Are You Happy That You Had Surgery?

[Beks18 1]

This is my first time posting here, but I’ve scoured forums for so many of my questions. I’ve read lots of your stories and have found encouragement and new fears. One demographic of people I haven’t seen much from are those that are at the lower end of the BMI for bariatric surgery. I am 5’6” and at 35 BMI. I juuuust barely qualified for surgery. I will get my surgery date this Wednesday and my fears are at an all time high. I am relatively healthy and qualified based on one comorbidity which is mild sleep apnea. My question is to those who had similar situations as my own. Do you regret getting the bypass, or are you happy you did it? Did you form more problems after the surgery than you had before? Please give me your insight! I know I want the bypass rather than the sleeve due to GERD issues. Like many of you, I’ve struggled with my weight and Portion Control my entire life. But I am so scared that I’m going to have regrets and it’ll be too late to turn back. Another question I have is for those on antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds. For the first time in my life, my anxiety is well controlled on Prozac and I’m worried that the surgery will completely mess that up. Can I hear your experiences with meds post-op?

Edited 7 hours ago by Beks18
Added Info

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,658]

I am...now. I had a sleeve in 2022 and had SO many complications and I was miserable. I had a revision to bypass in 2023 and honestly, it's been amazing. I 100% love that I had the revision. I recommend the bypass to everyone. It literally solved all my issues. And I'm so thankful that I got my life back.

I take meds for severe anxiety, for MS, and for lupus. The only real issue with meds are extended release with the bypass. But if you can find a way around that then you'll be fine.

[Beks18 1]

2 hours ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I am...now. I had a sleeve in 2022 and had SO many complications and I was miserable. I had a revision to bypass in 2023 and honestly, it's been amazing. I 100% love that I had the revision. I recommend the bypass to everyone. It literally solved all my issues. And I'm so thankful that I got my life back.

I take meds for severe anxiety, for MS, and for lupus. The only real issue with meds are extended release with the bypass. But if you can find a way around that then you'll be fine.

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate your perspective. ❤️

[SpartanMaker 904]

Well, I don't fit your criteria (I was at about a 47 BMI at my highest), but I wanted to provide some overall perspective.

There will always be some people that regret having bariatric surgery regardless of starting weight, but studies suggest that the vast majority are happy they had it done. The satisfaction rates seem to be about on par with other major "elective" surgeries such as joint replacement.

In the studies available, there was a very strong correlation between satisfaction and weight loss success. That makes sense, because if you can't maintain the weight loss, this would tend to make you think it was a waste of time, money and that you went through a lot of hardship for nothing. Another strong correlation existed between those with eating disorders and dissatisfaction. Again, this makes sense because of the correlation between success and satisfaction. If you have an eating disorder, it's certainly possible to out eat any surgery.

Those that report the highest satisfaction would tell you it was nothing short of life changing. At the end of the day, only you can decide if it's the right decision for you.