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So my plan WAS to get in with my normal medical system (Baylor Scott and White) and had a referral and an appointment with the psych appointment with a provider for the ADHD consult. I had called for pricing so I could budget several weeks before the appointment, they called me back and refused to leave a voicemail. I forgot about it until a few days before my appointment so I call again. They tell me they will get back to me but it's only a few days before my appointment(why not just tell me how much the stupid appointment will be with my insurance?), they don't get back to me but call several times to reschedule my appointment the day of because the provider won't be in the office. I get it. I call a couple of days later to reschedule, the lady who can schedule this type of appointment will call me because she isn't available (why all receptionists can't schedule this type of appointment is beyond me--I ama vet receptionist and human medicine boggles my mind). They finally call me back almost a week later-I work and can't answer my phone, they ask me to call back. I'm frustrated and over it. At this point several weeks past the initial appointment time has lapsed and that appointment had been about 2 months out. The great internet gods have been listening to my conversations because I get an ad for Cerebral. They have a sale, $30 the first month, $85/mo thereafter. Includes 1 session per month and the meeting (telehealth) with a provider to go over concerns and see if medication is an option. So I said, screw it and joined Cerebral to try it out. The telehealth visit with the prescriber wasn't terrible, not great either--don't go into it looking for the same thing you would get with an in person visit/testing etc. All of that said (sorry for being long winded) here is my take on Cerebral. I have not had my monthly meeting with the "Care Counselor" for the once a month check in but I can see why they are being looked into by the DEA-the provider basically went over a list of questions and asked about my symptoms. If you are specifically looking for stimulants you could easily guide the conversation to those. I specifically asked for non-stims as I was incredibly worried about addiction, especially after surgery. I do know as of May 9th they would not submit any new stim prescriptions. It wasn't terrible, as someone that after many online quizzes, joining adhd facebook groups, research through all the interwebz and finding myself relieved that I was not a lazy piece of crap and that I was not alone...there were many times I was crying or almost crying in relief finding out things I did were part of adhd symptoms(job hopping was a huge one). I will check in with my provider in a month to do a status check and see how things are going. I plan on only using Cerebral for a few months and if things are going really well I am planning on reaching out to my PCP to see if she is comfortable taking over my care and prescription since I very much love my PCP. If she isn't, then I still plan on getting in with an in person psych--just probably not BS&W. Lemme know if you have any questions! So far the Strattera has not given me a lot bad of side effects, no nausea I can speak of but I do get very sleepy later in the day and I do find my appetite has waned a bit as well. Focus seems better but I am unsure of that being a placebo effect vs actual effect-there is some talk on the forums/groups that some people get some early on benefits that fade until it starts to build up in the system 4-8 weeks later. Sorry if that got super long, let me know if you have anymore questions!

Good Afternoon everyone, And a special hello to all my May surgery buddies. I am new here and had my Gastric Sleeve surgery on May 11th. I am doing great currently, and feeling very optimistic! My first 3 days were the hardest, I was sore and to be honest a bit stressed. But the hospital staff and my surgeons staff answered all my questions, and put my worries to rest. One really convenient thing my surgeons team did was to send my meds for after surgery to the pharmacy a full 2 days before my surgery.

I experienced this as well. Instead of trying to force it, eat the few bites you can, wait 20-30 minutes and start drinking tiny sips of protein to help push it down a little. Eventually you will be able to handle more. I am now 32 days post op and in the 3-4 days I've noticed a better capacity to tolerate foods and am now eating minestrone soup, 3 oz at a time, 2-3 times a day between my water and 2 protein shakes. When I emailed the bariatric team, they told me it may have been due to swelling on the inside the finally went down and that many patients by a month out can handle 4oz (and some 4-6oz) at a time, but everyone is different and has different tolerances.

I have a stabbing, spasm type of pain behind my belly button. I felt a shooting type pain from my left incision to this area over the past week. But today the pain is strictly underneath my belly button and it’s excruciating. Does anybody know what what causes this?

Sorry, just saw this. I wound up getting COVID last week so I was totally dehydrated. Before that I only had a craving once when my kids were eating chips. I hate to admit it but liked the salt off of a couple. I feel that my stomach makes noises but don't feel hungry. What about you?

I'm 3 weeks out and I feel like I could eat a lot more then most at my stage. I never really feel full. I do get restrictions/pain when eating soft foods. But I can drink liquids with no problem at all. I've been wondering if my stomach is a little larger then some right after surgery. I don't feel like my hungry hormone weren't removed. All I can do is measure out my food. And when my stomach starts growling and I get the hunger pains. I just drink more water. Ive only lost 13th in almost 3 weeks. I also walk about 45 minutes to an hour. 3 miles and burn over 300 calories 5 days a week. I really was hoping to have a bigger weight loss by now.

I think what helped was forcing my self to drink a sip every 3 minutes instead of Gulping as normal. So I rarely got hungry.

How are you gals doing? I’m now on day 3 of this pain with no end in sight. I’m becoming increasingly fearful that I may need help some form of help getting to my 1st follow up appointment on Tuesday. Ugh. @redhead_che please tell me your pain has subsided 🤞🏻

2 weeks of liquid was a breeze??? LMAO if that was a breeze then this will be easy for you. I was not really hungry my first 2 weeks after surgery. I had to set alarms to remind me to get in my protein and water. Good luck!

Nope, sorry. 19 hours now. I really can’t wait. 2 weeks liquid was a breeze. So I feel like I’m ready for three more especially if I’m not at hungry.

Woke up with 3 hours sleep lol so nervous, getting ready for my surgery today, any ideas on what to pack that I may have not thought about perhaps? Wish me luck everyone🙏😊

Pre surgery, I could eat a 24oz porterhouse, an appetizer, 2 sides, a drink, and a dessert myself. And completely finish it. I was ALWAYS hungry. I could eat 6 scrambled eggs, 8 pieces of bacon, 4 sausages, and 4 pieces of french toast in 1 sitting. Now, I get nervous if I had restriction on a tsp of food yesterday and a tbsp today (like, WHY can I comfortably take more food in so soon???). I had 1/2 an egg this morning and I was full. BUT....2 hours later and I'm hungry again. I'm drinking a shake, trying to ignore it, but I worry that my hunger hormone isn't really gone like I had hoped, and my appetite is roaring back. I only eat until I'm comfortable. And I do things to keep myself busy (read, go for a walk, watch movies, play computer games) but eventually the hunger gets so bad I can't ignore it. So having a stall looming while I'm trying to get this hunger under control is really a daunting thought.

I started the SOFT stage last week and it’s not going very well. I did okay with 2 oz. of baked fish, but chicken and eggs didn’t sit well in my stomach. It felt like a rock in my stomach. I didn’t throw up, but I felt so yucky that I’ve decided to stick with soups for a few days.

Yea mine came very early at 2 weeks. It sucked. lol

I've been reminding myself of that everyday lol Tuesday is 14 days post op, so I hope I have about another week-ish before I have to worry about it. BUT, I know it can come early or late (again, learned it from here) so I'm just trying to stay on track and lose as much as I can before I hit the stall so I don't feel like I'm losing too much ground.

No problem. Also remember you are reaching your 3rd week here soon. Most people stall out at that time or a little before where you wont loose any weight for a couple weeks or so. I am on week 4 and i havent lost any weight now for about 2 weeks. so dont get disgorged when that time comes. It will pass.

I didn’t go #2 for 10 days after my surgery. I actually gained 4 lbs the week after surgery between it fluids and constipation…then dropped it all plus 10lbs the next week. It will come off!!

Hi, thanks so much asking! ☺️ I’m doing really well right now. I’m just weak if I do too much - I have to rest in between. Not much energy back yet. i had a revision from a sleeve to a SADI because I ended up gaining a 100lbs back of the 150lbs that I lost with my VSG. The 100 lb gain was due to depression meds and me getting on a food pity party for 3 years and not coming off of it! Lol oh, I so hope that you feel better soon! Did you get a VSG? I found the hardest thing there was adjusting to the amounts of fluid that I could take in. Also, the after effects of the surgery was hard to come back from. Hopefully, you’ll have a turn around soon and start feeling like yourself again! Big hugs! best wishes!

I was pretty active going to the gym 3x a week and chasing small kids but i had hysterectomy and some other pelvic organ surgical repair march 3rd and was on full exercise restriction from that, then MY VSG was may 3rd so now I’m recovering from that and overall i feel really good but i am finding myself short of breath when i do anything, i feel like my heart is beating fast. I dont know if it really is or not but it feels like it is. is this just from being down and out for so long and my body being weak? or from very restricted calories? i just want to make sure it isn’t something i should get medical attention for im getting my protein and fluids in and overall feeling fine, no abdominal pain, not much gas pain anymore its just when im trying to cook or outside with the kids, getting the kids dressed, cleaning i get so winded

I can drink no problems but I have to pace myself. With food I am full after 2 to 3 bites. I chew thoroughly as instructed. I had one egg this morning and couldn't finish it. It was a standard 60 gram egg about 2 ounces. I take about 30 minutes to eat following the: small teaspoon / chew thoroughly / wait 30 seconds and repeat / I stop as soon as I burp or hiccup. It could be restriction. Thank you [emoji120] [emoji4] Sent from my SM-G986B using BariatricPal mobile app

let your clinic know. Those symptoms could be indicative of a stricture. (note I said "could be" - not "definitely"). They may want to do an upper endoscopy and check it out. If there's one there, it's an easy fix - they'll fix it while they're in there. I had two of them - at four weeks out and again at eight weeks out. About 5% of bypass patients get them, and they almost always occur 1-3 months after surgery (very rare before or after that time frame) - so you're in the right window for one, if that's what it is.

vomiting shouldn't be an issue as long as it's not severe. A lot of people vomit the first few weeks after surgery because your stomach is still healing and certain foods this early out could irritate it (I know your concern is with a stomach virus, but the same holds true...)

Once you get on to real foods your restriction will kick in big time. At 2 months I was still struggling with the liquids so had to eat 5 tiny meals. I would average 400 Cals a day. A meal the size of a egg would be my limit. If you are getting your liquid and protein allowance then you have no need to worry. At almost 6 months I am fine with the liquids and my protein allotment but have no room for vegetables or carbs. I saw my dietician last week and they were thrilled with my progress and said its a bonus that I have such a restriction. I have 4 meals and 800 - 900 Cals a day ish.

i am on soft foods. and my goal according to my paperwork is to have at least 400-600 calories. typically at a time i can eat about 3-4oz of food but that takes me like an hour. You take a bite, chew chew chew. give it a bit, take another bite, chew chew chew, give it a bit and so on til you finish eating. each meal should take you around a half hour to eat

Hello Everyone, I had my VSG on the 22nd of April. I am in stage 3 of the diet. I am 23 days post op. I didn't have a pre-op diet. I am not able to eat much. No where near what I was told to eat. With the 30/30, the protien shakes and water requiments I am struggling to eat. Anyone else experiencing this? How are you getting through it?