LarrySm88

I am a few days away from a month after my gastric bypass surgery , I have been doing everything my surgeon told me to do .
I can't believe i lost 65 lbs in 27 days !!!
I'm finally feeling happy , lighter, and healthier today.
If you are not extremely strong, physically but mostly mentally . This journey is not for you.
In my first month I overcame 2 major issues, on top of and including my surgery recovery.
Alcohol free " reversing a large fatty liver" and testosterone infections free too I'm proud of myself . natural test levels are not back yet but feeling better everyday. my energy level is increasing everyday. i do 2, 20 minute walks per day.
I really have no appetite, but i get my Vitamins and Protein Shakes in everyday. and Water .
my next diet stage is real soft food again, but i hate the full feeling so i rather just drink fluids.
thanks for all the advice on my previous posts i took them with a grain of salt. But everyone helped me find light at the end of the depression tunnel.
I will not try anything without dr. approval.
Anyone interested in healthy living and fatty liver issues, look up Dr. Berg on youtube and subscribe !!!! he's extremely helpful !!!

I am a few days away from a month after my gastric bypass surgery , I have been doing everything my surgeon told me to do .
I can't believe i lost 65 lbs in 27 days !!!
I'm finally feeling happy , lighter, and healthier today.
If you are not extremely strong, physically but mostly mentally . This journey is not for you.
In my first month I overcame 2 major issues, on top of and including my surgery recovery.
Alcohol free " reversing a large fatty liver" and testosterone infections free too I'm proud of myself . natural test levels are not back yet but feeling better everyday. my energy level is increasing everyday. i do 2, 20 minute walks per day.
I really have no appetite, but i get my Vitamins and Protein Shakes in everyday. and Water .
my next diet stage is real soft food again, but i hate the full feeling so i rather just drink fluids.
thanks for all the advice on my previous posts i took them with a grain of salt. But everyone helped me find light at the end of the depression tunnel.
I will not try anything without dr. approval.
Anyone interested in healthy living and fatty liver issues, look up Dr. Berg on youtube and subscribe !!!! he's extremely helpful !!!

great work

I am a few days away from a month after my gastric bypass surgery , I have been doing everything my surgeon told me to do .
I can't believe i lost 65 lbs in 27 days !!!
I'm finally feeling happy , lighter, and healthier today.
If you are not extremely strong, physically but mostly mentally . This journey is not for you.
In my first month I overcame 2 major issues, on top of and including my surgery recovery.
Alcohol free " reversing a large fatty liver" and testosterone infections free too I'm proud of myself . natural test levels are not back yet but feeling better everyday. my energy level is increasing everyday. i do 2, 20 minute walks per day.
I really have no appetite, but i get my Vitamins and Protein Shakes in everyday. and Water .
my next diet stage is real soft food again, but i hate the full feeling so i rather just drink fluids.
thanks for all the advice on my previous posts i took them with a grain of salt. But everyone helped me find light at the end of the depression tunnel.
I will not try anything without dr. approval.
Anyone interested in healthy living and fatty liver issues, look up Dr. Berg on youtube and subscribe !!!! he's extremely helpful !!!

That's amazing progress! Congratulations and well done! 😊

Hi! I have had one ulcer and it was a few years after my surgery. I had an h.pylori infection that was identified and the cause of my ulcer. While they can heal themselves I also suffered from pain and blood loss. Peptic ulcers can lead to a need for a transfusion of Iron or blood depending on the size and the location. I became very anemic, unable to eat and dizzy along with the abdominal pain was why I went to the doctor in the first place. My doctor treated me with antibiotics, Probiotics, and Prilosec. I take probiotics on a regular basis now because probiotics help with the healthy flora in the stomach. If untreated, h.pylori can cause many, many problems. NSAID's are very common to cause peptic ulcers as well. I was told by my Surgeon that anyone with WLS especially should never take anything containing NSAIDs or NSAID medication. There are foods that are beneficial to eat such as berries, spinach, broccoli, and other natural probiotic foods that I try to incorporate into my diet. If you have an ulcer acidic foods are not recommended. I do know someone (my cousin) that it did not heal and needed to have surgery to heal it correctly. I hope you can get it figured out as everyone's experience is a little different!

No, haven't had any ulcers from it (and neither has my wife who is pushing 16 years out on her DS - sleeve plus intestinal rerouting - and she is an occasional NSAID user.)
I believe that ulcers can heal themselves given time and gentle diet, but they are usually helped along with medication, usually a PPI such as omeprazole and a coating med such as Carafate or Sucralfate, which are sorta industrial strength Pepto Bismol that coats the inside of the stomach between meals to protect it.

I had my first couple sips of wine 3 weeks post op. I had maybe 5-6 drinks the entire time I was in weight loss phase (and not even close to a full serving each time). Note: my weight loss phase was 7 months total.
I took an NSAID a few times in the first month, but none since. Also, I think you are correct about the diff in surgeries. One of the reasons I chose sleeve was because I wanted to continue with NSAIDs with no issue (but jokes on me, I didn't need them anymore).
Pot: I tried to smoke a joint in the first week after surgery cuz I didn't want to take pain meds (gives me constipation), and after 1 drag, I had an unbearable coughing fit that felt like I was busting my stitches, so that was the end of that. Didn't have any until almost 2 years later.
Nicotine: I was smoke free for over 10 years until 2019 (1 year post-op) when I started again on vacation. Kinda regret that, but obviously not enough because I'm still smoking today.

I am a nurse, so I usually try self-treatment first rather than talking to my doctors 🤦🏼‍♀️ (they are all cringing right now with that statement 😆). My stomach stopped hurting after a few days once I stopped the steroids, so I am assuming if I was starting to get an ulcer, it healed once I stopped the steroids. I know I will need steroids in the future due to asthma, but I will definitely approach with caution and stop at the first sign of stomach pain.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I'll answer anyway.
Note: I am only 2.5 years out...and I'm a sleeve.
alcohol ? YES, regulary nicotine ? YES, regulary weed ? YES, partook probably once a week last summer, none since then. Nsaids ? YES, for 1 month post WLS, but none since cuz I didn't need them anymore.
So far so good.
P.S. Not to say that I am encouraging nor discouraging any of the above, just stating my experience. YMMV.

I got COVID back in November and have asthma. I started a short course (5 days) of steroids due to the asthma flaring. My stomach started to hurt and I stopped them after 4 days. I had no further symptoms from the steroids and just the few days of prednisone got my COVID/asthma lungs feeling better. The benefits seemed to outweigh the risks at the time.

I drink occasionally. Usually wine, but a very occasional cocktail. I don’t seem to have any issues from my infrequent indulgence. I do not smoke, take nsaids, or other drugs.

I drink alcohol - but not a lot (never really have because alcoholism runs in my family, so I never wanted to risk it. I definitely have an addictive personality, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if I have the genetic predisposition to become alcoholic). I'll have a drink maybe three or four times a year, though. But only one or two at a time (you get trashed very quickly after surgery, so one or two is pretty much all it takes....)
I don't do nicotine because I was a heavy smoker for about 15 years. It was HORRIFIC to quit, so I don't even want to take a puff. It's WAY too tough to quit. I once bummed a cigarette from a friend after a one-year quit and was back to smoking full-time within a couple of weeks of that, so I'm not doing that again. I know I'd be back to smoking in no time, and after being cigarette-free for over 20 years, that would be awful. Weed - well, I'm in my 60s. I don't think I've done that since I was in my 20s. NSAIDs - nope. I take Tylenol now. The PA in my surgeon's office said a very occasional NSAID when nothing else is working might be fine, but as a regular thing, no.

I haven't had any issues at all with ulcers. I've seen some posts about them, so they can definitely happen - but I don't know how common they are. It seems like we don't really see A LOT of posts on them, so I'm guessing they're not all that common. But then surgeons warn you about NSAIDS, smoking, and other things that can potentially cause them - so they're probably not common if you follow the rules.
most can be treated medically - I think they usually use PPI's and/or something like carafate.

A couple of comments to fill things in here.
It's not really a matter of steroids vs. non-steroids, but rather what a drug or class of drugs does to the stomach as a side effect, NSAIDs are merely the most common that are sited as being problematic for bypass patients. The issue is that the part of the intestine where where the stomach pouch is connected is not resistant to the stomach acid, so that anastomosis there is quite vulnerable to ulcers, so any med that can cause some stomach distress is generally to be avoided. Some of the osteoporosis drugs are avoided for this reason, too. This presumably applies to the MGB as well, as it uses a similar connection. The duodenum, the part of intestine immediately downstream of the stomach and is resistant to the acid, is bypassed along with the remnant stomach.
These various meds can sometimes be used in limited times under certain circumstances under medical supervision, but it's a risk/reward trade off between doctor and patient. The sleeve based procedures are generally more tolerant as they don't have that marginal ulcer issue, but many docs still restrict them owing to their bypass experience, (and the sleeve is probably less tolerant than a normal person, while being more tolerant than a bypasser.)
Your bypass can be reversed, (that is sometimes one of its "selling points" but it's not commonly done as it's a pretty complex job; not all surgeons will do it. It is usually reserved for times when there is no other option in treating some problem, rather than just buyers remorse. I have seen it done a couple of times in cases of intransigent ulcers, where no other treatment worked. It can also be revised to a duodenal switch, but that's even more complex than a reversal (they have to reverse it first, then sleeve it, and redo the intestinal rerouting. It is usually done when weight loss was inadequate or with excessive regain, or for other RNY complications such as the intransigent ulcers or bile reflux.
You weren't offered the MGB as it doesn't fit the "standard of care" for WLS in the US - insurance doesn't normally cover it and the ASMBS hasn't approved it, though it has been further developed and used more commonly elsewhere. The next procedure that's likely to gain approval here is the SIPS/SADI/Loop DS

Talk to your medical team.
There are lists of "don't take this list of drugs" and "these drugs are OK". Not every surgeon agrees with either list. Mine didn't.
Everyone is different. We have different medical issues, different sensitivities, different tolerances, different likes and dislikes, different beliefs. Different differences. We need to take all of these things and more into consideration.
Drugs are always a risk v. reward thing. Are the possible negative effects worth the probable positive effects? Whether you can or should take any drug is up to your medical team and ultimately your personal choice. Inform yourself, talk to your team, make a choice, monitor carefully.
I take drugs from the "do not take" list daily. I know the possible side effects and I monitor carefully.
As an example, every pain medication known to humanity carries side effects AT LEAST as bad as NSAIDs. Of course, living in constant pain also has some negative effects.
The first 6 weeks you are healing so some things have a higher risk during this period. Talk to your medical team.
After the first 6 weeks, well, talk to your medical team.
Tek