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Wow, this is a very interesting thread. I'm still in the "I don't know" stage, but I swear my gut tells me to go the RnY route. The first reason is that I already have an autoimmune disease which puts me at greater odds of rejecting the band. I also just had plastic surgery so I'm not too awful worried about sagging skin. It's so tight right now I can hardly breathe. I'm not necessarily wanting to lose it faster.....just want to lose all of the weight. I've also been eating right for over 11 years now with not a whole lot to show for it. I was always scared to cheat too much because I thought I would weigh 400 lbs instead of the 200 that I do. It's only been recently (past 6 mos or so) that I have been eating things I shouldn't because inside I just gave up losing weight. The fight was so hard and nothing to show for it. I exercise everyday........I eat right.....nothing. At this point in time, it is so easy to talk myself into doing the wrong things and I'm scared I'll do that with the band. I could easily tell myself that once I started losing weight I'd get my willpower back, but what if I dont?

I too have RA and OA, recently had a partial hip replacement due to necrosis cause by long term steroid use for the autoimmune disorders. both my rheumatolgist and orthopedics doctors HIGHLY recommend the lap banding and are will to write letters to that effect if needed by the bariatric surgeon. I do understand that some bariatric surgeons do not want to do the lap banding with certain autoimmune disorders, have even had one deny me, but he never gave a rationale for not doing it. So i do not know what the problem is unless it is the slowed healing process related to medications, etc. but good luck with yours. I am still waiting on the 3 months supervised documentation by my primary care doc of my diet as required by medicare and then to see this surgeon. hoping it works out,

2 weeks and 6 pounds less- post surgery, I'm eating solids, but still sticking with premier protein for breakfast and lunch most work days, consuming 1x Centrum multivitamin daily... I seem to have an adverse effect, severe dermatitis... Small bumpy welts where my bandages were and now spreading to all softer skin, including around my lower stomach, chest and arms. Anyone else have this issue? I'm reaching out to my surgeon, as I'm concerned if I have an autoimmune issue. I've never been allergic to anything. Sent from my Nexus 10 using the BariatricPal App

Current research has implicated Vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. Vitamin D's influence on key biological functions vital to one's health and well-being mandates that Vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health. I know I feel 100% better since I raised my vit D level from 30 up to 80. One of the benefits from having a higher level of Vit D is being deficient in this causes cravings for sweets.

Well i lost my way for the past year and need help badly... i will provide the background of my story & why im at a point where i really need help getting back on track. . I had my Gastric sleeve surgery in jan 2013. At the time i had been struggling with multiple autoimmune diseases ( sjnogrens syndrome, SLE or lupus, RA, fibrimyalgia) about 4 months post op my marriage was falling apart & the nasty 27 months of a horrid divorce started. I was doing well til i was diagnosed wirh cervical cancer in march 2014. That is when it really went down hill. sfter treatment i ended up back on more steroids and balooned. .. let me explain why...its a little long sorry. I hope you can follow and someone can help even if its just words of wisdom. i moved to New Mexico in 2007 from Michigan . When i was pregnant with my daughter that year is when i got sick.No one down in those small communities could figure out why! After she was born in nov 2007 i got worse & worse. On a visit back to my hometown in Michigan i fot extremely ill and decided enough was enough & went in to see the dr i had most of my life! After lots of tests he discovered i had multiple auto immune diseases. Upon returning to NM he had set me up with a rhuematologist in Lubbock texas which was 2 hrs away from our home in NM. This dr put me on such high doses of steroids & methotrexate( it looks like yellowgreen toxic waste & is used for cancer trestment as chemo therapy & also used on auto immune patients to eipe out their immune systems) injections that in Dec 2009 i had been hospitalized for weeks and my family had enough and moved me back to michigan. My ( now ex) husband went back and forth as he was a oilfield supervisor for halliburton. After moving back i got a good rhuematologist and internest. i was on 85 mg of prednisone a day at that point & it was killing me. I ballooned over 300pds. After i got pregnant with our son in 2011. Things got really bad weight wise. I was at 380ish at the time of his birth in april 2012. That is when my drs snd i decided gastric sleeve surgery was the only way that i was going to loose weight after several failed diets that they suoervised. Unlnowingly the stress i was under was not going to make things wasy. My son was born with a rare type of spina bifida called lypomeleomeningicle. He had surgery in sept 2012 at 5 months. They found things that they were not expecting when they opened my 5 month old baby up. Long story short we were at U of M for almost 3 weeks. Got home and within 45 min wrre rushing back & he had another 2 week stay. In Nov my body just gave out. I was hospitalized for 3 weeks. My drs said thsts it. Your approved for this surgery. They weened me off the prednisone which i was down to 35 mg a fay at that point. So end of dec 2012 and beginning of january 2013 i did preop. Lost about 38 pounds. I did well post op as well. But then my diseases slowed my healing process & progress had a few hospital stays. In April my marriage had gotten to its boiling point and began the process of one of the ugliest nastiest divorces i could have imagined. But i still was doing better and loosing weight everyday. I was ginalky able to participate in life again with my children etc. Instead of sitting on sidelines or canceling olans because i was sick. In the end of August 2013 i went out eoth some girlfriends ( i was under 300 pds by this time.) And met the most wonderful man. I wasnt looking at all it judt happened. We ended up habing one of those " holy cow what a small world" conversations. And how wed never cross pathsbor met before then was amazing. I was updront about my situstion, disease & gadtric skeeve surgerybupfront. And i wasnt looking to date. But from that night on we were inseperable. By Dec 2013 my divorce was in full swing but my soon to be ex husband was not happy that i was happy ( even though he never had been home even when he had weeks off and stayed 1500 miles away from us. whichbi found out he was having affairs when i decided i wanted a divorce because of a text my daughter whom was 5 at the time showed me. and when he was home he slept the whole time & never wanted to participate with our children or myself. even when i begged) he got a secret bank account & all our joint accts he closed and left me with NO money. Mind u he kept me a stay at home mom. He was very sbusive and controlling. Things were getting worse every day. My grandmother passed on dec 12th which is my oldest sons birthday. It was such a huge loss. In january 2014 i had alot of pain and called my gynocologist. I had a paps and check up in Nov previous and was all clear. They did biopsies. Long story short after 2 round of biopsies on my cervix and uterus. I was diagnosed with the end of stage 1 A cervical cancer. Jeffs ex was also a psycho. They had been divorced for a few years before i met him. He had one child with her.she had began withholding his son because we were dating. She knew many people i did and it got ugly. I was in no shape to handle all of the things thst were entering my life from his ex wife. but i had fallen so in love with him unlike id ever fallen in love with someone before. We ended up breaking up for oh.. a week.lol. and it was one of the hardest weeks in my life when it came to a break up. he still texted and called me daily. But he called begging for me to forgive him at day 8 & we got back together. I needed him. He hadd become my best friend & a huge support system. my divorce had gotten so ugly. My ex cut off the medical flex card i used for myself and the kids for copays on drs visits, medication etc. Mind u our son needed this as much as i did. He also came up unannounced and threw all of my things put. When i came home thst day after picking up kids he called the police and i was told i had to sleep somewhere else while he was home as he has no family etc of his own in michigan. This is when i had no choice but to move in with jeff. which was his idea. Its not how we wanted to do things. But my still husband was becomming increasingly physically , emotionally etc abusive and would show up unnannounced often. But i was fighting cervical cancer. Going through surgery & treatment. I needed almost 24 hr care or someone to be there. As i said things just kept getting worse. my treatment was done by august 2014. I tried working again. But ended up passing out at my job. friend of the court finally ordered child support to be paid to me that Oct. Things escalated to peak after that. Including me finally calling thebpolice after he assaulted me when we were doing kiddo drop off in dec. He fles the state when he foun out i called and filed charges. He decided he didnt want to pay 1800 a month in c.s mind u he was making about 260,000/ a year at thisnpoint. So in feb 2015 he wuit his job. By august 2015. He was behind thousands of dollars. I was in and out of the hospital and my drs snd lawyer felt this divorce would kill me before it was finished if it wasnt over soon. So i settled just to have it done. my kids & i had lost our amazing medical insurance when he quit Halliburton. Jeff and i had gotten engaged. For the first time in my life i was truely happydidnt say yes because i felt obligated because of my kids. ON Dec 16th 2015 my Jeff was at work and dell aprox 37 1/2 feet at work. His back explodednon impact as well as his spinal sac holding his spinal cord. It was by far the biggest trama of my life. So here is where i am worh my post op that i need help with. In feb 2015 i got shingles again asbi fo almost every year at that time. But i needed to be back on prednisone and lots of it for about 4 months. And have been on & off it til january this year. Between the steroids, stress etc i ate bad as well. but also stopped eating toom so when i did eat it was something fast. Especially since jeffs fall. Between taking care of him bow, my kids, my sons special needs which hes facing 2 surgeries one next month. My body breaking down. The fact i havent seen my surgeon for my sleeve since my ex quit his job snd we lodt thst medical insurance. I had gotten down to 170 pds. I began my sleeve preop journey at 396 pds. So that is 226 pounds and i felt i had reached my goal. But a month later is when the steroids started again and the climax of my divorce and then jeffs accident. Jeff and i did get married in january. Its not whst we had olanned. We had a wedding olanned, dress bought etc for October 1 2016. But for legal reasons etc and the fact i had almost lost the love of my life we decided to get married on jan 15th. So i know this is a long post and basically i laid my life out for all to see. But i need help. Im back to 240 pds. Jeff is also going on the diet with me. We began today. I don't have my diet book that i got when i had the surgery. If anyone has a copy of one they could maybe email me if love one. My husband has gained weight but has alot of muscle atrophy. Can anyone give any advice how i can get back on track. I know mh stomach didnt stretch out huge as it still only allows me to eat so much and i get full very fast. Im off the prednisone. But have been put on a new short term steroid. And i am not sure ifnit will hinder my diet. But weather it does or not i need to get back to my lifestyle. Yes it was a life style chsnge for me. Thank you for taking the time to read or give advice in advance. Again so sorry for the long post and kinda vent session. Lord knows i have alot to vent these days. Lol. Mrs.Krish Sent from my SM-G900P using the BariatricPal App

I’ve had a rough row to hoe since October. I wound up in an Ulcerative Colitis flare in October that lead into not one, but two hospitalizations with autoimmune pancreatitis. That’s been fun! Now I’m dealing with a possible ulcer in my pouch since I’m on steroids for the UC and I ran out of protonix two weeks ago and the OTC omeprazole isn’t nearly as good as the protonix. So my surgery weight was 251 pounds on 4/23/21. I’m down to 137-140 range. I like where I am and I want to maintain this weight.

I mean some sleeve surgeons don't want their patients using nsaids, but it's not a universal thing (I've been taking celebrex daily since the 7 month mark) Yeah the bypass carries some challenges. It's a more proven surgery totally and likely has greater benefits, but it's negatives and it's risks are sown thing always worth considering. I'm not sure if I have autoimmune disease yet. I definitely have arthritis, but my lab work from my preop and during my sleeve has actually caused my team to identify some abnormalities that I have been getting worked up for several months. Autoimmune is suspected though. I've been on celebrex the last 2 to 3 months, and I think a DMARD trial is coming soon to see how that impacts my lab work as they don't want me on celebrex long term. Can't say I've noticed a difference of anything physical since the surgery. Only differences have been in the mirror (and mental} but **** I'll take that And yeah below my initial goal, but I still have such a long way to go. This is still the beginning of getting to where I wanna go!

She Smiles, until you can get into the dentist, try some Midol, it helps more than other OTC pain killers, not sure why, but was given that suggestion years ago, and it works! My ex was abusive, and knocked my teeth a few times, and the Midol seemed to help with the throb where Ibuprofin and all didn't so much. My DD....what an ordeal it has been. She began about a month ago, the glands under her ear swelled up. She saw the Dr. was given antibiotics, and sent home. About a week later the ear itself began swelling. Not the lobe but the cartilage part of the ear, got HUGE....I am talking a girl with small ears, and the thickness of the cartilage area was easily an inch or an inch and a half thick, and it was purple! They changed her antibiotics, and it only continued to get worse. They thought it was cellulitis, and treated for that, with no response. All the while the lobe remains normal. Eventually it swelled to a point the skin split, and she had open sores. All the visits to the Dr, and the ER, she ended up with MRSA in it! So they admitted her to the hospital, and began the IV meds for that. No change. They inserted a PIC line, so they could use stronger meds. Finally her tests for the MRSA come back good, but the ear is worse than ever, it is not even resembling an ear any longer. They operated and removed the carotid lymph node under her ear to biopsy and test. They made an incision about 3 inches long, and only sutured it in 3 places trying to allow it to drain, it never even bled. The surgeon said cutting into the area was like sawing wood. Very tough. The communicable diseases Dr. of our local hospital called the family together to tell us she thought my DD had a disease called Relapsing polychondritis. Which is an autoimmune disease, that begins in the cartilage of either the ears or the nose, and disfigures, then moves to the cartilage in the joints, causing disability, and eventually either collapses the trachea, or destroys cartilage bands at the base of the arteries in your heart--causing death, usually in the neighborhood of 10 years from onset. We were totally devastated. She is 27, has a 4 year old DD herself, and is a beautiful, otherwise healthy, vibrant girl. Then while we are trying to deal with the Dx, suddenly the ear lobe swells---and the glands all swell again. So whatever infection she has is worsening, BUT the RP does not affect soft tissue, only cartilage---so that goes against the diagnosis. So while she is getting worse, in our own way we are celebrating! With this change the Dr.'s here give up and transferred her to a larger hospital in Albuquerque. She got there, and the infectuous diseases Dr. said almost immediately it was not the RP, but it was similar, it was an affliction that mimics the RP, called pseudomonas aeruginosa perichondritis. Which is an infection of the cartilage, and it is a one shot thing, it is not going to spread to the other parts of the body, nor is it fatal! They got the proper antibiotics going in, and the change was drastic and almost immediate! She was in the hospital for over 2 weeks, but is home now and will be on IV therapy through her PIC line for minimally 6 weeks. When that is done, they will excise any remaining dead tissue. She will likely need PS to restore normal look to her ear. But that is nothing! It has been an emotional roller coaster! One I am totally glad to be off of! Thanks for all your support--some of you both here and on FB. Y'all are great! Kat

I too have rheumatoid arthritis and was concerned that would mean I couldn't have the lap band. Since RA is an autoimmune disorder and not like regular arthritis, it's important to talk with your doctor since some autoimmune issues can disqualify you for the surgery. My doctor said that it shouldn't be a problem for me though. I am worried though about after the surgery because the autoimmune issues make me heal slower and leave me with so much extra pain from any minor trauma to the body. Doctors like to tell you to expect "soreness" but that can be anything from feeling like you worked out really hard to laying on the couch crying in pain. I just wish I had a better idea of the pain I can expect.

That's awesome, both of you!! Well done. I love primal, it works for me and it's also been very good for my husband too. He didn't have much to lose (but he has autoimmune issues that have WAY cleared up from being off gluten...yay!), but he's even shed a few. Yay us!!!

I have Multiple Sclerosis I wondered if I could have the surgery. From what I was told I wouldn't have any problem & my neurologist would have to give me the ok. Talked to my Neuro & he thought it was a good idea for his patient & said there shouldn't be any issues. I have been DX for 2yrs. I'm current stable. I do have concerns that I will have a flare up after surgery, it's a risk with any surgery & a autoimmune disorder. There is the option of putting the fibro or whatever autoimmune disorder on the back burner (hush hush) until after surgery. DX these type disorders can take mths or yrs & u don't want ur surgery put off till then. Also don't rush the DX or fibro. DRs told me it basically means they don't know. There maybe another autoimmune disorder that hasn't fully shown itself. Sorry for the book! Lol!

So, I have promised to share my story with anyone who is interested. I’m not simply a bariatric surgery patient. Feel free to ask questions about what I have gone through. I am not shy about talking about my travails and have lots of experience with surgery in general. The photos I am sharing may be disturbing to some people. I am scarred and have an ileostomy. If you are squeamish, you may want to skip the photos. Here we go… Get your popcorn, this is a very long post. My name is Andy. I turned 52 in early July. I am single and live alone with my dog. I’ve been heavy most of my life. But, my journey is about my chronic illness and the effects it has had on me and my body. I have Crohn’s Disease. I started having symptoms when I was 15. It got really bad when I was in the Navy, but it was in 1990 that I was first hospitalized because of it. I was, at first, diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and started on medication. This seemed to help for a while, but it kept getting worse. In 1995, when my doctor said I had to start taking Prednisone again, I opted to have a radical surgery to “cure” me by removing the organ of choice for this autoimmune disease. On April 20, 1995, I had the first of three major abdominal surgeries at Northwestern University Hospital, in Illinois. I had my entire large intestine removed and an internal pouch was made out of my small intestine to take the place of my large intestine. The surgery took almost 12 hours to complete. It was done open incision; laparoscopic surgery of this type was not perfected until the early 2000s. (My youngest brother had this exact surgery performed in 2012 laparoscopically. Crohn’s disease runs in my family.) This pouch was connected to the exit and I had a loop ileostomy for three months while the internal pouch healed. Yes, I pooped into a bag hanging from my stomach for three months back then. Then, after the three months, I went back in for another surgery where they closed the ileostomy and dropped my intestine back inside. Things went well for a couple of years, then I got sick again. I moved to California and started a new job in 2002. When I found a new gastroenterologist in southern California, he did some tests and said I did not have ulcerative colitis, but Crohn’s Disease. (The difference between these two irritable bowel diseases is ulcerative colitis only attacks the large intestine, but Crohn’s disease can attack any part of the digestive system.) This doctor started me on an infusion medication called Remicade. This was the first medication that ever really worked. I took it for about 14 years until I developed antibodies to it. I kept taking it even though it was not working because the doctor never had me tested for antibodies. In 2014, I moved to Idaho. I found my current gastroenterologist, who is the best doctor I have ever had. He put me on Humira. This is a self-injectable medication that also worked for a while, this time about two years. When he saw that the Humira was no longer working, he ordered a blood test that would see if I had antibodies to it. This is when I found out that I had antibodies to both Humira and my previous medication, Remicade. I was then switched to Cimzia, which never worked. I just keep getting sicker and sicker. (The worst part of having Crohn’s disease is there are no outward signs that you are sick. I looked fine but felt like crap all the time. No one at work believed I was sick) One of the side effects of my surgery in 1995 was scar tissue in my small intestines where the ileostomy was. Because of this, I periodically have small bowel obstructions that usually require hospitalization. To date, I have had 17 small bowel obstructions. These usually clear themselves while I am in the hospital, by not eating anything (NPO) and having an NG (Naso-gastral) tube inserted up my nose and down into my stomach, to remove any contents using suction. Let’s jump ahead to last year – May 2017. I had yet another small bowel obstruction. I was hospitalized as usual, but this time it did not clear. I had been in the hospital for two weeks and then they decided I needed surgery to clear the blockage. When I was talking to the surgeon before the surgery, he said I had a 90% chance that I would come out of surgery with a permanent ileostomy. This was not the case. In this second major open abdominal surgery, the surgeon was able to remove scar tissue strictures from the outside of my small intestine and they immediately inflated and the blockage passed. I got lucky. The surgeon told me that if I had another small bowel obstruction, he would be forced to remove my internal pouch and give me a permanent ileostomy. In August of 2017, this is exactly what happened. A bit after 4 am on August 21, 2017 (yes, the day of the total solar eclipse – I’ll say more about this in a minute), I went to the emergency room and was admitted about 8:30 am for yet another small bowel obstruction. I had been up all night throwing up and getting sicker, so I was exhausted by the time I got to my room. About 10 am, the nurse came in and asked if I wanted to go out to the parking lot and watch the eclipse. I was so sick and exhausted that I said no and slept through the entire event. (I live in one of the areas where people came to view the event (eastern Idaho) and I missed the entire thing because of this damn disease…) When the surgeon came in later that day, he said that he had scheduled me for surgery on Wednesday, August 23, 2017,, for the removal of my badly diseased internal pouch and give me a permanent end ileostomy. So, again, I poop into a bag. So, on August 23, 2017, I had the third major open abdominal surgery. One thing to note here is this was the third time I had been opened up in the same place – from just above my belly button, vertically down into my groin. My wound had barely healed from the surgery in May and the surgeon was cutting me open again. This ended up being a long recovery. There were two issues with this surgery: the first was the placement of the ileostomy. The surgeon placed it in the scar tissue from my ileostomy that I had back in 1995. This has caused issues with the seal on my bag. The second issue was the surgical wound. While I got much better since the badly diseased part of my small intestine was surgically removed, the wound did not want to heal. I was in the hospital for over three weeks and eventually sent home on with a wound vac. This device keeps constant suction on the wound and removes any blood and body fluids from the wound, preventing infection and speeding healing. The problem with my wound this time is it was not closed properly and it took over four months for it to close enough for me to stop using the wound vac. I was able to finally return to work in January of 2018. Back to my gastroenterologist. I went to see him in Februar 2018 for a checkup and an intestinal scope, called a sigmoidoscopy. This is basically the same as a colonoscopy, but they use a much smaller device. It is about the same size as an endoscope. When this procedure was over, he said to me that I needed to lose weight. (He basically says this every time I see him, about every three months) This time, I was sick of hearing about it so I asked him for a referral to see a dietician to help me with my weight and my eating. About a month later, I get an unexpected call from a bariatric surgeon’s office near where I live and was invited to a seminar. I went and after the presentation, I went to ask the surgeon a couple of questions about whether or not I was a candidate based on my surgeries. She said that it was not out of the question, but she would need me to make an appointment to be sure. I was seen in late March 2018. When I met with the surgeon, she asked me to lift my shirt and show her my abdomen. She took one look at my scars and said she could do nothing for me. She referred me to a bariatric surgeon at the University of Utah, who I met with on June 29, 2018. Because I had already started the journey, according to my insurance, back in March, the doctor placed me on the fast-track to get everything done. Since June 29th, I have had 14 appointments in Salt Lake City, about 210 miles south of where I live. During this first appointment, I also talked to the bariatric surgeon about my other issues and he referred me to a colo-rectal surgeon, also at U of U. I met with him on July 20, 2018. We discussed revision surgery on the placement of my ileostomy and the removal of internal scar tissue around my small intestines on the left side of my abdomen. He said that these things need to be done and that he would coordinate with the bariatric surgeon. The bariatric surgeon was more hesitant and needed much convincing. I finally was able to talk him into performing both sets of procedures during the same operating room visit. I was finally approved for everything and am scheduled for surgery on September 6, 2018. In early August of this year, I was finally approved for yet another Crohn’s medication – Stelara. This, by the way, is the second most expensive medication in the United States, behind only Harvoni (which is used for hepatitis C). Stelara costs about $20,000 per dose and I have to inject one dose every two months. So far, it is working. So, to recap – on September 6, 2018, I will be having a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, performed laparoscopically (prepped for open, but he is going to attempt laparoscopically first) by Dr. Volckmann as the first procedure performed. While I am still under and after Dr. Volckmann finishes, Dr. Pickron will come in and perform a revision on the location of my permanent end ileostomy and attempt to remove as much scar tissue from my small intestines as he can. This will be performed open, through the same incision location and scar tissue that has been used now three previous times. I am also posting photos of what I look like without clothing, with privates blocked out. Since my surgery on August 23, 2018, only my doctors have seen me this way. And the last photo is of my "surgery" haircut. I hate to deal with my hair in the hospital so I just cut it all off before I go in. If you have made it to this point, thank you for reading my story. I have never written it all down before and as such, have never shared everything with anyone.

It's been a long while since I posted. I am very discouraged. I started at 311lbs and am sitting at 262. I have been here for 4 months. I have complicating autoimmune issues with high dose drugs that made me expect to be a slower loser but this is ridiculous. I will say over winter exercise was minimal as that is when my inflammation and arthritis are worse. But now I cant seem to kick start anything.y calories are around 1000 per day, although somedays I dont quite hit that. Any other tips? Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

It's actually a very interesting question and one that caused me a lot of introspection to understand WHY I put on weight. Consider my situation. 5'6, female, 47 years old, not in menopause, underactive thyroid, and acute inflammation from an autoimmune disease the latter two of which will slow down weight loss. Eats 1200-1300 calories a day most days--yes, seriously. Tracks calories religiously for years and years. You show me a food, I can tell you how many calories in it. Ate "badly" at times in one or two ways. Either starved myself on 800 calories a day for months on end, or ate 2-3 pieces of cake one week or maybe those damn little Debbie Peanut Butter things (can we say trigger foods??!). I have never eaten a whole cake, a whole pizza, a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting. I never hid my eating, binged, or purged. Never even finished my portions at restaurants. I don't drink so no junk calories there either. Could not lose weight. Could NOT lose weight. I'm not like those people that lost 100s of lbs only to put it on. I simply couldn't lose the weight (except when I was dying, two years ago). Worked out hard with a trainer for 6 months, ate 6 small meals of clean food--lost ONE pound in 6 months. I think even the trainer was ready to cry. Did Paleo, put on 10 lbs in one month. Did vegetarian diet with 2 lbs of veggies, 3 fruits, 1 c of Beans, 1 handful of nuts for 2 months, lost nothing. So WHY? WHY the hell did I weigh so much? I am not sure I know the whole answer still. But I do know one very important part of the answer. I am a sugar and carb addict. And I do not have the metabolism for it. Even today, I cannot eat a piece of fruit without being super hungry for the rest of the day. Pre-sleeve, I didn't control my carbs. Yes I ate 1200 calories, but often that was almost NO meat. Pasta, rice, lentils, veggies, fruit, no meat. I hated meat. So I think I gained weight because I ate the foods that were the WORST for me, and I didn't realize that. I do wonder what would have happened if I had eaten meat and veggies before I got sleeved. Would I still have needed the sleeve? I don't know. And notice I said I can leave them alone unless they are my trigger foods? Here's a list of my trigger foods. Cake, cake, and more cake. Donuts. Reese's pb cups. Those peanut butter bar things. Those horrid swiss cake rolls that will survive nuclear holocaust. Those things? I can't leave alone. Those, I do eat until they are gone. And notice, they are ALL sugar + fat + Flour. Deadly combination, deadly addiction. I thought I was well educated about food. I tried every diet there was--except the low carb diet because a) I wasn't sure it was good for me and I didn't want to give up my carbs--addict talk right there. There may be more to the story, it's still being written. But I don't have the "typical" signs of a food addict and therefore it's taken me a while to figure out what went wrong. I ate carbs and they caused me to crave more carbs. So I became insulin resistant, overweight, carb addicted, fat, and unhealthy. And always hungry. It was when I could no longer control the constant hunger that I gave up control and admitted I needed help, and got sleeved. Sorry for the long post but it's been an important journey for me.

I was feeling so good recently and yesterday my arthritis began another flare. I hate this autoimmune s@&t. Top that off with a bad night's sleep and a stiff and painful neck today and I'm not the most pleasant person right now. Food is clean. I have to get rid of the feeling of unfairness I have when my food is clean and therefore I expect all my health problems to go away permanently.

Oddly I gained three pounds in the third week post-op. A week later it disappeared. I would not attribute this gain to hormonal changes as I am post menopausal. I have several autoimmune diseases and I am inclined to believe that this sudden weight gain is related to inflammation.

I have had lupus for over 30 years. I am over 50 years old and I am considered high risk. My surgery went well and I am losing weight. I was wondering if anyone here has lupus or any other autoimmune disease to deal with while going through this sleeve process. How are you doing with taking your medications and dealing with the fatigue and pain that comes along with the disease? I have never had trouble with my meds until after the surgery (Feb 25, 2015). I always took my bedtime meds on an empty stomach, but find that now, I must have a few bites of food or some thick Protein drink on my stomach before I take them or my stomach hurts and spasms all night. I am wondering how someone who is maybe a year or so out from surgery is feeling now and have your lupus symptoms lessened.

hi yáll. my nickname is cloud. i am 61 yrs young and in the pre-op process for the sleeve.. over 120 lbs overweight, to date. only good thing is i'm 6' tall and get to spread the weight out a bunch. i've gained 60 lbs since Nov. 2012. That's when I was last hospitalized with pneumonia, then got to spend another 2 weeks in a rehab,.. blah, blah, blah. Äround 14 years ago, i began my overweight journey. my life radically changed when my health rapidally declined. in 1999, i began to collect multiple auto-immune disorders. 1st diagnosed with asthma, than MCTD (Mixed Connective Tissue Disease) w/Lupus and RA, Diabetes, Hypothyrodism, Fibromyalgia, Hypertension, MS, Raynauds, to name a few. I would love to here from anyone out there with any of these issues, or similar circumstances - post-op or pre-op. i also am in a wheelchair due to extreme pain in my spine, numerous herniations (7 at last count). i guess it's easy enough for me to say, äm going to need all the support i can get!" Anyone else out there with autoimmune issues? God Bless!!! Always, cloud

Just reading this thread today has been a journey with so many emotions. It just goes to show, everyone has a story. And as I read each response, especially about the fatsuit, the use of food, I think, "we sound exactly like recovering alcoholics or drug users" Avoid people and situations that we frequented in our "using" days, avoid triggers... fall off the wagon, get back on, abstinence ... This VST support group, you guys, are invaluable. So much awful has happened in the last year and a half; lost my job, broke up with my boyfriend, lost my father, lost my home, audited by the IRS, deployed to Afghanistan, death and destruction all around, fear, and now my health. There are 6 people in my world who know this, you will be the 7th en toto. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS. That is the real reason why I went to Germany, we don't have MRI capabilities here. I am 31. Devastated is a paltry word, not nearly covering what I have felt since the soft diagnosis July 17th or the confirmed dx on September 23rd. Bereft, grief-stricken, angry, depressed, hopeless, angry, sad, flat, scared shitless. While I was in Germany I had good commercial internet access, wifi, and I was able to spend a lot of time on YouTube, looking up people's video diaries about life with MS, treatment, etc. That is how I discovered Dr. Terry Wahls and her protocol. I encourage you all to look up her TedTalk on Youtube. It's not just that she started eating salads and voila her MS is gone. No. But being a Dr., and being willing to experiment on herself, and having nothing to lose, she started doing her research. She wrote a book called Minding my Mitochondria (god how I wish I could get that book). Long story short, she was confined to a tilt recline wheelchair and now rides horses through the rockies and rides her bike to work every day. So, I'm stuck here because if I were sent home, where would I go? I have no home, I truly am homeless. If I were sent to the US, I would be unemployed, which means no health insurance. Because of the IRS I now have no nest egg to fall back on. Bizarre as it may seem, I am getting better support and care out here than I would be in the US. And so I do what I can to attempt to follow the Wahl's Protocol. It calls for 9 cups of veggies a day, all colors, sulfurus. No wheat, dairy, soy, or corn. Obviously no sugar. Lots of omega 3 rich foods, B6,B12, and D, grass fed hormone free etc. organ meats, seaweed or other iodine rich foods, and electrotherapy for muscle stimulation. MS is a neurological condition which, more and more, Drs are starting to realize a link between neuro and autoimmune disorders, which in turn they are discovering are linked to gut health/permeability. So it may all have started with Leaky Gut Syndrome, I don't know. All I know is that at 31 yrs old, I had only just one beautiful year of living, post VSG. One year of being a real woman with potential and a future and life and beauyty. The song from Rent, "will I lose my dignity" keeps running through my head, ..."will I wake tomorrow, from this nightmare?"

Oh I'm so happy to see this thread and so many responses and interactions. I'm biracial African American and Asian. I have a surgeon whose partner is African American but I ended up with the other surgeon for experience reasons. I still have the other one to consult with if necessary. There is also a African American nurse in the office that I like to talk to so this helps me. I wear my hair natural but my hair is weird. It's allergic to a lot. I also get keloids. I get sleeved next month on the 24th. I'm in San diego and I'm 39. I have multiple health issues some weight related. Others not. Autoimmune disease, chronic pain disorders.i was supposed to get RNY but surgeon felt it wasn't a good idea due to my preexisting conditions so we settled for the sleeve. I love to eat diverse ethnic foods and moderately spicy wondering if I will be able to continue that?? Anyways thats a bit about me...

I don't know, I guess I just always have to know WHY you should do or not do something. I'm just a geek that way. So I've read lots of the medical literature about the band (I spent a lot of time reading about it the band in journals before my surgery because of my autoimmune stuff) and I can't actually find any studies about carbonation. So I think it must be kind of anecdotal . . . on the other hand, why take a chance. I have no desire to drink soda, and really don't even miss beer anymore. But I do love my once a year champagne . . .

Good day ladies, It's been a long time. We just melted out from 56" on the weekend of the 18th to get sprinkled on to the tune of another 5" last night. Oh, well it's our snowy season. Decided to update my forum stuff. Hope you enjoy. The sweet face is either my pup Ruth Ann Magilicutty or my husband. Son just got a new automated glucose monitor to compliment his insulin pump. I guess it attaches like his pump does and monitors his levels constantly. Being young (27) and getting an autoimmune disease like Type 1 diabetes sucks big time, but son Ted is a real trooper. His endocrinologist is now through with him and has turned him over to his GP unless things change drastically with his sugar levels. Guess I had better take some time and see what the rest of the crew has been up to. Later,

So I will be sleeved in December, and I have been sharing my plans with a few female friends. My decision to have the surgery was mainly Type I Diabetes, sleep apnea, Transverse Myelitis, asthma, high cholesterol high BP, etc. etc. This surgery will help my blood sugars, which will help my cholesterol, lower my dependence on BP medications and asthma meds and possibly thyroid meds., eliminate my sleep apnea and stress incontinence, I AM READY! My friends, being chicks, listen to me talk about my comorbitites/autoimmune issues and then say, "No fair! You're going to be skinnier than me!" REALLY? THAT is your reaction? Unreal.