Anyone here with another disease not related to obesity, but aggravated by it?

Good morning.  I am in the "waiting on insurance approval" stage, but I am lucky because it appears that I have met all the requirements, so I shouldn't have to wait very long.  I have multiple sclerosis and since about December, I have had a very hard time walking.  I have a lot of pain in my feet, my legs feel very heavy, and I have balance issues.  I was at my neurologist several weeks ago and he blamed it on my weight, rather than the lesions on spinal cord now turned to spinal cord atrophy.  He recommended weight loss surgery.  At first I was outraged, but then I realized that it could only help with my issues.  So here I am!

Is there anyone out there who can share experience post WLS with an unrelated disease such as MS, Lupus, RA, etc?  Did it help to reduce your symptoms or make it worse?  Do you think your disease cause recovery to be harder?  Any experience to share would be helpful.  Thanks

Hi Angel,  I have RA (well controlled) and relatively severe spinal stenosis which is what led me to WLS.  I carry all my extra weight in my abdomen and hips so I figured it would help if I lost the extra weight.  Walking is very hard for me, too.  I can walk about a block, but then severe pain sets in.  I think I will ultimately need back surgery, but I am hoping to avoid it if I lose this extra weight.  Also, because of the nerve impingement, my thigh muscles are quite weak.  Doing steps, even going up a curb without something to hold onto is difficult.  I'm only 40 lbs down, so can't speak to the ultimate benefit, but my walking has not improved as yet.  Certain things are much better (reaching behind my back, for instance) but still have difficulty with a lot.  I work with a physical trainer/physical therapist twice a week and he is working with me to help with increasing my strength and endurance.  I do not think my diseases make recovery harder, except that I can not do as much exercise as many others.  I use a recombent bike 1/2 hr daily and can also walk at a slow pace on the treadmill, but otherwise my physical activity is somewhat limited.  I used to do water exercise regularly but am reluctant to go bac****il all my surgery scabs are gone.  Best of luck to you!

I also have well controlled RA and OA.  I had to permanently quit using NSAIDS, so I quit taking my daily mobic six months pre op.  It was terrible at first.  To make up for mobic, My rhumetologist added Plaquenil.  Within a few months I was feeling much better.  I had to be off of my immunosuppreasant  med (Methotrexate) for three weeks at the time of surgery, but am back on it now.  It did not cause a flare of my RA.

The severe OA pain in my knee went away right after surgery, helped by the fact that  I had already lost about 40 pounds pre op.   At 6 weeks post op I am feeling very good.  My arthritis is under good control and NO ACID REFLUX!!!  I am 60 years old but do not think my recovery was slowed significantly by my RA or my age.  I am better able to walk now than before.  

I'm still pre op, and SO excited for surgery, excited for you too! Been overweight my whole life, and so ready for a permanent change.  I have psoriatic arthritis.  First it started as skin flakes and lesions that over a couple years spread and got worse.  So not only was I super self conscious about my skin, it then started to affect my joints.  Walking, standing, making a fist or picking things up, writing, even chewing at times would be so painful I could hardly stand it.  I was on Humira injections, but they stopped working, so now I get monthly infusions of remicade.  It's made a world of difference, but I still have some pain, mostly in my low back.  I'm an ER nurse, 12 hour shifts can be really hard still.  The sucky part about all this is that Remicade is an immunosupressant, meaning that since my body needs to be in top healing shape to recover post op, I'll have to go a little over 2 months without it.  In the long run, I know that getting extra weight off can only help, but in the short term I'm worried about how I'll handle the pain of recovery AND psoriatic arthritis.

I believe I am on an immunsuppresent too (Gilenya) and didn't consider that I would probably have to go off of it for a while.  BUMMER!!!!  Although, my weight really spiked up when I started taking it, so it will be nice to take a break from it, but overall, I think it was doing more good than harm.

I have extensive osteoarthritis. Before surgery my knees were so bad I was practically confined to a wheelchair. My ortho doc said I needed both of them replaced, but my weight would hinder my recovery. So Had WLS instead. (*grin*)

That was 10.5 years ago. By the time I was 3 months post-op, I could work in my garden for hours at a time. My knees still HURT, but they sure to function better, and I still haven't had them replaced.

I chose the DS for many reasons, but the fact that I would still be able to take NSAIDs was a biggie, because I'm always going to need them.