Vegetarian on DS? And questions about gas/diarrhea.

I had a consultation with my DS surgeon Dr. Primono (over Skype.  He is in TX and I am in MD).  

He says that he wants me to comply with a mostly vegetarian diet, only having fish, eggs, and dairy as animal sources.  I am fine with this, as I'm really not all that in love with meat.   I know that for non-DSers, it is extremely doable to get enough protein from vegetables, soy products, whole grains, beans and legumes.

I'm concerned that with a DS I would not be able to absorb enough protein from my food without eating massive quantities.  I'm also wondering how eating lots of vegetables, beans, and legumes interact with the DS and the effects of gas, etc. 

Does anyone have any experience eating vegetarian after DS? 

What foods cause your gas and diarrhea?  What foods do avoid? What supplements or probiotics do you take?

Okay, first of all, I've never heard of this surgeon as a DS surgeon.  Check the dsfacts.com page for well-experienced surgeons with fabulous reputations.

Second, is this HIS suggestion, or your request?  I'm not liking it one bit.  Dairy is a favorite protein source of mine, but so is beef, pork and chicken.  I love all my food groups, and they are fabulous sources of protein!  Variety is the spice of life.  I would think I would become quickly bored limited to fish, eggs and dairy, and I cannot imagine how much protein-rich veggies you'd have to consume to meet your goal.  I see a future on a liquid protein diet out of necessity.

I do get gas from many legumes and some veggies, not so bad with others.  Pasta and most pizza dough is the absolute devil and plain milk (things cooked with milk are okay).  The sensitivity is very individual, so it's trial and error on your own.  Pasta is a very common problem, though.  For probiotics, daily yogurt gives me what I need.  Supplements are another one that varies depending on your bloodwork.

Hi Valerie.  Dr. Primono is with the Davis Clinic in Houston http://www.thedavisclinic.com/about.  The Davis Clinic is a Center of Excellence and Dr. P is a member of the ASMBS.  The DSfacts site is great, but I found the list of surgeons to be limiting in that very few doctors on the list were also in-network with my insurance, and the one from that list who is in my state does not even perform the DS http://www.medstarfranklin.org/body.cfm?id=559804.

I have had a rough time finding a doc who is in-network, performs the DS AND revisions. A friend who also had a VSG to DS revision suggested this clinic. 

This was his suggestion.  I was happy about it because as I said, I'm not crazy about meat. However, I felt confused because I read the forums and research quite a lot, and as far as I can tell the DS is very meat and fat heavy due to malabsorbtion. 

I'm glad to hear that not all veggies cause problems for you, because I have been concerned about having to give up veggies.  

Be aware that you will still give them up for a considerable time, just for the sake of real estate.  Dr. Primono may be new to the DS, which is great if we have another up and coming.  The list on dsfacts.com is merely a listing of the most experienced with the best reputations from the patients.  If you feel confident with this doc, that is what matters most.  I still have very strong reservations with his negativity towards animal proteins, though.  That, to me, shows his level of inexperience of the needs of a DS patient.

You need at least 100grams per day of animal/dairy based protein.  No, DSers do not do well on strictly vegetable sources of protein.  They are not as bioavailable, not complete, and you have to eat alot of it.  I have big issues with beans.  The successful people I know with the DS eat large quanties of animal bases protein.  Why is your surgeon wanting you to skip the meat?  Is your surgeon vetted?  You need a vetted surgeon.  The DS can not be done by your average RNY surgeon.  It is a complicated surgery.

There is a big learning curve to successful DSing and most surgeons and their programs do not know how to "feed" a DSer.  Their vites are usually very inadequate.  There is a lot of research that you need to do if you think you can get by with vegetable proteins.  DSFacts.com is a good place to start.  Long time successful DSers take A LOT of vitamins.

I'm sure you will get some people who say they are fine on vegetable bases protein but I challenge them to show me their lab trends for a few years.

Hi.  Thanks for your response.  

Dr. P said that he suggests a mostly vegetarian diet simply because he feels it is healthier.  I understand that for a person with "normal" non-DS guts that it might be, but it really struck me when he said that, because it flies in the face of everything I understand about the DS diet.

I am not married to the idea of him as my doctor.  I would be very happy to find a doctor who is in-network and is experienced with the DS and revisions.  I will have to keep searching.

My insurance company isn't being a big help in finding a doc for me.  They are having me work with their Bariatric program, which sounded great to me as I would have a case manager help me through the process.  Instead, my case manager seems to be a hindrance more than a help.  She doesn't understand that I can't go to a surgeon in my state who doesn't perform the DS.  She doesn't seem to understand that the DS is different than the RNY.

She basically told me that I should try diet and exercise instead of making such a big decision.  I found it to be very condescending to assume that A) I haven't been dieting and exercising my whole life and have failed which is why I need the DS and B) I'm not a conscientious person who has done as much research on the surgery as I can.

Sorry for the rant.  I'm just kind of frustrated.  I will keep looking for the right surgeon.  When he told me to go vegetarian on the DS, it surprised me and really stuck out to me as strange, which is why I came here to ask.

I know that technically this will be a revision, but---you don't really need a 'revision' surgeon, because he won't be taking anything down, he'll just be doing the intestinal portion of a regular DS. Have you contacted Dr. Stewart in Denton, TX? How about going the other direction, to Dr. Roslin in NY, or Dr. Greenbaum in NJ? There's Dr. Hugh Houston in Nashville, as well as Dr. Al Spaw, also in Nashville. Dr. Stephen Boyce near Knoxville, TN (I think). Have you looked at the surgeon's list at http://www.dsfacts.com?

If it is your choice to eat only vegetarian, I can understand your choice to try and continue this way. If it is his choice, then I would look for another dr.

The only vegetarian WLS patient I knew personally was a woman I worked with. Her RNY weight loss was fast but she hit her target and kept falling. She was severely malnourished, She ended up hospitalized for months and when I last heard from her she was in a very fragile state.

Good luck to you with whatever you decide.

Garth Davis is probably ok for a virgin DS but I would want a very experienced revision surgeon for any type revision. There is no way I believe a DSer can eat vegetarian and stay out of trouble. You would end up drinking shakes all day...every day.

You will have to do your own search for an in network surgeon. Start with the vetted ones on DSfacts. Call their office and see if they take your specific ins. and whether or not its in network.

Also, remember this...surgeons cut. Most of them and their staff have no clue about vitamins and supplements.They dont understand out fat requirements at all.

Do your research, find a vetted surgeon and plan on eating meat..at least to some extent....btw....welcome

Thanks stormy :)

You're all right.  I need to do further research and fight the right surgeon.