Help!!!

Hello. It has been a long time since my last post. I am concerned that my fingernails keep splitting and breaking. I think I am eating enough protein. I love shrimp ****tail. For 4 months I have been having stomach pain which the doctors thought was an ulcer. I had a endoscopy and the doctor found a suture that was left in from my surgery. He removed it and took a biopsy of my small intestine and esoph. I haven't recieved the results yet. The doctor doesn't think the suture was what was causing the pain. Anyway the pain is usually worse if I am stressed. I am using Prevacid and this seems to help. I have gone from being in pain almost constantly to almost no pain which is great except I have also gone from eating almost nothing except shrimp, salad, and peaches --in small amounts---to eating and eating or at least it seems like that. I hope I don't have to be in pain to stay in control. The foods I listed above and soup were the only things I could tolerate. Now I feel like my eating is out of control. Today I had a half a protein style In and Out burger, about 10 fries, an ice tea, 4 cookies, my protein drink (which I started yesterday because of my nail problem), 6 pieces of red licorice and hot tea. Nights lately are the worse. All I think about is eating. Help

Hi there Carol. How are you doing? You don't mention your weight loss in your post. I bet you have done great. I had very bad pains last year around this time. I put it off and put if off and kept being admitted to the hospital. I was there 4 times.All tests were negative. I finally agreed.... to let him take me to the Operating Room and take a look. It was a large inner hernia that was twisted 180 degrees around. It was so deep inside, that it could not be detected. I think everyday is a struggle in our weight battle. : is what I feel like screaming sometimes. I started my Weight Loss journey at 245 lbs and now I am at "GOAL" at 130 pds. I am very happy with these results. . Now the hardest part will be to maintain this. There are days when I feel like I am eating everything, but when I look back at the day it is not as nearly as I used to eat.Nightimes are bad for me also. I work 3-11, and junk and especially crunchies are there. Don't be hard on yourself OK? Here is a for your great work. We are all human remember that OK? I hope you find out what is causing your pain and take care of it. Keep us posted OK....Lorraine

Hi Carol, Sorry to hear of your stomach pain... no ulcer huh ? Surprised since you state the pain is most noticeable when you feel stress. ? Anyhow, I can't relate to your stomach pain, I've been very lucky. But I certainly can relate to your eating and food thoughts issues....I've been fighting off the food thoughts forever it seems.. I was near tears one night and a thought came to me.. "Why are you fighting the thoughts Elaine ? It's just how you're programmed. (which is probably what got me a pre-op 272 lb body in the 1st place)" Instead I have been training myself to manage the food thoughts. Because I am weak willed when it comes to foods, now that I can exercise with gusto I make damn sure I do. This is part of my "management". I attempt to ride the craving wave out. I follow the water loading method taught to me my nutritionist and have hat full of other magic tricks.. I hope I could be of help in some way to you.. Hope you feel better soon. Elaine

I can relate to the pain part. My PCP put it down to stress, plain and simple. I also get severe pain if I take Vicodin and don't drink a large glass of liquid with it. I take Vicodin a lot due to FM and a damaged shoulder. As far as your nails, have your doctor check for RA or OA, as brittle nails are a sign of arthritis. Biotin helps a lot with that, as does increased calcium and magnesium. I know. I have RA, too. I went to acrylics because my nails got so bad, they bled from the splitting and cracking. As far as the food issues, I am there with you. Sweets call my name. They even have my cell phone number. I am upping my fruit intake to stave off the sugar fix need. I am also taking a vitamin called 5-HTP which is suppose to help your body produce seretonin, which is a natural sleep aid, and carb craving reducer. I'm suppose to take it once a day for two months to see the full effect, but I take it twice, due to the malabsorbtion. And, I slept good last night, even with my DH's snoring. Plus, I didn't crave sweets as much yesterday. So maybe it'll work. If you're interested in more detail, if anyone is, just email me and I'll tell all where I got it and the price, etc. Nona

I have the same problem. I am 18 months post-op and went from 240 lbs to 154 lbs. I have gained six pounds in the last 5 months. I go to my doctor on 06/23. He has talked to me about having an endoscopy. I also take prevacid, but this does not always work. I have a lot of stress at work and have gone through a lot of depression. I can't get my mind off food. I can only eat yogurt, cream of wheat, cheese and plain bread. I bought some protein bars this past week because my hair has started coming out. I, also, have alot of stomach problems from extreme pain to diareha. I don't know why I have gained my weight, except I must eat too much of these things. If you get any good advice on how to handle these problems, email me at; [email protected] If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. I still need to lose about 20 lbs. Good luck to you - Carolyn