Question of the day

My cholesterol was a bit high preop......post op:  total cholesterol is 91 I had sleep apnea.....that went away after about 3 weeks post Back issues have not resolved ....I have lost all my excess weight and am more mobile...but I still have lower back pain...and now because of hanging skin on my stomach...i have middle back pain. Scott

I was very lucky even at 878 pounds the only co-morbidities, besides a BMI of 120 was sleep apena and lymphedema in my lower legs. No problems with diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol ect. Now my BMI is down to 33 and the lymphedema in my lower legs is under control and I need to have a sleep study to see if my sleep apena is gone. Ironically now that I am in the best shape I have ever been in my life, now I am having problems with my heart, with an irregular heart beat.

I had sleep apnea and would wake up every night covered in sweat. That has completely disappeared. I also had high cholesterol and it has gone from 230 to 150. My triglycerides and good/bad cholesterol numbers are also great now. Other than that I've been pretty lucky.

I suffered from Type II diabetes (9 years - on 100 units of insulin a day + 2 kinds of pills) SEVERE obstructive sleep apnea (12+ years - my sleep study doc said it was one of the worst cases he had ever seen, as far as apneic episodes), very high b.p. and lymphedema of feet and ankles (if that is a co-morbid)  The DS procedure completely resolved my diabetes within a few weeks (as it does with 98% of Type II diabetics within 2 weeks of surgery) ..   My sleep apnea is apparently also gone (neck size has gone from 21" to under 17"), although I still use a CPAP at night, more out of habit than necessity ..  My LE is not much affected by the weight loss, which is the norm ..  however the weight loss makes me flexible enough now to allow me to manage it myself for once (own daily massage and compression wrappings) ..  My B.P. though is a different matter .  it is almost as high as it was as a pre-op, despite now taking 3 drugs daily instead of 2 .   typically it runs 180/110 or so ..  It is a real mystery to my PCP and very frustrating to me ..  I know one week after surgery I had the first normal reading in many years - like 120s / 60s ..  but it has since gone back up ..  Maybe it is just stress .. who knows ..  I know I didn't have hypertension until I was 30 (and I was MO then), so you'd think it would have resolved when my weight got back down below what it was then ..  UGH!

Your pre-WLS physical condition sounded much like mine in terms of severity. The diabetes was eating me up from the inside-out and my legs, to this day,  look like they were burnt up in a fire. Also, max BP medicine and max settings on my bi-pap machine (bi-bap helps you breath in and out while c-pap is only in).

The combination of WLS, exercise & nutrition has fixed it all for me. My question to you concerning your BP and lymphedema is how much exercise are you're getting? Before I really ramped up my cycling, my BP stayed relatively high although much better prior to weight loss. My legs were also still swollen although also much better. The cardio and muscle building benefits of cycling actually regenerated my nearly destroyed cardiovascular system according to the docs.  boner

 

Great questions!   I had moderate sleep apnea (used a CPAP), high cholesterol, GERD, lower back pain, knee pain, and took 4 daily medicines.  I was never diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but I bet I was headed there.   I don't use my CPAP anymore (haven't been officially declared apnea free, but I feel good with lots of energy and my wife doesn't notice any snoring), my back pain is much better, although the pain shifted to my mid back.  I figure my lower back was hurting because my fat gut was pulling on it.  Now that I don't have a gut, I think my mid back is settling in to a new position because of the weight loss.  It isn't horrible, just different.  I am off two of my four daily meds.  I am four months post op and down 70 lbs. OH, and yes, it does get bigger!