Not as expected

[trgusc 0]

Hello, I am new here. I am now 5 days post op BPD/DS. I was told it would be a 1 or 2 night hospital stay. It turned into 5 nights! Today is my first day home. I am so VERY sore, exhausted and feeling regretful. I know it will get easier but can’t help but be hesitant that that may not be the case. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the post op diet schedule as well as the types of foods allowed. Also concerned about getting all these supplements down all day everyday! I will probably purchase the Vitamin Patch. Haven’t really gotten all the math figured out as to whether or not it would be money saving but I don’t think I will much care if I have to spend a bit more for it.

[Naughty Glitter Goddess 645]

Congratulations on your surgery. I'm so sorry you aren't feeling well. The first week is brutal, the second week is better but tough in different ways. Keeping up on meds, Vitamins, food and Water can be very overwhelming especially when you feel horrible and your brain is on pain meds. My husband was incredibly helpful to me post op and created a schedule for Protein Drinks, water and meds. He set a timer on my phone for everything and had a little checklist for me to work on. It all runs together so this was really helpful to me. Falling behind on meds, water and Protein is so easy to do in the early days and it will make you feel so much worse! I was left unsupervised for an afternoon on day 6 while he took the kids to do something fun - I decided to ignore the alarms and just sleep because I was exhausted. I felt like absolute crap and was a mess when he got home.

If you can get a helper, I highly recommend that for another week if you can do it. If not, sit down and get your protein, water and meds lined up and a checklist to keep track. Maybe as your pain meds are wearing off and you aren't as fuzzy mentally. Then just plug along and stick to the schedule. I'm not sure what your program recommends, but for vitamins, I only had to take a Multivitamin during my first 3 weeks of recovery. I didn't have to start all the crazy supplements until after I saw my doctor. By then, I was feeling great and ready to get on track with them.

Here's a great pill organizer https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TEWKMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Good luck!

[dsdesigna 143]

vitamin patches will not be effective for you. Look for chewable, not Gummy, Bariatric formulated Vitamins. It’s so very important. If you have trouble getting them in just stagger them. Remember don’t take Calcium and Iron supplements together.

At this early stage for you the most important thing is to STAY HYDRATED! Second is to get as much Protein in as you can and then get your Vitamins. There are liquid vitamins but it’s difficult to know what you are getting with each dose. Don’t fret over what’s happening on the scale, your body is going through a rapid and dramatic transformation, it is chaotic.

I use Celebrate Brand Bariatric vitamins but Bariatric Advantage is good too.

[Naughty Glitter Goddess 645]

If it helps, this was my checklist. Each hour had a series of boxes marked Water, liquid, food. These represent 1oz so everytime I drank one, I checked off the box. Under Protein, I wrote how many grams of protein I got during that time. Under meds, I wrote down which meds I was supposed to take during that hour. I really hope this helps!

post op med Fluid tracking.xlsx

[Faith2002 12]

Congratulations on your BP/DS. I'm almost 6 months out from my Bilopancreatic deudonal switch with double anastomosis. If it helps write down your liquid intake and Protein. The most important thing right now is to stay hydrated. As far as supplements when your Dr allows you to swallow your Vitamin check out Bariatric Advantage. They have a vitamin specifically for BP/DS patients and I only have to take two a day plus my Iron and Calcium. My Dr said NO to vitamin patch so check with your Dr before purchasing. This surgery has changed my life. Wish I would not have waited so long. Good luck.

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[Matt Z 4,139]

13 hours ago, dsdesigna said:

vitamin patches will not be effective for you.

Can you tell me exactly how you know they won't work for the OP?

I've been on them like 7 months now and they are working just fine for me, as per my doctor and my labs, not just my personal opinion.

[dsdesigna 143]

I don’t know how far out you are from surgery or what labs your doctor is ordering but we have many in our support group in town and all of them within two months of switching to patch Vitamins had significant decline in lab results. Neither my pcp, who is also Bariatric, or my surgeon recommend Patches. They simply don’t have enough SPECIFICALLY for the Duodenal Switch patient.

Edited September 10, 2018 by dsdesigna

[Matt Z 4,139]

3 hours ago, dsdesigna said:

I don’t know how far out you are from surgery or what labs your doctor is ordering but we have many in our support group in town and all of them within two months of switching to patch Vitamins had significant decline in lab results. Neither my pcp, who is also Bariatric, or my surgeon recommend Patches. They simply don’t have enough SPECIFICALLY for the Duodenal Switch patient.

My surgery date is listed in my callout. I had Band to RYN Revision on March 21st of this year. I'm having all the normal typical labs drawn, and my levels have (for the most part) stayed within the normal range. My only dip was in Vitamin D, because of where I live and my job, I don't see a lot of sunlight ever. So I've been supplementing that, but everything else is good, even was taken off of extra B12 because the patch has been providing the levels I need. My surgeon, PCP, the hospitals lead nurse and lead pharmacist all approved my testing of the Patches as they haven't seen them ever. But, 3 month labs were all good, 6 months labs were all good. Been on the patches for 7+ months. Not sure who had issues or why with your groups, could be patch placement (you need a hairless, thinner skin placement area), could be patch wear length (you *HAVE* to wear them for 8+ hours)

It's funny, there's another member around here that is against the patches and always says you can't tell if they work because Vitamins won't drop within 3 months, yet you've got reports that folks had their levels drop within 2. Just amused at the differences all over the place with WLS.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Matt Z

[Postop 411]

18 hours ago, dsdesigna said:

vitamin patches will not be effective for you. Look for chewable, not Gummy, Bariatric formulated Vitamins. It’s so very important. If you have trouble getting them in just stagger them. Remember don’t take Calcium and Iron supplements together.

At this early stage for you the most important thing is to STAY HYDRATED! Second is to get as much Protein in as you can and then get your Vitamins. There are liquid vitamins but it’s difficult to know what you are getting with each dose. Don’t fret over what’s happening on the scale, your body is going through a rapid and dramatic transformation, it is chaotic.

I use Celebrate Brand Bariatric vitamins but Bariatric Advantage is good too.

This is correct advice. Vitamins, minerals and Protein are less important than hydration in the beginning. For example, I didn't begin Iron till the 4th week out (on an empty stomach always).

I can't speak to other surgeries but Patches are not nearly enough for DSers.

Also, my scheduled hospital stay was 4 days. I had a slight fever so it was 5.

[Glamgirl 63]

21 hours ago, trgusc said:

Hello, I am new here. I am now 5 days post op BPD/DS. I was told it would be a 1 or 2 night hospital stay. It turned into 5 nights! Today is my first day home. I am so VERY sore, exhausted and feeling regretful. I know it will get easier but can’t help but be hesitant that that may not be the case. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the post op diet schedule as well as the types of foods allowed. Also concerned about getting all these supplements down all day everyday! I will probably purchase the Vitamin Patch. Haven’t really gotten all the math figured out as to whether or not it would be money saving but I don’t think I will much care if I have to spend a bit more for it.

congrats on your surgery! I had DS too.. on top of gall bladder and hiatal hernia surgery all at the same time. its hard at first really hard but it wont last... you will get through it... as for the vitamins... i did better swallowing then chewing but it was all hard at first to do... so nothing is easy when eating, drinking and taking Vitamins in the beginning. Usually you wont start vitamins until 3- 4 weeks after surgery. they give you a B complex that you have to take right now but that should be it. Its all overwhelming for sure. It took me at my 4th month to feel normal again... and im 94 lbs down and feeling great! I was told the Patches dont work so I take calciums in chewable form now because I can tolerate them when before I couldn't , multi and Iron i take in a capsule along with Biotin for Hair loss and reflux pill for the first 6 months. . i wish you luck and trust me you will be fine!

[misskim3297 13]

Congratulations on your surgery! For the Vitamins, try one of those Vitamin holds that has different compartments. I have one that has four compartments per day and throw it in my purse so I never forget to take my vitamins. For the Calcium, try the Bariatric Advantage calcium chewables. They taste like starburst. The calcium citrate pills are huge, no matter which brand. The liquids are very important the first few weeks bc it's easy to become dehydrated. No one likes the diet the first few weeks but you will be so happy once you can start eating soft foods and regular foods! Good luck!

[New&Improved 1,780]

I'VE BEEN LOOKING TO FIND AND THAT HAD THE BPD/DS

HELP

[dsdesigna 143]

3 hours ago, Mikeyy said:

I'VE BEEN LOOKING TO FIND AND THAT HAD THE BPD/DS

HELP

What do you need to know?

I had my DS in 2014. I lost 160lbs. The last 40 my doctor added Phentermine/Topiramate to help. I had stalled for more than a year. It worked.

[ummyasmin 1,603]

What do you need to know?
I had my DS in 2014. I lost 160lbs. The last 40 my doctor added Phentermine/Topiramate to help. I had stalled for more than a year. It worked.

Did you get side effects from the topiramate?

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[dsdesigna 143]

5 hours ago, ummyasmin said:

Did you get side effects from the topiramate?

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Yes. It made me nauseous, food had a metallic taste and I started smelling strange things like burnt dust or plastic. I had to stop taking it. I’m still on the Phentermine and it is working fine without it.