Why are RNYers gaining weight back?

Hi all, why is it that RNYers gaing weight back?  Are you guys no****ching what you are eating?  Not excersising(sp)?  I am deciding between RNY or DS.  Thanks.

I can say that my lowest weight was 233 after my surgery. I only gained 7 pounds back. I started at 330 so to answer your question yes, I do not go to gym like I should because of my schedule. I am hoping next month to start back up at the gym because my work schedule will change. I not sure about others but regardless of what type of surgery you have had or will have you may very well gain weight back.

Some people report with the DS that they have a ten to twenty pound bounce back from their lowest weight once they start adding in carbs to their diet.  Not everyone , but some people.  Just to let you know that it is there.  That is why some people lose below their goal and then add in their carbs. 

However, with the DS you really have much less chance of any regain.  Check out the studies on duodenalswitch.com

Jennifer

Apparently it is because the intestines heal about 2yrs post op and once againbegin absorbing more calories. so part of it isn't even the patient's fault. Why dr.'s are not required to disclose this information is another matter entirely...

 I am a RNYer who has experienced weight regain.  They do tell you up front that you can expect to keep 50 to 60% of your weight off long term.  DS has better statistics I think it is somewhere between 80 and 90%.  So there could be bounce back with either.  The intestines do not grow back together but they do adjust to being able to absorb more but never as much as prior to surgery.  

I believe I gained my weight back for 3 reasons.  

1.  I did not follow the "pouch rules" like I should have.  Not because I didn't want to but rather I was unaware of all the rules in 2001.  

2.  I became complacent and forgot to use the pouch as the "tool" it was meant to be.  I think it is easy to ignore that with ANY wls you can affect your results by following or not following the rules or conditions set out for you by your surgeon for the specific wls you are choosing to have.  Even though we have the wls to aide us in weight loss to many times I think we forget it is just as important to change our "head" so that we can make the most of our wls.

3.  I ate to many carbs because at first they were easier for me to tolerate and truefully I am a carb addict.

Like the other poster has mentioned I too have seen posts where there are some DSer's struggling with weight gain long term out.  By long term I mean more then 8 years.  However, I don't think they experience it as much as the RNYers.  Not sure if it is because of the shear difference in the number of people having RNY vs DS or if it is because there does not seem to be a lot of DSers with the 8 to 10 years post op.  I got to believe it is a little of both the higher success rate with the shorter common channel and the long term results.  If you choose to go with the RNY I would discuss with your surgeon options about performing a distal or ERNY rather then the Proximal.  Early on I think most patients had the proximal.  I would also suggest that you research the DS as well and choose the one that will best fit your lifestyle.  Good Luck to you.

I wish we all knew the answer to that question. I had my first surgery in 2001 and lost 10 lbs. each month for 9 months then nothing more. I didn't eat carbs. for 3 years. When I got married I pretended to eat cake, thats how faithful I was. I started at 316 and only got to 224. I am only 5'2". I thought I did everything right and when I gained it ALL back I blamed myself. My husband honestly thought I must be hiding M&M's in the closet or something because he couldn't figure it out either. I am being totally honest with you. To this day I still can not eat a whole hamburger or more than a 1/2 cup of rice or pasta. I just had a upper GI and swallow test in anticipation of a revision and the radiologist told me that my pouch looked just as it should, I assumed that meant that I didn't eat my way out of it.
I even went off anti-depressents a few months ago because I read somewhere that you gain weight on them and I decided that was my problem. It helped, with about 10 lbs and turned me into a weeping mess. I have since remedied that problem with adjusted meds and some further research and it wasn't totally the medication that caused the gain. Whatever the problem thank God there are Drs. who have not given up on us and keep trying to find the best surgeries for us. My opinion? Look at both and talk to people who have had both good and bad experiences on both and then make the best decision for YOU. Good luck.

I felt the same way as you. My friend and I had surgery the same day and with the same doctor. We exercised and ate healthy. 18 months later we both stopped losing nad neither one of us made it near goal barely saw 200 pounds. Got really depressed and just stopped doing everything and began to gain my weight back. Only to wait two years to find out it was a mechanical failure on the doctors part. The doctor is no longer in business.

All surgeries can fail. Please read that a few times! And the failure is often a failure of the surgery, not, as you imply, the failure of the patient.

With the RNY the pouch can stretch too much - we have living stomachs, not plastic bags, and the opening from the stomach can get too large, since in the end it is man-made and not as perfectly designed as what you were born with.

But DS can go wrong too - the malabsorbtion isn't something to be messed with, the surgery is more complex, you can actually lose too much weight.

Both surgeries have 'rules' you have to follow, and my advice would be to check out those rules and see which ones you honestly think you can live with. Then join us in praying that surgery works for you!

 PekinSal,

I admire and love your honest and straight forward replies.  Your ability to give realistic feedback to posts without slanting to one particular wls version or insinuating that there is only one type of wls that works is commendable.  I for one would like to thank you for your responses I know they have helped me out a great deal as I am sure they have helped others as well.  

Aww you made me blush now, thanks!

In the end we shouldn't care how we get there, as long as we do. I dance with joy for the people who were brave enough to chose any surgery and have been successful. Obesity is the enemy here, not each other.