Tink11

Hi! I am 15 years out from DS. I will tell you what I was told not only by my surgeon but more or less everyone in my support group. I say from my support group because when I had surgery there was no DS Surgeon in our state and everyone left the state to have surgery, hence I don't think any of us had the same surgeon other than a married couple. EMBRACE THE FAT!!!! Number one rule! If you don't see fat in your toilet your not eating enough. My skin gets extremely dry any time I cut the fat. I am shocked that you were told or assumed that low fat was great for you. Protein should be about 100 grams a day split up in 20-25 gram servings, so any fatty meat is good!!! Avoid sugar. Sugar isn't as bad for DS'ers as it is for RNY, we don't dump. However, we absorb 100% of the sugar we take in. I am also surprised you can eat bread at all. Most DS'er will have bloating and serious gas issues from bread. For me (and from most I have heard from) the gas hits at the night so you may not be aware of it. For me it has been so bad the stink wakes me up at nigh, thank goodness I can blame the dog Try going flour free for a month then reintroduce it to your body, if you have a reaction please stop. To make your diet easy for you, the order you should be eating your food, fatty meats,non starchy veggies with butter or olive oil, if your still hungry go back to fatty meat you didn't eat enough!!! Go easy on the starchy veggies. IF you need bread and desserts, no more than a bite or two. But as my surgeon says, if you still hungry by the time you get to bread and dessert your out eating your surgery! As for malabsorption, you absorb about 20-25% of fat, 50ish% of protein and 100% of sugar (carbs are sugar, stay way from carbs that are not veggies) You need to go back to experimenting with your body, bread...flour based food give me gas, bloat and in the end a lot of time in the bathroom. I also feel like I have the flu. My husband will look at the cookie in my hand and will ask me if I have plans for tomorrow and is it worth being sick on the couch for. Most of the time it isn't! I also have issues with rice, it will clog me up. I have heard of other DS'ers with that issue with rice too, but many more with flour. Sugar will cause the scale to go up. I still eat sugar, but it is a rare treat, not a daily ,weekly or even monthly treat. Mostly a yearly treat at this time of year. But I still very easy on it because to much will cause bloating and gas too. That is normal for humans who don't eat sugar, not just DS'ers. On the sugar note, if your craving sugar your going thru withdrawal or some protein drinks will cause cravings or you need to up your vitamin Bs special B12. Ok, what to eat on the go. I drive for a living so I have this down. My favorite is meat and cheese roll ups. What ever meat and cheese is on sale at the deli. In the roll up I will put a slice of red pepper or a some cream cheese or a smear of spinach dip (fat is your friend!!!) Jerky and beef sticks are great! Nuts. Costco has parmesan cheese chips, LOVE THEM! Tuna salad eaten with a fork with a cheese chip on top. I get the fatty tuna and a bit of crunch from the cheese chip. Love it! Salad with LOTS of meat. I can do chicken strips, bunless burgers, salad at any fast food place. Be careful of yogurt, most are low fat and high sugar. Actually in general avoid any food that is low fat, the sugar is crazy high. If you want yogurt, plain and add your own fruit or sugar free jam to it. You can eat fruit, pick higher fiber ones just be aware of the amount of sugar your eating. I do apples slices and berries mostly, easy to pack for the road. These are treats, not staples. Depression, I never had depression issues before surgery and was not prepared for it after. It hit me about a year out. I take lexapro now, it does not cause weight gain. I have noticed that when I eat more fatty fish, salmon or can tuna in fat (hard to find anymore) I feel better. I upped my omegas when I caught that, so now I am taking those with my vitamins. I would suggest talking to your primary about depression and then getting a therapist or councilor to talk to. Not only for everything going on in your life, you have a lot! but also for food addiction. Surgery will not fix food addiction and if you don't get a handle on it, you will eventually out eat your surgery.

I did not have this issue right after surgery, I don't know why. Mine happened about a year after surgery. However, I did know a lot of people who did go thru this issue at support groups. Most were missing food. Food is so wrapped up into everything we do. It becomes our emotional support, best friend and all round go to for anything happening in our lives. Sad-cry with a bowl of ice cream, happy-celebrate with ice cream! Missing food is normal. I have heard it referred to as 'mourning' many times. The trick is learning to deal with your emotions with food. Surgery fixes our body but not our minds concerning food. You need to talk with someone. Most surgery hoops require seeing a therapist before surgery but it is not required after. I was very lucky that a person in my support group was a therapist and suggested a great person for me to see. My suggestion would find a therapist who specializes in food addiction or any addiction if you can't find one specializing in food. If a therapist is out of the question for you, I would suggest attending as many support groups as you can. I am 15 years out last Sept. 4 years ago my step mother died and in a span of 6 months I gained almost back to my pre-surgery weight!!!! Scared the crap out of me when I finally got the nerve to step on the scale. I went back to the therapist and cleaned up my eating back to the way I am suppose to eat and can say I am back to my normal weight. Food addiction doesn't go away because of surgery. Please find someone to talk to.