Arthritis

 Does anyone here have arthritis?  I was diagnosed with arthritis in my feet and am now having other neurological issues and I'm wondering if anyone has had their arthritis symptoms improve after WLS.
-Kim

Hi Kim,

I have Arthritis in both my knees - VERY BADLY - I was living on Anti-Inflammatory and Vicdion for years. 

I knew going into the surgery that I would never be able to use the Anti-Inflammatory pills again.  And that is the one thing that scared me the most.

But long story short - I went thru with the LapBand.  I love my band.  I have dropped 60 lbs.  I wi**** was more but the BEST news is that I am off ALL of my medications.  And I can once again wears "a little" heal.  Prior to surgery I would ONLY wear flats.

So yes losing the weight does HELP the Arthritis.

Denise

Kim,

Recently I interviewed a pain specialist for an article I was writing about chronic pain & obesity. He said that most of his patients experience less arthritis pain when they lose weight beause there is less stress on the affected joints.

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, however, you should be aware that autoimmune disorders like RA are a contraindication for adjustable gastric band surgery because of the possiblity that the body's immune system will react badly to the band (or any other medical implant).

Jean

I have arthritis in both knees and also have fibromyalgia

Jessica

same here & came after having the band.....had zero comorbids going in.

both are A good reason i had the band removed & revised to the sleeve.....too many problems even with a smidge of a fill (plus 2 slips).

to the OP - jean gave a good response.   the best thing for arthritis is weight off the joints - you should investigate what you'll need to take for pain, now and in the future.

 Thank you for the reply, it's very informative.  I don't have RA, I have osteoarthritis.  I'm currently waiting for an appointment with a neurologist because the big toe on my right foot goes numb when I sleep on my back, I have migraines, and both my arms and legs are constantly causing me pain.  My podiatrist threw out the term "spinal stenosis" and research says that can be caused by osteoarthritis in the spine/neck.  Now I'm terrified that I may have that but, on a positive note, that would be a comorbid condition that I'm waiting for since my BMI still isn't high enough.  It makes me sad having to deal with all of this when I'm only 30 :(