Malabsorption after 3,4 years.

[Honeybeeblue]

Hello. I am looking for information on malabsoption after 2,3,4 or longer. Do long time DS ers still have malabsoption or does it stop. I know miniral and vitamins malabsoption exsists for a life time. It's more about the other malabsoption as in fat and proteins and calories. Thanks in advance.

 

[southernlady]

Hello. I am looking for information on malabsoption after 2,3,4 or longer. Do long time DS ers still have malabsoption or does it stop. I know miniral and vitamins malabsoption exsists for a life time. It's more about the other malabsoption as in fat and proteins and calories. Thanks in advance.

I am 3.5 years out and still malabsorb, esp fat.

 

[Sheanie]

Yes, I still do malabsorb, that's why I'm able to maintain my weight loss. I eat high fat protein (bacon, sausage, salami, cheese, heavy whipping cream, butter), low carb, low sugar, but I don't count calories or carbs.

We do NOT malabsorb carbs. So simple sugars and flour are not our best friends. We can eat them, but we eat our protein first.

For instance, as a type, I'm munching on swiss cheese slices spread with mascarpone cheese, mustard, and rolled up around deli turkey slices. The dog is always sitting by me.

 

[newanatomy]

How do you KNOW that you mal-absorb fat and protein? Is it because of the weight maintenance, oil slicks, or other signs?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

How do you KNOW that you mal-absorb fat and protein? Is it because of the weight maintenance, oil slicks, or other signs?

I'm almost nine years post-op and still quite chubby. But...I'm about 110-120 pounds LESS chubby than I was pre-op. But I never got skinny.

I think I malabsorb because I live on a diet of ribeye steaks, chocolate anything and peanut (or almond) butter sandwiches...not to mention about thirty bucks worth of balance bars a week. If I did not malabsorb, I would have gained back a substantial amount of weight, given that my diet is fat and sugar. Instead, I hover around the same weight, give or take ten pounds. And because my labs say I need to take my supplements.

I think it would be rather odd if we ONLY malabsorbed nutrients and not calories, fats and all. Seems like a package deal to me...based on nothing that even resembles science...just my way of interpreting the world,

 

[hilary1617]

I'm 2 years out and all else being equal, I am certain I malabsorb given a marked, persistent change in the ratio of digestive system input to output. Post-DS, the overall quantity of food entering my system is materially reduced (~30% reduction), however the volume of waste produced is significantly higher than in the past (~400% increase).

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I'm over 7 years out and the evidence of malabsorption as found in my toilet seems unchanged.

 

[Munchkin]

A lot of what we KNOW is historical data. The whole idea of WLS came about because of war injuries. People being gut shot and surviving after having large amounts of intestine removed. After the advent of antibiotics many more people survived these wounds and doctors treating them found they were less inclined to be overweight and had much lower cholesterol. When these same people were studied post-mortem they learned they had more villi and receptors in each cm of remaining small bowel than an average person who had not been surgically altered. That's how we learned the body will adapt to the greatest extent possible. At first the medical community though these wounded GI's would die from malnutrition down the road. But they didn't and that made them worthy of study.

All you have to do is see DS poop to know fat is malabsorbed. However, there is a study out there in the ether somewhere. I believe it was Gagner in 2005 who did a study comparing what went in to what came out. DS math came from the results of this study. I feel sorry for the researchers who worked on that one... I'm sure someone has it. If I remember correctly, I believe 2 years out was as far as he went. During that same time period there was another article that either proved or put the theory out there that many of us would start absorbing protein in the large intestine. I don't remember the details on this one. Also many people believe the CC grows or at least stretches some. I did see one case where the patient had the DS in their teens and had significant weight gain several years post. She was reoperated and her cc was more that twice the length listed on her first OP report. They theorized her youth was a factor in the regrowth. That opens another can of worms because that's what intestines are like, earthworms. They can contract and expand. They are motile. I have always believed the whole CC thing was a crap shoot. I would bet a million that we could have 10 vetted DS surgeons measure a 100cm CC and no two of the measurements would be the same.

Our bodies adapting is one of the things that helps us stop losing. Plus the fact we can eat more further out. This is why the Proximal RNY folks start gaining 2 to 3 years post. They don't have very much bypassed and by then their malabsorbtion is pretty much gone. DSers have so much bypassed that the body can never completely adapt. First we stop losing and then the bounceback. My personal experience is the further out you are the easier it is to gain.

 

[shann]

I'll be 4 years out soon and I still malabsorb. It's obvious from my bathroom visits any time I eat sugar or a great deal of fat. At this point (and I keep emphasizing that this is me not anyone one else, ymmv, blah blah blah) I maintain rather effortlessly and eat anything I want. I still have a lot of restriction and know that bounceback could happen at any time.