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I'm 4 months out. I'm having issues watching what I eat to lose some weight. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I had to freeze my gym membership for arthritis flare up in my knee and I feel I've gone backwards. I can start the gym again in about 10 days. Until then I need to try to do something. The depression is setting in because I feel horrible with how I let myself go and how I look. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using BariatricPal mobile app

Down 150 pounds. Why didn’t I do this surgery 10 Years ago!?!?!?

Jill, I had my sleeve on 7/24 I had tightness from day 4-10, it felt like a ball that was blown up to much. I was so happy when it finally went away.

I am also around week 4. I can barely get in 300 calories a day. I feel full all the time and still have no desire to eat or drink anything. I have stalled about the last 10 days. Very discouraging but trying to focus on non scale victories. I typically have a protein shake with around 2 ounces of yogurts for breakfast. I try to have lunch but that rarely happens. So dinner is usually 2 sugar free popsicles and maybe a 1/2 cup of cream soup. I feel like I should be eating more and losing more. Taking it day by day. Hope something happens soon.

A little background: my husband and I have been married since May 2014 and together since October 2009. My sex drive has always been less than normal. I was admitted to the hospital with large blood clots in my lungs in September 2016 due to birth control (which I no longer can take). My husband was sleeved early December 2017 and myself at the end of December 2017. I am down a little over 100 pounds and my husband down 150+. Sex pre-surgery was difficult as we were both large. I was hoping that after both of us lost weight that my sex drive would come back but no such luck. My husband's sex drive is high than ever. I feel horrible that I have no sex drive. I know it has to be hurting my husband but he doesn't voice his feelings so I don't know how much. Has anyone else gone through something similar or have any advice on where to go from here? I have a doctor's appointment this week with my GP to address high copper levels so I am hoping to address this problem as well. I am Prozac and have been since middle school with no dosage change in 10+ years (30mg). I also am on medication for hypothyroid. I also am seeing a therapist for my depression.

I am 4 weeks out and take in approximately 200-300 calories a day. 300 is a big day. I am at a stall already. Haven't lost in about 10 days. Very discouraging. I am trying to celebrate non-scale victories, but I want to see the pounds too.

I realize that most people will probably gloss over this topic...because for most 1 surgery works and is enough and if you fall into this category, please know how fortunate you are. This is not my story I am 5'8. In 2007 I was 273lb's and miserable! I got a Band. Following 13 fills and unfills the best I lost was 60lb's, I never achieved restriction, and unfilled to have 2 kids. All weight returned. In an unrelated accident my port flipped, and in 2015 at 265lb's I was revised to a Gastric Sleeve (Also had my gallbladder taken out, a Haital hernia repaired and the band removed). I lost 60lb's in the first 4 months and then...stopped loosing. At 205lb's I would have been happy with my results, but then, I felt no restriction and started to regain! Fast forward almost 3 years to today...I have developed GERD pretty bad and I've regained most of what I lost back! My stomach feels hungry every hour or two, I could always eat WAY more than my sleeved friends, and once I got myself full, it would not take long for the deep primal hunger to return. I have no relief from hunger. Especially at night, I'm ravenous! I became a grazer! I felt that the Ghrelin was back with an Army to fight me! A 80% international traveling job plus unlimited access to food in the best restaurants around the globe did not help. I have felt dejected, humiliated, like a failure, angry, frustrated and the list goes on for miles, if you are still reading, you probably know how I feel. And indeed, It's not just about how I look...it's about how I feel. Horrible!! My weight is pressing, intrusive and pervasive. There is no time that I am not aware of it. I have sleep Apnea, I can't keep up with my 6 and 7 year old's and the simple things in life are hard again. Completely demoralizing... After almost 3 years, I finally said "Enough" and went back to a new Surgeon. An Endoscopy revealed it has not all been my fault. My Sleeve was cut too big to begin with! My new surgeon reveled he knows the work of the previous surgeon who apparently was not very skilled at the time and making sleeves too big to be successful. A Bougie 42 was was too big to begin with but in my case, even that was very loosely cut. To top it off, my Sleeve was mis-shapen to begin with as well, setting me up for failure and I have a Stricture in the middle, causing me to have an Hourglass shape. Top fills up, stretches, bottom is hungry, then food goes to the bottom and is still there, top is hungry, in short...a hot mess! Miraculously given the Haital Hernia, GERD, Stricture and botched initial surgery, my insurance (that does not cover Bariatrics) has approved a revision to Bypass on Aug 22nd. I've been combing the internet for Sleeve to RNY revision but such information is not as readily available as 1st timers. I am so nervous...so frightened to go through with this. Scared of Anesthesia, scared how I would do, scared of the 3 week post op liquid only phase. Scared that I will fail again, that this will not work. Some Surgeons (like the Pound of Cure guy say you can only expect to loose 10 - 25lbs on a Sleeve to RNY revision, woa?? ) But I have to try...I want to live a full and vibrant life and not just exist like an Amoeba! This is truly Project last chance. My husband is supportive, but my friends, judgmental and not supportive. and if ever I needed some advice, encouragement, support etc...it's now... Nervous but cautiously hopeful, and very much in need of your support... Ellie

I realize that most people will probably gloss over this topic...because for most 1 surgery works and is enough and if you fall into this category, please know how fortunate you are. This is not my story I am 5'8. In 2007 I was 273lb's and miserable! I got a Band. Following 13 fills and unfills the best I lost was 60lb's, I never achieved restriction, and unfilled to have 2 kids. All weight returned. In an unrelated accident my port flipped, and in 2015 at 265lb's I was revised to a Gastric Sleeve (Also had my gallbladder taken out, a Haital hernia repaired and the band removed). I lost 60lb's in the first 4 months and then...stopped loosing. At 205lb's I would have been happy with my results, but then, I felt no restriction and started to regain! Fast forward almost 3 years to today...I have developed GERD pretty bad and I've regained most of what I lost back! My stomach feels hungry every hour or two, I could always eat WAY more than my sleeved friends, and once I got myself full, it would not take long for the deep primal hunger to return. I have no relief from hunger. Especially at night, I'm ravenous! I became a grazer! I felt that the Ghrelin was back with an Army to fight me! A 80% international traveling job plus unlimited access to food in the best restaurants around the globe did not help. I have felt dejected, humiliated, like a failure, angry, frustrated and the list goes on for miles, if you are still reading, you probably know how I feel. And indeed, It's not just about how I look...it's about how I feel. Horrible!! My weight is pressing, intrusive and pervasive. There is no time that I am not aware of it. I have Sleep Apnea, I can't keep up with my 6 and 7 year old's and the simple things in life are hard again. Completely demoralizing... After almost 3 years, I finally said "Enough" and went back to a new Surgeon. An Endoscopy revealed it has not all been my fault. My Sleeve was cut too big to begin with! My new surgeon reveled he knows the work of the previous surgeon who apparently was not very skilled at the time and making sleeves too big to be successful. A Bougie 42 was was too big to begin with but in my case, even that was very loosely cut. To top it off, my Sleeve was mis-shapen to begin with as well, setting me up for failure and I have a Stricture in the middle, causing me to have an Hourglass shape. Top fills up, stretches, bottom is hungry, then food goes to the bottom and is still there, top is hungry, in short...a hot mess! Miraculously given the Haital Hernia, GERD, Stricture and botched initial surgery, my insurance (that does not cover Bariatrics) has approved a revision to Bypass on Aug 22nd. I've been combing the internet for Sleeve to RNY revision but such information is not as readily available as 1st timers. I am so nervous...so frightened to go through with this. Scared of Anesthesia, scared how I would do, scared of the 3 week post op liquid only phase. Scared that I will fail again, that this will not work. Some Surgeons (like the Pound of Cure guy say you can only expect to loose 10 - 25lbs on a Sleeve to RNY revision, woa?? ) But I have to try...I want to live a full and vibrant life and not just exist like an Amoeba! This is truly Project last chance. My husband is supportive, but my friends, judgmental and not supportive. and if ever I needed some advice, encouragement, support etc...it's now... Nervous but cautiously hopeful, and very much in need of your support... Ellie

Wondering how you ladies are doing with your revision? Scheduled for a Revision Sleeve to RNY on Aug 22nd. Super nervous. I regained the weight I lost form my sleeve. Endoscopy revealed that my sleeve was cut too big and in the wrong shape (hour glass), so I have a Stricture, Haital Hernia, GERD etc. I'm glad I have answers now. That plus regain makes me a prime candidate for revision to RNY. I have so many questions. I've had the Band, Sleeve and now going in again...gosh, even though I know my surgery was not done right, it's so hard not to feel like a failure and worry that the RNY will not work for me. Not much out there on such revisions. And some doctors were saying at most you will loose 10 - 25lbs revising from Sleeve to Bypass. WOA? Anyhow, could really really REALLY use a buddy in the same boat right about now...

I was shopping yesterday, looking in the clearance section for clothing, and a saleswoman stopped me and said, “Are you shopping for yourself? Because if so, those clothes won’t fit you. You need to shop over on that side of the store,” and she pointed me away from plus sizes to regular and petite sizes. She was right. I’m a size 10-12 now, but I keep forgetting! 😊

Do you know why? A FYI- since we now produce minimal stomach a code we can't,digest it. It would be like passing chunks of chalk. Well,maybe not THAT extreme but you get the point.Try my little buddy instead, less than $10 at Wal-Mart, it's a liquid called Wellesse, tastes like melted orange push-up sherbert if you can remember back to kid-hood. And it is try blue Calcium Citrate, I take it twice a day.🍶

I had a mommy make-over (152 lbs 10 years after lap-band) and 6 months later started gaining weight really fast (gained 60 lbs within 4 months which is why I’m back on the Bariactric site), got tested and I was IN menopause at 48. I read that surgery can push you in to it. I having a revision done on Tuesday and I’m scared to death it won’t work as well thanks to the hormone/surgery thing.

When I was a child, they called me chubby. Yet I modeled in NYC for boutiques during buying season. Hated it but did it because it made the same adults who called me chubby happy. As a teen I was under weight, same adults told me I was beautiful but suggested I lose a few. They wanted me to do pageants because we had Miss NJ’s and Miss Teenage America Runner Up’s in our family. But not my bag and by then my self esteem was shattered, my body image a mess. In my 20’s I was a swimsuit model in Miami. The very same adults said I was too fat for the job (the agency booked me regularly and got me paid on time though, right). In my mid-late 20’s, I became a TV model by accident. Was finally a fairly normal weight...just a little underweight. Wasn’t even looking for the job. Worked behind the camera, happily. They came to me. Right away, the adults in my life said I needed to lose 25 lbs because I was too big for TV. Natch, I I did just that. Because after all of this outside chatter, my inside eye had no idea what “too fat” looked like. I only really know that I wasn’t chubby as a child or too fat on TV by looking at photos or video from back then. This is the struggle so many people face. I was only overweight for a 10 year period but I lived as a fat person inside my head for my entire life. On the outside, people saw me as beautiful, I suppose. But it was completely wasted on me. I KNOW I got treated differently, got special privileges and leaway...but, again, it was wasted because I was, in my head—and always will be—the fat, funny friend. In one respect I am thankful for this disease. It has made me a kinder, more careful mother and a more empathic human. But, it sucks the life out of my brain.

Hello. Just joined this group today. I had my bypass on 8/1 and am feeling a different kind of pain today. It is a tightness and pain around the main incision (not the incision itself), but only when I move or bend. If I am sitting still, I feel fine. Is this normal? Thanks for any insight.

I think the forum you were looking for is called "The Lounge". My first car (in '75) was a gold '72 Chevy Vega. Ran great but had to keep a case of oil in the trunk. It didn't burn oil; the oil just kind of "fell out". Put in about a can a week. Didn't have to buy the good stuff, it wasn't going to be in there long anyway. After several wrecks, the car was various colors and I still loved it. One final wreck did it in. None of the wrecks were my fault, although I concede that I wasn't good at avoiding them. Move on to a '70 boring-brown Chevy Impala. My Dad decided he wanted a little more metal around his driving-challenged daughter. Gawd, it was awful! I'd never had trouble with the Vega stalling (it was a stick), but the damned Impala stalled everywhere! It's favorite spot was in the middle of large intersections. After about 10 minutes, the car would restart and you were back in business. When that one finally died, I had to drive my Dad's Chrysler Imperial for a while. It "floated" down the road like a tank on water! I went to high school in a little tiny town and if that big-@ss Chrysler was coming down the street, everyone else had to pull onto the shoulder! I drove this for about 6 months. This was the only car I drove with A/C until I was about 22. I live in Texas! Next up was a brand new Mazda GLC! I think I was around 18 at the time, so maybe 1979? It had a lot of hail damage so my dad got it for about $2,500. I don't remember exactly. It had a CHOKE! First and only car I've ever driven that had a choke! I drove that one all through college, it was a great little car. Yeah, it got wrecked, too. I got t-boned in an intersection when someone ran a red light. Looking back on it, thank heavens my Dad had been part-owner of a service station earlier in his life. It appears that keeping wheels under me was nearly a full-time occupation. He never complained. Once I was working full-time, I bought: 1981 Datsun 210 - meh, got me around. Hit a telephone pole in the rain. Yeah, that one was my fault. 1986 Toyota Celica - my baby rocketship. Loved it. Wrecked twice. Once when a van ran a stop sign and I couldn't avoid them (I already admitted that this is not my strong suit). The second time, my future husband was driving and we were at a FULL STOP when a pizza delivery guy rear-ended us going 55 mph.(Probably faster, he told the cops 55) 1990 Honda Accord. Meh - it worked. 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager-I was pregnant with our twins and we needed a vehicle that could hold 4 carseats since our two older kids were 3 and 18 months. I really liked the vehicle although it was a maintenance nightmare. 2000 Plymouth Grand Voyager - still liked the vehicle, still maintenance problems. 2006 Honda Odyssey - thought our maintenance issues were over! HAH! Turns out that was a lemon year for Hondas. I kept going back to the dealership because something wasn't "right" with the transmission and we were only getting about 12 mpg. Finally, after nearly 3 years, there was a recall on the rear wheel bearings on that model year. When they fixed that, the car drove fine and my mileage went up to 20 mpg! All together, I think it got brought back to the dealership for at least 4 separate recalls. 2016 Hyundai Tucson - I hated giving up the space in the Odyssey but my husband insisted I get a car with better mileage. Sadly, when I test drove the car there was no need to crank up the A/C to high. Turns out, the vehicle is desperately underpowed to handle jack-rabbit traffic with the A/C on full. There is an incredible delay in engine power. Really terrifying. So, fortunately, I changed to a job with a shorter commute and stay off the highways as much as I can, at least at rush hour. Well, that's my auto-biography!

Hi my surgery date is Aug.22 10 days away.

I had mine over winter break from school. Bypass 2 days before break and back to work after break about 10 days later. Was perfect but could’ve done sooner if I had to. Was a good time to do it for me- when we return it was a short week too!

My last meeting with the PA and nutritionist (my third of four), she said if I can lose 20 pounds between now and then, I can have my surgery the week of Thanksgiving. More specifically, if I'm down 8 pounds by our next meeting (9/5), she'll actually schedule it. Since the surgeon said in June I only had to get to "15 pounds down [from SW] by 9/5" (I'm ahead of schedule for that!), and in July the PA said "if you lose 6 more pounds by our August meeting we'll schedule your surgery in September" (and I did, and they didn't--the surgeon had changed his mind and decided to stick with his initial "lose 10% before the surgery" demand), I'm trying not to hold my breath too hard. But I'm holding up my end of the deal, anyway. I've started a low-fat ketogenic diet (I'm following the Ideal Protein protocol, but with alternative products... partially because it's less expensive than doing it for real, but mostly because I hated going into their offices and being weighed every week; I have my own scale, and lots of IP's "nutritionists" are just chiropractors, anyway). So far it's probably all water weight that'll come back pretty much immediately as soon as I drink some fruit juice, but I'm down 5 pounds this week. It's a low-cal enough diet that I'll be able to lose a real 1.5-2.5 pounds per week for the next couple of months (more early on, less as I get closer to November), which should guarantee my spot in November. I'm really anxious, though, because like I said, it'll take very little carbohydrate for me to gain back the water weight. I'm worried that the liquid diet, that last week, might contain too many carbs, and the surgeon won't listen to me and will throw me out for "gaining weight" when I didn't, really. I'm also worried that the anesthesiologist will refuse to work with me if I'm in ketosis at the time of surgery--it's not that different, but it's different enough that they have to watch some extra gauges, as I understand it. So, I have a few questions for my next appointment, I guess! Anyway, hi, other hopefully-November folks!

Love seeing all this pictures and seeing how each,of you have changed. If I had known you are your heaviest I sure wouldn't have recognized you now. In 2019 I hope myself to have such a change. A lot to work on after my September 5 2018 RnY but If you can do it, I will too.

It takes 10 weeks for the stomach to heal. The longer you can stay home to rest and heal the better for your overall health. I am 4 weeks out and now able to avoid a nap, but then I am also 70. :-). Having said all that, go back when your doctor clears you to go back to work. When you DO return, try to go back on a Wednesday or Thursday to make it a short week. Those first couple days will be exhausting. Hopefully you won't have complications that delay your return plans. Just be sensilble about it.

This was my last piece of work I had done over 10 years ago when I wasn't so big bellied. Only got it started though. My artist who is a good friend of mine had a relapse (clean for 16 years) and wound up having a stroke. Outline, shading and just a touch of color. Sad thing is he did not have completed artwork because it was in his head and he wanted to get it done on me. He's not capable of finishing it and I have no idea what he intended for the finished product to look like. I know artists do not like finishing other artists work but maybe I'll look into it after I hit my goal? This is my Phoenix .

I’m just 6 months post op and I went from a size 11 Wide to a 10 regular. It’s good that I’m not restricted to the Wide sizes as there’s a bigger variety of shoes I can now choose from.

Me at my heaviest - size 20 and me today - size 10. Enjoying the journey. 77 pounds lost, 44 to go to reach goal!

I understand your fears - I had similar ones. But today, now 5 months post-op, I can say without any reservation that this was the best decision I've ever made in my life. Here's me at my highest - and today. From a size 20 to a size 10. I still have work to do, but all of my labs are normal, I'm out of the obese category, I can walk, bike, run, swim (even look good in a bathing suit!), Just know the first few weeks are going to be tough. I've had both laproscopic gall bladder removal and a C-section. My recovery from GB was somewhere in the middle. Not as tough as C-section, but a bit harder than gall bladder removal. I went back to work after a week (telework in my pjs) - and back to my full days by week 2. I walked every day and followed my surgeon's/nutritionists directions exactly as written. No variation. To date I've lost 77 pounds (44 to go!)

Hey I've been looking for a place to post this, I almost put it in the post surgery 💩forum but I am still before surgery and I want to kinda whine, I am on Day#10 of a whole month liver-shrink diet. I am having 💩problems to be honest. My Stoll doesn't like leaving me, Oh it isn't what I would call constipation, I always heard that way hard textured and this isn't hard. I'm on 1000 calorie,100 gram protein,70 grams carb diet. Maybe it's that my colon muscles are 72 years old, maybe it isn't as firm as it once was and my muscles can't get a Firm hold, but it aches and I have sit there for not all spectacular results. The last few days I've resorted to Miralax, maybe a little help? My preconceived notion was I would have diarrhea , nope hasn't happened, am I worrying for nothing? I had more defecation fun when I was eating at will, but I do want and need this surgery. Is this common?