Looking for Honest GB Opinions

ErinsAvon

My Husband is planning to have a Gastric Bypass in the Summer, He is on track for it right now, and we are just starting the appointment process. He is 6'4" and 345lbs. He has some other health concerns (high triglicerides, spikes in blood pressure that come and go). He has been using MFP since January to get an idea about his intake, and tracking so that when he has appointments he can honestly answer diet and exercise questions, Right now he gets about 30 minutes a day on a stationary bike or using our Wii Active 2 program. But he never even gets to 3/4 of his MFP recommended calories. He is lucky to meet 1800, out of the 2,400 they allow him before the exercise. He has struggled with his weight all his life. My question is, if he isn't eating enough now, and not losing weigh how will GB help him? Will he be literally starving to death? The lack of absorption piece scares me. We eat pretty healthy, but his blood screens already are low on B vitamins, and D. Any advise your willing to give this scared Wife would be helpful. as well as questions we should be asking the Doctors we may be missing. Thank you
Erin

chelsey554

Its not going to starve him to death no, it'll just have him eating smaller porportions, but I had to learn to eat frequently throughtout the day like snaking but it can be anything healthy, I eat every 3 hours something small because with the surgery It prevents me from eating large porportions but since I have been doing this I find that my body burns off the food quickly so I'm always eating and my bodys away energized and content I dont feel like Im starving, I eat alot of protien and I take my vitiams. For him he's more than likely going to need the mens multi vitamins, omega's, and biotien, it helps alot!!! (; I hope I helped a little lol
Chelsey

ErinsAvon

If this is the true case, than he should just try spread his meal out throughout the day, and maybe trying to squeeze in more calories. I am not anti GB, I just do not believe this is the right move for him yet. Without getting more information and trying other options.

jazzie2421

Its not for everyone, but it is a life time decision. I too have to eat frequently or I'll forget to eat and be ravenous and make myself sick. Immediately following surgery you're simply not hungry. He will go through a period that his body will go into starvation mode. After awhile his body will balance out and he won't need nearly as many calories. He will not starve to death. B and D deficiencies are actually very common among the population both pre-and post-op. Its a combination of not getting enough in through our foods (which is not as nutritionally dense as it used to be thanks to pesticides and not growing ourselves... another topic) and not getting enough sunshine (D). A good multi and a D supplement.

risskie

I am 5 weeks out of gastric bypass (RNY). Previous to the surgery, my nutritionist helped me to set my calories, what foods to cut out (all processed foods, soda, coffee), and what to reduce. She was invaluable. I followed her directions and lost 50lbs before surgery. Now she is helping me acclimate to my new lifestyle change. For the rest of my life I will need to take vitamin supplements - Bcomplex, Calcium/D3, MultiVit, and C. From the reductions and changes in food intake prior to surgery, I am eating those foods I ate before, but in much smaller portions. My new stomach tells me when I've eaten too much right now - I'm told that later on the stomach will just stretch. I don't want that to happen so I'm very attune to portions. Refined sugar is not part of my diet - when I need additional sugar, or a recipe needs sugar I use Splenda - measurements are the same as white sugar.
He will need to be regimented from now on - among others he needs to separating food and drink, and be careful with intake and food selection. If he does that he will be successful. I am learning how to use the gastric bypass as a tool to losing weight and continuing in a lifestyle change. Listen to the nutritionist - she/he will help him through any food/weight issue.
Good Luck.
Christine

soapboxermel

For about 6 months, I had little desire to eat and so I took in very few calories. I think of it as a type of controlled, medically supervised starvation. Once I regained my appetite, it was actually difficult for me to eat enough calories to stay full for long because of the reduced capacity.

I have had severe malnutrition and I am still struggling to lose/keep weight off many years later. I have no regrets because I had a lot of health problems going in, but I picked up a different set of problems in exchange.

My advice to anyone contemplating gastric bypass: Don't do it if there aren't compelling medical reasons for it. You are trading one problem for another and the trade isn't always a good one, depending on your situation. You will forever have issues with food and you will not lose your tendency to gain weight in the long term.

jmurphyaz

Hi, I understand your concerns and think that (if you haven't already) you should attend and information session on the different types of surgery. GB has come a long way and the malnutrition theory is true if you do not take your vitamins and get enough water. Those are the 2 most difficult things.

To address the idea of just following the GB diet without the surgery there are some issues with that:

1) When you have the GB or Sleeve procedure there is an actual change to your hormones. I believe more so with the Sleeve because they actually remove that part of your stomach (that produces ghrelin the hungry hormone). If you just diet al those sabotaging hormones.

2) There have been studies of people who lose weight naturally and even 1 year after hitting their goal weight their ghrelin levels were still elevated. So in other words their hormones were working against them making them hungry even when they ate enough food.

3) With the surgeries there is a physical repercussion if you try to eat the wrong foods or eat too much. Is this drastic, sure but I believe most of us who have gained enough weight to even qualify for WLS have a food addiction. And speaking as a true addict of substances and food, you need an all or nothing approach to be successful. With food tha isn't possible so the surgery/physical consequences for eating too much or the wrong foods it necessary. That is my opinion and I don't know your husbands situation so that may not be the case for him.

I would like to add that the surgery is a tool. It is somewhat foolproof the first 6-12 mos, but if you continue your bad habits you will gain the weight back. But I encourage you to get as informed as you possibly can and chose a doctor that is a center of excellence and has a long-term program for success. I am not sure where you are located, but if you are in AZ i couldn't recommend my surgeon/hospital enough.

Good Luck

ErinsAvon

I am trying to not be scared.... I am trying to be supportive... i just want as much information as possible. I know he is not me. But I never thought I would be able to lose my excess weight on my own and am doing it. We went to the information session and they talked about GB and Lap Band. They high recommend GB for him. I do worry that he will end up with more health problems than he already has.I worry that he will end up on a protein shake diet the rest of his life cause he cannot get in enough calories. I can't wait to talk to the nutritionist. Again with my weightloss I had to eat double what I was used to in order to start losing weight, and i believe that is part of his problem. His Metabolism is so low that his body holds onto all his calories and fats for dear life.

BandForAlyAnne

if he is already excersing and taking in 1800 cals i would not recommend bypass. i think he is doing a really good job already and i think it would be a better idea to look into lap band. if you have problem with the band you can take it out. not with gb. thats why i chose not to do it. the band has been great for me so far. and you can do some serious damage to your body with the bypass. of course some people have regained their lives with it. you should just make sure you weigh the pros and cons of every option. everything has a good and bad side. the cons of the band were better than the cons of gb for me. cons for the band are losing weight more slowly and having more of a choice in what to eat (meaning you need alot of willpower still). but the cons are also a pluses in the long run. losing weight slower means less skin and having some freedom with what and how much you eat teaches you to eat in a healthy way for the rest of your life. so thats my opinion. he should do what he thinks is best for him. only his conviction will make a surgery successful.