Sunnyway

Update: I'm now down 36 pounds on the liver reduction diet. I am actually a bit stricter than that. After reading several books about Food Addiction I concluded it was true for me. I'm not binger, but I do "graze". Therefore I am on an abstinence diet, which they say is the only way to overcome addictions. I abstain from all sugar, wheat flour and processed food. After about two weeks, I no longer had any cravings. My calorie intake has dropped from 1200 kcal to 1000 or less without intention. It just happened when I no longer felt the urge to graze between meals. I record everything I eat on the Baritastics app. My nutritianist OK'd me for surgery, and so did the psychologist. I hoped to get a surgery date in August. Then 10 days ago I had bad fall and fractured my right arm. It is a non-displaced compression fx at the shoulder. No surgery or cast, but I must wear a sling for 8-10 weeks. I can't continue aquatic exercises or use the machines at the YMCA, and my knees hurt too much for walking {although I am trying.} The orthopedic doctor says I must postpone surgery until I can use the arm to lift myself. I am aiming for September or October. In the meantime, I will continue with the abstention diet. Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction by Vera Tarman Weight Loss Surgery Does NOT Treat Food Addiction by Connie Stapleton Bright Line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin and Free by Susan Peirce Thompson A Pound of Cure, Change Your Eating and Your Life, One Step at a Time by Matthew Weiner The Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients 3rd Edition by Colleen Cook

I am approaching revision to RNY performed in 1990. At that time the pouch was not cut away from the stomach, just stapled. The staple line failed, leaving a fistula between pouch and stomach. I eventually regained all I had lost. I didn't know that a revision was even possible until recently. I'm going to go for it! I don't recall having severe dumping syndrome, but I did have my gallbladder removed at the same time as the gastric bypass, so that may have made a difference. I had more trouble with chest pressure from overeating, which led to upchucking for relief. It still happens once in a while with certain foods despite the faulty pouch. I have already sworn off sugar and flour. After three months of abstinence, I don't get cravings often. I've accepted that I'm a food addict and any food containing sugar or flour is triggering. This is going to be a lifetime project because I don't want to regain what I will able to lose after having the revision. After I get past the post-surgery liquid/puree/soft food stage, I am also going to quit all sugar substitutes. They trigger me as badly as real sugar.

I apologize. I didn't mean to sound so judgmental. I also had RNY before there were any programs, so I know what you mean. I meant well and hope you can overcome your challenges.

Jayali, I can think of three reasons why you are feeling so depressed and tired: post partum depression, carrying for an infant while holding down a job, and lack of vitamins and minerals. You need to get with the program. Take your supplements religiously and eat according to your food plan. I recommend that seek treatment for your addictions: medication and food. This may mean joining a 12-step program such as Overeaters Anonymous, AA, or NA. Avoid all sugar, artificial sweeteners, and flour. These are the things that trigger most of us. Otherwise, you will defeat your surgery and regain all that you've lost. If you've been prescribed a CPAP machine, find a mask that suits you, and use the CPAP every night. Getting enough sleep can make all the difference in the world. There are non-addictive sleeping pills that are very effective, such as Lunesta. I recommend reading Weight Loss Surgery Does Not Cure Food Addiction by Connie Stapleton and How Weight Loss Surgery Really Works, by Matthew Weiner. Please return to your obstetrician and bariatric surgeon and get help.

I'm pre-op (for revision). I'd probably gain weight at 1500 calories. Over the past three months, my calorie count has dropped from 1200 to even under 1000 per day. I'm OK with it. I swore off sugar and flour 3 when I started the pre-op dieting. I don't get the cravings I once had although the first month was a b***h. Protein shakes are a game-changer. They weren't around when I had my gastric bypass 30 years ago. I usually substitute 1 meal per day with a protein shake. I've discovered that there are vast differences among the brands. I prefer the taste of the plant-based protein to the whey-based.

Yes, I take magnesium citrate to avoid muscle cramps.

I had RNY around 1990 at St. Luke's Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. I don't recall the surgeon's name. I kept the weight off for five years and gradually regained all I had lost in the following years.

You may lose hair after a bypass but it will grow back. I’ve been using a biotic shampoo and taking biotic supplements. It couldn’t hurt!

They certainly do perform RNY gastric bypasses now. It's still the gold standard. Some doctors talk their patients into the sleeve because it's easier for the surgeon, not necessarily better for the patient. I had RNY in 1990. Back then RNY surgery involved stapling between pouch and stomach, not separation. It was open surgery and I was in the hospital for 7 days. I had no pre-op or post-op nutritional guidance. I was handed a 1-page low-cal diet and told not to throw up. Two follow visits post-surgery were to check the incision and I was then left to my own devices. I learned on my own to take vitamin and mineral supplements; no one told me. I lost about 75 lbs from a high weight of 319, stopped losing after about six months, but kept the weight off for about five years before starting to gain it all back again. For the past 20 years, I've yoyo-ed with countless diets and food plans but always return to that same high setpoint. I'm now 73 years old and am going to give it another shot. My knees and hips are shot, I've got a pacemaker, and I figure I'll die within a few years if I can't lose all this excess weight. I first learned about revision surgery about a year ago, just before COVID hit. This spring I followed up with a hospital bariatric clinic about 2 hours from my home. I've been on a liver-reducing diet for three months. I had a barium swallow a couple of weeks ago that revealed that the staples had given way and there was a fistula between the pouch and stomach, which explains why I stopped losing weight from the RNY. I had an endoscopy today and had a conversation with the surgeon who told me that the leak occurred because of peristalsis of my stomach, not (as I thought) because I ruined it due to up-chucking too often. The new surgical methods are much improved and there is extensive pre-op and post-op guidance and follow-up. I will have my psych evaluation in two weeks. I'm within 2 pounds of my prescribed pre-op diet, but don't have a surgery date yet for the revision. I do not want to fail again, so I will probably seek therapy for food addiction even if it is not recommended during the psych evalutation.