Arthritis pain worse

Rose, I too am 50 yrs old. I had to be taken off my arthritis meds, but the Dr is giving me Hydocodone for the pain of the arthritis in my knees. He said after 50 lbs gone, I wouldn't need anything. I am only 2 week post op and only lost 10# so far. So I can't wait till then. Wasn't it great when we just got out of surgery and was on morphine. I walked the best I have had in a long time with no pain. That morphine was great!! I am being careful with taking the Hydocodene as it addicting. Take care and blessings to you, Lavon

Hi Rose, I surely was interested in your post. I had weight loss surgery last November. Since Spring, my arthritis (osteo) has gotten steadily worse. Before surgery, Alleve worked really well for me, along with Tylenol some of the time so that my stomach would not get irritated from the Alleve. Of course, no more Alleve for me, and Tylenol doesn't seem to make a dent most days. I have a prescription for Propox (generic Darvocet) that does really work well. However, it is an opiate and I am sure would be addictive eventually, although my doctor says not likely. I will probably be seeing a rheumatologist before too long, as I don't know how I am going to get through this coming Winter. I was also assured that getting some of the weight off would improve my situation. I have lost over 130 lbs and am not better. WLS has improved my life in so many ways, I wouldn't go back to being that fat again. But I could certainly live without the constant pain. I am 63, otherwise in good physical health and both of my parents are in their late 80's. Sometimes the thought of dealing with this for the next 20-30 yrs is so depressing. Kath

Rose, I'd have to say it's not age since I'm 34 and my osteoarthritis is getting worse too! Early onset arthritis runs in my family. Before surgery (since my mid-20s) I had some problems with my hands and knees, but since the surgery my hands have gotten worse and one of my feet got so bad my doctor was testing me for gout. My foot and calf swelled so badly I had to wear a foot brace for 2 weeks because my shoe didn't fit! My PCP prescribed tylenol with codeine, but it only took the edge off and she has forbidden me to wear heels anymore (I'm only 5'2") She tells me I'm too young to go on something daily for the pain in my hands (and sometimes knees, back and feet), but with the cold weather coming, I may have to push her on it. Here's wishing us all some luck! Carolyn 232/222/144/130

I have a theory on this...  After WLS, your body doesn't have as much fat in the joints to cushion them, making them more painful.  ...just my theory...

I am curious if anyone ever had an update to this.  I'm going through something similar and would like any advice.  I'm only 29 and had the surgery done to decrease the pain in my hip and lower back but it's getting worse every day.

Actually RA is a know long term complication for WLS patients.  It is an auto-immune disease.  We are more susceptible to auto-immune diseases due to nutritional deficiencies.  I was close to deciding on the DS instead of RNY but nutritional deficiencies can be even worse after a DS due to the fact that it is much more malabsorptive than the RNY (which is why the weight loss is better and is usually sustained more so than the RNY long term).  Since I have Osteoarthritis already, I decided that I needed to go for the less malabsorptive procedure knowing that I would have to work harder to lose and maintain weight loss.