HI ALL!

I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WERE ANY DS REGRETS? I HEAR A LOT OF RNY REGRETS BUT NO DS REGRETS.

I AM TORN BETWEEN THE TWO. YES I KNOW IT IS A PERSONAL DECISION BUT JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF THERE WERE ANY DS REGRETS AND THE COMPLICATIONS YOU ARE DEALING WITH.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Also, as of today, I'm seriously thinking of doing a revision to DS. It doesn't sound like I can get my old RNY to do for me what it did in the past anymore. Will keep everyone posted. If you want me to.

Lynda

Here's how things stand, for those of you interested.

I saw a cardiologist and there's nothing wrong with my heart that they can find, it just beats too fast. My doctor thinks it's from the hydrocortisone (steroid) that I'm on.

I'm off the narcotic, so there shouldn't be a problem with my pituitary function anymore. And I'm successfully weaning off the hydrocortisone. It's slow going though, and difficult. The weaning process has left me very weak and exhausted most of the time. Once I'm off it, however, my adrenals will start working properly again and I should be fine. It might take a year for this to happen though.

My kidneys are fine. The doctor thinks they were having trouble because I was taking so much ibuprofin due to dental pain and fevers.

As I'm weaning off the steroid, my dental decay has slowed dramatically.

I can deal with the nutritional issues and all the weird twitches and abdominal charley-horses. I guess that's just part of the fun of WLS. I just have to stay on top of my nutritional needs, which can be a pain in the butt. I feel like all I do is swallow vitamins some days. :/

But my biggest issue is that I've gained back almost all of my lost weight. That angers me. I know it's because of the steroid and not having my low thyroid problem under control. Which, by the way, is finally under control. I'm hoping that once I'm off the steroid I'll be able to lose some of this weight that I've gained. I'm not sure of this though, so I'm going to see my surgeon. Maybe I may have to have a revision. I don't know.

Lynda

you are not a failure everyone looses at a different rate 70 lbs in a year is good.
#1 you are a lightweight  if you were over 400 lbs then you would have lost more it is your % of weight loss  that matters for example if you wanted to loose 100 lbs then you have  lost 70% of your excess weight  a person that weighs 400 lbs and wanted to go down to  150 would have had to have lost 175lbs to be @ 70% weight loss. you can still loose it doesnt stop after a year there is no time limit on this. in my first year i lost 65lbs and I was al a  little discouraged when u eat like a 2 year old. and now I am almost 4 years out and I am down 105 lbs and I am thrilled had a lot of plastics so now I have to really watch my weight cant go up or down or I can  mess up all this work I had done.
call your nutritionist maybe u r not eating enough calories and your body thinks u r starving it.
 I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK
Susan

The docs. may act like they do not know why, but they have been doing this surgery since the 70's so there is a 40 yr. history they purposely like to ignore. Bone pain & fatigue are very common for post RNY. Malabsorption of calcium brings on bone/arthritic & other autoimmune problems like lupus. The med. community is making too much money now that insurance commonly covers this procedure. They know about these complications, but do not track them as related to WLS. If you develop arthritis later on, it will be recorded as "age related" or "wear & tear" and same for other common WLS problems. Only now that I am experiencing these problems did I find out about them. I researched for over 10 years and even got approved for RNY 5 years earlier but did not do it then. I found out about reversal from the O.R. nurses before one of my many tests. I told them I was there to find out why I feel so bad and they said "We see a lot of really sick people from RNY and we do a lot of reversals!" I didn't even know there was such a thing as a reversal. Since then I have found out that if I try to buy insurance now, I am in a higher risk group than I was before the RNY because of the known long term problems. The U.S. military will not accept you with and WLS and it is grounds for dismissal if you have it done. I was told that if I took my vitamins, I would be protected from any malabsorption problems but malabsorption means just that. Even though you are taking them, they are not all getting into you. I have also learned that 95% of your Serotonin (Dr. Oz on TV) is made in your small intestine. No wonder depression is common post op. I have also learned that the bypassed part of your stomach produces Grehlin, a hormone that sends hunger signals to your brain and also causes Growth Hormone to be produced. In an adult, growth hormone helps cause the rebuilding of bones and tissues and a decrease in it causes rapid or premature aging. Look on the internet for gastic bypass regrets for some very sad stories.  I am 2 yrs post RNY & regretting so much that I am seeking reversal before I become too far out or too sick. Since day 1 I have extreme fatigue, I am a semi-invalid who does not have the energy to go about daily life. I have contstant diarrhea and bad smelling gas. Because my bowel movements are not solid I have bowel incontinence. I soil myself often, in my bed, in my clothes, in my car. So I stay home and close to the bathroom. Now the bone pain is starting in a big way. For the last 2 years, there has been a lot of "head scratching" and "don't know why" from my doctors and more tests than are reasonable. (HIV,TB,LUPUS, hepatitus etc.) I have always known that it started the day I woke up from surgery and it is because of the RNY surgery. I stayed positive the first year and went to support meetings. I tried to believe the "it will get better" message I was always told. The only advice I have been given for relief is antidiarrhea pills that don't work and probiotics and more vitamins. This last year I have been saying "if you can't help me then I want a reversal" Now I am at that point. My primary care Dr. walked out of the room when I told her I wanted a reversal It was not supposed to be like this.                     
I was suposed to be slim and running marathons like the commercial on TV. My insurance covers reversal. They were quick to approve the surgery (all I had to do was have a certain BMI, a co-health factor like diabetes, which I still have, and see a shrink) well if they were so quick to pay for the surgery, then they can help put me right. I weighed 235 before surgery and now 180 and I am more concerned with having a livable life than being thin. I wish I could feel as good as I did when I weighed more. There is a lot of predijuce against people who are not happy with the surgery and are to speak out, but there are way too many of us. Word needs to get out. One woman wrote a book I have read "I want to live" by Dani Hart about reversal and her struggle to get her health back. You are the first person I have told my story to online. I feel better already.  I went back to my old primary care Dr. who approved the RNY and told him of my problems and request for reversal. My insurance needs "previous medical authorization" but every one seems reluctant to be the one to say "this woman should have this reversed". He did give me a referral to our HMO  surgery dept. and I will soon go back to the Dr. who did the RNY to ask him
if he would do the reversal. My biggest problem is that I am not dying from anything yet. I am on antidepressants and went for psych. counseling. She agreed, it is not in my mind but it is coming out of my bowels into my pants. I am too young for diapers and a cane.