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What you say White Dove is EXACTLY why I was terrified to get this lifesaving WLS.
I read ( here) that RNY ( and VSG ) patients have to diet for a lifetime..... not that I wasn't dieting ALREADY but why risk my life and longevity to basically get the same issues back a few years post op?
For me this nine year journey has been AMAZING.
I've attempted and succeeded at so many dreams that as a struggling-with- their weight and health person I just couldn't BEGIN to do .
i just wish I could bring the peace I feel around eating now to others ... the incredible joy of sharing healthy homemade meals with my family and friends ... the wonder of working with homegrown produce and eating in and enjoying that beautiful garden .
I think my WLS NORMALIZED me . I still have excess fat cells and aging issues .... I just had a well deserved reset . I'm SO happy I did it and SO GRATEFUL every single day :)
That was super interesting information on K2 ty !
I notice it really minimizes and heals bruising and helps control leg cramps and varicose veins ( horse chestnut extract is of course the gold standard varicose vein prevention wise )
I only took minimal occasional doses of k2 so far but I'm definitely going to try it in combination with my weekly fossamax . I'd LOVE to have ramrod- straight lifelong posture and never to shrink an inch lol :)
You say you take 12 medications a day. I assume they're not all vitamins?!! After my VSG I was advised to take a multivitamin, and they check my bloods yearly to see if I have any deficiencies. I'm 3 years out, and the multivitamin is still the only supplement I need -- and I'm vegan. I also took a PPI (these medications usually end in -zole) for the first two years.
I am not suggesting that you stop taking any of your vitamins, but you might discuss with your medical team if you really still need everything you're taking. If those 12 medications are all (or even mostly) vitamin or mineral supplements, and you don't have any malabsorption issues, that might be more than you need.
I had RNY is 2007. I have no malabsorption or restriction. I only control my weight with diet and exercise. Just like before surgery.
The DS does give lifetime fat malabsorption. The RNY gives about two years of calorie malabsorption. When the surgery is new, there is tremendous restriction. But it is similar to a new born baby. The RNY pouch or VSG/DS sleeve grows up and becomes an adult pouch or sleeve.
If I wanted to, I could eat as much as before surgery and if I did not control my eating, I would weigh as much as before surgery.
Real life begins where your comfort zone ends
I'm 18+ years from my DS and I still have significant fat malabsorption. I'm still at the same goal weight I reached 16-1/2 years ago :) Not much restriction anymore (having the sleeve with the DS) but definitely not back to pre-DS volume. I say I eat like a "normal" person volume-wise.
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
I can eat three bites of a slice of pizza and have to put it down due to sneezing and sniffling ( my pouch?s indicators that she?s had ENOUGH lol) .
It literally takes me two hours to eat half of it and usually I throw the rest out .
I find I?m a constant food hoarder - my eyes want this and that .... I plan this great meal in my mind and aquire the ingredients and 9/10 gets left on the plate . Since my pouch can?t tolerate leftovers I throw out ( or compost ) an unconscionable amount of food - every single day 
.
Yes my natural predilection/ preference is to eat very low fat or ( preferably ) fat free.
I think you?re right this might be why I still have malabsorption when I do eat ? normal ? amounts of fat .
In any case I?m grateful for my pouch?s touchy temperament. She keeps me slim, ? fighting weight ? and super healthy and ridiculously energetic .
Congratulations on 18 months. Thanks for being so open about your struggles. I know you will help many others.
I don't have that issue, either.
I know you've frequently mentioned on this site that you follow a very low-fat diet. So maybe that's why you're seeing this when you DO eat fat? As in your body's just not used to it? Not sure.
re: the weight regain during year 2 or 3 - part of it may be due to the malabsorption ending, but that only happens in bypass patients. VSG patients also experience "rebound", so part of it may also be due to bad habits creeping back in - or just eating more in general (even if we haven't reverted to bad habits).
I still have restriction, but not like I did the first few months post-op. I doubt anyone could tell at this point that I've had WLS. I eat about as much as my never-been-obese women friends who are watching their weight. For example, at restaurants I'll typically just eat an appetizer - or order an entree and take 1/2 - 2/3 of it home. Or I'll eat 1-2 pieces of pizza (that's all I can handle now at one sitting) vs the half a large pizza that I used to be able to eat prior to surgery.
The company has not responded to either of the two messages I sent them about this issue. If I had to guess why, it is because the patch NEVER had the 1500mg of calcium they originally claimed (good thing I saved an old package, huh?) and they are afraid of saying something that might be used in a lawsuit against them.
I therefore have started posting comments about it on their Facebook page, so we will see if that gets any response from them (other than to delete the comments).
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
I will be 14 years out later this month. I now malabsorb just a very small amount of fat (it isn't even noticeable unless I eat something with a lot of it... and even then it doesn't result in the stools you describe).
I do still have pretty good restriction (knowing that the pouch would naturally be expected to stretch a bit), though. I can still only eat about 3.5-4 ounces of a dense protein.
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
