Regain after DS?

Both RNY and DS have a regain after a couple of years. There's a study that followed Distal RNY, Proximal RNY and included DS for 10 or more years. The conclusion was that there was no difference in regain for RNY or DS. 80% of both kept their BMI to 30 or below, and 20% regained above that mark, and a tiny percentage regained a big amount of their weight back. The most supprising thing is that the rate of regain differed according to the patients being either morbidly obese or super morbidly obese before surgery, with the super morbidly obese regained the most. There was no difference between those who had either RNY or had DS in the amount of weight regain, both regained the same. Edited to add: I have no stake on any surgery anybody may choose. I just think it's a disservice to tell people who have obvious weight issues ( or they wouldn't need weight loss surgery) that " have the DS and eat anything you want and as much as you want and never gain your weight back". The reality is it's hard to mess up RNY or DS as far as losing a huge amount of weight in the first year or 2. After that, you have to watch the carbs and calories no matter what surgery you had, and anyone who believes they can eat like a pre-op and maintain a huge weight loss is in for a big disappointment.  My mother had RNY 31 years ago, eats normal foods, including snacks and anything a normal person can eat. She regained 16 pounds over the 31 years, and is a healthy 70 year old. She continues to eat smaller portions than she did when she was morbidly obese, and this is the benefit of the surgery she took the risk to have. I have met people who had either RNY or DS, and all of them have to follow common sense in their daily choices, not one of them eats thousands of calories and stays the same smaller size. Frankly, I don't beleive anybody is eating like a horse after a couple years post-op without weight gain. And I truly don't see the why people lie about it. I see people either saying how they eat 3000-4000 calories a day and stay slim,( total lie)  or they say they eat about enough to feed a mouse like it's a contest to see who has the tiniest pouch. I think some people really need to get a grip and try to reduce the competitive mentality that almost takes over this site at times. Each and every choice for surgery has it's benefits and it's disadvantages. Some are serious and all include weight regain if you can't change your previous eating habits. Click here: Weight Gain After Short- and Long-Limb Gastric Bypass in Patients Followed for Longer Than 10 Years

Thanks for the info.  :)

This comes back to my original question. My DS friends does eat everything she wants. She says - no problems, (and wonders why I eat sparingly etc.) she doesn'****ch her protein or veggies - but she knows now she's lacking the proper nutrients - as indicated in her blood work.

Don't get me wrong I want to be small - I want to look good in my tight jeans and leather jacket this winter (my fantasy!) just like anyone else. To me the best part of this tool is learning to eat healthy without driving yourself nuts.

Before surgery it would just kill me to miss out on the treats they pass around at work or Mc Donalds or the pastry shop nearby. I felt drawn to these foods. Now .. I can just pass them by because I'm not 'driven' any more. (I got that monkey off my back!) so I can think rationally and simply decline offers of yummys. It's been soooo many years such I've been able to do this for a sustained period!

My friends looks great sizewise but I worry if she's setting herself up for a fall. :(

Call me crazy, but I think skipping the KFC, the donuts, processed foods etc and eating right (veggies, nuts, beans and fruits, milk products and meat) are important for long term fitness. I mean if it's all just about being thin ... well lots of people are thin but they have poor cardiovasculor health, no muscle tone, bad blood work because of all the donuts etc.

So then you just end up like any other thin person ... that's in bad health.

This is not a good result in my book.

Thanks, Kahiah... I've only had time to just scan your welcome cite. I'll try and get back with you a soon as I can review and comment properly. Rock

actually the study you referenced only mentions  short and long-limb RNY  in the abstract and makes no mention of the DS at all is there another study with the RNY and DS that you are not citing??

Same study.... This is the part that speaks to DS and distal and proximal RNY results after 10 years, it mentions what it calls failure rates, from which you can extrapolate success rates. I think 80% remaining below a 30 BMI is a success by anyone's standards.

A comparison of failure rates in the biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch operation reported by Biron et al⁵ and the gastric bypass as performed at our center appears in Table 5. All patients in both groups were followed over 10 years after surgery. We compared failure rates based on final BMI ≥35 kg/m² for morbidly obese and BMI ≥40 kg/m² for super obese patients. The 2 different operations produce comparable failure rates in patients who are followed for more then 10 years post surgery according to their criteria.

edited to attempt to enter the whole chart so you can see for super morbidly obese the failure rate is higher after 10 years for DS than for any RNY: I hope you realise this isn't a ******g contest, a sucessful weight loss surgery generally depends on a correctly performed surgery and properly followed eating and exercise plans for life. I have read enoughon OH site  to know that for some reason many who had DS and post on this site would like to believe that their surgery is a magic bullet against obesity no matter what they eat, but this isn't the case. I wish everyone success no matter what their path, but I will not let anyone denigrate another's surgical choice with incorrect information without speaking out..( ok ok typing out!)

No surgery is a magic bullet, and the only DS'ers who think that they can eat whatever they like, whenever they like and not regain are the ones who have been too stupid to do their own research, and believe that everyone wears a size 2 with no repercussions, like the original post on this thread.     Many DS'ers  struggle with regain issues and slow weight loss issues, just as RNY'ers and banders do.  One DS'er who posts frequently is struggling with about a fifteen pound regain.  She simply started reducing her carbs again and the weight has melted off.  Most of the regainers and slow losers do so for a reason, and most admit why they do.  They are eating too many simple processed carbs.  I know that in order to maintain my weight loss, I will have to be vigilant about that for the rest of my life.   DS'ers ARE fortunate in that we don't have the pouch rules that RNY'ers have.  The main reason I chose this surgery was because of the lower regain rates, NOT because I wanted to be able to eat what I wanted and when I wanted.   I was more than willing to commit to the more structured RNY type of eating if that was all that was available to me. An interesting note.....I just went on a cruise with an RNY'er.   She is two years out, I am ten months out.   I am at goal, she lost to within twenty pounds of goal, but she is happy with the size she is, because she didn't want to look too saggy.   We were surprised to discover that we both ate pretty much the same on the cruise.  About the same amount, same type of foods, and with the same frequency.   I cannot tolerate white flour well, but she can.   We both got hungry again two-three hours after meals.  We both got gas when we ate certain foods.  One night, we both had two "tropical" type of alcoholic beverages.  BOTH of us were up all night on th toilet with the runs!  We found that rather funny.   So, see, the differences are not that profound after all!

There is no magic surgery for permanent weight loss--all the surgeries are medical treatments for a medical condition called obesity.  They cannot change the fact that excess calories are processed into fat.  Once you have a fat cell, it is yours for life unless it is sucked out or cut off!  And it is programed to want to be full and multiply.  No surgery changes that.   I chose the RNY because of it's higher and faster weight loss over the lap band.  We don't have a surgeon here who does the DS, so I didn't research it.  But I knew that with whatever surgery I had. that was just the beginning.  Now I am in the same position as anyone else.  I have to watch what I eat and exercise.  But who doesn't except the rare few.  So what is the big deal?  I can't eat Ben & Jerry's all summer?  Instead I eat healthy food and treat myself occasionally.  Life is so good without food being the focus. Are society can be so adverse to having to work for what we get!   Sally