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!

I have had labs every six months since surgery, due to one irregularity or another.  I was not deficient in anything prior to having my Duodenal Switch, so I'm not really sure that nutritional deficiencies made me any more susceptible to Lupus or Fibromyalgia, since these were diagnosed nearly a decade before I had my DS. 

Since I will be done with my surgeon's 5 year follow next May, and will be working fully with my PCP and Hemo,  I will suggest to them that we have complete labs every year, with spot checks at six months for problem areas, which for me have trended low in  calcium (high PTH), zinc, and Vitamin D, or whatever is revealed by the complete labs.

In doing my own research, I discovered that Plaqeunil depletes Vitamin D (catabolizes it), so that explains my D deficiency.  I now take 100,000 IU of  dry Vitamin D daily.  Since DSer's malabsorb 80% of all fats, and Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, all my fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K1 & K2) must be in dry, water miscible form.  Those are the vitamins DSers are most in danger of becoming deficient in, in addition to protein.  I have never let go of my protein shakes.  I use them as a supplement to my regular solid food nutrition plan, and I have not gained weight with it. I also do my own B12 shots at home.  My Hemo writes a prescription for a vial and syringes.  I had to have iron infusions last summer, and my iron is just now coming back down into normal range.  I use heme iron (Proferrin)  with Vitamin C to help absorption.

Having a DS with SLE means a huge non-negotiable commitment to a supplement and protein/nutrition regimen.  Expensive..it can be, but once you know the full complement of vitamins you need, you can find sources that will make it a little cheaper.

The payoff?  Plaquenil works now at my lower weight, when before all I had was prednisone.

Totally worth it!     

Hamptons-

Before my DS, prednisone was the only thing that worked for me, too.

Check my signature for my weight loss to date with the Duodenal Switch.  The surgery made it possible for me to get off  the steroids.  I'm now using Plaquenil with very good results.  I also have Fibromyalgia, which is kept in check with Lyrica.

Prednisone is now reserved for emergencies when I have a major flare, and I haven't had one since I lost my first 200 pounds, and began to use Plaquenil successfully.  Of course I have to do all the precautions many lupies do, like staying out of the sun and/or using sunblock every blessed day of my life, especially in the summer. 

Since you use Benlysta, I'm wondering how that is working for you, and how often the infusions are.

***Edit***

Forgive me - It's almost 5 AM, and you already said Benlysta doesn't work well.   I think I need to go back to bed now.

But i exactly laughed at what you wrote at the end of your story. Anyways if you think that nothing is work out and surgery can be considered, then think upon it. i also feel the same.

Hello there, I was under the same assumption too.... Guess what truly wrong after now a year and 200 lbs lighter ....

I'm back to my Raw healthy lifestyle I am Healthy and happy and enjoying so much great feeling great health...

Its so satisfying......  follow me on https://www.facebook.com/ThePinkRabbitHole

be good to you Dr Pinky