Any gastric bypass patients on here

you have not lost a lot of weight because you did not start out that heavy. I am surprised any Dr. would do gastric bypass on someone that's only 190lbs to start with. You can't compare yourself with everyone because everybody is different

i had weight loss surgery on the 10th of july if anyone one wants to add me

Hello,

I had gastric bypass on 7.7.12. My start weight was 257, my current weight is 181 and I am up 20 lbs from 161 which was my lowest. I will say that I do not regret getting surgery, but I will agree that everyone is different. My surgery story is somewhat long, so I will try to tell it quick. There are so many positives, but for me it was negative the first 6 months. I went through tremendous amount of hair loss, an emotional roller coaster, had a collapsed lung week two of surgery, and became nutritionally deficient. After the 6 month mark, it was pretty much smooth sailing-a little too smooth. My surgeon says the weight came off quicker than expected, hence the rapid change in my energy & hair loss. As a result, my body is struggling to maintain the loss, and again slow and steady has proved to be the ultimate way to go but I still am glad I did it. Now I am back here, only because I will NOT allow myself to return to the 200's. The surgery was a very big price to pay for me on a personal level, only to regain what I lost. I do still dump at this point, and there are many foods I cannot have. I was recently diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia, which they never told me was a common problem to get after surgery. Now I am hungry constantly, and have to test my blood sugars all day. The onset came quick approx after I was a year out. When I called nutrition, I was put in right away for an appt about two weeks ago. I was handed the stage 5 diet to go back too, and also a handout in "reactive hypoglycemia in gastric bypass patients." Well it happens so frequently it's now a handout . Regardless, I am happier in my clothes now than I was prior to surgery, but I will be even happier if I lose more! Good luck!

My name is Adam and I had RNY Gastric Bypass surgery on April 1st 2010, hard date to forget because the April Fools' Day jokes were plentiful. Before the 15% weight loss required by my insurance company I weighed in at 534 pounds. Today, four years later, I weigh 223 pounds and am still losing. I stalled out for several months after my 2 year mark because I didn't put in the effort to keep losing (maintaining my calories and exercise), but I didn't gain a significant amount of weight back. Losing the weight was easy at first of course, liquid to semi solid diets consisting of a few sips will do that, but things got harder as time passed. Its very slow going these days with a lot of exercise and watching my food intake like a hawk, but in the end I feel amazing. If I never reach my goal of 200 pounds I'm still very happy with what I've achieved so far, but I will never stop working on myself physically or mentally.

Hi Adam
I'm Phil
I also had the bypass - October 2011. At heaviest, i was 314 lbs. i now weigh about 205lbs. Generally, I feel much better, although my relationship with food is still a problem.
My eating habits have slipped quite a bit just lately and weight has started to creep back on - that is why I am back on here, starting to remotivate myself. I am actually on vacation in Spain at the moment but am gearing up for a fresh start when I return home.
I hope to make contact with others with similar situations to give and receive support.
Phil

I had the gastricbypass five years ago i got down to my goal weight of 150 pounds
then last year i got depressed and the winter was hard and started gaining
weight again. I need to loose 60 pounds to get back down to
the weight i was for so many years after my rue en y bypas.

Hi my name is Rita and I had RNY bypass last September 2013. I love myfitnesspal and endomondo tracker. I log everything I eat and the exercise I do. I am down 113 lbs. since last September. My highest weight was 250 lbs. I am feeling pretty good honestly. But I am searching for an application to save recipes that are RNY friendly too. Myfitnesspals recipes don't show my ingredients on my iphone for some strange reason and I surely can't carry the desktop to the stop when shopping for my ingredients for my healthy meals. If anyone knows one please kindly let me know.

Hi! I'd just like to give any recent RNY gastric bypass patients some hope, because this thread is kind of misleading. First, you do NOT "lose your ability to malabsorb" at two years post-RNY. I am 7 years post-RNY and still malabsorb like crazy. If I eat a high fat meal, 20-30 minutes later I am in the bathroom and it is quite clear that malabsorption is still very much a part of my life! lol.

I don't want to go into all the specifics of why malabsorption may decrease over time, but it is basically because a patient has not followed the golden rule of WLS - and that is lean protein first, at every meal, every time!!!!! If you are consistently eating a diet high in fat and carbohydrates after RNY, your intestines will eventually "heal" themselves, and re-learn how to absorb fat and carbohydrates. It is also very important to know whether or not you had a distal or proximal RNY, because that tells you how much of your intestine was removed, and thus what your level of malabsorption is. But malabsorption by itself is NOT the key to achieving long-term weight loss after RNY. The key is behavior modification - learning to eat well and, perhaps, dealing with the underlying psychological issues that may have led you to overeat in the first place.

For me, I had a distal RNY done, and my surgeon removed about 2.5 feet of my intestine, and left me with a two-ounce pouch. I weighed 232 pounds on the morning of surgery (I'm 5'5" tall), and reached my low weight of 127 pounds at one year out from surgery, meaning I had lost more than 100% of my excess body fat. As I said earlier, I am 7 years out from surgery, and I now weigh 128 pounds. I have even had a baby (3 years post-op), and had no trouble losing the weight after my pregnancy. My type 2 diabetes has also been "in remission" since the day after my surgery, so I am a completely diet-controlled type 2 diabetic with normal A1-C's.

The most important thing any WLS patient can do is educate themselves about good eating habits and use the tool their surgeon has given them. The forums at obesityhelp.com helped me more than anything, so please visit there if you have not already. Find a community of WLS patients that are similar to you (for me, it was the "Lightweights" forum), and educate yourself as much as possible.

Good luck to all of you! Believe me - you have been given a powerful tool, but it is up to you to use it effectively!

Hi - I am thinking about getting the gastric bypass and would love to know more about it! Can you tell me if everyone has to do the 6 month diet before surgery? (If I could do that I would not need surgery!)

The six-month diet is generally a restriction that is put on by your insurance provider. Some surgeons have now taken to making it an "across the board" requirement, but not all have. My surgeon didn't, and my insurance company didn't require it if your BMI was over 35 and you had co-morbidities (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.). You just need to find out what your insurance requirements are, then find a surgeon that works within those guidelines.

I can understand not wanting to go through the whole "six month diet" thing - but, honestly, haven't all obese patients pretty much been on some sort of diet or another for years and years and years? The six-month diet requirement is just a diet that is observed by a medical professional. What is six more months of being monitored if it ultimately leads to you having the opportunity for a permanent change?

Hi I had RNY on Dec 4th 2013. I have lost 83 pounds since surgery. 110 pounds from my highes, last few months have been tough to see the scale move. I am going back to the basics. Feel free to add me

I had RNY surgery on September 13, 2004 at a top weight of 402 lbs. I lost 198 lbs. dropping me to 204. I had an abundance of energy and followed the program to a tee. But, I lost so much hair, had to have my gallbladder removed, became anemic and started feeling sorry for myself. In 2011 to present I gained back 112 lbs. eating small meals still but all the junk and crap snacks I could shovel. I am completely at fault for the weight gain and losing my focus. I choose not to give up and I choose not to beat on myself. Instead I sought out help. Got back in touch with my surgeon who I loved at the time only to be told well you still are 100 lbs lighter. That was accurate but not at all motivational. So I went to my favorite Gastroenterologist Dr. Sunil Gupta in New York. He researched a procedure being performed at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital called a Gastric Pouch Plication. It is done endoscopically and in a nutshell stitches the opening in the stomach to about the size of your pinkie nail. So it's back to protein shakes and purees. The difference this time is that you feel hungry. I did not for months after the RNY. I have recommitted myself and consider this another chance at life. It takes a lot more on my part than before, but I am coping well and have lost 16 lbs. since the procedure on September 2, 2014. I feel well enough to exercise and have gotten coworkers to meet and walk in the late afternoon. I am blessed with a very encouraging group of friends, family and coworkers. I consider each of these days Sept. 13th, Sept. 2 birthdays along with my actual one on Sept. 27th. However, the only gift I want or will accept is health. I eat to live, I don't live to eat. Goodies are gone and that's just the way it is. I just feel stronger in every sense of the word when I am eating right and doing something to take care of myself. I have never regretted having the bypass surgery. I no longer had to worry about parking close, chairs with arms, long walks, hot days, clothes shopping, bathing suits, bending to tie my shoes, scales, step stools, plastic chairs, clipping my toenails or standing. I don't ever want to worry about those things again. I wish you all success and encourage you to pay more attention to feeling great and less attention to reaching a weight goal that someone else has set for you. Keep on walking and tracking and we'll meet at the other end of the scale in the land where healthy people reside. Be well!

I had the Roux-N-Y in Dec. 2012, I lost 70 lbs. I have not lost anymore since. My Dr. told me before I had the surgery that it would be difficult to lose the weight because of the medications that I take. When the Surgeon talk to my family after my surgery the first thing she told them was it would be difficult but I could do it with hard work! I am so discourage! The last 9 months it's like I have given up. Has anyone else gone through this, with their medications? I could really use some encouraging words! :frown:

I had my surgery January 2012. I was 321lbs

I reached 167 the summer of 2013. I started counting my calories and was eating 1000 a day. I stopped getting my period in March of 2013, I got a whole series of blood tests, MRI, ultrasound and they all came back clear.

Then that fall I began teaching and gained 3lbs, staying at 170. I was determined to get back to the 160s, so I started going to Bootcamp.

I went home Christmas 2013, gained 10lbs. I also started getting my period again. So when I got back I gave up drinking and partying, got strict again back to my 1000 calorie goal. By February 2014 I was back to 170. Then, for some reason, despite being diligent and strict, I gained 8lbs. I stepped on the scale may long weekend, saw 180lbs and totally lost it. My period had stopped again too.

So I sought out a personal trainer and a dietitian, both were horrified that I was eating 1000 calories a day and working out. The personal trainer refused to take me on until I upped my calories, the dietitian urged me to eat more. I did, a little, and I lost 1-2lbs.

Then I spent the month of July in NL, and gained 10lbs. (period came back) Accepting this, when I got back I cut out all alcohol, I got really strict, worked out 6 days a week (bootcamp 3 days, an hour run/walk another 3 days) and I hadn't lost an ounce. and my periods have stopped. Frustrated, I went back to the dietitian and she said I still need to eat more. I was eating 1500 on bootcamp days, 1300-1400 on non-bootcamp days. She wanted me to net 1500. So instead of netting 1500 a day, I simply ate 1500 a day, and 1800 on bootcamp days.

Well, I gained weight from this.

I feel like I am all out of options. I feel like I am drowning. Doesn't matter how hard I kick, swim an fight to surface, I am drowning. All the professionals can do is grasp at straws.

I've had hormones checked, my thyroid checked, blood work done and it all comes back normal. I feel like it's inevitable that I'll get back to where I was.

I work SOOO hard. I still have not touched sugar, caffeine, fast food, anything deep fried, chips or any junk.

All my foods are fruits, veggies, lean proteins I eat are fish and turkey, and whole grains. Despite eating clean and being active, I am gaining weight.

It's not muscle gain, I am busting out of my clothes.

I have cancelled Christmas and Thanksgiving. I have deleted my Facebook because I can't stand to see all these people enjoying their lives and here I am working so hard and getting nowhere but back to where I started.

I am desperate. I need help.

ldrosophila wrote: »

I have already had it.........did you know that after 2 years you lose the benefit of mal-absorbtion?

They call malabsorption a benefit? Must be a term the surgeons use...shivers.

OK I'm obese and I've looked into bypass and lap band multiple times each time the conclusions comes back to for only being simply a tool, drastic surgery does not seem to be an option for me...let me state that again for me! The only effective means to lose weight is portion control (which is done by reducing the stomach) and more movement from what I have learned.

I'm going to put a high jack question to the thread, forgive me OP.

If we as food addicts had started to work on the route cause of our destructive behaviors would you have still taken the route to have surgery? If you knew that you would have a better relationship with food and could manage the addiction would altering your GI tract the benefits would have outweighed the risks. As we all know bypass is not a 100% answer and if someone is still not facing the demons the weight can and possibly will come back.

Question sorry if I offended. I am a struggling addict and every day I think to myself maybe a bypass would help make this addiction easier.

Surgery is not for everyone. I really had to dig deep and learn the reasons for my behaviors and WHY I got fat.Like most of us, my reasons were situational, emotional, and biological. I tackled a lot of the emotional crap. I adopted a lot of more constructive behaviors.. but in the end, the thing I couldn't fix by myself was my insatiable physical hunger and I realized that my biggest problem was indeed portion control. I had VSG surgery over a year ago and WHAT A HUGE difference it has made. I now can eat a reasonable portion of food and feel satiated from it. I no longer obsess about food constantly because I don't have persistent nagging hunger. Occasionally I'll feel the urge to turn to food for comfort but because it's not backed up by a bottomless pit of a stomach that is constantly DEMANDING to be filled, I am much more equipped to resist those urges to turn to emotional eating.

Now as for the malabsorptive component to the gastric bypass, I didn't want that. For some people they need it for whatever reason, that's between them and their doctor but I didn't want it. That's why I had VSG. It made my stomach smaller and removed the portion of the stomach that produces a the majority of the body's hunger hormone ghrellin, but my intestines were not touched so I absorb all the calories and nutrients from all my food.

I had gbs surgery 8 years ago and working to lose 25 lbs of regain. No regrets having surgery, though. Best thing I did for my health. I'd love other friends who are in the same boat.