elalala

I had a sleeve surgery done on 10/28/17. I had a bleed after the surgery and lost a good amount of blood before they realised and fixed it. Other than that no complications. Before the surgery I have had my TSH, T3, and T4 tested multiple times. My TSH was generally on the high end of normal (4-4.5), though once it was a 5.6. T3 and T4 have always been within normal ranges. Since the surgery I have been feeling a bit manic and very anxious. I am on antidepressents but have been on the same ones for 3 years. A few weeks ago (about 90 days after surgery) I had bloodwork done and my TSH has gone up to 7.4. My T3 and T4 are still within normal range, but my TSH has never been that high before. My B12 and B6 were also very high, though I have no idea if that could be related. My question is, did anyone's TSH go up after surgery? My surgeons office is being very unhelpful when I tried to ask them about it and I feel like they are just brushing me off. I honestly feel like they were so supportive before surgery, and now that it's over they rush through appointments and just say whatever I'm feeling is either normal or unrelated to the surgery. The NP there said that there is no way the TSH increase could be related to the surgery or the blood loss, and that stress would not cause it to go up. She also said that the elevated B12 and B6 might be because of my antidepressants, but I don't see how considering they have not changed. I am afraid that if I go to an Endocrinologist they are just going to want to put me on Synthroid, but if the high TSH is something that will resolve on its own in a few months I don't want to do that. I am also not sure if the psych symptoms could be related to either the TSH or the high B12 and B6. Has anyone had this happen to them? Do you know if the combination of the stress on my body from blood loss and low caloric intake, and the surgery itself, could cause my TSH to be elevated? Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated!

Hi all! I was sleeved on Oct. 20th. I was in a lot of pain after surgery and then fainted early in the morning the day after while going to the bathroom. I don't remember much of the first 2-3 days after surgery, but I think the amount of pain I was in was actually increasing and I was becoming less and less coherent. It turned out I had a bleed (my hemoglobin had dropped to 7.3 O.O). thankfully my doctor figured it out pretty quickly, and then they fixed the bleed on the 3rd day. From there I started rapidly feeling better! I was shocked when I got out of my 2nd surgery in 3 days and felt less pain than I was in before it, but I guess having lots of blood pooling in your abdomen is painful lol... I got out of the hospital 2 days later and since then I have been okay. I had some bad dizziness last week, but it turned out to just be a combination of dehydration and catching a cold. I had my hemoglobin checked earlier this week and it is back up to 10.3! I'm on mushy foods now and have been handling food and water fine (other than forgetting to drink which is what caused the dehydration). I can actually drink water rather quickly now, but I still just try to take sips every few minutes. I will start soft foods in 5 days (though I have added a few very soft foods that I didn't puree, like roasted red peppers and very soft white fish, and I am tolerating them well). I have not been measuring all of my food but I am getting a good idea of what 4 oz look like, and I just eat slowly and chew everything well, then stop when I feel full. One weird thing that I noticed is that I don't feel 'full' in the same way i used to, it more is like a feeling of pressure. I think this is because of the vagus nerve branches being cut. At first i had no hunger but that is slowly coming back, so I think the feeling of 'fullness' will too. My highest weight was 265lb ~4 months before surgery, my surgery weight was ~245lb, and I am currently at 230lb. I think that most of what I lost so far was water weight, but one thing I can tell is that my face is wayyyy less puffy!!! I am also trying not to weigh myself every day but not doing well at it sigh

BariActiv vitamins have some sugar alcohols in them (though not a large amount). I have read that post bariatric surgery sometimes people are sensitive to those. Taking it with food would slow the absorption so it makes sense that it would help.

This is the Bariatric Surgery Policy for Anthem: https://www.anthem.com/medicalpolicies/policies/mp_pw_a053317.htm My understanding is that different plans and states can have variations of this. For my plan (Anthem BCBC or California PPO) when I called Anthem to ask about the policy they directed me to look at that page. If you call your insurance and they don't give you a straight answer ask them if medical policy SURG.00024 is the policy that your plan uses or if there is a different one. Each plan should have a very clearly defined medical policy for coverage of any surgery included in that plan.

I have Anthem BCBS of California and 6 month of medically supervised weight loss is required. The surgery policy for Anthem is located here: https://www.anthem.com/medicalpolicies/policies/mp_pw_a053317.htm The policy specifies that 6 month of MSWL is a requirement but I think that some different Anthem plans can have different requirements.

Hi all! I have just started investigating having the VGS and I had my first consultation last week. The insurance specialist there told me that the 6 months of medically supervised weight loss has to be done at the surgeons office, and cannot be with my PCP, and that she confirmed this with my insurance. I called my insurance and they are looking into it and said they will get back to me. Has anyone who has Anthem BCBS done the 6 months with someone outside of the surgeons office (ie: your PCP, a nutritionist not affiliated with the surgeon)? The reason I want to find this out if that I've already completed a 6 month weight loss program with my PCP, and I am hoping I will be able to use that to cover the insurance requirement. He has agreed to write up whatever letters I'll need also.

Since your post was in March I really hope you are not having this issue any longer! I would love to hear what was done to resolve it and what the underlying issue was. The rest of what I am saying is more for other who come across this post, as I really truly hope you are able to keep down more food and water by now. If you are having those symptoms you should immediately call your surgeon and go in to have them diagnose and see what can be done to repair. Long term dehydration is extremely dangerous. Not being able to keep food down is not good, but not immediately life threatening. Remember, we can live weeks without food, but only days without water. If you feel that your surgeon is not offering you the necessary care to keep you healthy then I would go to another surgeon for a 2nd opinion. Some thirst after surgery is normal, but throwing up 4-5 times a day is not. And you have no way to know how much water you are actually keeping down if you are throwing a lot of it up. Know the signs of dehydration (there are a lot so rather than list them here, look them up online) and when to seek emergency care. If you get to the point of extreme dehydration go to the ER immediately.

I just want to point out that elective surgery is not the same thing as cosmetic surgery. Elective surgery only means that the surgery is non due to a medical emergency and is planned in advance. Most medically necessary surgeries are elective and WLS definitely falls under that category (assuming BMI/co-morbidity requirements). Having a hip replacement, or a hernia repair would also fall under elective surgery. Having WLS gives you just as much right to taking the necessary time off of work to heal as that would