Malabsorption further out post-op
So I am 5.5 wks post plastics now. One of the nurses in the hospital looking up my DS so she could understand me and my care better (I appreciated that so much) said she read somewhere that we began to absorb more as our DS matures and I should start cutting back on the fat.
I have had a horrible time with food since my PS 5.5 wks ago and I seem to not want to eat but only a few bites so I upped my protein shakes to 200 grams a day. Now I make these shakes with water and 1/4 cup heavy cream. I try to eat a fried egg and some bacon from time to time and salad drenched with drsg but I don't eat a whole lot.
Today I am proud to say that I clearly still malabsorb the fat because I have orange slicks
lol. I know these are uncomfortable and you better not trust a fart for any reason especially during this time lol. This proves to me that nothing has changed and MY DS CONTINUES TO DO ITS JOB.. I hope I can lose the last 30-40 pounds to hit goal and for some reason I believe I will. So if you think your DS stopped working then work your DS. Up your fat intake and watch it happen.
Carla
P,S I am a proud alive and kicking farting orange slicker DSer. LOL
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Duodenal Switch 08/09/06 - Dr. Paul Kemmeter, Grand Rapids, Michigan
HW: 282 - 5'4"
SW: 268
GW: 135
CW: 125
I doubt very much whether your cholesterol level reflects much if anything about your malabsorption.
Dietary cholesterol - even if eliminated almost entirely - constitutes only a small fraction (I think I recall a number like 20%) to blood cholesterol. It is my understanding that humongous improvement in our blood cholesterol levels has to do with the correction to our metabolism created by the switch portion of our surgery - i.e., the food not touching the distal duodenum/jejunum.
Therefore, I don't think cholesterol levels reflect malabsorption of ingested cholesterol much if at all.
What WOULD tell you is if you measured the fat in your stools - measure what you eat, vs. what's in your poop, like Gagner did. My understanding is that intestinal adaptation to short bowel syndrome peters out after about 2 years, and then it stays pretty much the same.
Duodenal Switch 08/09/06 - Dr. Paul Kemmeter, Grand Rapids, Michigan
HW: 282 - 5'4"
SW: 268
GW: 135
CW: 125
Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol in our bodies. If you are relying on endogenous synthesis (i.e., from sunlight), and your cholesterol is low, I would guess that you would have trouble getting your D3 up due to lack of starting materials. But I don't know how low cholesterol levels would negatively affect the uptake of exogenous (oral supplementation) sources of D3. If anything, I would suspect low cholesterol would cause MORE uptake of vitamin D3 or any cholesterol-like molecule, because the body (assuming it perceived the cholesterol levels as too low) would want to be MORE efficient at extracting cholesterol from dietary sources.
In any case, here is something that sounds like what I recall seeing - not sure how accurate it is, but I think it is pretty much what current SCIENTIFIC thinking agrees on:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/cardiova scular/cholesterol/cholesterol2.htm
Blood Cholesterol vs. Dietary Cholesterol
It may surprise you to know that our bodies make all the cholesterol we need. When your doctor takes a blood test to measure your cholesterol level, the doctor is actually measuring the amount of circulating cholesterol in your blood, or your blood cholesterol level. About 85 percent of your blood cholesterol level is endogenous, which means it is produced by your body. The other 15 percent or so comes from an external source -- your diet. Your dietary cholesterol originates from meat, poultry, fish, seafood and dairy products. It's possible for some people to eat foods high in cholesterol and still have low blood cholesterol levels. Likewise, it's possible to eat foods low in cholesterol and have a high blood cholesterol level.
So, why is there so much talk about cholesterol in our diet? It's because the level of cholesterol already present in your blood can be increased by high consumption of cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet. This increase in dietary cholesterol has been associated with atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaques that can narrow or block blood vessels. (Think about what happens to your kitchen drain pipes when you pour chicken fat down the sink.) If the coronary arteries of the heart become blocked, a heart attack can occur. The blocked artery can also develop rough edges. This can cause plaques to break off and travel, obstructing blood vessels elsewhere in the body. A blocked blood vessel in the brain can trigger a stroke.
The average American man eats about 360 milligrams of cholesterol a day; the average woman eats between 220 and 260 milligrams daily. So how are we doing? The American Heart Association recommends that we limit our average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. Obviously, people with high levels of cholesterol in the blood should take in even less.
I'm pretty sure I eat well over the recommended cholesterol amounts, but I have been pretty consistent in my eating for the last 8 years since my DS - this is what my cholesterol levels look like (keep in mind that I was on statins after about 2001 because my CRP was WAAAAY too high and I had my DS 8/5/03):
