changes in ra symptoms, hypertension after surgery?

i am curious as to how many of you with ra, hypertension, diabetes, etc. have seen decrease in symptoms since your surgeries.  i have pain in all weight baring joints and hypertension.  also have a lot of pain in my feet.  have any of you seen relief in these areas?

Hi there and welcome!  My surgeon said that diabetes is cured the day of your surgery.  That has been the experience of those I know who had diabetes before their surgery.  I personally had hypertension, sleep apnea, acid reflux, and incredible pain in all my joints, especially my feet, lower back, and knees.  Now, almost 7  months post op, I have no hypertension, no more apnea, no more acid reflux, and the pain in my joints is virtually gone!  Exercise helps the pain and I am now able to do some exercises!  It took a while for the pain to go away, but I am in MUCH better shape than I was before the surgery!  It feels so good to be able to move again!  So yes, lots of relief, plus the added bonus of feeling good about my appearance as well!

Of course, I can only speak to the areas of concern I had, but I must say that I've seen a 180 change ...

Type 2 Diabetes ... RESOLVED!!! Yea!!! The biggest reason I did this. I'm beyond delighted. My HbA1C prior to surgery was a dismal 9.7, my latest was 5.3. My fasting glucose is usually in the 80's.

Hypercholesterolemia ... Significantly improved. My cholesterol was 288 before surgery. At my last appointment it was down to 222. It still needs a lot of improvement, but it's much better. I am afraid that I was born with a propensity to have high cholesterol from my mother's side of the family, but I pleased with the improvement and looking forward to more in the future.

Hypertension ... Improved. To be honest, I didn't have a serious problem with hypertension. However, my numbers were headed north and that's not good. Now my BP runs about 110/65 and that's without any meds.

Stress Incontinence ... RESOLVED!!! While certainly not life threatening, this was of course beyond embarrassing. I haven't had an issue with stress incontinence since last summer. What a relief to not worry if I have to cough, sneeze or laugh!

Knee strain ... RESOLVED! Again, while not life threatening, this really was starting to impact my quality of life because I was restricting my mobility due to the pain. Now, I'm very active and don't have any pain in my knees ... even when kneeling or squating for an extended period of time.

Sleep Apnea ... Significantly improved, if not resolved. I used to snore like a frieght train ... now, I don't and I'm much more rested. To be honest, to have the final diagnosis on this established I need to have another sleep study done, but I know longer use my CPAP and sleep quite comfortably ... more than that my daughter says she's willing to share a hotel room with mom and that's saying a lot! LOL

There are probably other issues that will come to mind later, but those are the main issues that have improved with the loss of weight.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to sit down and think about the wonderful health benefits this journey has brought me.

I hope that helps.

Barb

 

thanks so much to you both for sharing!  it helps to hear these things when making the final decisions and sharing information with family members that don't have problems with their weight.  they just don't understand where i am coming from. thanks again, Dee