Bariatric surgery no.2 thread

[Seriouslyconfused3]

For everyone following from the last thread...

If you’re new please feel free to join in and share your experiences

Lockdown has been my saviour for not having to explain weight loss - I haven’t seen most people for over a year so when I do see them no doubt they’ll notice a difference, but it’ll be a bit different to normal circumstances.

And as for questions at work it’s up to you what you say but when I’ve had questions from ppl I don’t want to tell I just say (truthfully) that I’m on a quite a strict regime to nail weight loss and have given up sugar. Nobody has yet probed any further.

Re the comment on the last page about people only choosing this for health reasons. I agree that the majority of people do this for their health but sadly I have seen on the FB groups that there are quite a few who have done it for vanity reasons or to shit 2-3 stone. It's such a harsh eating regime afterwards that I truly don't think it's worth it if you have only a small amount of weight to lose. In saying that, I do wish I'd had the surgery at least 3 stone ago. I'm 2.5 stone down now but don't feel any different as I was this weight about 2 years ago and was still overweight and unhappy so it'll be a few months yet before I really feel like I'm losing.

Is anyone else absolutely clueless on what to wear these days? I've previously spent all my time in leggings and black tshirts that I don't know what is stylish any more! I've ordered a few things in smaller sizes but they don't fit yet so I'm stuck in 'too big for the nice clothes too small for my current wardrobe'.

@GreenEyedMonsterMunch stretchy dresses are my saviour. Just wear them with a belt as you get slimmer! And gym wear- fits with the whole lifestyle too and doesn’t matter if it gets a bit baggy

Could anyone give me any puree ideas?! I've seen people have things like tuna mayo and weetabix but my pack says it has to have no lumps like baby food?

@AwFeebs I used actual baby food- Ella's Kitchen pouches were great. They were just the right amount and saved lots of hassle, and get lumpier as you go through the age groups. My dietitian said they were fine to use.

I struggled with purées I tried to purée several different things such as lasagne, tinned beans and sausage, Spag Bol and didn’t find very much of it enjoyable.

I found puréed cauliflower cheese okay, but I baked it first with some extra cheese on top before I did the purée part. Mashed potato and gravy worked well.

I tried to stick to foods that are already served in a purée texture anyway. Although it’s difficult when you’re in the thick of it to come up with constant ideas. Fish pie maybe? Humous? Root vegetable mash? Potato dhal if you’re wanting lots of flavour.

I will admit on my last few days of purée I just moved onto soft chewable early and made sure to chew very, very well. So I started having my cauliflower cheese in it’s actual form but fork mashed it and chewed meticulously.

I too found the purée stage difficult and lived on soup and puréed cauliflower cheese, nothing else really worked for me.

It doesn’t last for long though, and you’ll be in the next stage before you know it.

I mostly had bolognaise, fish pie, stew or mash and pepper sauce on my puree stage. To be honest I didn't puree them very much, a quick whizz in the blender but they weren't watery texture at all, just smooth and thick. It was only afterwards that I realised I had did that part wrong! All ok though, thankfully.

In lots of pain tonight, think it is dumping syndrome. Had a salmon fish ale, broccoli and cheesy swede (all mashed up). Finished about a quarter and then felt sick, now got terrific pain in middle of back and been sick! Back to soup tomorrow.

Oh I feel your pain Ralph! I had awful dumping at the weekend when I drank a pina colada at home. I was so, so thankful that I tried it at home and not a friends house/bar/club. Now it has put the fear into me about drinking cocktails when I'm on a night out (whenever that will be!)

Has anyone else had dumping with sweet drinks which eventually settled or am I to never taste gorgeous cocktails again?

Mine wasn't being sick though, it was the other end :( continuously every few minutes for an hour. I have IBS and it was like a pretty severe IBS attack.

Bloody horrible isn’t it! Feels like labour pains but in the middle of my back.

It is horrible and one of the big downsides to this surgery because you just don't know when it's going to happen.

Try doing the windmills with your arms to see if it's maybe some wind in there making it feel worse.

Sorry to hear you’ve both been through it.

My dumping doesn’t seem to involve being sick or diarrhoea.

I get a wave of really extreme fatigue and general malaise, feel nauseated and my heart goes really fast (130bpm+) and the only thing I can do to feel better is to go and lay down and sometimes sleep.

I think this is “early dumping” though as it usually comes on pretty quickly after eating (10-15 mins) and is usually over and done with by the time my 30 min post food drink alarm goes off.

Gosh, dumping sounds awful.
I am so glad I am past the pureed stage, I really struggled with that. I am surprised at how little I eat now before I am full. I had one egg, scrambled, with two tablespoons of tinned tomatoes, for tea, and was full.
I know I am only 4.5 weeks post op, but I worry about managing all the protein I need long term.

Protein - A lot of it will eventually come from food but in the meantime I've been adding 35g collagen powder to my squash twice a day while I'm not eating much.

I'm so glad I can eat without being sick. I tried a chicken wrap yesterday fully expecting not to be able to tolerate the wrap but I ate a 1/4 of it and was so happy! I'm just happy to be settling into a new 'normal'. My weight loss seems slow compared to others and I'm getting a little impatient but I know it's a long process really.

@PUER125

I have a protein shake every morning for breakfast/with breakfast so get 25g of protein in straight away like that. Later on in the day I’ll drink a Vieve Protein water which is another 15g.

So that’s 40g just from fluids/breakfast. I can then easily meet the rest of the protein goal from food. Protein shakes/water are an expensive way of doing things though, but it feels like an essential purchase for now so that I can get all my protein in.

It probably seems impossible at the minute, but you’ll manage it once your body is ready. I do all of my food shopping with the protein content in mind these days.

I should add that Ufit also do a 500ml bottle protein shake that contains 50g of protein in the whole thing. So on days where the appetite isn’t great there’s the option to sip one of those over the day and get all of that protein just from liquid.

I’m not really into the flavour of those ones but it’s good to know they exist when you’re struggling or if you’re busy out and about and have forgotten to take anything with you.

Try not to worry too much about protein - one chicken thigh will give you 25g alone and it fills me up for hours. Sometimes I have to eat it in two goes depending on how I’m feeling.

I also try to limit snacks to high protein items - so a protein bar, small bag of biltong, babybel etc.

And as others have said if you feel like you’re lacking, a protein shake is a quick way of bumping your protein up.

Hi, hope you don’t mind me jumping in this thread. I’m just after a bit of information really, I’ve just been referred by gp to the bariatric team. Just wondering what the next steps are. Is it positive I’ve made it past the GP in effect, I’m so desperate for this and am fully committed. Have researched beyond belief so feel I do understand the seriousness of the surgery and afterwards

It’s a long way to go yet, the average time from referral to surgery is about 2-3 years.

Oh my God, after me saying earlier today that I can eat so much better, I go and overdo it on a wrap! It felt like it was stuck in my chest and nothing could shift it til I vomited what looked like thick water then I felt so much better. That was a rough hour though. I did know I should have stopped at 1/4 of the wrap but pushed it today and ate half which went down just fine at the time but I knew myself it was probably too much.

Hello all 👋 I keep checking in here. It’s so nice to have somewhere to hear about others experiences.

I’ve been offered some dates for the end of May. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to do it (with a loan). I just feel so disgusted with myself. I’m down to 3 pairs of leggings and 3 tent-like tops, which I’m wearing on rotation, nothing else fits. The weather is warming up and I’ve started a new job so I need to buy some new clothes but I don’t want to buy anything new at my current size 22/24. My shoes are all too tight, fat feet 😳

I tried one meal of the liver reduction milk diet and wasn’t keen on it (I’m not keen on milk, and dislike crusha!). I’m beginning to worry I won’t be able to do the 2 weeks LRD, which is crazy given how much I want this surgery and how much my life and health is being negatively impacted by my weight. I feel like I’m sabotaging myself and convincing myself that I can’t do it!

How did everyone manage the liver reduction diet? Did anyone who hates milk do it? Any words of wisdom on making it palatable🥛

Hi @MananaForever I know that feeling. But force yourself to take pictures- it’s brilliant when you can compare your before and after pics!

I didn’t do a milk diet- mine was a vlcd but actual food (do you have that option?). It’s very tempting to self sabotage- I still do it now and there will be times where you feel like the surgery will fail but you have to push through it- it’s 100% worth it!!

I’ll see if I can upload my before and after pic if that would help motivate you?