Confussed about RNY vs. DS

A public forum will give you opinions and personal experiences. You know what they say about opinions and as far as experiences.....they are truly personal.

Read the regrets forums for sure, but make damn sure you also read the forums for the specific surgery types - these are the posters who are living daily with their WLS decisions!  You want to know what's involved in the daily lives of the people who chose a specific surgery.

FYI - there is not a surgery out there that will allow you to eat carbs and sugar to your heart's content and still lose or maintain weight.  And I'm not saying that's what you're looking for here, but I just had to get that out there.

Wow!!  I can tell you that my story is ALOT like TEAZ's story.  (3rd post down)

I am 8 years out from RNY.  At 2 years out, I had started regaining the weight.  I have gained 1/2 of my lost weight back.  I have been sitting & maintaing.... feeling "stuck" on a plateau.  Since late 2004.

Since spring of 2009, I have been pursuing a revision from RNY to DS.  I will be re-submitting to the insurance company next month.

I honestly think you should do a little more research, and soul searching, for your choice.


I wish you luck & happiness on YOUR journey!!!
-Jamie

Since I am not sure what you what I will give you my story.  I am a newbe and I haven't learned everything but if I continue listen to dianacox or michelle (vitalady) as well as others I will know everything.  

I started looking into surgery after I talked to a friend that had a RNY done and after I gained back the 70lbs I lost on WW.  I was scheduled for RNY on December 20, I got on this board shortly before that time and started reading posts.  Thank you to the surgery wars because this is how I learned about the DS, I researched the DS while waiting for my RNY surgery.  I started to get apprehensive about having the RNY and the problems that some individuals get after surgery.  I also read the regrets and failed weight loss boards which scared the hell out of me.  I canceled my RNY and preceded straight to the closest surgeon who performed the DS (10 hours away).  This was the best thing I ever did and I am wonderfully happy with the DS so far.  That doesn't mean I haven't had problems, it means that if I don'****ch what goes into my mouth then sometimes my stomach may make me pay for it later.  The best thing for you to do is to lurk on the all the boards and read all the posts.  This way you hear everything you can.   

Great post

i am glad you asked this question because it is all very confusing and so much information. i've been reading & researching he same thing, trying to find surgeons (i need revision). these boards are very informative (& snarky at times),so just wanted to tell you good luck in this journey !

Isn't it better to hear about all the bad things NOW, before you have surgery?

I suggest you make a list of the pros and the cons for each form of WLS. Given your BMI, I think you probably do need a malabsorptive procedure, so let's stick to the RNY and DS, shall we?

Both of these procedures absolutely require you to take vitamins and minerals every day for the rest of your life. Exactly what vitamins and minerals depends in part on which procedure you choose, AND on how your individual body reacts. This is why both of these surgeries also absolutely require you to have regular bloodwork done.

I don't like the RNY because of the stoma and the remnant stomach. The stoma is always open, so you can't drink with meals, and you no longer have a functional stomach. The stoma is also responsible for dumping syndrome, even though only about 30% of RNYers do dump. It appears that the stoma is also responsible for the reactive hypoglycemia that many RNYers develope about 2 years post-op.

I also don't like the fact that while the malabsorption of vitamins and minerals is permanent with the RNY, the malabsorption of calories isn't.So little is bypassed in the proximal RNY that most peoples' bodies can overcome it by growing more villi, the little finger-like things in the gut that do the actual absorbing. A great deal more is bypassed in the DS, and the body simply isn't capable of doing that much growing---the malabsorption of calories is permanent in the DS.

Some people lose 100% of their excess weight with any of the surgery types. But statistically, more people lose more weight and keep it off longer with the DS than with any other form of WLS. This is especially true for people with a starting BMI of 50 or more. The DS is also better at resolving or preventing co-morbs like diabetes and high cholesterol. I don't know what, if any, medical issues you have---the font you've chosen for your profile is one I just can't read. But if you presently have either of these, or have a family history of them, that alone is reason enough to choose the DS over the RNY. So is having anything that you take NSAIDs for. Nearly all OTC pain meds are NSAIDs. So is Pepto-Bismol. You REALLY want to think about what you'll take for headaches, cramps, sprains, muscle aches, etc. before you choose a surgery that requires you to give up an entire class of medication.

I do love food, and I wanted to continue to enjoy it post-op. The DS has by far the most liberal post-op eating plan, and that's another reason I'm so glad I learned about it before I had the RNY I was scheduled for. I enjoy my bacon cheeseburgers, my fried chicken, my home-made ice cream. (I make it with heavy whipping cream and Splenda.)

If you're scared, then you're not ready to have surgery. The best way to get over being scared is to research EVERYTHING. Each procedure, what it will ask of you, what it will do for you, and the bad things as well as the good. Here's the truth---MOST people don't have complications, but the people who are the best educated are the ones most likely to survive if they do have complications, because they know what to be on the lookout for, when to seek help (and earlier is always better), when to insist the doc check this or that. Knowledge really is power.

My story is simple. I started gaining weight at age FOUR. I was put on my first doctor-supervised diet at age NINE, and my first diet pills at age ELEVEN. I had lost and regained hundreds of pounds between 11 and 45, when I decided I had to have WLS or die. I was scheduled to have the RNY, even though it scared the crap outta me, because the only other option I'd ever heard of was the Band, and I knew that wasn't going to do it for me.

Then I met a couple of ladies who were about 18 months post-op from their DSes. They came to my support-group meeting, and they were going to Shoney's for hot fudge cake afterwards. I was amazed--they were so slim and trim, and they were eating hot fudge cake!!!

I came home and started researching the DS. Within a week, I knew that DS was the only WLS that I could live happily with for the rest of my life. I called and scheduled an appointment with the nearest DS surgeon, and I never looked back.

That was almost seven years ago. I've lost 173 pounds, and am easily maintaining that loss, eating 2500-3000 tasty calories a day. I have no food intolerances, although the 'usual suspects' give me gas. (Beans, broccoli, cabbage, excessive white flour.) I eat anything I want, so long as I eat protein first each time I eat. I eat every three hours, all day long. I drink about a gallon of iced tea every day, and I take vitamins four times a day. My labs are reasonably good---I've recently changed up some things I take, increasing some and lowering others.

Life is good.

very well said - i always like your posts because they are so informative.

Thank you for your feedback that is exactly what I was looking for. Information.  I know that this is my choice and that I need all the facts and that is what i asked for so thank you again for your support and your information and congratulations on your success. I do not want to only hear from the RNYers.  I believe that we are all in the same boat and once again I thank you.

I would answer your post but I honestly have no freaking idea what you are asking.



Do you want to hear the truth or do you just want happy RNYers to blow sunshine up your ass?



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I chose the DS for the following reasons:

1) The best scientific evidence for weight loss AND maintenance of weight loss. Who want to regain if you can avoid it?

2) The DS has the most normal eating post-op.

3) I'm old. I know that I need to take NSAIDs at times and will continue to need to take them at times.

4) Both my "normal weight" parents died from Type 2 Diabetes. DS has the BEST cure rate for Type 2 Diabetes. I do not have to worry about following in my parent's path.

If you do your homework you will see that it is blatantly obvious that the DS is scientifically shown to be the most effective weight loss surgery available. But if you are stupid or impaired in some way and cannot learn to describe the DS to all medical people you will ever come in contact with, or if you are unable to be your own advocate and make sure you are supplementing appropriately for life then you should probably get another surgery.

Thank you Becky,
 I realize that I upset people and I didn't mean too. I was confused and upset myself when I wrote my post. I do appreciate the "reasons" that you have given and I want to let you know that I want to be informed and have all the knowledge that I can before having surgery.  So again thank you for your words.