Will you play a little "what if" game with me?

FloridaJen

The Curious One
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
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Florida
What if the DS didn't exist and your only choices for WLS were VGS, RnY or SADI/SIPS? Would you choose one of them - which one?

And where do you think you'd be now if you didn't have the DS?
 
1) the SADI/SIPS. While it doesn’t have the malabsorption of the DS, it does have more than the VSG, which for most of us, is just another diet. And my sincere hope is that the SADI/SIPS replaces the RNY completely.

2) far worse off than I am now. While I didn’t retain the diabetes resolution, I did have a six year break from all meds and the last two years been able to control it with just metformin.
 
1) the SADI/SIPS. While it doesn’t have the malabsorption of the DS, it does have more than the VSG, which for most of us, is just another diet. And my sincere hope is that the SADI/SIPS replaces the RNY completely.

2) far worse off than I am now. While I didn’t retain the diabetes resolution, I did have a six year break from all meds and the last two years been able to control it with just metformin.

Well, that's kind of a bummer! How long have you been diabetic? Is this a common thing to happen? I can't take metformin, so my wish is to never have to again :(
 
My journey thru the diabetes landscape.
 
I can't take metformin, so my wish is to never have to again
Metformin was the ONLY oral I was willing to try. I knew the potential side effects and it had worked well in the past for me. Told my PCP that if metformin didn’t work, I was going back on insulin as I understood those side effects, most of the orals out there have a laundry list of side effects I didn’t want to deal with.
 
My journey thru the diabetes landscape.

Thank you, this was very helpful!

I tried metformin so many times and not only did my A1C continue to rise on it, I also lived on the toilet :(
 
I had the RNY first and I would run like hell from that surgery due to complications/problems and regain. Also, the RNY vit/min supplementation is not all that different from the DS as the years go by. It really stinks to have had bariatric surgery and need to take mega supplements, be fat, have ulcers, limited food choices due to stomach pain, and still try to be on a diet to avoid gaining any more weight (losing weight had become a lost cause).

This was my analysis when I was deciding: Devices are out - no foreign objects implanted, please. Many of us here have already had the VSG or RNY and those do not work. Go the revision forums here and on other obesity-bariatric forums and you will see how many people are seeking revision due to regain or other problems. That pretty much leaves the SIPS (experimental, may not be covered by insurance, risk of bile reflux, fat malabsorption goes away over time), the DS, or going on a diet/lifestyle changes and ultimately accepting your size/health problems.

I'm going to turn the question back on you. What are your concerns? Were you ever able to confirm/refute if DS is problematic for those with IBS? In reading your introduction, you had the lap band removed. You are going into revision territory. How many bariatric surgeries do you want in your lifetime? Some people do have 3+ bariatric surgeries until they find what works but scar tissue develops and it gets more and more difficult over time to keep reconfiguring your insides.

Sorry this is so long... make a list of the information you still need. Then, make a list of the pro's and con's to various surgeries and not having another bariatric surgery.
 
I had the RNY first and I would run like hell from that surgery due to complications/problems and regain. Also, the RNY vit/min supplementation is not all that different from the DS as the years go by. It really stinks to have had bariatric surgery and need to take mega supplements, be fat, have ulcers, limited food choices due to stomach pain, and still try to be on a diet to avoid gaining any more weight (losing weight had become a lost cause).

This was my analysis when I was deciding: Devices are out - no foreign objects implanted, please. Many of us here have already had the VSG or RNY and those do not work. Go the revision forums here and on other obesity-bariatric forums and you will see how many people are seeking revision due to regain or other problems. That pretty much leaves the SIPS (experimental, may not be covered by insurance, risk of bile reflux, fat malabsorption goes away over time), the DS, or going on a diet/lifestyle changes and ultimately accepting your size/health problems.

I'm going to turn the question back on you. What are your concerns? Were you ever able to confirm/refute if DS is problematic for those with IBS? In reading your introduction, you had the lap band removed. You are going into revision territory. How many bariatric surgeries do you want in your lifetime? Some people do have 3+ bariatric surgeries until they find what works but scar tissue develops and it gets more and more difficult over time to keep reconfiguring your insides.

Sorry this is so long... make a list of the information you still need. Then, make a list of the pro's and con's to various surgeries and not having another bariatric surgery.

I guess the answer for me is simply that I don't want to trade one broken body in for another. And I think we would all WANT to do the least invasive surgery there is if our bodies did the right thing (this is why I had the crapband!) But as you said, I am not interested in multiple surgeries and I have 99% ruled out VSG and I sincerely hate the RnY, so it leaves me with full-on DS or a DS with a longer CC or SIPS. What feels right for me is to minimize potential extreme deficiencies and poop problems by having a slightly longer common channel, but then I don't want to risk not losing. Both surgeons I have spoken to so far are very opposed to DS and while I expected to hear all the horror stories about why, I wasn't expecting it to affect me so much. (One did say he would recommend a longer DS for me, like a 300CC! because he said it would be what I was looking for - which is a Sleeve stomach with a RnY level bypass and keep my pyloris) I respect both of these surgeons immensely, so it's difficult to ignore their warnings completely. Then I come here and so many posts about vitamins and deficiencies and taking 40+ pills 5 times a day and I just have to ask myself a lot of questions. I know I'm overthinking it, too - which I'm known to do. I don't want to be skinny, I like my curves, but I want fewer curves and health and want the safest, most effective way to get there. Ya know?

Then the whole IBS issue comes in. The doctor I talked to yesterday said if I have IBS with D I would be a mess with the DS. That's a bit terrifying. But then he also said I would have to avoid fat, which I think is inaccurate based on what I read here!

I have a consult scheduled with Dr. Wizman next month. He supposedly does DS, but I think he actually does SIPS. He may be one of those who does shady insurance stuff, but I can't confirm that. I want to meet with him regardless. Then I just got insurance verified with Dr. Smith, so once I get them my new patient paperwork I will be meeting with him. I don't think I'm going to be able to make this decision until I meet with both of these doctors and ask as many questions as they will tolerate.
 
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I don't think I'm going to be able to make this decision until I meet with both of these doctors and ask as many questions as they will tolerate.

Yes. I do not think the pooping and vit/min supplements are very different with SIPS and DS. You may want to check that. Also, surgeons only promote the surgeries they actually do. If the two surgeons who are against you having the DS do not do the DS, they are not giving you a fair evaluation of the surgery. The DS is a more difficult surgery to do than the SIPS so a lot of surgeons do not do it.

Keep researching and ask questions.
 
Remember, there's also bias in who's posting horror stories. If there's nothing to post about, most people aren't posting about their relatively normal bathroom results/good health/the fact they're just getting on with life. And the vitamins just become part of your daily routine. I take mine 2x a day and can do them in two gulps of water each time.

Doctors who don't do the DS are also incentivised not to sell it to you. Surgery is a business.
 
I know ya'll are right about the surgeons. I actually went to this consult knowing he wasn't going to do DS, even though he HAS done them. I wanted to hear what he had to say about the other surgeries because I have never had a true bariatric consult! They "advertise" DS as part of their services, but neither surgeon really does them now and neither will do it on me and I wouldn't want them to anyway since they haven't done very many and aren't supportive of it. He did offer to be there for me if I ever need follow up help, though.
 
If I hadn't had the DS, I might be dead by now? Who knows? I knew type 2 was right around the corner for me and the DS was the only answer to that one. I didn't want to end up blind or disabled due to amputations.

The VSG is just a diet with a smaller stomach, so not for me. I had more than enough experience with diets to know they don't work for me. I knew when I went into this that I needed the malabsorbtion. I knew I was a superabsorber. If I had to pick one, I would go with SIPS BUT I would go into it unhappy because I would know up front it did not really meet my needs. And with that last study that came out showing malabsorbtion of fat is gone in less than a year, I would be even more convinced it was not right for me.
 
I take about 17 pills daily, give or take. Slight variation because there are a couple pills that I take only 3 or 4 days/week. Keep in mind also that one of those pills is a multivitamin that I would take regardless of surgery or no surgery, 2 are prescription pills for issues totally unrelated to obesity or bariatric surgery, and 4 are a capsule form fiber product that I was also taking pre-op. Honest, it's not that bad! And as someone else already said, it becomes part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth.
Sure beats taking a bunch of pills for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc, or dealing with the horrible complications of diabetes and high blood pressure, etc.
 
I take about 17 pills daily, give or take. Slight variation because there are a couple pills that I take only 3 or 4 days/week. Keep in mind also that one of those pills is a multivitamin that I would take regardless of surgery or no surgery, 2 are prescription pills for issues totally unrelated to obesity or bariatric surgery, and 4 are a capsule form fiber product that I was also taking pre-op. Honest, it's not that bad! And as someone else already said, it becomes part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth.
Sure beats taking a bunch of pills for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc, or dealing with the horrible complications of diabetes and high blood pressure, etc.

I guess it's not the quantity as much as times per day or knowing what I need to keep my levels up and the timing with food and other supplements. It feels like it might be all-consuming and complicated for the average person to decipher. I anticipate needing to do this without doctor help, so I'm thinking/planning along those lines. I do take a lot of things now, so I'm no stranger to supplements - Vit D3, iron, multi, magnesium, probiotic, krill/fish oil, blood pressure meds, diabetes oral and insulin.

Do people typically get their levels checked before surgery? I would really want to know where I am now.
 

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