Duodenal Switch Before and After – My 250 Pound Weight Loss Story (With Pictures)

Table Of Contents

• Duodenal Switch With Biliopancreatic Diversion
• Duodenal Switch Before and After
• Making The Choice To Get The Duodenal Switch Surgery
• Duodenal Switch Reviews
• Cons Of The Duodenal Switch Procedure
• Pros Of The Duodenal Switch Procedure
• Duodenal Switch Before and After Questions

Duodenal Switch With Biliopancreatic Diversion

I apologize for starting out with a science sounding title, but that is the correct name of the Duodenal Switch procedure. It’s a long name so many just call it the Duodenal Switch or even DS for short.

I have a pretty crazy weight loss story (one that I won’t go into completely just to keep this blog post shorter.). If you are looking for a more traditional weight loss plan, check out how to lose 2 pounds a week.

I’ll keep it pretty straight forward and focus on the facts as I know them about the Duodenal Switch surgery procedure.

Duodenal Switch Before and After

My before story starts in 2015 in regards to the Duodenal Switch surgery. I weighed a whopping 493 pounds. And I had racked up quite an impressive list of comorbidities. Off the top of my head I remember having diabetes, high blood pressure aka hypertension, sleep apnea, a rapid heartbeat, and I was tired and sore all the time. Suhagra http://www.pharmacynewbritain.com/suhagra/

My body ached and my energy was 0. I’m 5’10 so my BMI back then was almost 71! You can calculate your own BMI here. If you’re trying to qualify for the duodenal switch with biliopancreatic diversion and have your health insurance pay for it, you’ll need a BMI of at least 40 in most cases. You can also have a BMI of 35 if you have 2 or more comorbidities.

You can see a list of comorbidities most insurances accept here.

I should add that I was pretty young at this point. I believe I was 33 years old just about to turn 34. I was way too young to have so many health problems.

Here’s a few pictures of me taken around that time period.

Making The Choice To Get The Duodenal Switch Surgery

After years or yo-yo dieting and losing literally close to 1000 pounds altogether only to gain it back… I finally realized I had enough.

Here’s a quote from my journal entry about why I chose the duodenal switch procedure.

I have had many ups and downs with my weight throughout my life. Sadly, no matter what I tried, I always ended up back where I started or even worse.

After a lifetime of pushing myself to extremes, I finally got real with myself. I knew I could lose weight, I’d done it time and time again. But what I lost faith in was my ability to keep the weight off.

At first, I blamed myself. Where’s my willpower? Where’s my desire to live and not be fat anymore? Finally, after years of beating myself up and feeling like a failure, I looked more into the science of weight loss. Buy Generic Viagra http://kendallpharmacy.com/viagra.html

I reviewed study after study, diving deep looking for what I may have missed. Finally, I found it. Nearly everything I read pointed to the fact that less than 1% of people are able to lose weight and keep it off for more than 5 years.

But, there was an exception. And that exception was weight loss surgery. I didn’t want to believe it, but as I looked around all I could see was story after story of people who had lost weight and gained it back. Including myself multiple times.

This led me to ask a difficult question. Why are we doing the same thing over and over again, even though it isn’t working? More importantly, why am I?

And that is what led me to research weight loss surgery and the science of bariatrics. During that deep dive on Google (like you’re probably doing right now) I ended up learning all about the Duodenal Switch with biliopancreatic diversion, which is known in the “industry” as the platinum standard.

I dove in and got the procedure done in Orlando, Florida on December 10, 2015. The day before I turned 34. My results were pretty spectacular.

Within 3 days of my surgery, my type 2 diabetes was resolving. I had a fasting blood sugar range in the 90’s. Today, my A1C is <3.9 which means it’s off the charts in a good way. My fasting blood sugar is in the mid to upper 70’s depending on what I ate the night before.

My sleep apnea is gone, my blood pressure is normal, my heart rate is in the 50’s and 60’s and is completly normal. I am a 100% healthy 38 year old.

Here are the pics that really show how rapid the weight loss can happen with the duodenal switch. This picture was taken basically a year after my surgery date.

If memory serves me, in one year I went from 455 pounds on surgery day to somewhere around 240 pounds just one year later. That’s a total weight loss of 215 pounds in one year.

What other changes did I make besides the Duodenal Switch surgery? I worked out 3 days a week at the YMCA (nothing strenuous I wore jeans and a t-shirt most days!) and I ate a low-carb, higher fat and protein diet.

And the weight melted off like butter in a frying pan. A recent update to my diet has been implementing intermittent fasting. I wrote a post about it you can read. It’s meant for beginners and it’s called intermittent fasting 101.

Here’s a recent photo of me taken in 2020:

I post this one to show that I’ve been able to keep the weight off coming up on 5 years post-surgery. That’s a huge accomplishment that I am very proud of.

Duodenal Switch Reviews

If you came here looking for duodenal switch reviews, I hope you have enjoyed my review. I’ll write out a few more thoughts on what the surgery has meant for me and also lay out a little bit of the pros and cons just so you have a full picture.

Cons of the Duodenal Switch Procedure

There are very few cons for me, but I’ll lay them out so you can consider all factors before making your decision. First, I was very sick for a day and a half after surgery. Throwing up blood and just out of it. I had my surgery on a Thursday and it wasn’t until Saturday morning that I felt better.

That being said, I was one of the largest patients with a host of issues. I actually was released and was back home on Sunday which was nice. I’ve helped quite a few people go through the process of getting the surgery since and now they seem to have really dialed it in. Everyone else seems to be going home the next day.

Another con is that you will get some pretty smelly gas and stool. Just no way around it. The way they arrange your intestines causes your gas and stool to be what the doctors call “malodorous”. You get used to it and also learn to minimize it. The key is to reduce carb intake. Less carbs = less gas and less smells.

Finally, there’s the duodenal switch vitamin regimen. If you click that link, you can see all the vitamins I’m taking. In the future, I’ll write a full post about it, but at least you can see what I’m taking daily. I err on the side of caution and take a lot of stuff, some of which I don’t necessarily need but I want to stay in front of my vitamin needs.

Because you malabsorb fat and protein and a lot of what you eat, you will need to supplement with vitamins for life. I just view them as my “weight loss pills”. If someone said you could be thin and healthy if you took these magic weight loss pills, notonly would you take them, you would pay thousands for them.

So, for me, the tradeoff is nothing compared to what I get. Plus, as an added bonus, the duodenal switch vitamin regimen helps me stick to a better schedule.

Pros of the Duodenal Switch Procedure

First, it saved my life. I probably wouldn’t have died yet had I not gotten the surgery, but I would have been well on my way. Plus, the life that I was living was a very sad one. I didn’t do anything, go anywhere, or really see anyone.

I worked from home and ate out everyday. My life revolved around food and trying to get my next food fix. It wasn’t a life, it was an existence.

And as I said earlier. I resolved my type 2 diabetes, my sleep apnea, my hypertension, and my rapid heartbeat. All my joint pain and body aches are gone. Only issue is a little bit of back pain every now and then.

I have more energy, stamina, and strength than I’ve ever had.

My life is 1000% better. I would go through the duodenal switch procedure every year if I had to to feel the way I do and have the health and life I have.

Duodenal Switch Before and After Questions

What else can I answer? Please comment below so I can help. Whatever you want to know about the surgery and the process I’m glad to help.

Looking forward to writing more posts around this topic as well. If you have ideas or questions you want me to write about, just comment and let me know or if its private use my contact form.