6 months post surgery and at least 100 posts ...

Are these settings enforced? I know this will probably make me sound elitest ... whatever ...

I have seen a few folks who have surgery AND join dates < 6 months posting in here. Also, do you think 100 posts constitutes a veteran? I see A LOT of folks several months pre-sleeve who have hundreds of posts.

Sooo ... I guess my question is, what do you feel constitutes a veteran?

Does a veteran always have to be sunshine, lollypops and rainbows?

Does being rigorously honest mean we aren't supportive? Even if that means calling you on your ****?

Oh wow, I am so glad I am not the only one! We went out with friends last week. I had a few drinks and was mindlessly grazing all night long. It hit me all of a sudden, I felt miserable, like I was going to explode. I went off and sat by myself for a bit, thinking/hoping the feeling would pass, but it didn't. I couldn't stand it, I was miserable. I ended up going to the ladies room and making myself vomit. I felt so much better, it was crazy. That is definitely not something I want to make a habit of, I actually was torn between feeling guilty like I had done something wrong, and feeling great relief from having felt like my stomach was going to burst. I guess it just goes to show, we are all human. But, it is also nice to know that my sleeve is obviously still working well at four years out.

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Oh wow' date=' I am so glad I am not the only one! We went out with friends last week. I had a few drinks and was mindlessly grazing all night long. It hit me all of a sudden, I felt miserable, like I was going to explode. I went off and sat by myself for a bit, thinking/hoping the feeling would pass, but it didn't. I couldn't stand it, I was miserable. I ended up going to the ladies room and making myself vomit. I felt so much better, it was crazy. That is definitely not something I want to make a habit of, I actually was torn between feeling guilty like I had done something wrong, and feeling great relief from having felt like my stomach was going to burst. I guess it just goes to show, we are all human. But, it is also nice to know that my sleeve is obviously still working well at four years out.

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As I was reading this, I was thinking, "Wow! That's great! She still had that kind of restriction that far out."

Sorry to hear you had to go through that, but thanks for sharing your story that you still do have that kind of restriction.

OregonDaisy' date=' I know what you are talking about and was worried I was failing.

Sam situation, out with friends having dinner with a drink or a few and then eatting. Tho I dont force myself to throw up, my body does. I have a few times lately had to excuse myself and "throw up/slime up".

I guess I need to be more aware when this is happening, but I am more interested in the people [/quote']

"Slime up" - I like that. Definitely can relate to that.

It's a horrible feeling when your sleeve is too full. People will say "Oh I can't believe you can't finish one last bite" and I say " My stomach doesn't stretch. If I eat too much, it will just come up"

The hardest thing is pizza. I can comfortably eat one piece, but I so want to push it and try to eat a few extra bites and I am miserable.

I think that face book group is called gastric sleeve recipes. I am on a whole list of facebook groups. None of them are vets only groups though.

I can add you if you want!

I do not drink alcohol. If I do, I get really drunk on one drink. i don't like that feeling.

I still don't drink with my meals. It makes me feel sick. I do usually take a tiny sip of Water when I am done eating.

I can relate to the overfull thing because I really had to "relearn" my sleeve capacity once our lifestyle changed. In Bishkek we were constantly invited to dinner events and if you know anything about Central Asian hospitality that means HOURS long meals (and vodka fests, thanks to Soviet influence) and it's terribly rude to decline food. And it's not as if you're serving your own portions to yourself if you're a respected or honored American guest. They'll show respect by dishing out your portions for you and refilling your drinks...and the parade of food is never ending, with plenty of bread as well as rice and noodle dishes there to stuff a sleeve well past capacity. It was actually a real challenge for me to learn how to eat only a few bites and claim whatever reason for not eating. I'm sure I offended many a host unintentionally.

And yes, more than once I had to delicately excuse myself because my food had swollen up and I was desperately uncomfortable. When you're so full that all you have to do is bend over and you slime, it's bad. ...I think this is the only time I ever appreciated Turkish toilets, though.

I had finally navigated my way around that issue and learned to simply eat a bite of everything, share my food with my husband and politely decline food when I got pregnant.

And then I COULD eat more food but it took me forever to discover just how much that was, and I went through another learning period just like when I was freshly sleeved.

I certainly wouldn't say it's perfectly normal for us, but then, after years of eating a certain way and establishing habits it's not too difficult (especially when involved in socializing) to forget what just a few years of sleeved life have taught us.

It definitely hit home that we really have to be careful forever and that bad habits could slip back in for all of us if we're not mindful about our eating. A lifetime of overeating and mindlessly grazing doesn't just disappear for good after a few years of being sleeved, apparently!

I do drink but not too much as I experience the same very strong reaction alcohol as Oregondaisy - one mixed drink, if sipped too quickly, could have me falling over! One drink with a sip here and there will get me through an entire evening nowadays. And I try to beg off the vodka shots (gotta love living in the former Soviet Union!) whenever possible.

~Cheri

I luckily have not had a big problem here. For a long time, I just didn't "go out". Now that I am at goal, pretty much anyone I know well enough to go out with knows I had surgery and they are totally supportive of my eccentric eating - I order an appetizer or share with others. so far, so good.

Last night i was out at a very nice restaurant and went into the ladies room to be treated to the sounds of a bulimic making room for more. I just know i don't want to go down that path - I had 10 years with the stupid crapband, and even with all Fluid gone, certain foods made me vomit after one bite. Rice for example! the lapband was like medically induced bulimia and it was awful, maybe this is why i have such an aversion and will take extreme measures to NOT overeat...lol. That is just my experience, and i am new at maintenance so we shall see how things evolve.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Cheri. I agree that 1 glass of wine is all it takes to get sloshed. I don't drink too often, but do like the occasional glass. I have had 2 since surgery after 6 months and have enjoyed them for both the taste and the social aspect.

I really don't like going out to eat anymore... I didn't enjoy it pre sleeve to be honest, but that is another thread altogether!

When I do go out, I go out to have a drink and a dance! I make sure that I eat several hours before I start drinking, and I might have a packet of nuts in the early part of the evening! I can't eat and drink anymore, so I chose one or the other.

I can get stupidly drunk now too... couldn't in the early days, but it is a lot different to stupid drunk pre sleeve!

Only in the early days did I throw up food, a steep learning curve at the time that has stayed with me now. I know exactly how much I can and can't eat and that is the reason I love my sleeve. It makes me stop, even though I am enjoying the food. I have learnt to read my full signals now, something I couldn't do three years ago!

I can see how easy it would be to fill up really quickly though, especially when out with friends.

It's so hard for me to go out to eat these days. It's just not that enjoyable as it use to be.... I don't want to eat junk, I want to eat healthy and the restaurants sabotage my eating if I'm not careful. so I just prepare my meals at home. I do have a margarita when out but can only drink a few sips. I realize now that I was totally misinformed by the bariatrics department telling us that alcohol will kill us. I realize they were talking about about GBS mostly. So I haven't pushed the limits with alcohol..But from what I'm reading from the posts, alcohol will not kill me....So instead of ordering food at a restaurant, I'll just order and drink and have some fun with it, especially in Maui.......I still have stricture, I discovered yesterday, and I felt horrible the rest of the evening. I realize that I think about what I'm going to eat all the time and when my stomach feels empty, I will eat something......This is my obsession and it's time to break the pattern......Sorry for the rant! Everyone here is doing really good.......

I think they should be enforced. I'm also surprised 6 months is all it takes to be considered a vet. I have been a bariatric patient for 6 years, although I am new to the sleeve - I feel so different about things now than I did when I was post op one year.

I think they should be enforced. I'm also surprised 6 months is all it takes to be considered a vet. I have been a bariatric patient for 6 years' date=' although I am new to the sleeve - I feel so different about things now than I did when I was post op one year.[/quote']

How long have you had the sleeve? Did you have a revision from the band?

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I'm 6 months post op, have more than 300 posts, and have been at maintenance for a couple of months. I don't consider myself a vet, but lurk these threads because the vets are talking about what I want to know. Stuff that's relevant to me. I won't post on them, but I do get a lot of good info. I'm with every1 else that says non vets shouldn't post, but please don't make it a closed group. I need it!!!

I think you all are liars! I came to his thread to read about animals! And how to fix them! And not one of you helped save mcgruff!

I don't know why you all have gone off topic again.... But I was really enjoying the topic about eating to much and making yourself puke from the vets, so perhaps we can stop this so so they can go back to it please.

Thank you in advance