Fibromyalgia; Arthritis; Nerve Pain

[mokee 588]

Hi all,

I am getting down to the time when I need some answers from all you post-opers. Who out there had any of these painful considtions before surgery? I don't mean the obvious knee pain or back pain from the weight. I mean diabetic nerve pain and just pain everywhere to the extent you could not do many things. I am in a pain scale of 6-8 on a good day every day. I am in a lot of pain and it keeps me from exercising or even walking. Has the surgery helped anyone that has these seriious conditions?

I need to know because it is getting time for me to decide go ahead and get the sleeve or forget it. I have diabetes and I also am on insulin and I am hoping that this will do away with the insulin for me also.

All my hoops are over and I am down to my last NUT visit. It will be time to turn into insurance and make a surgery date. Really need some advise from all you veteran sleevers.

I'm been reading this sight for 3 months now and giving my opinion here and there. This sight is the only one that kept me going. I would have stopped a long time ago.

HOPE YOU ALL CAN HELP ME THANKS

[Dooter 1,457]

I have a friend who had many symptoms like yours. She got completely off gluten and has no more pain. This is not sure fire for everyone, but have you tried that at all? She reads every last little ingredient on a label. Even the smallest bit will make her very ill and hurt. Just a suggestion. By now you might be willing to try just about anything. (?)

[Marty McSkinnystein 342]

I have a pain condition and resigned myself that I will do better with less weight (feet, heart, knees etc.) but it might not cure the pain condition. Some with fibro have less symptoms after, some don't.

It can only help though in general.

Diabetes, weight off- probably will cure it.

[doxieville 799]

Chronic pain here from several auto-immune destructive diseases. . I would strongly suggest that you talk to your surgeon about pain control while recovering. We who suffer from chronic pain need to be extra diligent w the pain control so that we don't spiral.

I was sleever 8/21. Feel free to PM me.

[pink grace 31]

x

hi, i have fibro, diabetes type 2, osteo arthritus, ibs, asthma, high blood pressure, neourothopy in my feet, gout, acid reflux, sleep apnea, and will be waiting to hear about anyone with chronic pain like us, who have had the sleeve. i know that the fibro wont be cured but reckon less weight to carry around will be easier for me and the people who help me, i have been concerned how we will get our meds down, and if the op will be more painful because we are more sensitive to pain.

[Avealina 14]

I know I'm a bit late to the game here on this answer, but I felt the need to put in my 2 cents.

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2002, which is believed to have been caused/brought on by a car accident in 1999. I also suffer from a few other pain conditions as well, but I won't go into those right now. At the time I had the accident, I was 130 lbs ( the lowest weight I have ever been in my life). I have always battled a weight problem and the only reason I was that small in the first place was because I went on a diet binge and ate no more than 900 calories a day and exercised about 5-7 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Well, as the pain set in after the accident, it started limiting my ability to exercise, where now, I am barely able to walk 1/2 a mile.

I started my surgery journey at 244 lbs, being about 5'1''. As of now, I'm 192 lbs, so that makes for a total loss now of 52 lbs. As I started losing the weight, I started experiencing more and more pain. At first I attributed this to my increased physical activity following surgery. However, as the pain continued to get worse, I returned to doing the same amount of activity that I was doing before I had my surgery. Much to my surprise, my pain has continued to get worse and new pains have appeared, with different character than my fibro or any other pain I had prior to surgery. This after all my doctors swearing and giving me 100% promise that losing the weight will reduce the pain.

After talking with a friend who had her surgery a few years ago and has been maintaining her goal weight for almost 2 years, her losing the weight brought on the discovery of rhuematoid arthritis, and that her excess weight was masking it, due to the fat cushioning the joints.

I would highly advise anyone doing this surgery for the weight loss to reduce fibromyalgia pain alone, to consider it heavily, as there is the very real possibility that it will NOT get better, and may in fact make it worse.

[doxieville 799]

I totally respect other peoples posts here, but I need to respond to blackdahlias post. While reading my response, PLEASE keep in mind that I am NOT bashing her opinion. I am so tired of people on this forum thinking because we post diff opinions that we are bashing the person and that's just not true. We all learn here by different people posting diff stories.

Anyway....i have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA.). I had it for 20 plus years. I was lucky because my blood work showed a positive RA factor. People can have RA w/o a positive. Doctors need to look at symptoms also.

Blackdahlias friends story is sad. What I suspect happened was a misdiagnosis. However, RA is VERY destructive left untreated. So with her weight loss and discovery of RA, I hope that she is receiving treatment. IMO, WLS saved her life. RA left untreated will attack your internal organs and can lead to heart disease and death. I've lost 2 friends to this and it's horrific.

I sincerely hope that anyone who has more joint pain w WLS is persistent in getting a proper diagnosis. Keeping weight on really isn't healthy, no matter what. I had my WLS 8 weeks ago, gall bladder surgery 7 weeks ago. I cannot yet go back on my medication, and ordinarily I'd be in a nasty flare. To my and my doctors surprise, I have not yet flared!! I think it may be due to eating very low carb and the inflammation is being kept under control. It won't last forever w/o drugs, but I'm enjoying the honeymoon while it lasts. :-)

[kozmo 5]

My wife has fibromyalgia. And has had knee surgery on both knees from a fall she had which caused her to gain allot of weight..and allot of pain from the fibro and knees...she had the gastric bypass done..and she feels great..i hardley ever hear about pain she has. Her knees feel fine and she is on zero meds after surgery. She was diabetic. And on meds for pain from the fibromyalgia..she had the surgery over a year ago and i think she has only had 1 or 2 flares from the fibro but nothing bad at all..and im actually typing this on my phone. While i wait for her at zumba!!

[doxieville 799]

Kozmo! That is AWESOME!! Thanks for letting us know.