My surgeon was kind of non commital on this, because I've got a BMI of 35 and my blood pressure and cholesterol are fine. But I had all my preop appointments, with the respiratory surgeon, gp and dietician on Friday and all expressed surprise that I wasnt starting it that day (14 days pre op) so did both the nurses that did all the measuring and weighing. So I rang his rooms and got his secretary and there was nothing on my file but she said to start just in case and she'd have him ring me Monday as he was in surgery. So I started lunchtime Friday, its now Sunday here.

I'm not hungry really, its easy from that point of view - 3 shakes a day, a piece of fruit and 2 cups of salad or green veges. Its even kind of exciting because it's the first step in my whole new life.

But I feel quite nauseous, weak and dizzy, and really really flat. Horribly so.

I've been getting in the 2 litres of Fluid and taking a multi Vitamin even though Optifast is nutritionally complete.

Does that weak feeling pass? Is it like a detox where suddenly the headaches clear, and you start to feel full of energy? Or am I going to be dragging my sorry butt through the next 2 weeks?

Does that weak feeling pass? Is it like a detox where suddenly the headaches clear, and you start to feel full of energy? Or am I going to be dragging my sorry butt through the next 2 weeks?

That's exactly what it's like - a detox. Day 4 was good for me. After that I had more energy than ever. You will still miss 'eating' but the vegies help. I think the motivation of knowing what happens at the end is well worth it. Having said that - I could NEVER do it again lol.

Good luck. Not long now till you're a bandster

My BMI is also 35. The doctor did not put me on a diet before surgery.My surgery is Thursday.But I would like to do it anyway.

Well that's what I thought - but I've changed my mind. If he rings me and says I dont have to do it (which is pretty much what I thought he said in my consultation) I dont know that I'd be able to keep it up knowing that it wasnt necessary.

My Dr never made me do it either, he said only patients with BMIs over 45 need to do it. I actually went totally wild leading up to surgery and put on a few kgs from the last meal syndrome....bad me.

Naughty naughty, lol. Anyway, tomorrow is soon enough to start if he requires it but I'm fairly sure he didnt. I suspect he'll ring tomorrow and say it's not necessary, otherwise surely he would have told me to do it.

I actually think that unless there's real need, its probably not very good for you. There's not a lot to be gained by starving yourself, afterall we all would have lost weight if that worked long term.

i didnt have to go on the pre op diet either

kellie is right you need to have a high BMI

i did the same as you kellie i put on quite a few kilos

jacqui i really think u wouldnt need to do it if u have a bmi of 35

Ok, you've convinced me! I am going to have dinner tonight, lol. I've actually been very good and havent gained any weight over the past few months.

my bmi was 35 as well and i did the liquid diet for 1 week then fell off the wagon for the second week. my nurse practioner said that if you're going to cheat, it's best to do it in the first week. i got it backwards! my dr really tore me a new one when she found out that i didn't foollow the diet. but once she saw my liver, it wasn't big at all. so no problem. so i guess it's more important to follow it closer to surgery day.

How are they really going to know you didnt follow it exactly anyway? They dont really know exactly how big or fatty your liver is without more extensive testing than they do (here at any rate, nothing but the normal run of the mill blood tests). They dont actually look at the liver.

You could have an enormous, fatty liver on surgery day having followed the preop diet closely, depending on how bad it was before. It takes more than 2 weeks on Optifast to undo the effects of years of obesity!

Not that I'm advocating cheating but it makes me wonder.

Jacqui, this is more called for in cases where the BMI is higher. The whole point is to shrink your liver so there is more room to work.

So, you can either give them more room to work, or they have to pump you more full of gas so they can work.

Pain now or more pain later, your choice. Sorry. It probably won't be so much an issue for someone with a low inital BMI, so I wouldn't worry about it. Don't go crazy I didn't do the liquid diet, but i was terribly sick too before my surgery. You will probably be just fine!

For me, Mr Crosthwaite said that the pre op diet was his standard practice .. but he could have just said that because my bmi was 41. In any event, I did it, but did sneak in a meal or two in the two weeks I was on it .. bad Jess.

Well that was the impression I got Jess, because of my lower BMI it wasnt really necessary but I could "do it if I wanted to". But everyone else involved in the process has gawped at me when I've told them that, so I rang to check and his secretary said she'd never heard of a patient not doing it.

Oh well, I"ll know tomorrow. Wont die in the meantime, even if it feels like it.

My BMI was 38 - 103 kilo start weight (I'm 165cm) and my doctor said everyone does it no matter what...or risk open surgery instead of lap surgery....or NO surgery. That kept me on track every time I considered swaying. Every doctor is different and quite frankly I'd have dressed as a clown for 2 months if that's what I had to do to have this surgery.

If you are undecided just do liquids for 2 meals and have a healthy meal once a day. None of us are Drs, but with a low starting weight for your height and BMI, I really wouldnt worry too much.

My doctor requires his patients to be on optifast for two weeks prior to surgery. Five shakes a day , plus SF popsicles,SF jello, broth and of course water. I only have two more days to go, surgery on Tuesday. I have had some hard days, but I have managed to keep to it. I'm hoping this will make it easier after surgery when I have to be on liquids for two weeks. Mushies never sounded so good!!!!!