Complex thought and physical stamina after VSG

I am wrapping up my two-week pre-op diet and will have VSG in a couple of days. Although the diet was not too difficult in terms of hunger or cravings, I have not had much energy and sometimes I don't feel like I am thinking clearly at all. I am getting plenty of fluids and have been at about 1,000 calories with low fat and carbs and high protein. I am fortunate to work from home and my hours are flexible enough that I could take a nap in the middle of the day, if necessary. My concern is that my work requires a lot of complex thought and analysis. How soon after surgery did you feel capable of this? As soon as you were off pain meds? Also, how soon were you able to get your workout back to pre-op levels? I had been swimming laps for about an hour per day, but now I am only getting in about 30-40 minutes, even though I am at a slower pace due to lack of energy. It took me forever to get to an hour and I fear a major setback after surgery since my calories will be even lower. thanks!

I too have a job that requires complex thought (lots of mathematics), so I understand your concern. During the pre-op diet I did find it difficult to concentrate, but that vanished within a couple of days after surgery, as soon as I was off pain meds. My surgeon recommended that I take a month off work, which I did. I could have gone back to work much sooner, and I'm sure I would have been fine mentally, but I would have tired easily. Since you work from home and can take naps, I think you would be fine. Also, losing weight has done wonders for my brain! I feel sharper than ever.

I can't answer your questions about exercise, since I didn't have a routine prior to surgery.

I'm a lawyer. I had surgery on a Tuesday. Discharged Wednesday. Slept most of the day Thursday (took no pain meds). Worked 5 hours from home on Friday. Was back in the office slightly reduced schedule Monday (9-4 vs. 8-6). Other than having to carry a small cooler with me because my office does not have a fridge, no issues.

Remember that it will take your body a good 6-8 weeks to heal from surgery. It is a trauma to your body. I didn't feel foggy or weak afterwards, but YMMV. I didn't take any pain meds after Wednesday evening and drove to the gym on Saturday and spent 45 minutes very slowly on a recumbent bike. I walked - a lot.

In terms of work-out - I was able to go back to lifting and full workouts about 2 weeks post (per my MD) but didn't have my full strength for about 6 weeks. I tired much more easily until I was fully healed.

Prior to surgery, I was working out about 1-1.5 hours per day - cardio and weight training. I was slower and not lifting as much right after surgery, but got past that.

a lot of the brain fog is due to carb withdrawal. As long as you don't add carbs back into your diet,the brain fog should clear after surgery. The time it takes varies by person.

The lack of energy is also likely to be from the carb withdrawal. Many of us became morbidly obese from abusing carbs to get that immediate feeling of energy that they provide. As soon as that spins drops,it makes us want to eat more and more carbs,which are pure sugar to

keep that energy level up.

I stopped my pain meds (Tylenol only, as opiates don't work for me) after about a week.

I found that I was very low energy and needed to nap every day until at least the three month mark. My surgeon remarked that I was healing quite slowly. I didn't do a lot of exercise at first for that very reason; I would take a short walk or something. I didn't get into intense exercising like biking or swimming until maybe five months out.

I had to wait for awhile before being cleared for weights (I think about eight weeks). I was doing everything else by around four weeks out.

This is all super helpful information. Thanks so much!!!

I had a RNY on Jan 4

• I was off pain meds prior to leaving the hospital
• I was cleared to do light fitness walking 6 days post op
• I'm restricted from lifting anything above 10 pounds for 4 weeks, anything above 35 pounds for 8 weeks
• I was low carb (non keto) prior to surgery, so I didn't deal with carb withdrawal
• I felt back to my old self on day 5
• I felt like I could handle complex analytical thinking at day 7
• I am still dealing with coffee withdrawal and cravings

I was fighting the "stupids" (forgetfulness, silly mistakes, confusion) for the last couple months before my surgery. I was low energy for a couple weeks postop but my head felt a lot clearer within a week.I'm about five weeks postop and have a job that is mostly sedentary but has some heavy lifting and work throughout the day and I haven't had a moment yet where I felt like I didn't have enough energy to keep up.