Female Going Crazy
colene
on 1/31/10 9:09 am, edited 1/31/10 9:11 am
on 1/31/10 9:09 am, edited 1/31/10 9:11 am
Susan, this is something to take extremely serious as I can and will tell you that when those levels are so low it is painful and very dangerous! I am a 42 year old grandmother of 3 wonderful little people who I desperately want to be here for. I am also a cancer survivor...just finished my chemo/radiation therapies in October. This made things very difficult to keep down any foods let alone supplements. I now take fosomax for my bone health (osteoperosis coming if not vigilant) and all of my levels were so low I am now also doing iron infusions and still battling some to get those levels up. The pains in my legs and joints are horrible....this is the first time I have openly discussed this here as it is so difficult for me. I didnt go into such a drastic measure to have good health to feel so horrible. Though each week is different and the levels are slowly climbing back up. Think this through very hard as it is your life, as well as the lives of those who care so deeply about you. Optimal health is the best....just have to do what we know is right for ourselves.
ETA: I just wanted to add that I will easily admit that the vitamin levels have taken a bigger toll on me than even chemo did....
ETA: I just wanted to add that I will easily admit that the vitamin levels have taken a bigger toll on me than even chemo did....
You're definitely not the only person to get those results with the band. My experience with the DS was pretty smooth and dare I say....easy. I'm 4 years out and a very comfortable size 8. I've gone up about 15 lbs from my absolute lowest, but my body must have shifted because my size didn't change.
Valerie
DS 2005
There is room on this earth for all of God's creatures..
next to the mashed potatoes
I'm a bit older than you and the DS is the second half of my one and only WLS. I did have the sleeve done just over a year before I had the DS, but that was because my surgeon didn't think I could handle the whole surgery.
My recovery was really good and easy. Easier than many that I've read about here that were a lot younger and thinner and less sick than I was when I started out. Go figure - I sure didn't deserve that, but I got it!
If you can't rely on yourself to take the supplements, then don't even think about this surgery. I mean it - just move on. The vitamins and supplements for the DS is a non-negotiable thing. It just is. If you can't force yourself to take vitamins and make it part of your day, then you're not going to be well.
My routine is pretty easy. Easier than it was to take all the medications I was on before surgery. When I first wake up, I take my batch of iron tablets on an empty stomach. I take more than most people because I have long term anemia issues. I can have a snack after I take them, but not dairy or eggs or anything antacid-y. Then I wait a couple of hours and I have some breakfast and I take my morning "batch" of supplements. I can take them whilst I'm eating or just before or just after. I take some medications for my kidneys with the vitamins and supplements, so I have to have food at about the same time.
I take my noon "batch" of supplements.... umm with lunch. Or realistically, sometimes I don't have a sit-down lunch, but I have tea when I cook my grand-daughter's tea. So I have my "noon" batch then.
The bedtime batch, I make myself a little snack and I take the supplements with the snack.
The batches of supplements take a bit of time to get used to. On Saturday mornings, I get out all my bottles of vitamins and minerals and I fill up my daily reminder boxes. Calcium capsules are pretty big, the multivites are pretty big. Vitamin C is BIG - I take 1,000 mg, but you could take 2 of the 500mg sized ones. I don't have any problems taking big pills. I was on some pretty chunky ones for various problems before surgery. To me, the long-term possible problems of getting to be senile and not able to remember my supplements was moot. As in, without the surgery, I wasn't going to live long enough to worry about any of that stuff if I didn't have it.
Like I said, the supplementation is not negotiable. It's literally a drop-dead issue. Maybe you shouldn't dismiss the VSG (Sleeve) out of hand without considering it more carefully? I had it for a year, and it's a lovely, very effective for many many people, WLS. I needed the malabsorption, but I know people who have lost a lot more than you need to lose. You still need to take some vitamins, and some intrinsic factor, because so much of your stomach is gone that you probably don't produce enough of it. But it's a nice, normal non-problem lifestyle type of WLS. Go to the VSG board here on OH and talk to some of them. They're lovely people and you'll get some great advice.
Good luck! Don't jump into anything until you've come to a complete understanding of how YOU will deal with whatever you decide.
Dennie
PS - ETA: I'm almost a year out from the DS part of the surgery. I lost about 30 pounds with the sleeve in 13 months, and I've lost over 120# with the DS this year. I'm less than 30 pounds from my goal, which is a normal BMI.
My recovery was really good and easy. Easier than many that I've read about here that were a lot younger and thinner and less sick than I was when I started out. Go figure - I sure didn't deserve that, but I got it!
If you can't rely on yourself to take the supplements, then don't even think about this surgery. I mean it - just move on. The vitamins and supplements for the DS is a non-negotiable thing. It just is. If you can't force yourself to take vitamins and make it part of your day, then you're not going to be well.
My routine is pretty easy. Easier than it was to take all the medications I was on before surgery. When I first wake up, I take my batch of iron tablets on an empty stomach. I take more than most people because I have long term anemia issues. I can have a snack after I take them, but not dairy or eggs or anything antacid-y. Then I wait a couple of hours and I have some breakfast and I take my morning "batch" of supplements. I can take them whilst I'm eating or just before or just after. I take some medications for my kidneys with the vitamins and supplements, so I have to have food at about the same time.
I take my noon "batch" of supplements.... umm with lunch. Or realistically, sometimes I don't have a sit-down lunch, but I have tea when I cook my grand-daughter's tea. So I have my "noon" batch then.
The bedtime batch, I make myself a little snack and I take the supplements with the snack.
The batches of supplements take a bit of time to get used to. On Saturday mornings, I get out all my bottles of vitamins and minerals and I fill up my daily reminder boxes. Calcium capsules are pretty big, the multivites are pretty big. Vitamin C is BIG - I take 1,000 mg, but you could take 2 of the 500mg sized ones. I don't have any problems taking big pills. I was on some pretty chunky ones for various problems before surgery. To me, the long-term possible problems of getting to be senile and not able to remember my supplements was moot. As in, without the surgery, I wasn't going to live long enough to worry about any of that stuff if I didn't have it.
Like I said, the supplementation is not negotiable. It's literally a drop-dead issue. Maybe you shouldn't dismiss the VSG (Sleeve) out of hand without considering it more carefully? I had it for a year, and it's a lovely, very effective for many many people, WLS. I needed the malabsorption, but I know people who have lost a lot more than you need to lose. You still need to take some vitamins, and some intrinsic factor, because so much of your stomach is gone that you probably don't produce enough of it. But it's a nice, normal non-problem lifestyle type of WLS. Go to the VSG board here on OH and talk to some of them. They're lovely people and you'll get some great advice.
Good luck! Don't jump into anything until you've come to a complete understanding of how YOU will deal with whatever you decide.
Dennie
PS - ETA: I'm almost a year out from the DS part of the surgery. I lost about 30 pounds with the sleeve in 13 months, and I've lost over 120# with the DS this year. I'm less than 30 pounds from my goal, which is a normal BMI.
"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it. ~Julia Child"
Morning Dennie,
Great share....raw and honest. Thank you for the advice. Yes, the vitamin taking will be very hard for me....I have always had a difficult time swallowing pills, I gag on them. I will check out the sleeve formun. I didn't rule the sleeve out I was under the perception that it was just as ineffectual as the band....that over time the stomach would enlarge....
I am in the exploring mode, I have a lot to consider and I also need to speak with my WLS doctor to see what he has to say as well.
Thank you for your story and support.
Hugs
Great share....raw and honest. Thank you for the advice. Yes, the vitamin taking will be very hard for me....I have always had a difficult time swallowing pills, I gag on them. I will check out the sleeve formun. I didn't rule the sleeve out I was under the perception that it was just as ineffectual as the band....that over time the stomach would enlarge....
I am in the exploring mode, I have a lot to consider and I also need to speak with my WLS doctor to see what he has to say as well.
Thank you for your story and support.
Hugs
To be thorough, I spent quite a while looking over the sleeve. It lacks long term data but what there is is very promising- it is close to the RNY for maintained excess weight loss percentage.
You are at a disadvantage having had the band, but given your concerns about vitamins this would be a good choice. It is far more effective than the band and I can only hope it becomes the 'WLS-lite' surgery the band was trying to be.
Since you did so well initially, maybe the sleeve would work well for you. However in general, people with one failed WLS are advised to go toward the bypass or the DS.
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