Question you might not want to ask

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Instead of always repeating myself. I just have these things I have written

down and I try to post them every so ofter. Many of you have already read this

so just delete it. This is for the NEWBIES! I hope it is helpful.

Sometimes there are things that you may think you are the only one that this is

happening to. So I thought I would write about a few things that happened to me

along my journey of losing 105 pounds. My first shock was that about 2 months

after having sleeve surgery I notice that when I got out of the shower I would

find quite a bit of my hair in the drain screen. I thought to myself I already

have thin hair what am I going to do if I keep losing more hair? Well, I did

and it was difficult to try to spread my already thin hair all over my head. So

I started asked question to people on this board. And guess what there were a

lot of people who had lost some of their hair after surgery—not that it made me

feel a whole lot better, but I wasn't alone. I learned that this is pretty

normal to loose hair with rapid weight loss or some type of surgery. Then my

next question was will it grow back?????—they all assured me it would, but when

you have thin hair you don't really don't like the bald spots on your head. So,

my answer was to get 2 really cute wigs close to my own hair color. Hardly

anyone knew I had a wig, because it was close to my own hair style. Lots of

people on this site had all kinds of theories about how to stop the hair loss

and what to do. For me I found that Nioxin Shampoo and Cream rinse worked well.

Most good hair salons sell this shampoo or you can order in on line too. I felt

I had a much healthier scalp after using it. I am not saying it stopped my hair

loss. I am just saying I felt it gave me a healthy scalp for my hair to return.

I also take the supplement Biotin. You can find it with the Vitamins and I

still take it. It helps with hair and nails. Both of which I need. I don't

think there is any cure for hair loss, but just time. My hair stopped falling

about 6 months after the surgery and then I noticed it started coming back in.

For me; my hair had fully returned about a year from the surgery. So I wore my

wigs for quite awhile—about 6 months. The most unusual part of my hair coming

back in was that it was now very curly—and I had pencil straight hair before. I

HATED this curly hair, and I had to learn to deal with it. I am about 19 months

from surgery and finally my hair isn't so curly and it has a lot of nice body to

it and I enjoy what I have because it is much easier to manage. It feels thicker

now too. So don't panic or get scared if your hair falls out, this is normal.

Not everyone will lose hair, but some of us have.

My next challenge was constipation. When you eat protein you tend to have

constipation. I tried different products for this and the one I have found that

works best for me is Miralax. I buy the store band at Costco because it cost

less. It works really well for me, and I just mix it in with my Protein drink

every morning and I have NO problems with constipation anymore. Walking also

helps with constipation. I was embarrassed to ask people on the board about

constipation. I thought I was the only one who was having this issue then I

found out a lot of people were having these issues. I also eat Almonds and that

seems to help me too.

We have talked a little or a lot about " slimming or flemming " In case you missed

it, when you first start eating regular food you have to re-learn how to eat

again and chew. With you new stomach you will need to take small tiny bites and

chew until the food in your mouth is almost liquid like. This is nothing like

what you had been doing your entire life. In the past you eat and talk and put

big bite in your mouth along with a few chews and then swallowing—this will NO

LONGER WORK FOR YOU. This is a very difficult thing to change. So with you new

stomach and just having surgery you may experience slimming or flemming. First

you will feel like the food is stuck, then it comes back up in a clear liquid

–your saliva. It isn't vomit, so that is why it is called slimming or flemming.

It's a wake up call to slow down you eating and chew, and chew and chew some

more. Just go to the bathroom or have a napkin ready for the slimming or

flemming. If you try to overeat—which is bad you may experience this too

sometimes. For me it was always about not chewing enough. When I am full I

know I am, at first I wasn't sure, but sometimes I just got tired of all the

chewing, so I stopped eating. I now get the hiccups or my noise will start to

run when I am full. I know that other people have said they experienced this

too.

For the new people or people who are thinking of having Weight Loss Surgery, I

want you to know that I wouldn't trade one of these things that happened to me

for the wonderful new healthy body I now have and how happy I am. It is ALL

worth it. It has made me a much better person. I have been where you are

starting and I want you to know that this is the last and final thing that you

will ever have to go through. If diet and exercise worked for everyone we

wouldn't consider weight loss surgery. If you want to lose the weight it will

happen with good eating habits and some exercise. I will not just melt off of

you. This is your new tool to allow you to get where you want to do. You have

to put some effort yourself. This site is great for support and questions. So

jump in and join us. We are all regular people in different stages of weight

loss.

Hugs

Suzanne

Sleeved 10/28/08

225 120 125

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