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I had my revision surgery yesterday. I’m surprised how easily I drink fluids.

I'm a little over 1 year post-op. Sleeved 12/4/20 in Tijuana, amazing experience, no complications and good follow up care with a good state side PCP who approved of and supported going to Mexico. I started at 345 lbs and currently weigh 225 lbs at 5'7 so 120 lbs lost in a year. Emotionally, I'm sad, frustrated and need some support. I have zero appetite (absolutely none) and take a med who's off label usage is for binge eating disorder which further surpresses anything hunger related. This med is for executive dysfunction issues (ADHD) so going off is not an option. I have no cravings. I'm very much struggling to eat, but I have serious food intolerances. I cannot tolerate most meat such as chicken, beef or pork. It makes my stomach cramp horribly. If I do force myself to eat it, I can maybe get a few ounces in but I'm miserable for a while after. Shrimp is the only animal protein that I can tolerate consistently with little issues. Even fish can be problematic only due to palate and taste bud changes. I can no longer tolerate eggs by themselves. I vomit within 10 minutes and vomiting triggers food avoidance for days. This has been mitigated by a therapist and not eating eggs. Eggs used as a binder in things like bread, cake or muffins are fine. Rice, pasta, bread and vegetables give me no problems. Dairy is ok as long as it's Fairlife milk and protein shakes or aged cheese. Any other cow based dairy items trigger diarrhea at the worst, stomach cramping/bloating at the least. Non-dairy such as oat milk and nut milks are no issues. Most protein shakes/powders make me vomit like eggs do. I have spent hundreds of dollars on protein shakes and am grateful that my husband can drink anything or it'd all go to waste. Surprisingly, I can tolerate deli meat, but very tiny portions like in a lunchable. Same goes for sandwiches so I've been consistent with those. Snacks are non-existent except for sunflower seeds. Sometimes even Doritos bother me. The only slider food I had for a while was ice cream, but it triggered lactose issues I've never had before so... Drinking is not an issue though I do have issues with certain waters, but juice? Tea? Coffee? No problems! Anything liquid doesn't bother my stomach. Even drippings from the chicken I'll put on rice! I'm also experiencing gastro issues... Specifically the trigger to release your bowels when you eat. It's an involuntarily action your body does, but mine is violent. For months I had nothing my diarrhea after eating. I did a stool test and it was only slight inflammation. It's slowed down some but I just stick near a toilet when I eat. It doesn't matter really what I eat either. I also have GERD (did not have it prior, one of the lucky few that develop it post surgery) and am on prescription meds because OTC does not work. GERD is not every day. I'll have a flare up (connected to nothing!) Maybe 1x per month for a few days and then nothing. The above intolerances and gastro issue trigger food avoidance how vomiting does. I'm literally disgusted 99% of the time I'm in the kitchen when looking to feed myself because of the physical issues I'm having with food. I have no problems cooking for and feeding others (I have a family) and being in the kitchen and cooking is still an absolute joy. I have no negative physical or mental reactions to food that I do not plan to eat. Strangely, I'm VERY excited to still try new foods and will go with friends or family who have as diverse palates as I do and will taste their item. But it's literally a taste. I know I'm not eating enough, weightloss has definitely stalled due to the lower calories. I'm taking my vitamins like clock work and while I'm due for more blood work, my last was great. Feeding myself feels like a huge chore. VSG has done it's job - it's changed me metabolically. No more appetite, no more cravings and has completely rewired my brain to not enjoy food at all. I'm only a year PO so... Could this change? How do I combat this? Should I stop whining? Does it get better? Should I go back to therapy? Would a revision help? I feel like most people want to only look at food as a necessity. I wish I was disinterested in food like I am now, but without the physical side effects that make me sick or keep me on a toilet. I appreciate you reading this far!

I just had a revision to RNY because my post sleeve GERD was so bad. I now have Barret's Esophagus so didn't want to put it off any longer. Sent from my SM-G991U using BariatricPal mobile app

My PS wanted me to try to lose more weight, but I was stuck for years as far as weight went. I was having reflux at that time and within the past two years after the tummy tuck, it got worse , I think due to all of the muscles being tightened, it put more pressure on my stomach, so I had to have the band removed. Now, I'm 8 months out of band removal and haven't gained any weight... yet. But I feel like it's only a matter of time, so I'm probably going to revise to RNY. At least when I do get to goal, I can finally do all of the plastics that I was planning to do right when Covid hit. But I understand about your age and the risks involved, and it will be a relief to get the excess skin removed. Best of luck to you!

I had a 150 pound loss with my Lap Band, but never got to goal. And now I'm contemplating revision to RNY. I did have a tummy tuck 2 years ago. My surgeon was wonderful. She submitted to my insurance for a panniculectomy, but she said what I needed was a fleur de lis tummy tuck. So insurance approved the panniculectomy, but my surgeon did the fleur de lis, hernia repair and diastasis recti repair, and she didn't charge me extra. She is amazing. ❤️ One other note that I will add is I have a friend who was never a bariatric patient, but she had 4 kids and needed a tummy tuck, and her ob/gyn did the tummy tuck. She did not have good results at all and now regrets the decision. I would highly recommend having a plastic surgeon do your surgery. I think it's just a matter of finding the right surgeon in these situations.

Well phooey. I want a vascular surgeon for my RNY Revision, but i'd want a plastic surgeon for plastic surgery. Best wish, I hope it turns out well for you.

I totally agree. I am also 73 and having RNY to RNY Revision. On my first visit I asked if I were too old. They said "absolutely no" and my primary care doctor concurs. Good luck!

I am interested in finding out if those here with RA noticed less severe disease activity after losing their weight. Supposedly losing weight helps reduce the inflammation in your body that causes disease activity to be more severe. I was diagnosed with RA nearly 18 years ago, and got a Lap Band in 2013. I lost some weight but never got anywhere near goal, and then developed reflux, so my BS started discussing revision, but I was nervous about revising to bypass due to my occasional need for steroids... I was on pantoprazole twice daily for a few years for the reflux, and then I developed a kidney stone from overuse of PPI's, so it was at that point I decided that it was time to remove the band, so it was removed this past April. I'm looking at revising to RNY, as my BS says the sleeve wouldn't work for me since I had reflux with my band. My Rheumy is 100% on board with revising to RNY, she says she thinks my condition will markedly improve due to less inflammation in my body. So I've stopped the celebrex and now I'm using CBD oil daily for pain to see if I can live forever like this. Rheumy says if I do need steroids in the future after RNY, she would opt for a single injection vs a medrol dose pack like I've had in the past. I'm most curious to find out if those on the post op side have seen improvements in their conditions. It would help me to decide whether or not to go forth with the revision. Thanks in advance!

If you had heartburn prior to surgery I'm surprised that your popular doctor performed the VGS instead of the RNY gastric by-pass (which usually resolves reflux, heartburn, GERD). Many of the sleeve patients on this board have had revision to RNY a few years after their first surgeries. While your first 14 day diet does sound alien, your new stomach is healing. The clear liquids won't harm it, and you are getting calories from the grape and apple juices. (Most of us are told to avoid fruit juices, which contain more concentrated sugar content and lack fiber, which would make fresh fruit a healthy choice.) Two weeks of clear fluids sound daunting. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Friday afternoon I got the phone call that my surgery was approved by insurance and was given a March 1st surgery date. The wait is longer than I expected but it makes sense since my surgeon needs more time to complete the bypass (revising from sleeve due to GERD) and a hiatal hernia repair. Financially it works out better for me too. It gives me time to pay some extra on bills since I'll be out for 2+ weeks. Between now and surgery day Inhave lots of appointments for labs, dietitian, pre-op physical with my PCP, and a huge appointment with my bariatric nurse and then a 1 hour appointment with my surgeon and another endoscopy. I get to do my surgeon's 10 day pre-op diet again. This is bringing back a lot of memories from when I had the sleeve 7 years ago. The post op diet has changed during that time. Food texture progression is much slower this time. I think that will be good though. Sent from my Z6201V using BariatricPal mobile app

Several people have mentioned that at this point 800 cal/day is too low, your body is probably in starvation mode. Try to increase to 1000 cal/day, same type of food but slightly larger portions. This will help you feel fuller while hopefully kickstarting your metabolism again. Drink a LOT between meals to fill up your stomach too (but wait at least 30 minutes after eating before drinking anything). I personally hate drinking water so I drink lots and lots of crystal light lemonade. It has almost no calories and is still 99.99% water. Try supplementing your breakfast with a protein shake. That will help you reach your protein goals while also filling you up. I drink one Premier Protein every single morning after breakfast (Chocolate flavor!) It feels like I'm treating myself and I'm adding 30 grams of protein every day. That usually keeps me satisfied until lunch. You said you're logging now - are you also weighing your foods? If not, you are likely grossly underestimating your portion sizes. My wife made a chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight and I decided to have some - I weighed out 4.5 oz into a bowl and it looked like a VERY small portion - she was shocked when I told her how much it was, it was actually a little more than I've been eating lately (3-4 oz per meal). It was actually really filling though, but if I just eyeballed it I almost definitely would have eaten too much and not even realized it. The "surgery is a tool" can mean several things. For some (most?) it provides an automatic restriction so that you physically can't eat as much as you used to without getting sick. For those who had gastric bypass, it also provides an incentive for what you're eating to be healthy in order to avoid dumping syndrome. Bypass patients also get the benefit of malabsorption. For others, it's the knowledge that you underwent major permanent surgery as a last ditch effort to get healthy and that can help change your mindset about eating. I'm in the position to have gone through both major weight loss surgeries. I had the sleeve in December 2016 and lost about 120 pounds in about six months. I was a regular on the forums here, I tracked every single bite (my personal recommendation is My Fitness Pal - I also weighed myself every morning (which is not always recommended) and took a full body photo with the app once a week to see my progress), Then I had some personal/profession issues which screwed up my schedule and my mindset and slowly began to gain weight back. I stopped tracking, stopped eating healthy, and all of a sudden a few years later I realized I had regained almost all of the pre-surgery weight. I was depressed, upset, embarrassed, ashamed, but I decided to do something about it and I went back to my doctor (I had stopped going to appointments too) and he said I was a good candidate for revision surgery to gastric bypass. It's been just over 4 weeks since that surgery and I'm down 36 pounds so far - not losing as quickly as the first surgery, but still losing. I still track religiously, and follow the meal plan exactly the way it was given to me (first month, soft high-protein foods with no fruits and veggies, no sugar, no bread, pasta, etc.), just starting my second month by adding some veggies to every meal. I had a couple of brief stalls but I kept with the program and they went away. I've been slowly increasing my daily calories and that has helped as well (still below 1000 most days but I've gone as high as 1200). In order to feel like I'm not depriving myself of sweets, I have one or sometimes two containers of sugar-free chocolate and vanilla swirl Jello every day. Last time after a few months I added a small portion of Halo Top ice cream as a daily dessert - very low calories, low or no carbs, and delicious. It's important not to feel that you're depriving yourself. Another thing to look at is your sleep - are you getting enough sleep? When I get a good night's sleep I lose about a pound over night. The times when I don't get enough sleep are the days I notice a stall or even a slight increase in weight. Given your starting weight is there a chance you have sleep apnea? I was diagnosed with sleep apnea several years ago and started using a CPAP, my sleeping improved dramatically. Ultimately, the surgery is not a magic bullet, although when things are going well it can seem like magic, but that happens when you put in the work. It's not bullshit, or useless, it has helped many many people who have tried everything else (myself included). You said you lost 30 lbs so far, that's great! That's 30 lbs you probably wouldn't have lost without the surgery. Now you have to figure out how to kickstart the rest of your journey. To summarize, here's what I would do if I were in your place: 1 - Increase your calories - same healthy foods for larger portions 2 - Increase your protein - add a protein shake after breakfast if necessary (wait 30 minutes after eating first) 3 - Increase your liquid intake - drink water if you enjoy it, or mix up some crystal light lemonade or something similar, drink ALL THE TIME 4 - Get a good night's sleep 5 - Keep tracking everything - make sure you WEIGH everything you eat, never eyeball. You can get a basic food scale for 10 bucks 6 - Don't give up! I know it's frustrating but based on your posts you're in a tough headspace right now. If you keep going on about how the surgery is bullshit, useless, etc. it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Good luck!

Do you see a psychiatrist for your antidepressant medication? Finding the right medication is a trial and error process. Since you are still depressed (sad), the one you are on may not be the best one for you, especially if it is interfering with your desired weight loss. Psychiatrists know far more about psychotropic medication than general practitioners. Here is the food plan that I have been on pre-surgery. I'm just three days away from my scheduled revision surgery. When I can eat regular food again I intend to go back on it. It's been very successful for me. Part of the success has been my recognition of trigger foods. I have cut out all sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, and processed foods and have lost 67 lbs to date. If I indulge in these things, I have to go through withdrawal all over again. Then, if I avoid my trigger foods, I do not have cravings. A Pound of Cure by Matthew Weiner, MD, a bariatric surgeon. He's written two other books, has a website and YouTube videos.

Fortunately, my December 21 RNY to RNY Revision is still on. I have had my prep calls from the hospital and am getting my COVID test this afternoon, after which I'll self-quarantine until going to the hospital.

Hi - I would be interested in keeping in contact with you both as my history is similar to yours. I’m seeing my surgeon in January and want to revise from the sleeve to bypass. how are you going after your procedures?

I am only 8 months out so I can’t speak about regain but if you haven’t seen a nutritionist yet you could learn some things that will help you to lose weight. Is the doctor saying they won’t do a revision unless something is wrong?? I was told that they do revision because of heartburn even if you aren’t that overweight. Have you considered seeing a bariatric therapist? Maybe since you experienced addiction transfer and you are sober, you transferred back to food again and need to get to the root of the addiction before you will be able to lose the weight.

I got RNY 04/2017. HW: 226, LW: 150, CW: 195 I did all of the right things until I had transfer addiction in 2019 and started drinking daily. It escalated and I was a full blown alcoholic. I have now been sober a year and I’m depressed. I’m almost back to my pre surgery weight, I’m working my butt off to lose the weight and it’s not coming off. I never feel well and my chest always hurts. I always have heartburn and I’m always hungry. I need help so I went to a new surgeon the other day about a potential revision and she wants me to see a nutritionist and get a endoscopy. I got my results from my upper GI testing today and there’s NOTHING wrong. I feel like everything is wrong and I’m not okay. I’m on antidepressants, I’m now sober, I’m exercising and eating properly but I’m still fat and I hate myself so much for it. I feel like the biggest failure at 30 years old and it makes me so sad. Has anyone else been able to lose regain?

Getting my revision on 12/17...

Hi - I’m also in the same boat. I had a sleeve done in Jan 2014 and it worked well. I then got pregnant 8 months out and had to actively work to get in enough calories for pregnancy and nursing. My weight has gradual lag crept back up. I’m now looking into revision options. My surgeon in NY suggested a band two years ago but I never went ahead with it. Now I’m looking at either a DS or bypass, not sure which one. I feel that I’m one of those people where the sleeve was always going to be part one of a two step phase.

Do you need a doctor's referral? I just called the clinic on my own and made an appointment. I told my primary after I'd already been in the program a few months. He was totally in favor of getting a revision and has been very supportive.

30 years post RNY, I still (rarely) get dumping syndrome from too much sugar. My upcoming revision will probably make that more likely, although I'm pretty committed to abstaining from sugar for life. If I go off the rails, I have to expect retribution! Dumping is so unpleasant that it is "good" because it teaches you what NOT to eat.

I think it will be a piece of cake compared to my 1990 RNY. It was open surgery. I have a scar from below my sternum to my belly button. I was in ICU 2-3 days and in hospital for a week, then off work for another 4 weeks. I was given no nutritional advice or counseling. I saw the surgeon once before surgery, on the day of surgery, and two weeks later for him to check the stitches and remove the drain tubes (3 weeks of drain tubes!). In ICU I had a nasal gastric tube and IVs--nothing by mouth. On returning to a regular room I got clear liquids for a couple of days, pureed/soft for a couple of days and, get this: I was given solid food within 7 days of surgery. I was given a one-page low calorie diet and told "don't throw up". No wonder I blamed myself for the failure of the procedure. For 30 years I assumed that I ruined the RNY because I had thrown up too often. It was not until I had an EGD that I learned that the staples dividing the pouch from the stomach gave way due to peristalsis of the stomach. My surgeon told me that around 75% of the bypasses done back then failed for this very reason. He specialized in bariatric revisions during his residency and 1/3 of his current surgery is for revisions. He's reassured me that the new laparoscopic incisions and robotic assisted protocols are far superior, that the possibility of staple failure and leaks are minimal and would be found quickly. Because of my age (73). I'll stay two nights in the hospital instead of the usual 1 night. I think I'll be in good hands and make a rapid recovery. I have every intention of driving to my 2-week follow up visit.

Yea..... this has been a 3 year process. He did a endoscopy and colonoscopy beforehand; and determined because i didn't have damage or Barrett's he would do the sleeve.. I also think it's because he doesn't fully believe in me? One would think a starting weight of 429 would warrant bypass( along with many chronic illnesses including PCOS) But here we are.. i see a revision in my future to reach a goal weight of 200 or below. I will make sure to bring that up and post op on tuesday; although I am not even seeing him, just his NP [emoji19][emoji849] Sent from my SM-N986U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

In terms of weight loss on average, the mini gastric bypass is more aggressive (the name comes from it involving less re-routing of the intestine; it's not a great name to be honest ). Weight loss from primarily malabsorptive procedures seem more durable in the studies, too, which is why I wonder why they don't look into it more when it comes to revisions, specifically.

Just curious; is nobody suggesting the mini gastric bypass (or other primarily malabsorptive procedures like BPD-DS, SADI-S etc.) for revisions? Results in scientific studies are very promising specifically on revisions.