[Imlosinit]

Good Morning.... you're doing GREAT. Everything you mentioned is sooooo NORMAL. I'm 8 weeks out and am just getting back to my normal self as far as emotional wise. I still occasionally have that "What the heck did I do?" feeling. usually when I want to eat something I used to and can't anymore.

As people mentioned before, try not to test yourself on what you can and can't tolerate if know it's a No-No in the first place. I did it and a) you find you can eat the forbidden food and are more tempted to do so and b) you'll sabotage your weight loss. I did that myself so from experience... DON"T DO IT!!!!! I found I could eat a mini-receese pb cup and have no effect. But foods high in carbs, like I snuck a cookie once... I didn't feel nauseas on but man oh man... I felt like someone had given me a sedative and I needed to go to sleep for awhile. I've only had one dumping session where I got the sweats, nausea, headache.. needed to lie down in a dark quite room.. and that wasn't on food. It was on meds I took for constipation. The liquid stuff that tasted like cherry. Bleh.. I thought I was going to die. It did the trick though.

As for the pain... some say they get back pain and that's their symptom that tummy is full. I myself had neck, shoulder and back pain after surgery from my position on the operating table. It lasted about a month then eased up. It flared up again when I went out into the freezing cold one day and shivered so hard and tensed up that it caused it to hurt again. It's finally gone for good and i hadn't thought about it til I read this post.

[Panther42080]

The blues were definitely there for me those first couple of weeks too. You will pull out of it. I thought mine would never end, and then I realized one day I am not so "whiney" feeling about everything. Want proof? Read some of my blogs from the first couple weeks after surgery. I was crying about everything from pain to missing food to someone not paying attention to me at work. I even had a break down at work! LOL

The soup sure will go through you. I was actually told not to have it because of that reason. Had some last Friday though and I was able to eat quite a bit of it. I thought I was going through some weird thing with my stomach but then it occured to me that the liquid was just moving right along

Follow your rules and you will do fine. I am only 10 1/2 weeks out right now, but I feel amazingly different than when I was only 2 1/2 weeks. And for dumping - I have been testing my waters to see what I can tolerate - and let's just say, I have an iron pouch so far. Everyone is different there, and I know that I was able to take a bite of cheescake at Christmas, which was only like 4 weeks for me. I still won't mess with fatty, fried, or more than a bite of sweets. And definitely not chocolate! I fear that! LOL

[Perfesser]

Martha brings up some excellent points. That bit about not exploring how close to danger you can get is right on! I know some have experimented and found that they are able to have small amounts of candy or other favorites from their previous life. I know this because it is not uncommon to read a post from someone who is wondering about why they aren't progressing as they think they should. Hmmm ... could there be a link, d'ya think? Just because your body doesn't reject it immediately does not mean it has no effect on you.

My choice was to scrap all that stuff and not allow it back into my new body. Oh, I'd like to have a chunk of dark chocolate, and I could quite possibly get away with it as others have, but I don't trust myself enough to try it. You see, I know me, and if I liked it now as much as I once did, and if it wasn't rejected outright ... well, I needed WLS because I had a hard time saying no to caloric temptation before. My stomach capacity has changed, but has my mind? Frankly, I'm afraid to find out. It is so much easier to eat NONE than ONE!

I am fortunate in that my body has not yet rejected my food in either direction. Most of that good fortune is the result of decisions I have consciously made about what I eat. A couple of times I have felt a bit flushed, but never to the point of having to sit or lie down until it passes. I have refused to allow refined sugars back through my lips. It's been over a year now. Making the decision to eat healthy must be backed by enforcement.

The only time I ever enjoyed succes with weight loss prior to WLS was on low-carb. Lost 60 pounds twice, kept it off for close to a year once. That has actually been good practice for eating post-op now. The way we eat is in many ways similar to LC. Lots of protein, carbs are low priority, etc., but we have far greater latitude in our food choices now than on LC. A good measure of that is because we don't have the guts to stuff ourselves anymore. Getting rid of the sugar monster is one of the best things any of us can do for our health. Flirting with the monster is something I can't understand. Probably my engineer's mind is too used to logic and finding "right" and "wrong" answers to problems.

Whatever the case, I love the freedoms WLS has given me to eat well, to enjoy a wide variety of foods, to eat until I feel full, and to control my weight, all at the same time! You're still wearing training wheels. You aren't close enough yet to the thrills to come. But you'll get there soon, and the tighter you can hang onto wisdom in eating, the more fun the ride is going to be for you!!

CT

[wannabe skinny]

hang in there - you have put your body through major surgery and it is just getting adjusted to the changes. i must agree with others who have suggested that you stop testing your pouch for what you can or cannot eat and just eat what you are suppose to eat.

[Nurse2B]

Originally Posted by not quite Barbie

The "blues" is one of the phases after surgery. You are mourning the loss of your best friend "food". You are wondering if it was all worth it. Normal, normal, normal. Once the pounds start falling away, and you can start eating solids you will feel better.

As Kath said, you may not recognize what dumping is yet, or you may be one of those that won't dump. For me, dumping usually starts with a slight headache, then depending on how far overboard I went, I may just get a slight nausea or I may have rapid heartrate, sweating, need to lie down and sleep for hours. I only puked twice and that was from trying to eat too fast and too much.

So how's your hunger? Most of us found that we didn't get hungry at all and had to remember to eat. Take advantage of that to eat only what you need to get your protien in and start practicing the rules.

Hang in there!

Actually I do get hungry. Today I got home from school and had to eat. I also crave foods. My 2 biggest cravings are pizza and fried chicken.

[Nurse2B]

You're so right. I shouldn't be testing my pouch. It just has not been what I expected it to be, so I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I would be okay. (I don't know if I'm making any sense)

I feel so whiney, and you are all so nice to put up with me and be so courteous. Thank you so much. I'm so glad I found this place. (((hugs))) to you all.

Now, I just have to disconnect my brain from these haunting thoughts. I have to relearn how to think. I keep saying, I can disconnect my stomach, but not my head.

[Perfesser]

Originally Posted by Nurse2B

Now, I just have to disconnect my brain from these haunting thoughts. I have to relearn how to think. I keep saying, I can disconnect my stomach, but not my head.

The mental game is by far the most challenging part of WLS. Your body will be changing MUCH faster than your mind can keep up. You were heavy for how long? In mere months you'll be skinny! The mind has a hard time dealing with that.

Be especially aware of what we call "head hunger"! It can take you down. Your body will say it's nicely satisfied, thank you, and the mind says "Wait up a bit!! That was all you're going to eat?? I'm starving here, show me some mercy!!!" Well, you aren't starving, but the mind is conditioned to a different set of reflexes and it can take years to unlearn them.

In the meantime, be strong, be patient, and be persistent in following the rules. They work every time they're tried!

CT

[Ellen]

Martha people keep talking about the position you are on on the operating table...What position would that be and why would pain last for a month afterwards?

[stylindi]

umm... the middle of your back pain? Im trying to think of how long it took for my gallbladder pain to start bugging me...not long after the WLS. It was (and still is sometimes) ach below my right shoulder blade (middle-ish)...and like someone had a blow torch on my bra strap.

[piggyspat]

This site and you all are so helpful. This may be a redundant question, but I must ask. I am a wk and a half post op, and although things are going well, my biggest concern is I am so emotional. I cry at the drop of a hat. I don't feel I can handle anything, just the little things send me over the edge as if I'm out of control. Is this something others experience?