Tracyringo

I converted from VSG to RYGB in October 2020. Recovery was similar, yet different. I had a lot of vomiting following VSG, but less with the bypass. I am one of the 30% who experience dumping, but as catwoman7 explained, it is totally controllable by watching what I eat. In fact, I'm almost 5 months post-op and even the dumping appears to have improved (or I've figured out the triggers!).
I can tell you that I don't get that immediate sense of restriction like I did with the sleeve. At this point in my recovery, my body seems to know when to stop eating before I get the pain and discomfort associated with overeating.
All I can really offer is my advise based upon my outcome. I am so happy that I had the surgery. Like you, I has the surgery to correct my stomach and esophagus issues. But I've lost 47 pounds, I feel great, I can sleep through the night without acid reflux and I look and feel 10 years younger. Don't let fear of surgery and complications limit your decision to improve your health and daily living.

Yep, I have GERD and a hiatal hernia. I am still trying to weigh the options on how to deal with it. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had never had bariatric surgery at all - in MY case, I think I would have been happier and healthier without surgery, because my weight wasn't causing me any health issues yet and I just gave myself new problems with the surgery. If I was in fact dealing with health issues from the weight, now I feel like I might have been better off just doing the gastric bypass from the start.

Thank you for your honest review! I don’t have GERD but I’ve read that it is pretty common to have issues after the sleeve, even years after. I’m planning to only do this surgery once so maybe the bypass is the way to go.

Immediately !! I coughed that whole first night after surgery and kept my roommate up it was so bad. I ended up having a revision 11 months ago because of esophagitis D and a hiatal hernia. I was afraid of getting the bypass too but as far as weight loss and maintaining it has been much easier. I honestly liked the sleeve better because of the restriction and being able to eat all foods, but the flip side of that was I constantly had to watch my weight and struggled just to stay around 170. I was 180 the day of my revision and this morning I weighed in at 150.8. This is the lowest I have ever been and usually maintain 155 to 159 with no stress. I had a temporary crown put on 2 weeks ago and dropped 8 lbs because I am not getting the food I usually eat because of pain. I go in on Monday for the permanent crown and am sure my weight will bounce back up. lol Good luck to you and whatever surgery you choose.

This whole process of getting my insurance to approve this surgery is a freaking nightmare. I started this whole process in August of 2020. I did everything the surgeon and insurance required of me. Got a tentative surgery date of 12/9/20. I was so excited! My insurance denied me in November. They said they needed more info and I needed more classes ( I had already done 12, I just did all of them in 2 months). So my team added on 4 more classes, once each month and resent all of my info highlighting the info ins. claimed to not have. Got a new date of March 19. End of Feb. I got ANOTHER denial because they are STILL claiming to not have all of my info. My team sent it yet again and got confirmation that it was received. I was rescheduled again and again and again, each time having to have it pushed because the ins needed more time. Always more time. It's finally to the point that I stopped scheduling because the back and forth with the ins. is endless. I got another denial last week because now it's different info that they didn't get. Stuff that was previously sent on multiple occasions but now is just magically not in my file. So my team sent it all again and the waiting starts all over. I have strayed so far off course I have gained back everything I previously lost and then some. I know I need to get back on track just in case by some divine intervention my insurance actually approves my surgery I'm not scrambling to get back down at the last minute but it's so hard. I've fallen back into my depression pit and just feel hopeless. There is no way I can self pay. I don't want to give up but that little nagging voice in my head just keeps telling me it will never happen for me. That I'm just not worth it. I wish I could afford an attorney or an advocate aside from surgical team but that's not in the cards for me either. Blah... Sorry to be a Debby Downer, I just don't have many people that understand where I'm at that I can vent to.

I haven't had the surgery yet but, my best advice is to just do it cold turkey! I smoked for over 20 years and tried multiple ways over the years to try quitting and nothing worked. Finally, I just put my mind to it that I was in contro, NOT the cigarettes, l and I just stopped!! It was hard. And a few times I walked my ass around to the store to buy more but I didn't smoke.
Back in the day I used to smoke in the house so everything I did was tied to smoking.......before and after eating, with coffee, while on the computer, watching TV, etc. As silly as it sounds I took a McDonald's straw, cause they were about the same thickness as a cigarette, and cut it down to cigarette size and used to hold that in my fingers like I would a real one while on the computer, watching TV, wherever and whenever I normally would smoke and guess what, it helped. Multiple times I even found myself bringing it up to my lips and "taking a drag" of it. But hey, it was better than the real thing. I used to carry that thing everywhere. LOL
And as crazy as this sounds, the one day I did break down and bought cigarettes but I told myself I was gonna walk back home WITHOUT smoking one and, if I could make it there without one, I would reevaluate if I really needed it or not. And nope, I didn't need it. I took things minute by minute but I kept those cigarettes in plain view on my desk and told myself if I REALLY needed one they were there. But I was always able to talk myself out of having one. I'd gulp Water, have Snacks like celery and carrot sticks, things that felt like cigarettes too in my hands/fingers. I don't know, just having the there gave me comfort. But I know not everyone would be able to have them that close without caving in.
Anyway , all my little strange things that I tried worked for me in the end and I've been cigarette free for 16 years now!
I wish you the best of luck. I know how hard it is and everyone has to do what works for them.

I did/do mostly cardio, because I hate strength training. I’d say probably 95% cardio (mostly running), and 5% strength training...of which is just body weight...with the exception pull-downs, when I use a machine w/ weights (but I don’t do this much/often).
If I didn’t hate it so, I’d do much more strength training as I recognize it helps quite a bit with overall body presentation and metabolism levels. As it is, I do very little...but force myself to do some as it does produce results (for ME).

I havent been losing much at this point nor do I want to. I lost 25lb more after the revision and have been maintaining it now for a good 6 to 8 months. I have noticed that if I dont eat a normal 3 times or more a day my weight will drop. I had a crown done a week ago and havent been able to eat on that side and dropped 7 lbs in a week!!! CRAZY

I'm only 6 months post revision, so I'm not really sure if there is a honeymoon period like I heard about with the sleeve. I too have gotten below my goal and significantly lower than I ever got after VSG surgery. But I was overweight, not obese, at the time of my revision since the surgery was done for medical reasons, not for weight loss.
I really don't know why I've lost so much weight, since I feel like my insides have been healed for months. I try very hard to eat healthy and I walk 5-6 miles a day. But I would be less than honest if I said I never ate sweets, snack foods etc. I haven't been actively losing weight for the past month (only lost 1.2 lbs. in the last 30 days). I think I'm actually in maintenance, which would be great if I can just keep doing what I'm doing and maintain! If it's a honeymoon, I hope it keeps going.

I posted this elsewhere but I’m hoping I can get some help here as I’m new to the app..

Hi all! I’m in a bit of a panic, I’m 5 weeks post op, my starting weight was 274lbs. My op weight was 268lbs. At 3weeks post op my weight was 236lbs and somehow my weight since I started purées then eventually solids has been on a steady incline(I’m now at 250lbs🥺) . It’s really disheartening. I’m honestly not sure if I’m not eating properly or whether something else might be wrong. I did have my TOM mid week 4 so I thought it might be hormonal and that I’m retaining Water but nothing seems to be changing.

I drink 2.5l of water a day . I eat less than 700cal a day. I get 70g of Protein in , 15g of carbs and about 10g of fat in total a day. Do I have my quantities wrong? My nutritionist hasn’t been very helpful.

Please can someone offer some advice.

I asked the same question from my nutritionist and the Dr. Basically : Eating your meal over hours or thru out the day is not grazing. As long as your eating your daily intake , all is fine. Grazing is eating other foods or Snacks not in your daily meal plan.

I think that is kind of what I have been doing, @njlimmer. I want to get myself into a routine, but sometimes food just doesn't sit well at meal time so I find myself picking at things during the day.

I'm about 6 weeks out, and I'm eating on a timer because I don't feel hungry yet. I'm trying to eat 3 meals and 2 Snacks but I'm not always getting it. Last night though... I was snacky. I recognized that I wasn't hungry, I just wanted something to munch on like I would have before so I tried to just drink my Water. I don't want to fall back into bad habits of eating out of boredom.

Ah... I just realized you are not even a month out. In my first 3 months i didn't eat out of hunger like 90% of the time. I ate because my timer went off. Usually, (from what I've read around here), how you are eating in the first few weeks (or months for some) is not indicative of how you will always eat.
...but going to a therapist is always a good idea.
Good Luck! ❤️

Thanks for all your thoughts. I am looking to start therapy to help with my relationship with food, because I don't think I'm eating out of hunger and I don't want old habits to die hard. I don't eat a lot at meal time, but I feel like I'm eating a lot throughout the day. I'm also more of a mid-morning and afternoon eater than I am a night eater. I really can't eat much for supper, either.

There is nothing wrong with finishing a meal through the day as long as you are not snacking outside of that meal. I truly believe that was part of the reason I made goal that first year. The sleeve is a lot more restrictive so you wont be able to finish the amount weighed out to eat, so I would go back when I was hungry and eat on that meal. I normally would finish Breakfast. It was lunch and dinner that I would not be able to finish. So I really wasnt going over calories doing it this way either. Good luck

There is nothing wrong with finishing a meal through the day as long as you are not snacking outside of that meal. I truly believe that was part of the reason I made goal that first year. The sleeve is a lot more restrictive so you wont be able to finish the amount weighed out to eat, so I would go back when I was hungry and eat on that meal. I normally would finish Breakfast. It was lunch and dinner that I would not be able to finish. So I really wasnt going over calories doing it this way either. Good luck

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. It is my impression that this term applies more toward RNY than sleeve. Generally the honeymoon period is the period around a year in length after RNY surgery when you no longer feel hunger. Prior to surgery, hunger was constantly continuously gnawing at my bones. When I was eating, I was already focused on my next meal. After surgery hunger was completely gone. It wasn't hard to lose weight when hunger was not gnawing at your bones. Therefore this is called the honeymoon period. After about a year, hunger returned but it was less intense than prior to surgery. (I do not know if sleeve patients also lose their hunger after surgery.)
There are two phases to weight loss surgery. These are the "Weight Loss" phase and the "Maintenance" phase. The goals and objectives for these two phases are different. They require a different strategy. I transitioned between the two phases at around 7 months. But sleeve patients can stay in the "Weight Loss" phase for much longer, sometimes 2 years. They can achieve the same total weight loss as RNY patients. This is an article that I wrote about the Maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf
In general, you want to maximize your weight loss during the Weight Loss phase. bread, Pasta, rice are complex carbs and you should stay away from these during the Weight Loss phase. In the Maintenance phase their use should be limited to around 1 meal with complex carbs a day.

To be quite honest I am glad to be a dumper because it makes me stay in check. The restriction I had with VSG kept me from overeating but the RNY dumping keeps me from eating bad foods and I have to watch my portion size or I will get sick as well.

So I am coming up on my year revision from VSG to RNY and wondering about the honeymoon phase discussed in virgin surgeries. I am wanting to know if the honeymoon phase is different in a revision or the same and when it ends? I honestly didnt feel like I had a honeymoon phase with VSG I worked hard to get to goal that first year and I never felt like the weight just came off and it was hard to maintain, but with this revision everything seems so much easier and I am 20lbs lighter and not struggling to maintain like I did with VSG. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Tracyringo,
My Bariatric Dietitian did warn me against eating cream of wheat, oatmeal and other cereals. When I was on the soft food eating plan after my VGS, I was able to eat my favourite cream of wheat and other soft cereals. As I am in the soft food eating plan for the RYGB when I saw the dietary restrictions about the cream of wheat, I had no idea why my Bariatric dietitian would restrict the grains, like cream of wheat and oatmeal. Your post to me about staying clear of cream of wheat really Enlightened me. As I previous VGS person, I didn’t have to deal with dumping syndrome. On the RYGB, I might have to deal with dumping syndrome. Some other members of BariatricPal forum have indicated that around 30% of individuals who have gotten the RYGB have to deal with dumping syndrome. I have no idea as I progress with my post op dietary eating plan, if I will have to deal with dumping syndrome. I will most certainly follow my Bariatric dietitian recommendations about staying clear of grains like cream of wheat cereal and oatmeal.

Thanks for your enlightening post, Tracyringo.

Did you start a new Vitamin? Even if it's the same brand but a new bottle it could be a reaction to a filler in it. New medicine like an allergy pill?

no. they can go on for a couple of hours, but not days. There's something else going on.

this is the one chance in life that you're going to have to lose your excess weight quickly and (fairly) easily. The "magic" won't last, so this is your big opportunity. Don't blow it. If you don't have a therapist, I'd sure look for one.

I'm not sure about the mechanism. I was revised to bypass last month from gastric sleeve and I also have no restriction. I also have not lost any weight in over a month. Not sure it was worth it.