Recent Posts
I have the exact thing happen nearly every day to me. Huge Charlie Horse cramps in my stomach area. I had my gallbladder removed over 15 years ago, had gastric sleeve in 2012, then a tummy tuck in 2017. My plastic surgeon did mention to me during the tummy tuck he noticed I was not lined up properly so he had to make me even, said my belly button wasn't aligned with my center of my pelvis. He wouldn't go into much detail. Always remember that comment by him. I have seen my regular family doctor who said she would like me to go on muscle relaxers before she sent me out for CT and all that other stuff. I haven't taken the muscle relaxer much. I did at first and noticed a bit of improvement but don't care for it much. So stop taking now. I need answers. Please the pain is one Charlie horse after another over and over in. Y stomach to the left side right near my bellybutton. Can't even move when this happens. I can only apply pressure with my fist, after it happens I have to not make any movement with my arms, like pick anything up or bam!!!starts again. Dealt with this for 4 years now. I get it when I bend over to pull my pants up when using restroom or move or reach in a way bending over. It's so weird. I have gotten good at breathing my way through the Charlie horses. Any answers please.
Hi Deborah, sorry I don't get to OH as often any more and just now saw your question.
I didn't really have any technique. I'll message you some of details that kept me going, but of course the bottom line never changes. Calories in/calories out. And though it's pretty frustrating to deal with this whole maintenance and regain thing it's much easier now than working on it at 347 pounds. I always remind myself that if I can lose 200 pounds I can lose 20. It just takes a lot longer once we're further out. I shot for a pound per week.
I'll send you some relapse control info and hopefully it will encourage you. Be well!
Amy,
That is so encouraging. Thank you for posting. Many of us appreciate it. What was your technique?
Thank you.
Deborah
Hello FitChickinOnederland!
I really feel for you. You are on the right track. You're taking all positive steps - Good For YOU. All those signs brought back so many memories for myself. The dark ring at the neck is heartbreaking. Remember how great it was when it disappeared. Its has been 15 years ago that I had my surgery. Weighing in at a full 346. I got to just under 200 at my lowest, could never loose more than that. I am at a steady 215. I wish I could loose more weight and can relate to your story. We start eating normal again and it is very difficult to find our way back. My prayers are with you and everyone with this struggle.
Deborah
I rarely post on here. Which is part of the problem. I am not a part of the bariatric community locally or online. My username is FitChickinOnederland. This is no longer true. My lowest weight was 157 (I thought I was a fat whale). Had a panniculectomy almost 2 years ago, finally had a flat stomach and STILL thought I was a land whale. Here I am on February 27, 2020 I sit at 217 pounds. I have gained a whopping 60 lbs. Feeling sick, I went to the immediate care center a few months ago, and test revealed that my sugar was elevated. I was probably 20 pounds lighter, so I can only imagine what it is now. Last night, my aunt noticed a dark spot on my neck, my mom noticed it too. A slight discoloration, just like when I was insulin resistant at 314 pounds. That was my breaking point. My rock bottom. I am not going back to Metformin, I am not going back to my blood pressure meds, bladder problems, joint issues. Not fitting in desk, restaurant booths, seat belts, shopping in plus size stores. I cannot. I will not. I refuse to go up another size.
I will be using the next 39 days of Lent to get back on track. Getting back to the bariatric basics. I just had my first meeting with my campus dietitian, and we're coming up with a game plan. I have been attending Over Eaters Anonymous meetings, and I just got a sponsor. I will also be looking into getting a personal trainer on campus, once my finances allow me to do so.
I am posting here as accountability. I need to immerse myself in the bariatric community. It's one thing to be a part of the weight loss community, but people who just lost weight, don't understand WLS struggles. I need WLS surgery buddies. If anyone wants to, please reach out to me. I have amazing friends, but they don't understand WLS. I need bariatric friends. Message me if you want to connect.
Yes and no. There were times when I used alcohol to self medicate myself, for pain, and stress, depression and anxiety. My drinking was out of control at times. Before RNY I was a social drinker, that drank only once in a while, and often I would baby one drink for the whole evening, often not even finishing it.
I dealt with a lot of abdominal pain, inside type pain, and IBS type severe cramps. I had a few surgeries to correct hernias. They would fix one, and something else would pop-out. My biggest issue was when I had the first drink for the day. It seldom ended with just one. Unless I had it late, drank it and went to bed. I even had a saying "I can be hungry or drunk, today I chose drunk." That was because almost daily any dense foods would cause a severe cramps and pain. Alcohol would help, relaxed the guts and allow the food to pass. Pain medication I could take did not fix the problem. They stopped my guts from contracting and once the pain meds stopped working, the pain was back, sometimes worse than before My other option was a liquid diet, and liquid diet really never eliminated the hunger. There were weeks or months that I hurt all the time.
Eventually I decided I didn't want to be an alcoholic, went to my doc and requested he fixed whatever is wrong with me.
Then there was a very stressful time that caused severe anxiety and increased IBS pain. And I started drinking again. Fortunately I realized that I don't want to be an alcoholic and went back to my doctors and asked for help with anxiety, and with my pain due to my spine stenosis, and my SI joints pain. My family doctor changed my medications for anxiety, and my pain management doctor is helping me deal with pain in my back, hips and sciatica (injections) plus i get acupuncture, massages and chiro adjustments. I know my body and I know alcohol may help temporary, but long term, it would cause more damage. I also deal with arthritis pain, and unfortunately, there is no cure or real treatment for that. Fortunately I realized that my arthritis pain gets worse when I drank often. So I stopped. Plus the only pain medication I can use is with tylenol, and my liver (or any liver) can't handle alcohol and tylenol at the same time.
When on vacation, I had a drink or 2 if I really want to, and last year when we traveled, I indulged in some Irish and Scottish beer when we were there. But once we got back home, I seldom want any.
BTW: I used to be married to an alcoholic. After 3 years together, I asked for a divorce. I have a good job (but stressful) good driving record, and a great guy at home. Drinking could affect all of that very badly. I am almost 12 years post op, and 2 major regains I had were when I was drinking alcohol.
Best for me is to stay away from alcohol. Thankfully i never really got dependent on it, and when I stopped, i only had some minor withdraw symptoms (because I was drinking very often)
I don't miss it. My partner likes to have a drink once in a while, but even he doesn't drink often. We have a few bottles of alcohol a home, and it doesn't bother me.
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
Hope you are too! I know it's been a while... but it's nice to get a note out of the blue!
I have not experienced it with alcohol, but I have with shopping. I found myself shopping "because it was on sale" and getting the rush when I could find something in a small size that fit me. I have tons of clothes with tags still on them and I would hide deliveries from my husband so I wouldn't get another "more clothes?!" look. I finally had to come to terms that I was really spending money we didn't have. I had to remove myself from any "groups" on Facebook that would encourage or tempt me to buy clothes. I put into a strict budget and I have to justify a purchase to my husband so I talk about it. I also started to talk to my therapist about it and distancing is the best thing. In the case of alcohol, is there a meeting you can go to to help identify triggers to help combat the urge?
