James Marusek

Fat is an excellent insulator. When I lost the weight, I became more sensitive with the cold. When I am outdoors working in the snow, I discovered hand warmers. They are marvelous and now an essential element to my wellbeing.

Immediately after surgery I became lactose intolerant. But after several weeks this condition went away.

In general, teeth do not go bad after surgery. There was one woman who attended one of our bariatric support group meetings who indicated she began losing teeth and her hair after surgery. But it sounded like she had bad surgery. Her stomach was made so small that she could consume only a thimble full of food at a time. She was over a year out and was deficient in everything vitamins, minerals, protein.

After a gastric bypass operation, the most important items are Protein, Vitamins and fluids. Meals are secondary. Your body is converting your stored fat into energy. That is why you are losing weight. There are many choices for Protein shakes out there. To me they all taste horrible. It is important for you to find one that you can tolerate. So experimentation is in order. Also you can blend things into your protein shakes and it will not count against your meal allotment. I found that blending in a banana into my Protein shake improved the taste substantially. Blending Greek yogurt might work for you. As your meal allotment increases, you will be able to derive more and more protein from your meals. I used high protein home made chili and Soups. I am at 1 cup per meal now and I derive around 65 grams of protein from my meals alone. As a result, I went from 3 protein shakes per day, down to 2, down to 1, and then down to 0.

It took me 6 months to get to a happy state. I found that if I mix foods together, it produced more flavor and it went down easier. I use home made high Protein chili and Soups for my meals. I have included a short article about my experience (including recipes) on the internet. Here is a link. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

A recent study conducted by researchers from Oslo University Hospital in Norway compared the 5 year outcomes of two types of bariatric surgery. Gastric Bypass (GB) was compared with BilioPancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD-DS). The mixed results are described in this article in the following link. http://acsh.org/2015/02/two-types-bariatric-surgery-compared/

I am 21 months post-op from RNY surgery. Last winter was a severe winter for us. It snowed almost every other day. My driveway is 900 feet long and I spent a lot of time clearing it from snow. I took the task in stride and because of my surgery, I had a significant increase in my stamina. I am 66 years old. I remember a little pain but I was using a lot of muscles that I normally don't use. But what I really remember is the cold. I no longer had the padding that I use to have and my fingers and feet were frigid cold. I started to use hand warmers for the first time. They were a life saver.

I don't know. All I know is that I am the same me. Just a lot healthier with more stamina.

After surgery your taste buds will change. After RNY surgery, I was no longer hungry. I found it easy to lose weight when hunger was taken off the table. After surgery there are 3 important drivers. These are Protein intake, Vitamin intake and Fluid intake. Meals are secondary. Your body has stored fat that will power your body for several months. Your body will convert this fat into energy and you will lose weight. After surgery, one of the most important things you can do is find a protein supplement that you can tolerate. I hate them all but I could tolerate Muscle Milk Light. Everyone has different tastes. As you progress and your meal volume increases, your meal approach can vary significantly. I focused on using home made high protein chili and Soups. That meant that when I achieved the one cup per meal in meal volume, I was getting around 65 grams of protein out of my meals alone. This allowed me to transition down from my protein supplements from 3 per day, down to 2 per day, down to 1 per day and now none. Instead I do (no sugar added) cocoa or a berry smoothie for a little extra protein.

After surgery, I became lactose intolerant. In other words, when I drank a cup of milk, it was instant diarrhea. That went away after a couple months. Also the part of your stomach that processes fats and sugars has been cut away during the surgery. According to my nutritionist, your intestines will realize what is happening and evolve and begin to uptake fats and sugars. This transformation takes several months to happen. So it is important to avoid fats and sugars during the early months after surgery because they can also lead to diarrhea.

Congratulations on achieving a 117 pound weight loss. I am 21 months post-op from RNY surgery. My body found its natural weight level. When I hit bottom, my weight loss stopped and I entered the maintenance phase. I never set a goal weight. They seem to be an artifact of weight loss diets. When you enter the maintenance phase of the program, the important thing is maintaining the weight that you already lost. That is key.

When I began the medically supervised diet and exercise program prior to surgery, I gave up all caffeine and carbonated beverages cold turkey. I lost 20 pounds on that change along. I had a 5 diet coke a day habit. But I suffered a major withdrawal syndrome, very severe headaches for about a week. Then I was O.K. It is better to get this over with now than to compound it with the effects of surgery.

After surgery, I developed very fine wrinkles all over my face. It made me look 100 years old. My eyes looked sunken. My wife suggested I use Bio Oil. I bought it at CVS. I applied it each morning and the wrinkles went away and the area around my eyes look much better now. It is possible that I was not drinking enough fluids. I was told that it could cause wrinkles too.

There are two types of sublingual Vitamin B12. The correct one to take is methylcobalamin.

After surgery the most important drivers are protein, liquid and vitamin requirements. Foods are not a driver. Your body is working on the energy stored in your fat. That is why there is a rapid weight loss in the beginning. So in the beginning focus on getting in the protein, generally this is by using protein shakes. As time goes on you will transition to protein bars as a supplement and getting more and more of your protein from meals. Protein shakes for me taste terrible. Everyone's taste is different, but an individual should try and find one they can tolerate. Some protein shakes come in powder form and some are premixed. I used a powder form (Muscle Milk Light) and quickly discovered I needed an electric blender (Ninja single serve) because when I tried to mix them by hand, they would not mix completely. I also found that blending allowed me to mix in some fruits (bananas) which made them go down easier. I went from three protein shakes a day down to two down to one as my protein requirements were derived more from the protein in the meals. Eventually I went completely off the protein shakes. I found that I could tolerate meals that were mixtures with a liquid element better than solids. So therefore I concentrated on homemade high protein soups and chili. These worked very well for me.

Its hard at the beginning. Need to just try a lot of different protein powders until you can find something that you can tolerate. Are you able to drink milk?

After surgery the most important drivers are protein, liquid and vitamin requirements. Foods are not a driver. Your body is working on the energy stored in your fat. That is why there is a rapid weight loss in the beginning. So in the beginning focus on getting in the protein, generally this is by using protein shakes. As time goes on you will transition to protein bars as a supplement and getting more and more of your protein from meals. Protein shakes for me taste terrible. Everyone's taste is different, but an individual should try and find one they can tolerate. Some protein shakes come in powder form and some are premixed. I used a powder form (Muscle Milk Light) and quickly discovered I needed an electric blender (Ninja single serve) because when I tried to mix them by hand, they would not mix completely. I also found that blending allowed me to mix in some fruits (bananas) which made them go down easier. I went from three protein shakes a day down to two down to one as my protein requirements were derived more from the protein in the meals. Eventually I went completely off the protein shakes. I found that I could tolerate meals that were mixtures with a liquid element better than solids. So therefore I concentrated on homemade high protein soups and chili. These worked very well for me.

incredibly slow

After surgery the most important drivers are protein, liquid and vitamin requirements. Foods are not a driver. Your body is working on the energy stored in your fat. That is why there is a rapid weight loss in the beginning. So in the beginning focus on getting in the protein, generally this is by using protein shakes. As time goes on you will transition to protein bars as a supplement and getting more and more of your protein from meals. Protein shakes for me taste terrible. Everyone's taste is different, but an individual should try and find one they can tolerate. Some protein shakes come in powder form and some are premixed. I used a powder form (Muscle Milk Light) and quickly discovered I needed an electric blender (Ninja single serve) because when I tried to mix them by hand, they would not mix completely. I also found that blending allowed me to mix in some fruits (bananas) which made them go down easier. I went from three protein shakes a day down to two down to one as my protein requirements were derived more from the protein in the meals. Eventually I went completely off the protein shakes. I found that I could tolerate meals that were mixtures with a liquid element better than solids. So therefore I concentrated on homemade high protein soups and chili. These worked very well for me.

After surgery the most important drivers are protein, liquid and vitamin requirements. Foods are not a driver. Your body is working on the energy stored in your fat. That is why there is a rapid weight loss in the beginning. So in the beginning focus on getting in the protein, generally this is by using protein shakes. As time goes on you will transition to protein bars as a supplement and getting more and more of your protein from meals. Protein shakes for me taste terrible. Everyone's taste is different, but an individual should try and find one they can tolerate. Some protein shakes come in powder form and some are premixed. I used a powder form (Muscle Milk Light) and quickly discovered I needed an electric blender (Ninja single serve) because when I tried to mix them by hand, they would not mix completely. I also found that blending allowed me to mix in some fruits (bananas) which made them go down easier. I went from three protein shakes a day down to two down to one as my protein requirements were derived more from the protein in the meals. Eventually I went completely off the protein shakes. I found that I could tolerate meals that were mixtures with a liquid element better than solids. So therefore I concentrated on homemade high protein soups and chili. These worked very well for me.

Congratulations. Wait until you hit the stage where the clothes no longer fit and you start dropping sizes. I went from a size 46 down to a 33 in pants and from a 3X down to a size Small in shirts.

I had RNY surgery 20 months ago. I lost hunger right after the surgery and the weight seem to just melt off. I had episode of severe acid reflux prior to surgery but none after. I encountered dumping a few times but you learn quickly to avoid it.

Welcome to the site. I am 20 months post-op. I have lost 110 pounds from RNY surgery. My diabetes and high blood pressure went into remission almost right after the surgery and I am no longer taking any medication for those problems.

I am 66 years old. I had diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and several other conditions. I am 20 months post-op from RNY surgery. All those conditions went into remission shortly after the operation. Most were gone by the time I left the hospital two days after the operation.

That is the approach that I take. I try things out and find out what works for me. As a result of RNY surgery, I have to focus on four main items: meal, vitamin, protein and liquid requirements. On meals the requirement is 1 cup (8 ounces) per meal. Protein is 75-90 grams per day. Liquids are 64-80 ounces per day. The vitamins I take daily are: 1260 mg calcium citrate, 5000 IU Vitamin D3, 1250 mg sublingual Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin), 3 Flintstone's complete chewable multivitamins, and 1 65 mg iron (ferrous sulfate). I also take one 100 mg vitamin B1 weekly. Iron and calcium must be spaced apart. Because in RNY surgery they cut away the part of my stomach that converts food into vitamins, my body no longer produces the vitamins I need and without proper supplements I can become deficient. And that can lead to some serious illness. Meals are a balance between protein, carbs and fats. I eat snacks but primarily in the forms of fats and proteins. I put together an article about my experience with RNY. You can find it here. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf