new be got questions

i had the lap band done back in 2006 had it taken out in jan 2009, i gain all my wieght back, im looking into getting sergery again, i herd DS is good for patient with diabetes which i have since i was 10, I need to know with the DS, do you get the back pain, do you through up, do you have to be on medicatios, how fast do you loss wieght, dose it stay off, what happens if you get pregnet, im planning on doing that, how big is the scar, whats the down time,

I would suggest a couple of sites, as you begin your research:

http://www.dsfacts.com

http://www.duodenalswitch.com

1. I don't suffer from diabetes, so I always skimmed over that part while researching. However, I think it may depend on what type of diabetes you have. Someone more knowledgable than me can comment on this. 

2. What do you mean about back pain? I had back pain as a pre-op patient because of an injury I sustained in my teenage years. I still suffer from back pain. Hopefully, though, that pain will diminish as my weight decreases.

3. I have thrown-up, but it is because I ate the wrong thing too early out or because I ate too fast or too much. Throwing-up, I believe, is not a norm.

4. DS'ers, like other WLS patients, take vitamins. 

5. How fast one loses weight depends on the person. VERY individual.

6. The research comparing the DS to other WLS shows that DS'ers maintain more weight loss than other types of WLS patients. 

7. If you get pregnant, you have a baby. 

8. The scar size depends on if you have your surgery open or lap. 

9. As far as how long it takes for one to recover after surgery, again, this is very individual. It took me a good 6 weeks to feel like myself. However, I probably could have returned to normal activities, physically, after 2 weeks or a month.

the back pain when i had the lap band was horrible i would eat and after eating i would have horrible back pain, maybe from gas idk

Hi Marissa,

What type of diabetes do you have? If it's Type 1, weight loss surgery will not resolve it as it does Type 2 Diabetes. However, DS is better than any other surgery at resolving Type 2 Diabetes.

Back pain is not directly caused by any weight loss surgery. Everyone's experience is different.

Vomiting is uncommon with DS.

DS patients are not on medications; however we take an enormous amount of various vitamins and supplements several times a day for the rest of our lives.

Weight loss is fairly rapid, and the weight does tend to stay off.

Pregnancy must be avoided during the weight loss phase. After that time, you can have a perfectly healthy pregnancy. You should see a very good doctor that specializes in high risk pregnancies. The trick is to make sure both mom and baby get all the nourishment they need.

I had laproscopic surgery, so I have seven small scars. I think the scar from open surgery is several inches long; not sure exactly.

Down time for me was about a month.

Keep asking questions! Also, check out http://www.dsfacts.com. It's a great web site with tons of info on the DS.

 I had lap band surgery also.  My band was done laproscopically---and I did have back pain when I recovered because of the gas they use to puff up the abdomen during surgery.  But no back pain with the DS surgery---because I had this open.  My DS scar is about seven inches long.  BUT--I had a long scar there from an old surgery I had twenty years ago.  My doctor cut the same place and removed scar tissue, so others may not have as long a scar as me.

It is dangerous to get pregnant the first year after DS surgery.  After that time you should be ok, but as another poster said you have to have medical supervision to make sure all goes well.

I am seven weeks out and have lost 37 lbs.  

I was good the first two weeks after surgery, then had a rough spot in weeks 3 through 5.  I got dehydrated and therefore got nauseous.  The only time I have thrown up though is when I took a certain painkiller that I use for migraines (oxycodone).  With the band I threw up alot. 

This is a very serious decision.  You need to be as informed as possible about it.  www.dsfacts.com is a good place to start, lots of good info there. 

Good luck!!!