RNY 2010 FAIL

[CassieThreatt 1]

May 2010 I had a RNY. I spent 15 years starving myself and running/working out to stay below 300 pounds. I have PCOS since 11 years of age. I've been overweight my entire life despite diet and exercise. I met my bariatric surgeon he was charming and he was thrilled I ran and had no meds no diseases and I was the perfect candidate. He said I lacked will power despite exercising twice daily at the gym and 600 calorie diet. So I had the bypass done because he said it was the ultimate tool to get me back under two hundred pounds. He lied.

All this surgery did was make it possible for me to starve myself permanently without feeling it. I initially lost 50 pounds of muscle bringing me to 250 pounds. That was it. I never lost another pound and I only lost muscle never fat. He weighed me on a Tanita. He the. Moved town and I never saw another bariatric dr again. My insurance won't cover it.

Now I'm 340 pounds 5'10 and getting bigger daily. I am in muscle atrophy per my general surgeon. He refused to help my diastasis recti because my entire abdomen is atrophied. He said I was about 3 months from organ failure.

So now I get 100 grams of Protein in each day I stick to veggies and fruits and Dr.Berg kale shakes and I gain every week. I exercise and I work full time in a hospital.

I don't know what else to do. My pouch is still very small and I don't eat any sugar as it makes me very ill very quickly.

My PCOS makes my life almost unbearable. I bleed all the time and I never have normal cycles. I'm now on metformin to help with insulin resistance but I feel like giving up. I can't fix what I've done to myself and it's only making my body hoard food instead of burning fat.

Anyone else have this issue? Is a reversal worth looking into? I'm worse off now than ever.

[James Marusek 5,244]

@@CassieThreatt I am sorry that you are experiencing many problems. I wish there was some advise I could give that would help.

I did some internet searches. In the first http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3334389/ it said:

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women. To meet PCOS criteria, women must have a combination of hyperandrogenism, anovulation and ultrasound findings. Almost 10% of all reproductive age women worldwide show signs of PCOS. Although women often seek care for gynecological or body image concerns, many PCOS women are at risk for metabolic syndrome (MS). Many of the metabolic consequences are overlooked and undertreated by physicians because these patients tend to be young, reproductive age women. MS and obesity coexist commonly with PCOS. These young women are predisposed to glucose abnormalities and ultimately diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and eventually cardiovascular disease. Bariatric surgery can be an effective means of weight loss in PCOS women. Surgical techniques have become safer and less invasive over time and have been found to be effective in achieving significant weight loss. Surgical options have also increased, giving patients more choices. Bariatric surgery may prevent or reverse metabolic syndrome. Bariatric surgery may also have reproductive benefits in PCOS patients. Although bariatric surgery has historically been performed in older, reproductive aged women, it has recently gained favor in adolescents as well. This is of particular importance due to the prevalence of both PCOS and MS in adolescents. Treatment of PCOS and MS certainly requires a combination of medical therapy, psychological support and lifestyle modifications. These treatments are difficult and often frustrating for patients and physicians. Bariatric surgery can be effective in achieving significant weight loss, restoration of the hypothalamic pituitary axis, reduction of cardiovascular risk and even in improving pregnancy outcomes. Ultimately, bariatric surgery should be considered part of the treatment in PCOS women, especially in those with MS.

This lead me to searches on metabolic syndrome (MS) and bariatric surgery. Those searches seemed to go nowhere. But then I remember reading some interesting research related to "The Biggest Loser" television show. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0 Many people who subjected themselves to very very intense exercise and diet regimes put their bodies in a long protracted starvation mode which slowed their metabolisms so that when they exited the intense regime, caused them to gain significant amounts of weight back. Some were even heavier than before they started.

@@CassieThreatt, I suspect that since you "spent 15 years starving myself and running/working out to stay below 300 pounds . . . exercising twice daily at the gym and 600 calorie diet", you may have replicated their "The Biggest Loser" condition. The gastric bypass did not correct this condition. Before I had RNY gastric bypass surgery, I had diabetes. It crept up on me over the years. I was on 2 types of diabetes medicine and even at that my blood sugar levels were not under control. I went back to exercising and diet to try and lose weight, but my body was to the point that instead of losing weight I was still gaining weight. At that point and as my body was continuing to degrade, I decided to have RNY gastric bypass surgery. When I left the hospital 2 days after surgery, I was off my diabetes meds and haven't taken any since. I am over 3 years post-op.

Anyways I think that a reversal of the gastric bypass surgery, will not correct the problems you are experiencing. If they ever come up with a solution for "The Biggest Loser" syndrome, I believe it will correct your problem also. The three most important elements after gastric bypass is to meet your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. It looks like you are tracking Protein. I suspect you need to add addition Iron supplements to make sure your Iron levels don't fall too low due to bleeding. But you probably are doing this already. It looks like you are avoiding processed sugar in all its forms. Some fruits have high levels of natural sugar which might be contributing to your diabetes. I guess I am out of advice. This is the approach I used in the Maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

I wish that I could offer you a bit more but I seem to be all tapped out today.

[CassieThreatt 1]

Thank you for the response and research. I am not diabetic but because of the PCOS I am insulin resistant so my dr has me on metformin. I have always been anemic since birth and I actually ordered the Iron Patches from this website, due to my malabsorption, I don't process Iron supplements. I hope that the patch will start correcting this issue to at least normal levels.

I suppose the hardest part of having this done and it not working is to watch my friends get it and lose all their excess weight while I watch in horror as I head the other direction. Especially folks that just needed to put the pizza down and go for a walk. My mother in law pulled me aside after church one day and said "there are so many people in here having 2nd's and 3rd's full platefuls and you eat like a bird...I honestly don't understand why you are like this..." And she started crying for me.

My family tell me not to give up and keep looking for a dr that can help but this far...I am an anomaly. Thank you for the kind words and the assistance. I appreciate the ear.

-Cassie

[melbell2222 244]

Can't you go to your gyno and ask for it to be removed?? I'm sure he or she will look after you for a few months too be sure it's something possible. But I'd rather try that then suffer bleeding all the time or at weird times

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[CassieThreatt 1]

I did she thinks removing the ovaries etc will make things worse.

[NeedaBreak4Me 1,755]

Have you had your thyroid checked? A lot of times a hypothyroid can mimic pcos and insulin resistance.

Also, have you had all your hormones checked? Progesterone, estradiol, estrogen, testosterone, dhea, prolactin etc

[CassieThreatt 1]

No, they won't test unless the ordinary labs I have are off. Which I'm only ever low on Iron and vit D. They ruled out thyroid and I asked to check my pituitary and was told if my labs were off they would, but everything is excellent other than those two things.