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I am sorry your wife is dealing with that. I had RNY and I am the unfortunate person who is well aware about low BS. I wasn't diabetic before my WLS.
As I got very close to my goal weight, and stayed there my RH (Reactive Hypoglycemia) got much worse. Low body fat % meant low reserve my body could use for energy.
What buffled me most - was that I would get RH after almost any meal, and even after lean protein shakes. Someone mentioned the "food insuIin index". Google that and you and your wife may need to read as much as you can find.
In simple terms, my body release insuIin to process most foods like carbs and protein. And when my before meal BS was normal, and I ate very low carb protein meal, my body would release insuIin, driving my BS low. With no carbs in the meal, and low body fat %, low cholesterol, my system couldn't cope and my BS would drop significantly. I would crash after almost every meal.
I had to modify what and how much I was eating. Fast digestive and fast absorbed proteins, like proteins shakes, or eggs, would be the worst for me. I had to experiment with my food and see what works and what did make me crash. I now add some none starchy and starchy veggies to most my meals and I add fat. Things like avocado, nuts, nut butters are complex enough for my body to process. When I get just proteins - I get 1-2 hard candies I can pop into my mouth to get 4-8 great of simple slow sugar absorbtion from my mouth. Ideal - no, but it keeps me from crashing, and allow me to keep my goal, or even lose some regain. Crazy...I know , my friends are telling me I am the only person they know that can lose weight while eating hard candies.
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
I have severe osteoporosis at age 53 mainly due to getting acute myloid leukemia months after my ds but also because i went about a year where i did not take my calcium because it caused severe, wake me up at night, cramps in my legs feet and sometimes stomach.
My pth and calcium stayed normal which lulled me into thinking i was o****il i fractured my wrist is 2 places after a very gentle tumble in soft sugar sand.
I get a great sense of accomplishments like when i exercise from taking my vits.
I have a pill assembly line that i do every 2 months where i load 8 pill organizers so it's less of a daily habit and says me a ton.
Also, im convinced that my high normal d3, k1 k2 and k3 along with my high dose of curcumin have helped keep my leukemia in remission that is backed up by several studies conducted by MD Anderson.
Please take them
Blessings
Julie
What specifically bothers you about taking the vitamins?
If you feel like you're going to gag when you take large pills, or taking large gulps of water is unpleasant for you, you might try taking multiple smaller pills, or buying vitamin patches.
Do you have to take multiple vitamins? Maybe you can spread some of them out over the day. Do you find all of them unpleasant? If it's only certain ones, you might try other brands or other forms.
If it's the hassle of going to the kitchen cabinet, opening multiple bottles, getting a glass of water, etc., you could streamline the process by getting a pill container that you populate once a week. But also consider the possibility that you're depressed. When depression hits, even little tasks can seem like an overwhelming burden.
Do you find the taste objectionable? There are a lot of different brands, I'm sure you can find something that tastes better.
Along that theme, my wife buries some of her inconvenient supplements (like the calcium that you need to take apart from others, and itself,) in a smoothie that she makes and freezes to hide the large amount of potassium that she needs (not normally a DS thing, just her). It lets her have her "ice cream" to look forward to and it's easy to split into two servings so that all of her calcium can go into it and is still spaced out appropriately.
1st support group/seminar - 8/03 (has it been that long?)
Wife's DS - 5/05 w Dr. Robert Rabkin VSG on 5/9/11 by Dr. John Rabkin
So good to know other long termers have had a similar path! I have insurance, but it won't pay for PRolia. I have upped my dose of vitamin K2 and I am taking a new supplement that has had some experimental success for old bones, pyrroloquinoline quinone (PPQ), but I just started that. My fractures healed well and they said the bone hasn't reached osteoporosis yet. Estrogen is supposed to be the most natural way to improve old bones, so I am going to ask for it at the next visit. Will do another bone density test this fall to see if these steps have helped. Continued success to you too!
Congrats Elisa. I agree with many of the things you've said. I'm 16 years post-op and have many of the same issues you have dealt with over the years.
Have you had any treatments for your osteo. I've done Reclast which didn't really work, so now I'm going to try Prolia. Sorry you've had some broken bones. That's my biggest fear.
But #9 is spot on - love my DS and it has definitely changed my life for the better too.
Continued success.
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
I supplement my unfun to swallow vitamins with a few gummy vitamins (low or no sugar). This just gives me something to look forward to along with the part I dont like and makes it more of a pleasant thought. Its not an ideal solution but it forces me to do the right thing so that little added extra sugar/calories at 10 years out isn't killing me and it makes me happy and compliant.
To those who have posted replies: Thank you. Though your replies are mostly harsh, they come from a good place and if I'm just being a baby, which sounds to be true, someone needs to say that.
I will make a renewed effort to take my supplements. You're right, I don't want to die or get crazy sick. I do want to change poopy diapers and do my taxes, and I don't want to lose my teeth.
Thanks for the motivation.
When each of us chose to have the DS, we chose a lifetime commitment to taking vitamin and mineral supplements. There is nothing thrilling or exciting about doing this. It's just a part of our life. Does brushing your teeth excite you? I bet you do it anyway, just like the other examples Patty gave you.
The commitment you made isn't to your surgeon or your spouse, your children, or to us. It's a commitment to yourself. If you can't find it in yourself to do something so simple to maintain your health, get yourself to a therapist and find out why. It's a hell of a lot easier than living with morbid obesity.
Larra
