WLS and Type 2 Diabetes

Anyone here who have Type 2 Diabetes and undergone weight loss surgery? Particularly gastric bypass surgery?

I'm sure there are quite a few of us here, especially on the RNY forum. :)

At the top of the page is a magnifying glass. Click on that and search for WLS and type 2 Diabetes. It should come up with lots of posts about this subject.

MANY of us have/had DMII prior to surgery. The RNY and DS have better records for diabetes resolution because of the malabsorptive aspect, but as weight loss itself can often put DM into remission, a good number of sleevers get that benefit too. My husband was once on 2000mg of metformin, 20mg glipizide, and Bydureon with a sub-optimal A1c. By around 4 months post-sleeve, he was off all diabetes meds.

I wanted VSG, but my doc said, "the two reasons we tell people to consider RNY over VSG are GERD and diabetes, and you have both." That said, it was the GERD, not the diabetes, that made me choose RNY over VSG. I'm sure diabetes would have played a bigger role in that decision if I'd been insulin-dependent though.

How does RNY improve GERD?

With the creation of the stomach pouch, the largest portion of the stomach (which produces the bulk of the acid) is no longer even connected to the esophagus, so for many RNYers, the procedure is actually curative for GERD. My GERD was pretty severe -- I was on Prilosec twice a day and still had frequent spells of acid-related nausea. I also lost 80 lbs pre-op with no improvement to my GERD, so it seemed unlikely that it was all weight-related in my case. When I tried to go off Prilosec post-op, I started to get some burping/non-acid reflux, so I'm back on it once a day, but one pill a day now completely eliminates the symptoms that 2 a day couldn't previously. I'll take it!

I did a Google Scholar search for articles my surgeon had authored before my surgery, and I actually found out he's done a lot of research into RNY for GERD and the treatment of GERD in the MO. Here's an article I found particularly interesting (not sure if you can see beyond the first page; I had to use my work login to get the full text.)

You want to research the DS (duodenal switch) if t2 diabetes is an issue. It has the best resolution of t2 (and high cholesterol) of the different WLS's, as well as better weight loss and weight maintenance. But like gastric bypass, you MUST take supplements, likely more, so do some research.

I had Type 2 Diabetes before I had RNY (Gastric Bypass Surgery) in 2001. Since the day after I had my surgery, I haven't taken any medication nor had any issues with my A1C. While WLS doesn't "cure"diabetes, I'm sure enjoying 14 years of remission from my diabetes!

Yes - I was taking 2000mg of Metforming and 10mcg of Byetta per day. I went home from my VSG surgery off all meds and haven't had to take them since. My A1c runs around 5.1-5.5

I was Type 2, on metformin and beyetta. I was off all meds and my fasting sugars were in the 80s the day I got home from the hospital. My A1Cs have been 4.9 since.