Hello,

I wanted to know as much as I could about gastric bypass surgery and gastric sleeve surgery that I think I've scared myself right out of surgery. I've read three books and watched everything I could on the subject on YouTube.

I also have PMR therefore I'm not sure if I can even have this surgery. I am 5'5 and weigh 226 pounds. I was 120 pounds when I was started on bipolar meds. I've been very thin all my life so I'm am very upset about all this weight that I'm carrying on a small frame.

I have a question about food. I'm not big on food but I do love sugar some of this sugar addiction is caused by the meds. and some is just a natural craving. What's the point of getting a gastric sleeve if I'm still going to crave sweets? Thanks for any feedback.

Minnie

I’ve taken a couple classes with Kaiser and the surgery will change your hormones. I’ve also read a lot that things you use to like or crave won’t taste the same after surgery. There’s also something called dumping syndrome caused by certain foods you eat. I haven’t had surgery but I’ve also tried to gather information before I make any decisions

^^^^^

only about 30% of RNY patients have dumping syndrome, and far fewer sleeve patients have it - so it's not something to count on. A lot of us definitely have to work on our sugar addictions after surgery (me included - there are times I've wished I was a dumper!!)

Edited June 2, 20215 yr by catwoman7

Part of the process of getting approved from surgery is a psyc evaluation. If you are upfront about the sugar addiction during that process it is likely they will suggest that you continue to do visits for a while until you get to the bottom of why you have that addiction and are better prepared for success after surgery.

I had sleeve, I love sugar. I can eat about 200 calories of pure sugar an hour without any issues. If I try to eat more than 200 calories of sugar in an hour, I will feel kinda gross and nauseated.

But there are a lot of hours in a day. It's very easy to eat yourself fat on sugar with a sleeve if you don't address the issues behind your disordered eating and get control of it.

While weight loss surgery DOES help you slow down and have more reaction time to your bad habits....Weight loss surgery doesn't fix your head. Fixing your eating habits will still be up to you.

I also gained a ton of weight from my bipolar meds (100 lbs in two years, more in the years after that). However, both the surgeon and the psychopharmacologist said that I should do sleeve to ensure I can still absorb the psych meds fully, rather than bypass. I do occasionally have reflux, so I'm a bit worried and I'm trying to get a second opinion, but think about that, especially since you don't have that much to lose.

The meds made me crave sugar like crazy, but I find that when I don't have sugar, I stop craving it. See if you can do that before surgery, because the surgery won't fix that and you can just gain the weight back if you're head's not in it, since you'll still be on the psych meds.