Duodenal Switch Questions

My doctor has me going for the Duodenal Switch on Sept 6. I have had the sleeve for 4 years ago but do to some physical injuries my watch lost has has come to a full stop. I saw my doctor about 7 months ago he recommend that i should get the gastric bypass. so i was scheduled for that on Aug 7. 3 day before the operation he had in in his office to go over everything. He cam to me with the Duodenal switch, i have tried to research it but i am get a lot of different results on it. when i saw my nutritionist on Friday she gave me this site. I could use some help on this as to how everyone feel about this operation. is it better then the gastric bypass for weight lost. From I have learned in this short time i'm not see how it would lose more weight. This is where i'm lost. I have asked the doctor he keep saying by malabsorption of calories. so i'm look for other that have had this operation for some help with a lot of question i have. this is just a short inquiry about. please if you have had this surgery i would love to hear back from everyone before i go thought with this surgery. As I said i know all about the gastric bypass and had 6 months to research it but this one i was very short time for me to do so so any help would be great. thanks everyone for your help

You are very fortunate that your surgeon recommended the DS for you, though of course it's tough when you thought you had all your decisions made and now someone throws a curve ball at you.

The DS has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss, and for resolution of almost all comorbidities. You already have the sleeve portion of the operation, so now you just need the "switch" part added, which makes more sense than converting to gastric bypass. and that's aside from the superior results with the DS.

The DS does give you selective malabsorption of fat - we absorb only about 20% of the fat we eat. We also absorb only about 40 - 60% of the protein we eat. So you still have to limit carbs, but can eat fat and all forms of protein, not just lean protein, freely. That's much easier than living with gastric bypass, where you need to follow a low calorie, low carb, low fat diet for life. The DS also alters your metabolism to help with weight loss and maintenance. The ways this happens are complex and not completely understood, but the operation does work, that's for sure.

More info for you in a pm, so look out for it.

Larra

The DS is an amazing tool! I had mine in 2012 and maintain a 140+ pound weigh loss without dieting. I know it's frightening to change it up last minute but the DS is by far a superior procedure to the RNY.

Thank you for you reply

Actually your doc did you the biggest favor ever! There is no WLS out there with better results than the DS.

Thank you for your reply

Because you have the sleeve you already have the first part of the DS. All DSers have a sleeve. The malabsorption happens in the intestines, which are shortened. The length of the common channel helps determine how much malabsorption you will probably have (the shorter the channel the more malabsorption you have). But remember that the intestines are where you absorb most of your nutrients and vitamins. One of the main points with the DS is your commitment to a lifetime of vitamins and eating the right proteins, etc., to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You will have to get labs done every year to make sure everything is working properly and then adjust your vitamins when you are showing deficiencies. This is critical and if you can't commit to a lifetime of vitamins (I take quite a few) then the DS is not for you.

The general rule of thumb (at least what I was told) is that we absorb about 50% of what we put in our mouths. We don't absorb fat (so no low-fat foods). We also absorb 100% of sugar, so carbs are really how you control how much you lose/gain.

The main benefit of the DS is maintenance. The malabsorption helps you maintain your weight loss. I had my DS 14+ years ago. I lost 175 pounds in a little more than a year and have maintained most of that (I had about a 15 pound bounceback) for the last 12 years. For me the DS was the right surgery.

Please don't rush into anything if you are researching the DS. The information is out there. Google duodenal switch or biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD/DS).

Also ask your surgeon how many DSes he has performed. It's a much more complicated surgery that the bypass or sleeve.

Thanks you so much Janet for all the info you have give me

Just an update I had my ds surgery on September 6th it was successful. I'm proud to say but I know it's probably water weight I'm down 10 lb in just about a week I'd like to thank everyone that reply to my original post for all their help it gave me a great help with this surgery

Well today it 1 month from my surgery and went to the doctor today as was told I'm 30 pounds downs the only problem I'm having and wondering if anyone else is having this problem. When i drink the protein shake I get very bad gas and the runs from it. But I'm not lactose intolerant so it's not from the milk in the protein shake we can't figure out what's causing it. Has anybody else had this problem? If so please reply back to this post.