Search the Community

It's not just you! I have had a similar experience... I've never been a big drinker, and even when I was 300+ pounds, I had a pretty low alcohol tolerance. I typically only drink a few times per year, usually a glass or two of wine on a holiday (I don't normally keep alcohol in my home). After surgery, I went a long time, I think 2+ years, without drinking at all because I've been told that gastric bypass makes alcohol have a stronger effect. Then I had house guests and bought a bottle of red and a bottle of white for two different meals. Tried a small glass and was ok. Then I had leftovers after the guests left and drank the rest over the course of the next week or so. And like you, I noticed that it felt nice going down -- which really concerned me because I didn't want to develop a drinking habit. So I enjoyed finishing off those two bottles, but once they were empty, I did not buy any more. Since then, I've continued to have only a few drinks per year (wine on special occasions) and I've noticed that I have a VERY low tolerance. A single glass of wine leaves me barely able to stand up. I'm not even sure what point I'm making here, but I guess I'm just saying that I don't think it's your imagination that wine can be soothing to the pouch, but the negative effects outweigh the benefits, at least for me. And of course you want to be careful of developing a transfer addiction.

I can eat it, but not much of it because it makes me feel sort of sick. I know a few bypass people who don't tolerate it at all. Some people can handle it, though - but it's got a lot of sugar and fat in it, so even if you tolerate it, I wouldn't eat much of it. Just an occasional, small treat. I do eat sugar free fudgesicles occasionally. Or I'll stir some unsweetened cocoa powder into some low-calorie vanilla yogurt and top it with a couple tablespoons of sugar free Cool Whip and a few berries to make a "sundae".

wow - this is awful. I haven't heard anything this bad before, but the mini-bypass isn't very common in the US (and.I think most of us on this forum are from the US). Although even among people on here who've had mini-bypass, I haven't heard of a case this bad before. I'm so sorry you're going through this.

I have. Reversal from mini gastric bypass to RNY. It's early days for me, but I'm glad I had the reversal. I was suffering from steatorrhea and excessive malabsorption. The steatorrhea has been cured as well as the toxic off the scales smell following a visit to the toilet. I'm now just hoping for some weight gain.

I am currently almost 6 months post op for my original procedure and am writing this from my hospital bed. I am unable to tolerate oral intake of food or fluids of any kind and am being fed via a nasojejunal tube (NJT) and TPN via a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) My surgeon along with many others that have consulted on my case are at a complete loss for what is going on and why I can't tolerate anything. I'm reaching out to fellow people who have undergone bariatric surgery in the hopes of finding someone else with a similar experience to maybe get some opinions/answers. In order to do this I will start from the beginning and tell you all my entire story. I know it's long but I am desperate so please bear with me and read to the end. I will try to explain everything but also be as brief as possible to keep it as short as possible. I had surgery at the end of November 2023. It was a One Anastamosis Gastric Bypass or "mini" bypass. The surgery was routine and there were no issues whatsoever. I couldn't tolerate fluids and my intake was too poor to be released from hospital and progressed to vomiting every time I drank anything. Was diagnosed with a stricture and it was dilated and I finally started progressing. I was discharged from hospital finally almost 2 weeks post op (booked in for further dilatations at regular intervals to slowly stretch the stricture) and was home for less than 24hrs before it began again and my surgeon readmitted me and I underwent another dilatation. Upon getting back to my room I started violently vomiting and no amount of antiemetics would settle it. Emergency CT scan confirmed the stricture was perforated and my stomach contents were leaking into my abdominal cavity. I developed sepsis and had a nasogastric tube inserted for drainage. I underwent IV antibiotics and was later rushed to surgery to repair it, however due to the damage from the infection, it required a conversion to a Roux EN Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) and I needed my abdomen washed out and other infected tissue removed. It took about 5 hrs. I spent a further month in hospital recovering, initially on TPN to supplement my oral intake but was wraned off as my tolerance improved and was finally discharged. At this point in time I had progressed to a pureed diet. I was by no means meeting my requirements but the benefits of being home vs hospital given everything outweighed the negatives and my surgeon planned on seeing me weekly as well as my dietician. Now here is where is starts to get weird and my real troubles began. Just over a week later I woke up one morning and had a sip of water (with a few drops of cordial to break the surface tension) however as soon as it went down I experienced a wave of nausea. It was different from before, I can't really explain the difference but I just ignored it believing it would go away (Denial as I just wanted to get on with my life and get back to work and due to the conversion surgery, my surgeon had created an extra large opening to account for my body closing the join so that it would end up a normal size.) I started experimenting with foods and fluids, different textures, consistencies, temperatures, etc. I tried absolutely everything I could think of. About a week or so later and my intake was getting progressively worse and I was once again admitted and went straight for an endoscopy (My 3rd since 1st surgery) to dilate the suspected stricture but there wasn't one. I then underwent a barrage of tests and every general and GI surgeon/specialist in my town came and consulted on my case, as well as my surgeon consulting doctors from all over. A NGT was eventually inserted and enteral nutrition (EN) started but was not tolerated and the tube was advanced into my intestines to be a NJT, which was then tolerated but the focus was on trying to get my oral intake to be adequate. I spent weeks in hospital trying different medications, getting tests and ruling out different conditions. I was discharged on EN with the NJT on 16 hour feeds at a rate of 50ml/hr which was not enough to meet my nutrition requirements but was the Max rate I could tolerate and the belief at this stage was that the nausea would go away and I'd be able to eat again. On the 8th of May I was admitted for a gastronomy tube insertion into my remnant stomach via laparoscopy as it was finally decided that this problem was not going away and by this stage I had lost 38kg (84lbs) and was severely malnourished, despite increasing my feed rate to 60ml/hr (still not enough to meet nutritional requirements) The purpose of the gastronomy tube was not only to have a more discreet way of feeding and for comfort and whatnot but because the tube is in my remnant stomach, I should be able to tolerate a much higher rate to actually meet my nutritional requirements and spend less time attached to the feeding pump. Feeds were commenced at 20ml/hr the next day but I developed severe pain and discovered feed had soaked the dressing around the tube. I was yet again rushed into surgery as the tube was leaking. Another NJT was inserted along with a PICC line and both EN and TPN were started to maximise my nutritional status while we wait for my body to heal around the tube in order for that leak to stop happening again. I've been on IV antibiotics and whatnot since as well. I developed a fluid collection in my abdomen and needed a percutaneous drainage which failed as the fluid was too thick to aspirate and a minor infection at the insertion site and it was believed that there was a fistula however luckily that was not the case. However yesterday I had a fluroscopy in which contrasted was put into the tube to see what happens and whether it's now working correctly and that caused me to violently retch as my body tried to expel the fluid from my stomach but as its not connected to my oesophagus anymore, it was unable to do so. This has now lead me to start worrying about whether whatever issue is preventing me from tolerating anything going into my pouch is affecting my remnant stomach too. I'm now facing the prospect of permanent EN and TPN for the rest of my life and I'm not even 30. So if you or anyone you know has any ideas or similar experiences or literally anything, please let me know. Even if it's just a chat because I feel so incredibly alone in this. To anyone that made it this far, I appreciate you taking the time to read this and thank you in advance for any responses. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have as well.

Glad you're doing better! My hysterectomy was by far way worse than my bypass (was in the hospital for two weeks) so I understand the issues one can have from removing lady plumbing! You're on the backside now and things are looking up for you! Take care of yourself, looking good!

Honestly, I woke up from my surgery (gastric bypass RNY) feeling cold and it just never went away, LOL. Did your doc do a full bloodwork panel, with iron and all that, and check your blood pressure? Other nutrient deficiencies can have the same symptoms. I've been told by many that it's normal after weight loss and/or WLS. Yes, sometimes it's thyroid related and it's good to check that semi-regularly just in case, but you can also just legitimately be cold from the weight loss. Think about whales and blubber -- they use that fat to keep them warm in the ocean, our fat cells do the same. My hands, feet and nose are frequently cool now, and always seem to be the first places I notice the temperature around me changing. My dad (who has thyroid disease) usually has the coldest hands in the house -- but not anymore!

I had a revision from sleeve to bypass. Best decision I've ever made. But any kind of NSAIDS are a no-go with he bypass. And there are malabsorption issues to contend with as far as meds and vitamins go. But honestly, I wish I would have just done the bypass to begin with.

Hi everyone! So I've been scouring the internet (and the forums lol) for information on menstruation complications post WLS. I've seen plenty of 'scientific' and medical journals talk about how menstrual cycles are better regulated after Gastric Bypass & Sleeve surgeries, and even more comments from WLS patients about how their cycles went haywire, flows became excessive, pain levels increased, etc. Myself, (prior to my WLS) I've always had fairly regular cycles, always heavy flow -- other than at certain points of severe weight gain where I would start skipping (once for 6 months!) or just get trickles of a flow. Other than in my early teens, I never experienced spotting -- whether pre-cycle or between cycles. Now, 2 months post-op I've been getting ... spotting. I think. Again, I've barely ever experienced spotting before but for the past 4 days I've had red/brown discharge on liners & when I wipe. Today one of my ovaries feels sore and my lower back is acting up in a suspiciously pre-period way. I sent a message to my care team -- but they never reply on Fridays to begin with and it's a long weekend here so I doubt I'll hear back from them until Tues/Wed. Would love to get more input on people's personal experiences, whether it's recent post-op or years down the line. Commiserate, complain, let me know this is an (unfortunately) normal thing.

Hey Fam, I had my Gastric Bypass Jan 13, 2023. I'm now 16months post-op and down 127lbs. Life is GOOOOOOD! I'm now having LOTS of indigestion, gas, bloating etc. On a date with my wife We had wine with dinner. I had 5 bites of food. I watched her finish as usual. While sipping my wine i noticed that my pouch felt so good. Comforted even. The wine eased the bloat and pain and pressure. From that moment on I've used wine to ease my bloating and trapped gas. It even seems to make digestion in general easier. Am i imagining this or is there real benefits to wine after bypass surgies to aid us in digestion?

RNY patient here. Actually, my clinic said it's also OK to take NSAIDs with bypass on rare occasions (although I haven't done that in the nine years since I had my RNY). Although ShoppGirl is correct in that NSAIDs can cause more issues with bypass patients than with sleeve patients (which is why they told us only on rare occasions). That said, if you need to take NSAIDs more often that very rarely, then that would be something to consider. And Arabesque's comment about GERD is also true - bypass is usually recommended for people who have GERD as sleeve can make that worse.

So sorry about all you’ve been through. I haven’t had a revision so I can’t offer a suggestion about that or share my experiences, but I wonder if your cough could be a symptom of reflux (GERD) especially as the asthma meds don’t work. Has anyone suggested it? If not it may be worth further investigation by your doctors. If it is GERD, a bypass (mini or full) would be the way to go.

yea I’m gonna have to ask the doctor to dumb it down for me because I don’t understand my normal anatomy, nevermind enough for that to make sense to me from just looking at the picture. When I said he won’t touch the stomach though I guess I should have said he won’t resleeve it for the SADI revision. So my thought was if he doesn’t do anything to make it smaller then I would still be able to eat as much as I can now post SADI (which is a lot more than most people on here). I would still have the benefit of less absorption but no real restriction. So maybe the bypass would be a better choice for me after all if it would add the restriction too. I could be overthinking it.

courtesy of google: you can see that the stomach is in fact smaller after a revision to bypass. and main diff is bypass also "bypasses" the pyloric valve, while sadi/ds still makes use of it (as does the original sleeve). ...but how your surgeon would do either surgery "without touching" your stomach is a head scratcher. can you go back to your surgeon and have them explain your surgery to you (with pictures, if need be!). dont leave until you completely understand. while we can offer our knowledge and experience, we are not doctors...and you may get conflicting info on here that confuses you more.

Another question I would personally ask is about NSAIDS post surgery. I know they are okay on occasion with sleeve and pretty much a definite no after bypass but I wonder about the mini bypass if they are okay. After running into a few occasions that I was advised to take NSAIDS and having doctors flat out refuse to give me prescription pain meds because I am not supposed to take them I would prefer to have the option to take them on rare occasion if necessary.

I am pending revision to my sleeve and my dr said he does not do resleeves because of the high risk and occurrence of leaks and low weight loss. I am pending testing to see if I will be getting bypass or SADI. Not sure if that helps or if your doctor feels the same way but it may be a good thing to ask about.

I had gastric sleeve in Mexico in 2008. It was a good experience and I lost over 80 pounds in less than a year and reached my goal weight. My sleeve was wonderful and it was a good decision for me. I kept the weight off with ease until 2014 when I tore my right rotator cuff at work, was put on steroid treatments for almost a year until the insurance would allow surgery. While on steroids and following the first rotator cuff surgery, I tore the left rotator cuff in 2 places ( starting a powerwasher) which required an additional year of steroid treatments and more surgery. In the process or healing the left side, I tore the right rotator cuff again which caused more steroids and physical therapy and another surgery. In physical therapy they caused damage to the nerve in my left elbow which required the nerve in my elbow to be moved into the muscle. This was a very painful surgery and was difficult to overcome, hence more steroids, Gabapentin and pain meds for nerve pain. Needless to say, 2015 thru 2018 was difficult and I began to put on weight ten pounds here and there that I could not take off. No matter what I did, the weight sticks to my mid section and thighs. After trying for several years, I had just given up the battle. I had regained all of my weight by 2020 and am now able to eat just as much as always. I developed a cough in 2012 that my doctors said was asthma. Meds rarely help it. The heavier I get the worse it gets. I am starting to developed sleep apnea and rather than being put on a breathing machine at night, I am determined to get the weight off and then see where I am with sleeping issues. I contacted my doctor in Mexico and requested information on the sleeve revision and they also discussed the Bypass with me. I was accepted to have either one and due to an out of state job I am on at the time, I am tentatively scheduled for revision surgery in mid August. I have until the end of July to pay the difference and elect to have the bypass if that is what I choose to do. I am looking for information on both and looking for surgery buddies that may be having bypass or sleeve revision surgery in August that may want to share information or may have suggestions to help me decide which surgery to elect to have. My surgeon recommended the bypass or the min-bypass as the best option for me at my age and indicated that I would lose more weight with the bypass than the revision. I was recommended to visit this site to see others experiences and suggestions. Anyone out here have any information they want to share?

Liquid clears your stomach pouch in a matter of seconds after gastric bypass. I know this because on the morning after my surgery, I had to do a swallow test and l literally watched on the screen as my new little pouch filled with a swallow of liquid and immediately started dripping it into my small intestine. By the time I took the third swallow, the first one was no longer in my stomach pouch at all and the second one was mostly emptied, too. That's how it is supposed to be. "Stretching out" your stomach is 99% myth for two reasons. First, at the early stage, your stomach is swollen and stiff. You couldn't stretch it out if you tried, let alone with a mere few ounces of liquid. Second, as time goes on, it's supposed to stretch a bit to allow you to eat a healthy quantity of food because you can't live on 400 calories forever. If you stick to your recommended portion sizes, eating schedule, and fill up on healthy foods, it won't be an issue. I highly recommend watching Dr. Pilcher's video about stomach stretching if you're concerned. Bottom line, most people do not actually stretch their stomachs, they learn to eat around the size restriction by grazing all day and eating high calorie junk, and then blame their "stretched" stomach for their bad behavior when they gain back all the weight. At 8 weeks post-op, swelling has decreased and capacity is closer to what it's meant to be. Drinking 12 oz in 35 minutes is totally normal and healthy at this point. It means you are healing. Solid foods take longer to empty, so eating 3-4 oz per meal will feel very different than drinking 12 oz of water. At 3 months post-op, I can drink 32 oz of hot decaf tea in 30 minutes. I can eat 5-6oz yogurt/bean soup or only 2-3 oz of chicken breast in the same amount of time. It's a function of how much your stomach has to do before it can move along. My advice is to follow the instructions you were given with regard to your number of meals per day, quantity of food at each sitting, macros, etc. Stop when you feel fullness cues, but don't eat more just because you don't feel fullness cues, if that makes sense. You will never need more than 4 oz of chicken at a sitting, but you will likely be able to eat more than that in a year or two. Resist the temptation, and add non-starchy veg instead if you feel hungry. Build good habits now that you can stick to forever.

Thank you! My doctor said when I told her about the rash "lets start the paper trail to get you the tummy tuck!" She's a bypass patient and understands having been there! Thank you again.

They will create a small stomach pouch, same as in a regular bypass. But be aware that even with bypass, the ability to eat more returns over time. If it helps for comparison, though, I can tell you that at 3 months out with gastric bypass, I can eat about 3/4 c yogurt with a little bit of fruit, or 2-3 oz chicken with maybe 1/4 cup cooked veg in one sitting. In both cases, this would take me about 15 minutes to eat.

When you convert from sleeve to bypass do they make your stomach smaller? Or do they just do the portion where they bypass part of the intestine while leaving the sleeved stomach? I was looking at SADI and my surgeon said he wouldn’t touch my stomach because of the high risk of leak with a resleeve but now I am not sure if I’m getting SADI or bypass and I’m curious about whether I will still be able to eat the same amount volume wise with the bypass too.

Day 2 post op gastric bypass. Staying hydrated and living on yogurt. Now i have diarrhea…so hydration is gonna be tough. On the plus side all the pressure i was feeling is gone. Nurse said i need more protein and it will help the diarrhea. Anyone else have this issue postop?

I took Latuda for bipolar when I had my sleeve three years ago and my prescribing doctor was concerned about me not getting enough calories in the beginning for it to absorb properly as well. (For those who don’t know about this particular medication it’s not about it not absorbing due to the surgery itself like many controlled release meds. This med needs the 350 calories in order to absorb fully for anyone, not just people who had surgery). Anyways, My doctor switched me to vraylar for a couple of months prior to surgery just to make sure I was stable on it and then a short time after until I was back to being able to consume 350 calories at one time. The vraylar is quite expensive but luckily they were able to get enough samples for me. The plan was to switch me back once I was eating enough. What was weird and unexpected was post surgery when he tried to switch me back to the Latuda all of a sudden it caused me a great deal of anxiety and I couldn’t tolerate it anymore (even though I was on it for three years before surgery) so he kept me on the vraylar a little longer until things got back more normal for me and then made another change. I am now on a completely different medication. Neither the surgeon or prescribing dr could explain that anxiety except that when you alter the anatomy things just happen sometimes but I just worked with my prescribing dr and he sorted it out. The most important thing is that your prescribing dr and your loved ones are very aware that you may encounter some issues and that everyone is on top of it. If you feel the slightest bit off, you may need to be the one to contact your Dr. You mentioned “the switch” as an option. Not sure if you are speaking if the SADI switch or the Duodenal switch but both of those are restrictive and malabsorbing surgeries. The reason they suggested the sleeve for me was because they were concerned about my other meds not absorbing fully just because of the malabsorbing component of the other surgery. Fast forward three years and I gained my weight back and we are now considering conversion to the SADI or bypass because I gained my weight back. I gained it back because I ate the wrong things though so don’t let that scare you. I only mention it because I’m guessing you can see my current weight and may wonder why I didn’t lose. I did lose quite a bit and maintained it for a while but I was discouraged I didn’t lose it all and I let that get to me. Which is something you should be aware of, you may not lose as much as someone who is not on all these meds. Just don’t get too caught up in comparing your journey to others. I am 5’8” and I got down to 168. I would be so much happier and healthy now if I had just accepted that win instead of getting it in my head that I failed by not making it to where others did.

I don't think there's any malabsorption issues with the sleeve, just the bypass and the switch. I would say talk to your mental health provider, do a lot of research on meds with a sleeve, and then take all of that to whoever you need to see to get you going on the safest surgery for you.

I’d be careful and talk to the provider you see for your mental health meds as well. When you have gastric sleeve and or bypass medication absorption is impaired. It’s a huge adjustment and one you should really research thoroughly and with your provider input, not just the bariatric team. It’s a life long commitment and all things should be considered for success. I know I had to be evaluated by a mental health provider and cleared by him for surgery. I hope it goes well for you!