Question for all past RNY'ers?????

I'm in the first stages of having WLS. I picked my surgeon, have my insurance approval. I also started my pre-surgery test. I decided to have RNY, because of my sugar addiction and diabetes. I've heard alot of horror stories about RNY, like hair loss, its ages you fast, bad side effects? I know these are small things compared to being healthy and happy. But I have to be honest, I'm freaking out about hair loss and looking skeletor in my face (hence looking old) Do any of you regret having RNY? Can you share your experiences with me. Maybe I'll feel better.

Hi there!
I do not regret my surgery at all! 

I think that hair loss and looking old and "gray" can be avoided by lots of protein and the correct vitamins.  I had minimal hair loss and my face looks pretty good if I do say so myself for a 47 year old!  I did not get a "chicken neck" like I was worried about.

I started protein drinks before surgery and have been faithful with them ever since.  Right now, I do two a day, sometimes 3, but have never missed a day.  I really enjoy my drinks, but if you do not like them at the moment, keep trying new ones and new recipes until you find something that you DO like.  In the mean time----I do not see it as an option----if you don't like them, consider it medicine and do it anyway.  Your body NEEDS protein and will take it from your muscles if you do not supplement enough.

Same with vitamins.......
I take:
4 am     3 chewable iron (25 mg each) with 500 mg vitamin C

6:30 am     Chewable multi vitamin, B-12 sublingual, B-100 complex (split in half), 500 mg C, stool softener and probiotic

8:30 am; 10 am;  12 pm; 2 pm (aproximately) each 2 hours I take 500 mg chewable calcium CITRATE with 1000 mg Vitamin D (I was low on D at my first labs)

Before bed:  Chewable multi vitamin; 500 mg C; 3 stool softeners and 400 mg magnesium Oxide (helps with constipation).

I have not felt this good for over 20 years and I know I haven't looked this good in just as long.

I hope this helps in some way......keep asking questions!

LOL OH NO CONSTIPATION!!!!!!! I hate that!!!

Constipation is a usual side effect of the surgery, unfortunately.  With all the extra protein and the re-route, I am pretty sure that many people deal with it.  Until I found the Magnesium Oxide (along with the stool softeners) it was a REAL problem, but not any longer.  Everyone needs to find their own solution though, "your milage may vary" as they say.

Wow that's a lot of vitamins.  Is that the norm?  Do all of you take that many vitamins.  I wonder if I will have to take that many since I'm getting Lap Band surgery?  Maybe not since I won't have the malabsorbtion problem.  I guess it's not a big deal if I do, I just didn't realize that many vitamins were needed.  Just wondering out loud.

Crystal, we don't all need that many...this is what I take:

Morning I take a B1 and a B100 Complex (because my thamine was low on my bloodwork)

Mid morning I eat a calcium chew

Mid Afternoon I chew up 4 Opti Source vitamins that I get at Walgreens and made specially for us gastric bypassers

Dinner time (or right after) I take another calcium

I'd check with your doc on that, but trust your instincts. This is actually a growing topic these days. Lots of people think that since they have no malabsorption with the LapBand, they won't need to supplement with vites or protein. They also think it's an easily reversible surgery, but I digress... 

If you have restriction, you will be consuming less food (I know, duh) but also less nutrients. You don't want to sacrifice your health while doctors figure this stuff out in the long-term. Most women in this country already are walking around deficient in calcium, iron and Vitamin D, so vitamins are essential for most of us BEFORE we even get any type of WLS. Add WLS on top of that and it's a recipe for osteoporosis and anemia, not to mention cardiac problems down the line.

Yes, some gloom and doom for you! (Sorry)

Just be aggressive in managing your health because no one else will.

Nicolle

Hi Crystal!

No, not everyone takes what I take and I take a bit more than my doctor's office states that we have to take.  I am very pro-active when it comes to my health.

I have come up with my regimen from doing LOTS and LOTS of research and also in response to my labs.  At 6 months out, I was very low in D and iron----the iron so low that I needed an infusion and regular visits with a hematologist who told me that after RNY, I would never again absorb iron and I would be doing infusions every 6 months to a year.  Well.....I proved him wrong.  I found the chewable iron that I take and started with 2 per day with C and my levels raised a bit (enough for no infusion, but I was still tired all the time) so I raised it to 3 per day and the fatigue went away and my Ferretin level is now over 100!

I have learned most of what I know from the Yahoo Groups Graduate board.  You can join this group at any time, but must be at least one year out before you are allowed to post.  I became a member before my surgery and "lurk" there to this day.  The link is:  http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG/  I think that the "owner" and moderator of the group is Michelle aka "Vitalady" and even though she has a business where she sells protein and vitamins, she is very helpful and knowledgeable and willing to help whether you are her customer or not.

Now, Nicole is right about Lap-Band vs. RNY.  Although you will have less malabsorbtion, you will be eating less so a good multi-vitamin is a MUST (at least twice the regular dosage) and extra B vitamins, iron and D are probably a good idea.

Dr. Joyce has a vitiam that is made just for banders that you can buy at the office otherwise they require you to take some.  Not as many as the RNY but still there are a few that banders have to take, if you follow thier program.

Dawn, where do you get the chewable Calcium Citrate??  All the chews I find are the carbonate and I know that we're not supposed to use that one....
I am almost out of the citrical ones that I stocked up on when I heard they were not making them anymore!  lol