Search the Community

Hello Everyone, I'm terrified that I have a stricture, as I've had a couple episodes of food coming up. But the last two days I have become more and more full as the days wears on and it feels like my stomach stays full. Tonight I could not get in enough food before my stomach started hurting. Does this sound like a stricture? If so, I've read an EGD and dilation is done. Does your bariatric surgeon do that? I ask because mine is on maternity leave so I'm scared of what will happen. How soon would this surgery take place? I'm hoping I can at least take protein shakes but I'm burping after every sip. Any advice or information from those who have gone through this would be great. Thanks. Laura

Hey folks I need advise please! They put me on the two week pre-op diet today and I'll post their guidelines below. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, can I get by with cheating just tmro if I stuck to just about meat and veggies? Will that impact me if I have Thanksgiving dinner? This is also odd, they told me I am to have NOTHING but what's on the list.. that includes meat and eggs... That's protein so I dont understand why I can't have that? Even if it's tuna or something. Can I get some advise please, I'm really frustrated. If need be I'll stay home and not go to Thanksgiving but I don't want to have to do that if I don't have to. Pre-op guidelines Diet guidelines: Low Calorie, 800 calories per day At least 60 grams of protein per day Protein meal replacement shakes Bariatric Advantage[emoji2400] Meal Replacement (available for purchase in office) Ensure Max Protein Shake Equate High Performance Protein Shake Equate Whey Protein Powder Fairlife Core Power or Nutrition Plan Protein Shakes GNC Total Lean Shake 25 Muscle Milk Pro Series Premier Protein Smoothie King Gladiator or Lean 1 Unjury Protein Powder What to include in your diet: Meal Replacements / Protein supplements: 3-5 meal replacement shakes per day Whey protein with at least 20 grams of protein per serving (soy or vegan options available if whey intolerant) Soups: Bouillon, broths, and low-fat cream soups Avoid soups containing noodles, rice, meat, and other food chunks Milk and Dairy: Skim or 1% milk, Almond, Soy, Lactaid, or Fairlife Light yogurt, Nonfat Greek yogurt No ice cream! J Other: Sugar free pudding, sugar free Jell-O, sugar free popsicles Vegetable juice Beverages: should be sugar free and calorie free Aim for at least 64 ounces of total fluids per day Water with Crystal Light, sugar free Kool-Aid, sugar free water flavorings Unsweet iced tea or coffee (decaffeinated preferred) No carbonated beverages, no alcohol, no fruit juices You may have 1-4 cups of non-starchy vegetables per day to satisfy hunger. Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers (pickles are okay), green beans, lettuce, peppers, spinach, squash, tomatoes DO NOT EAT peas, corn, or potatoes (starchy vegetables) Sent from my SM-G781U using BariatricPal mobile app

I have been super paranoid and careful with my food progression and choices. I am 3.5 weeks post op and my plan allows for soft or pureed foods starting at 2 weeks PO. Yesterday I had one hardboiled eggs (mashed up really well) with low fat mayo for lunch and within 45 minutes I was in the bathroom for the next two hours with things coming out at both ends. I had NEVER been this sick in my entire life. It was violent and non stop. I don't get it, I ate extremely slowly, took about 35 minutes to finish one egg, I've eaten eggs before (soft scrambled) and mayo (with tuna) before with no issues whatsoever. Now I am legit terrified to eat anything as I don't trust my body. Please tell me what your experience is with dumping after sleeve surgery and does the risk of it happening lessen as you heal more? Yes, I am eating very slowly, eating small amounts, not drinking during meals, etc. All the rules that I was taught to prevent the risk of dumping.

Hello All, Looking forward to joining this very supportive group! I appreciate how everyone is so supportive and I hope to return the favor! I'm 2.5 weeks post op and feel very weak. It's not as bad when I'm sitting down but standing makes me feel dizzy at times and today felt like I was going to faint in the shower. Had to jump out and grab a towel to sit down. I'm hitting my water and protein (barely), and taking my supplements. Is this just my body adjusting? My surgeon said that last apporintment but I don't see a lot of improvement. I guess I'm just wondering what others encountered around this time. My main incision where they pulled my gallbladder is still pretty painful but I'm told that will get better too. Thanks for any advice you might have! Laura

this is part two… part one brought me to surgery with my weight loss adventure .. (quick warning, i tried not to be graphic but an infection is referenced) now I am someone who weighs almost every day for several months but i have trained my brain to be chill about the number… just watch for trends because bodies are sometimes heavier for non fat related reasons… i have seen my body go up, down and drop drastically and rise rapidly all while loosing weight as a trend… now i am in my early post op and start with my surgery weight of 351.4 on 11/3/22 sat, 11/5/2022 - day 2 post op after first night home - i dropped to 349.4 - considering swelling and fluids I was satisfied because I thought that I would have been up.. sun, 11/6 - 348.4 - spent lots of time walking in my yard gathering pecans with my picker upper stick for a few days - more than 5 gallons worth mon, 11/7 - 347.6 struggling with fluids, slight pull feeing while sitting and standing but otherwise good! tues, 11/8 - 349.2 - more sore but not really in pain.. i attributed this to walking a bit much the day before and trying to get more fluids… tried to power through and keep being as active as i could… (today i also had bathroom success lol) Wednesday, 11/9 - 349.2 - incision area hurting more and thought that I truly overdid it and took a lazy day… mild temp of barely 99 Thursday 11/10 - 347 - more pain in big incision area and it was warmer, mild fever 99.8 degrees- still blaming myself for pushing myself to be so active post op. took a super lazy day (even made someone get a birthday cake for my son who turned 19) friday 11/11 - 345.4 - something was wrong. pain was so much worse getting up and down and even sometimes moving. temp went to 100.8 in morning and i was feeing off. called dr and waited for call back. incision area looked ok but felt warm and kinda harder than it did.. not much redness… by 1 pm temp spiked to 101.7 even with tylenol. called again to dr and said something was wrong … they called in antibiotics and made appt for monday to see how i would respond. 11/11 - trip to town going to antibiotics- my husband drove .. we went into aldi to pick up a couple items before going to kroger to get meds and another grocery order ( we were feeding guests on saturday playing a game) and i actually have little memory or the store trip just bits and pieces … i told my husband i had a big problem and my pants were wet.... my infection, well, ruptured while in store.. we went to kroger to get antibiotics where i took one in the parking lot then i fell asleep immediately in the car for the ride home (unusual).. when finally hope after another stop i slept through, i groggily made my way in the house, cleaned myself up with hibclens and stumbled into bed without bandaging my still seeping wound and wrapped up shivering … and immediately went back to sleep… my mom called an hour or two later and i answers on my watch.. groggy and not very coherent.. hard to love, hard to talk, slurring words.. she called my husband who was doing another errand and he eventually came home and checked on me .. i was not medicated as he thought and still seeping a lot and he bundled me up and brought me to the er despite my slurring attempts to protest that i was perfectly fine and just wanted to sleep.. the er had a full waiting room, but when the staff talked to me and saw the state of the towel against my incision area - i was not only taken back but in a room immediately… my bad veins were acting up.. 7 different iv attempts and had to get an arterial pull for blood.. multiple bags of fluid, potassium iv, multiple antibiotics, a ct with contrast, .. in other words a long long night.. 11/12 - 7 am my surgeon came to er and i was more coherent than most of the night… i had a large infection and was a little dehydrated … but with the treatment already received and the iv antibiotics combined with oral, he thought i would be ok and i could go home with a bandages wound and see him monday morning. i slept for a few hours when i got home, then woke up sore and still hurting some but better than i had felt in a few days. bandages changed every couple hours due to drainage. when i got home before 9 am i weighed myself out of curiosity and i was 352. it made me laugh because they really did pump me full of fluids!! every day after got better. less pain, discharge stopped monday and slowly the fluids started to come off. i am now 17 days post op and i am down to 335.6 for the second day in a row. might be that famous 3 week stall early. but i am fine with that because it usually means good healing is finally taking place and the scale with catch up eventually. i can move better than pre surgery and 100% better than six months or a year ago. my stamina still sucks but is improving even with the infection (two types of streptococcal bacteria) I am doing good and on my way to the life that i keep telling myself I deserve to live. i want to make plans and do things for the first time in a few years. i am no longer afraid to go to a store because it hurt my back so badly and turned my face from pale white to tomato red due to the physical effort… i can actually go in without the immediate pain! so far even with the setback this is one of the best things i ever did for me

Hi all, I’m 3 weeks post op after gastric bypass surgery and the last week I haven’t been able to keep anything down. I’m constantly sipping on water but no matter what I do it comes back up again. Last weekend I made a stupid mistake of having a bite out of a toasted chicken wrap thinking if I chewed it well it wouldn’t do me any harm. I felt absolutely fine afterwards but the following day is when this stage I’m at started. Really worried I’ve done some damage now and don’t know what to do??

Hey- sensitive topic but just wanting advice. I’m 3 weeks post sleeve surgery- I hear it’s quite normal to experience constipation. I’m using Benefibre and magnesium every day, and duclolax on most days however, no natural movements. Beginning to use microlax enemas daily now to keep things going however, not super effective. Fleet enema works really well - I have used that twice in the past 2 weeks. I’m on the full purée diet still and moving onto soft food as of next week. I’m trying to do at least 30 mins of gentle walking a day and drinking a minimum of 1500-2000ml water daily. I just want to begin to have natural urges again. Worried this issue will continue! When should I be worried about that? After how long? Advice I have read suggests anything longer than 4 weeks… I kinda feel like I’m doing the most I can though. I’m definitely getting most of my fibre intake through the Benfibre but that will change once I go onto soft foods I’m sure. I’m wondering what more I can do if this was to go on beyond 4-6 weeks. Any insight is welcome! Thanks!

Hello everyone. I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself. I found this forum a few days ago and have enjoyed reading the posts. I am a 40 year old female and had my surgery on 10/24. My starting weight when I first started the pre op liquid diet was 215. I was 204 the day of my surgery. I’m just a bit over the 3 week mark and I’m down to 191. The past week or so the scale hasn’t moved much. I was a bit confused at first since I know I’m not consuming more than 5-600 calories a day but then I started reading about the stalls in the week 2-3 range and realized it’s normal as my body needs time to heal and get my water level back up. So I’m trying not to stress over the scale. It’s crazy because in my diet days I would have been thrilled at a 13 pound loss in 3 weeks, but after surgery I’m like “is that all?!” But I’m trusting the process. I also know that I’m starting out at a lower BMI then most people that have this surgery so I’m probably not going to have these massive losses. The surgery itself was pretty smooth. I work nights so I got off work at 5am, took a quick shower and went to the hospital at 6:30am to start the procedure. Needless to say after surgery I slept for most the day lol. I was a bit sore and nauseous when I woke up but they were good about giving me meds. By the second day I didn’t have as much pain but the nausea was still there. The most annoying part was I had to pee every hour thanks to all the fluids they pumped through my IV. So I constantly had to call for a nurse to unhook me and help me up and into the bathroom. The only other hard part was my vision. No one warned me that a side effect of the nausea patch they put behind my ear effects your vision. It kind of freaked me out because I couldn’t read my cell phone screen at all. It was just a big blur. I finally asked the nurse and she explained the issue. Before I left the hospital I asked them to remove the patch. It took another 2 days before my vision was fully restored. So that was a challenge. Not only could I not read my phone but I couldn’t read the prescription bottles either. Had to rely on my family to tell me which pills were which and when to take them. Otherwise the experience wasn’t terrible. Otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. The weird gurgling every time I eat is a bit annoying. It doesn’t hurt exactly but it’s still not comfortable. At first I thought maybe I was eating too fast, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve learned through this forum that it’s pretty common. What else….. oh vitamins! The chewable ones were gross so I switched to the chewy ones. They’re not terrible but not great either. I’m looking forward to when I can just switch to capsule vitamins. I have officially dropped a pants size so that’s nice. I have a range of clothes from size 16-10 from all my yo yo dieting phases so I at least have options while I’m losing. Today I’m in the 14s and packed up my 16s to donate. If I get smaller than the 10s I’ll be planning a shopping trip. I really enjoy this forum. The only people that know I had the surgery was my wife and my best friend. I didn’t tell the rest of my family or coworkers. So having a safe place to talk about my experience and compare stories has been nice.

Hey guys, so last week doing the dishes I had pain going up both my arms and across my shoulder in the back and then I felt what I thought was like shortness of breathe, maybe a little heart flutter. It scared me so I went and sat down and it stopped. Now it happens sometimes when I am active. Long story short, I called my surgeon he said it was weird and to get it checked at ER. Six hours later, an EKG, CT scan and bloodwork showed no clot and nothing really abnormal. I went to the grocery store tonight and just walking around I started to feel the weirdness again. Has anyone experienced this? I just want to know what it is and when it will stop hahaha. It's unnerving.

Hey all I seem to be vomiting up food after I try and eat anything solid , for example I tried a cheeseburger , ate 3 bites and vomited up the 3 bites. Is my stomach still ajusting to my sleeve ? For some reason I can eat crisps no problem cause they disintegrate into a small size I'm my mouth I also can eat fruit bananas or grapes but anything solid I seem to be getting sick Sent from my LE2123 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had gastric sleeve 5 weeks ago, I have lost weight but for the past 1.5 weeks the scale is stuck. I am following the plan although not getting enough protein. I am moving- but I haven’t started strenuous exercise yet. Anyone have any tips? I have a lot of weight to loss still (almost 100 pounds) although I have lost (including pre surgery lost weight 73). Please and thank you

hey there! been healing away. since i am now one week post op, thought i would give an update!!! was doing well overall with lots of soreness and some actual pain. had trouble getting liquids for about three days but finally am doing a lot better. (did about 23-28 oz those three days sipping as much as i could… then have been increasing since) was burping with every single sip for three days. also had issues with gas pains that would randomly come on and feel like my sternum would rip in half. moving makes such a big difference !!! i Tuesday and wednesday i started to have a lot of pain/tugging and difficulty with my main incision … the bruising around it spread like deep healing bruises do and i think that was part of the issue. it also felt like a hard lump under the incision area there. i talked to my surgeon and said that was all normal and just keep at it as long as i didn’t get fever over 100 or it started getting red… this morning it feels a lot better, but still hurts… big victory for today is that i can sit and stand more comfortably than the last two days!!! i was finally able to “go” 5 days po.. no real problem but had the runs yesterday… i know, tmi but it’s what we go through zero real hunger and no real desire to even drink but doing it because I have to … i am only down 4.4 lbs so far (actually went up for the two days i was in acute pain this week) … but i am ok with that because my body is healing and know that is more important during this first healing stages… i am wary about going back to work next week part time. know i am going to be slow and really take it easy… i should be fine but know how doing nothing exhausts me lol (i am in bed before 830 every night… used to be 11 easy) hows everyone else in the early stages of post op????

What’s the longest stall you’ve had? I’ve been between 224-228 for the last month…..I would really like to see 200…..so somebody please help me knock this last 24-28lbs. what do you do to break your stall? please and thank you!

That really was not a good decision.. just puréed stuff they said.. and I thought I could just have a little piece of cheese.. wow this was not good . I am throwing up and it’s sitting in my chest..

What’s the longest anyone has experienced a stall for? My longest stall has lasted almost 2 months and I’m 7 months post op and I’m having trouble losing my last 10 lbs.

Hi guys. I am 1 week and a few days post Op from my sleeve surgery. I’m a little concern because I have notice that I am able to drink Water like normal. I’m also able to drink Protein Shakes without a problem. I had mash potato and I was able to eat a good amount without having to feel horrible. I know everyone is different. I just find it strange. Has anyone dealt with this? I’m just nervous that this surgery did not work.

Hi guys. I am 1 week and a few days post Op from my sleeve surgery. I’m a little concern because I have notice that I am able to drink water like normal. I’m also able to drink protein shakes without a problem. I had mash potato and I was able to eat a good amount without having to feel horrible. I know everyone is different. I just find it strange. Has anyone dealt with this? I’m just nervous that this surgery did not work.

This is the longest one so far, but each time is a little longer so I was expecting this. STILL...... my 6 my 6 month follow up is Wednesday and I really wanted to be below 300 when I went in. I know I'm still doing well, it's just a personal goal I had that I'm bummed I won't meet. I won't see them again until my 1 year follow up, so maybe I'll have a big jump for them to see by then. Have I mentioned how much I hate stalls? Because I do. I really do. Gotta just keep on keepin on and eventually the stall will break and I'll drop again. Just super annoying.

Hi all! Wondering wondering if anyone else has gone through this. I had surgery in September on the 15th I lost 20 lb immediately the first two weeks now I'm on week 7 and have not lost any more weight still just the 20 lb from the first two weeks. I am getting enough protein but am having a hard time not getting in too many carbs with it too I don't like protein shakes and I am lucky enough that nothing I've tried so far has irritated my stomach so I can eat anything. I stay away from greasy and high fatty foods and pop and sugar. But I am still getting around 700 to 1200 calories per day I walk like 30 minutes per day if not more. But I am not losing anything. I am so nervous or should I say worried that because I can eat anything I won't be losing any more weight any ideas from any of you? Anyone else have this long of a stall this soon after surgery ? Sent from my SM-G991B using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello, I had gastric sleeve 10/17/22 and I’m feeling defeated. Let me start off by saying I have been preparing myself for this surgery for almost a year. I started my pre op diet 4 weeks before my surgery and lost 20lbs, then had a 2 day liquid diet. My sw was 286.8 and day of surgery it was 268.8. my surgery went great and when I got home I weighed 269.0 but I figured that I was swollen and still really gassy from surgery. that’s not my problem though. I’m SO hungry. My post op diet consists of 1 week clear liquid, 1 week of thicker liquids, then onto purée. Well pretty much since I got home I’ve been eating creamy soups as I just couldn’t tolerate the broth any longer. I am so sick of broth I can’t stand it. And even worse tonight I snuck a couple pieces of elbow macaroni. I tolerated it just fine but I’m scared I’m just going to eat like I did before. I even ate a couple spoons of mashed potatoes last night. I know I’m not supposed to but my mind is lying to me telling me I’m starving. I’m not looking to get lectured…maybe just some advice.

I'm 5 weeks post op and live in Sydney Australia. I'm feeling quite good no serious side effects from my banded gastric sleeve. Started my journey end of July and have lost over 20kgs so far. I set myself a goal and decided that when I hit 20kgs loss I would go and get my hair done professionally. Haven't been to the hairdresser in about 5 years. Set yourself small goals and reward yourself because you deserve it. This is not an easy process to go through so make sure you follow through with your rewards

Really having a hard time not falling back into my old way of thinking and eating (or not eating, as it were). My husband pointed out today that I'm restricting again. He said he noticed it Friday and all through the weekend. I've been in a lot of pain because I pulled 2 muscles in my back, have had a lot of stress the last week, and instead of going to over eating like I used to, I fell back into my new "old" habit of restricting. I was worrying I would overeat, and I guess I went right back into my new "fall back" habit of just not eating much of anything. My husband made notes on what he saw me eating and I had 450 calories and 18 carbs on Friday, 413 calories and 14 carbs on Saturday and 344 calories and 10 carbs on Sunday. I honestly didn't even notice it, and that really freaks me out. I can fall back into it that easily and it doesn't even faze me. I drink so much water now (flavored only, because plain water is EW) that I honestly didn't even feel hungry. I hate that I swapped one disordered way of thinking for another. PLEASE pay close attention to your feelings, thoughts, and habits. DO NOT tell yourself that because you're fat/obese/overweight or whatever that you can't develop an ED. Trust me, you can. And it can sneak up on you and smack you in the head when you don't expect it to. I thought I was doing so well. Been logging my food, not cheating, not restricting, doing my therapy, and then BAM. Here we go again. Be kind to yourself, but be mindful and aware.

Hi all, I am one week post op (Sleeved on 10/11/22). I am feeling like I cant get in the rythm of what is right for me. Pros: - Been getting all fluids down - Have not had much pain, only where they pulled stomach out -Been able to walk and move around - Only had gas pain for 3 days -Normal bowl movement Cons: - I don't like the taste of sweetness. So I am having a hard time getting my protein in from shakes and protein water. Any recommendations for other sources of protein? -I've been able to have some strained soup/ broth. But I am only able to take like 4 table spoons over an hour. How is it expected to get all protein in while trying to get water in as well through out the day? - The bariatric advantage multi vitamins are terrible. I am not able to take them so I started taking 4 Flinstone vitamins a day. I know these are not good enough for a person who just had bariatric surgery. I am taking my gallstones pills, calcium, iron, and b-12 with no problem. Are there any other recommendations for Bariatric Multivitamins? Smaller or better tasting? Any input is appreciated. I feel that protein and supplements are very important with the new change to my body. Thanks guys!!!