5 questions I can't find answers to...

[Marquis Mark]

I have looked and can't find credible-looking/complete answers to the following questions. Hoping you guys might know some of this stuff:

1. Anybody tried weight lifting after DS? Have you been able to rebuild muscle, or does the protein malabsorption hinder that?

2. Anybody have trouble with absorption of your regular meds? If so, how big of a problem has that been?

3. To those who went from a VSG to a DS: Did they revise your sleeve, too? If so, why? Is that fairly common? Does it increase the risks? How has your weight loss been compared to virgin DSers?

4. Do lightweights have the same percentage EWL as heavyweights?

5. Do you know how many DSs are performed a year and what is that in relation to total percentage of WLSs? Are DS performed increasing or decreasing?

Please forgive me if the answers were right under my nose. My head is spinning from all the research and my IQ has gone into remission.

Thanks, MM

 

[Bagaof4]

Hi Mark. I have been lifting since March. I have built muscle where only fat existed before. I am strong, toned and firm (under my jacket of loose skin.) I have upped my protein to 130 per day (from 100). I lift 4-6 days per week and it feels great!

 

[star0210]

I had a partial resleeve. It was discovered that the bottom portion of my stomach was t touched at all and it was quite large. So instead of that classic banana shape, mine looked more like a backwards L with the horizontal part being much larger than the vertical part.

I'd say the DS is on the rise just from my general observations here and in the fb groups.

 

[Munchkin]

1) Sure. There are quite a few of us who lift, run, cycle, swim, etc. Some just for fitness and others compete. Yes, you can rebuild muscle.
2) No issues here. Some do have to switch from XR meds to regular. But others have no problems with it.
3) Depends on how your sleeve is doing. Some have it revised and others don't. Revisions almost always lose slower. If your sleeve is too big, you are better off having it redone.
4) Pretty much the same. Results are a Bell Curve. And me personally, I think they tend to even out as more time passes. The body adapts the best it can and I recently polled a group on FB 10+ years post op and none of us were underweight and the biggest chunk of us were overweight according to BMI.
5) No way to know for sure. You can get the RNY on every street corner where there are only around 50 or so real DS surgeons who do the op routinely. I believe the DS is gaining in popularity because there are so many failed RNY/crapband surgeries. People who do their research learn the failed surgery patients revise to the DS if possible so why not just start with the one that works. Think twice, cut once and all that. And a lot more people would get the DS if there were more surgeons selling the procedure. If you want the DS, you pretty much have to educate yourself.

 

[southernlady]

1. Anybody tried weight lifting after DS? Have you been able to rebuild muscle, or does the protein malabsorption hinder that?

2. Anybody have trouble with absorption of your regular meds? If so, how big of a problem has that been?

3. To those who went from a VSG to a DS: Did they revise your sleeve, too? If so, why? Is that fairly common? Does it increase the risks? How has your weight loss been compared to virgin DSers?

4. Do lightweights have the same percentage EWL as heavyweights?

5. Do you know how many DSs are performed a year and what is that in relation to total percentage of WLSs? Are DS performed increasing or decreasing?

1. I wasn't much into weight lifting before my DS and that has not changed. In fact, no formal exercise at all. I AM far more active. Home renovations take energy.

2) NO difference in the few prescription meds that held over...those are my thyroid meds and I learned to take those during a middle of the night potty run so it didn't interfere with my COFFEE!!!

3) I'm a virgin DS'er so I will bow out of this question.

4) I am a lightweight. My starting BMI was 35.2 I am 4.5 plus years out and maintaining a 100+% excess weight loss. Read these:
http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/its-not-pounds-its-percentages.1844/
http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/my-weight-loss-by-month-as-a-lw.1104/
http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/i-am-a-lightweight.67/

As a group, LW's are far more likely to reach 100% excess weight loss in the first year and as long as we live the DS rules, it will stay off.

5. I don't think anyone knows the answer to this but it's becoming more of a recognized option. Which has it's good and bad sides. Not everyone SHOULD get a DS.

 

[Cantstalkthis]

I'm a recent DSer, so I can only answer two of the questions.

2) I take psych meds and was really worried about them not absorbing. If they don't get into my bloodstream I know VERY quickly. I am only on tablets and nothing extended release but so far I have been able to keep everything on track. The first day of the surgery I was not allowed anything by mouth (not even allowed to brush my teeth!) so I had to skip them but after that I was able to take them. I brought them to the hospital and they helped me by breaking them into pieces to keep them from getting stuck. Everything is getting absorbed enough for me to feel fine and I had surgery on the 10th.

5) My husband did so much research before this procedure because he's amazing and only wanted the very best for me. The DS is growing in popularity and some changes over the recent years have made it safer (removing the gallbladder and liver biopsy are supposed to be 2 of those) but it's a slow growth since the procedure isn't as easy to learn or perform as the RNY. For the added work, there isn't as much added profit. Where I live, the cash price of an RNY is about $13k and a DS is about $25k. If you consider the amount of skill involved, that's really not a great profit motive to do this. So, the answer is yes but it's not sweeping the nation like a new fad - at least not according to my/my husband's research.

 

[Marquis Mark]

I'm a recent DSer, so I can only answer two of the questions.

2) I take psych meds and was really worried about them not absorbing. If they don't get into my bloodstream I know VERY quickly. I am only on tablets and nothing extended release but so far I have been able to keep everything on track. The first day of the surgery I was not allowed anything by mouth (not even allowed to brush my teeth!) so I had to skip them but after that I was able to take them. I brought them to the hospital and they helped me by breaking them into pieces to keep them from getting stuck. Everything is getting absorbed enough for me to feel fine and I had surgery on the 10th.

5) My husband did so much research before this procedure because he's amazing and only wanted the very best for me. The DS is growing in popularity and some changes over the recent years have made it safer (removing the gallbladder and liver biopsy are supposed to be 2 of those) but it's a slow growth since the procedure isn't as easy to learn or perform as the RNY. For the added work, there isn't as much added profit. Where I live, the cash price of an RNY is about $13k and a DS is about $25k. If you consider the amount of skill involved, that's really not a great profit motive to do this. So, the answer is yes but it's not sweeping the nation like a new fad - at least not according to my/my husband's research.

Thank you for all of that and I hope you continue to recover smoothly. To clarify, are you sating that removing the gallbladder and doing a liver biopsy are standard procedure now? Why do they do a liver biopsy?

 

[southernlady]

Thank you for all of that and I hope you continue to recover smoothly. To clarify, are you sating that removing the gallbladder and doing a liver biopsy are standard procedure now? Why do they do a liver biopsy?

Removing the gallbladder, while SHOULD be standard is not...totally depends on the surgeon. Mine doesn't...and 6 months after my DS, I was back in having it removed. But then again, HE got paid for two surgeries not just one.

Don't know about a liver biopsy.

 

[Marquis Mark]

What about just giving you pills after surgery for the gallbladder? Also, you were a lightweight (so am I) -- aren't our chances lower of having the GB out since we don't need to loose as much weight? BTW, why should the GB be taken out? Just to prevent an extra surgery? Or is there some benefit to DS patients not to have the GB?

I'm like a 3 year old with questions, I know. Thanks for your indulgence!

 

[Cantstalkthis]

I'm not sure exactly why but I was told that the gallbladder removal is standard with my doctor. The liver biopsy was to look for fatty liver/liver damage while he was in there. I think that some of that may have been related to my weight (NOT a lightweight) but we did find some liver damage and I'm happy to know about it now so that it can be reversed. It wasn't clear if the surgery could/would cause problems with my liver in the future but it was an additional precaution that my doctor started doing (I assume he does it for SOME reason) and those two were the only new things that I actually know about since I had to sign off on them both. Whatever changes happen inside are a mystery to me but the research did say that they are always trying to find ways to make the procedure safer and that there have been improvements in the past few years. I remember reading an article that slammed the DS and used a local Dallas surgeon as their expert, the article actually links to a newer update that retracts those statements. I purge my computer every August for school or I would have it handy. Anyone else know about that one or am I the only weirdo who went to the 50th page of Google results?

 

[southernlady]

What about just giving you pills after surgery for the gallbladder? Also, you were a lightweight (so am I) -- aren't our chances lower of having the GB out since we don't need to loose as much weight? BTW, why should the GB be taken out? Just to prevent an extra surgery? Or is there some benefit to DS patients not to have the GB?

I'm like a 3 year old with questions, I know. Thanks for your indulgence!

Some of the surgeons who do not remove the gallbladder give their patients a medication (don't remember it's name tho) to help.

As for why the gallbladder and appendix should be removed, even if they are healthy, is that they can go bad FAST. But also if you have stomach pain, you don't have to go thru the "well, it could be the gallbladder, or the appendix, or maybe a hernia, or strangulated colon...", because two of those are already taken out of the mix if removed during the DS. And it doesn't seem to matter how obese you are.

I suspect mine was bad LONG before my DS but my DS sent it over the edge. Reason I say that, from the age of 14 to after my DS, I was "allergic" to egg yolks (you know, all the fat in them, LOL). After my gallbladder was removed 6 months after my DS, I decided to see if I still had the allergy. Found out, I can eat egg yolks just fine. In fact, I am sitting here right now eating a deviled egg...something I would not have even considered doing before my gallbladder surgery.

If mine had been taken out during the DS, I could have avoided another surgery 6 months later.

 

[DBmom23]

Rapid weight loss, particularly following WLS, is a major risk factor for gallstones. I remember reading something like there is a 30% of biliary colic following WLS. Mine was removed with surgery.

 

[GirlFriday]

Gall bladder removal is standard with a DS for my surgeon. She told me that if she didn't take it then, I would be back within a year needing it out. I also had a liver biospsy during the procedure.

Honestly, if she would have told that she had to tattoo polka dots on my ass in order for me to have the duodenal switch, I would have let her. I was that tired of being obese.

 

[Marquis Mark]

Gall bladder removal is standard with a DS for my surgeon. She told me that if she didn't take it then, I would be back within a year needing it out. I also had a liver biospsy during the procedure.

Honestly, if she would have told that she had to tattoo polka dots on my ass in order for me to have the duodenal switch, I would have let her. I was that tired of being obese.

Actually, a polka dots tattoo on my ass sounds pretty cool...