summerset

Information or not - it always surprises me because after all: it's still surgery and would anyone expect being able to dance merrily down the hallway the day after e. g. an appendectomy? Or not having any pain? Being at unease for a while after WLS and the general anesthesia that comes with it seems like something one doesn't need to be especially educated on. It's something common sense tells you.

Like wondering why they don't feel physically good enough to take on anything three days after surgery?

Every drug has potential side effects. 🙁 I wish I could get finally off the PPI. Might give it another try.

Did he say that it's because of potential bile reflux?

Ursodeoxycholic acid would be used to treat the symptoms of bile reflux, not PPI.

These 60-%-studies are also usually about longer time spans, e. g. 5 years. That's a (maybe quite depressing) thing to remember as well.

It shows just how strong food addiction really is. It's a bit like seeing a patient smoking a cigarette the day after he lost part of his leg due to arteriosclerosis.

I think this is something to keep in mind (like really keeping in the mind): "self-selecting success group", especially when it comes to the old timers. How many not-successful old timers are there writing regularly on the boards? Not many, if any. Sometimes someone with regain after several years of having WLS pops up but they never seem to stick around for long, only for a few posts (and I can absolutely understand why they don't want to hang around).

Of course they would. They're eating only 500 kcal a day.

My thoughts about this are: "Why do so many patients seem to feel the need to go on special restrictive diets after having WLS? Aside from allergies, intolerances or ethical reasons - why make a diet more restrictive than it has to be? Especially when thinking about that neither going "keto" nor "low carb" nor "low fat" solved our weight problems."

I had acid reflux and got an MGB - reflux got way better. Unfortunately not all RNY patients are free of reflux as well. Feels a bit like throwing a coin when you have reflux and have to decide for one surgery. An MGB is comparable to a Billroth-II-Anastomosis. There are tons of studies on Billroth II surgery. General surgeons perform it since decades when it comes to ulcers (before anyone knew about HP) and cancer.

There are plenty of protein powders and "milks" out there that don't contain lactose. Also not all contain artificial sweeteners. If the sweet taste is important to you and you don't want to add calories: have you tried different artificial sweeteners?

That's one of the reasons I deleted mine after being on this board for awhile.

There are quite a few vegetarians and vegans on this board. Maybe you want to check out the veg threads?

No envy here. That's how different people are. Just an observation but in the hospital it seemed to me that the "bypass people" could eat and drink more and better from the beginning on compared to the "sleeve people". As for restriction: how much did you eat before surgery compare to now?

Because I think only someone who was never fat can attribute all these changed reactions from other people to "having more confidence now".

No, I was in fact pleasantly surprised since I still feel some heartburn when I'm late with my meds (I sometimes notice it when working late). I expected the usually inflammation stuff they always seemed to find during the past years.

I don't know if that is really something to brag about but my last gastroscopy came back fine without any signs of inflammation in the stomach or esophagitis. The little scar I have down there has also healed well as it seems. Ok, maybe it is something to brag about because after years of having "inflammation" I did some dietary changes and of course I don't have proof that this caused the healing but it would be a big coincidence since there was no changes in medication.

So... we brag!

Isn't fishing for compliments something else? Like "OMG, I'm so FAT!!!!1", hoping to get the answer: "Oh NOOO hon, a BMI of 19 is not FAT!!!!!1"

This therapist of yours has never been fat, right?

I think this is an interesting question. Is the guy who gets from a BMI of 65 to 31 really not as successful as the gal who gets from BMI 40 to 23? And who decides this "ultimate goal weight" so many people are striving for anyway? How much lifelong effort are people willing and able to put into this whole weight/food thing? I think this is a question to ponder and being honest about to yourself. People are talking about "getting educated" before surgery all the time and how important that is. Surgeons talk a lot about that most patients won't reach a normal weight and yet this seems to be a part of pre-surgical education that many patients either seem to completely ignore or are not willing to accept at all.

Do you mean "hunger" or "I could eat something of that now"?

But doesn't that advice translate into nothing but "ignore your hunger and be on a diet for the rest of your life"? We all know this never worked for us.

Me, too. However, I was afraid of the bypass surgery and years ago it was kind of complicated to get the revision (and no guarantee you'd get it at all!!). Nowadays there are quite a few hospitals in Germany that perform revisions because of reflux without the patient having to get permission from insurance first!