Good morning all. 17 years ago today I was starting on a life changing journey. When I went for my surgery consult I was at my heaviest - 288lbs, currently I am now 135lbs. It took hard work and dedication to not only lose the weight but to maintain the weight loss for all these years. I eat healthy, workout and take care of myself inside and out. I get a physical annually and still take my vits/sups every day :-)

I am loving this life and so glad I made the decision to have surgery and be successful at it.

Has anybody experienced low ferritin that is 5 years out or further from surgery?

I've been taking my vits/supps daily since surgery, get blood work annually and until two years ago have not had an ongoing issue with iron until now. My last physical in 2019 it was low, they had me add additional iron, did a recheck at 90 days it was improved, reduced the iron, did a recheck at 6 months and all was fine. I stopped the additional iron at that point (my multi has iron). My 2020 physical in August it was extremely low, I had been feeling sluggish, tired and issues with dizziness and that was attributed to the low ferritin. The dr had me taking iron 2 times a day on top of the multi, recheck at 90 days and it improved slightly, she then switched to 3 times a day, another recheck 90 days later (6 months) and it was slightly improved, she had me start tapering down the iron, recheck again in 90 days (9 months) and it was low so they sent me for an endo/colonscopy. Just had a follow up with the GI who said both tests came back fine as well as biopsies and they have no answer as to why and are chalking it up to the gastric bypass. She suggested I go back to the triple iron. They are looking into the cost locally of iron infusions and stated it would be a complete out of pocket cost because insurance will not cover since I am not considered anemic since its only the ferritin that is low.

Looking to see if anybody has had a similar experience and what the reason/treatment path was they followed.

Thanks!

Hi All,

I wanted to see if anybody had issues with low iron later in their weight loss journey? My annual blood work has always been spot on until last year and this year I came back with severely low iron. I have taken BA Multi w/iron for 14 years now. Last year the Dr had me add additional iron for a few months and everything returned to normal. I am again adding additional iron and will get a recheck in 2 months. I am wondering at this point if I will have to continue to take additional iron to keep my levels up? Or if I need to look at a different iron supplement instead? There is nothing medically indicating why my iron is dropping so low currently.

Thanks

Jennifer

In June I hit my 13 year surgery anniversary and didnt get around to posting until now :-)

I am doing great... I have kept up with my vits/supps and still get annual bloodwork. Over the past year + I have really started to focus on my diet and exercise and took up biking. I ride 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day and mix in yoga and weights as well as moved to a vegetable heavy diet still making sure I get my protein. I am in the best shape of my life and feel amazing. I am down to 135lbs from the 145lbs I was for many years and have seen a lot of positive changes in my body since focusing diet and exercise.

I hope everybody is doing well on their journeys!

~Jennifer

I work a lot as well and find that pre-planning is how to keep myself under control. I try and cook and container my meals and pre-contain snacks so I can grab and go in the morning. At wor****ep healthy snacks in my desk and a few things in the work fridge/freezer as a back up if I need lunch or a snack.

I would check out the 21 day fix... basically its a "clean eating" plan where you container your foods... I like it because overall its easy and it didn't take a lot of time to container the foods and put together meals. I didn't buy their containers but went to wal mart and bought other colored containers in the sizes they said... since you put foods based on the size of the container you don't have to measure then package.. its a one and done.

Exercise is always key.. I know its hard when you work like crazy. I work 2 jobs.. my m-f job I have been averaging 50-55 hours then I work a part-time job which is Fridays 8p-3a and Saturdays 7p-3a.. sometimes I work only one night, sometimes both nights. When I can I still try and get in some form of exercise.. even if its walking during my lunch break at my main job. I am not one that can wake up earlier to work out so I will try and at least get in 20 minutes after work if I can.

I am fine w/both... I don't drink milk anymore, if I had in the morning it would make me sick.. but that was even pre-surgery... I use almond milk now. Most of my dairy comes in the form of cheese, cottage cheese, yogurts which I am fine w. I can tolerate alcohol fine but have cut back on it quite a bit.. sticking mainly to beer/wine, the liquor hits me way too hard.

On 6/20 I will be 9 years out from RNY. I am happy to report I have maintained my weight loss and all my labs look great except for low vitamin D which is getting rechecked next week. I attribute my success to going into this surgery thinking is was my last resort (9 years ago there are not the options there are today), and that I HAD to make it work. I spent a lot of time and effort working on my personal issues as well as learning everything I could about nutrition and over the past few years growing my own organic food, buying local and making things from scratch instead of buying a things pre-boxed/bagged/pre-made etc. I do eat out and try to do so only once a week, I do allow myself treats and I do love my carbs. For me, it was all about balance.

Next month I am 1 year out from my BA/BL and arm lift... I did have to get scar revision some on the arm lift which I am 2 months out from now and healing up nicely. I am hoping to get a thigh lift next year and my journey will be "complete".

I don't feel or look anything like the person I was 9 years ago. I will never forget where I came from because I do not want to go back but do feel very disconnected from the person I was. I am so happy to have accomplished so much these past 9 years and look forward to what the future brings!

I will be nine years out next month. Having surgery 9 years ago there were not a lot of options... for me surgery was the "last" choice I had to lose weight and get healthy.. I dieted, I exercised, I did therapy, tried medications etc etc etc.... I went into surgery with the thought of if this doesn't work, I have no other options... so I WILL make this work. I WILL lose weight and do what I need in order to be successful. Going in I had friends who had surgery before me, some successful some not... I learned from both of them... the do's and don'ts if you will. I never set a large goal for myself... just mini-goals I could reach, celebrate and keep motivated by.. reached one goal, set another.. this kept from being disappointed... I only saw de-motivation by setting a goal like losing 10lbs in a month or being at goal weight in 8 months etc.. those were not realistic to me and seemed so far off in the future I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Set yourself mini-goals and work out a rewards system... the goals shouldn't all be scale related... they can be anything from losing inches, logging your food for a week, running a mile, doing something you couldn't/wouldn't do pre-op etc.... then reward yourself with non-food rewards.. massage, new shirt, even simply acknowledging you set at goal and achieved it can be enough.

It is a lot of work, but think putting in a year or two of work you will enjoy the benefits a thousand times over for many many years to come. For the first two years post-op I went thru working on losing the weight, weighing/measuring food, working out, learning how to eat properly, learning about nutrition, working on my personal issues.. then it moved to learning how to maintain the weight loss in the long term and settling into normal life. That two years seems like it was another lifetime to me... doing what I need to do now is second nature... its how I live my life daily.. I don't have to think about it any more... so two years of work, so far, has given me 7 years of being healthy and happy.

I will be 9 years this year, I drink carbonated drinks... no it didn't stretch my pouch out :-)

I do some soda, mainly sparkling waters/soda water.

Id say I eat 1/2 a typical restaurant sized meal... I don't weigh/measure any more so its hard to say.. also depends on what I am eating how quickly I will get full. I feel I eat "normal" compared to most people.. however if I eat around somebody who doesn't know I had WLS they usually comment at how little I eat.. or how I only eat 1/2 etc. I like feeling satisfied more than I like feeling full... to me when I fell full its usually over full and not comfortable..

Accepting the post-WLS body is not easy... you had to deal with being overweight, did something about it.. worked hard lost weight and now you have all this skin to live with. I felt it was unfair.. I wanted to be "normal" and not worry about flapping arms and sagging belly. Its not easy to come to terms with but my feeling was Id rather deal with the excess skin then dealing with being overweight and all that came with it. We are much harder on ourselves than others... I know you don't like the flapping skin but I am sure your husband doesn't feel the same way you do.. I would definitely recommend finding somebody to speak with to help you accept your post-WLS and learn to be proud of all you have accomplished losing weight.  

I have worked a 2nd job since right after surgery and saved up to have PS.. wish I had started sooner. 3 years ago I had an extended TT, this past July I had a BA/BL and arm lift.... next year (hopefully) will be surgery on my legs.... I will say it has 110% made such a difference in how I feel about myself and my self esteem... the TT gave me a little, but the BA/BL and arm lift have shot me thru the roof... work working 50-60 hours a week for so long.

I suggest getting away from protein shakes and eating real food. Shakes are liquid and are not going to fill you up. I am not a fan, my opinion of course, some people use/like them.

I would get back to basics.. start food logging again and make sure you are eating enough, eat your 3 meals a day, 3 meals 2 snacks, 6 small meals.. whatever worked for you previously. Meals should be lean protein, vegetables, carb.. you can buy a plate to help you measure portion sizes (usually sold for diabetics, they are not expensive). If you need help with food ideas check out any low glycemic index diet.

The best thing is to get a metabolism test. I had one at the YMCA for $125 and it will tell you how many calories to gain weight, lose weight and maintain weight. .