Life After Weight Loss Surgery: All Aspects
Life After Weight Loss Surgery: All Aspects
Reviewed by: John Rabkin, MD
Life after weight loss surgery will be a 180 degree turn from what you are used to. Despite what some people may think, bariatric surgery is not an “easy way out”.
But even though it can be difficult at times, most patients say it was the best decision they have ever made.
•Recovering from surgery
•Weight & health after bariatric surgery
•Diet
•Exercise
•Relationships
•Pregnancy
•Support (including face-to-face and online support)
•Plastic surgery (reconstructive, NOT cosmetic)
•Other challenges
•Real-life patient experiences & videos
•Weight gain after bariatric surgery (on a separate page)
Recovering from Bariatric Surgery
Surgery recovery will involve careful attention to your surgeon's instructions, including a special diet that will allow your stomach to heal properly.
You're also likely to face some challenges while your body gets used to the changes.
See our Bariatric Surgery Recovery page to learn what to expect.
Weight & Health in Your Life After Weight Loss Surgery
YOUR Weight Loss Journey
Help visitors like you by sharing your advice related to this page or other topics...
•How did YOUR weight & health change after bariatric surgery?
Depending on which types of bariatric surgery you are considering, a successful procedure will cause you to lose anywhere from 50% to 90% of your excess weight. By completely eliminating obesity discrimination and improving your quality of life, your mental health will be better than ever.
Improvements to your physical health can be equally as impressive.
The following conditions have been shown to get better or completely go away following bariatric surgery1...
Obesity Health Problems
% of Bariatric Surgery Patients
Asthma
82% improved or resolved
Cardiovascular disease
82% risk reduction
Death
89% reduction in 5-year death rate
Depression
55% improved or resolved
Diabetes (type 2)
83% resolved
Dyslipidemia hypercholesterolemia
63% resolved
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
72 to 98% resolved
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
52 to 92% resolved
Metabolic syndrome
80% resolved
Migraines 57% resolved
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
90% improved steatosis; 37% resolution of inflammation; 20% resolution of fibrosis on repeat biopsy
Orthopedic problems or degenerative joint disease
41 to 76% resolved
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
78% resolution of hirsuitism; 100% resolution of menstrual dysfunction
Pseudotumor cerebri
96% resolved
Sleep apnea
74 to 98% resolved
Stress urinary incontinence
44 to 88% resolved
Venous stasis disease 95% resolved
NOTE: Results vary greatly by procedure. See the Buchwald, et al meta analysis paper for a procedure-based and much more thorough analysis.
"Bariatric surgery may be the only cure for many obesity health problems."
In actuality, bariatric surgery may be the only cure for many of these.
See our Obesity Health Problems page for more about the above conditions.
Despite all of these positive outcomes, you'll need to develop permanent long-term habits in order to maintain your weight and health goals. And it is next to certain that you will NOT be able to do this on your own; they direct support of family, friends and your weight loss surgery team will be integral to your long-term success.
For example, a recent study of 380 patients found that:3
•The more services a patient received after surgery, the greater their percentage of excess weight loss
•Patients who completed group exercise sessions and nutritional consultation after surgery lost more weight than did those who did not complete these services
Moreover, if you let your post-surgery habits slip and find yourself putting weight back on, you'll be more likely to experience a recurrence of your former health problems. For example, most patients with diabetes experience a complete remission of the disease following bariatric surgery. But one out of five of these patients see their diabetes return, due in part to having a higher body weight as time goes on following surgery.4
The following sections dive into the importance of diet and exercise during life after weight loss surgery.
One final important note about long-term health… be mindful of abdominal pain. Bariatric surgery complications can develop at any time, so if you notice anything that feels a little “off”, play it safe and schedule a visit with your surgeon.
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Diet in Your Life After Weight Loss Surgery
Get ready for some significant changes to both what you eat and how you eat.
Don’t worry… it may not be as hard as it sounds. Many patients find that their unhealthy food cravings completely go away, plus your new stomach will cause you to feel full much sooner than before surgery.
YOUR Weight Loss Journey
Help visitors like you by sharing your advice related to this page or other topics...
•YOUR diet & eating habits during bariatric surgery recovery
•YOUR long-term bariatric surgery eating advice
Appropriate changes to your diet are so important that we have devoted an entire section of our site to them. Here are a few pages to get you started…
•Bariatric diet – what you'll eat
•Bariatric eating – how you’ll eat
•Bariatric vitamins & supplements
•Bariatric recipes
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Exercise in Your Life After Weight Loss Surgery
Daily exercise is extremely important and should be integrated into your life after weight loss surgery. It has been proven to…
•Prevent blood clots and blood clot symptoms
•Boost metabolism
•Improve depression
•Lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol
•Improve insulin control
•Increase self esteem
•Improve libido
•Help you live longer
Our Exercise for Bariatric Surgery Patients section explains the best ways to start a personalized workout routine that you can stick with.
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Pregnancy After Bariatric Surgery
YOUR Weight Loss Journey
Help visitors like you by sharing your advice related to this page or other topics...
•YOUR pregnancy after weight loss surgery
If you get pregnant after bariatric surgery, there are some things you’ll need to do differently than you would have before surgery. In general, pregnancy and child birth after weight loss surgery are much safer than they are if you are obese.
Our Pregnancy After Weight Loss Surgery page reviews the details along with the steps that should be taken for a successful pregnancy.
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Support in Your Life After Weight Loss Surgery
In order to have successful long-term bariatric surgery results, research suggests that you will need more support than what can be provided from family and friends alone…
"...the more often patients attend group meetings, the more weight they lose."
•Study 1 - Patients who attend support groups achieved a 1.6 lower body mass index than patients who do not. (See our How to Calculate BMI page for more about body mass index)
• Study 2 – Support group patients have a 10% lower BMI than non-support group patients.
•Study 3 – Not only do support group attendees lose more weight, but the more often patients attend group meetings, the more weight they lose.
In addition to holding you accountable for your actions, support groups give you an outlet to discuss problems and situations with people who are going through the same experience.
See the following pages to learn how to find and use the bariatric surgery support that is right for you...
• Weight loss surgery support - learn how to find the best in-person bariatric surgery support groups that fit your style and needs.
•Online weight loss support will drastically improve your chances of reaching and maintaining your weight loss goals, but only if you choose to work with the best websites. We have reviewed them all and have good news… the best options are all free. If you want to jump straight to a specific online weight loss support category, click one of the following: ◦Reviews of the top free diet journal & exercise journal options
◦Bariatric surgery forum: Top gastric bypass forum, lap band forums and forums for other procedures
◦Ongoing weight loss surgery education
•Support from family and friends
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Relationships in Life After Weight Loss Surgery
Relationship changes are another great reason to participate in a bariatric surgery support group. These changes often go overlooked by people considering bariatric surgery, and they can be both positive and negative depending on the situation.
See our Relationships After Weight Loss page for real stories about relationships after weight loss... and please share your advice and experiences as well.
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Plastic Surgery following Bariatric Surgery
You’ll be healthier, you’ll feel better and you’ll look better after weight loss surgery. For many patients, that’s all they could want or hope for.
In which area of the body, if any, would you most want to receive cosmetic surgery (or where did you receive your first treatment)?
Abdomen
Breasts
Neck or face
Thighs
Upper arms
Entire body
I'm not interested in cosmetic surgery.
Other:
Vote
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But the extra skin that many patients have following surgery leads them to consider reconstructive plastic surgery. In addition to improving your appearance, patients often take this route for medical reasons including rashes and problems maintaining hygiene between the skin folds.
The most common parts of the body to receive reconstructive plastic surgery following weight loss surgery are…
•Abdomen (affordable tummy tuck, also called “abdominoplasty”)
•Breasts (breast lift, also called “mastopexy” and/or breast augmentation)
•Neck or face (neck lift or face lift)
•Thighs (thigh lift plastic surgery, also called “thighplasty”)
•Upper arms (upper arm lift, also called “brachioplasty”)
•Entire body (total body lift)
If you decide to incorporate cosmetic surgery into your life after weight loss surgery, it’s best to wait at least a year or two until your body reaches its new final weight.
See our Bariatric Plastic Surgery After Weight Loss page for more information.
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Other Challenges
Weight loss surgery sometimes comes with other challenges that many folks aren't keen to talk about up front. Click the following links to learn more about each topic...
•Weight gain after bariatric surgery
•Depression after bariatric surgery
Real-Life Patient Experiences & Videos
YOUR Weight Loss Journey
Help visitors like you by sharing your advice related to this page or other topics...
•YOUR bariatric surgery video - recorded experiences
•YOUR life experiences after weight loss surgery (written)
As we’ve discussed, offline and online support groups are a great way to get first-hand testimony of every stage of pre- and post-bariatric surgery life… both before and after you begin the journey.
If possible, talk with patients who were treated by your surgeon to give you an understanding of what to expect. The best bariatric doctors can usually refer you to support groups that their patients attend.
Click here to read experinces about life after bariatric surgery from other patients.
Following are interviews with and stories about actual bariatric surgery patients. They explain the good, the bad and the ugly about life after weight loss surgery…
- See more at: http://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/life-after-weight-loss-surgery.html#sthash.YXzr2ChN.dpuf