Complex trauma/ developmental trauma

[Gen71 2]

I'm scheduled for surgery December 16th and I'm having second thoughts. I had a traumatic childhood (I am in weekly therapy) so control over food is important to me. I'm not a binger not do I necessarily eat too much, I gain weight because of what I eat. Will I be able to eat any foods I like after I'm through the post-op liquid/puree stages? I can't handle eating only low fat Protein and veggies now and that seems to be what others are eating on chat groups. Should I not have the surgery or have others with emotional eating issues been ok? I really appreciate hearing from anyone willing to answer, especially those with psychological food reliance issues. Also, I'm told no caffeine, ever again. Is that what you guys follow?

[Smanky 743]

Depending on what food you mean, and what procedure you're having, a lot of food that got us all obese in the first place isn't on the post-op plan (for good reason). Some people who are in maintenance are able to pretty much eat normally (though still a balanced diet), but bypass and SADI folks especially need to be mindful of making nutritious choices due to the malabsorption factor. High carb, high sugar and high fat foods can also bring on dumping syndrome. Thankfully the surgery really helps a lot of folks with reigning in cravings, and bad food loses most of its allure.

As for coffee, I was offered it in the hospital along with my Water and broth, whereas others are told never-ever. So it seems to depend on your surgeon's team.

Hopefully someone with experience with emotional eating issues can help you out there, and I'm sorry for your trauma. That's rough.

[Gen71 2]

Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I am going for the Sadi, if I do it.

[ShoppGirl 3,406]

If you have emotional eating issues a bariatric therapist may be a helpful component to your success. The surgery is just a tool. Smaller stomach And decreased hunger hormones help but head hunger will remain and we have to learn to control it. I am an emotional/boredom eater and while I am still losing weight I struggle with my food choices daily. I believe this will be a lifelong struggle for me. To answer your question I am 8 months out and I have sampled all the foods I used to eat and I can tolerate them. But I will choose not have them again until maintenance as I know That they will not help me lose weight. Like mentioned above dumping is more of an issue with Sadi than with the sleeve so really high fat and high sugar foods may give You issues. But from what I understand people who have issues with these foods develop aversions to them so I don't think you Crave them anymore so you don’t really miss them. Maybe someone who has dumping Issues can weigh in about that.

Edited November 12, 2021 by ShoppGirl

[You Are My Sunshine 85]

1 hour ago, ShoppGirl said:

I believe this will be a lifelong struggle for me.

This is a tough one. I, too, am curious of the answers.

I am pre-op. I was an inch away from getting surgery and cancelled. So I can't speak from experience of actually having the surgery right now. But I do echo the concerns of having my body modified to achieve a result that potentially is not lasting, if that makes sense. Nobody wants to "break their tool."

It's hard to measure the true success of something when you can't take in all the variables, so this is a good question to ask of those who have struggled and are out 3+ years from surgery. Having issued eating goes beyond the restriction (or malabsorption) the surgery creates. So yes, it is a serious concern if you are considering the surgery and want lasting results. There's no guarantee that you will have aversions to things post-op that are strong enough and durable enough to "cure" the issue in the first place. Further, if those aversions are attained - will they last or will the desires eventually come back?

I'm kind of just brainstorming here with you, not trying to sway you either way. I personally would love to be able to pluck from my brain whatever it is that causes my relationship with food to spiral at times. Have you talked with a psychologist? It sounds like that would be a great place to dig deeper.

[Prestonandme 107]

I had surgery two and a half years ago. I, too, had an extremely traumatic childhood, part of which involved being frequently left home alone without food. That obviously led to a host of eating/food issues and a considerable weight gain in adulthood.

I've lived with a fear of starvation since childhood, so was also concerned about whether I could go through the various eating stages for the surgery. What really bolstered my confidence was when I was able to severely restrict my food intake a few weeks *before* the surgery, paring down my calories to about 800/day, which is what I would live on for the year after surgery. After the initial fear wore off, it actually became easy. I was really shocked at how easy it was. Plus, I was lucky to have weekly therapy to discuss my progress and concerns.

The surgery resulted in my losing my lifelong fear of starvation. My brain now knows that there is always food available to eat, that I won't be threatened with hunger, etc. It has been really uplifting.

I hope this happens for you, too, whatever your childhood issues were.