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Wow, thank you for sharing that SpartanMaker. I’m actually finna have gastric bypass.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes about 3 years ago, and after struggling with both my weight and blood sugar control, I made the decision to have gastric bypass surgery in March 2024. It's been quite a journey so far. It's been about 15 months since surgery, and honestly, it's been both harder and more rewarding than I expected. Some days I feel amazing with more energy than I've had in years, and other days I'm frustrated with how little I can eat or dealing with dumping syndrome. My diabetes numbers are slowly improving, but it's been a balancing act figuring out how to eat enough protein in tiny portions while not spiking my blood sugar. The good news is I'm off my blood pressure meds completely now!

Welcome! I'm not sure what surgery you are considering, but as food for thought, Gastric Bypass does have significantly better rates of type 2 diabetes remission: https://www.facs.org/media-center/press-releases/2024/gastric-bypass-improves-long-term-diabetes-remission-even-after-weight-recurrence/ I personally went off all my diabetes meds about 2 weeks after surgery.

Just hoping to reach out, to gain strength from my own weakness and now the gained 50 lbs I surely can not have. Backdrop, I had gastric bypass in 2012. Never had any real issues. All was good. I took all my vitamins did everything I was supposed to do. 7 years ago I broke my L1. And my L2. They discovered I had Osteoporosis at age 53 and with no family history and all my blood work every year looking fantastic, that slowed me down quite a bit. Here we are at a whopping 238. The last thing I need on my spine is more weight. Broke my l1 again not sure but I am guessing I best get busy and get this weight off. I am struggling. I am truthfully not hungry most the time. I am binge eating nothing horrible but certainly enough to help pack it on. I think most of my weight packed on when I started working from home and had access to everything. I think I just need some help getting started again of what I'm supposed to do going back to the basics of the beginning and since I know this. Why is it so hard for me to do it? If you had regained and lost the weight again, tell me how you did it. Give me a starting point

My Gastric bypass surgery is scheduled for August 18, 2025 and here in Hawaii, our liquid diet is only for the first 2 days after surgery, then we move on to pureed for the next 2 weeks. I am trying to prepare because I know the day will be here shortly so just wanted to get some ideas of how most of you managed to get a lot of protein in with such small portions.

I had two strictures - at 4 weeks out and again at 8 weeks out. But I was told that they almost always occur during the first three months after surgery, so it's not very likely that that's what's going on with you. If it is, though, it's a super easy fix. Both times I felt like I had acid reflux. The first time I was puzzled since bypass usually cures that. After a couple of days of that, I suddenly couldn't keep food down, so I called my surgeon's office and they told me it was probably a stricture and they set up an appt, but they said if it got to the point where I couldn't even keep fluids down, to go to the ER (it never got to that point). The second time I knew what was going on because I had that acid reflux feeling again, so I made an appt to have the stricture "fixed". I never had any pain either time, though. It was an acid reflux feeling (which progressed to not being able to keep food down when I had the first stricture)

Here we go, currently 35 F. Since I was 21 I have seen an endocrinologist for what seemed like an unknown hormone disorder. They didn't diagnosis with anything but monitored me for years. I had severe cystic acne, Hidrianitus suppurativa hirsutism and I struggled with my weight (always). My weight was not that much of a problem at the time (I was 160, 5'7) but I felt like I was heavier than I should be for what I ate. I was not diagnosed with PCOS because I had regular periods and normal test results. But the doctor told me he wanted to continue to see me. Years later in 2022 my weight skyrocketed to 230 pounds in about a 18 month period. It was shocking, never have I been that heavy. It was awful. I didn't change me diet. The sent me to a nutritionist but I didn't lose weight. It was like weight-loss was impossible. The endocrinologist has no answers and I got a second opinion. Again no answers. Then in 2024 I was the same weight but my asthma was becoming incredibly severe. My lung function was down to 70 present and I was frequently hospitalized last year. They told me my weight was worsening my asthma. I told them I couldn't lose weight. I got desperate and from June to November I ate 400 calories a day and only drank water. I lost 30 pounds. I had no choice but to do this. It was crazy, it was dangerous and I passed out twice but I had no choice. I was dying anyway. By December I started upping my calories to 700 and by January I was eating 1200 calories. My lung function improved to 86 percent and my asthma was suddenly improving based on test results. The troubling thing recently is in the last two months I've regained 11 pounds. I'm only eating what my nutritionist recommends. I'm now at the point of wondering if Gastric Bypass is for me. I clearly can not lose weight easily on my own, worsening obesity makes me sicker. The weigh comes back far too quickly. Would this be the right decision for me?

Hi! Sorry to have found your post so late! There's not a lot of NHS patients on here as this is mostly an American website. I had my surgery in October 2024 on the NHS. I remember the dietician appointment was a video call with other patients before any surgeries were finalised. I will admit that I don't feel like I got much out of it. The main message is eat slowly and prioritise protein first when eating a meal. The session with the psychologist (a ten minute phone call) was probably the least helpful as she just said I need to practice mindfulness and learn others ways to cope with stress other than eating. (Gee, thanks! Where was that advice when I was a fat 8 year old? 🙄) I had a higher BMI than you currently do and the privilege of living in London, so I think I was bumped up a few tiers and fast tracked (I don't know if this true in general, but London seems to get the lion's share of the funding so hospitals are less strict. My Gloucester based friend has a BMI of 44, but because she has no comorbidities, she can't get any weight loss referrals because her BMI isn't 50+) But I digress. Once I had the surgery, it was a year and a half from the initial referral, it's mostly been smooth sailing. I had the gastric sleeve and had no problems. So far, I've lost 39 kg and more fatty liver has improved significantly. My mother had the gastric bypass (also on the NHS). She had a complication, St Anthony's private hospital did the surgery, but the NHS covered it but once they operated again, she had no problems. She never shared exactly how much she weighed with me, but she went from a size 28-30 to a 22 and reversed her diabetes. She passed away in 2023, but if she hadn't, she would be much smaller I'm sure. I've had a great experience so far with my procedure and weight loss. I really do recommend going the NHS route if you are able to do so. Well done on making this decision to change your life! You've got this. Sometimes, just making the decision to get help is the hardest part!

Definitely don't proceed if you're having doubts. My surgeon advised against the sleeve because of my pre-existing GERD, and I got the Omega Loop/Mini bypass instead. While my GERD thankfully didn't get worse, it still happens every so often so I'm still on Pantoprazole daily (which also stops stomach ulcers which I'm prone to). For what it's worth, I also have ADHD and take an antidepressant for chronic vestibular migraines. I make sure I take them after food and ease off water for a bit so they don't go down too fast, and don't really have any issues. I can't take any slow-release meds though, so Vyvanse and extended release Ritalin are out. I take Ritalin 10, which works fine.

As @SpartanMaker said don’t compare yourself to others. Doing so can lead to much angst as it messes with your head. But being human I get that you might want to have a bit of an idea of what you might expect. Your team can advise you on this too. if you use a calculator to try to predict your weight loss and you understand it’s based on averages and only gives you an idea of how much you MIGHT lose then it’s okay. A calculator is not a guarantee of how much you WILL lose. So don’t use it against yourself and you don’t match those numbers especially those giving time frame losses. For example I’ve done a couple of those calculators & I beat them on both weight loss (more) & time frames (faster) but that was me. Generally the average weight loss after a sleeve or bypass is around 65%. Averages for other surgeries are higher (70-75%). Of course factors like age, gender, height, medical history, current medical status, genetics, lifestyle, activity levels, etc. will influence your final weight loss. And even those aren’t guarantees. My advice is to count every pound you lose as a blessing & celebrate their loss.

P.S. the amount of vitamins recommended are often just a starting point. It's common to have quarterly blood tests the first year, and then annual tests thereafter. I think being allowed to go off all supplements isn't all that common (although it's true for some people), and I'd be surprised if it's true of ANYONE who had bypass, since that surgery has a malabsorption component. At any rate, vitamins and amounts of vitamins required are sometimes adjusted depending on the test results. For example, I require more protein than most patients because we discovered early on that my pre albumin level tanks unless I average 100 g a day. Also, I had to quit taking calcium a few years after surgery because it was clear I had no trouble absorbing it from my food and regular multivitamins, and the overage by taking additional supplementation was not only unneeded, but was also putting me at risk for kidney stones or damage. So your particular needs may change as time goes on - that's why it's important to keep up with any required testing.

I can't respond to the particular complications you have (only a doctor can) or how bypass might affect them (ditto), but major complications are pretty rare with bypass. The most common complication (and it's considered minor) is dumping, which 30% of patients get (I've never had it - and neither have a lot of others I know), but that can be controlled by not eating a ton of fat or sugar at one sitting, which none of us should be doing anyway. The next most common complication (also minor) is stricture, which is easily fixed by doing an upper endoscopy and using a balloon-like tool to stretch it out. This happens to about 5% of us, and as being the second most common complication, it gives you an idea how common complications are (I had a stricture, btw). You probably hear about them more because people are more likely to post or talk about them because they're looking for advice or support. People generally don't mention that things are going great unless someone specifically asks them how things are going. So it might appear that complications are more common than they actually are. Other than that stricture early on (and they happen very early on, if they're going to happen at all), I've had zero issues, and I had my surgery ten years ago. we were told that it was OK to take NSAIDs on a very limited and very occasional basis, but I haven't taken any since my surgery. I've taken Tylenol for any pain, and when I had hip replacement surgery two months ago, they found a non-NSAID alternative to aspirin for me since I had to be on some kind of blood thinning agent for six weeks. As far as your other prescriptions, it could be that there are non-extended release versions available - but again, a doctor would know that. Sounds like you'll be having a long conversation, and hopefully it'll provide some answers to make a decision. as far as having the surgery "late in life", there are many of us who had it in our 50s and 60s (I was 55 when I had mine), so you're definitely not an anomaly! I wish I would have had mine years earlier than I did. The thing probably saved my life (I weighed almost 400 lbs). I am grateful every day that I had it. good luck with your appts and decision.

For anyone that may be confused by this thread, here are some things to think about related to vitamin supplements: The most important thing is to follow your doctor's recommendations. All bariatric programs I've seen have specific recommendations and you would be well advised to follow these. The vast majority seem to recommend a bariatric specific vitamin supplement. Some may also recommend specific brands of over-the-counter vitamins as well. That said, at least from what I've seen, typically when recommending over-the-counter options, they will suggest taking these twice a day (AM & PM) instead of just once. There are a few reasons for the above recommendations. First of all, you'll be eating a very low calorie diet and thus vitamin supplements formulated for "normal" people may not be sufficient. Also, while malabsorption for bypass patients is a concern, sleeve patients aren't immune to reduced absorption. Some vitamins & minerals are dependent on stomach acid to be properly absorbed. Since all WLS patients will have reduced stomach acid production (at least for a while, if not forever), higher than normal amounts of some vitamins are needed. From a cost perspective, yes, bariatric vitamins tend to be more expensive, but if you have to take twice as many of an over-the-counter supplement, the costs aren't very different after all. Especially if you take advantage of subscriptions like those offered by sites like bariatricpal, the cost of a good quality bariatric multivitamin isn't that much. Keep in mind your food bill should also drop, so at the end of the day you should still be spending less per month. If for some reason you still think vitamins are just too much for your budget, please discuss this with your surgical team. They may be able to help you find a less expensive option that still meets your needs. It's never a good idea to make decisions that can impact your health simply based on things you may have seen on the web. Aside form the cost concerns I mentioned above, there is very little to no downside of taking bariatric specific vitamins, even though some have really high levels of certain vitamins. For some specific vitamins, there is no established upper limit, meaning there's no health risk in taking too much. If you take in more than your body needs, then you'll just safely eliminate the excess. Yes, there are established upper limits for a few vitamins & minerals and this is taken into account in the vitamin formulation. Iron, is an example. The established upper limit is 45 mg/day, which is also the max you'll see in most supplements. Keep in mind this upper limit was established because some people had digestive upset at higher doses. You'd have to take considerably more than 45 mg/day to actually have a significant impact on your body. Further, remember when I said that some vitamins & minerals need stomach acid to be properly absorbed? Iron is one of those, meaning that you're probably not actually getting a full 45 mg/day dose as a bariatric surgery patient. Regardless of which surgery you have, you should be getting regular blood tests for life that check for nutrient deficiencies. if you don't get these from your surgeon (for example, you went out of country for surgery), then please get them from your primary care physician. This is really important because some studies have shown up to 30% of WLS patients end up with nutritional deficiencies post-surgery. Don't be a statistic. Human bodies are not all the same, nor are our diets. This means one person may be successful stopping vitamin supplementation, whereas someone else that had the exact same surgery from the same doctor won't be able to do that. Please don't decide what you should do based on another person, even if it's your best friend, a family member, etc. Only with your doctor's blessing should you consider changing or stopping your vitamin supplementation routine. Regardless of which surgery you have, there is a real possibility you may need to take at least some form of supplements for life. The effects of nutritional deficiencies can be severe, so think of your vitamin supplements as insurance against potentially debilitating or even life threatening problems. Best of luck.

I have been keeping up with this thread and vitamin supplements can easily be confused. I can only tell you what I know. I took advice from my surgeon's team, including the nutritionist. Initially I was told to take 45 of iron, then later to take 18 due to my age and being post-menopause. I was also told that the over the counter medications for the multivitamin may not be enough as the bariatric vitamins. Bariatric vitamins are specifically made for the bariatric patient, so it follows the ASMBS standards usually, but you need to look at the "fine print" and look how many mcg, mg, IU, etc of each of the vitamins are in each of the multi-vitamins. Iron, B12, B50, B1, Calcium etc. should be based on your surgeon's recommendations. I have had the RNY Gastric Bypass 2 weeks ago, and I had options to choose from regarding my vitamins, but I followed what my surgeon's team recommended. At my 1 month appointment I am to bring my vitamins with me for the nutritionist to review, and to ensure that I am taking what I am to be taking. As for what is considered a by pass and what is not....Sleeve is not a bypass, but it is the first part of the SADI. That's all I know because a SADI patient told me this. Otherwise, I don't think it matters. I don't like to get into arguments online. I wish you well as you determine what vitamins that you should be, or not be taking.

Listen, I believe you honestly believe you mean well and are somehow helping. I honestly believe you believe that. Unfortunately, your efforts are proving instead to be high handed at best. I'm dumb, I'am not spreading misinformation. I'm not accusing you of spreading anything. I just think you're mistaken. I'm not attacking you character, or am I even finding anything wrong with you personally. My point is proven by the market place, the information provided in my program and countless others. The information from many bariatric dietitians, and surgeons that have information all over the the internet with rare exception. Patients are told you will need to take bariatric vitamins for the rest of your life. We are not told for the first year. But for the rest of our lives, we are pointed to or even given free samples of the ASMBS approved levels, and the vast majority of the brands closely mimic each other. They even say they are IAW ASMBS guidelines. That is what they say. Some formulations for example only offer 45 MG iron. most offer way more B16 then is stated is needed. Celebrate is one of few brands that even has a sheet specifically for SG patients. I literally have put them in a spreadsheet and compared them. So unfortunately, what you say isn't true. Patients are by and large in most programs to take one of the standard formulations. For example again with iron of the ten brands surveyed, including the most popular brands 40% sold only the 45 mg iron formulation. Even the ones that sell 18mg version most of their products have only 45mg. There is no study that I've found that says men or non-mensurating women w/o other issues need more than 18mg of iron. yet most of the products have 45mg. It's worse when you look vitamin B12 which most studies say should be 500 mcg for SG patients as the upper limit, but most exceed 500mcgI only found 2 that didn't. Again, this isn't my opinion it's based on data from the marketplace from the vitamin companies themselves. This isn't misinformation. You can look it up. Again, I'm not accusing you of anything I'm telling you where I'm getting my data, it's right there as plain as day. SG patients when told to take these vitamins are being over supplemented for some of micros. SAGES is clear, multiple studies are clear about the levels of iron needed, and B13. The upper limit of iron in men or non-mensurating women is 45mg. Yet most formulations start at the upper limit despite the dangers of taking too much iron. None of this is my opinion. You dismissing me by saying you do you or accusing me of spreading misinformation or disinformation, is simply not good. You telling me I' wrong by calling the other types of bypass, by pass. You saying that some programs don't still say RYGB is malabsorptive is just wrong. Patients are provided inconsistent, overly simplified information. There is also a terrible follow up rate after a few years. ASMBS has talks about that, I watched one on YouTube last night. Again, I appreciate that you responded. But the attacks and dismissiveness are not acceptable behavior. Not on this forum or anywhere to me. We can disagree on concepts, but don't accuse me of being nefarious, do not accuse me of spreading misinformation or disinformation, dismissing as being confused. Unlike a boat load of patients I've spent countless hour, days, weeks, months, of hours reading peer reviewed studies, watching lectures talking with multiple dietitians, reading the program materials from multiple programs. The variation between programs is startling and disturbing. The lack of consistency regarding follow-up is basically alarming. SAGES in terms of 2024 manual actually calls a lot of this out. Lastly, here's a presentation from UK NHS showing multiple variations of surgical interventions. The "History of bariatric surgery" presentation from St James University has illustrations of about 14 of them. Since per ASMBS SG the most popular surgery performed, it is startling that the vast majority of vitamins exceed what's recommended for SG patients. Again, not opinion you can look up most of the manufacturers websites.

Not the same starting weight, but have been obese all my life and this has been the best decision of my life, other than the man I married. He loves me no matter what I look like. But, I did this for health reasons and not to be skinny. I feel healthier, and my diabetes medications are no longer. I had the bypass, because I didn't want to deal with the possibility of GERD. I had some issues with it, but not any more, and mostly because I'm eating the right food. I wish you well.

I chose to go with the bypass due to the risk of GERD that I just hate. I have had no issues and I'm only 2 weeks out, never had any pain and just a bit tired following surgery but able to walk with no problems from the beginning of my new life. I must agree, I wish I did it long ago and not wait until now to have done it. I was on the verge of cancelling, but post op I have no hunger and the pounds are leaving quickly. I'm the lightest I have been in years and years and already feel better and I'm off all my diabetes medications. If you need extra support in your journey, I would recommending looking up some YouTube videos by BariNation, they have experts and experienced people with bariatiric patients and the mental part of decision making, it might be helpful. Wishing you well.

if you lose a ton of weight, you're likely to have some loose skin. I had a ton of it (I had mine surgically removed three years after my bypass). No one but me (and my husband and doctor) knew it was there, though - it was pretty easy to hide in clothes. Even if it didn't have it removed, though, I still would have taken loose skin any day of the week over weighing 373 lbs (and yep - we had the same starting weight).

there really isn't malabsorption at all with sleeve. There is with bypass - that's why we take more vitamins than sleevers. But the vitamin thing is really second nature after a while - you just go on autopilot. major complications with either surgery are pretty rare. With sleeve, the most common one is GERD, but not everyone gets it, and for most who do get it, it can be controlled medically (e.g. pantaprazole, which you said you're already taking). Some people with severe GERD do revise to bypass, but it's not a huge percentage that have it that badly. But yes - it IS a potential issue. The most common issue with bypass (besides dumping, which about 30% of us deal with (I never have), but that can be controlled by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting, which we shouldn't be doing anyway). The second most common is a stricture, but those are an easy fix. They just do an endoscopy and stretch it out. I had one. Happens to about 5% of us, according to the PA in my surgeon's office (if they're going to happen, it'll be within the first three months after surgery - it's very rare for them to occur after that). if you need more time to think about this, though, then take it. It's a big decision. But as SpartanMaker said, you almost never hear anyone say they regretted it. The only regret most people have is that they didn't do it sooner. I had it at age 55. I wish now that I'd done it at least a decade earlier. P.S. I had GERD prior to surgery, so I went with bypass. I know the chance of having it get worse (for those who already have GERD) with sleeve is only 30%, but I didn't want to risk it. Besides, sleeve was still pretty new when I had my surgery, and I was a little afraid of it turning into "lapband 2" - but it's been around long enough at this point that I wouldn't have had that particular worry. It works well and it's safe. But I still would have chosen bypass for myself because I was afraid I'd be one of those whose GERD would get worse.

Regarding malabsorption of gastric bypass, I find that most people contemplating surgery way overestimate the impact of this. In gastric bypass, only a small part of your small intestine is bypassed. Just from a nutrient absorption perspective, the amount of malabsorption is around 5 to 10%. That's really an oversimplification however, because different nutrients are absorbed differently across various parts of the small intestine. I'm not an expert on depression meds, but if that's your major concern, it's entirely possible your current prescription might work just fine if you did end up having bypass surgery. I don't take any depression meds, but I do take a pretty high number of other medications and have not had to take MORE of any of those meds due to malabsorption. In fact, most of them I've had to reduce or stop entirely because I'm a healthier, smaller person than I was before. Even if it did become an issue for you, I'm sure your doctors would be able to find the right combo of meds for you. Regarding remembering to take vitamins, it's really not a big deal. Like anything, you get used to it over time and there are ways to remind you if you need those reminders.

Can you explain what you mean? I might be misunderstanding, but SADI has the same risks of GERD as Sleeve so I'm not getting why you'd suggest that? SADI also has greater issues with malabsorption than either sleeve or gastric bypass, so it seems like a poor choice on that front since the OP is also worried about malabsorption. Keep in mind too that insurance almost never covers SADI.

I wanted to address the GERD fears as well. Overall, I think the number of people that develop GERD after gastric sleeve is pretty low. That said, I personally am a bit concerned when you say your surgeon "pushes the sleeve". Any doctor that pushes one surgery over another is a bit of a red flag to me? I personally would want them to advise on what they think is best for ME, not what's best for them. My surgeon felt like I was pretty likely to develop GERD if I did go with sleeve, so they advised against it due to what they saw on the endo. FWIW, I didn't even have a history of GERD. It might have helped that I went into the process with an open mind and not fixated on a specific surgery? Lots of people are successful with sleeve surgery even if they have a history of GERD, but this was one I wasn't willing to risk personally. Knowing that bypass is often the revision surgery of choice for sleevers that do develop severe GERD, it made sense to me to avoid all that and go straight to bypass.