Had surgery 10 years ago.......are you having trouble eating?

I had my surgery done 10 years ago. (Roux-n-y open) I've lost a LOT of weight and have kept it off all these years. I have lost more than half my body size. There was a time I did stop exercising and went into depression and had major life crises emergencies last year and gained weight but lost it real fast this year so far I am back to normal again. My problem is trying to eat the minimum 1200 calories what they told me to eat. I belong to another web site that they say 1200 is what you should eat (But i don't think they take in consideration people that had surgeries). Mine is irreversible. I have had many complications throughout the years and I have been noticing that I am having more and more foods that I am NOT being able to eat as before and they stay in my stomach a lot longer than they SHOULD be.

Now when I exercise. I can exercise a lot for hours...and Burn a lot. I am not hungry when I exercise. I do drink a lot of water daily (no soda, no coffee, no caffeine) and I don't do fast food. I barely eat. I am not hungry. I take A LOT of vitamins than a normal person.

I  have kept food journals all these years. I have eaten 1200 calories  (but usually 600-800 is my average) and exercise about 1000 calories a day then I noticed that I  lost weight then plateau.  I then started exercising 500 calories only 3 times a week and started loosing weight again. Then plateau. Then I started exercising 100 calories 1 time a week eating 1200 calories and BOOM started loosing weight a lot.  I mention this to  the nutritionist and he saw my journal and found it weird. But he was a new person and didn't even know about the vitamins I took when I mention the name of them. He seem like a new person from school. Like one of those so called "Trainers" that know nothing about exercising at the gym.  I personally don't think he is very well informed.

I am looking for someone that had the surgery years ago like me....and are having the same trouble as I am. Complications.. (I don't regret my surgery. Best decision ever).....but am having trouble keeping food down lately. Is there a protein shake I can take that has a lot of calories that  can help me out but not BULK me and have has protein so my hair don't keep falling out. I use to take procomplex.

 Am I at my weight goal and don't know it because of excess skin I am carrying? I been looking at peoples weight goal and "plastic surgery" reconstructive pictures. Am I at the point that I am there already? But I keep hearing people at 5'4'' should be 130 lbs But I am NOT small frame.

I am anemic again....and my protein is low.  I don't want to take iron pills because It constipates and I have trouble already in that department.. I tried eating eggs the other day and my stomach couldn't handle it was a  surprise to me because that never happened before. 

Any people on here that had surgery years ago or even new people that are having the same problem like me and had complications like me? When I first had my surgery I  thru up because my tummy hurt and it made me feel better. I didn't do it on purpose. Their answer (the doctor since the surgery was new back then) was to put me in a bulimic/anorexic class. So that is on my record. Can you believe that?

I couldn't eat meat for the first year at all. I was told NOT to. Now I hear people that have surgery are eating chicken in weeks. I was on baby food for almost a year. Now I hear there is a year or 2 waiting list.....and a class you need to take before you have the surgery (MY HMO did it and paid for it). Plus now there are so many different types of surgery. Mine is permanent and irreversible.

I do need plastic surgery. I did have a panneculectomy done years ago. That made a big difference. I want some other surgery. I saw a doctor he told me he can remove about 20-25 lbs more weight all over (thighs, boobs, tummy tuck and arms). But I tone pretty good. But wouldn't mind having surgery.

Please Anyone help me.....is there a shake I can take. Meal replacement with LOTS of calories (low sugar) that wont make me incredible hulk but keep my metabolism up?  I really need help and no one seems to help? Plus bring my protein up since my hair I lost half of it.

At the moment I am in bed....had an accident and cant exercise and lost 20 lbs in one month. That is not normal but i know a lot is muscle. But I put on clothes and I notice they are falling off. I went down 2 sizes and I measured myself and lost inches. I am eating when I am hungry healthy food. But some days not eating as much. I do cheat and exercise a BIT.....but not as excessive as I use to since I been hurt. Plus I am getting ready for surgery (September 9th) so I know I wont be able to do much as before.

I got more pictures of before the surgery (you'll be shocked) and I got pics of me after. The surgery work. But its a TOOL. You still need to change eating habits and exercise. My mom had the same surgery after me....and she didn't loose but she is doing everything wrong and blames they didn't do the surgery right. She don't exercise, eats rice, bread like crazy, soda and coffee constantly. Then wonders why her sugar is out of control and why isn't loosing weight.. Plus eat fast food daily. She won't listen......but I still love her. She is my mom and accept her for who she is. :)

 

 

 

 

 

I wish I could really help or relate to you more. I am almost 11 months post op and I know on days that I work out I eat between 1200-1300 calories, and about 100 grams of protein. I personally drink the GNC lean shakes. In the ready to drink bottles.

• 25 grams of high quality protein
• 170 calories
• 24 vitamins and minerals
• Lactose Free
• 2 grams of sugar
• 6 carbs

So for me this shake works well. I dont like the powder shakes but that is a personal thing. Just cant stand the smell of it.

Are you logging your food into a website like www.myfitnesspal.com or just keeping a written journal? Those websites help me alot to keep track of how much protein, carbs, sugar, iron that I am taking in.

As far as the iron, you can get Perfect iron made by Sundown, I find mine at walgreens or sometimes CVS. It is easier on the belly.

 

Yes I been logging on there for years since it started then I have HAND JOURNALS of all my food calorie/exercise/measurement/weight that I have kept. I know sounds obsessive. But I keep them. Maybe as a reminder and I go back like old memories and remember what I use to eat and how much. Times have change.

I bought one the other days called muscle milk at Costco that has 23 grams of fat. But not that much of calories. But if I double it ....it will make it 300 something.....but its 4 grams of sugar. But the one I took that was recommended for me after my surgery was Procomplex. It has 60 grams of protein. Not many carbs and 0 or 1 gram of sugar. Which I found to be the one with LESS sugar and the highest protein of them all. Its made my optiumimun. GNC sells it for over 111 or more and they even told me that its the most expensive they have and they DON'T know much about it. Like walking into Best Buy. When I had the surgery since my stomach was small I had to mix 1-2 of those scoops  with 4 oz of water. (Less than what it ask for) because no way my stomach can drink all of it as it was directed to drink it. Took me a long time to drink it......and that almost took all day.

But I do like the myfitnesspal website. Because I can go in there and "CHANGE" the amount I need. for example. I am anemic again. So I need to eat more iron stuff. Plus my protein. The nutritionist said I was eating about 18-20 a day. I should be eating 80 to 150 a day. Is that right? He never even heard of myfitnessfpal.com web site before. So makes me think what kind of nutritionist Kaiser sent me. I am in Southern California and have HMO kaiser.

As for the iron. I am going to try eating more greens. Last time I took the pills the constipate me a lot. I take lactulose on a daily base. I am hoping my vitamins will boost up. As for vitamins I take a lot. Just alone I take over 1500 mg of Vitamin D (according to the gastric by pass doctor/not the one that did the surgery). Plus I take other stuff multivitamins, vitamin C, Lysine, b12 and the list goes on and on....

One thing I did notice in your post, you say you take 1500mg of Vitamin D a day. Wow that so isnt enough. I personally take 5,000 mg a day and most people need around 10,000 mg a day. Plus what kind of vitamin D? Is it a dry d3? Here is another chat just about vitamin D.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/4643249/Why-would-my-v itamin-D-drop-so-drastically-in-the-summer-of/#38519236

You can get from the Vitamin Shoppe RTD 51 shake.  It has 51 grams of protein!

I will look into that......for more ingredients. Like sugar, carbs and calories. Plus it has to be lactose free for me.

 

I like your signature. Its true. I had to loose weight too before my surgery but the real thing is losing it...and keeping it off for good.

No  more yo yo diets.

WOW, I have read this post twice, not sure who you are seeing Dr wise but have you been to a gastroenterologist! had a scope, had labs recently, I see the word "They" ,,, they who? take charge and run to a good  Dr who will scope you .

I have Kaiser insurance here in California. Its an HMO. My bariatric surgery was done in san Diego years ago. They don't do it there no more. They do it somewhere else. You know how contracts change. But Anyways...about 4 years ago. I started throwing up blood....really bad. Like coffee ground and then fresh blood and it wouldn't stop. I was going to ignore it and go to bed. But family insisted I went to doctor. I did. Lucky I did. Because I had developed 2 ulcers (near the bottom of the anamostis....I cant remember technical term. I can look it up. I got a picture of it). Which was weird because i take stomach medications for life since the surgery to help not get ulcer and I don't eat hot or spicy food at all. I lost a lot of blood to the point they needed to do blood transfusion. They fix me up. I went home.

Now about a year after I DID have my gastric surgery I would have endoscopy to stretch my throat out (because he narrowed it during surgery). I would have endoscopy almost every other year now that I think about it.

But last year. I was on protonix. MY stomach felt like someone kicked me. A feeling I felt before. I felt nauseous. Then they gave me pepcid......then.....prilosec......then carafate. I still felt sick and I went to my regular doctor and told him. Something is wrong. I think I have an ulcer. He said no I don't. Then one day I couldn't keep food down.....bathroom like always but this time blood came out....and more. Then I thought. No this isn't right. So I drove myself to the ER by myself. They admitted me in when they saw that I was throwing up blood. They did keep me.....NPO.....did endoscopy on me and guess what (this was last year). I had developed ulcer in the SAME SPOT as previous. I got my paperwork that says it that the ulcers are in the same spot as the last time. Near the bottom of the anamostis duodenum...something like that. How can that be? When I was on so many stomach medication. Carafate 4 times a day....the strongest stuff too.

Then this year is when I decided to eat that hand full of sweetened coconut. (was making macaroons cookies) and couldn't keep my hand out of the bag. Ate just tablespoon. Then hours later I felt sick.....and days later. Then I went to doctor because I haven't eaten. They did another endoscopy. They found fibrous in my stomach and accused me of eating my hair (Wrote that up in my chart). I TOLD them look I don't eat my hair. I have 2 cats. Maybe i breathed my cat hair in. I sleep with feather pillows maybe i inhaled the pillows.....then it hit me. THE COCONUT. But to late. Its in my chart. They gave me regulan....which helps move it out of your stomach (a no no ....i read especially for people that have history of bleeding ulcer).

They even sent me home to take regulan 4 times a day (But no one told me when I can stop it.) So I stopped it in a week or two. Just in case.

 

2 weeks later I bought a bag of baby carrots to munch on. Ate 3-5 of them. Then felt sick all day. Next day.....they came back up again. All the carrots. I even chewed them as best as I cold. So that another one to add to the list of foods I cant eat.

 

So the "they" are the kaiser doctors.....My regular doctor can only do so much. The gastro......can only look at your tummy and fix it. The nutritionist (which was a joke) can tell you what to eat and what not. Then the gastric by pass doctor for kaiser who ordered A LOT of blood results....said that they look ok. Some low......like the vitamin b12.....the iron was very low.I showed her the paper the nutritionist and I can see in her face that she said NO.....don't do that. That's for people that have the sleeve and are fresh out of surgery. You had the full surgery and a while ago. What he said doesn't apply. She went to set me up with another appointment but haven't heard from her. Plus there is a class that kaiser offers after care for people who had surgery but its going to be weird. I been to those classes in the past. But there are so many different surgeries and I am me.......i had complications where as others are not as bad as me.

As for scoping......I been scoped by the same doctor many times. Matter of fact the one that usually scopes me back when I was 18 she did two liver biopsies on me because my liver enzymes where high and they couldn't figure it out. I kept complaining and throwing up bile for MONTHS......and they did what is called a HIDA scan. To see if the gall bladder is working. When they find it...then they inject you with a dye to make it contrast to see how it works but they never could find it. My white blood count was high....but my fever was normal. So therefore they kept sending me home. My mom had hers out at 18. My other I finally got mine out at 18 and my baby sister got hers out at 22. (Not common for woman). They asked me if I had ever had it removed because they couldn't find it. I would know if I had my gall bladder gone.

Finally they admitted me. The doctor came into my room....all sick. she told me "You have to be honest with your self if you truly have the pain". Then walked away. I cried that whole day. The next day the doctor said. I am going to go ahead and do "exploratory surgery" and he wrote that up on the paper. I got the paper with the results. He came back and read it to me. He was so glad that he did the surgery. The gall bladder was so gangrenous and shriveled up.....that it was necrotic and damaging my liver and that caused my liver enzymes to me 3 times the amount of a normal person. (Usually an alcoholic) for an 18 year old girl that doesn't drink. The other doctor never once apologized. There are days I just want to give up with these doctors.

 

But I am being strong and keep going. I don't regret the surgery. I just wish the doctors would give me better answers.

I  am post op 7 years.  I had trouble keeping food down on occasion and no appetite last year.  I had an ulcer.  I was told they make after surgery patients not have an appetite.

Do you still get ulcers.........how is your appetite now? Do you find it hard to eat and are you still loosing weight? I had 2 ulcers the first time and it bleed to the point of blood transfusion. Last year the ulcer return bleeding but I caught it in time that I didn't need blood trasfusion.