Weight Gain after gastric bypass when studied long term

[MikeB]

I have been saying and still believe that if you don't make an effort to make a lifestyle change in eating, exercise and outlook surgery is not the answer. I've personally seen this in a few people who had the surgery but here's a study showing the same information.
Weight Gain After Short- and Long-Limb Gastric Bypass in Patients Followed for Longer Than 10 Years

[cardinarky]

Absolutely FANTASTIC report!!!
The data presented gives concrete evidence to what is factually known by those of us who have battled weight all of our lives, and live/lived in the 300#+ regions.
The solution to permanent weight relief does not exist in the body, but rather within the mind.

[Obesity Discussion]

Yep, obesity surgery is not an end all.....you still need to make the lifestyle changes


This is a very small sample size though, however it seems to show that old habits and genentic factors may influence your chances of long term success. I am saddened to see that the "failure rate" for the people who needed the weight loss the most was 1/3."

The super obese lost more rapidly from time zero and gained more rapidly after reaching the lowest weight at approximately 2 years than the morbidly obese patients. There was no difference in results between the long- and short-limb operations. There was a significant increase in failures and decrease in excellent results at 10 years when compared with 5 years. The failure rate when all patients are followed for at least 10 years was 20.4% for morbidly obese patients and 34.9% for super obese patients.

[cardinarky]

This study is as complete as it can get. It is not a simple sample size but an evaluation of the entire window of 272 consecutive surgeries.
" Of the 272 consecutive patients in this series, 228 (83.8&#37 were followed up. Of these, 76% were seen in our outpatient department or by their local doctor and 24% provided information via questionnaire or a telephone conversation".

"A total of 161 patients were followed longer then 10 years, 60 patients were followed for at least 5 years, 43 were lost to follow-up, 1 patient died within 30 days of surgery, and 7 patients died during the long term follow-up period. The distribution of BMIs was as follows: 35 to 39, 6.3%; 40 to 49, 57%; 50 to 59, 29.8%; and >60, 7%".
The lowest BMI for the super obese patients we were able to follow was 31.4 and occurred at 2.2 years following operation. This increased to 38.3 at final evaluation 11.6 years after surgery.

The BMI's for the entire population are >=35 with 7% > 60.

We need to give, and get, all the support we can. This problem is just as severe as those treated in AA.

[biggirl]

Interesting report. I had my stomach stapled in 1994 and initially lost 31 kg, but then stopped losing and eventually regained it all plus much more. I agree that weight loss is all in the brain

biggirl

[DTH34]

I agree that losing and keeping off weight is mental. What helps people commit themselves to a healthier lifestyle? I've tried lots of things, from meditation to conditioning myself to stop eating after a certain amount of time, but its so hard.

[Rue]

You just have to want to be thin and fit MORE than you want to give in to the 'instant reward' that food offers. If you don't, the weight loss won't stick.

I'm doing this weight loss for health and self-confidence. Health-wise (despite my chronic issues) I find that I'm moving better, I'm not quite as stiff for as long as I used to be, my IBS is probably 90% improved, my skin looks better (less acne and excema). I haven't magically turned 100% 'healthy'...I'm actually more sore (because I move more) and maybe a bit more tired (because I'm moving more?). But those two are minor drawbacks that I'm willing to deal with.

I look better. That improves confidence. Improved confidence improves your interactions with people and you get more positive responses which is also very motivating...

I'm not willing to give up all these improvements...that's my motivation!

[DTH34]

I imagine you are right, Rue, yes, that it really comes down to whether you want it bad enough. It's strange to think about but I'm not sure I'm really serious enough about it yet.

I may not be the healthiest person, but I'd say I'm pretty confident. I do well at work and my bosses/coworkers/friends treat me with respect. In some regards it seems like positive feedback to the status quo only hurts my motivation. Why change when all seems well?

Though I wouldn't be writing about it if all was well, would I? haha. It's like you make a long list of excuses for yourself, and really only feel like doing something when you run out of them.

Was there an event, or series of events anyone here has had that really made them see their overweight situation differently? That foiled all the excuses?