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since I am following a strict autoimmune protocol I do live life sugar and flour free and it is easy peasy! *white* sugar, and *white* flour are pure poison to my body and the effects are immediate and painful. Instead, it's all about the stevia, the coconut sugar, and ground flaxseed/hemp flour or almond meal or ground chia. Not only do I never have to give up my cakes, now I also don't have to deal with refined white food coma!

Welcome, Julie.ann! Welcome, NFaith! Hey Marie, I had severe sleep apnea pre-op and had one of the CPAP contraptions. Since I've lost some weight, I no longer snore and the house has stop complaining so I've been doing fine without the machine lately. I think there is a connection between the lack of sleep and oxygen deprivation from sleep apnea and weight loss, though. Welcome, Cassy! Welcome, Lowbmier! She is stunning! Love it!! Welcome allymb! I have the APS band. I don't think the Realize band was available when I was banded, so I can't speak to that. Eggs, cheese and bbq hamburger -- works for me! In my next life I am coming back as one of your dogs. Way to go, Marcy! Way to go, Ador! I got a good butt kickin' today, too -- feels good! (Of course, I mean that in a totally non-S&M way. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Oh, I better stop here.) Hey Greenie, Congrats! Good to hear from you! Keep us posted on those results, Mini. How's the swelling today? When you say autoimmune and vascular, I get worried. Shit elves -- love it! We used to call a Code Brown. Sung to the Village People Tune, right? LOL Way to go Mini!Time to move on down the clothesline to the thong! I'm feeling a special vibe with Mille -- she's chubby and mean and makes Charlie cry. I like her. When will you hear results? Keep us posted! Tally, I love your grandbabies' names! Please tell your daughter thanks for what she's doing for those old dogs -- that is wonderful!! I can't keep up with you guys anymore, but I still love you all!

Dear Tom, You are probably doing TOO MUCH! I would be exhausted if I did all that You do!! Make sure you are eating plenty of good foods, no sugar or caffeine since these are Not good for RA and please yahe Vitamins..good ones from a health food store especially the B's! Go to www.band2gether.net and go to Ask Dr. Trumbauer and you will see some suggestions I wrote for RA and autoimmune diseases. remember your good fats...Omega 3 mostly aas flaxseed oil, almonds avocado, and eating fish...but avoid fish oil capsules...they can hurt the liver if taken too much. Make sure you get 8 hours of sleep. Take care!

I wish we'd hear from Brandy too. I'm getting nervous. I'm going to zhumba in a bit here, so I hope she checks in before then. I'm really hoping I'm still borderline. Crud. I was sure it was going to be really good!! Well, I'll just keep losing more weight and get it under control. What else can I do? Still don't know what the swelling thing is about. I may have to go to my rheumatologist. Argh. It's a real production to get an appointment, and then they just kind of shrug their shoulders and say "well, as you know there's not much we can do for autoimmune problems. Make sure you take your NSAIDS." The good news is that my ANA titer has been way down for the past 2 years, so there doesn't seem to be anything active going on. So I doubt it's related . . .

This is kind of long... I suffer from autoimmune disease and have heard that the band can be good or bad for it. Some docs won't touch you if you have it. The only article I can find linking it to autoimmune disease in a quick search is the one below http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/sites/entrez We report 2 patients who developed sarcoidosis after the implantation of adjustable silicone gastric banding (GB) in Germany. Before implantation, no pulmonary diseases were evident in the medical history of either patient. The 1st patient suffered sarcoidosis 12 months after GB. He has been treated at a hospital specialising in pulmonary diseases. Because of the treatment with corticoids, the patient has regained weight after the initial weight reduction. The 2nd patient developed signs of pulmonary infection on the 7th postoperative day (after GB). Pulmonary sarcoidosis was diagnosed 4 months later after consultation with a pulmonologist. On the other hand- this article states that it helps: Bariatric Surgery Improves Asthma, Autoimmune Disease WASHINGTON, D.C., June 2008 — Obese people with asthma, osteoarthritis or autoimmune diseases who undergo bariatric surgery may be able to say sayonara to their steroids and/or the other immunosuppressing drugs they use to treat these diseases within about 18 months of their surgery. This is according to new research presented at the 25th annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic amd Bariatric Surgery. And that's a good thing, as long-term use of these drugs can have harmful effects on health. Precisely how bariatric surgery can help resolve or improve these diseases is not fully understood, but losing weight may decrease certain inflammatory markers that are known to be elevated in autoimmune and inflammatory disease, according to study author Elizabeth A. Dovec, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Western Pennsylvania Hospital, a teaching hospital of Temple University School of Medicine in Pittsburgh. The new study comprised 49 morbidly obese people who were taking steroids or other immunosuppressive medications to treat co-existing chronic autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), myasthenia graves (a neuromuscular disease characterized by weakness of the skeletal muscles) and lupus, or inflammatory diseases like asthma. In autoimmune diseases, the body engages in friendly fire against its own organs or systems. More than 50 percent of the study patients were able to discontinue or significantly reduce the use of oral steroids and immunosuppressive agents within 18 months. Specifically, 89 percent of people with asthma who underwent bariatric surgery were able to discontinue their steroids. What's more, 33 percent of patients with the inflammatory skin disease psoriasis and 25 percent of those with myasthenia graves were able to stop taking their medication. In addition to improvements in autoimmune and inflammatory disease, the study participants lost 65.2 percent of their excess weight, and 80 percent of the study participants showed improvements or resolution of many of their other obesity-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and high blood pressure. "Patients with compromised immune systems [such as occur with autoimmune disease] or taking steroids for chronic inflammatory disease [like asthma] may have been excluded from bariatric surgery because they are at higher risk for complications related to their disease or immunosuppressant medications," said another study author, Daniel J, Gagné, MD, director of bariatric surgery and laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery at the hospital. "However, this study shows not only that these patients can safely have bariatric surgery, but they can achieve significant improvements or elimination of many diseases." — Denise Mann

David, I've never heard of the band causing an autoimmune disease, but who knows what the last straw was when someone's body turns on itself. I hope they find the answer for you soon! .

I haven't seen any peer-reviewed research linking the band with autoimmune disease, so I'd be inclined to view it as coincidental. I'm very, very sorry that you're experiencing these distressing symptoms, though--and hope you get to the bottom of it quickly.

This is very interesting to me, since I also have RA/PsA. When we started discussing biologics, I asked my rheumy's opinion of WLS. She was enthusiastically behind it, citing WLS as many times reducing the inflammatory factors. However, she and my surgeon (and my research) all said that the bypass was NOT a good option for someone with auto-immune because of the complete contraindication for NSAIDs and steroids, where the sleeve only has a relative contraindication for those meds. Not criticising you or your docs, just find it interesting how there are so many differing opinions in the medical community. BTW, biologics are now off the table for me for the forseeable future. My inflammatory factors are down, and we still have dosing room on sulfasalazine and we haven't tried plaquenil yet. Mtx failed and I developed an allergic reaction to it, so at least I don't have to give myself chemo anymore! LOL. So the sleeve has worked amazingly well for me. Not remission, but meds are working better and we're able to avoid the real heavy hitters indefinitely. It is interesting how doctors differ in their opinions. I have autoimmune diseases as well. Medications really truly were the reason i packed on so much weight so quickly. I have Psoriatic Arthritis and hypothyroidism. At the same time, I had a very severe case of GERD causing me to cough every day all day for over a year with no solution. We had to heavily weigh the right choice of surgery for me. GERD is 100% resolved, issues with pain control for my joints are an everyday battle and I can not and will not risk taking any nsaids even with treatment. Because I have Psoriatic arthritis oral steroids are out as well as it kicks up the psoriasis so bad that it has caused serious infections that have caused me to be hospitalized over the years. I also never over ate. However, I ate crap all the time so i was actually malnourished while being morbidly obese. In fact my family and friends could not understand how i was so heavy because they saw how much i ate, they just did not realize that all the carbs were killing me. Anyway, since bypass I am still on biologics (Stelara) and Cyclosporine to keep my Psoriatic arthritis under control. It has been well controlled for the last 2 years so we have slowly be reducing the quantity of those medications. We tried lowering the dose of Stelara over a year ago and I went into a full on several month episode so we increased it back to where it was. We are discussing trying a reduction again in the spring as everything looks like it is going into remission. That being said, anytime i have surgery it seems to kick back up again so we are going to wait until after my plastics in January to try again. The biggest thing about having WLS is the head game. You have to change the way you live and learn to make better choices. I think for the most part i have done this well. Of course there are times when i indulge but 90% of the time, I do have to fight with my head. In the beginning, it was easier for me because even if i did indulge, the weight still came off. Now that I am two years post op, those decisions matter. I will gain or lose based solely on my behaviors. I believe this MUST be true of anyone going through or that has gone through WLS. Yes, some people will lose slower than others - I was one of them. It took me 18 months to lose my excess weight and alot of hard painful work to actually get there. Others have lost their weight of similar proportions within the first 12. I am sort of glad it took me longer, and took me understanding that I am now in the drivers seat, not my pouch. What i choose to put in my body and how often will dictate whether i lose, gain or maintain. If i choose to get no exercise at this point, it will and does have an impact on whether i lose, gain or maintain. I am in the drivers seat......not my surgery. The sooner some people realize this there will be less need for revisions in my opinion. Of course, I am NOT referring to those that have a equipment failure. I personally feel that a surgeon that is considering a revision for those persons who failed to lose the weight (not by malfunctioning equipment/surgery) really do need to see someone to assist with why they have not lost the weight. There is a nurse in my doctors office who had bypass surgery at the same time i did. I know this because she told me and seemed almost upset that I lost all of my weight and she has lost very little. She immediately blamed the surgery for not working. Then proceeded to tell me that her schedule simply did not allow for her to focus on herself so she is unable to get the right Protein and even fluids in her body. She skips meals and then eats whatever is handy in a few minutes in between patients. Ok, that is not the surgery failing, clearly she is still following the same behaviors she was before surgery. Dont get me wrong, I get it....she is taking care of patients. But, there comes a time when we have to be selfish and focus on ourselves if we want to be successful in the end. I literally started taking care of everyone else but me from the time I was 16 years old. I was a working married mother of 2 by the time i was 19 going through a horrible marriage. By 22 I was divorced and a single mother working 3 jobs just to make ends meet. By 25 i was remarried to my wonderful hubby of 29 years and working a high paying very stressful job. I did so well in my career and became the primary breadwinner. Well, then there was the stress of that so again, not taking care of me just working like a crazy person. By the time i was 51 i was in big trouble health wise and was literally told, i would end up in kidney failure soon if i did not lose weight. So, it was time for me to be very selfish and start taking care of myself. For the last two years, I have been focused on my health and well being and when you are morbidly obese, that is a necessary part of getting your health back. So, i say again......your head really has to change in order to be successful. It is why they send you for physch evals before this surgery. I honestly think they could do a better job of assessing patients and setting them up with the right people to help them through the mental part of WLS. Most of us need some sort of help. @@Djmohr, thank you for your comments. I was on the October 2015 forum and your posts have been encouraging. I am finally going to have gastric bypass surgery on December 12th and I have learned a lot from you and others in that and other forums. I just wanted to let you know that you are appreciated. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I had a lapband surgery 8 years ago. I lost 40 lbs initially but then I started throwing up constantly. turned out I had severe GERD which has caused scarring of my esophagus. I have also developed a autoimmune disease called PBC, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis. This could result is me evidentially requiring a liver transplant. I recently went to see a homeopath and he is convinced my body is rejecting the band and it is the cause of my issues. I do believe him as I was overall healthy until about a year afterward. Do I think I could have gotten PBC anyway - maybe as it is genetic. Do I think that having a foreign item in my body caused the so called switch to be turned on YES. Of course there is no research on this as who will pay for it? Not lapband manufactures, not drug companies so there will be no research done unless a hospital takes it on as a cause to stop these surgeries. I am in the middle of researching having it removed and hopefully it wont cost me a small fortune and hopefully I don't gain all my weight back as that would also be bad for my liver. I know for many their health improves due to the weight loss but I now wonder at what cost.

I know a lot of people from these forums who started at your size and have lost all their excess weight -- if that's what you're worried about. I also know a lot of people from these forums who started at your size and lost down to around 200. And, of course, some people are so uncompliant after WLS that they don't lose much or quickly regain their weight loss. I expect there are many reasons why people don't reach their goal weights, most of which boil down to their not being "compliant enough" post-op. However, there are surely others for whom losing weight after WLS just doesn't work as well as for others, no matter how compliant they are. I know people who are compliant as all get out, but for whom weight loss is just a lot slower than for others -- and I can't tell what the differences between them and me are. Other factors that should go into your decision about which WLS to choose are the specific comorbidities and diseases you suffer from, e.g., diabetes, autoimmune diseases, etc., and the medicines you have to take for those. As you probably know, nutritional and Rx malabsorption problems are greater after bypass surgery than after sleeve surgery.

Wow, you look amazing!! What a stressful month though! I wonder why your body decided to kick out your implant. This isn't weird for people who have autoimmune diseases (our bodies are extra emo about foreign occupants), but I have heard of it in perfectly healthy people too. I'm glad the asymmetry isn't too dramatic, that gives you time to heal up and consider what to do next. You had soooo much done at once, I think given the complications you've faired pretty well all in all! I am so glad to hear you feel at home in your body now. That is a priceless win and well worth the pain. I hope you have a much smoother healing process from here on out!

going to jump in here! I had the sleeve done 10 months ago. I had 2 of my specialist one being my internist I have over 12 dx's been sick for so long these 2 sent me for the sleeve since no rerouting of organs when I got to my surgeon he asked me what I wanted and he agreed with me that with the medications I take the sleeve would be great. no dumping here, no mal-absorption blood work is awesome I am down over 100 pds no hair loss. my highest weight was 272 since I wasn't over 300 it was ideal for me. I have had 2 friends who had the bypass 1 didn't reach her goal and in fact put it all back on the other one made her goal she's alot older then me and has gained back some but yet stable. I don't know your health issues but my bp is normal, no insulin issues my only complaint or regret is that I didn't have this yrs ago to get my health under control! the sleeve is the procedure that is running in the forefront . I didn't want my organs moved or rearranged. and its the best decision I ever made. but its each persons decision. do your homework. I would go with the dr you trust more. and for me that was my surgeon. mine had been doing these ever since they began and his success rate is up top. I trusted his opinion of what he thought would be best for me and all my health issues and of course he being the expert and I have several autoimmune diseases and I have never been happier! best wishes in your decision and keep us posted as to what you decide..

While "fantastic" wasn't the first word that came to mind, I am still appreciative that they are both treatable! My doctors did test me for thyroid but not the Addison's until I went to a cardiac doctor then got referred to an endocrine doctor. But I also didn't know that with one usually comes another, so thanks for that. Hopefully things will turn around for me soon. Niki, I too have thyroid issues. I have been diagnosed with "Graves Disease". In 2007 I had my thyroid ablated because of hyperthyroidism. Now I take synthroid to regulate things. They can give you synthroid and your blood pressure and heart rate will rise and you will feel so much better. I was hyper so I my BP and HR were too high and that is why they had to kill it. So now I have a dead gland in my throat! lol You having hypothyroidism, it is easily fixed and with meds. I hope that is the case. Graves Disease is a autoimmune issue as well. Wishing you the best. I know you are on the road to recovery. You will feel better once they start giving you meds. Did the Dr. say they would start you on synthroid? Hi Lisa...they actually haven't technically told me what the disease/disorder is but that's because they're putting it on the back burner until I can get the Addison's disease and the blood pressure issue taken care of. But they did tell me that when they do they'll start me on Armour. So I don't know much about any of this until my docs appt on the 11th. Right now I'm just trying to get out of this hospital. Thanks for the well wishes!

This is fantastic news Niki - both v treatable. You feel like a new woman v soon. But you need to give at least one of your doctors a big kick up the behind for not testing you sooner - thyroid conditions are v common and low blood pressure should have triggered an Addisons test. Both of these are probably autoimmune conditions, so it would be wise to read about these disorders generally... You can't always rely on GP's to put the pieces of the puzzle together, unfortunately. I have several autoimmune conditions, and they are known for that - if you've got one you are more likely to have others.

While "fantastic" wasn't the first word that came to mind, I am still appreciative that they are both treatable! My doctors did test me for thyroid but not the Addison's until I went to a cardiac doctor then got referred to an endocrine doctor. But I also didn't know that with one usually comes another, so thanks for that. Hopefully things will turn around for me soon. Niki, I too have thyroid issues. I have been diagnosed with "Graves Disease". In 2007 I had my thyroid ablated because of hyperthyroidism. Now I take synthroid to regulate things. They can give you synthroid and your blood pressure and heart rate will rise and you will feel so much better. I was hyper so I my BP and HR were too high and that is why they had to kill it. So now I have a dead gland in my throat! lol You having hypothyroidism, it is easily fixed and with meds. I hope that is the case. Graves Disease is a autoimmune issue as well. Wishing you the best. I know you are on the road to recovery. You will feel better once they start giving you meds. Did the Dr. say they would start you on synthroid? Hi Lisa...they actually haven't technically told me what the disease/disorder is but that's because they're putting it on the back burner until I can get the Addison's disease and the blood pressure issue taken care of. But they did tell me that when they do they'll start me on Armour. So I don't know much about any of this until my docs appt on the 11th. Right now I'm just trying to get out of this hospital. Thanks for the well wishes! You're welcome! I'm not doctor but I would think they would start you on those meds now to help your BP and HR. Armour is good as well. Actually heard the sides effects are less and it works better for some. I'm sure you are ready to get home. I would ask the Dr. about this though if I were you. Just a suggestion. It may help you get out sooner if they can get your BP up. Looking forward to reading your post that you are home! Take care

I noticed that in the past few months I have been sneezing lot more, and my nose drips like a tap on some days. At first I thought this hay fever/allergic rhinitis was/is due to my autoimmune thyroid disease because allergies come up with this disease, or get worse. After doing some reading on post op possible symptoms (post VSG), I found that few people end up with runny noses and sneezing. I have tried all sorts of medications and sprays (cortisone ones and non cortisone ones), and nothing much is helping. I ordered older types anti-histamines, as the newer ones did not work on me at all. At least the older ones like Phenergan, Benadryl and Sudafed seem to relieve my symptoms, together with Beconase nose spray. So, my question is if anyone here has been experiencing this after surgery, how long for, and did it go away for any of you at some stage? I am in my 9th month post op.

This is very interesting to me, since I also have RA/PsA. When we started discussing biologics, I asked my rheumy's opinion of WLS. She was enthusiastically behind it, citing WLS as many times reducing the inflammatory factors. However, she and my surgeon (and my research) all said that the bypass was NOT a good option for someone with auto-immune because of the complete contraindication for NSAIDs and steroids, where the sleeve only has a relative contraindication for those meds. Not criticising you or your docs, just find it interesting how there are so many differing opinions in the medical community. BTW, biologics are now off the table for me for the forseeable future. My inflammatory factors are down, and we still have dosing room on sulfasalazine and we haven't tried plaquenil yet. Mtx failed and I developed an allergic reaction to it, so at least I don't have to give myself chemo anymore! LOL. So the sleeve has worked amazingly well for me. Not remission, but meds are working better and we're able to avoid the real heavy hitters indefinitely. It is interesting how doctors differ in their opinions. I have autoimmune diseases as well. Medications really truly were the reason i packed on so much weight so quickly. I have Psoriatic Arthritis and hypothyroidism. At the same time, I had a very severe case of GERD causing me to cough every day all day for over a year with no solution. We had to heavily weigh the right choice of surgery for me. GERD is 100% resolved, issues with pain control for my joints are an everyday battle and I can not and will not risk taking any nsaids even with treatment. Because I have Psoriatic arthritis oral steroids are out as well as it kicks up the psoriasis so bad that it has caused serious infections that have caused me to be hospitalized over the years. I also never over ate. However, I ate crap all the time so i was actually malnourished while being morbidly obese. In fact my family and friends could not understand how i was so heavy because they saw how much i ate, they just did not realize that all the carbs were killing me. Anyway, since bypass I am still on biologics (Stelara) and Cyclosporine to keep my Psoriatic arthritis under control. It has been well controlled for the last 2 years so we have slowly be reducing the quantity of those medications. We tried lowering the dose of Stelara over a year ago and I went into a full on several month episode so we increased it back to where it was. We are discussing trying a reduction again in the spring as everything looks like it is going into remission. That being said, anytime i have surgery it seems to kick back up again so we are going to wait until after my plastics in January to try again. The biggest thing about having WLS is the head game. You have to change the way you live and learn to make better choices. I think for the most part i have done this well. Of course there are times when i indulge but 90% of the time, I do have to fight with my head. In the beginning, it was easier for me because even if i did indulge, the weight still came off. Now that I am two years post op, those decisions matter. I will gain or lose based solely on my behaviors. I believe this MUST be true of anyone going through or that has gone through WLS. Yes, some people will lose slower than others - I was one of them. It took me 18 months to lose my excess weight and alot of hard painful work to actually get there. Others have lost their weight of similar proportions within the first 12. I am sort of glad it took me longer, and took me understanding that I am now in the drivers seat, not my pouch. What i choose to put in my body and how often will dictate whether i lose, gain or maintain. If i choose to get no exercise at this point, it will and does have an impact on whether i lose, gain or maintain. I am in the drivers seat......not my surgery. The sooner some people realize this there will be less need for revisions in my opinion. Of course, I am NOT referring to those that have a equipment failure. I personally feel that a surgeon that is considering a revision for those persons who failed to lose the weight (not by malfunctioning equipment/surgery) really do need to see someone to assist with why they have not lost the weight. There is a nurse in my doctors office who had bypass surgery at the same time i did. I know this because she told me and seemed almost upset that I lost all of my weight and she has lost very little. She immediately blamed the surgery for not working. Then proceeded to tell me that her schedule simply did not allow for her to focus on herself so she is unable to get the right Protein and even fluids in her body. She skips meals and then eats whatever is handy in a few minutes in between patients. Ok, that is not the surgery failing, clearly she is still following the same behaviors she was before surgery. Dont get me wrong, I get it....she is taking care of patients. But, there comes a time when we have to be selfish and focus on ourselves if we want to be successful in the end. I literally started taking care of everyone else but me from the time I was 16 years old. I was a working married mother of 2 by the time i was 19 going through a horrible marriage. By 22 I was divorced and a single mother working 3 jobs just to make ends meet. By 25 i was remarried to my wonderful hubby of 29 years and working a high paying very stressful job. I did so well in my career and became the primary breadwinner. Well, then there was the stress of that so again, not taking care of me just working like a crazy person. By the time i was 51 i was in big trouble health wise and was literally told, i would end up in kidney failure soon if i did not lose weight. So, it was time for me to be very selfish and start taking care of myself. For the last two years, I have been focused on my health and well being and when you are morbidly obese, that is a necessary part of getting your health back. So, i say again......your head really has to change in order to be successful. It is why they send you for physch evals before this surgery. I honestly think they could do a better job of assessing patients and setting them up with the right people to help them through the mental part of WLS. Most of us need some sort of help.

Since surgery on 11/26 (23 days) I've lost 11 lbs. I went through a 2 week stall though, so I try not to think of it post surgery. I started trying to lose weight on 10/17 and since then I've lost 32 lbs - that's 16 lbs a month, which I'm ecstatic about! Biggest change I've noticed is that hygiene is easier (I have an autoimmune condition that gives me a lot of back inflammation, but changing my diet has helped that tremendously) - I can twist easier. Majorly life changing. Also, even drained from surgery, I notice more energy when I'm running errands AND - I have more energy to clean my house! It actually feels fun/rewarding now instead of feeling painful and like a chore 😊

Leo, last time I put Neosporin under a bandage, when I removed it there were little red Water blisters under the entire area... I'm thinkin' Neosporin allergy. It's not the actual incision that's infected though. The incision closes over and heals fine, but then the liquid from under the skin forms like a huge blister that needs to be lanced and drained. The liquid is slowing down, and at the moment the scar is mostly flat... I just hope it stays flat and doesn't poof out again. Alex, I've had a few surgeries before. One was horrifying, and they never figured out what went wrong (radial kerototomy to correct my vision.) That was 5 years ago. The doctor that did the surgery was so worried about me because I couldn't open my eyes for over 6 months witout being in sheer agony, that he spent his own money to fly me to San Diego to see other specialists. Nobody ever figured it out, but now that I have the sarcoid diagnosis, that was probably my eye surgery. I had back surgery 20 years ago, but maybe that's before I got the sarcoid? No problem there. Same with tonsils and wisdom teeth, cyst removal, small stuff. I've been suspicious of the sarcoid all along. The scary thing is that I told Dr. Lopez of that I had Sarcoid Disease before my surgery. I know he acknowledged it because when I said it, Carmen looked at me quizically, so Dr. Lopez told her "Sarcoidosis." However, I was never offered any Inamed information. I did not know that there could be a problem due to my autoimmune disease. Dr. Lopez fluffed over my Sarcoidosis like it was nothing. That's the reason I worry so much about my band. People with certain auto immune diseases aren't allowed to have the band. However, there's not enough info about Sarcoid to know if this is one of them. From what I understand, it effects the lungs and eyes but people have told me not to worry about my stomach. I know that I have a hard time getting rid of colds or bronchitis, which I avoid like the plague.

Can you recommend how to lift while in this state? I'm a sleeve vet but after some recent autoimmune issues/illness and a procedure, I have to be on a very gentle very light diet for awhile, basically returning me to post-op eating. That, plus what with everything I haven't been to the gym in 2 months, what regimen do you recommend? I have access to free weights and a few basic machines.

If your dr thinks you may have an autoimmune disease, you should start with a Rheumatologist. Your internist should be able to refer you to one. I am not sure about waiting or not waiting until after the surgery to do this. If you are started on some type of biologic you will have to stop it prior to the surgery and then after the surgery at your surgeons discretion. I will definitely do that but I think it's best to do it after surgery and after everything is calmed down a little bit with me. I couldn't get my surgery scheduled in time to take classes as a full-time nursing student this semester so I have to take a whole semester off as a break. I'm halfway through and it's not the end of the world but also not ideal. The good part is, I'll have this whole semester to get my health back in shape and will be completely free for doctor's appointments galore! I am also glad I get to have some down time while I adjust to another surgery and let me esophagus heal from the erosion caused by the first surgery. Maybe they will find something, that would be awesome..until then I'm crossing my fingers for a successful bypass!

I was born normal size, but never lost the baby fat. I have pix of me at 3, 6, 9, and i was still waiting to loose that baby fat. Most everyone in my family is overweight. not just 10 pounds but atleast 50. I have a autoimmune thyroid problem which nothing i do except surgery will fix and the doctors dont want to remove it as my thyroid works sometimes. Im not Lazy, i eat on the run and with my job have done it for years. Im Geneticly overweight (NOT FOR LONG)

Thank you everyone, I can't believe I let that toxic poster affect me so, and I actually had a really great day the rest of that day! To anyone who was curious, it is Lipstick Lady who trolls me, I don't know what her issues are and I frankly don't care, I have enough to deal with. Happily, others have come forth on that thread (thanks CG!) and recognized that we must be careful about assuming what the "tone" of a post really is, it is so easy to misconstrue the tone of email, text, etc. My face has been puffy lately and I don't know why except that it might be the new MS drug I'm on. I want to say that I enjoy "hearing" from you guys, it doesn't matter if it is in response to something I posted, I save the 5:2 group for last when I'm going through my notifications and I settle in with my tea to enjoy the gabfest Chimera, glad to see you back! We've all talked about Thanksgiving and holiday food, it got me to thinking that "traditional" turkey day foods don't have to be calorie laden packets of evil; turkey, roasted vegetables and tubers, jellied fruits and pies made of squash. It is probably the view from my autoimmune protocol island but when you switch out all the "poisonous" ingredients, the white sugar, the Karo syrup, the vegetable oil... you have some pretty nutritious and delicious fare. Turkey is a wonderful moist protein, all the classic Thanksgiving side dish veggies like yams, brussel sprouts, green beans, are so nutritious. And we don't have to give up the sweet glazed yams or the ubiquitous green bean casserole, just get creative with the ingredients. use applesauce instead of sugar in cookies and breads, sub in chia seed for a jelly thickener, gluten free stuffing ...Did you know that pumpkin has more potassium than bananas? thank god, because I cannot choke down bananas, they remind me of slugs :/ http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/11/spicy-sausage-and-cheddar-stuffing-low-carb-and-gluten-free-freshfestive.html

I have an autoimmune disease too so I totally get the weird/unfortunate symptoms they cause. I'm glad that you have been given a tool to help you lose! And for "slow" weight loss, I bet your surgeon is happy with your progress, especially given the circumstances.

"Oh, and a history of autoimmune disease is considered a contraindication for adjustable gastric band surgery. " Jean thanks for the good advice and sorry about mine. Hun, what does the above mean. Is it a good thing?lol!