So Many Questions

All,

I am considering gastric bypass surgery but I have so many questions and when I research I get either vague answers or conflicting information. So I thought I'd ask some questions in the hopes that people at multiple stages of post op could answer:

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why?

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20's? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before?

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what's the worse?

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can't handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all?

5) for people with years post op, what are some of the problems you now face?

6) please be as honest about your experience. Give me any information you wish you had know when you were considering doing this for the rest of your life.

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why?

Nope, not even one minute. I am happy, healthy and regained a lot of my life back. I can't imagine where I would be right now without surgery.

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20?s? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before?

Yes and no. I would not say you should wait because you should "try other options", first--if you are MO, surgery is going to be the only thing that sticks long term. But I do think there is a level of maturity that goes along with the responsibility of surgery. You can't slack off on vitamins, ever. And you have to be ready to change your life forever. If you aren't ready, you can slip into old habits and gain everything back. It happens a lot.

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what?s the worse?

I did not drink AT ALL for the first 1.5 years. Now I have an occasional glass of wine or liquor, but it affects me really differently than pre-op. I get legit drunk. Not buzzed--drunk. And sometimes it is after just a few sips. And the weirdest part is that after feeling super tipsy, right away, that sensation goes away really fast, too and all of a sudden I feel sober. I can see how a person who has an additive tendency could fall into alcoholism easily, because you have to keep drinking to keep the high. Plus if you are looking for a pleasure replacement for food, alcohol is an option too many people choose.

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can?t handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all?

Literally nothing. The first few months I followed the stages from liquids to purees to soft foods and never had a problem. I vomited exactly once from stuck food--salmon of all things. It was terrible, but vomiting once in 3 years are good odds I think. However, just because you can, doesn't mean you should... I avoid sugar and carbs and stick to high protein, full fat foods. Yes, I could eat fruit, but I usually choose not to.

5) for people with years post op, what are some of the problems you now face?

I don't face any "problems", as in no complications, but I sure did get my appetite back! I have to fight hard to maintain my weight and stay even MORE cognizant of every calorie in maintenance than I did when I was losing. As I stated above--this is a forever surgery and if you aren't ready to track and weight your food for life, you aren't ready. Other common problems people have years out are from stopping a vitamin regiment. You can read hundreds of posts here about people who forgot, or stopped and now face serious health problems.

6) please be as honest about your experience. Give me any information you wish you had know when you were considering doing this for the rest of your life.

It will sound cliché after you hear all of us say it, but I wish I did it sooner and had more years of my life as a healthier active person.

I'm pretty new, so it's ok if you take my response with a grain of salt, since I'm still in a "everything is fantastic!" New post-op glow of weight loss.

1. At this point I don't regret anything, and only wish I would have had the maturity to make the decision sooner...which brings me to the next thing...
2. I would never discourage anyone from doing this in their 20s, but I don't know if I'd encourage it either, exactly. I know I was personally not ready yet. I wanted to socialize and drink, do all the regular "college stuff" which usually meant pizza, late nights out ending in midnight meals, unhealthy convenience foods, etc. it really depends on the maturity of the person and I simply wasn't there yet. I'm only 32 now, so I'm not terribly far off but those few years made a huge difference to my level of commitment as well as my priorities shifting.
3. I haven't tried alcohol post op (I'm only 3 months out) but I don't plan on making it a regular occurrence even once I get to maintenance. I've seen transfer addiction in my mom, who had RNY 16 years ago. It's not cute to be falling over drunk in a bar after half a beer (and still drinking more, because you only had HALF A BEER), and everybody thinking it's hilarious.
4. im still transitioning through the phases, I currently can't have RAW fruits and veggies (that restriction gets lifted next week!) and I haven't touched any pasta, bread, rice, etc. at this point I feel like it would be painful or uncomfortable if not make me sick. But eventually I could eat anything I want...if I'm willing to deal with the consequences, including regaining weight.
5. i don't think I'm qualified to answer the rest ;)

hang out around here, do searches in the search bar, and go through the daily "what's on your menu" threads to see what everyone is eating at different stages. It's a great resource!

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why?

Not even for a minute.

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20's? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before?

Depends how mature that person is. I have a 27 year old son, married, mortgaged, with a child and he'd be a hell no!

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what's the worse?

Slippery slope. If you are in your 20's and asking this, I'd say it's a red flag. Definitely no during weightloss, as your liver really takes a beating and if you like to binge then no too. Occasional glass of wine or ****tail will be ok, but addiction is real. I have seen people lose EVERYTHING.

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can't handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all?

Ice cream and cake. Never touch either. Any liquid sugar. It makes me so ill, people have called am ambulance. Not fun in a public setting

5) for people with years post op, what are some of the problems you now face?

None healthwise. I'm very healthy and fit for my age. Not what I would have been if I'd not had surgery. However, I am super compliant with vitamins which is not always the case from evidence here.

6) please be as honest about your experience. Give me any information you wish you had know when you were considering doing this for the rest of your life.

For me, it was easy peasy, but as I said before, I like rules and structure and I was 100 per cent all in for success. I've had and lost regain a bunch of times over the 14 years, but I've never let it get so out of hand I couldn't get back from it. Again, this is not typical either.

1. No. I regret I didn't do it sooner.

2. MO is MO at any age. I do think us middle aged folks are more ready to embrace a healthy lifestyle but I'd never say you're too young for this surgery. Why not enjoy your prime years at a healthy weight. Of course you do have 1 other option and that is to totally commit yourself to nutrition and fitness regimen for a length of time and at a level of intensity that you've probably never even come close to achieving before. I guess older folks are better at admitting "Yeah, that ain't happening"

3. Seems to hit me quicker and definitely hits me harder. I like to say that's a benefit because my consumption is way down but that's me. Alcohol can be a dangerous drug. I'd say RNY increases those risks.

4. Apart from dry, rubbery hard foods that are just tough to get down I have trouble with sugary foods or foods with lots of carbsbecause they spike my insulin. Again I do see that as a benefit.

5. I'm only 14 months out... basically I'm anR RNY toddler. So far so good.

6. I used to play this terrible game in my head called "Am I the fattest person in this room/ on this subway car?" Apart from all the health benefits I reaped I'm really glad I don't feel the need to play that game anymore. Losing 100 lbs didn't solve all my problems. I'm still the same schlub I was before. But we all have this "movie" playing in our heads. For me that movie got a little bit better.

Good Morning,

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why? No regrets. Frustrations at times but no regrets.

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20?s? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before? I echo what the others have said, it's more about being ready than an age thing.

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what?s the worse? For me, I have not had any since surgery. I didn't drink much before so this isn't an issue for me at all.

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can?t handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all? I don't think there are things I cannot eat. Eating too many carbs causes me issues and my body does not do well with sugar alcohols.

5) for people with years post op, what are some of the problems you now face? I have had a drop in my iron that required an iron infusion (I take all my vitamins/supplements but that wasn't enough to raise my iron.

6) please be as honest about your experience. Give me any information you wish you had know when you were considering doing this for the rest of your life. As brief as they are, I have had a few moments (like literally a few minutes) here and there where I just wanted to be "normal". By that I mean, being to hop in the car and not have to worry that I have my water/vitamins and all of that. It's hard to explain so I hope that makes sense.

Best of luck to you as you decide what is best for you.

Hello and welcome, now I am only 1 week post op, so I can't really answer much, but my mom is 10 years post op so I'll also answer with her experiences.

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why?

Me: I regretted my decision exactly once, one day post op, because I tried to go too long without pain meds and it was BAD. However, the pain gets a lot better really fast (I was feeling energetic the by day 2). But beside crying over surgery pain for less than a day, no I'm happy with my decision.

My Mom: Nope, never

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20?s? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before?

Me: Seeing as how I'm 24, I recommend this surgery to anyone who is is not a child and is capable of committing to the process. No one on my surgery team seemed at all phased by my age. Also, I think "giving some other options a try" are what causes a lot of people to not have the surgery until they're in their 40's and 50's

My Mom: Do what's best for you, regardless of age

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what?s the worse?

Me: This is a non-issue for me, I hadn't had alcohol for 4 years before surgery.

My Mom: Once you're far enough out, you can drink, just not a lot. I max out at 1 or 2 beers and only do that about once a month.

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can?t handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all?

Me: Well I can't eat anything right now lol but I'm also not hungry so there's that

My Mom: I can eat everything at this point; french fries, chicken nuggets, cake, cookies, ice cream, pasta, etc. However, if you do eat poorly, you will gain weight, which I have struggled with for many years.

5) for people with years post op, what are some of the problems you now face?

Me: N/A

My Mom: I have no medical issues

6) please be as honest about your experience. Give me any information you wish you had know when you were considering doing this for the rest of your life.

Me: You will need a few weeks off work or school to recover, give yourself that.

My Mom: My life is 100 times better now than before surgery

1) The only regret I have is that I didn't have this surgery more than 20 years ago. I am 60 and have struggled since I was 19 with my weight and like everyone else I have lost probably 3 times my body weight over the years. I did lose 90 lbs and maintain it for 5 years until I had a hysterectomy and then I gained all of it back +50 lbs.

2) I've done most of the diets, Optifast, Diet Dr's with basically amphetamines and the only success I had long term was when I worked out 6 days a week and severely limited my caloric intake.

3) I'm only a little over 3 months post-op and I have a glass of wine occasionally. It doe**** you much harder than before and I've found 2 glasses is too much.

4) The only food issue I've had is Ahi does not agree with me any more, I think it is because I overcooked it and it was too dry. That being said I have eaten too much too fast and regretted it. It feels like you are having a heart attack and is extremely painful. So I now measure and eat slower, it is something you will learn over time. I eat fruit but in very small quantities, not much room after eating protein.

5) I'm only 3 months out so I don't know.

6) For me I only took 1 pain pill after surgery. Right now I do not feel hunger so I'm taking advantage of it for as long as I can. For me I reached a point where I did not want to spend the rest of my life being fat. I have spent way too much time and energy over the years obsessing about my weight. But the surgery is only a tool, not magic. For now I don't think about food at all, I just know I have to eat at certain times.

1) haven't regretted it for one second. I should have done it years ago!

2) can't help you there as I didn't have surgery until my 50s. I just know I spent most of my adult life gaining and losing the same 50 lbs until I finally decided my weight loss dreams were never going to happen unless/until I had WLS.

3) I didn't drink a drop of alcohol until last month (at almost three years out). I had two glasses of champagne on my anniversary. I felt the effects *immediately*, but it passed pretty quickly, too.

4) I can eat anything. The first few months are really touch & go, but after that, many of us can eat pretty much anything (unfortunately, in some cases....)

5) I haven't had any problems other than two strictures early on (at four weeks out and eight weeks out)

6) as mentioned about, I wish I had done this years ago - although I do think you need to be in the right frame of mind to do it. some people aren't mentally ready to make the changes they need to make to lose the weight and keep it off - it does take work. I was more than ready...

1) do you ever regret your decision? For even a day? If so why?

So far no regrets less than 3 months out, I've also not had any complications

2) would you recommend it to someone in there 20?s? Or do you all think I could give some other options a try before?

I wasn't overweight in my 20's but if you are morbidly obese and have always been overweight, chances are the other options aren't going to work or you would have done them already.

3) when they say alcohol consumption should be basically non existent, have you all had bad experiences? If so what?s the worse?

Haven't tried yet but was only an occasional drinker before surgery, but had a brother-in-law that became alcoholic after surgery and died prematurely

4) what are some things you can absolutely not eat post surgery? Either because your stomach can?t handle it or because you were told not to? Can you eat fruit at all?

So far I've been tolerating pretty much everything which is good and bad, I didn't eat much fruit before because I'm diabetic and have only tried a small amount now, not eating sweets as I don't want to waste the calories, I do miss Diet Pepsi and drinking at the same time as eating but I'm coping.