Contemplating bariatric surgery.... advice?

[Seriouslyconfused3]

Hi as the title states I am contemplating a gastric sleeve. I am a serial yo yo dieter and my metabolism is fucked. I have pcos and have tried Xenical, saxenda etc- successful until I stop using and the weight piles back on.

I’ve seen an endocrinologist and he said that, in his opinion, sometimes surgery is the only viable option. I’d be paying for it myself as I don’t quite meet the nhs criteria yet.

I’m miserable- I don’t lose weight unless I starve myself ie 600 calories a day and then I’m even more unhappy. I’m worried about my health in the long term, but then the prospect of surgery scares me too.

Any advice from those who have been there before?

Hi @Seriouslyconfused3 I’m not too concerned about Xmas this year as I’m only 7 weeks out and still can’t eat much or anything too chewy. It’s just me, DP and the kids this year so I won’t feel under any peer pressure to eat or drink. Next Xmas will be my challenge!

I am however going to avoid sweets and chocolates. I’ve lost the desire to eat them anyway and I don’t want to reawaken a sweet tooth. I am planning to save some space to indulge in some cheese though - good source of protein, right?!

Thanks @MindBodyChocolate my sweet tooth is definitely coming back now so I’m going to have to be restrained. Thankfully I love turkey so I’ll try and fill up on that.

I'm going off plan for today & Christmas day. Will eat what I like (have already had a bit of panettone) I'm about 9 weeks out now & still very limited on quantity so not too worried. I did the averages & have lost 0.8lbs per day since surgery which is so insane, I'm very in the mood for some treats! Hope you all have a great Christmas.

That sounds good to me @Kamma89 I’m baking today with the dc and can’t resist a nibble.

Merry Christmas everyone let’s all hope for a healthy and skinny new year

I'm 2 months post-surgery and wondering about tomorrow too.

I can't eat much volume but will try a wee bit of everything, apart from chocolate. I'm loving not craving it any more and really don't want to start again.

I'm planning on lots of cheese too 😀

I weigh every Friday and my best present will be my weight tomorrow.

Happy Christmas everyone. Although 2020 has been a shitstorm of epic proportions at least we’ve all managed to get through WLS - onwards to a much healthier 2021!

(Really looking forward to my cheese now :)

Christmas Day was a nightmare food wise - I still can't eat vegetables at all (12 weeks since surgery) and I was DESPERATE for them.

I clearly need a hernia repair and/or I've got GERD as I can only eat one bite of a vegetable or potato without burping or chest pain.

Doesn't matter how slow I eat or how small bites I take

The only foods I can eat successfully without burping and needing DH to rub my back is crisps, individual chocolate, tiny cubes of cheese.

I ate this one side plate of Christmas dinner over 5 'meals' yesterday - couldn't eat the 3 sprouts at all, literally came right back up.

Had a beef and mustard sandwich for breakfast- ate a quarter of a small sandwich and the beef was such a struggle - basically a tiny amount gave me sweats

So I'm feeling a bit stressed out at thinking I won't be able to eat vegetables again - or salad as I love them

I'm actually quite glad I've got a sweet tooth or I may be starved right now - at least I can get some calories in me

I don't want to eat chocolate and crisps instead of food

Oh no @LaurieFairyCake that doesn’t sound right. Could it be gallstones? I had them years ago and certain foods set me off- they can occur after weight loss

Laurie I would get back in tough with your surgeons. I was surprised at the cost of your op, and to be honest at the level of care they’ve given for it. You had to pay extra for an endoscopy and they should have investigated any hernia or gallbladder issues then.

All the foods your managing are slider foods. Protein and water is always the first port of call. You can over eat slider foods and gain weight. Crisps shouldn’t be a part of your every day diet in the optimum initial 12 months post surgery. Chicken, fish, meat, cheese will give you a feeling of restriction/fullness. Crisps won’t.

I'm full after a bag of crisps

Still satisfied on 800-900 calories a day

I do have a hernia, found in that endoscopy - so may pay to have it repaired

I don't think I have gallstones, have none of the symptoms

I can't eat white meat at all, it's too dry - I just throw it up

I can eat eggs fine

Also I was practically vegetarian before and I can't eat any of the veg and salad I ate before

I don't want to eat meat really - I bought the beef as it was the only meat I liked

Honestly @LaurieFairyCake my gallstones started like chronic indigestion. My dh used to run my back of hours while I curled up in pain. I used to take anti acids like they were sweets too

My surgeon refused to perform the sleeve surgery without repairing the hernia they found/removing my gallbladder was optional but as they found gallstones it was strongly recommended.

I think the sleeve is very tricky for vegetarians, are you managing protein water/shakes to meet your protein goals?

I can't tolerate protein shakes and I hate yoghurt

I've not been able to get hold of protein water as they don't sell it in Holland Barrett online

So the only protein I'm getting is an egg and small amounts of cheese

They did warn me the hernia might be a problem - I can't afford to get it repaired right now, I need to pay off my surgery first

Im starting to wonder after what you've said about the back rubbing if it is gallstones

I'm so irritated not being able to eat vegetables- I feel really unreasonably annoyed

Dh has pointed out how much I used to enjoy Christmas Day food - a full roast dinner and he's saying I was always going to find it hard with my new stomach

I've managed to finish my roast beef sandwich

So today I've eaten:

Beef sandwich (had to take the crusts off)
Bag of very salty crisps
Piece of Christmas cake without the icing (icing gives me the shakes)
Boiled sweets - about 20

Try amazon for protein water- I think it’s called vieve

@LaurieFairyCake I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties, can you go back a stage to mush & or liquids etc? You'll get far better nutrition than chocs & crisps. I can only eat veg if juiced. Spinach, cucumber & apple works for me. Leafy greens too hard. My surgeon & nutritionist said this is normal for some people & not to worry so early on. Their main focus is protein.

The protein water @Seriouslyconfused3 reccomended is really great, 20g per 500ml, no fat, no sugar, about 80 -95 calories. Cheaper to buy direct from their website than Amazon though. Trackable DHL delivery etc. Think might be a sale on right now.

I hope everyone else enjoyed Christmas & the food wasn't a struggle/stress. I ended up tracking in MFP the best I could just to see what the extra calories would do & found actually, I still couldn't go that high! About 1000-1100, the restriction is real! Enjoyed it all too

I'm still following in the background. Also following a FB page but it's mixed experiences there.
While eating my enormous Christmas lunch I was trying to imagine having a smaller portion after a sleeve. I think it's doable. All I need now is the guts and the money to go abroad to do it.
All I can say to you all os thanks for posting and giving me hope and a reality check at the same time.

Thank you so much Seriously for the Protein water link, I've ordered some

I've had a better food day - I had a fried egg on top of some cheesy potato and I cut the sprouts into tiny pieces - and covered it in cheese sauce - worked better 👍🏻

That’s good @LaurieFairyCake. I think my hair has started falling out

Oh seriously, I can commiserate and join you I’m thinning quite a lot at the temples, find myself lifting lumps of hair when it’s washed or brushed. I knew about it before hand, but now it’s happenings it’s really daunting isn’t it?

Really sorry to hear that from both of you - had no idea that would be possible

Is it surgery shock ? And expected to grow back once you stabilise?

@GingerBreadNurse it’s awful isn’t it- I’m upping my protein intake to try and prevent it but I’m doubtful it’ll work.

@LaurieFairyCake apparently it’s a combination of things- surgery shock, weight loss, nutrition etc. I was hoping I’d avoided it but these last few days I’ve been practically moulting!

I’ve finished work this morning ready for my surgery on Monday (shift worker so it’s just how it’s fallen), I’ve got my pre op tomorrow for bloods etc and then have to go for my covid swab on Friday, then isolate untill my surgery on Monday. It’s very real now!

I’ve got another 6 days of LRD left to do, it’s easy now. Drinking bovril like it’s pop. I’ve lost 7kg on the LRD so far.