October 12, 2018, a month and week after my RNY. Attempts are made each time to stretch and dilate the opening, my pouch was so inflamed and had 3 ulcers present next to the opening which was shrunk to a tiny pinhole opening. First 2 were 2 weeks apart, and then at slightly longer intervals, but on November 28th I was so inflamed still and the 5 ulcers on the back wall of the small intestine looked much worse, although I had been taking Carafate every 6 hours around the clock since October 12. And I ended up with a PICC line, being fed for 12 hours daily through my vein in the upper left arm, my testing showed I was malnourished and protein- anemic , although I had been trying hard to do things correctly I was vomiting more than digesting food and using the nutrients. And I had this PICC intracath for 3 months. The month after it was terminated I lost 30 pounds, that made up for what I missed losing while on the TPN. So each time they tried it seemed to snap back shut. On the last one, April 12th , she put in her notes she felt she had stretched it enough that good could pass through, my diet would not have to be liquid or pureed, okay maybe that day things were fine but I have lost meals 4 of the last 6 days, if there is any joy there it is that I vomit so quickly there is no nasty odor to what comes up. And when I awaken in the morning I am still nauseous until maybe 10 AM, then I can start drinking fluids 2- 3 oz every 15 minutes, Good thing I am retired ,I could not do this and work at Wally World. And I still have pain, the pouch , the last little bit of my sternum and 2-3 iches below, usually feels like a clenched fist, and right subcostal pain which is my, pesky jejunal ulceration. I was told last clinic visit May 1st, we will do one more endoscopy, tenatively scheduled June to Early July, they believe the pouch has decreased in redness, but the 5 nasty evil intestinal ulcers remain. At that time ( I think 8 to 5 odds) more surgical intervention of another kind is done. But,i have lost 140 pounds from my highest weight,84 or 95 pounds since my September surgery, gone from a 28-30 W to a 20, ready to drop into an 18, where clothes selections improve dramatically. So that is Lovely Lovely Lovely but a heck of a way to get there!

Ok I'm 47 years old and perimenopausal. I reached my goal weight. Yay! But the last 50 lbs. off I didn't lose a single inch of my waist. I would still like to lose about 10 or 15 more pounds, mostly from my waistline. But you can't target weight loss. I'm thinking the odd way I'm losing weight is due to my being perimenopausal. And think that maybe a low dose birth control might help. Or hormone replacement therapy. I would also like help with regulating my cycle as it's very short right now. Anybody have any insight or knowlge about this? Perimenopausal women on BC that are losing from their waistline? BC suggestions? Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!

They very possibly could have, when YOU are in pain ,often you don't have the Brain God Gave A GOPHER! I finally figured out the source of my very first ulcer, Hector, that I brought into the RNY mix. Ok, I have been " cheery" every since I was a small child, every cold virus visits my lungs and engenders mucus to get rid of. My PCP gave me frequently Capmist, a lovely expectorant, got rid of my lung mucus but had the effect of minimizing if not destroying my gastric mucus layer. At the same time, I was also having arthritis flares, I am the unhappy possessor of both varieties, Osteo and Rheumatoid. Orthopedic surgeon says Take Advil and since you are such a BIG Girl take then every 4-hours! Well both doctors are Graduates of very reputed Colleges of Medicine, did I question THEM? Nope, just kept on until Hector showed up and. nearly chewed a hole through my Gastric Well. When I consulted my. Gastroenterologist, he was almost perforated, and I was on Omeprazole therapy at that time. It DOES NOT WORK for me! Okay fast forward to Surgery last September 5th, that went well but among my post- surgeries is my non-friend Omeprazole, I told them at that time, we are Going to have problems,it isn't going to be Gastroprotective! Please let me take Dexilent which does work for ME! I was told the professional equivalent of "Please shut up and give the meds we have ordered a chance to work, we are the educated and licensed individuals. Give yourself the chance to heal and heal correctly!" Well I am nothing but compliant, I took each med faithfully and at proper intervals. Even opened the Omeprazole capsules and sprinkled it in a teaspoon of unsweetened applesauce, that was the excuse Shannon one of the NP gave me for Omeprazole instead, shoot I could have cut my 60 mg capsules,of Dexilent open and shook it on! Well 2 weeks in I started fussing, told them" I am starting to get,ulcer symptoms again!" been there before, knew WHAT it feels like. And every Man-Jack said I was delusional. I was not giving my new pouch a chance to heal properly, I was being nothing but a pain in the backside! Finally at 6 weeks, I suspect to Shut up my Mouth, they scheduled an Endoscopy, that was October 12th, went peacefully to sleep, when I awoke Dr Noria, my surgeon's Junior Partner, who does their endoscopies because she likes doing them, shook my hand and stated " You were correct, you have a very irritated pouch, 2 ulcers within and severely stenosed, that's why you are frequently having emesis, it's like a pin-hole, only liquids make it through. If that isn't enough you have 5 additional ulcers on the back wall of your jejunem, and those do look wicked, I will be giving you script for Carafate, every 6 hours around,the clock,we will get,on top of this but I was not able to dilate your stomal opening today" well I started having attempts at 2 weeks, a month later, the end of the month of November I was hospitalized for a week because I was malnourished and protein anemic, that's when I received my PICC line, was fed TPN every 12 hours to Give my GI,system a chance to heal and THAt was a 3 months duration, in that time I still was receiving frequent endoscopies, I have now had a lifetime total of 13, 10 with Dr Noria, and now it is believed one more and it should stay open. I would have stented ME before now, started me on Carafate from the start since I was a proven Ulcer Producer, but I don't have the medical licenses, certification of surgical skills, I am only the sufferee, But I see a future, there is hope for me AHEAD and they feel by September I should be over this all. After final endoscopy which should be June or July 4th at latest, at my next visit in August. the final decision will be made, whether further surgical intervention is needed or whether. I have completely become open , functional and ulcerations are healed. But at this point, betting odds are 8 to 5 further surgical repair. I know this was long but now you and all the readers know how things stand with the World's Oldest RNY recipient and No, despite everything in my bumpy path, I DO NOT REGRET MY BARIATRIC surgery, I have a lot more. of Life Achievements Ahead.