Anxiety about malnutrition from DS

[Sewtcase 1]

Hey all, first time posting here and I've been dealing with this for months now. I got the duodenal switch about 7 or 8 years ago when I was about 16. Crazy young I know, and to this day I still question that decision and probably always will because of my age. I've had a great experience as far as weight loss goes, but as I've gotten older I've gotten increasingly worried about malnutrition/deficiencies developing over time. I'm religious about my supplements, and I literally got my bloodwork done earlier this week so I'm good about that. However, the anxiety about potential deficiencies that I feel like might go undetected in bloodwork (for instance I know B12 tests can be inaccurate in detecting deficiencies) or that there might be a time that supplements become ineffective for me is becoming extremely difficult to bear, keeping me awake at night, causing anxiety attacks, making my life miserable, etc. All to the point where despite not technically being diagnosed with any deficiencies, it makes me regret the surgery and feel like I'm going to get severe side effects or die an early death because of this decision. My entire family has had the procedure and I'm the only one who really deals with this to this extent so it's difficult for me to cope. I have appointments with my primary care physician and plan on contacting my surgeon to discuss these risks more with him, but I have the feeling that this anxiety will persist as my anxiety causes me to have doubts about the ability of modern medical science to adequately monitor the effects of a procedure this radical. I realize that all of these concerns are likely what should have deterred me from the surgery in the first place, but at the time my family, medical team and myself thought it was a good decision.

Tl;dr: having extreme health anxiety about longterm nutritional complications despite doing everything by the book and don't know what to do about it.

[Geodfw 0]

So, can’t you have the “switch” portion of the surgery reversed if you want? With the exception of the stomach portion the Dr removed all the other organs are still there

[Postop 411]

On 11/12/2020 at 6:32 PM, Sewtcase said:

Hey all, first time posting here and I've been dealing with this for months now. I got the duodenal switch about 7 or 8 years ago when I was about 16. Crazy young I know, and to this day I still question that decision and probably always will because of my age. I've had a great experience as far as weight loss goes, but as I've gotten older I've gotten increasingly worried about malnutrition/deficiencies developing over time. I'm religious about my supplements, and I literally got my bloodwork done earlier this week so I'm good about that. However, the anxiety about potential deficiencies that I feel like might go undetected in bloodwork (for instance I know B12 tests can be inaccurate in detecting deficiencies) or that there might be a time that supplements become ineffective for me is becoming extremely difficult to bear, keeping me awake at night, causing anxiety attacks, making my life miserable, etc. All to the point where despite not technically being diagnosed with any deficiencies, it makes me regret the surgery and feel like I'm going to get severe side effects or die an early death because of this decision. My entire family has had the procedure and I'm the only one who really deals with this to this extent so it's difficult for me to cope. I have appointments with my primary care physician and plan on contacting my surgeon to discuss these risks more with him, but I have the feeling that this anxiety will persist as my anxiety causes me to have doubts about the ability of modern medical science to adequately monitor the effects of a procedure this radical. I realize that all of these concerns are likely what should have deterred me from the surgery in the first place, but at the time my family, medical team and myself thought it was a good decision.

Tl;dr: having extreme health anxiety about longterm nutritional complications despite doing everything by the book and don't know what to do about it.

It can be distressing. I had the traditional DS 15 1/2 years ago and had all those concerns and still sometimes do. I, too, am religious about my supplements which will stand you in very good stead. If there are changes in your blood work you can tweak things with your supplements and head off issues before they become more serious.

I am a good deal older than you and sometimes worry about what might be. What I did before the surgery was make a list of the pros/cons of having it. It wasn't a snap decision for me. I waited and researched for 2 years before having any type of WLS. Do you have any of your initial meeting notes that can show you why you picked the DS and why your health is likely to be better now and in the future than if you kept gaining?

I think besides going over this with your PCP and surgeon (which I think is a great idea to really get the factual science behind your body and the DS); it's time to speak to a therapist to help lessen your anxiety. I remember the first year postop, I was extremely worried about pooping so much and was that bad for my body? My therapist and I went over the actual benefits of eliminating waste more quickly than holding it so I was able to focus in on that. That's just one example of things I needed to discuss those first few years.

[FatKid2FitMom82 1]

I had surgery when I was 17 (20 years ago) and the same fears but guess what 20 years later, 2 healthy babies I’ve never had an issue except for the occasional low Iron which is easily fixed. Keep taking those Vitamins, eating Vitamin reach foods and you’ll be fine. 😊

[_Shane_ 63]

deleted.

Edited February 28, 2021 by _Shane_