Struggling

[Aydensmomma]

Hello! You have lost an amazing amount of weight so far, be proud of yourself, as we all know, it isn't easy. I'm surprised your surgeon told you to walk 2 miles a day when you told him your pain issues. Every surgeon is different but I was given tylenol with codiene followed by regular tylenol/acetaminophen
I also take anti depressents. For the 1st month I was given 75mg 3x a day, not my regular once daily extended release. Now I'm back to my regular meds. If your off your meds and not feeling right, it's not fun. I hope things get better ;-)

[Jinoshio.Sote]

Yeah...I'm breaking all the rules, right now! I'm taking my meds - in pill form - one at a time with little sips of water. If I feel sick, I just wait for a bit and then take the other one. I can't take the narcotic, so I am taking Aleve again, too. The same way - one pill at a time. So far, so good. I've been drinking coffee and I had some wine over the weekend. I am such a BAD girl. It feels good, too!

[Jinoshio.Sote]

Thank you for the encouragement! It doesn't look like I lost that much. I still feel like a cow! Will walking do anything about the fat on my arms?? I know it's still very early and I need to be patient.... *takes deeeeeep breath* Ugh!!

[Kimmie3]

I am so glad that you mentioned "WINE"... I have heard so many negatives about alcohol. My hubby and I go out once a week and sing karaoke and drink a few drinks and I was told not to drink. I know it adds extra calories but I only eat a very small amount before I have a few drinks. I figure since it is only one night a week that we go out, it should be ok! And you are correct....it feels good!

[Ann2]

IMHO, there's a huge difference between having a glass of wine 28 days out vs. 83 days out.

Putting wine into a not-healed stomach that's not even a month old is not smart.

*I am not a doctor.*

[bbernice]

Drinking alcohol could lead to ulcers down the road. My nutritionist said to allow a year.

[niki k]

I loved wine, and we had a celebration, and I was only a month out. I tried a sip, but it felt so acidic, that I just drank my flavored water in a wine glass , Tried a sip of white wine and again had my water. I will look forward to when it tastes good again, but it helps me keep to my plan when I don't like things I used to. Don't be surprised if you don't like it anymore. And don't push yourself, let your tummy heal

[Jinoshio.Sote]

I really want to thank everyone for weighing in (no pun intended) on my earlier comments about rule breaking. I was SO angry and completely out of control!

I had been off of my anti-depressants for too long and had fallen into a downward spiral. Thank goodness (and Father God) that I recognized the symptoms and yelled for help! I had been hospitalized for depression several years ago and had to go through an out-patient program before I was released to my psychiatrist's care. What I learned in those sessions was that I tend to use alcohol as a coping mechanism. Before surgery I had felt fine and hadn't felt the need to drink in quite a while - I didn't even indulge over the holidays, which is very new for me. Alcohol has a huge presence in my family, so getting to the point where I didn't feel the need to 'cope' with it was liberating.

After surgery, nothing was making sense! I couldn't take my meds, I was in constant pain, I couldn't eat (another coping mechanism), I couldn't sleep - I went nuts. That sounds kind of mild now - but it was scary. I had even started having thoughts about sleeping and never waking up. After I took the NSAIDS, my meds (after nearly 30 days w/o them) and drank the wine - I was finally able to sleep for more than 4 hours. When I woke up I was finally able to walk without limping.

I realize the mistakes, now. I've been taking my meds (in pill form) and with the help of the NSAIDS I have been able to walk incessantly without pain. The exercise has been helping, because I don't feel so crazy, now. I've put the wine away and I've slept 6-8 hours for the past 3 nights.

I read the link about the NSAIDS, so I will try to stop taking them. I'm worried about my ability to exercise without them, but getting an ulcer doesn't sound like fun. Please keep me in prayer. Thank you all so much for yelling at me!

[ANNETTE2015]

I am so happy to give you an ass-kicking LOL Seriously, that could have been written by me. I have given up alcohol for the most part, but I do know I have a tendency to use it as a coping mechanism, as well as food (duh- would I be scheduled for surgery in two days if I didn't? LOL) It sounds like you are in a much better place mentally and are making huge strides!! You might try going to a natural foods store/vitamin shoppe to see if they can find you a natural pain reliever that won't be so hard on your body as the NSAIDS are. Keep us posted!!!

I really want to thank everyone for weighing in (no pun intended) on my earlier comments about rule breaking. I was SO angry and completely out of control!

I had been off of my anti-depressants for too long and had fallen into a downward spiral. Thank goodness (and Father God) that I recognized the symptoms and yelled for help! I had been hospitalized for depression several years ago and had to go through an out-patient program before I was released to my psychiatrist's care. What I learned in those sessions was that I tend to use alcohol as a coping mechanism. Before surgery I had felt fine and hadn't felt the need to drink in quite a while - I didn't even indulge over the holidays, which is very new for me. Alcohol has a huge presence in my family, so getting to the point where I didn't feel the need to 'cope' with it was liberating.

After surgery, nothing was making sense! I couldn't take my meds, I was in constant pain, I couldn't eat (another coping mechanism), I couldn't sleep - I went nuts. That sounds kind of mild now - but it was scary. I had even started having thoughts about sleeping and never waking up. After I took the NSAIDS, my meds (after nearly 30 days w/o them) and drank the wine - I was finally able to sleep for more than 4 hours. When I woke up I was finally able to walk without limping.

I realize the mistakes, now. I've been taking my meds (in pill form) and with the help of the NSAIDS I have been able to walk incessantly without pain. The exercise has been helping, because I don't feel so crazy, now. I've put the wine away and I've slept 6-8 hours for the past 3 nights.

I read the link about the NSAIDS, so I will try to stop taking them. I'm worried about my ability to exercise without them, but getting an ulcer doesn't sound like fun. Please keep me in prayer. Thank you all so much for yelling at me!

[niki k]

Yeah advil was my drug of choice before the surgery. Tylenol never seemed to help with headaches or anything in that matter. I have taken a few, but mainly when my headache is so bad that I cant see straight. I think once the meds help, and it sounds like it is already happening, you will start to have less pain in your body. You are doing great, and you just have to get thru this! Keep looking at the goal!

[Blackbry63]

Welcome aboard. I was 49 when I decided to have the surgery and with Arthritis in both knees and my lower back I felt like I was 90. I made the decision that I wanted more for myself. I wanted to feel good about mysef. In fact now I feel amazing. I lost 91lbs initially just a few lbs from my original goal but I did not want to lose more. Follow your doctors instructions...you will not regret it. I would love to see a follow up post from you in the next 3 months. I guarantee you by that time you will want to be a spokesperson for the surgery. My knees and back no longer bother me, I may get a little stiffness but no pain. Taking 91 lbs of pressure off did the trick. The sleeve surgery was the best decision I've ever made. This site/forum is great and full of helpful advice and supportive people. Btw, I will be 52 next month and I feel like I'm 22 yrs old now.

Best of luck to you in your journey.

[Jinoshio.Sote]

Why?! Why do I have to do a food blog? Or a food diary? Or a food planner? I don't WANT to think about food so much! I'm trying to forget about food. I sure as hell don't want to write down everything I eat! I KNOW what I am eating. Why do I need to write it down as proof to the rest of the world of what I'm eating? I hate this! It's an utter embarrassment! Food makes me feel out of control. When I want to eat it's almost primal. I just want to stuff it into my mouth, chew and swallow, rinse and repeat. That's it! I don't want to THINK about it! I know why I eat. I hate why I eat. Eating is just supposed to be an intake of nourishment: vitamins, minerals, necessary proteins. All a means of survival. But food has become something so much more to me. For a long time food was the only source of pleasure that I allowed myself to have. Sex was not permitted. The pleasure derived from sex was proof of my deviant nature: I was a whore, a ho, a slut. Now, I know that is not true - but that's what I thought. 25 years ago. The damage inflicted upon me by my sexual predator is severe. But, I hope that I have gotten to the point that I understand (or at least I am finally able to admit that I need to understand) why I turned to food. But, if I am trying to get passed all of that why do I need to keep such a focus on it??!! I just want to forget food. I don't want to write it down all damn day long!!

[Ann2]

Ah, food planning, food tracking, food journals.

(These next bits are about me, not you.)

I do keep a food journal on www.myfitnesspal.com and have done so for nearly a year now (started 2-1/2 months pre-op). My food journal is not something I use to prove anything to anyone. In fact, I refuse to be MFP "friends" with anyone, so no one can see my daily food journal but me. It's a tool for me that helps ME be in control of FOOD, not vice versa.

Pre-surgery, food controlled me too much (not vice versa) because I was not exercising enough my ability to delay the gratification that food afforded me. We all have the innate ability to delay gratification--otherwise, we wouldn't be functioning in the world at all. Pre-surgery, the amount of hunger hormone (ghrelin) produced by my pre-op larger stomach + bad habits I'd not curbed for some time + anxiety about my health and weight all combined to produce a feeling of "What difference does it make if I eat this now?"

In truth, one bite of one thing really doesn't make that much of a difference. But ten bites and then a hundred bites of everything does cause problems. And that's how a food journal helps me. It helps me decide in advance what I'll eat today. That way, I can rely on my food plan instead of eating whatever my feelings impel me to eat impulsively. And if what I eat differs from my food plan, I amend my food journal to reflect that.

In that way, because I'm a research hound and vastly curious about the causes of things, my food journal becomes a research tool that lets me review my eating patterns and find connections to other patterns--the scale, my feelings, my progress, things I can improve.

Some people don't need a food journal. I think I do. To repeat myself, it helps me control food, not vice versa. Will I always need it? I don't know.

(This next bit is about both me and you.)

If I were feeling very angry about keeping a food journal, I would certainly want to learn more about what that anger was about and explore it with my shrink. The good thing about "bad feelings" is that they're feedback / signals / directions we can use to find our way in life.

One more thing. Control isn't a bad thing in and of itself. It's a question of who's doing the controlling.