Need real answers

[elizabeth751 2]

Hi,

I'm debating having weight loss surgery. It is something I have thought about doing for the last fifteen years but have never had health insurance that covers it. I recently got new insurance and was surprised to find out that they cover surgery. I just started doing research and am unsure what surgery to get? My doctor suggests either the endoscopic sleeve or bypass. What does everyone recommend?

Also I really came to my first forum ever to get real answers on this question. I recently had my gallbladder out and experienced almost three months of severe nausea. I'll be honest I would rather be obese than have that kind of misery again. I have always had a very weak stomach. What is the nausea like post op and how long does it last. From what I'm reading it seems to only be a problem if you overeat, but I want to know if you've experienced uncontrollable long term nausea before I have a permanent surgical procedure. This is a HUGE fear. Also I'm confused by what I'm reading on what you can eat. I have a friend who talks of drinking 100 ounces of Water pay day and eating lean meats and nuts six months out. What realistically can you eat at what phase? Thanks so much! I really look forward to hearing from people who are post op and their experiences. Oh one last question.... how long should I expect to need off work to recover. I think my fear comes from expecting a short two day no big deal surgery with my gallbladder removal and being shocked at needing a month off and months to recover from the unrelenting nausea. My surgeon told me to not worry ,but I want to hear it from you!

[sc101071 398]

I had the sleeve, and I have loved it. My understanding is that if you have gastric reflux or indigestion issues, the sleeve might not be for you. Also, if you have emotional eating issues, the bypass may lead to more success.

I did not have any nausea issues. Ever. My eating plan through Emory Hospital in Atlanta was aggressive. We were eating solids (pureed) within a few days, and it never bothered me. I think I was chewing my food within 10 days of surgery, and could eat just about anything by then.

I was back to work in less than a week. I was actually out house hunting within a few days, but I had already taken the week. I could have gone back by the Monday after my Wednesday surgery. This site was a huge help, but there are plenty of great articles on the subject. Get in with a good bariatric program, and they will give you all of the information you need, as well. Good luck.

[sillykitty 10,705]

I have had a very easy recovery. I'm now 2.5 weeks post op. No nausea, except from meds on an empty stomach (would have happened preop as well). I work from home, so I technically took zero time off work. If I had to go into an office, I could have gone back 2 days post op, I felt well enough. Incision pain lasted about a week, but now I don't even feel it unless I hit my largest incision on something. The worst thing is a week ago I hit a wall energy wise, and am exhausted by any exertion, like taking in the trash cans. Diet plan for me is, no pre op diet, then post op, 2 weeks liquid, 2 weeks purees, 2 weeks soft foods, then anything I can tolerate.

[abefroman329 704]

Nausea was horrible for me while I was in the hospital and coming down from the general anesthesia (when they wheeled me up from recovery to the room, I had the dry heaves), but that's been it for me.

Your program's dietitian will be able to tell you what you can eat and when, it varies widely by program. I was on a general diet six weeks after surgery. That being said, I'm over two months out, and still can't tolerate rice or fast food hamburgers. Your mileage may vary, or YMMV, as they say on the internets.

[jess9395 5,448]

I have had nausea issues with many surgeries so I now always tell the surgeon ahead of time and they have many methods to stop it before t starts.

Scopolamine Patches work well for me as does zofran (ondancetron tablets). Ther ar also suppositories (phenergan). If none of those work enmend is the “heavy gun” they use for intractable nausea from chemotherapy. It usually isn’t covered by insurance and costs about $100 for a dose but that dose lasts about 48 hours.

[jess9395 5,448]

I have some long lasting food issues, but nothing intolerable. I can’t eat rice or drink anything carbonated. Untoasted bread products also sit heavy and uncomfortable. I also get sick when I eat too much sugar.

But who the heck cares?

[mylighthouse 782]

Well, let me first start by saying that I have no regrets at all for having WLS (I had the sleeve).

I am not going to share a "normal" experience. At least in the last 16 months that I have pretty much been visiting bariatricpal, I do not consider my experience the norm. I truly believe that if you search around enough, you will see that most people have a good experience. I think some people experience somewhat expected nausea in the beginning, but that it isn't prolonged say, for several months.

In my case, nausea kicked in not in the beginning, but actually a couple months post sleeve. It gradually got worse, and now, 15/16 months post sleeve, it is relentless. But I have had a lot of underlying health probs and a lot of it stems from a terrible colon resection.

Nausea now, along with pain when eating and terrible acid reflux has set me back to eating only liquids or very well pureed food. This is not a normal experience. Seeing my surgeon on Friday to talk about revision to gastric bypass.

If you have acid reflux and it is a problem, then the sleeve is probably not for you. The bypass would serve you better. I can't give any other info on bypass, as I haven't done much research yet.

Whatever route you go, I wish you the best.

Edited February 27, 2018 by mylighthouse
Fingers...arrrghhh!

[Gagsy 62]

I'm 2 months post surgery (sleeve by the way) and I have no regrets whatsoever. Before I knew that sleeve was an option I was kinda against surgery too. I didn't like the idea of having a band in me and I hated more the idea of my digestive system being rerouted so the sleeve was perfect.

I do think I've had an easy time of the recovery. The wait for surgery was about 4 years for me so my mind was more than ready for the challenge. So I think if you do go for it just study, learn everything.

The worst time is being in the hospital just post surgery, but you know that. Once you are home everything gets about 10 times easier. If you can deal with 4-7 days of discomfort (and I really think its worth it) then go for it.

Once I got home the only times I have felt nausea were three times I overate and even then it wasn't actually nausea, I just felt bloated more than I ever had before. But that feeling goes within 2 hours and from that you learn your new limits.

I had two weeks off work (desk job) but really I could have returned sooner. Mentally I was ready so my body caught up quick too, that is the key I promise.

Drinking your fluids is important but its no difference to what we SHOULD be drinking without surgery which many people do not do.

The first food stage post surgery is Clear Liquids for a few days and then onto puree food when you're ready. You will not want to eat much at this stage as you'll still be recovering so it really won't affect you too much. Before you know it you'll be on soft food which is easier to work into your daily life.

One last thing I will say is, I was doing this 12 week group therapy program with some others who struggle with their weight. I was the youngest person (28) by a mile. The rest of the group were all in their 50's plus. One the last week before the group was in session I was chatting to one of the older men just casually and he mentioned surgery to me (It was something we spoke about in group and the plan after the 12 weeks was to see if people wanted to go on to surgery or if they perferred to keep trying to lose weight through eating and exercise alone).

Anyway, I asked this older man if he would go for surgery and he looked and me and said "If I was your age I would do it in a heatbeat". I pretty much made my decision there and then. I don't know your age at all but whether you're 30 or 300 I would say go for it, because life is full of enough regrets and I knew I didn't want to be looking back in my golden years still trying to lose weight that would never stay off.

I was given a helping hand and I took it gladly and I'm doing everything now I can to help myself.

Good luck with your decision.

[elizabeth751 2]

Thank you so much for the great information. I was wondering what are those first days in the hospital like? How severe is the pain? I have only had one surgery and went into it not even thinking about post op pain and am a bit of a wuss I realize!

[elizabeth751 2]

3 hours ago, mylighthouse said:

Well, let me first start by saying that I have no regrets at all for having WLS (I had the sleeve).

I am not going to share a "normal" experience. At least in the last 16 months that I have pretty much been visiting bariatricpal, I do not consider my experience the norm. I truly believe that if you search around enough, you will see that most people have a good experience. I think some people experience somewhat expected nausea in the beginning, but that it isn't prolonged say, for several months.

In my case, nausea kicked in not in the beginning, but actually a couple months post sleeve. It gradually got worse, and now, 15/16 months post sleeve, it is relentless. But I have had a lot of underlying health probs and a lot of it stems from a terrible colon resection.

Nausea now, along with pain when eating and terrible acid reflux has set me back to eating only liquids or very well pureed food. This is not a normal experience. Seeing my surgeon on Friday to talk about revision to gastric bypass.

If you have acid reflux and it is a problem, then the sleeve is probably not for you. The bypass would serve you better. I can't give any other info on bypass, as I haven't done much research yet.

Whatever route you go, I wish you the best.

Thank you and good luck with your surgeon! Can I ask do you ever have nausea that is not associated with what you ate from the surgery?

[elizabeth751 2]

4 hours ago, jess9395 said:

I have some long lasting food issues, but nothing intolerable. I can’t eat rice or drink anything carbonated. Untoasted bread products also sit heavy and uncomfortable. I also get sick when I eat too much sugar.

But who the heck cares?

4 hours ago, jess9395 said:

I have had nausea issues with many surgeries so I now always tell the surgeon ahead of time and they have many methods to stop it before t starts.

Scopolamine Patches work well for me as does zofran (ondancetron tablets). Ther ar also suppositories (phenergan). If none of those work enmend is the “heavy gun” they use for intractable nausea from chemotherapy. It usually isn’t covered by insurance and costs about $100 for a dose but that dose lasts about 48 hours.

So the nausea you experienced in the beginning was possibly more from the anesthetics? I'm ok with that and always have it too. I also understand the occasional upset stomach with new eating habits but am terrified of experiencing constant prolonged nausea as I did with galbaldder removal.

[elizabeth751 2]

4 hours ago, abefroman329 said:

Nausea was horrible for me while I was in the hospital and coming down from the general anesthesia (when they wheeled me up from recovery to the room, I had the dry heaves), but that's been it for me.

Your program's dietitian will be able to tell you what you can eat and when, it varies widely by program. I was on a general diet six weeks after surgery. That being said, I'm over two months out, and still can't tolerate rice or fast food hamburgers. Your mileage may vary, or YMMV, as they say on the internets.

Thank you! You've had no nausea since those first few days?

[mylighthouse 782]

3 minutes ago, elizabeth751 said:

Thank you and good luck with your surgeon! Can I ask do you ever have nausea that is not associated with what you ate from the surgery?

Yeah, for me, the nausea is not always brought on by eating. I pretty much have it off and on throughout the day, every day. Right after surgery, and the first couple of months following that, no nausea at all.

[elizabeth751 2]

5 hours ago, sc101071 said:

I had the sleeve, and I have loved it. My understanding is that if you have gastric reflux or indigestion issues, the sleeve might not be for you. Also, if you have emotional eating issues, the bypass may lead to more success.

I did not have any nausea issues. Ever. My eating plan through Emory Hospital in Atlanta was aggressive. We were eating solids (pureed) within a few days, and it never bothered me. I think I was chewing my food within 10 days of surgery, and could eat just about anything by then.

I was back to work in less than a week. I was actually out house hunting within a few days, but I had already taken the week. I could have gone back by the Monday after my Wednesday surgery. This site was a huge help, but there are plenty of great articles on the subject. Get in with a good bariatric program, and they will give you all of the information you need, as well. Good luck.

Thank you!

[The Dora Milaje 69]

I am seven days out from surgery and I, too, have nausea issues with anesthesia and use scopolamine Patches. I am still on a clear liquid diet but I haven't been nauseous, I had little to no pain and I could have gone back to work yesterday but I didn't want to haha.