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What would you have done differently through your process



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Also, Lan2K I don't think you are such the odd ball out. I would venture to say nearly everyone has had to deal with some form of psychological ramification as a result of their surgery.

Thank you, because I feel so alone in this.

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I would NEVER have gotten the band!!!!!!! I can't tell you what a horrible experience that was!!! The other thing is that I wish I would have had the sleeve first and sooner!

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Thanks so much for your interest. I mean to do this within the next couple of days. I will let you know and thanks again.

Lan2k:

It would be very helpful if you could start a thread about the negative emotional effects of the surgery. I am very curious.

Before I had surgery I was a real foodie (also a glutton). Now, i just don't enjoy food as much. It's not just the amount I can eat, but also nothing excites me anymore. While I understand this is a good thing, I am mourning the loss of one of the activities that I found most enjoyable.

Don't forget, it's never too late to obtain therapy. Hopefully, you are in a position to get the help you need now.

One thing I would have done differently is be more diligent taking antacids, Vitamins and monitoring my Protein. I have had some hair loss - and I will never know whether or not I could have prevented it.

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Lan2k:

It would be very helpful if you could start a thread about the negative emotional effects of the surgery. I am very curious.

Before I had surgery I was a real foodie (also a glutton). Now, i just don't enjoy food as much. It's not just the amount I can eat, but also nothing excites me anymore. While I understand this is a good thing, I am mourning the loss of one of the activities that I found most enjoyable.

Don't forget, it's never too late to obtain therapy. Hopefully, you are in a position to get the help you need now.

One thing I would have done differently is be more diligent taking antacids, Vitamins and monitoring my Protein. I have had some hair loss - and I will never know whether or not I could have prevented it.

Hi Sasaki... It is very unlikely that you could have prevented the hairloss. Here's some information on that. It might make you feel better about it. :thumbup1:

Health Tip: Why People Lose Their Hair: MedlinePlus

You might want to check out this thread too... :001_wub:

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/post-operation-vertical-sleeve-gastric-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/2401-hair-loss-post-op.html

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Lan2K: God Bless you. You are certainly going thru a ridiculousy tough time. I wish I could help you. Please know I care about you and want the best outcome for you. It is so good of you to post, to let everyone know that this surgery is not the answer to/for happiness. It is a great tool for weight loss, but, can cause sundry problems for some. I believe it helps to go into any venture(surgery for one example) with all the knowledge available. Your side of the story is most valuable. Thank you for telling it and continuing to help us all understand a completely different side to WLS.

I am the first to admit I was not understanding of your situation at all in the beginning. I am sorry for that. I am Enlightened now and will never view/judge anyone again about their "issues".

Keep us posted on your progress.

Be strong, be well friend.

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Just to say hang in there to LAN2k!!!

I'm pretty happy with how everything went and am on a huge mental high, feeling much better about myself already though I have a lot of weight to lose still.

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My major regret is having the band done first, not the sleeve. If I would have known what I know now I NEVER would have gotten the band! I love the sleeve, I'm only 2 weeks and 2 days out but I can't believe the difference. I can eat and not worry about spending half of the dinner time in the bathroom. I so wish I would have done the sleeve first!!!!

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Lan2K: God Bless you. You are certainly going thru a ridiculousy tough time. I wish I could help you. Please know I care about you and want the best outcome for you. It is so good of you to post, to let everyone know that this surgery is not the answer to/for happiness. It is a great tool for weight loss, but, can cause sundry problems for some. I believe it helps to go into any venture(surgery for one example) with all the knowledge available. Your side of the story is most valuable. Thank you for telling it and continuing to help us all understand a completely different side to WLS.

I am the first to admit I was not understanding of your situation at all in the beginning. I am sorry for that. I am Enlightened now and will never view/judge anyone again about their "issues".

Keep us posted on your progress.

Be strong, be well friend.

Thank you for understanding. As I am now sunken in a state of depression and anxiety, ( something I've never encountered to this degree before in my life), I am awaiting my new psychiatrist to analyze the labs she receives from my primary care physician and will meet with her in about 10 days to try once again another precription antidepressant. I myself can't believe this has happened to me. Thanks again I appreciate your will to be here for support.

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Lan2k

From someone who has dealt with depression most of her life, you are doing a good job taking care of it. Sometimes people don't understand what is happening to them until they are so deep in the depression that it is hard to get out. Get on some pills and if they don't work, speak up!! Not all of them work for everyone, it sometimes takes trial and error to get it right. Depression is a chemical imbalance, simple as that! so the drugs will get you back to where you need to be again. Take a deep breath, yiou will be better in no time!

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Lan2k

From someone who has dealt with depression most of her life, you are doing a good job taking care of it. Sometimes people don't understand what is happening to them until they are so deep in the depression that it is hard to get out. Get on some pills and if they don't work, speak up!! Not all of them work for everyone, it sometimes takes trial and error to get it right. Depression is a chemical imbalance, simple as that! so the drugs will get you back to where you need to be again. Take a deep breath, yiou will be better in no time!

Thank you Bernadette,

I will work on this until I get it right.

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Bernadette is right... I have been through the depression roller-coaster too. It does take time to find what works, but once you do, it will be ok. Also, some of the side-effects of drugs like Wellbutrin and Zoloft are short-term and not long-lasting... The lack of any kind of really negative types of side-effects with these two drugs is why I have stuck to this family of meds... I tried a few others, some gave me headaches, etc. Please know, you're doing the right thing, trying to figure this out and get on the road to happy! :blink: As for the anxiety part of this, depression and anxiety often go hand-in-hand. Sometimes, for me, this was worse than the depression (I have trouble sleeping, etc, and this is often associated with anxiety). Were you able to check out the list that I posted earlier in the week, of meds, how they work, and what they are supposed to do? If not, I would be happy to look it up again. Also, I did find some article in Harvard Mental Health, etc, about the issue of depression and bariatric surgery. I can email them to you at your private address if you want... VST won't let me attach them, they're too big.

Anyways, hang in there sister! You're doing awesome!

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Lan2k:

It would be very helpful if you could start a thread about the negative emotional effects of the surgery. I am very curious.

Before I had surgery I was a real foodie (also a glutton). Now, i just don't enjoy food as much. It's not just the amount I can eat, but also nothing excites me anymore. While I understand this is a good thing, I am mourning the loss of one of the activities that I found most enjoyable.

Don't forget, it's never too late to obtain therapy. Hopefully, you are in a position to get the help you need now.

One thing I would have done differently is be more diligent taking antacids, Vitamins and monitoring my Protein. I have had some hair loss - and I will never know whether or not I could have prevented it.

I am going to try to gather my thoughts together and start a thread about the negative emotional effects of the surgery. I just need to figure out how to navigate to the complications section. I also want to be sure that my readers understand that these negative emotions are not the norm. I do not wish to discourage anyone from going about weight loss through bariatric surgery if this is what they want to do. I was so thoroughly convinced that I was ready but in hind sight I really should have been better prepared psychologically. I am very glad to be a part of this vertical sleeve talk message board, it has helped me immensely.

Thank you all for being here.

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Bernadette is right... I have been through the depression roller-coaster too. It does take time to find what works, but once you do, it will be ok. Also, some of the side-effects of drugs like Wellbutrin and Zoloft are short-term and not long-lasting... The lack of any kind of really negative types of side-effects with these two drugs is why I have stuck to this family of meds... I tried a few others, some gave me headaches, etc. Please know, you're doing the right thing, trying to figure this out and get on the road to happy! :blink: As for the anxiety part of this, depression and anxiety often go hand-in-hand. Sometimes, for me, this was worse than the depression (I have trouble sleeping, etc, and this is often associated with anxiety). Were you able to check out the list that I posted earlier in the week, of meds, how they work, and what they are supposed to do? If not, I would be happy to look it up again. Also, I did find some article in Harvard Mental Health, etc, about the issue of depression and bariatric surgery. I can email them to you at your private address if you want... VST won't let me attach them, they're too big.

Anyways, hang in there sister! You're doing awesome!

I would love to read the article in Harvard Mental Health. My email is lisnatoli@yahoo.com. Please put Vertical Sleeve Talk in the subject line so I don't mistake it for spam or junk mail. I still have the links you have posted and will be spending a good portion of tomorrow online and read what I can. Thank you so very much.

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      1. Selina333

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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