Weight Regain

charlietuna54
on 1/19/08 9:32 pm - St. Augustine, FL
Why am I gaining this #$%^$%#& weight.  I had DS in April 2004... My highest weight was 486lbs and I weighed 468 on the day of surgery. The lowest weight I got to was 228 lbs. I did not like being at that weight as I was too thin and just didn't feel good. I gained back 12 lbs to 240 and maintained that for 2 plus years and felt great at that weight. (I am 6'-6" male and wear a size 15/16 shoe so I am still a big guy and was able to handle 240 lbs.) . As with most of us my appetite came back with a vengence. I just weighed this morning and I now weigh 261lbs. What am I doing wrong. I get my protein in and take my calcium. I know part of it is my dialy indugence with peanut M&M's. The are evil....but I really don't eat that many. I drink no sugar drinks and un-sweetened ice tea. I have found my quanity of food has increased though and I am now able to eat a "normal" size meal. Not a large meal but more than a kids meal.... Are there any other long timers suffered weight regain. Am I the only one? I thought once I was on the other side my weight problems were going to be minimal.  Don't get me wrong I am blessed to weigh 261 as opposed to 486 and feel better than I have in 30 years. But I don't want to gain any more.... Thanks for letting me vent...... Charlie 486/261/240 DS 4/21/2004 Dr. Keith Kim
mittenfarm
on 1/19/08 10:09 pm - County Line, MI
I'm still a "newbie" so can't be of much help, but I was wondering if you have any sort of an exercise routine? -Wanda
Highest -380  Surgery- 345     Goal- 150   Current-150     5 ft. 8 in.

goodkel
on 1/19/08 10:26 pm
I haven't been there, yet, but I've read enough to tell you that it's time to get back to basics. Increase your water intake and remove ALL carbs from your diet for awhile. It will be tough the first few days to only eat protein, but your cravings will die down and this has been known to jump start weight loss again. Hopefully, it will cure you of the daily M&M habit--the likely cause of your regain. Save them for Saturday nights! Good luck to you!
Check out my profile: http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/goodkel/
Or click on my name
DS SW 265 CW 120 5'7"



LeaAnn
on 1/20/08 12:27 am - Huntsville, AL
A 30 lb. regain for someone your size would not be uncommon.  I wouldn't expect that you will continue to gain unless you continue adding in more carby food.  If you are comfortable eating what you are eating now, stick with it and your weight should stabilize at this point for the longterm.
(deactivated member)
on 1/20/08 1:05 am - Los Angeles, CA
Judi J.
on 1/20/08 1:12 am - MN
shira: i like you but i don't think it is appropriate to use someone's post asking for help as a surgery war thread. people need to be able to come on the boards and ask for help whether they are ds, rny or weigh****chers and not get drug into the muck. if you delete your post, i'll delete this response. judi
LeaAnn
on 1/20/08 1:17 am - Huntsville, AL
It's okay.  She was replying to me.  Just gave me a mind to post this REASSURING long-term study for the OP.
LeaAnn
on 1/20/08 1:13 am, edited 1/20/08 6:50 am - Huntsville, AL

shira467's reply was:
"But I thought with the DS it was IMPOSSIBLE to gain weight and have problems. IMPOSSIBLE."
 

 

As opposed to a 20% FAILURE RATE for the RNY (regain of more than 50% EWL) after 2 years, I'd say the results are superior:

A new paper by Marceau et al. detailing 15 years of DS results:

Obesity Surgery, 17, 1421-1430 (2007)

Duodenal Switch: long-Term Results

Picard Marceau, MD, PhD1;Simon Biron, MD, MSc1; Frederic-Simon Hould, MD1; Stefane. Lebel, MD1; Simon Marceau, MD1; Odette Lescelleur, MD1; Laurent Biertho, MD1; Serge Simard, MSc2

'Department ofSurgery, Laval University, Laval Hospital, Quebec, Canada; 2Biostatistician Laval Hospital Research Center

Results: Survival rate was 92% after DS. The risk of death (Excess Hazard Ratio (EHR) was 1.2, almost that of the general population. After a mean of 7.3 years (range 2-15), 92% of patients with an initial BMI> 50 kg/m2 obtained a BMI <35 and 83% of those with an initial BMI >50 obtained a BMI <40. Diabetes was cured (i.e. medication was discontinued) in 92% and medication decreased in the others. The use of the CPAP apparatus was discontinued in 90%, medication for asthma was decreased in 88%, and the prevalence of a cardiac risk index >5 was decreased by 86%. Patients' satisfaction in regard to weight loss was graded 3.6 on a basis of 5, and 95% of patients were satisfied with the overall results. Operative mortality was 1% which is comparable with gastric bypass surgery. The need for revision for malnutrition was rare (0.7%) and total reversal was exceptional (0.2%). Failure to lose >25% of initial excess weight was 1.3%. Revision for failure to lose sufficient weight was needed in only 1.5%. Severe anemia, deficiency in vitamins or bone damage were exceptional, easily treatable, preventable and no permanent damage was documented.

Conclusion: In the long term, DS was very efficient in terms of cure rate for morbid obesity and its comorbidities. In terms of risk/benefit, DS was very sucessful with an appropriate system of follow-up.

****************

Discussion

In our view, morbid obesity is a metabolic disease that extends beyond uncontrolled appetite and abnormal food intake. For the past 25 years, our goal has been to change the basic physiology of these patients, allowing for excess weight loss, maintenance of weight loss and continuation of a normal life. We consider that it is important for quality of life to be able to eat normally. We felt that it was preferable not to concentrate our effort on food restriction, giving a false impression that the only problem is a lack of control of food intake, but rather to target correction of the metabolic dysfunction. In these patients, the difficulty has never been to attain weight loss, but to maintain that weight loss. Morbid obesity should be considered a chronic disease, which requires treatment for life.

The first 8 years (1982-1990), BPD as described by Scopinaro was the procedure of choice within this center. While the results were positive, a decrease in side effects with improvement of absorption were further targets. The procedure was modified successfully. For the last 15 years (1992-2007), DS has been our primary procedure for all patients. This choice has been reinforced with additional knowledge on important involvement of intestinal hormones in the etiology of obesity. It was also reinforced by the high long-term failure rates reported for numerous other procedures.

The present study could be considered exceptional. The Canadian medical system has facilitated an efficient follow-up of a large unselected cohort. We are not aware of any comparable study, using a consistent procedure with such an extended and thorough complete follow-up.

Our review shows excellent long-term results after 15 years. Both the weight loss and its maintenance compared favorably with any other procedure. It has the best "cure rate" where cure rate is defined as the absence of morbid obesity: 83% of those with an initial BMI >50 maintained a BMI <40 and 92% of those with an initial BMI <50 maintained a postoperative BMI <35.

DS also targeted co-morbidities. It "cured" most diabetic and dyslipidemic patients. For other associated morbidities, results were related to the extent of weight loss, where DS was as efficient as any other procedure.

The reluctance for using DS has been the concern over long-term risks. The present review should be reassuring. The procedure saves lives. A 15-year survival rate of 92% is much better than that of nonoperated morbidly obese subjects and perhaps even better than after RYGBP.8 The operative mortality was found to be comparable to that of RYGBP.13

The long-term risk for malnutrition is real but preventable. Deficiency in albumin, iron, calcium and fat-soluble vitamins requires compliance and medical attention. These deficiencies were rare, they appeared slowly, and were always reversible without permanent damage.

The procedure was relatively secure for bone maintenance. It is possible that with the medical attention provided after surgery, including increased physical activity, better alimentation and appropriate nutritional supplements, the procedure may even be beneficial for bone metabolism, rather than representing a risk.

The negative side-effects with DS were not benign. The unpleasant odor of stool and gas and the frequent abdominal bloating were the price to pay for these patients and it was a major preoccupation for many of them. However, 95% of patients declared themselves satisfied despite this handicap and no one has required reversal of the procedure for this reason.

The present evaluation has an important characteristic, in that it is comprised of a non-selected group of patients. No pre-selection was done on the basis of age, BMI, eating behavior, financial or psychological conditions, merits or expected difficulties for follow-up. With appropriate support, the procedure was found to be useful for all groups.

Thus, the global applications should be appreciated. We conclude that with a structured and devoted treatment team, DS is a very efficient bariatric operation, to the great satisfaction of both the patients and the care-providers.

Finally, one of the striking conclusions of this study is that, in spite of the inherent mortality risk of the bariatric surgery, the long-term outcomes are more positive than the mortality risk without surgery. Furthermore, in spite of the side-effects which are not minimal, the overall patient satisfaction dominates. These two points highlight the profound effect that morbid obesity has, not only on mortality, but also on quality of life.

 

marylin99
on 1/20/08 12:39 am - MO
Oh Charlie I am so glad you posted this, cause I have been having the same issues myself.  I had lost down to about 170 or less and my skin even felt like it had no tone at all.  Well anyway I do need hernia repair so I do have that to lay some blame on.  I go for my yrly next month with my surgeon and I know we are going to talk about that repair again, I chickened out on that once already.  I am going to have to try and change my intake which I know is getting my protien but I am getting to much other stuff in there too.  I am able to eat a lot more then I use to too.  I still have some times I can't finish a small meal and then others I can eat all of it and more.  No ryhme and reason.  I hope this helps to let you know your not the only one in the boat. Marylin 314/180/150 2/07/2006 Dr. Anthone
marylin99
on 1/20/08 1:20 am - MO
Uh ooooh!  I was afraid of that.  I had stopped posting because of being stalked by ex in laws, so I have been missing out on all this.  I want to post again. I have missed my friends and all the support from everyone here.  I am sorry if I have stirred something up, it wasn't my intention I just wanted to get some support here. Marylin PS> I understand why some don't post anymore and I hope I have never said anything to anyone that has made them feel badly.  It was never my intention.  If I have I am so so sorry. 314/180/150
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