Does anyone regret having had Gastric Bypass?

The malabsorption goes away and Many people like myself have the surgery for other health reasons.. Its the only known way to put your diabetes into remission.. So I will take a little malabsorption over Diabetes any day... My father passed away from Complications do to being diabetic at 57 years old.. I did not want to fallow in those footsteps... The 92 lbs lost was a plus too..

I am going by what I was told by Dr's office and research I have done... That is why we have to be careful because we can gain our weight back do to the fact that after a year we start absorbing more.. It just frustrates me that people that haven't had the surgery think they know more then we do and a constantly bad mouthing the surgery and trying to make people feel bad about considering having the surgery I believe its a life saver and would do it again in a heart beat..

Personally, I think that WAY too many weight loss surgeries are done in the United States. That type of surgery used to be reserved for the extremely obese, and now it is being advertised on radio and TV, just like all the fad diets.

Even though the WLS doctors say the risk of serious long term complications are low, that doesn't do much good for the people that suffer them. And from the number of people I know that have experienced significant long term complications from the various WLS, I would say the actual complication rate is much higher than what WLS doctors claim.

ALL the weight loss surgeries have major risks of complications. I would NEVER recommend anyone I know take that route unless they weighed 400 pounds or more and had tried every other approach under the sun to lose weight.

I have answered this question a lot. For me, I was prediabetic, high cholesterol, my blood pressure was creeping up, etc. I knew how to eat right, I'd lost weight on WW or Dr ordered programs, but was unable to keep it off. Exercise had become an impossibility due to back and joint pain. I am a food addict. I still go to counseling to help me deal with my food issues, but I needed the physical restriction to alter my behavior. Sometimes, I wish that I had tried harder to do it the "normal" way (by the way....what is the "normal" way and who gets to decide). But, I come from a family of addicts. If my brother could have a surgery that would help him overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol, I would never say, "Oh, well, you should do it the "normal" way that you've been trying for 30 plus years without success." I would support his decision for surgery. Thankfully, my friends and family all support me. And yes, I do still have to diet and exercise. Gastric bypass was a tool. Not a cure. It is a personal choice though. It's not for everyone, and education is the key to success.

I am in the process of having gastric bypass within the next few months. I am not scared to die because I may stop breathing in my sleep one of these nights. I am not worried about complications because I am in pain most of the time anyway. I am not going to leave anyone behind because I cannot have children because of the PCOS. I may be able to start a family if I get my weight down. I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.. I want a family and I cannot wait.. I will risk my life to get it

I work out constantly.. I eat healthy.. but I cannot seem to lose this weight. I have been researching this surgery for over 2 years, take classes, have a support network, and I know what I am in for.... I won't regret it.

I just read your post and wanted to respond since I just had the RNY Gastric Bypass 4 1/2 weeks ago. Like you, I was having an extremely difficult time trying to loose weight. I am almost 47 and can attest to the fact that weight loss gets even harder once you pass 42 yrs of age as a woman. I too suffer from PCOS and I also had/have diabetes (having been diagnosed during my pregnancy 15 yrs ago). In the last 2 years, I also developed metabolic syndrome and the diabetes became harder to manage. A few of my doctors felt that this surgery was my best hope for overcoming many of these issues. So far so good, in my first month I have dropped 26 pounds. I found the surgery was not that difficult at all and the recovery has been exactly what my doctor and the staff at Duke informed me that it would be. Surgery is never easy, but this surgery in particular has many years of proven success. I would be more than happy to discuss the process with you if you would like. It is not an easy cure, but if you are already trying to loose weight and are hitting plateaus, etc., you are already 80% of the way to understanding what is involved and expected of you after gastric surgery You are already trying to make those changes. The surgery just helps the process along, but YOU still have to do the work.

I just read your post and wanted to respond since I just had the RNY Gastric Bypass 4 1/2 weeks ago. Like you, I was having an extremely difficult time trying to loose weight. I am almost 47 and can attest to the fact that weight loss gets even harder once you pass 42 yrs of age as a woman. I too suffer from PCOS and I also had/have diabetes (having been diagnosed during my pregnancy 15 yrs ago). In the last 2 years, I also developed metabolic syndrome and the diabetes became harder to manage. A few of my doctors felt that this surgery was my best hope for overcoming many of these issues. So far so good, in my first month I have dropped 26 pounds. I found the surgery was not that difficult at all and the recovery has been exactly what my doctor and the staff at Duke informed me that it would be. Surgery is never easy, but this surgery in particular has many years of proven success. I would be more than happy to discuss the process with you if you would like. It is not an easy cure, but if you are already trying to loose weight and are hitting plateaus, etc., you are already 80% of the way to understanding what is involved and expected of you after gastric surgery You are already trying to make those changes. The surgery just helps the process along, but YOU still have to do the work.

I am glad your recovery is going so well. But many people have multiple long term complications from gastric bypass, as well as other weight loss surgeries. Weight loss surgery is a multi-million dollar industry. And they keep the money rolling in by convincing potential clients that it's a much less risky procedure than it actually is.

While there are times when weight loss surgery is the appropriate course of action, it makes my angry when surgical weight loss centers advertise it on the media as if weight loss surgery was just like going in for a minor procedure when that is clearly not the case. One in 50 people that have a gastric bypass die within the first month from complications. I know people that decided to have weight loss surgery on account of that sort of advertising, and would give anything if they could turn back the clock and have it undone.

I would advise anyone that's considering gastric bypass to check out these websites and find out how bad the complications really can be, and not just rely on what the doctors that get rich from it say.

http://gastricbypasstruth.com/before-gastric-bypass-surgery/possible-complications-of-gastric-bypass-surgery/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/21/earlyshow/contributors/melindamurphy/main668323.shtml

http://mcdreamy.hubpages.com/hub/GastricBypassComplications

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/forums/forum54/10150.html

I did not have a gastric bypass, but know enough people that were miserable for years after the surgery that I would not recommend it to anyone.

How could you recommend something you haven't exeperience? You are going on hearsay. It is not your body or your life so let it be! Do you and let others do them!

there are several posts on g-b/lap band, but here's one i started, check it out - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/332328-have-you-ever-considered-gaining-weight-to-get-g-b-surgery?

bump

Personally, I think a lot of people that have weight loss surgery would do better if they spent the money on counseling to help them with their emotional eating issues.

Having weight loss surgery does not eliminate the issues behind emotional eating, and that's why many people become so angry and depressed after they have the surgery and are no longer able to eat as they once did.

I did not have a gastric bypass, but know enough people that were miserable for years after the surgery that I would not recommend it to anyone.

How could you recommend something you haven't exeperience? You are going on hearsay. It is not your body or your life so let it be! Do you and let others do them!

One does not have experience everything they have an opinion on. For example, I have never jumped off a 3 story building, but I know that would not be a healthy thing to do. And cutting up someone's digestive system, as they do with a gastric bypass, is not something I would recommend anyone pursue unless they were extremely large and had tried every safe weight loss approach on Earth. Some of the links I posted earlier ARE people that had gastric bypass surgery taking about their experience and the terrible ordeal some of them are still having to endure every day because they decided to have weight loss surgery.

The website at link is about real-life complications of people that had a gastric bypass.

http://gastricbypasstruth.com/131/gastric-bypass-surgery-complications-my-week-of-horror/

Your opinion is just that your opinin. Obivously, your opinion has very little merit because the people you know didn't listen and had the surgery. People make decisions for what is best for them. Stop trying to be Captain Weight Loss Save A Victim! It is not your decision nor is it your life.

I was thinking about creating a new topic for this question, but I figure maybe I'll ask my question here instead.

To those of you who have had, or have thought about having, the gastric bypass surgery, or even lap band, or anything alike... why? I'm not criticizing or anything, I'm just wondering.... why'd you do it? Or why do you WANT to do it? It's a TON of money, a LOT of pain, and you STILL have to diet - extremely, at that - and exercise after healing. Like I said, I'm not criticizing... I've thought about doing one of these surgeries myself at one point, then I researched and researched and found that the first few months (even a year or two!) you have to go on a pretty extreme diet, and ease your way into eating new foods.... if you could do that POST-op, why not just do it all by yourself anyway? How much do the surgeries REALLY help? And for those who have to lose some weight in order to even get the surgeries done... why not just continue to do it yourself instead of putting yourself through all that?

Love and Alohas,
Ihilani Kapuniai

I'm planning on having it done in a few months, and one of those that have to lose weight to have it done safely. EVERYONE has to lose weight before getting it done though, because most insurance companies require you to lose a percentage of your body weight before they okay it. Also, it decreases your fatty liver, which makes it easier and safer to move out of the way for the operation without rupturing.

I have always been the morbidly obese person, even in childhood. My highest weight was 536lbs. I have to be 450lbs to get surgery, and am currently 496lbs. I went in for it twice before in the last 6 years, but ended up choosing not to go through with it at those times as I felt I wasn't emotionally and mentally ready for that lifestyle change yet. Now, I feel I am, and can not be more excited.

Why?

Because it's my life on the line with all this weight. It's my future, my health, my future children's lives.

Can I do it on my own? Yes, I can. But I'm at the point where if I don't lose this weight quickly, I'm going to have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, the list goes on and on. I've been extremely lucky where the only medical problems I've had are anemia (due to morbidly heavy periods), depression, anxiety
, and the normal back pains, legs pains, hip pains, feet pains, ankle pains, etc etc. I need to get this weight off before I get anything worse, or more life threatening than being at this weight already is.

I need to lose this weight quickly so I can enjoy being young while I still am. I have never been to a party, never been to a club, never been to college, I haven't even finished high school due to my weight and depression and anxiety disorders that came with it.

I need to lose this weight quickly so I can help financially support my family instead of them supporting me. I want to fit behind the wheel of a car so I can finally get my diver's license, which I have yet to get because the seat belt wouldn't fit, or the wheel would be stuck on my stomach.

We all have different reasons for the surgery, but in the end it's because we want to be who we are inside, under this weight. We want to be healthy and active and buy clothes from normal stores. We want to be able to go to out and not be pointed at or stared at because of our weight.

The surgery is not a spur of the moment decision that we regret getting in the morning, like a bad tattoo. There is months of medical clearances, doctors visits, psychological screening, health screenings, classes, seminars, nutritionists. Doctors make sure you are emotionally and physically ready for this before they even operate on you, and follow up with you for years afterwards. As for the cost, I'm one of the lucky ones where my insurance pays for it in full, but most (good) insurances pays 70-90% of the cost these days, because they know it's cheaper to pay for the surgery than continue to pay for the medical costs related with obesity.

In the end though, it's a decision that we personally have to make, and be sure it fits our lifestyles. For me, it does. It's something that I feel is going to save my life, and I'm willing to do anything for that.

I don't think that anyone is arguing that weight loss surgery doesn't cause people to lose weight.

But it can have severe complications, and many people that have weight loss surgery are never able to eat even a small meal without having to worry about the painful after effects.

I hope anyone considering a Gastric Bypass check out some of the Gastric Bypass Complications forums on the internet to learn about how truly awful some of the long term complications are. Yes, some people get through it without having to suffer as much as others, but there is a LOT of risk to having your digestive system surgically re-routed.

Sure, it's good to have an option like Gastric Bypass if someone weighs 400 pounds or more and can't lose any other way, but this type of surgery is being done WAY too often. Why? Because convincing people that having a gastric bypass is a good idea is a great way for WSL surgery doctors to rake in money! If they tell people they really should keep dieting and exercising instead of surgery, there's no profit in it for them. In the USA, weight loss surgery is a big business.

And that is a very sad situation.