Addendum to 'I Wish I Had Never Had This Surgery!'

Hey everyone!

I wanted to add some things that I feel are very important to my previous 'hot' topic I posted about wishing I had never had this surgery.

Since I posted that topic, my lab results I had taken at the hospital came back perfect except for my folic acid level which was .01 low, so I bought a supplement and am taking that along with my many others!  LOL!

I've also learned since I wrote that topic, that when we are low on B-12, it can manifest itself by tingling in our fingers or toes, which was one of the problems I was having.  I had sort of slacked off of my B-12 because I've always taken WAY too much (thank goodness it's not toxic if we get too much!).  So, I've learned as long as I remain faithful to taking it, the numbness and tingling go away. 

I also complained of the 'reactive hypoglycemia' problem I've had for years now.  And this last week I tested it while we were on vacation.  I ate foods high in fat and sugar (just not large amounts) and drank alcohol socially. When I did that or when I ate things like chips and queso, within 2 hours I 'bottomed out' and had to eat a protein/carb combination or take one of my emergency glucose tablets.  I noticed the more I chose to eat the wrong things, not only did the hypoglycemia kick in, but it continually did so every two hours or so.  It didn't stop until I got home and chose to eat proteins, veggies and fruit again.  I managed to gain 8 pounds in 8 days but dropped it in 4 by eating correctly when I got home.  Now that I'm eating right and following the rules, I don't have any hypoglycemia at all.  I have iron in my multi-vitamins and I take an additional supplement once a week.  I take my calcium citrate separately, in addition to biotin, potassium, zinc, and other herbal supplements. 

Granted, the extra weight I used to carry around for all those years has taken it's toll on my knees so I couldn't get around as fast as I used to when we were at Schlitterbahn and the Riverwalk but I can at least say I did it! 

All that is to say that I've learned that as long as I eat properly and choose NOT to eat crap that is high in fat and sugar, I am actually NORMAL and I don't have any problems!  I do still have pains in my right side sometimes and I'm hoping and praying it's not another bowel obstruction - that is the worst pain ever!  I think I'm going to 'bite the bullet' and start exercising to see if that helps it or not.  I need to tone up all this excess skin as much as possible (IF it's possible!) anyway. 

I knew when I chose to have RNY, that I was choosing NOT to be able to eat things in high fat and sugar so I'm going to have to realize that choice was a LIFETIME decision, not just the first couple of years!  When I don't eat right, the weight comes right back on again and I KNOW I could gain back all my weight if I chose to be stupid and eat junk I shouldn't. 

So, to those post ops out there who are gaining weight or having hypoglycemia problems, I'm here to tell you that both can be solved just by getting back to the basics and eating properly again. And we MUST ALWAYS take our supplements FOREVER, not just the first few years or so.  We can't get complacent about the rules we know we must follow, no matter how tired we are of doing so.  I know it gets hard eating right all the time, but the rewards are SOOO worth it!  And I know it gets to be a 'pain in the butt' taking so many supplements every day, but it's worth it in order to keep from bad things happening to our bodies if we don't.

The BOTTOM LINE is:  If you want this surgery to work and you want to be thin and healthy, you MUST follow the rules of the right foods and supplements FOREVER - no matter what!  Otherwise we can really regret it!

I'm sorry if I made anyone angry or scared anyone with my original post.  When the world starts crushing down around you, it can be really scary and sometimes venting helps!  Thanks for letting me do that here!  I appreciate all your support and I'm here for anyone that needs it!

God bless all of you!

Hi, Robin!  I'm glad you're back to feeling this was worth it!  I'm, also, glad I can honestly say I've NEVER felt it wasn't worth the sacrifices - BUT I, also, never had any problems.  EXCEPT for the hypoglycemia!!  And I just wanted to add my 2 cents to what you said.  I know that if I eat a lot of junk, it is worse - but having said that, just eating properly does NOT cure it for all of us!!  I bottom out 2 hours after eating breakfast - which also coincides (usually) w/my exercise time.  It doesn't matter what I eat for breakfast or what exercise I do - so eating properly isn't a magic cureall for all of us, unfortunately.  Just wanted to throw that out there so other people like me won't feel like a failure  or like they're necessarily doing something wrong.  Keep up the good work - and best of luck to you!!!!

AMEN.  Great Post!!!! Koukla 338/176

Robin - I think it is great that you are able to avoid hypoglycemia episodes and drop pounds by eating properly.  That however does not work for all of us.  I rarely step to the "high carb" side of life because my body does not respond well to it and my reactions are even worse.  My typical day is low carb and I am forced into eating a minimum of 1700-1800 calories a day (on a good day) to avoid hypoglycemia.  That calorie level does not help me lose weight, it is too high.  There are also some who have an even worse problem and end up with having part of their pancreas removed to resolve the problem.  I, too, take a truckload of supplements to maintain good health.  For me, I found that my RNY did not get me anywhere close to goal and I have a problem with bounce back weight.  All in all, not fun.  I would love to have my compliance and extra care result in being at least over-weight insead of obese.   With that said, I completely agree that we much each follow the rules and do our supplements because the price that we pay if we did not is too dear.  Finding myself thin is just a dream that I had as a pre-op.   It is good to see that your discovery is helping you find your way and that your optimism has returned.  It is hard sometimes to keep the optimism and continue fighting the good fight.   Oh, have you had your B1 level checked.  Being low in thiamine will cause some of the same symptoms that you described and can cause brain damage along with the low B12. 

Robin this is why we are all here to keep ourselves from falling apart, you have no idea that you just helped someone else who has a problem just by reading your post. we all have our problems ,but if we don't exspress it we won't know how to take care of them. thanks for tell us your problem, you may have just help someone else with the same sistuation

I'm sure that it is not the cure for "everyone", but I too have found that if I eat correctly I do not have hypoglycemic problems. When I eat very much sugar, or too much fat, I do have problems. Sometimes I still do the "wrong thing" knowing that I am going to pay for it, but at least it is a "concious" decision. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.     Hugs,    Piggybabe