greetings,

those of you post op: what surprised you after surgery? what happened that you didn’t expect or think of?

(gas issues, rate of weight loss, tiredness issues, food intolerances, other people reaction, or whatever else you were not prepared for)

13 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Those do the same thing for my friend but I can eat as many as I want without any bathroom issues? Weird how it does that to some people but she uses them the same way. Lol

lol everyone is different… heck, i am cautious with both xylitol and caffeine… most of the time no reaction, but sometimes it hits right and, ahem, works quite well at lightening the load

There were two things that really surprised me, despite all the research and reading I did. I didn't know that the first week after the surgery I might not lose anything. I knew that some people come home a little heavier than on surgery day, but coming home 10lbs heavier and then not losing anything for over a week was startling to me. My nutritionist explained that it was normal, and that given the amount I lost during the LSD, I could expect to lose less than normal in the first month. I was expected to be between 279-275 on my next appointment (last Friday), but she said not to worry about it if I didn't hit that. I hit 280.2 the morning of my appointment.

The second thing, and if you don't want TMI scroll on, was the surprise appearance of my period more than a week early, accompanied by horrific cramps and clotting. Again, I'd read that it could cause your cycle to run early, or late, but I was not prepared for the worst period of my life. I'm at the tail end of my next cycle and this one hasn't been nearly as bad, but still a good bit worse than I'm used to, so there's a heads up on that lol.

Things that happened that i did not already know or read about beforehand:

1) 1 month post: my period would come back (i hadn’t had it in 2 years…thought i was in menopause..i was wrong), and continue to come like clockwork every month…im 4 years post now, and its still as regular.

2) 1-2 months post: my armpit stink would disappear (I don’t even need to wear deodorant anymore)

3) i no longer needed my ADHD meds. I had to pause taking them after surgery as advised by doc, but discovered i didn’t need to get back on them.

4) 1-2 months post: super human bladder control. I used to pee 1-2 times an hour during waking hours and got up from bed 4-6 times a night. After 1-2 months i noticed i could sleep the entire night with no bathroom visits and can go for several hours without during day.

5) 2-3 months post: the endless amounts of energy. In would have thought i would be dead woman waking given the so few calories i was taking in, but it was just the opposite

Thats all i can think of for now. Im sure there were plenty more but its been so long i forget, lol.

For me, there were two things that surprised me the most, despite reading and hearing about both.

First, I was amazed at the change in hunger sensation. I was (and remain, for the most part) simply not hungry as much anymore. Pre-op - and even at the start of the liquid phase - I felt hungry all-the-time. For me personally, it was one of the biggest contributors to my past diet failures. The "surprise" was a pleasant one, to say the least. It is so refreshing to feel like food is no longer controlling a significant portion of my thoughts throughout the day.

The second thing that surprised me the most, was how little food it took for me to feel full, and how quickly I felt full. True, this was discussed with my healthcare team, and I read about it here and elsewhere, but I don't think I was truly prepared for just how little it takes for me to feel full. Again, another pleasant surprise.

The realtionship with food I was afraid of food for more than one year after and now 3 years I hate the idea of meals and physically eating and it's like a task I don't enjoy and also the realtionship with food is almost a hate because what I loved and enjoyed I don't and how bad acid reflux is and I didn't know I suffered with such things that it's almost with anything I eat

How difficult it is just to get both fluids and protein in!

I have pretty much sailed through my sleeve op. My only concerns have been related to hitting my fluid and protein goals in the same day. In the early days I pretty much alternated them. Even 11 months out I have to pay real ongoing attention to both.

Everyone is different in this process, however, I was surprised more people didn't struggle with their pre-op diet. I was on a strict liquid only diet for 2 weeks before my surgery. It completely zapped my energy level. I had to work from home because I was so weak. Following surgery I had a very difficult time getting my protein in during the liquid phase because I couldn't stomach any protein shakes or protein water.

Many people can bounce back to work relatively quickly following gastric sleeve. But for me it's taken much more time. I didn't expect to take more than 2 weeks off work, yet that's what my body needed.

I just had surgery last week, and just found this app… I was surprised how little pain I felt, but I was also surprised how tired I was post surgery. I actually slept from surgery until late afternoon the following day. But once I woke up I felt great, but I wear out quickly. My doctor said the weight loss will help me feel more energized.

On 10/11/2022 at 10:12 AM, kcuster83 said:

Nothing. Not to be a **** head. But, for literally 4-5 months I read everything you could imagine.

Read back for years on this forum and another one. Asked so many questions, talked to people who had WLS. Read every article I could find, even watched a few Utube videos.

I was so prepared. I wanted to know every single thing that MIGHT go wrong. Any side effect, changes that may or may not occur. Literally everything, good or bad.

So, nothing really surprised me although I will say I had about the smoothest recovery you could imagine. Which I am so grateful for!

Your comment made me literally laugh out loud. I worry when I see so many posts here asking basic diet questions — I am tempted to reply telling them to Google: “post gastric sleeve diet pdf” (or whatever your procedure was). If you add “pdf” your results will be more booklets/handouts from doctors and hospitals. Or people can search for those terms on YouTube and find a million vids by medical professionals (like Dr. Weiner) who are very detailed.

I had a relatively novel procedure, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, yet there was already tons of reliable information on the web about it. I think the only thing that truly surprised me was that feeling of restriction / nausea, which is a lot stronger than I expected. I definitely had that day 1&2 regret (“omg, why did I do this to myself?”) because of the pain and nausea. I’m glad I read about that beforehand so I could moderate my instinctive reaction.

I wasn't prepared for my urine to be dark green post-op! I hadn't read a single thing on any forum about this. Apparently the surgeon did something called a methylene blue test to check for pouch leaks during surgery. 4 days post op and still peeing Hulk green ?

On 10/11/2022 at 3:26 PM, Candigrl1 said:

For me it was the constipation, loose skin and food intolerance. There are some foods I still can't tolerate though I keep trying. I hate the constant constipation and I have tried so many things. I knew about the loose skin but really didn't grasp how bad it could be. Can't wait until I have skin removal surgery.

God bless you for mentioning this...I am STRUGGLING also. It sucks so badly and the fact that I’m only a little over a month out and it’s terrible does not make me feel great about the next 6 months. I appreciate all the advice here...I have Benefiber, Colace and Milk of Magnesia going over here like it’s a fire sale and I just can’t get the right combo yet to help.

On 10/11/2022 at 10:12 AM, KimA-GA said:

greetings,

those of you post op: what surprised you after surgery? what happened that you didn’t expect or think of?

(gas issues, rate of weight loss, tiredness issues, food intolerances, other people reaction, or whatever else you were not prepared for)

I was VERY lactose intolerant and dairy has not been an issue at all! Maybe I've spoken too soon cause I'm almost 2 weeks since surgery and I will continue to monitor.

Edited October 16, 20223 yr by Heathernyc

On 10/11/2022 at 4:26 PM, Candigrl1 said:

For me it was the constipation, loose skin and food intolerance. There are some foods I still can't tolerate though I keep trying. I hate the constant constipation and I have tried so many things. I knew about the loose skin but really didn't grasp how bad it could be. Can't wait until I have skin removal surgery.

I find the plant based protein shakes helps get things moving. They are usually pretty high in fiber.

12 hours ago, Heathernyc said:

I find the plant based Protein Shakes helps get things moving. They are usually pretty high in Fiber.

Yea, I was drinking those as well as using Benefiber. It didn't really help me though I have recently increased my water intake up from 64 oz. to around close to 80 oz. and that has helped so I'll keep an eye on it and I shall see.

Another thing that has surprised me 5 days post-op is that a few minutes after I drink any of my favorite Fairlife Protein Shakes I get terrible diarrhea. I was expecting to be constipated for days after surgery and even stocked up on Miralax in preparation. But I'm having the complete opposite problem. I'm trying to drink more water to avoid dehydration from the constant bathroom trips ? I am going to have to try different protein brands to find one that doesn't cause such destruction LOL