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Thanks so much for your detailed account and honesty. I really need to hear what it's going to be like and how I might be feeling. My bypass is scheduled for 3/29, so my thoughts are definitely getting more serious. Lol I wish you a complete and speedy recovery and that you move quickly to happier days. ❤️

Hi all, tomorrow I will be one week out from my bypass. My recovery has been a bit bumpy, I spent about 24 hours over the weekend puking (I don't know where it all came from!) and in pretty severe gas type pain. That calmed down, and know I'm just trying to increase clear fluids, and not worry about protein. It was scary and painful and I don't want to overdo it again! It's kinda weird thinking I've had virtual no calories for a week, but since I'm able to use the bathroom and everything seems normal there, I'm just going to press on and hope for more each day. Anyhow, my surgeon closes incisions with staples, and I'm scheduled to have them removed this week. While I'm looking forward to having them out because I think they are gross, I'm honestly super nervous! I've never had staples out. Could anyone share their experience or insight on what to expect?

hello! so i'm 2 weeks post gastric bypass at the moment and I've discovered that I cannot stand protein powders (tried multiple) so I'm panicking now because protein is going to be such a huge part of my life basically forever and I'm stuck on what to do, when I can start eating normally I love chicken so I can eat protein no problem but im 100% sure I'm not going to be getting enough and everyone uses protein shakes or drinks/yogurts and I just can't stand them I've been looking at protein supplements and you barely get 1 gram of protein per tablet so that's not viable like I was hoping unless I take 40 a day. I should of thought about the protein shake problem more but I was just concerned with 'get the surgery and get healthy' and now I'm left wondering what I'm supposed to do any advice would be greatly appreciated, im feeling like a grade A idiot at the moment sam

So I am 10 days post op from self pay Mexico sleeve— I stopped my HRT one week ahead of surgery, but am curious of what your teams have advised on restarting HRT (patches). I have a call into my doctor, but would like to hear your thoughts on it… Did you lower your dose when you lost weight? Start at the same dose prior to surgery? Etc? Any info appreciated related to the Hormone replacement patch. I had a hysterectomy in November 2022, and have been on HRT a year prior— still have ovaries but at 52 I doubt they are helping!

I went with bypass because I also had GERD before surgery. Not everyone has issues of their GERD getting worse after getting the sleeve, but I was afraid I'd be one of the unlucky ones whose did, and I wasn't willing to take that risk. But some people do take the risk, and for some it turns out OK. I'm pretty much on autopilot when it comes to taking vitamins. I take a small handful when I get up in the morning, and another small handful around dinner time. And my iron before I go to bed. I really don't even think about it much anymore. But yea, slacking off on vitamins has more consequences for bypassers than it does for sleevers, so it really is important to stay on top of them. taking tiny sips of water and eating microscopic pieces and portions is really just the first few weeks or months after surgery. I drink water at the same rate I always did, and I eat pretty normally now (except in smaller portions). If you swallow too big a piece of food, your stomach will let you know. I love my bypass and wish I would have had it years before I actually did. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

You have very good reasons for having the surgery & questions & doubts about progressing are common. It’s surgery. It changes your digestive system. There is a period of healing & recovery. To be successful for the long term, you will have to make changes to how, what & why you eat & your relationship with food. The months post surgery give you time to work through all of this & certainly therapy, as @SleeverSk suggested, can be very helpful. The surgery also gives you time to develop better eating habits & routines like being more mindful. Will you forget & take a too big sip or bite or eat too quickly? Yes it will happen but your body soon tells you & you’re usually extra careful after the experience. Often all you’ll experience is just discomfort but occasionally foamies or vomiting. Complications after surgery aren’t common and many are related to pre existing conditions or predispositions. The risks are lower for bariatric surgeries than many other common surgeries. I used to control almost all my reflux with dietary choices before surgery (no spicy, fatty or rich food, little carbonation & reduced caffeine) which is why I had sleeve. I still have reflux but it is different & I need meds every day which I didn’t before. I hate taking tablets & often forget. Multi vitamins always make me nauseous but my bloods are good & I don’t need to take them anymore though some sleevers still do. Just depends on your diet & absorption for us. But it is a necessity after bypass as malabsorption of calories (& therefore nutrients) is how it contributes to your weight loss. Dumping can occur with bypass (about 40% chance I think) but if you discover you have it it is simply a matter of avoiding fats or sugars as they are the usual culprits. Some even find they can eat small amounts as time passes. You can also have it with a sleeve but it is less common (30%??). The average weight loss with sleeve & bypass is about the same 65% +/- of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthier weight range. Some lose more some lose less. Make a list of your questions to discuss with your surgeon. They’re best placed to answer them in relation to your specific needs, health status/issues & weight loss/gain history. All the best whichever surgery you have.

I know I'm writing this after you've had your surgery but I wanted to add my experience. After my bypass I had a lidocaine IV drip which is a medication similar to what's in the On-Q. I had very little pain after surgery. My mom just had a knee joint replacement surgery 3 days ago and has an On-Q device. She's only taken 4 small doses of any narcotic since the day of surgery. Sent from my SM-A135U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

March 1st marked 1 year since my revision due to damage caused by acid reflux. I lost an additional 30 pounds which was a big bonus and put me into the healthier weight range. The damage caused by the reflux to my esophagus has healed. Sent from my SM-A135U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Ok, first surgery does not equal permanent weight loss it is a tool that assists you to lose weight. Heartburn every now and then because of what you eat can be controlled by your diet and to have surgery to prevent that probably isn't necessary. My fear of getting the sleeve was reflux as I already was on meds for it but it has improved even with a sleeve. It gets niggley if I eat to much or the wrong foods and drinks. I chose the sleeve because I didn't want to be taking vitamins everyday as I never remember to take supplements and I just didn't want to have to. The only time I made myself sick was after scoffing down a cinnamon scroll it was painful for hours and I vomited but that is the only time. But you don't forget you have had surgery, you might try to push the boundaries but you don't forget and most times your body will remind you . Possible dumping is something you need to be aware of too with a bypass. If you are binge eating you would certainly benefit from some counselling and I certainly wouldn't go into surgery without it. Surgery gives some of us a huge wake up call on how much we relied on food for comfort etc which can lead to other issues with your mental health. It doesn't happen often but there have been a few posts where people have had surgery and just haven't coped mentally so you need to keep that in mind to. Talk to your surgeon and his or her team I am sure they will give you the information and assistance you need prior to surgery

Hi, I am 52, 6 feet tall and weigh around 315 (at my heaviest I was around 365). I am thinking about getting surgery because I am starting to feel the effects to my health. 2 Years ago I lost about 100 pounds by dieting and exercise and got down to about 264 (I will also admit that I had just gotten a divorce and was suffering through that at the same time, so that was probably a contributing factor to me losing weight at that time). Since then I have put on half of it and struggle with binge eating daily. I would like to get surgery as I would like to permanently lose weight and improve my overall health. I am thinking of bypass because I do have heartburn every now and again, but mainly when I eat badly. Things that I am concerned about : 1. Complications of bypass surgery. What if I forget that I had surgery and have a huge bite of a steak ? Does that happen ? Or a huge glass of water that I chug down ? 2. Taking vitamins every day, forever. I guess I am just really nervous about this but know that I need to do it. I have my first consultation on the 23rd of March. Is there any advise you can give me that will help me decide ? Thank you!

Are you working with your bariatric surgeon on this or your primary care family doctor? While this may well be unrelated to your WLS, a bariatric doctor will, of course, be more sensitive to issues specific to their specialty than a generalist. My thoughts, not as an MD but just from having been around the WLS world for a couple decades, is that if it is WLS related, then given the fairly rapid onset of this, I would be looking for some bloodloss somewhere. With an RNY, the likely place would be the stoma, as that is a delicate structure that is easily irritated - if the semi-common marginal ulcers occur, that is where they usually happen. It may not be particularly symptomatic, but some minor blood loss can occur unnoticed until something like this shows up - one of those simple fecal smear tests can show whether there is any blood in your stool. If there is, then an endoscopy can show where it's coming from, and if there isn't any, then you have eliminated one possibility. Iron supplements may or may not do much for an RNY person, as most of our mineral absorption occurs in the duodenum (part of the small intestine immediately downstream of the stomach) which gets bypassed along with the stomach; this is why iron infusions are not uncommon for malabsorbing WLS patients with iron problems. Were you on iron supplements to begin with and then increased the dosage, or just started when this problem showed up? I had an internal bleed a few years ago (non-WLS related, though certainly symptomatic) that sapped my iron levels, but not quite to the point of needing an infusion, and they came back after a few months of doubling my normal iron supplement (but I have a VSG, so not the same absorption problems as an RNY or DS will have,) and now I don't take any at all. For now. Good luck in getting this worked out....

Hi Fedup, good luck low iron sucks! I have very very heavy periods and with that have continuously low iron so will dump a load of generic advice I have researched over a couple fo years, sorry in advance (and obvs take doctors' advice first!) Firstly don't even bother trying/thinking about getting more in your diet, even iron-rich foods hardly have enough unless you eat liver or black pudding especially if you are already low. Supplement away. Secondly, it is possible you have an absorption issue, but as you have a sleeve (which unlike the bypass don't skip the first bit of the intestines) I think it's much more likely that it's just the small amount of food combined with what sounds to me like way too little supplementation and possibly safe but low levels pre-surgery (NOT a doctor). Things that help the absorption of iron: vitamin C, things that obstruct it, Calcium and caffeine. So when you supplement make sure it is not with caffeine or other supplements like calcium or magnesium, it should ideally be along with either fruit juice or a vitamin c pill or gummy. Multivitamins with iron combined often dont help as teh iron is just blocked. If your diet is anything like mine post-surgery... there was a lot of dairy! Also... im pretty sure i used to get most of my iron from chocolate, white bread and sugary cereal beofre surgery. I also paid privately in the Uk so might have a slightly different perspective to those from the USA above. They won't just do infusions here the way alot of people have been discussing above, they arent covered privately with the cost of surgery, and NHS will supplement first and you need to be ILL. I used Nuffield so your package may differ, but the surgery cost covered the dietician for that year, but not costs from them, so they can ask your GP to prescribe stuff but cant directly. Hopefully its all sorted now but in teh future I would not rely on them to get stuff actioned, get on the phone to the GP get an appointment and get them to prescribe you what the dietitian recommended. I just demanded a repeat long-term prescription of iron pills. As I say my deficiency is chronic (I prefer iron to birth control at the moment) but I have been on 305mg Ferrous Fumarate every other day for a couple of years, you can also ask for the more expensive ferrous compound if that gives you issues. Maybe try floradix if you can stomach it 🤢. But anything below 100mg or so a day just cant combat the deficiency. I would up my dosage, check when/the combination of supplements, and keep on chugging, iron deficiency is really normal and very fixable and not down to your diet.

Thanks for the very helpful comments. My doctor didn't mention ferritin but I will ask him about it. I'm also going to see whether an infusion would be an option. (Medicare for all in Australia, and it can be difficult to get approved for some treatments like that.). Meanwhile, he is running tests for possible explanations for my anemia, other than malabsorption due to gastric bypass.

I completely empathize with you! I would say we would have to be crazy if we weren't at least a little scared or apprehensive! I just had my preop consent visit, labwork, and preop diet products picked up on 3/8. The next stop is RNY bypass on 3/29. I'm excited and very nervous all at once. I keep saying to myself "Are you sure about this?" But, as soon as I remember for even a second my original WHY...that anxiety melts away, and I have a big smile dreaming about the ways my life and health will change for the better. YOU GOT THIS! Take care of your mental health and do some things now to help you feel prepared. That helps a lot! I also believe God will walk us through this to the other side - stay strong!

Totally agree with summerset (of course!!). Ferritin level is just as important as the iron level. It's the amount of stored iron in your body. Your body can tap into this storage when its iron levels get too low. And yes, it can take a long time for the ferritin level to deplete. . And also yes - there are a minority of bypass patients who don't absorb iron from oral supplements well, and therefore need to have occasional infusions to keep their iron levels up. They can bring your levels back up - but they might have to do an infusion to do it. Keep us posted... P.S. there can be other reasons for low iron levels, which I'm sure they'll investigate, but the one mentioned is the most common for bypass patients (even though most of us are able to maintain iron levels with oral supplements)

Iron deposits need a while to drain. Some people are not able to resorb oral iron supplements after bypass. However, a fast drop over the course of some weeks isn't really explained that way. What about the other parameters? Ferritin, transferrin, hb?

Hi, all. I had bypass surgery almost exactly four years ago. I've taken bariatric vitamins religiously and my bloodwork has always been perfect. Now, all of a sudden, I have iron deficiency anemia. My most recent bloodwork showed an iron level of 24. Then, after five weeks of iron supplements, it had dropped to 14. What?? (I'm not exactly sure what those numbers mean, but my doctor says they are concerning.) I know that bypass causes absorption issues. However, nothing has changed in terms of my diet or vitamin intake. You would think this would have shown up long before now. Even my doctor is perplexed and is running tests to see what the cause might be. Has anyone else experienced this issue years after surgery? I'd be especially interested in hearing from other men, as we are less prone to iron deficiency than women.

yes - there are fewer complications with the sleeve, but on the other hand, there really aren't many complications with the bypass, either. There's the risk of dumping, but that only affects about 30% of bypassers, and it can be controlled by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting (which we shouldn't be doing anyway). Strictures are another one of the most common complications, affecting about 5% of us (if you can call 5% "common", but that does give you an idea of how common complications actually are (i.e, not that common)). That one is an easy fix. And of course you can deal with nutrient deficiences if you slack off on your vitamin supplements. But besides those, complications just aren't that common.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to say hello and that I've started the journey. I had my consultation with the medical team today. It went well, and it looks like my insurance will work out (fingers crossed). My insurance is requiring 2-3 visits with the dietician, and I've scheduled my upper GI, and ultrasound. They want me to do a sleep study too but the place was closed when I tried to call....so I'll make that appointment tomorrow. I was able to get all of my appointments scheduled for this month. The surgeon and nurse said that I would have 2 visits with them, 1 month apart and as long as I had gotten all my testing done by then we would schedule the surgery after the 2nd visit. So hopefully this can progress quickly and I will be able to get scheduled for surgery sometime in July. I'm a teacher so I would love to be able to rest up and heal before Fall semester starts again at end of August! I'm pretty sure I am going to go with the bypass, although the Dr said there were fewer complications with the sleeve. The bypass seems like it's more successful long term which is why I'm choosing it. Anyway, nice to find an online community. Hope everyone is doing well! Best, Ash

I have a recurring hernia that came as a result of my gallbladder surgery years ago. I have had 3 hernia surgeries to date and part of Plan B is a 4th. I'm having that on 3/23 and then scheduling the revision to bypass for about 3-4 months after the Hernia repair so I'm all healed up. I've been feeling really down about this so I'm glad to be back on the path to resolution Wishing you the best as well.

I am early pre-op and although I'm getting the bypass, I'm also close to your weight and have a lot of physical problems. My fitness level at this point is practically non-existent so one of my questions in my first consult appointment was whether I should be concerned about undergoing surgery at such a low level of mobility and health in general. This was a physician's assistant and I'm sure each doctor would respond based on your individual circumstances, but she said that the surgery these days is really not that hard on a body and recovery is manageable regardless of whether or not you can exercise. Her words: 'people who have the surgery don't need to run to lose weight, they need to lose weight to run.' Granted, she also sent me home with a print-out for some simple resistance exercises to try. 😄

From what I understand since I’m still under the 1year mark is the reason for the lower calorie. Honestly at this point I’m scared to even up my calories. When I add back different foods I gain weight. Now I’m just not losing. I feel stuck in the 170s. I’ve been here since November

Hey, I had my surgery on March 7th. Everything went well, hiatal hernia wasmain problem during surgery. I had a revision from sleeve to bypass. I m still in hospital because I can't void. Has to get straight cath twice now I have to go home with a foly. 😪😧🤮

Yep, I had a hiatal hernia repair with my bypass. It was unexpected - I had no idea I had one (but in hindsight it explained a lot!) and neither did my surgeon until he got in there. My hernia was a large one, and had been forming for a long, long time apparently 😬. I honestly felt like I'd been hit by a truck for a good two weeks after surgery. My incisions were fine, but my insides took time to settle down. I slept with a pillow protecting my abdomen for a while. Pain medication kept it manageable, though. Once healed it was all smooth sailing though. Just gotta weather those first weeks while you're healing.

I had hiatal hernia repair during my bypass surgery. I had it done February 7th. I have had very little pain and not having any reflux has been amazing! I haven't felt this good in 6 to 7 years! Good luck to you!