eriadne

I'm looking to hear from people who are long term DS patients. What is your experience 5-10 years down the line, how is your energy, your blood levels (especially B12). how is your digestion and did the surgery create health problems, etc. Thanks!

I’m not to far off from 5 yrs from a revision of rny to Ds. 5/13. The revision was not easy..had issues that kept me in the hospital 2 months. I can say once I got over the initial operation and settled into the loosing phase all went well. I went from 400 to 155. As of today I’m at 160. My health is fine, energy is great, and I’ve never had many issues with my blood work. I have it checked every 6 months. Sometimes I have to change up supplements.. I run low on zinc at times and Calcium is up and down but nothing serious. As far as eating I can eat more than I did those first few years.. I just monitor my carb intake and Protein. I don’t count calories or fat. Actually fat needs added into my diet. I still drink a Protein Shake each morning, it kind of wakes my tummy up.

I second the Sonic ice! I'm on my 2nd bag (I'm constantly using it plus my husband loooves their ice too for his sodas). It's not even $2 for a big bag of it around here, and it's so fresh and with a nice texture perfect for sucking on when you're thirsty.

Glad to see I'm not the only one trying to figure out how to go swimming without being mistaken for a partially-deflated beach ball. My inner thighs are so droopy that my old, skirted swimsuit can't hide it, plus it's a bit loose on me overall now.
Thanks for the suggestions!

Glad to see I'm not the only one trying to figure out how to go swimming without being mistaken for a partially-deflated beach ball. My inner thighs are so droopy that my old, skirted swimsuit can't hide it, plus it's a bit loose on me overall now.
Thanks for the suggestions!

Try Power Crunch bars. They are like sugar wafers and are low sugar (5-6 grams), around 200 calories and 13-14 grams of Protein. I love them!

Anyone have any experience with how fast that awful dark, velvety weird skin under the arms and around the neck (and all sorts of other places!) will go away? It will go away, I hope!
I've had problems with this since puberty at least, and I'm hoping that it'll eventually reverse as my PCOS and insulin resistance goes away.
Just sort of wondering if it gradually fades and if it happens sooner or later, in general. I know everyone is different, but some hope would be nice :thumbup:

I am resetting, too, and I had the same fears about not being able to get back into the "losing game." However, it has been 2 weeks and 6 lbs, and I am actually finding that it is working just as well as it ever did.
The first few days were hard because my blood sugar was demanding foods that I should not have in quantities that led me into this rut, but I stuck to 1) tracking my food intake (using MyFitnessPal), 2) sticking to my surgeons no-drinking-with-meals guidelines, and 3) working towards moving and exercising more.
The tracking is helping a lot, and now that I've broken my bad sleeve-circumventing habits, I stay full longer, crave less garbage, and have a much easier time making smart decisions about what to eat and how much.
They kept repeating in my pre-surgery sessions that you might stop using your new tool, but that you can't really break it, and they were right. It will continue to work as long as you use it properly. I had a number of external factors that led me to stalling out halfway from goal for the past 2 years, but now that I've dealt with them and resolved to return weight loss to the top of my priorities, the good news is that it never is too late to get back on track!

My doctor never prohibited NSAID use, and only recommended using caution and reintroducing tablets/caplets as tolerated during the first 6 months. I have taken tons of NSAIDs since then, and other medicines for that matter, and have not had any problems with it and my sleeve in the 3 years since my surgery. I avoid aspirin due to other medicial conditions, but at times I take up to 4 ibuprofen several times a day if I have a Migraine. Naproxen (Aleeve) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) have been fine too.