Questions about DS. Any regrets?

The first two years stay away from as many carbs as possible...any and all of them.

Each of us is totally individual when it comes to what happens with carbs...A vast many of us have bloat/gas when eating white carbs such as bread/rice/pasta/etc. Veggies, altho good for you just takes up space your new TINY tummy will need for protein.

A friend says to get 30 grams of protein in before eating any carbs...if after 30 grams, you still have room, eat fresh, GREEN veggies as your new tummy tolerates.

I was an insulin pump dependent type 2 diabetic...and following a high protein/low carb lifestyle was second nature. BUT I also count ALL carbs...I do not subtract fiber/sugar alcohols to get net carbs as my body saw those anyway and would spike my blood sugar if not counted in my insulin doses. So I don't low carb as low as others...I do NOT NET CARB!

For the first two years, stay away from these as much as possible:

Pasta (even the Dreamfields brand)

Bread

Rice (even the brown rice, carb count is the same in it as in white)

Breading on fried foods

Beware of milk, esp at first...I've seen a figure of about 90% of us become lactose intolerant the first 6 months.

Corn

Peas

As for other veggies:

Veggies that normally produce gas in the human body...beans/broccoli can be problematic...so if trying something for the first time, don't eat anything else new that day...it's like teaching a baby to eat solids for the first time...you introduce a new food...then see if it upsets the baby before moving on..only in this case the baby is your new tummy.

About 4 months out I had a serious case of wanting a salad...so my first one was JUST lettuce (NOT MIXED, just iceberg). Second time, a week later, I added tomato, then added a new item each week til I was eating all things okay. THEN I switched lettuce to mixed. But if anything had bothered me, I would have known exactly what it was.

Pre-op I was a HUGE whole milk drinker...usually two glasses a day counted in my carb/fat intake for the day. I got home from surgery and was allowed on full liquids so I made a protein shake with whole milk...OH, GOOD LORD ALMIGHTY, I was a miserable puppy! I had to use lactaid pills AND drink lactaid milk to be able to use any of it for the first year. Now, I just don't use whole milk but can use half & half in my cooking. IF I am not drinking protein coffee, I make protein shakes with water.

Also, we are taught as normal people to watch fat...use low fat to lose weight...this surgery is a game changer...I do not use low fat anything if I can help it...a normal human needs a minimum of 30 grams a day to stay healthy. We malabsorb 80% of the fat we eat...so that same 30 grams as a normal is the same as 5 grams to us...

Fat is a free food! My preop cholesterol on no meds was 250, surgery was in Jan 2011, April 2011, still no meds, my cholesterol was 190, in April 2012, it was 183, in April 2013, it was 143...and I cook like the good Southerner that I am, butter/bacon grease, etc!

I wasn't hypertensive pre-op, just high normal. My husband tho, who is also a DS'er, was on two BP meds...he is now free of those. But we watched him for signs of dropping BP as he lost weight...when his PCP kept getting readings that were 90/60, he dropped one...then a month later, the second...his normal BP now is dead on at 120/70. Mine went from 130/80 to 100/60.

And yeap, I had mild GERD...was on protonix or prevacid most of the last 15 years...I still take the OTC version of Prevacid every morning.

Other material you may want to read:

http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/VitaladysPre-op_i deas_11-2009.doc

http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/VitaLadysLabsandTargets_11-2009.doc This one will most likely vary from what your surgeon orders but most of them do not test enough to keep us healthy. And the next one is the best way to stay healthy afterward.

http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_ BPDDS3-2010.pdf

http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ArticlesonK2Poste dbyVitalady.pdf

Just want to add that I had my DS in 2001 and the only regret I have is that I did not do it sooner.  

Something to think about is that while the DS may take up most of your brain space for a year or two after surgery, life zooms in to fill the space later.  Eating protein and taking supplements becomes absolutely second nature.  One of the HUGE things I learned pre surgery was the damage that caloric liquids could do.  Because I'd had type 2 diabetes previously, I was already used to that, but it is something I would absolutely commit to.  Again, these things become automatic in time.

I would never recommend any other WLS.