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How long before you felt normal again?



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I had my sleeve on the 28th. I have been very compliant with walking, choking down my crushed meds, and sip sip sipping all day long but I feel so out of my zone!! My stomach feels hungry but I'm not hungry at all. I still have gas but was able to finally pass some last night which felt wonderful. I'm just wondering how long it will be until I am back up and at it like before or better than before. Oh!! And the lethargy!! I am extremely tired all day but I still make my self get up and walk. Any advice from those of you who are newly sleeved and hadn't forgot about what you went through in the beginning but been sleeved long enough to say when you started feeling like your old self again. TIA!!

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The first 2 weeks for me were very rough. I was miserable. The 3rd week I started to feel better. I didn't feel fully 100% myself with no residual pain until week 5. I had a ton of scar tissue from 4 prior abdominal surgeries so I had some extensive lingering pain.

Weeks 3 to 5 weren't horrible, I just wasn't 100% yet. Week 5 was a life changer for me. I am now almost 7 weeks post op and better than ever.

Hang in there. It's a rough go for a while. Keep drinking. Best advice I have.

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Everyone is different. I started to feel better about day 4 post surgery, and began improving fairly rapidly after that. I would say my full energy didn't come back for a few weeks though. The good news is when it did I had more energy than I've had in years!

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I concur with @HopeandAgony. I felt almost human at about 5 weeks.

Just keep in mind, this is only temporary. The way you feel now is not going to be the way you feel at 3 week, 3 months, 6 months...it just keeps getting better and better!

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I was pretty back to normal in about two weeks for everything but exhaustion. That took about six weeks to dissipate. Hang in there!

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I was two weeks on 12/28 and felt tired and foggy. The dr had me start my bari mult Vitamin on 12/29 plus puréed food. Within 48 hours the lethargy and brain fog lifted. I feel great today! You will turn the corner soon! Keep up with your fluids!

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I went back to work on day 6 and felt pretty good at that point. Felt completely normal by day 10.

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@@destiny_77 I had an abdominal hernia repair done at the same time as my sleeve. The hernia was the only source of pain and soreness. The sleeve felt fine from the recovery room to right now.

It took a couple of days to get the surgical meds flushed outa my system. Stuff had me drowsy and lethargic.

It took over a week to get most of the surgery related inflammation flushed out, too.

Somewhere around week 3 I started to have issues with low blood pressure. It was low for the first time in my adult life. Low because of the fast weight loss that sped up on the pre-op & post-op liquid diet. The doc cut my blood pressure meds way down and those odd feels were done and I was instantly good to go.

The really good feeling showed up around week 8-9. I think the weight loss had reached a point where my back and knees were getting good relief and I was seeing the benefits to the surgery.

Improved vascularity, happy state of mind and overall relief knowing that 2016 was going to be the best year I've seen finally set in.

The pre-op periods sucks.

The first month afterwards is hum-drum.......everybody gets sick of the liquid life.

Somewhere shortly after that, though, normal sleeve life takes over and the improvements become evident and grow from there.

Hang in there and stick with your program. You'll be so far past the "no fun" part of the deal really soon..............

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@@destiny_77 I had an abdominal hernia repair done at the same time as my sleeve. The hernia was the only source of pain and soreness. The sleeve felt fine from the recovery room to right now.

It took a couple of days to get the surgical meds flushed outa my system. Stuff had me drowsy and lethargic.

It took over a week to get most of the surgery related inflammation flushed out, too.

Somewhere around week 3 I started to have issues with low blood pressure. It was low for the first time in my adult life. Low because of the fast weight loss that sped up on the pre-op & post-op liquid diet. The doc cut my blood pressure meds way down and those odd feels were done and I was instantly good to go.

The really good feeling showed up around week 8-9. I think the weight loss had reached a point where my back and knees were getting good relief and I was seeing the benefits to the surgery.

Improved vascularity, happy state of mind and overall relief knowing that 2016 was going to be the best year I've seen finally set in.

The pre-op periods sucks.

The first month afterwards is hum-drum.......everybody gets sick of the liquid life.

Somewhere shortly after that, though, normal sleeve life takes over and the improvements become evident and grow from there.

Hang in there and stick with your program. You'll be so far past the "no fun" part of the deal really soon..............

Oh to be able to get around with much less pain in my back and knees!! Definitely looking forward to that benefit. Thank you for your detailed response, it helps ease my mind a lot!! I must be doing something right during this first stage of madness because I'm already down 5 pounds since the 28th :). Woo hoo!! Pre surgery, I would fight tooth and nail to drop 5 pounds so I'm happy with my progress so far even though this has been tough!! I really think I might get violent if anyone tells me I took the easy way out!! Again, thank you for your input! Helps a lot

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Destiny I too sleeved on the 28th and had a hernia repair. The pain I felt came from the repair and lasted two days. I have been lucky thus far. Suregery dayI slept all day. Day one I had some problems getting the protien shakes down however, I watered them down a bit and they went down better. Day two I went home and sipped sipped. Day 3 i filled up my two 32 oz insulated Water bottles with protien drinks and got thru 3/4 of my 64 oz I also had some protien broth. My energy is coming back. The thoughts I am having is as long as I make up two bottles a day with 64oz of fluid/protien and work on getting them down the less I worry about doing the right thing. I am calling this my new normal. I am taking it slow and steady and am in no hurry to move on to mushy foods or real food. If I keep doing this for a few weeks I think it will be beneficial in the long run. Now that pesky gas, belching and gurggling of the tummy yup that has to go!!!

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I had my sleeve on the 28th. I have been very compliant with walking, choking down my crushed meds, and sip sip sipping all day long but I feel so out of my zone!! My stomach feels hungry but I'm not hungry at all. I still have gas but was able to finally pass some last night which felt wonderful. I'm just wondering how long it will be until I am back up and at it like before or better than before. Oh!! And the lethargy!! I am extremely tired all day but I still make my self get up and walk. Any advice from those of you who are newly sleeved and hadn't forgot about what you went through in the beginning but been sleeved long enough to say when you started feeling like your old self again. TIA!!

Just as a side note, I came home from surgery and I was starving. I would try to eat and it wouldn't go away. It was stomach acid. I take omeprazole and now I don't have any fake hunger pains. Be sure your hunger is really hunger and not stomach acid.

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Destiny_77 today was the first day I have had energy and felt normal again. I felt great overall. This is week 3 1/2 for me. It gets better I promise. I had no energy last week.

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@@FancyCakes, I, too, have a script of Omeprazole that I take faithfully daily and I still feel hungry but I am sticking to my liquids. Thank you for the tip just the same though. @@meganmom, have you started regular foods yet? I'm wondering if the energy is coming from the Protein in food rather than our shakes... Thanks for the responses guys, I can use all the help I can get!! I will say, that I am feeling a whole lot better than I have been! Hope y'all are doing well!!

Edited by destiny_77

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • 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. 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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