couple of questions

1. I had my sleep study done and has to go back for another one with the machine this time.... what should I expect? 2. I've only lost 6 pounds so far on the diet I'm on which I've been on for only 3 weeks so far..... Will I be turned down due to not losing more weight? 3. I want to get a jump start on my vitamins.... but I don't know what I need since some say flintstones is not good for us to use and tums I already eat around 600 tablets of that a week due to my reflux ..... So what do I really need? I have already started the biotin to maybe keep some of my hair since it's already so thin you can see my scalp now.... (( from the starvation diet I did a couple of years ago and lost 100 pounds in less than 3 months ... but gained all that back plus 30 more of it's new friends ...)) so help me out here please *hugs* Stephie

Hi Stephie! I don't know what to tell you about the sleep study, I never had to have that. Are you having to do a supervised diet prior to considering having the surgery? I took Flintstones after my surgery which I think most of us that went to MUSC did. Tums, the doctors at MUSC say to stay away from. After my surgery I got a presciption of previcid for indegestion, which I don't take it anymore. Only when needed. As far as the Biotin, I also had very thin hair prior to surgery and I took the Biotin, it didn't help at all. I am almost 7 months out and at abut 5 months I started losing my hair. It slowed down after a couple of weeks, thank goodness it has started coming back. Good Luck Britt I don't know if I helped you any.

Hi Britt Since I don't have to do a 6 month diet for insurance I do have to do a 6 week diet for my doctor .... I've been on previcid .... nexium ...... prontonx ..... tagement..... zantac all presciptions and they do not work for me...... I had the nissen repair done in June but that failed so I'm working on getting gastric bypass to help with that and to also help me get some of this fat off me before it kills me..... How much flintstones do you take? and it's gonna be so sad to see a bald Stephie .... *lol* but I will be if I lose more than couple of hairs in the front ..... But hey I got some pretty nails already from taking the biotin ..... thanks, Stephie

HERE'S THE WAY I TRY, TRY, TRY TO LOOK AT THE HAIR FALLING OUT SITUATION ... THERE ARE ALWAYS WIGS & HAIR PIECES ... BUT, THE WAY I REALLY KEEP MYSELF FROM GETTING DEPRESSED OVER IT IS FROM AN EXAMPLE OF "COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, DAWN". THERE IS A LADY AT CHURCH WHO LOST HER HAIR DUE TO CHEMOTHERAPY. WHEN HER HAIR GROWS BACK, SHE MAY STILL BE FACING DEATH ... BUT, WHEN MINE GROWS BACK, I'M FACING A HEALTHIER LIFE. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE A DRASTIC EXAMPLE, BUT I CAN GET PRETTY VAIN SO I PURPOSELY KEEP THIS EXAMPLE IN FRONT OF "ME" TO KEEP ME BALANCED & FOCUSED ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK

HEY MS STEPHIE ... NOTHIN' TO WORRY ABOUT ON THE SLEEP STUDY WITH THE CPAP MACHINE ... THEY WILL FIT YOU WITH A CPAP, THEN START AT A CERTAIN VOLUME OF AIR & STUDY YOUR REACTION & STATS ... THEY'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST AIR FLOW FOR YOU. FOR INSTANCE, WHEN I WAS AT MY HIGHEST WEIGHT, THEY HAD TO PUT MINE AT A 16 BECAUSE IT WAS SO HARD FOR ME TO BREATH ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THE CHEST WEIGHT I HAVE (BIG BOOBS & A LOT OF EXTRA UPPER CHEST FAT), BUT NOW THAT I'VE LOST WEIGHT, THE AIR PRESSURE AT 16 IS TOO STRONG & ACTUALLY MAKES IT HARD FOR ME TO BREATH SO I NEED TO BE RE-EVALUATED. I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE BEING TURNED DOWN FOR LOSING TOO LITTLE DURING THEIR PRE-OP DIET. I HAVE HEARD OF A COUPLE OF PATIENTS BEING REFUSED THE SURGERY BECAUSE THEY GAINED SO MUCH MORE WEIGHT AFTER THEIR INITIAL WEIGH IN & BEFORE THEIR SURGERY THAT THE SURGEON DIDN'T FEEL THEY WERE DEDICATED TO THE PROGRAM. SO, UNLESS YOUR SURGEON SAID THAT HE EXPECTED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OR A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE (SOME DOCTORS REQUIRE A 10% REDUCTION IN WEIGHT PRIOR TO SURGERY BUT THEY TELL YOU THIS UP FRONT), THEN I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO WORRY. HOW LONG IS YOUR PRE-OP DIET? I STARTED ON THE FLINTSTONES A MONTH PRIOR TO SURGERY ... 4 TIMES A DAY ... BUT, AFTER BEING ABOUT 4 MONTHS OUT, MY EXHAUSTION WAS STILL SO UNBELIEVABLY SEVERE THAT I CHANGED (FROM THE SUGGESTIONS OFF THIS & THE OCTOBER BOARD) TO OPTISOURCE FROM WALGREENS WHICH IS FORMULATED FOR GASTRIC BYPASS PATIENTS FOR BETTER ABSORBTION & USAGE. IT'S CHEWABLE & YOU TAKE IT 4 TIMES A DAY. THE EXHAUSTION HAS IMPROVED ABOUT 50-70% DEPENDING ON THE DAY. NEXT MONTH, I'M TRYING VISTA VITAMINS WITH CHELATED MINERALS. THESE ARE ALSO SPECIALLY FORMULATED FOR GASTRIC BYPASS PATIENTS & THEY HAVE A PRE-SURGERY FORMULATION THAT YOU CAN TAKE FOR A SHORT TIME POST OP AS WELL. THEN, THEY HAVE ANOTHER FORMULA FOR POST OPS TO TAKE FOREVER. NOW, HERE'S THE KICKER ... THEY ARE SO STRONG THAT THEY CAN EASILY UPSET YOUR STOMACH NOW & POUCH AFTERWARDS. SO, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY BUT CHECK THIS OUT ONLINE ... I THINK YOU NEED TO TAKE THE PRE-OP ONES WITH FOOD ... &, WHEN YOU BEGIN THE POST OP ONES, YOU NEED TO BEGIN WITH 1 TWICE A DAY FOR A WEEK, THEN 2 TWICE A DAY, THEN 3, THEN 4 TWICE A DAY FOREVER IF YOU CAN TOLERATE THE STENGTH. I'M GOING TO GO OUT ON A LIMB & SAY FROM MY OWN & OTHERS' EXPERIENCES, STAY AWAY FROM THE FLINTSTONES & INVEST IN A GOOD QUALITY GASTRIC BYPASS-FORMULATED VITAMIN/MINERAL SUPPLEMENT LIKE THE 2 I MENTIONED OR OTHERS THAT ARE OFFERED ONLINE OR AT PLACES LIKE THE VITAMIN SHOPPE. HERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS ... ANYWHERE FROM IMMEDIATELY TO A COUPLE OF MONTHS, YOU SHOULD EXPERIENCE HEALING OF YOUR REFLUX. IT TOOK ME ABOUT 2 MONTHS POST OP & I STAYED ON ACIPHEX FOR ANOTHER 2 MONTHS JUST TO BE SURE, BUT NOW ... NO REFLUX & NO PRESCRIBED OR OTC MEDICATION! YEAH, I DID THE STARVATION/REGAIN THING SEVERAL TIMES & MY HAIR IS VERY THIN AS WELL. TAKE THE BIOTIN 3 TIMES A DAY ... THE 1 TIME A DAY DOSAGE IS FOR THE POPULATION WITH A STOMACH & NO STRESS FROM SURGERY ... YOU NEED A HIGHER DOSAGE. DON'T EXPECT IT TO STOP ALL THE FALL OUT OF YOUR HAIR FROM SURGERY, BUT IT SHOULD LESSEN HOW MUCH FALLS OUT. MINE DIDN'T FALL OUT UNTIL THE 4th MONTH & THEN ONLY FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS INSTEAD OF THE MAJOR FALL OUT THAT MANY HAVE EXPERIENCED. THE REASON BIOTIN WON'T HELP 100% IS BECAUSE PART OF THE REASON YOUR HAIR FALLS OUT IS BECAUSE OF THE EXTREMELY LOW INTAKE OF PROTEIN FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER SURGERY. WE CAN'T GET AWAY FROM THAT BECAUSE OUR POUCHES ARE SO SMALL & IT TAKES A WHILE TO WORK UP TO THE FULL AMOUNT OF PROTEIN ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. BUT, BIOTIN WILL HELP! GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK