Compulsive eating: spiritual or biological.

Nice recruiting pitch.  Certainly has a lot of logical points.  Sounds like a good sales pitch or a preacher bringing their flock to their specific point of view.  I'm surprised you don't put out a shingle and start your own psychiatric practice.  You must have a degree in medicine or psychiatry to be so knowledgeable.

By this post, no one is responsible for anything because we are driven purely by biology.  Jeffery Dahmer didn't have any motive to kill and eat his victims other than simple biology.  He just needed a DS. 

Listen, I don't disagree that DS may be the best procedure for some, hell, maybe most folks.  I just don't think anything in this realm is so black and wight as you just tried to make it.

I apologize for being arrogant. I admit I was tired when I wrote this and wasn't being nice.

No the DS isn't for everyone, but it can correct biological hunger. No not everyone has these problems. And biological hunger isn't the only problems foodies have. However, what OAers believe to be a spiritual malady is real hunger.

FAIR ENOUGH!  I have NEVER wrote something in a similar mood....NOT.  LOL

So to mellow this out...

1.  I totally agree that DS can help correct biological hunger.  Is it more or less effective than other procedures?  I believe that is possible when doing side-by-side comparisons.

2.  Do I believe there is a mental component to hunger?  YES!  If there wasn't such a thing as food addiction, then why are there so many cases of transference of addiction?  

3.  In my mind there is reason to weigh VSG vs DS.  (Yes, there are RNY vs DS and such but I will speak from my specific point of view.)  In my case I actually made the first comparison of LB vs VSG and that seem to be a no brainer.  I know too many folks with LB and their various levels of success.  I also didn't' want to hassle with fills and unfills.  It didn't fit ME.  I next compared VSG to DS and felt that the restriction alone would get me to where I wanted to be.  I didn't want the potential (yes very manageable) implications of malabsorbtion.  As an older person looking at the potential of being in a nursing facility in the future I felt that the long term care of a VSG would be better.  Not sure I have confidence in nursing staff to manage supplementation very well. 

I'm a poker player...and good at it.  I understand odds pretty well.  When I stacked the data available and compared them to my vision of what my life would be, the VSG seemed the best fit.  
I'm not into surgery wars (if you can't tell that by my tag) and resurrecting this topic in the manner you did kinda ticked me off.  I do appreciate your apology and that keeps you off my block list.  Hell...gonna have to toss a friend request at you even.

BEST WISHES!

 it's ok - honestly, we are all glad you found the surgery that works for you.  keep on posting!

You may be right that the DS will cure the biological component of overeating.  However, I am not willing to trade malabsorption for that cure.

I never feel guilty for eating or being fat or any other thing in my life that I don't do to deliberately harm anyone else.  I do not harbor any Judeo/Christian guilt at all.  It just isn't part of my nature.  I don't feel broken, never have.

I do eat for emotional reasons.  Happy, sad, anxious, bored, pleasure seeking, anger and a million others.  These are normal emotions that are a part of life.  For whatever reason, I temper them with food.

I was totally healthy on paper when I weighed 100 lbs more than I do now.  I don't have a serious metabolic disorder.  I sometimes felt like crap, but did not have any degenerate disease.  I had and still have mild high blood pressure which is hereditary and has nothing to do with my weight.

I will eat as much as my stomach will allow.  I have very little self control when it comes to food.  The VSG has made it so I eat a normal amount of food.  I don't always eat the way I should, but that is part of the addiction.

Not everyone is the same when it comes to food and metabolism.  I will admit that if I were going to have a malabsorptive surgery, it would be the DS.  My brain wont let me go there.  I have a lot of fear about trading one problem for others that I would have much less control over.

I am glad that you have found the right surgery for you.  I wish you much continued success.  You are fortunate to have found this cure at such a young age.

 Most excellent Post!  Soulful, insightful. We should  embrace  any  WLS   that helps. Thank you for sharing this post . I also  believe... Obesity can  be spiritual , medical  at times and  biological. Many roads to Obesity, some times we can have  taken ( or have ) all three.  WLS  does not cure  our addictions or Brokenness, it can help us get a "grip" and  enable us   to  "get on"  with life,  give us hope and help. Add Quality  and  years to our life. Life is a journey ... so is life Post WLS. I learn this more every day . That we learn .... is the key.   

It's a nice theory that it takes both malabsorption and a sleeve to get hunger control. Except it doesn't explain how come pretty much all the WLS types provide hunger control. Most people with a sleeve do get hunger control and just as good as those with a DS. Better in some cases. Even people with a lapband get hunger control. Not if they can't find their sweet spot which is part of why it's the least effect WLS on average but the majority of people with bands do get hunger control too. As do those with RnY.

I find it amusing how there seems to be a subset of people with a DS who can't just be happy that they got the surgery they wanted and that works for them, but have to come up with all these explanations for why the DS is the best at everything for everyone. It's not. Not everyone needs the malabsorption it provides and some people just don't want that malabsorption, even if they could use it.

Hi I was reading your comment and was wondering  what is DS and this hunger control thing your talking about.  I'm new to this and need help understanding things,.  I had the RnY done Oct 31.  this is my first time on this site. 

 It's a Duodenal Switch -- a form of weight loss surgery similar to RnY but more aggressive.

Hunger control is what WLS gives you. It allows us to eat the calories we need to lose and maintain and not feel completely deprived like you do when you go on a diet.

you can join us at the link in my sig line for more info.

good luck with your new surgery - early out is an exiting time.