Lupus & gastric bypass

Dear MissVic59, I am new to this forum and I am considering having the WLS. I have my first consult in Sept. I wanted to know what type of surgery did you have? And can you please give me an update on how things are going for you. I was diagnosed 2 years ago. Anybody else please feel free to give feedback as well.

Hi there!!  I have lupus (9 years) and i am about to have the Gastric Bypass the first of the year, and i am scared to because of the lupus..  I don't know what to do..  How is everything going with you so far..  I talked with the doctor that is doing my gastric bypass and he said that there could be more of a risk than most patients..  The only promblem I have is when I had my galbladder surgery they had to give me steriods after surgery to help me breathe i don't know if it had something to do with my Lupus..  And I am also on Oxygen been on that for a year now, and my doctor told me that you can't take steriods..  Thanks!!

I get steroids now only in case of a severe flare that nothing else will knock down.  I have Lupus and Fibro.

If its a very severe flare, which I haven't had since losing the weight, then I' in the hospital with an IV.

I had the DS on 2/25/09.  My  new stomach  tube tolerates NSAIDS just fine.

Hi, I also have Lupus and I am looking into having wls.  I am worried about  just what you are going through.  The first thing I would do is get in contact with my rhumatholigest (spelling?) your Lupus Dr.  That dr. knows you and your case history with lupus and will be more vested in your case then an  unknown dr. at an Er.  If it is auto-immune involved go to your Lupus Dr.
Good Luck.   Jeanette

Are you taking suppplemental vitamins and minerals?  If not, you need to start.  What you're describing sounds like a lot of deficiency is going on.
 
Have your doctor do labs to check your nutrient levels, then if something's off, you'll  be able to treat it.

 testing

Hi everybody, 

 

I am scheduled to have surgery next week, I've had lupus for 15 years now , I take prednisone daily. I'm worried about having the bypass surgery with my lupus. Would love to hear some advice on having the surgery!!! 

Dear Vickie,  I had GBS Sept. 2009. I lost 25 lbs  in the year before my surgery and i lost 105 lbs in the year after my surgery. Total  loss 130

My reason for doing the surgery was to lose weight and feel good!  I had arthritis in my knee and was in constant pain with it, my blood pressure which had always been low when i was younger, then normal when over weight began to get high as was my cholestrol. But my biggest thing was i couldn't fit in a booth at a restaurant i was always told you are pretty and dress well, but i know people treated me different due to my size, i was unhappy, and had pretty much stopped going anywhere, i continued to be sad and depressed. So... My daughter who had surgery 4 yrs before begged me to do it with her but i was afraid, you see i worked in a hospital and 15-20 years ago when they first started doing the surgery it was done open..not laparscopic, and it was much more risky and  people got infections and died. But my dtr did great. So she and her friends who had it had an intervention with me, and it worked... My dtr cried and said what are you afraid of, i told her i was her only parent, she has no siblings, I was afraid i could die. She told me mom you already have died on the inside, you go no where and you are so sad. Please mom she said do it, Live, you will be fine, you have nothing to lose... Lol but weight,and alot of happiness to come. And so she was right.

I met with my PCP the next week and never mentioning surgery,  i just asked him to help me lose weight. And he too suggested weight loss surgery, and encouraged me to go to a info session and i did. Now now ins made me wait a year and be on a diet that entire time, and it was hard because i finally agreed it was time to do it, then had to weight. But its is the BEST decision I ever made in my life!  I feel and look good!  And still after 4 years out i still get compliments on how great i look and continue to keep it off.  I must say now its getting harder, the first year is as i say your window of opportunity to get all the weight off you want, just do as your doctor says! The next year is good too... I tell my friends dont do it until you are ready to stop eating bad foods or it will never work.  My biggest joy now is knowing when my stomach tells me I am full! And listen to it!  When I was big I was always hungry, and never felt full!   So i have to say listen to your doctor, your dietician, your gut and your intuition. Say no to bad foods, breads  and sweets!  Just an occasional bite is all you need. Eat 3-4 small meals a day and especially breakfast and don't graze,, I started grazing and began to gain weight. Now I'm back on track, because i never ever want to go back there again!

Sorry i just wanted to give you some in site on my journey. 

So getting back to your liver issues. I too have had the same problems, but i never got sick or felt bad, however my doctor would do the blood work and get very upset with my high LFTs and would ask me what i was eating and meds i was taking? He eventually sent me to a live specialist. Who ran more blood work, then he did a test in the digestive disease ctr checking to see if i had siliacs disease, not. And eventually i had a liver biopsy, and that came back normal. Then i suggested  eliminating certain vitamins to see if it would bring my LFT s  down. Because when i was pregnant with my dtr i couldn't take the prenatal vitamins they made me very sick. So when we stopped the multi vitamin my liver functions got better, not good still high but better. Last but not least prior to surgery i was taking 800 mg of ibuprofen for me knee pain. And i took it on a regular basis for many many years, i cant help to think that maybe my body or liver got used to it. Or it did damage and then not taking it caused issues i don't know.

to this day my doctors never figured out why my LFT s are high. But i am not sick and i feel great and i no longer worry about it!   I just try to live a good life!

take care and best of luck to you!

Vickie and to all others with Lupus,
I was diagnosed with Lupus and Sjogrens Disease in January 2009.  My pain level was awful, I had no energy and suffered from fatigue daily.  I decided to have the wls (RNY) in October 2009.  I had not heard about the sleeve, the only options I had heard about was the lap band and the RNY.  I'm not a patient person and wanted drastic weight loss quickly, so I went with the RNY. 

Since the surgery, I have dropped 61.5 lbs.  While my body is relieved of carrying the extra weight, I have had some issues over the past two months and am not sure if it is linked with the wls.  In January I developed headaches every day for a month, I am a long time sufferer of migraines, however not that frequently.  After the headaches stopped, neck pain set in.  Then a week later dizziness, disorientation, confusion, and SEVERE fatigue.  I would come home after work (Secretarial type work) and fall asleep on the couch by 6pm and sleep until my husband woke me to go to bed, then I would sleep all night.  This has gone on for two weeks now.  This is soooo not me. 

My husband took me to the ER, quickly they diagnosed me with an inner ear infection and said I had fluid in both ears.  Funny I didn't feel any ear pain or sinus pressure.  They told me to stay home 3 days, and to take antibiotics.  On the 2nd day home, I started vomitting and having diahrea and on the 3rd day my husband found me on the bathroom floor where I had fainted after vomitting.  Again, another trip to the ER, this time there was no fluid in the ear, never though there was to begin with.  However this ER doctor was much more diligent.  After several hours and tests that night, I was admitted into the hospital.  They found my blood pressure to be low, and drop even lower when I would stand up, possibly causing the dizziness.  They also found that my liver enzymes were elevated, and my stomach lining to be irriated.  The GI doctor (not my wl surgeon) did a biopsy and will receive the results in about a week.  After 7 days in hospital, they have no clue as to what was making me so ill.  I am still weak, still sleeping way too much.  I googled "elevated liver enzymes" and found that there is an auto-immune liver disease...could this be caused from the lupus???  DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ANSWERS???   PLEASE... I am missing way too much work and have had to file an FMLA to protect my job.

JR