Long term DS patient experience

[quuquui 30]

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!

[momintex 13]

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.

[marthaalcantar70 0]

Hello, My name is Martha and I had Ds surgery back in 2012, I am really disappointed myself as i was close to 400(362 lbs) . I went all the way down to 240 I started jogging, exercising life was amazing, I ended up with an emergency hysterectomy that had to be done via c section which put me on my back for over 2 months then it got infected etc... jogging was out habits came back. I am now at a high 177 and super depressed. How to deal with it is really hard, any suggestions??

[Taylor5 98]

22 hours ago, marthaalcantar70 said:

I am now at a high 177 and super depressed. How to deal with it is really hard, any suggestions??

I'm not a DS patient, but was recently sleeved (12/27/17). Just checking in on DS patient forum wondering how much better you all may be faring in the early months. Anyway, the reason I chose to respond to your post is that 1. I have had 2 c-sections - but I was young when I had them and bounced back pretty quickly. 2. I had 3 car accidents (victim, not cause of, lol) and 3 back surgeries that really screwed up my non-WLS weight loss efforts in past years. Chronic back pain, sciatica, neck pain and Fibromyalgia together ripped me out of my 5 day per wk 2 hr per day gym habit. I gained weight first up to the 170/180 set point and more recently up to 190/205. That's when I decided to have my surgery. Right now I can only walk (and at an extremely moderate pace), use resistance bands or like 1-2 lb dumbbells and do physical therapy stretches for exercise. My weight loss even after liquid pre-op diet, surgery, and 3+ weeks of post-op diet is only around 21 lbs. I'm not giving up - I know it's just the beginning, but I definitely know what defeat and depression feel like.

Looking at your stats & reading your post, you are pretty tall, and 177 does not seem super-overweight for your height. Obviously it's higher than you want it to be which is all that really matters, I'm just trying to say that considering what you've been through, it doesn't seem like it's gotten too out of hand. If you are able to exercise at all right now, I would definitely recommend anything you can Safely and Comfortably do. Work your way up Slowly, building up tolerance and endurance. You don't want to hurt yourself! Stretching after is so important - take it from a chronic pain pt. Use ice/heat on any sore areas after, as a lack of aches/pains the next day will make it easier to keep going.

As far as diet goes, if you really feel stuck in old habits again, maybe try switching things up by going back to the liquid diet for 7 days/Soft diet for 7 days/Moist diet for 7 days - This should hopefully reset your sugar/fat tolerance, get you out of the unhealthy food habit, and they say it takes about 21 days for a new habit to actually set in and become a habit, so after that you just start reintroducing your healthier whole foods again, which will taste so amazing after 21 days of "post-op dieting"!

Worst case scenario you could always inquire about the help of some of the newer weight loss meds to help you get started again - if they are not contraindicated by your health issues/any other meds you might take. But given the success you had after surgery, it seems like you already know how to do this and just need a boost getting back into the groove, which I know can be extremely hard after time off from health issues. Just figure out what has worked best for you in the past, make a plan, and get started. You'll probably be feeling tons better by summer! Good luck!

[Taylor5 98]

@marthaalcantar70, apologies, I thought your height said 5' 8"!! My bad. I'm only 5', so I can definitely relate to how much every pound feels more noticeable on a shorter frame. Still, you are only, what - 37 lbs from goal? Everything I said still applies, I believe, but I definitely understand your distress more now that I know you are not 68 inches tall (which is like, super model tall from where I'm standing, lol). Anyway, I hope at least some of my advice will be helpful to you and sincerely wish you the best of luck

[Postop 405]

23 hours ago, marthaalcantar70 said:

Hello, My name is Martha and I had Ds surgery back in 2012, I am really disappointed myself as i was close to 400(362 lbs) . I went all the way down to 240 I started jogging, exercising life was amazing, I ended up with an emergency hysterectomy that had to be done via c section which put me on my back for over 2 months then it got infected etc... jogging was out habits came back. I am now at a high 177 and super depressed. How to deal with it is really hard, any suggestions??

Sent you a PM.

[marthaalcantar70 0]

No worries, I wish I was 5 . 8 but nah only 4 ft 8 inches so yea 177 pounds is a lot for my height. I am trying as of yesterday the liver reducing diet, just liquids and Protein Shakes, Protein in the am, tons of Water, broth and for snack snap peas then protein shake(thick) for lunch with another water bottle. For dinner I will have a salad whit grilled chicken and as I said just started this so I will check in 2 weeks the scale and see if it works. Exercise..yea i have gotten lazy, after my C section I was hung up close to 3 months due to staff infection, then got to the gym and broke my ankle not a good return. I am now starting to walk for lunch so hopefully this will start me up again. I am from Fife WA super wet and a bit cold.

Thanks again for your response.

[momintex 13]

No worries, I wish I was 5 . 8 but nah only 4 ft 8 inches so yea 177 pounds is a lot for my height. I am trying as of yesterday the liver reducing diet, just liquids and Protein Shakes, Protein in the am, tons of Water, broth and for snack snap peas then Protein shake(thick) for lunch with another Water bottle. For dinner I will have a salad whit grilled chicken and as I said just started this so I will check in 2 weeks the scale and see if it works. Exercise..yea i have gotten lazy, after my C section I was hung up close to 3 months due to staff infection, then got to the gym and broke my ankle not a good return. I am now starting to walk for lunch so hopefully this will start me up again. I am from Fife WA super wet and a bit cold.

Thanks again for your response.

[momintex 13]

I don’t care how much I have lost I still see that 400 each time I step on the scale! Try not to be hard on yourself. Get back to basics.. carbs under 50g, lots of water.. it will be a tad bit slower loosing but your body is there to help. I myself want to try to shed 10lbs so let’s keep each other motivated!