DS Men - How does your experience compare to the women?

No matter the procedure, I'm sure many of us wonder if the experiences of the many more women on here will be similar to ours.  I'm on the way to a DS and hear about the experiences of 95% women and wonder if men experience any differences, including faster losing, better or worse chance of reaching goal, different supplementation (do we need extra iron?), etc.  Would love to hear from DS brothers about their unique experiences and the differences they've noticed compared to the women.  Thanks.

Hey Zap..... Welcome abaord...RNY Guy here...great questions, lets see *****sponds Russ

The women seem to have a lot more problems (or at least, they like to talk about them more).  From what I hear, men lose quicker.  I lost 40lbs in the first 2 weeks and a female co-worker who had the same surgery (RNY) a week before me had only lost 30lbs by the end of her first month.  My nutritionist told me that I need 80-100grams of protein per day, because of my larger frame (I'm 6'6") than a woman would (she recommended 60 grams per day for the women in the class).

Zappre A good friend of mine had a DS back in 2003.  in 18 months he lost 260 lbs.  He is still at that same weight of 180ish today.  For him it has been wonderfully successful.  Although it is not very up to date his website is http://www.johnbizzell.com/.  His email link on that site does not work, if you want his email, drop me a personal note on my profile.  You can see some before and after pics.   He did tell me about a cowroker of his that had the DS by the same Dr. and she was also very succesful, but did loose at a slower rate eventually getting to her goal in about 2 years. I went out to diner with him and I was amazed how much food he could consume compared to me with my RNY, of coarse he is several years out and I am less than one.   Best of luck and welcome to the locker room. Chris 326/178/175

Z, No first hand experience.  But- I presented a study at the OH convention in Lexington last year That might be of interest. It was a survey of Bariatric surgeons (All Procedures) That looked specifically at the differences in Men and Women Patients with regards to Nutrition, rate of loss, need for PS, etc… 10 different points of difference including Complication rates. It’s in a Word Document that I can send as an attachment if you like. Just PM and e-mail address that’ll accepted attached files. Some of it was posted here about 6 months or so ago in Various threads…. If you scroll back for ever!! The original questionaire was- Survey if you're interested in the results, just drop a pm to me. Best Wishes- Dx

I get asked that question a lot in support group meetings because I lost 200 pounds in the first 6 months and then another 54 in the next 6 months. Was it all because of RNY? I doubt it. Was it because I worked out 2X a day at least 5 days a week. Yep.

I don't think it matters if you are a man or woman as far as the speed at which you lose but rather how much you utilize the 'honeymoon' period to your advantage. As I'm sure that anyone that's 6 - 12 months out can confirm that after the 'honeymoon' the pouch turns into a 'tool' and the magic period where you don't have to do anything and lose weight is over!