CALLING ALL VETS: 3 years out or more....

My husband had the DS three years ago. He is doing great, his weightless has pretty much stopped over the past year and he is holding steady. My questions for you is about regain. Has anyone on DS had actual regain? When did it start creeping up and how much of a regain did you have?

Hubs eats pretty much anything he wants, with the exception of dairy which he limits. Nothing is really banned when it comes to his eating. I worry that this is going to catch up to him and he will start gaining again. He is definitely eating over the recommended limit and certainly NOT the correct food choices. Lots of fast foods, lots of sugars, just crap basically.

He keeps telling me that DS patients don't really have any worries about regain...I just find that hard to believe.

you are right, there are no free rides in life. you can eat around any surgery, ds included. if he is eating a lot of simple sugars and crap like you say....he will have to pay the piper eventually. at 3 years he is still early out, intestinal adaptation was achieved at about 2 years. and yes to answer your question, there are plenty that have gained weight post DS, usually past 2 years.

YMMV with the DS. For a decade I ate whatever I wanted. And then I regain and I had to low-carb for a few months. Now I am back to eating whatever I want. Everyone is different

Part of it is the Man Factor. Men just lose better and faster than women and have a smaller chance of regain.

You can outeat ANY WLS. The DS is the hardest one to outeat but it can be done. And drinks with sugar is the fastest way to do it.

Since your H lost the weight, I am assuming he knows and understands low carb. He should ride the wave as long as he can but when that fateful day comes where he is 5lbs over goal, he just needs to put the hammer down and no more sugar/carbs till it's all gone.

And who knows, that day may never come. Some men actually are that lucky.

As others have stated the only real concern about regain with the DS is simple carbs (sugar).

He's just finishing his honeymoon period but eventually it could catch up with him in more ways than one -- does he eat enough protein? Does he take his vitamins? How are his labs?

Most of us experience about 50% malabsorption (meaning we absorb about 50% of whatever we take in) EXCEPT for simple carbs (sugar). He will absorb 100% of simple carbs (sugar). If he's eating alot of sugar, I can't imagine the gas and discomfort and bloating he must experience.

I'm 14 years post-op and I am about 20 pounds higher than my lowest weight (which is about 10 pounds more than I'd like to be). I've been at my current weight for about 8 years. Do I eat crap - of course I do, but I also focus on protein, know that if I do go overboard with carbs (sugar) I will pay for it in the long run.

Does he have issues with gas or stinky stools when he eats sugar and crappy food? If so, as his spouse, I would be upset about that side-effect of his poor diet.

B**** 3 years out, I was eating (and still do) between 3000 to 8000 calories a day (just depends on the day)...most days I end up with about 5000 calories a day. I call the 8k days...hollow leg days.

Scott

That's incredible, DS folks have a sleeved stomach right? How can you eat so much in one day? (Very curious)

I don't know, it doesn't seem that incredible to me...l do eat a lot though. I'm 11 years out from the DS, on most days, I feel very little if any restriction.

This is why I'm not a fan of restriction only surgeries. Unless you can diet your whole life, you need malabsorbtion.

Scott

I'm 4 years out and I'm good as long as I stick to near what I consider my DS diet, protein first, low carb. If I don't stick to that I can gain, depending on how much and what I eat and depending on exercise.

I consider myself now more of a normal weight loss person. I watch what I consider my ?plateau? weight and if I go above that I concentrate more on a protein fist atkins type diet or more exercise ( or both ).

I've seen the posts from people that can eat anything seemingly forever but that isn't the case for me. I saw a comment about quantities and my experience with the VSG part is that while I hope to never have my preop capacity I definitely have a larger cpacity now than my first two years.

Pete