Originally Posted by
Grace
This is hard to write, but as I was here for a long time during the good parts, I will also stop in and be here for the tough questions.
I started at 335 in June 2011.. I was a bariatric honor student according to my surgeon. Dropped 35 lbs in 11 wks before surgery. Stuck to the plan like glue.
Dropped 118 lbs total in 9 months including that 3 months. Then I started having some pretty wicked side effects. Gallbladder started acting up, which changed my eating as protein just plain hurt too much. I'd start to sweat for no reason, had tremors, I'd get weak and very ugly emotionally and after 6 months of testing for both issues it was discovered I had: 1. Post bariatric post prandial hypoglycemia. This happens to about 4% of rny patients and 1% of sleeve patients. 2. Essential tremor, mostly due to the hypo. 3. My gallbladder had to go. In the 8 months it ultimately took to get the danged thing out I developed chronic gastritis. I can't explain the pain of gastritis except to perhaps say it's like a sunburn in your stomach.
My weight loss stopped at 117 lbs (218), and I began to slowly creep back up. Because of the hypo, I must eat more carbs than I need to eat to lose weight, which for me is about 30 a day. The depression of figuring this all out, understanding I'd probably never even hit 199 which was my original goal sent me into a deep depression. I ceased to care. I just ate what didn't hurt, and what didn't hurt was cold sugary stuff. I had my gallbladder out in April 2013. I weighed 235 the day I went in. A year later I am at just about 250, a lb either way for the last 6 solid months. I have managed to stop gaining. I have that little tiny thing to be proud of, and yes, I did permanently lose 85 lbs. But I still weigh more than some people here when they start. That's hard. Really hard. I'm now on ssdi. The hypo and chronic gastritis mixed with my CFIDS have made it impossible for me to work. My day, ironically, consists of me trying to figure out what I can eat...which is just the opposite of what we all hope for, we want to stop thinking about food. For me it's ok, it's 6 am, time to find 21 gms of protein and 7 gms of complex carbs to eat, within my very limited gastritis menu; and to do it 5 more times that day. No grains, no lactose, no raw veggies, no citrus, no coffee, tea, etc, etc. I know, in my heart I will eventually work out a way to heal enough to lose the 32 lbs I gained back. But I'm not going to obsess over it. I'm trying to learn that for me food will never be an enjoyable thing again. I eat chicken, squash, steak, sweet potato, and plain yogurt with fresh fruit. Every day. I'm hungry from the hypo, all day, all night. But eating hurts. Some days I get so frustrated I just think I'll just stop eating like just after the surgery, lose the weight and then start eating again to stay at the size I was for a while. I try it, eating just yogurt and canned chicken, 500, 600 calories. Then the hypo takes over and I end up passed out on the floor...literally. So, I eat my 1200 cal, 120 gms of protein and 42 gms of carbs a day and I stay the same weight. I'm swimming twice a week. I'm hopeful that may up my metabolism a bit. I don't care if I lose 2 lbs a month, and it takes 18 months to lose this weight. It's so bizarre to think that after having lost that much in 11 wks before. But that was before. And this is now.
In order to answer your original question. Yes, some people gain weight back, either because emotionally they can't handle their new bodies (it happens), or because being smaller isn't all they thought it would be, or because of medical issues, or a combination, like me.
The best advise I can give you:
1. If you have your gallbladder be sure to ask/demand the med that helps you not get stones/sludge while you lose weight. Neither my surgeon or my pcp, or bizarrely my gastro doc gave it to me. It might have changed everything.
2. Do not try to lose as fast as you can. Do not forego all carbs or go extremely low. You will set yourself up for sugar issues. Moderation! Better to lose it all slowly than end up like me.
3. Do not set an unrealistic goal, physically or emotionally. Not getting to my magic number did me in. If I had only felt comfortable at 218 I'd still be there, but feeling like a failure set me up for regain. Don't set a number at all. Just see how it goes.
4. Look at yourself in the mirror every single week. Take pictures every single week. There's a psychological aspect to this surgery that goes unspoken. Some larger people gain weight as a defense against the world; armor if you will. If you don't pay attention to really watching your body as it slims down you might be startled after a few months and actually get scared; or may just not like how you look naked because in your mind you are picturing your teenaged self and starting at a larger weight...it is not going to happen unless you have some major surgery. Be prepared for droopy skin, for hair loss (it comes back). Keep it real and you'll have the best chance of keeping it off.
Be well. Time to eat. Oh joy.
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