Fibromyalgia/Chronic Pain and the Sleeve surgery

[Caribear 184]

Hi all, I was wondering if any of you have fibromyalgia or other similar chronic pain conditions, and what your experience has been with the surgery and recovery? I was diagnosed with fibro, it is fairly mild in my case, and I am pretty active. Most days I feel like it won't cause any issues when it comes time to have surgery. Then there are days like today when I feel like I have been hit by a bus, and I worry that the surgery will throw me into a major flare. My last surgery was gallbladder removal, and the resulting flare is actually what caused me to receive my fibro diagnosis to begin with. I was a train wreck for almost a year, nearly bedridden at one point. I like to think that now I am armed with more knowledge and better coping mechanisms, and that all will be well, but I do still wonder.

[Valentina 2,642]

I have fibromyalgia and have had it for way too many years. Hurts, doesn't it?

I am 5yrs post op and as much as would like to say that WLS has helped with my fibro pain, it has not. BUT, having WLS has not made my chronic pain any worse.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what hurts where because I also have DJD and RA/OA.

I will say that increasing my moving --walking and swimming have helped me from "vegetating", so in that sense my WLS HAS helped.

Keep an open mind plus your eyes wide open and the sunshine will come through, right?

I take Cymbalta daily which does actually help.

One day at a time. Keep moving. Keeping thinking of positive outcomes.

I hope your WLS will be joyful, my friend.

[ocgirl15 667]

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia but was never convinced the doctors were right. But I did have chronic pain pre surgery that is for sure. Either way all pain is much better. Like 95% better and I never take anything stronger than Tylenol now. I was given a narcotics post op but the pain was not bad and recovery easy. My fibro pain went away quickly .... a little bit pre-surgery and resolved completely soon after surgery. My theory is my highly processed lousy diet caused the pain. Pain went away as well as headaches before I lost significant weight so what else could it be? Also my psoriasis improved. I don't know if less carbs, sugar or gluten helped but something diet related made all the difference even before I lost a lot of weight. I still have knee pain but X-ray confirmed that is arthritis. Good luck!

[Shell ???? 224]

I have fibromyalgia and rheumatoid my pain levels have been really low I'm not in much discomfort at all compared to pre surgery I'm 3 months out from sleeve surgery I was worried as I did the Cohen's diet a low calorie diet last year and lost weight rapidly and my fibro was so bad I could barley dress myself my biggest concern was surgery would put stress on my body and I'd have a massive flare up but I'm totally fine even stopped one of my rheumatoid drugs.

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[theantichick 2,204]

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I have psoriatic arthritis and my rheumy said that the surgery can definitely help with auto-immune conditions because the stomach tissue taken out and the fat cells lost directly impact inflammatory levels. I know it won't cure my arthritis, but I'm hoping between the hormonal changes, inflammatory changes, and less weight to strain my joints it will help some.

We haven't had much activity there, but I started a group here for people with auto-immune and you're welcome to join.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/groups/455-sleeved-spoonies/

[ocgirl15 667]

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I have psoriatic arthritis and my rheumy said that the surgery can definitely help with auto-immune conditions because the stomach tissue taken out and the fat cells lost directly impact inflammatory levels. I know it won't cure my arthritis, but I'm hoping between the hormonal changes, inflammatory changes, and less weight to strain my joints it will help some.

We haven't had much activity there, but I started a group here for people with auto-immune and you're welcome to join.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/groups/455-sleeved-spoonies/

I am interested but the link didn't work.

My experience with various diets and WLS have convinced me that diet does impact autoimmune disease. But I think everyone has different triggers. It could gluten for one person and dairy for someone else. WLS provided a unique opportunity to discover mine. Also both psoriasis and fibro pain improved.. I know after medifast diet that soy is a trigger for me. Lost a ton of weight but had the worst psoriasis flare of my life. I also agree losing weight reduces inflammation so it improves things like autoimmune disease. My personal experience supports that but my dermatologist also said the same thing as your doctor. I love my sleeve!

[Montana Gal 448]

I have progressive Osteoarthritis and DJD. I had my hip replaced two years ago. The WLS has not helped the daily pain, but what I have noticed is ease of movement. I can move more and my daily walks last 1 hour versus 20 minutes 4 months ago. Another plus is my Orthopedic surgeon has said I will be able to put off my knee replacement and shoulder surgery for a bit longer. I also take Cymbalta daily and Lyrica as well, both have helped. I wish the best for you, good luck!

[theantichick 2,204]

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I have psoriatic arthritis and my rheumy said that the surgery can definitely help with auto-immune conditions because the stomach tissue taken out and the fat cells lost directly impact inflammatory levels. I know it won't cure my arthritis, but I'm hoping between the hormonal changes, inflammatory changes, and less weight to strain my joints it will help some.

We haven't had much activity there, but I started a group here for people with auto-immune and you're welcome to join.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/groups/455-sleeved-spoonies/

I am interested but the link didn't work.

My experience with various diets and WLS have convinced me that diet does impact autoimmune disease. But I think everyone has different triggers. It could gluten for one person and dairy for someone else. WLS provided a unique opportunity to discover mine. Also both psoriasis and fibro pain improved.. I know after medifast diet that soy is a trigger for me. Lost a ton of weight but had the worst psoriasis flare of my life. I also agree losing weight reduces inflammation so it improves things like autoimmune disease. My personal experience supports that but my dermatologist also said the same thing as your doctor. I love my sleeve!

Odd... some people the other link does better, some can't get to it. Try this one. Same location, just a different URL path to get there:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1258-sleeved-spoonies/

[ocgirl15 667]

@@theantichick that worked!

[Caribear 184]

Thank you all for the input, it's good to hear other people's experiences with the surgery. @@theantichick I joined your group, thank you for starting it!

Did any of you find that the physical or emotional stress of the surgery itself kicked off a flare-up of your symptoms? How was your pain during your recovery? I think that is what I am most concerned about. I have a limited amount of time that I can be off work after surgery, and parts of my job are very physically demanding. I worry that I will have a very hard time getting back into the swing of things.

Thanks again, and gentle hugs to everyone!

[ocgirl15 667]

My pain was minimal and typical. Some soreness and gas pain. I don't think my fibro made that part worse but I did take the RX pain meds as prescribed. Mentally I was in great shape early on. I was excited to get my new life started. However I did get the hormone dump moodiness further out at about 3 weeks. Again that is a normal phase for most.

I have a virtual desk job... I could wear my PJs and work from my bed if I wanted so I can't give helpful advice there. Still I took 2 weeks off and still very tired at 2 weeks. Starting the multi Vitamins and purées got my energy back up.

Edited June 29, 2016 by ocgirl15

[rebecca wills 190]

I have been diagnosed in 90's with fibro and was a support group leader for it. Hosted many speakers and thankfully since found that my fibro was individual. We all have triggers whether diet, stress, weather etc. but management is important. There have been studies done that indicate that auto immune response begins in the gut. If you look into the research by googling anti-inflammatory response due to gastric sleeve. I posted on the "research tab" in the web site. It has links you may find interesting. I have Graves' disease and once my thyroid was removed I experienced a complete remission in my pain levels. And I noticed since that when I ate sugar which was rare I'd get waves of pain that would run through my body. That was something that kind of rolled from my gut. Well studies confirmed my observation.

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