brownp16

Hi - I’m Phil. I’m 54 yrs old and had a gastric bypass in 2011. I weighed close to 400lbs at the start of the journey and am currently 174lbs to I deem the process as a success. I have in recent years though developed a chronic weakness in my muscles - mainly legs, shoulders etc (I also have a heartbeat issue). I walk with a waddle and struggle to get up from a sitting position and struggle with stairs etc. I have had many tests including MRI (x 2), nerve conduction tests, many different blood tests and finally this week, a muscle biopsy. My neurologist cannot diagnose the issue - the biopsy is the last attempt. We met recently and he has now said that he thinks that I have ‘idiopathic myopathy related to chronic nutritional deficiency secondary to gastric bypass.; I am concerned about this since none of my routine bloods have ever thrown up a deficiency - in the past few years I have had many different blood tests in addition to the usual monitoring and apart from a mild case af low iron which is sorted now, I have not had any levels that have been flagged up as abnormal. So - I’m not here for medical advice as such - I just wanted to ask the experienced members - have you heard of many people who have experienced muscular issues (eg atrophy /stiffness etc) ? My research so far has not found any examples - apart from a few cases but they were down to vomiting which I have never suffered from. What do we think - any opinions on this? Thanks in advance. Phil

Thank you Tomo….I think that when I get the biopsy results, if they are inconclusive (which I have been warned they probably will be), the next step is an endocrinologist, iI’m hoping that the change of direction might give some insight. i’ve spent time looking over blood results going back 6 years today and have found that most of the results are i. The lower range but within the ‘normal’ parameters. B12 has never been low, for example,

Thanks for your replies. It is definitely baffling and very frustrating. I am limited to the amount of exercise I can do. 5/6 years ago I could run 5k- I now walk maybe 2k most days. Muscle stiffness stops me doing much. I walk the dogs most days and my main hobby is vegetable gardening which keeps me active. I used to do some weight training but have been advised to avoid this by the neurologist. My own research into muscle weakness /myopathy etc tells me that most of the more common forms of it are irreversible and there is no real treatment available. What bothers me though is that if the neurologist is correct and it is a consequence of the bypass - the it could be possible to reverse the situation. Thanks again for your replies.