Any Regrets?

[nodak 1]

I cannot imagine. I have such strong regrets and have had nothing to your nature.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I would be most curious 5 years out how the other weight loss methods fared.

Ship has sailed for me as I did revise to sleeve on 2011 and am happy with it.

Like everyone I wish I could have done this without surgery but I couldn't.

Parisshel if you don't mind me asking what was the complications?

I don't mind. I developed a heart arrythmia (atrial fibrillation) around 18 months post op. The band surrounds the vagus nerve which controls, among other things, heart rhythm. I ended up in ER with my heart completely out of rhythm, beating at a rate that was close to having me have a stroke, and blood pressure also sky high. It took seven hours to bring everything around using medication, and now I'm on medication for life.

I had my band's restriction loosened so as not to touch on the vagus nerve and just went back in last month to get a bit of fill as I'm gaining weight and hungry all the time. Immediately following the small fill, I went back into atrial fibrillation.

That's pretty conclusive evidence that there is a correlation, at least with my particular anatomy.

If you google gastric band, or lap band + atrial fibrillation, you will see a lot of people who have now experienced this. There are several on this forum right here.

So yes, I regret what I did. Living with a-fib is no picnic, and the side effects of the three medicines I now have to take have greatly compromised my quality of life: extreme fatigue, memory loss, inability to do any sports that might raise my heartrate...wish I had chosen a different path.

Would a sleeve revision correct the afib?

Unfortunately, no. Once you have afib, you have afib. In fact, afib begets afib. In other words, once the electricity in your heart becomes chaotic (which is basically what afib is), it will constantly create new "bad" pathways in your heart. According to my cardiologist, it is unlikely that even removing the band will make the afib disappear, as the band has already done its damage. All I can do is keep it loose and off the vagus nerve, and continue with my meds (or, in the future, ablation or pacemaker if the afib worsens).

I would not do another WLS in any case. I'm out of the game. For me, these are "Flowers for Algernon" situations. When I was doing my research, I was convinced WLS was the gold standard for permanent weight loss. Now my thoughts are different, especially concerning the lapband (since I had a bad experience with it) but also with other surgeries. There really is no tinkering with major body parts that is going to come out ok in the longterm, imho. We are seeing wonderful transformations in the short term, yes...but my sense is longterm we are going to see some health-complications from all WLS that have yet to reveal themselves. I would not even consider going under the knife again.

[betrthnever 107]

Parts of me does regret it SLIGHTLY.. i obviously couldnt diet on my own because if i could of i would have. But its dishearting to me that i will always have to watch my carbs for the duration of time that i would like to lose weight...

WLS patients will always have to watch their carb intake, even once they reach their goal. It is a reality. I didn't watch mine and gained almost all of my weight back (with the band).

[Sunshine3073 22]

Most have regrets very soon after surgery. You're dealing with some pain (honestly not too much), you miss food, your tummy feels funny, you're tired, it's a damn full time job the first few weeks just to get your fluids and protien in....I could go on.

Fast forward a couple months. You are starting to feel normal, you can ALMOST eat everything again, and you've lost weight! And more than likely you have been taken off your meds for diabetes and high blood pressure. Score!

Fast forward a year or 2. You have lost so much weight that people don't recognize you! You actually exercise, and you love it! ( Well, maybe) You've had to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, and you look and feel better than you have in years! Except for some much needed restriction that helps you to not overeat, especially in situations where you're tempted, you feel completely normal. And you LOOK normal. You're finally not the fattest person in the room. You FINALLY feel in control.

What's there to regret??

I needed to hear this. I just had RNY on the 26th and feel worse than I thought I would. I've had surgery in the past, but not like this one. My other surgeries were to repair a broken leg, two bunionectomies, dental surgery. I can honestly say that this is by far the most difficult surgery to date! I feel empty inside. I sip Water all day and do the incentive spirometer. I'm still on clear liquid and my Dr. said not to worry or force Protein this first week, but do take the actigall and omeprazole as prescribed.

The day of and day after surgery I felt horrible. I wish someone had warned me about that. I was full of regret!

Maybe it was on this forum, but if so, I missed it. I just keep thinking about how good I'm going to look when the weight is off finally.

There is a part of me that wonders if I could have done it on my own. I lost 26 lbs before the surgery on my own.

No turning back now though.

[rosepose 105]

Parisshel if you don't mind me asking what was the complications?

I don't mind. I developed a heart arrythmia (atrial fibrillation) around 18 months post op. The band surrounds the vagus nerve which controls, among other things, heart rhythm. I ended up in ER with my heart completely out of rhythm, beating at a rate that was close to having me have a stroke, and blood pressure also sky high. It took seven hours to bring everything around using medication, and now I'm on medication for life.

I had my band's restriction loosened so as not to touch on the vagus nerve and just went back in last month to get a bit of fill as I'm gaining weight and hungry all the time. Immediately following the small fill, I went back into atrial fibrillation.

That's pretty conclusive evidence that there is a correlation, at least with my particular anatomy.

If you google gastric band, or lap band + atrial fibrillation, you will see a lot of people who have now experienced this. There are several on this forum right here.

So yes, I regret what I did. Living with a-fib is no picnic, and the side effects of the three medicines I now have to take have greatly compromised my quality of life: extreme fatigue, memory loss, inability to do any sports that might raise my heartrate...wish I had chosen a different path.

Would a sleeve revision correct the afib?

Unfortunately, no. Once you have afib, you have afib. In fact, afib begets afib. In other words, once the electricity in your heart becomes chaotic (which is basically what afib is), it will constantly create new "bad" pathways in your heart. According to my cardiologist, it is unlikely that even removing the band will make the afib disappear, as the band has already done its damage. All I can do is keep it loose and off the vagus nerve, and continue with my meds (or, in the future, ablation or pacemaker if the afib worsens).

I would not do another WLS in any case. I'm out of the game. For me, these are "Flowers for Algernon" situations. When I was doing my research, I was convinced WLS was the gold standard for permanent weight loss. Now my thoughts are different, especially concerning the lapband (since I had a bad experience with it) but also with other surgeries. There really is no tinkering with major body parts that is going to come out ok in the longterm, imho. We are seeing wonderful transformations in the short term, yes...but my sense is longterm we are going to see some health-complications from all WLS that have yet to reveal themselves. I would not even consider going under the knife again.

I'm sorry it's been such a bad experience. One of the reasons I went with the sleeve is, while it's newly used in WLS, it actually has a huge amount of long term info as it's the same surgery used for stomach cancer and perforated ulcers and has been for probably over half a century at this point so long term effects are well and truly known. I agree that this is not a decision to make lightly. I hope you have a really good cardiologist. My dad has afib and my brother (an MD) did a bunch of research into meds to control it and found one that has stopped it completely - though this drug has serious complications potentially itself and should only be used for about a year as side effects become more prevalent at that point - should it come back it will require that they zap the heart tissues to stop it... PM me if you'd like me to share the names of the meds he researched so you can ask your cardiologist about them.

I'm really glad you shared this. Most of the people on this site are very enthusiastic about their experience and I think it's important to have a balanced view. The numbers do support surgery as being the gold standard, but I also think it should be the last resort because if you can do it without then that is infinitely better health-wise. I've had a harder experience than many but nothing to yours and I am still glad I made this decision. I'm currently struggling with serious Iron absorption and anemia problems probably made worse if not caused by the omeprozole which can inhibit Iron absorption but I've been a little anemic for years so it's not the sole issue and can't be laid at the feet of the surgery etc entirely. However all my iron stats have dropped 40-50% in less than 2 months and I will be seeing a hematologist to discuss IV iron transfusions next week. I do hope that this is going to be a non-issue once I can go without the omeprozole but in the meantime I am lucky to be able to work from home as I need to be lying down most of the time or my heart starts racing and I get dizzy. I'm also lucky as this is a manageable issue even if it does require long term IV iron transfusions instead of just a couple to get me back to the normal range until I can get off of the antacids.

Further I'm intensely grateful that I went with a program that includes 2 years of follow up with nutrition, fitness and psych as this wouldn't have been caught for another 2 months without the nutritionist pushing me to follow up with my PCP as my numbers hadn't gone up even though I'd been on high levels of iron for over six months starting long before my surgery. It was at that visit that the drop was caught and while they would have found it at my next post surgery follow up that isn't for another 2.5 months and I could have landed in the hospital in serious trouble long before then if it continued to progress at the pace it has been going. Worth every flipping penny of the extra money staying here and going with that program instead of heading to Mexico imo.

[rosepose 105]

Parts of me does regret it SLIGHTLY.. i obviously couldnt diet on my own because if i could of i would have. But its dishearting to me that i will always have to watch my carbs for the duration of time that i would like to lose weight...

WLS patients will always have to watch their carb intake, even once they reach their goal. It is a reality. I didn't watch mine and gained almost all of my weight back (with the band).

Parts of me does regret it SLIGHTLY.. i obviously couldnt diet on my own because if i could of i would have. But its dishearting to me that i will always have to watch my carbs for the duration of time that i would like to lose weight...

WLS patients will always have to watch their carb intake, even once they reach their goal. It is a reality. I didn't watch mine and gained almost all of my weight back (with the band).

Actually even non-wls people who want to stay in control of their weight generally have to watch their carbs. I'm sure there are people for whom this isn't true but my dad dropped most grains and carbs (wheat belly diet) and lost 40 lbs in 6 months - no surgery. My brother who is an athlete and has never been fat is ruthless about never eating carbs after 6 and cutting them down to almost nothing in the off season so he doesn't get out of shape while he doesn't have the same level of training to balance the intake. I am sure there are people who don't need to but I know of none personally that can not control their carb intake and stay fit regardless of whether or not they've had surgery.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Worth every flipping penny of the extra money staying here and going with that program instead of heading to Mexico imo.

Just want to say that going to Mexico doesn't prohibit excellent follow-up care. I stayed in constant contact with my nutritionist and surgical team post-op and worked with my PCP on this end. She ordered blood work for me at 2, 4, 8, and 12 months post-op and sent the results to my surgical team (all were good, btw). Plus my nutritionist followed up with me weekly initially, then monthly, and now ever few months just to check in. There are excellent programs in Mexico just like in the US. And there are surgeons/nutritionists in the US that don't provide much follow up, as I've seen hundreds of people with unsolved post-op problems and no clue about nutrition on these forums who all had surgery in the US. It's about doing the research and choosing the right surgeon for you, whether that's in the US, Mexico, or anywhere else in the world.

[parisshel 1,892]

@rosepose: Thanks for your feedback which I read with interest. PMing you now.

[GinaCampbell 434]

Totally and absolutely regret having done this to myself.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Totally and absolutely regret having done this to myself.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

How far post-op are you? It's very common to experience "buyer's remorse" in the early days/weeks. But typically, within a month or two, once people are recovered and adapted to their new way of eating, there are few regrets.

[MrsSugarbabe 727]

No regrets whatsoever. Even while I was readmitted to the hospital after being home 6 days. Had an infection which caused my body to created a reactive Fluid which collected around my left lung (plural effusion). Spent 2 weeks on med-surg unit and then a week in physical rehab (3 weeks total in hospital). I was the minute exception who had a post-surgical complication. Still no regrets

[GinaCampbell 434]

Totally and absolutely regret having done this to myself.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

How far post-op are you? It's very common to experience "buyer's remorse" in the early days/weeks. But typically, within a month or two, once people are recovered and adapted to their new way of eating, there are few regrets.

I am 5 weeks post op. Surgical complications, near fatal reaction to cyclizine, lost circulation below the waist, multiple phlebitis sites, and now I have food revulsion.

I have been nearly bedbound since May and there is no sign of improvement.

I can live without food, that I have come to terms with, but not being able to rest, sleep, walk. At least when I was fat I could see my family, sleep at night, manage my fibro pain.

I have developed abdominal spasm which leaves my body in full contraction from standing up. Can't straighten my torso to walk upright.

My bariatric team now have me down as "anxious" so they pay no attention to my pain.

As long as my bloods show no infection and my stomach isn't leaking, they don't care.

I am isolated, exhausted, only getting about 100 calories a day and am totally depressed as I can see no end to my suffering.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[JamieLogical 8,727]

@@GinaCampbell That sounds truly terrible! I am so sorry you are going through such rough complications. Hopefully they will resolve of your medical team can find better ways to address them. It sounds like you aren't truly getting the care you need right now. Do you have any other options for seeking care?

[GinaCampbell 434]

Not at the moment, no. Their focus is weightloss and getting through the food stages. My surgeon is convinced my surgery was "textbook" and seems very satisfied. Everything here is broken down into depts. The nurse, the surgeon and the nutritionist. They have all decided that any problems are all in my head which is distressing enough. They give conflicting advice, contradict each other and literally just say that my recovery will be super slow.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[betrthnever 107]

I had my revision from the Lap Band to RNY on 10/5 and I couldn't be happier! I can actually EAT right. I am almost to goal at 142. With any surgeries there will be complications, and for those who have the complications I'm sure there are regrets (sorry to hear Gina Campbell!). Just wish I had had this surgery back in 2008 instead of the Band. I'm happy now! Don't regret it in the slightest (ok I have those days when I wish I could eat like real crap but they are few and far between).