disco stu

Unfortunately, it's a life long problem. You can't ever be 'cured' of alcoholism. The only solution is to NEVER drink again. THat's a real tough notion for most of us.

GOod luck

The struggle is real. I just had my first 'slip' after 54 days of sobriety. Sucks. I would recommend speaking to a psych about anti-depressants...specifically an SSRI. You have to play Russian Roulette a bit to find what works for your brain chemistry, but it's worth it. Made things a lot lot easier once I found the right combo. (low dose Celexa for me, but everyone is different)

That sucks. Good luck. Is the malabsorption apsect of SIPS still working? ie. are you still in the restroom all the time? oil slicks? etc...? I think I've gained a bit too in the last few weeks, but that's mostly Coors Light. hahaha Still, 212 has got to feel a lot better than 290, no?

I probably don't count as 'long term'....I'm at 18 months.... but I eat pretty shitty and haven't regained.

Best decision ever. It's a little tricky to talk about actual number of lost lbs for me, since I'm a dude and I started working out on weights a ton, and getting semi-jacked. but what a difference this has made in my life. Transformative. You should feel confident. I deleted most of my "fat pics", but I attached something that should give a general vibe...

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20190620/drug_alcohol_deaths_soar_after_weight-loss_surgery#1

UPDATE: Just got my latest labs back and my D3 has moved from 17 to 53. Woot! THanks @Postop for the recommendation and advice. In your opinion, should I continue to take 50,000 units every day, or should I back off from that now that I've got the D3 in the middle of the range?

I'm sleeve to DS (SIPs, actually.) . The recovery was a breeze. 1/10th that of sleeve. I was walking the same day and eating solid food two days later. Best decision I ever made.

Pros: It actually works, even if you're lazy and cheat./ Cons: It makes you poop a lot.

I encourage you to do some research on the connection between alcohalism and Bariatric patients. For some reason, it's not something people seem to want to discuss much around here, but it's a major problem and something you should be on the look out for...

Wish I could be more helpful. The "Duodenal Switch Surgery" forum on this site has been my go-to. It's a mixture of full DS and Sadi\Sips\mini DS'ers and doesn't get that much traffic, but the vets who regularly post here are informative and not Judgemental ( More than once I've gotten unloaded on at other sites by old school Full DS'er who seem genuinely pissed or threatened by Sips\Sadi\mini-DS'ers. Not pleasant.) I'd say something like 40% of the people on this forum are revisions from band or sleeve. I had both; Sips was my "third time is the charm" solution. Coming up on 1 year anniversary, and so far, so good. Regardless, I encourage you to post your questions, even if you're not sure this is "the right place." We'll do our best to get you the answers you need.

@Postop I wanted to follow up on your comment about chewables. What's the issue there? Gummy vs non-gummy? I ask because I'm taking the Bariatric Advantage chewables now. The things are specifically designed for bariatric patients, but are you saying they're no good for DS'ers? thanks

Wow @Postop. THis is exactly the kind of response I was hoping to get. Thank you. So you do 100,000 every day? Holy Cr*p! They only want me taking these 50,000 ever other day, so you're quadruple that. interesting point about pill vs gel cap. DIdn't know that, but it kinda makes sense since fat flows through us like sh*t from a duck, so why would something oil based be absorbed? Calcium in okay. I'm at the bottom of the range, but I'm in range (8.5-10.7). And it's trajecting upward, 6/14/18 . 10/29/18 . 2/8/19 8.7 . 8.8 . 9.0 I forget what I'm taking (giant cosco bottle) but it's in a pill form, so I guess thats a good thing. I'll look into the Biotech D3. Thanks again for the advice!

Haven't tried chewables. I'm supposed to take these 50,000 ones once ever two days for total of twelve. I haven't picked them up yet, and I don't rremember what they look like last time....

Hahaha. I dont know. LMGTFY Difference Between Vitamin D & Vitamin D3 Written by Sandi Busch; Updated December 14, 2018 Look at the label on any bottle of vitamin D and you’ll likely see vitamin D-3 listed as the primary ingredient. That’s because multiple forms of the vitamin exist, and D-3 is most common for use in supplements. Once they’re inside your body, all forms of vitamin D have the same effect.

My level is 17 as well. "Normal" is between 30 and 100.

Hey guys, I'm at the 10 month mark and just got my third round of blood tests for vitamins done. Consistently, I am low in vitamin D3, which I have a hard time understanding. After it came up low last time (about 3 months ago) they gave me a prescription for 50,000UI to take for 12 days, and ever since then I've been taking three 5,000ui caplets EVERY DAY.... according to the bottle, one 5k caplet is 1250% of daily requirements, so I'm taking 3750% of my daily requirement every day! Seems like overkill. But my blood test showed my D3 was LOWER than it was 3 months ago. NOTE: I live in San Diego, so even though it's winter, I get more sun than most. I'm asking the question here because the bariatric department for my medical plan mostly deals with sleeve and bypass, and doesn't have much experience with DS, SADis or SIPS, so they can't really tell me if this is normal or weird or what. They're response is to have me do another round of the 50,000 ui prescription. So, do any of you DS'ers have any knowledge around D3 deficiency? Is this a common thing? or is this just specific to me?

Blossom is a good deal with no wait time\hassle. For me it was significantly cheaper than any California option. Travel to Vegas is cheap and easy too. In general, they are a well oiled machine; very professional. Right now, They are advertising a "fast track" service that will get you in within 5 days for under 7k. Downside is that they are a bit of a factory.... Get you in; get you out. They had me on my feet and out the door of the surgery center within a half hour of waking up. I'm not joking. Compared this to most other stories on these boards who have a 2-4 day hospital stay afterward.

Band is basically medical malpractice. According to research, it worked for less than 1 in 20 patients! But it was pushed by surgeons because it was easy and they could charge a lot for it. Personally, I gained 35 lbs while banded Sleeve has better results - I think I read 60% somewhere - but still, if you look around on these boards you'll find a LOT of posts from people looking to revise their sleeves.... For me, things looked good initially. Lost about 30lbs in 6 months, but then it all started coming back...and fast. I regained 20 in just a few months. SIPS is the newest kids on the block - some would say it's still experimental - but it's basically a simplified (and therefore the argument goes safer) version of DS (Duodenal switch). DS has been around for a long time and is widely regarded as having the best LONG TERM WLS results. Meaning, you'll lose the weight and it stays off. I'm down about 50 lbs in 6 months and still continue to lose weight. BUT - and this is important BUT- DS comes with some significant "life-style" issues that you will have to deal with the rest of your life, most of which revolve around the restroom. Do a search for my posts in the DS forum on this site and you can read some of the smelly details. Something else to keep in mind, each procedure loses effectiveness which each previous WLS. My surgeon who sleeved me said I had to lower my expectations with Sleeve by 50% because I was a revision from Band. Similarly, I was told to lower my SIPS expectations since I'd already revised from Band AND sleeve. So I would be better off in the long run - and with hindsight that I probably was going to fail with the sleeve - if I had gone straight to DS.

Although I personally love working out - especially weights - I sometime fear that it's counter productive. The issue is that it makes me incredibly hungry afterward, which often leads to over eating\not sticking to the plan. Just something to watch out for. Remember: Abs are made in the kitchen.

I went band to sleeve to SIPS. Wish I had skipped the middle step...

Quick update: Recovery is going so-so. Struggling with the AA style, full abstinence, but my total alcohol intake is way way down from what it was, so I still feel mostly successful. As to my vitamin theory, I still think it has a lot of merits, despite a few people\medical professionals calling it into question, especially the use of Vitamin b12 injections vs pills. As an experiment, I stopped the shots and doubled up on B-complex pills for a week. Of course these things are hard to measure scientifically, but I definitely felt an increase in the intensity of cravings. I switched back to the injections, and the craving lessened. Your milage may vary.

I think I did Miso soup with a couple of cubes of tofu which I squished around in my mouth. My first 'real' food was really fresh Salmon sashimi, I think

Motrin and Advil are too harsh on your stomach. My Dr said Tylenol is ok\better.