My 2-month surgiversary was on the 25th, the last day we spent hanging out in a rented villa in Tuscany with 2 other couples -- our friends & employees.

It wasn't as awesome as it sounds, sadly, since I spent the 2nd half of our week feeling too weak and tired and listless to do anything or even really go outside.

I'm still stuck at 283. That's where I was a month ago and I am honestly in shock. I'm not losing any more: I lost 25lbs quickly, in <3 weeks post-op, and then… nothing.

I'm sure at least part of it's my fault. Obviously I'm eating small amounts, vastly less than I did before, but when I'm tired, I can't bring myself to exercise. And I'm almost always tired… bone deep tired. For a while, I was playing tour guide to our visiting friends, taking them all over Austria, climbing up hills and castles and stairs and stuff, and occasionally dancing with my friend at night. With all this activity, I lost 2lbs. And then bounced right back up. Now I'm feeling incapable of doing anything and my weight is totally stable.

Right after surgery - when I was still losing - my sinuses were clear for the first time in ages. I could actually breathe through my nose at night. Then I got my period, and they clogged back up, and haven't opened up since. Then I got a gum infection. Then my period again. Then I got a sunburn (which is obviously my fault, but wow did it knock me on my ass). Then I started taking a decongestant to help me sleep at night, and it worked great for a few days and then it made me feel much worse. I quit taking it, felt less tired, but had 3 days of intestinal mutiny because of the rebound effect on my sinuses.

I'm so freaking tired of this.

Most days I wake up nauseous because my nose runs into my stomach at night. I can't drink Water on that; I have to eat a starch to make it feel better. I tried Protein - it just hurts. The starch fixes it so I can eat something, and prevents the intestinal cramping later on.

But I'm guessing that, with my luck, it's the starch that is making me not lose weight.

It would all be worth it if I was losing weight, but I'm not. It's the same 2-3lbs up and down for the past 6 weeks. Like I never had surgery at all.

None of these problems are CAUSED by the sleeve, by the way. I had them all before with a normal-sized tummy. But tho the physical restriction is definitely working, I'm not losing any weight, and I don't know what to do. My surgeon is no help.

*sigh*

I'd love some advice or words of encouragement. (Other than "food diary" - because I already have one and it says I'm in the 700-1000 range where I'm supposed to be.)

I'm so glad you're feeling better! I had blood pressure ups and downs at your stage, and I was so tired I could barely function on some days. The real Protein and MORE of it helped me a lot. And if you're really sweating, etc, drink a little Gatorade and it will help you. It's odd for us weightloss patients to ever hear, "Eat more and you'll feel better", but it is true, I believe!

Thank you all, ladies. It made me feel so much better just to know you're here and ready to be there for me. I hope I can repay you the favor sometime.

AND… miracle of miracles… I woke up today 5lbs lighter. Yes, overnight! (Or over 2 nights, since I didn't weigh yesterday.) Maybe I should complain more often!! Obviously it must be mostly Water, but still, that water was hanging on for dear life until now, so that's a good sign and I'll take it.

I'm 277 now, which is a number I haven't seen since I got sick with mono (which triggered CFS) almost 2 years ago exactly. That's just a few (7) lbs more than I weighed when I got married 3 years ago. I'm happy about it.

And my face is still swollen so there must be more water ready to come off.

Thanks to your advice, I'm getting back on the mega-protein wagon (fell off a bit in Italy) and drinking MORE water.

KellyL, thank you so much. I had almost forgotten about taking vits. I was into all sorts of supplements for my fatigue/fibro pre-op, had to quit taking them 3 weeks in advance to prepare, and never got back on the bandwagon somehow. I will attack it again with that dedication.

And I also realized that I must be at least a little dehydrated, cuz I have to breathe thru my mouth all night and I wake up with super crackly dry-mouth. I must lose a LOT of water that way. So I've turned on the humidifier and upped my fluids -- my surgeon says 2L/day, so I started doing 2.5-3L when I wrote this post, and I do feel a bit better already.

Nurse Elisa, you might be right. Most post-op recommendations (from the major universities etc) seem to be in the 600-800 range, my surgeon said 1000, but I've been trying to do 900. Some days I feel sick and don't want to eat tho. (THAT never happened before surgery, heh.) If I stall again, I will definitely try upping calories. I felt fine on 900 for weeks -- but maybe now that is contributing to my fatigue.

I agree with KellyL's suggestions. Also, it seems like you might be experiencing a constant sinus infection which will cause your whole system to feel terrible, so no wonder you don't have the energy to exercise. I think I'd deal with that first, and then move on to worrying about your weight loss. If you feel terrible, it's incredibly hard to motivate to work out. If you start to have a little more energy, then I recommend SLOWLY working your way up. I started with 20 minute walks, and now i can work out for an hour and half at a go. It makes a big difference if you go slow and don't overtax yourself at the outset. I hope these suggestions help you!!! We are behind you!!!

Lila21, I definitely have a chronic sinus infection. You should see my CT scans -- a couple of my sinuses are almost completely blocked by swollen tissue. At this point, I have tried everything… neti pot/sinus rinse, long courses of antibiotics, long courses of anti-fungals, etc., with little to show for it. I can't take steroid nose sprays to reduce swelling cuz they interrupt my sleep, trigger serious sore throats, tummy aches, acid reflux, and fibromyalgia (from poor sleep quality).

If you have any creative suggestions for stuff to try, I am incredibly interested

I'm pretty sure the only thing I can do now is surgery, but I JUST had surgery so I've got to wait. I had sinus surgery about 6 years ago and the recovery was kinda rough.

In fact, the whole reason I investigated WLS was because I saw a new sinus surgeon who said, "Well, I can certainly operate on you and you'll feel better for a while. But if you don't lose all this excess weight, you'll be back in here in 2 years." He told me about 2 of his nurses who had WLS and went from having pneumonia, bronchitis & sinus issues all the time to being healthy. That described me to a T.

I was SOOOOOO EXCITED when my nose cleared up in the hospital and post-op for a couple weeks. My skin cleared up and I looked & felt so much better. I wish like hell I knew what it was that caused that. I figure: the pain killers, the 4L/day of IV fluids, the humidified oxygen delivered right to my nose, possibly the diet (e.g. fasting then liquids), or maybe just the shock of surgery.

Then I got my period, and bam: sinuses clogged, face swelled up, broke out, and even the (dark) hair on my face got worse again. BLEAHHHH.

Again, I absolutely believe that you are right -- no doubt the chronic infection is causing issues. But the reason I had the surgery was cuz being overweight can worsen infection and inflammation. I was hoping it'd help instead of being another thing derailed by it

And again, I'm definitely interested in ANY suggestions you might have, if you have experience with this kinda thing.

Hi Ahoy, you say that taking steroid nasal sprays interrupts your sleep, causes you sore throats, tummy aches, etc. Are you taking it in the evening? That's the only way I can see it going into your throat and stomach. The steroid nasal spays are most effective in the morning anyway (only slightly more effective, but still).

If that doesn't do the trick then you should be able to 'wash' away the spray by lying on your back 15 minutes after taking the spray and putting a few drops of saline in your nose.

I remember when my ENT surgeon took me off my nasal spray for a month for an experiment and wowzers I felt *AWFUL* without it - like I had a full on cold. 48 hours after going back on the spray I was almost better.

I've had nasal polyps removed twice as well as having my deviated septum corrected and believe me, that surgery way easier than the WLS we get so maybe nasal surgery has improved since 6 years ago.

Lila21, I definitely have a chronic sinus infection. You should see my CT scans -- a couple of my sinuses are almost completely blocked by swollen tissue. At this point, I have tried everything… neti pot/sinus rinse, long courses of antibiotics, long courses of anti-fungals, etc., with little to show for it. I can't take steroid nose sprays to reduce swelling cuz they interrupt my sleep, trigger serious sore throats, tummy aches, acid reflux, and fibromyalgia (from poor sleep quality).

If you have any creative suggestions for stuff to try, I am incredibly interested

I'm pretty sure the only thing I can do now is surgery, but I JUST had surgery so I've got to wait. I had sinus surgery about 6 years ago and the recovery was kinda rough.

In fact, the whole reason I investigated WLS was because I saw a new sinus surgeon who said, "Well, I can certainly operate on you and you'll feel better for a while. But if you don't lose all this excess weight, you'll be back in here in 2 years." He told me about 2 of his nurses who had WLS and went from having pneumonia, bronchitis & sinus issues all the time to being healthy. That described me to a T.

I was SOOOOOO EXCITED when my nose cleared up in the hospital and post-op for a couple weeks. My skin cleared up and I looked & felt so much better. I wish like hell I knew what it was that caused that. I figure: the pain killers, the 4L/day of IV fluids, the humidified oxygen delivered right to my nose, possibly the diet (e.g. fasting then liquids), or maybe just the shock of surgery.

Then I got my period, and bam: sinuses clogged, face swelled up, broke out, and even the (dark) hair on my face got worse again. BLEAHHHH.

Again, I absolutely believe that you are right -- no doubt the chronic infection is causing issues. But the reason I had the surgery was cuz being overweight can worsen infection and inflammation. I was hoping it'd help instead of being another thing derailed by it

And again, I'm definitely interested in ANY suggestions you might have, if you have experience with this kinda thing.

Hi Ahoy, you say that taking steroid nasal sprays interrupts your sleep, causes you sore throats, tummy aches, etc. Are you taking it in the evening? That's the only way I can see it going into your throat and stomach. The steroid nasal spays are most effective in the morning anyway (only slightly more effective, but still).

Oh how I wish the solution was just to change the time I take it!

I have daytime post-nasal drip as well, sometimes quite bad. And right after I got sick with the mono (which lasted about 6 mos!!), my doctor put me on a steroid nose spray and Advair. They disturbed my sleep, made me extremely irritable, and eventually led to HALLUCINATIONS. Yep, that's right, steroid psychosis from 2 totally normal medicines that many people combine.

Somehow during all this crap, I've become incredibly sensitive to chemicals I used to be able to tolerate just fine. It blows.

If that doesn't do the trick then you should be able to 'wash' away the spray by lying on your back 15 minutes after taking the spray and putting a few drops of saline in your nose.

I will try that! The nose sprays REALLY help the swelling but the other side fx have been intolerable.

I've had nasal polyps removed twice as well as having my deviated septum corrected and believe me, that surgery way easier than the WLS we get so maybe nasal surgery has improved since 6 years ago.

I had a bunch of swelling removed from inside the sinuses, and the deviated septum, and bone removed to hopefully improve drainage. I think polyps are not IN the sinuses, are they? Did they pack your sinuses? Cuz that was the part that was terrible. My sinuses and nose were completely packed for 2 weeks, swallowing was much worse than anything I experienced with WLS because my head was so blocked up that swallowing created pressure pops and stuff would come back up. TMI but *shudder* that is what I am afraid of going thru again!

Ew, they packed your nose!! Nope then my surgery wasn't as bad as yours. You could also try playing with different nasal sprays. Before I got one that worked for me I had to try a couple. The first one gave me nose bleeds so when my nose ran it would go onto the open skin and then I'd sneeze more and that'd create more irritation.

Sorry about your nasal drip, that sounds nasty. Don't they eventually go away? I think I was warned that there was a slim risk I might get that when I had my polyps removed but my surgeon's great and last time I spoke to him that had never happened to one of his patients.

Are you taking antihistamine tablets, as that may help some of your sinus/nasal irritation and maybe help you with the nasal spray too. I have to take antihistamines for allergic rhinitis. The tablets are tiny and not expensive (I use Cetirizine Hydrochloride).

I hope you find some relief as you're having a tough time and I feel for ya!

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Oh how I wish the solution was just to change the time I take it!

I have daytime post-nasal drip as well, sometimes quite bad. And right after I got sick with the mono (which lasted about 6 mos!!), my doctor put me on a steroid nose spray and Advair. They disturbed my sleep, made me extremely irritable, and eventually led to HALLUCINATIONS. Yep, that's right, steroid psychosis from 2 totally normal medicines that many people combine.

Somehow during all this crap, I've become incredibly sensitive to chemicals I used to be able to tolerate just fine. It blows.

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I will try that! The nose sprays REALLY help the swelling but the other side fx have been intolerable.

I had a bunch of swelling removed from inside the sinuses, and the deviated septum, and bone removed to hopefully improve drainage. I think polyps are not IN the sinuses, are they? Did they pack your sinuses? Cuz that was the part that was terrible. My sinuses and nose were completely packed for 2 weeks, swallowing was much worse than anything I experienced with WLS because my head was so blocked up that swallowing created pressure pops and stuff would come back up. TMI but *shudder* that is what I am afraid of going thru again!

Hi Ahoy, howz it going? Have you tried cutting out dairy for a couple of days? I know it helps me with congestion (dairy is really mucus forming). I've never really had a sinus problem despite my 3 nasal ops. But if it's going to help you should notice a difference after 48 hours of abstaining from dairy (difficult when you're early out I know).

Take care.

TJ

Hi Ahoy, howz it going? Have you tried cutting out dairy for a couple of days? I know it helps me with congestion (dairy is really mucus forming). I've never really had a sinus problem despite my 3 nasal ops. But if it's going to help you should notice a difference after 48 hours of abstaining from dairy (difficult when you're early out I know).

Take care.

TJ

Hey! Sorry, I JUST NOW saw your big reply above

Thanks for all your advice, ideas, and support. It means SO much to me.

Yes, my last sinus surgery was really serious! Luckily they won't remove bone again so it won't be as bad when I have it done a 2nd time. *crosses fingers*

You're right about trying diff meds. I have tried the 3 nose sprays that are common in Austria… they're not as big on variety here. Nasonex, Flixonase and NASIC, which the doctor said was non-steroidal but turns out she was wrong. Alas! When I'm back in the US for several months, in 2 weeks (yay!), I will see what else is available.

The thing is, everything mucks up my sleep. EVERYTHING except (I think) my PPI, thank goodness. My friend who visited from the US brought me the "wonder pills," Mucinex with a teeny bit of decongestant. It worked so well! But I had super vivid dreams and 3 days in, got all muscle achey and tiiiiiired because of the sleep probs. Same thing with Claritin. Don't know if they have the equivalent to Zyrtec here, but I plan to stock up and try a bunch when I get back to the US.

Yeah… those drugs ALL work for me. But they also all make my sleep quality so poor, I end up worse than before

Cutting out dairy doesn't seem to make any diff. Can't decide if I'm glad, because I love it, or sad because it'd be an "easy" fix.

Now I'm going to try to add some supplements that are specifically anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial and see if that helps. Again, something way easier to do in the US.

BUT, all that said, sleeping with the humidifier and drinking more like 3L/day has already helped. Today I woke up breathing thru my nose. That is amazing! I still clogged up and got a headache but I'll take what I can get

So, lessons learned: drink way more than seems sane, and use the humidifier every night.

Thanks again!