VSG revision to DS? I need HELP please!

[Sunkiss]

Hello Everyone,

I have a long story as I am sure many of you had. I had a lap band back in 10/2007 that leaked n failed me then I was sleeved back in Sept/2010 and was completely successful, went in weighing 248 and got down to goal 165. Was the best time of my life... I then got pregnant (by surprise) thought i was infertile all these years and it was all because of the weight, anyway, half way in the pregnancy i lost my baby and gained 25 lbs, before i could lose all the weight a few mths later i was pregnant again, this time i gave birth to the most precious little girl ever and gained another 50 lbs, so pretty much i am right back where i started from. Although I am so grateful for her and would have done it all over again, i am miserable with the weight and cannot get it off...I dont want to feel sorry for myself but I feel like people look at me and judge me again and I see depression starting again...I lost my confidence I had after the weightloss and even my health is starting to suffer, nothing major but i can feel it. So because I had a revision already i am really scared to now go in a 3rd time, especially now with a child, i am scared if i have complications how can I leave my child because of weightloss surgery...i dont know yet but I am truly considering the DS or even a bypass...my daughter is now 16 mths and i tried to get this weight off through dieting, working out is challenging now as i am a working mom away from her 10 hrs a day so changing my diet was the best i could do...If diets alone like everyone else worked I would not have needed surgery to begin with...I went to visit my surgeon earlier in the year to discuss the options and he wanted me to have an upper GI done to make sure my sleeve is still okay and speak with the nutritionist to see if she can get me back on track...well my sleeve is fine as i figured it would be since i do still have some restriction, surely not as much post surgery, i can eat more now but not as a normal person...i will say that my hunger was gone after surgery and now i seem to get hungry all the time maybe 30-45 mins after eating...that is part of the problem for me, plus i do not always pick the best foods to eat as well but i do try to eat healthy also...i did start calorie counting n charting and i did lose all of 8 lbs in which i gained right back only doubled that ugh...i need help...restriction did work for me and the fact that i wasnt hungry also worked but now that i lost some of that control it is very hard for me to get back on track...I made an appt to see my surgeon again on the 18th of this mth to discuss my options and i think he will suggest doing the DS but i am scared...scared of the risk this time around and the lifelong mal adsorbing issues, scared of complications in general and not being there for my daughter...I am looking for some insight from those of you out there that have been through the same...I tried getting back on track and its not working so i am weighing my other options...please give me some success stories or encouragement if u can....I know 3yrs post VSG i will not lose as much but i would be happy to lose 50-80 lbs honestly and keep it off...I vloged my whole weighloss journey on YT if anybody is interested...my name there is sunkiss718...Thanks for listening

[lo_227]

I'm sorry you've had some troubles, however - my uncle had a DS - and he struggles more than ever with his nutrition - If you've already had VSG - then it's a matter of getting back on your eating plan, and talking to your nutritionist about how to start getting your weight under control again. Also finding a workout that's fun, i do Zumba and Rock Your Body dance workouts - (in my opinion you can't go wrong with cardio) - Continuous weighloss surgery shouldn't be your go to solution for getting weight off. DS is super aggressive and very dangerous. I don't want to sound judgy (b/c i by no means live in a glass house) but you already have the tools in place to lose the weight you gained from being pregnant, it's just a matter of putting in the effort to do what you already know is required. I wish you the best!

[Marvinator]

There is always a risk with having another surgery and you do have a child now so that would probably not be a preferred route in any case, but add in that rny or bypass leave you with nutritional deficiencies I would try to stiffen my resolve and lose the weight through calorie reduction. Plus, long term you can gain after bypass as well since you no longer have a pyloric valve. without it, you can flush food through your body fast with water and get rid of the full feeling. You cant do that right now since the pyloric valve still regulates passage into intestines. You still have restriction so I would try a different methodology. If you eating carbs, which I assume you are, you can cut out the starches completely (maybe even do that five day pouch thing everyone talks about) and start substituting low caloric density foods for some of what you are eating. Specificly, raw fruits and veggies. maybe a protein drink between meals to keep you full longer. I'm sure no one on here has all the answers for you but hopefully you can cobble together an alternate plan rather than another surgery. There is a new drug out there that is gaining acceptance called Qsymia or something like that. I read that people lose very large amounts on it. Maybe you could do that at the same time you are reestablishing a healthy diet. I hate encouraging using weight loss drugs but I think its better than having a bypass.

[Sunkiss]

guys, i am sure you have been on diets and obviously they didnt work for you which is why you had surgery to begin with right? okay same for me, i know what it takes, i dont need a speech about that...my tool is not the same as it was initially, apparently after 2 pregnancies and 3 yrs i have lost control and need help again, my daughter is 16mths and the weight has not come off only increased!!! i have done the CAL COUNTING, i specifically said IT DOESN'T WORK FOR ME!!! if it did i would not be here asking you guys to help me out!!! i did all you are saying already

[Ann2]

Sunkiss ... I know NOTHING from experience, merely from reading (my sleeving will happen in 2014).

Have you considered the 5-day pouch experience? I don't know what it is, but just know that it's something sleeved people do from time to time to "shrink" their sleeve smaller (like it was initially).

Another thing I've read about sleeved people doing with great success is following an eating program called the 5:2 program.

That's all I know. I'm tapped out.

Good luck to you.
Ann

[Marvinator]

You said you needed help. Is the only help you were willing to accept going to be someone advising you to get a bypass? If so, I doubt you would get it here. Most of us, probably yourself included chose this route over bypass because its safer and more restrictive. If you cant restrict calories, bypass wont work for you long term either. There is no pyloric valve so you can easily flush food down with fluids and take in a lot of calories after the initial stage has passed. And you will eventually feel hunger again just like you do with the sleeve now. And you will have nutritional deficiencies. And I never said count calories. I said change the type of foods you eat to those that arent calorically dense such as fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. Even if you dont have the restriction you once had, you still have significant restriction and if you eat those types of foods you can restrict calories. If that isnt the case as you seem to believe, what makes you think it will be different long term with a bypass? Good luck whatever direction you choose.

[JustWantToBeHealthyAgain]

It's okay not to want to count calories (I'm not a huge fan of it either) but you need to watch what you eat regardless of the surgery you have. You can't eat whatever you desire including food that is calorie dense and lose weight. No surgery is going to make that happen.

[Sunkiss]

Marvinator...the topic specifically says DS ...bypass is not my first choice...i think i posted on the wrong forum...i stated that i do try to eat healthy, i am 42 yrs old and aware of the right foods to choose, yes sometimes i pick the wrong things, just like most ppl and i do watch what i eat...it doesnt matter what i eat, i feel hungry in less than an hour, I HAVE TRIED, prior to pregnancy and the hormone changes this was not an issue for me since we lose most of the ghrelin hunger hormone in the part of the stomach that is removed, i would eat a small amount of food and be full for hours, basically had to force myself to eat...thanks for the help...

[Grace]

Hi Sunkiss -
I get it.
I didn't have pregnancies but I did have medical issues that stalled my weight loss and now that they are worked out (mostly) I also cannot get my "mojo" back. Essentially the sleeve magic is gone. I feel just like before surgery. Hungry ALL the time, nearly unable to stop myself from eating, back to the diet books and even thinking about meds (Doc will not give me any, too many issues)....
Not sure about you but my biggest issue is carb addiction. When you are first sleeved you get that sick feeling when you eat them, dumping, whatever it is for each person. Then there is that great restriction. A "mature" sleeve is about 2-2 1/2 cups. You can put a lot of calories in 20 oz of space if you aren't careful. We know what we're "supposed" to do - protein first, water load before meals (this is for mature sleeves, not new ones), don't graze..after a while it sounds like the Charlie Brown teacher talking "wa, da wa, wa wa"...
So, as to your original question -
Are you a healthy person other than your food issues? do you have hypoglycemia? thyroid issues? anything else that requires you get optimal nutrition? Do you plan to have another child in the next say... 2 yrs? Those would all be reasons to rethink the DS because it's going to put a strain on your system.
What I would consider (and am considering) is asking your doc to "resleeve" you. See if he will go in and give it a tightening up. I think some of us are lucky and get surgeons who know what parts of the stomach don't stretch as easily and some, don't, be it lack of experience or whatever. Or, perhaps, some of us just have more naturally stretchy stomachs. Like you, I feel if I had the restriction back, I'd be far better off.
But here is the reality as I see it to all this....
Even if we (I) go get resleeved, chances are excellent that at a year out those carb cravings are going to come right back.
So, are we screwed? I don't know. I wish I did. I wish I could get the bypass or the DS at this point but I'm far too ill and messing with my plumbing is out of the question. Whether it's right for you, is entirely up to you, your husband, your doctor and your plans for the future.
Wishing you well - thanks for having the courage to come ask. People here need to know all the realities and it's hard to come back as a non perfect sleever because no one wants to think they can have bumps along the way...but they can.
I've begun to think of the past 15 months as "Sleeve interrupted" . I'm looking for ways to shrink it down, to use it as much as possible...but when it comes down to it - sadly - for some of us, it's just about that eternal internal fight with a sleeve or without it.




Ok, this site messing with my words is really starting to piss me off. I type in R N Y and it changes it to "roux - n - y or gastric bypass" whatever!!!! argh!

[katiedidd40]

Hi Sunkiss...I wish I knew how to help you, what words would guide you in the right direction. Having my lap band fail, I get what you are going through. Before I was sleeved, I had little restriction in my band, so I was dilligent to 1200 calories a day, at least 30 min of exercise and I was gaining weight. So frustrating and disheartening. Please keep us posted on what path you decide to take. All the best to you.

[Grace]

Wanted to come back and say that I may not give my sleeve enough credit....my worst day of calories/carbs since the sleeve is still only 2100 calories and 110 carbs. Now, to many (non sleeve) people that would mean a normal day of eating, my hubby eats 3500 cal a day. But like katie above, I gain on 1200 calories. My magic numbers are 900 calories, and less than 40 carbs a day. If, and only if I stay within about 5% of both those numbers (I use fitness pal) will I lose weight, sloooowly, about 1 lb a week.
Good old bad old insulin resistance.... I blame all the kool aid I drank as a child...

[JustWantToBeHealthyAgain]

^ I have insulin resistance and I am scared of this happening to me. Didn't your insulin resistance improve once you lost weight?

I developed it over years as I got heavier and I think the heavier I am, the worse it is.

[Grace]

^ I have insulin resistance and I am scared of this happening to me. Didn't your insulin resistance improve once you lost weight?

I developed it over years as I got heavier and I think the heavier I am, the worse it is.

I am not an endo, but testing on me showed mine actually got worse after about 9 months with the sleeve. I developed post bariatric hypoglycemia, so my insulin is hair trigger now. The stress of eating nearly all protein for six months messed with my insulin output. Elsewhere on the site you'll see me suggesting losing more slowly by eating some complex carbs at every meal (after protein), this is because my endo says it may help prevent this side effect.

[JustWantToBeHealthyAgain]

What do you like to eat as complex carbs? Were you really getting zero carbs? I am going to strive to get some healthy ones in. I don't want to end up with that.

[Marvinator]

Sorry, sunkiss, I lump both RNY and DS in same boat since both bypass intestines. DS is even riskier than RNY and nutritional deficiencies are even more likely. My sister wants to go that route too and I cant talk her out of it. And I am sorry I probably let that spill over into my post here earlier. I hope whatever you do works out for you.