Concerns About Gas & Hair Loss with DS??

I am due to have surgery in September and am on the fence about RNY vs. DS.  Doc suggested DS due to my starting weight and because I am diabetic.  The big hold up for me are vanity issues but still, really scary for me.  Very stinky gas bacause I work in a cubicle environment and hair loss because it's thin already?  What is the general concensus out there?  Has anyone else dealt with these issues and did you find a good solution?

MD in MN

I've heard of stinky BMs and balding RNYers, too, so you know.  This is a risk of any malabsorptive procedure.

I work in a medical office and I find gas to be very controllable with diet.  This meant no flour, no cookies, no cake, no free donuts at wor****il I developed a tolerance for these items (just now starting...3-4 years out).  This tolerance may never develop.

My hair fell out, but I had plenty where that came from.  It never did grow back all the way, though I do still feel even now that it keeps getting ever so much thicker.  Some have felt the need to buy wigs and such.  Staying on top of liquids, proteins, and vitamins will be important to minimize the loss (though some hair loss is probably inevitable).

I know some people keep air freshener in their cubicle, too :)  I don't have a cubicle, so I go to the bathroom when I have gas.

If you are diabetic you NEED the DS.  Let's see:  diabetes on one hand...hair loss (temporary) and gas (controllable by diet) on the other hand...  Weigh.

Really.

Hair loss happens with ANY weight loss surgery and is temporary.  Google telogen effluvium.

Gas is controllable IF you are willing to be smart about what/when you eat foods that cause you gas.

Do you think that there are no DSers who work in cubicles? 

I'm really quite astounded that your health is less important than your vanity.  Perhaps the DS is not the surgery you need.

~Becky

Hey Becky,

This was my first day on this site but you can be sure I won't stay here long with "Support" like yours!  Holy cow!  I'm here to ask questions, not be judged by you! Are you kidding me?  I've been researching RNY for 10 years and only recently was I introduced to DS.  There isn't alot out there in real life experience so I need to ask.  If this is what asking gets me, no thanks!  

You really need to read your words back to yourself and hear what your saying before you hit that send button.  I didn't need this attack and certainly didn't deserve it!

Mary

Hey Mary,
Honestly, this is a friendly forum, but we get so many people doing things that are contrary to their instructions and advice that sometimes people get a bit short.

Honestly, don;t worry about the gas, its completely controllable with your diet. One of the long term (7 yrs out) says she "tivo's" her carbs..meaning that she eats flour/sugar about 6 hours before she can be alone to deal with the gas lol!!
I am in a lot of meetings that go on for hours so I would have problems if I couldnt control my gas. As long as I eat very little sugar and white flour I proably pass less gas than I did pre op...Honestly!
We don;t have constant diarrhea (I go once a day unless I overdo the carbs). We don;t smell all the time and I we have agreat quality of life in terms of eating.

as for the hair loss, mine got a bit thin but I never had bald patches or naything. I was very sick with complications (which can happen to any surgery patient regardless of which WLS you choose) and I was nil by mouth for 2 months and even then I didnt lose that much hair. I have very fine hair anyway, so it wasnt like I had tons of hair before surgery and could afford to lose some ya know??

I think for me, the deciding thing has to be the diabetes honey. There are people who have had the malabsorptive part of the surgery just to cure their diabetes. Most people come off their medication within a matter of weeks, the weight loss will be gravy.

Please don;t believe all the bad publicity the Ds gets, this usually comes from RNY'ers who (forgive me) are a little jealous that they didnt do their research on other weight surgery types like the DS. Also surgeons who wont do the DS because they havent got the skill to do it bad mouth it and spread silly stories about the gas, hair loss and diarrhea.

I have lost 140lbs and kept it off for 3.5 yrs, I have great labs, my hair looks fab and I have no problems with excessive gas (that I cant control by what I eat) and I dont have constant diarrhea.
Please Mary, do yourself the biggest kindness, choose the DS honey!!

Please hang around on the forum, read lots of posts, particularly the BItes & Vites, so you can see what we eat each day - I think you'll be pleasantly suprised!!

Hugs,

Yorkie xx

Yorkie,

Thanks so much for this!  I am deffinately sold on the DS now that I've had a chance to hear from people like you.   I will stick around here.  I need access to people who are willing to share valuable information.  I'll see you around here as I go through this process.

Mary

Hey Mary, you are so welcome. Don't be put off, many of the vets have a tough love approach ut they mean well and are a wealth of information.
Feel free to PM me if you have an questions ok??

Yorkie x

Unless you intentionally pass gass inside your cubicle by way of habit, you have nothing to worry about.

I just hold my farts for the bathroom as I did both pre and post op. I don't have post op gas problems with gas (others do). Your milage may vary depending on diet and other things.

You will have hair loss no matter what surgery you have.  My sister in law had lap band, lost hair.  My mother in law had RNY, lost hair.  It did grow back on both of them, but it's all subject to individuality.  Some people it doesn't grow back, but it's not because they chose the DS.

DS gas issues revolve around weather you eat the right thing or not.  You will know what sets your system off to stink mode, or you'll learn.

I'd take occasional gas over dumping syndrome any day.  Especially since you can control the gas.

Do some more research and I'm confident that you will know that the DS is the superior surgery.

Are you kidding me?  You are going to make a life-altering decision, with a severe comorbidity like diabetes, based on whether you might lose your hair??

You obviously don't know enough about EITHER surgery to be making a choice yet.  You need to spend HOURS AND HOURS reading to learn about life with the two surgeries so you can make an INFORMED decision, based on SENSIBLE reasons.

As for your questions, the short answer is, you can lose hair with ANY surgery, including appendectomy.  There is nothing you can do about it.  It will probably grow back, but if it doesn't, you can buy a wig - or six of them.  Almost without exception, stinky gas is caused by eating **** you shouldn't eat.  Don't eat it - or save it until you are home.  And RNYers get stinky gas too:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/questio n.php?N=P1195661276
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/3501676/Kinda-gross-fa rt-post/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4322477/Excessive-Sme lly-Gas/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/3530826/Im-about-to-fr eak-my-freak-i-smell/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3630779/smelly-bathro om-breaks-and-work/