PCOS/Insulin Resistance and Banding

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site and new to PCOS/Insulin Resistance. I have been on Metformin for 2 months now and just found out last week that I have PCOS. For years I have had trouble (since childhood, actually) with my weight. It seems that in the last 7 years it has spiraled out of control. I tried for 3 years to get pregnant and finally did (my Daughter just turned 4 yesterday). When I was pregnant with her, I gained 90 lbs!!! Afterward, I lost about 60 and got pregnant with my son. During his pregnancy, I gained 85 lbs!! I have lost about 40 lbs in a year and a half. I need to lose about 100 lbs. to be within the "normal" range. I'm seriously considering the Lap Band. My consult is next week with the Dr. DeBarras in Tempe AZ.  I'm worried. I want to lead a normal life and be there for my kids but I don't want to die in my 30's! I also don't want to develop Hypertension, Diabetes and Heart Disease. Is there anyone out there that has some advise? I could really use some right about now.  Thanks so much! :-)

Good luck with your consult!  Have you been to www.soulcysters.com ?  It's an awesome support website for women with PCOS.  Also, on the Diet & Exercise Forum there's a thread called WLS Divas for women with PCOS who either want or have already had some type of WLS.  We have a few RNYers (like me), a few Lapbanders & a DSer...and I think we have a VSGer as well.  PCOS is not something easy to diagnose so kudos to your doc for finally getting you diagnosed!  Are you worried about the surgery itself?  Or is it how life is going to be after the band? Also, now not to persuade you away from the band...but why did you choose the band over any of the other forms of WLS?  Just curious... As for advice...be prepared for a rough road.  WLS by no means easy...and with the lapband and having PCOS you'll have to work a little harder to loose weight.  Two of the girls I know with PCOS who had lapband are struggling to loose weight and haven't really lost anything past the first month or two and are starting to contiplate (sp?) revising the RNY (they are both around 8-9 months post op with about 30-40lb lost).  Not to be a total downer...we do have one lady who lost an amazing amount of weight with the lapband (and she too has PCOS).  Somethings I do know about the lapband are... You have to be very disciplined with what you eat...more so than with the RNY...because there is no sugar intolerance or dumping syndrome. It make take a few months and 3-5 fills to find the "sweet spot" where you get the right amount of restriction. It is the only procedure that is reversible. Weight loss is slower with the lapband as opposed to other forms of WLS. Average weight lost is 50-60% of excess weight. So...that being said...good luck with your consult & I hope to maybe see you on soulcysters.com! Kristy

Hi there. Thanks so much for the reply. I will definately check out SoulCysters. It sounds great!  I know this sounds silly, but what is RNY? I was told that the band was the safest one out there. I'm ready for the change but am still learning about the different options. At this point I'm leaning toward the band, but I am still open to other options.  Since I have two little ones, I was hoping to find a solution that wouldn't keep me out of the "game" for so long. I heard that some WLS can take weeks of recovery.  Since I was just diagnosed last week, I'm still learning a lot about PCOS too! At least I can officially say that I'm not crazy. All of those symptoms for so many years really do add up to something - LOL.  By the way, Lilly is just beautiful. Reminds me of my little girl.  Thanks again, talk to you soon.  Melinda

The RNY is commonly known as the gastric bypass.  It creates a 1oz stomach also known as a pouch and bypasses the rest of the stomach & beginning of the small intestine.  You get both restriction and some malabsorption with this procedure and average weight loss is 70-80% of excess weight.  Most people with this procedure do have some level of sugar intolerance which can lead to dumping syndrome.  Dumping syndrome is like a low blood sugar effect...a little nausea, hot flash, heart palpitations, fatigue, and some may vomit or have diarrhea as well...but I don't...and I'm pretty sugar intolerant.  This doesn't mean that I can't have sugar...I just don't have very much.  I can have 8-10g of sugar before I feel the effects of it...which for me equals out to 2-3 hershey kisses.  But with me being so sensitive to sugar (and my taste buds became more aware of sugar) that's all I really need.  I'm also sensitive to high fat foods...so greasy/fried foods upset my stomach as well.  It helps keep me in line with my diet...almost forcing me to make healthy choices.  How old are your children?  I was down for about 2 weeks...after that I was ok.  I still had a lifting restriction (and you will too with the lapband****il 6 weeks post op to prevent a hernia through one of the incision sites.  The first week I was really tired & sore (afterall they've just cut openings in my abdominal wall muscles!)...the 2nd week I was still a little sore but felt better & had more energy...the 3 week was better...and the 4th week I was back at work. For some reason, women with PCOS tend to do better with the RNY than the Lapband...it has something to do with the way our bodies process insulin & blood sugars, and also the hormones that control hunger after surgery.  Also, with the lapband many people still feel hungry, they just feel full faster....with the RNY I'm never hungry.  Ok...I won't say never...but it's once in a blue moon that I'm physically hungry now. I chose the RNY because I didn't want to go through surgery to still be fat, average weight loss with the lapband is 50-60% of excess weight as opposed to 75-85% with the RNY.  That and I didn't want ot have to deal with fills and unfills (if there's too much restriction) or deal with the possibliity of band slippage.  I'm very happy with my RNY...I've gone from 254 to 140 and from a size 24/26 to a 6/8 (more a 6 than an 8).  Also my PCOS has gotten better.  My acne is rare, my cycles returned...in fact I have regular cycles for the first time in my life, my insulin resistance & diabetes are gone and although I still have the facial hair...it's not getting worse!  I also had the dark spots (called acanthosis nigricans) on my skin around my neck, elbows, "bra line", inner upper thighs...and those are gone as well. The band is the safest out there...that's true, because there is no cutting & stapling of the stomach & intestines. Oh...and Lilly isn't my daughters name...it's the name of the website I got the ticker from...but that's ok!  My daughter's name is Alice... And feel free to ask more questions! Kristy

I don't have a lot of advice, but know that I am right there with you!  I have PCOS, insulin resistance, 3kids and am going to have a lap-band.  I know that it is harder to lose the weight even with the band when you have PCOS but I chose it because there is such a high rate of regain with RNY and I want to try the safest surgery first...I do have 3 little ones to think about!  Good Luck with your consult, you can do it!

Hi, I'm Teresa and have PCOS as well. When I began looking into WLS I wanted the lapband, I thought it would be easier and less invasive. I went to five different centers/doctors here in NYC and had two of the doctors pushing me to only look at the lapband--THANK G*D for Dr. Roslin who was straight and blunt with me. The best option for me with PCOS was to have RNY gastic bypass. I'm not one to just take advise if I can do research so off to the library and online I went and found several great articles and studies that had been done. There is a study that was done in Cleveland, that is a great for insurance appeals but shows you some results that are amazing! Do a Google search for PCOS & Gastric Bypass Surgery Studies. ( I would copy & paste some for you but my laptop is having issues today) All the best!!!

Hey girl...  I've read the replies to your post and wanted you to know I was diagnosed with PCOS at age 14 and was Insulin Resistant prior to RNY WLS.  I have lost 218 lbs and no longer have to take any meds for my PCOS and my insulin has straightened out.  Unfortunately I was never able to carry a pregnancy so had no children, and I had to have a hysterectomy in 2005.   So not all of us PCOS'ers have had a difficult time loosing weight, my WLS results may not be the norm with PCOS but I'm doin good.  I still have about 50 lbs to loose and I'm 5 years PO but I'm very happy even if I didn't loose another pound.  If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.   Best wishes to you!!!

I am insulin resistant, on metformin and just had lap-band surgery.
The lap-band is not the right surgery for everyone. Just like the RNY is not right for everyone.
The facts you have been given so far are true:
-Lap-band is removable and reversible.
-RNY produces faster weight loss.
-Lap-band is a MUCH faster recovery.
-With a Band you have to WORK for the loss.
-RNY is almost a guarantee of big weightloss.
-Lap-band requires dieting (at least in the begining.)
-RNY the weight falls off fast in the post-op period.
-Lap-band the weight might be slow at the start.
-RNY carries a chance of vitamin deficencies.
-Lap-band has needles through your belly to adjust the band..maybe every 6 weeks the first year.
-if you load up on sugars then rny will make you physically sick
-if you don't follow the band diet then you can eat tons of cookies and get in big trouble.

no surgery will do it all, people can fail with either surgery.
Ask on both the RNY and Lap-band boards and you will get different answers. I tried to be honest.

Lap-band was the right one for me. I hope you find the right one for YOU.

Sheli

I trust you aren't saying I'm not WORKING to lose even though I have RYN? If that's what your saying you should really come to my home and see my fridge, cabinets as well as come with me to the gym three days a week for 1 1/2 hour at a time then the other two days I work out come walk 4 miles with me in Central Park. EVERYONE who's serious about WLS works!!

Teresa- I did not mean to sound like the RNY is easy and the band is hard. I do not want you to think that at all.. I know all WLS leaves us working hard- physically and mentally- to lose the weight. The diet alone for both types of surgery is gruling.

The only thing I have seen is that the RNY friends I have watched go through this lose the weight easier than most people with the band. Not easy, just easier.

I think the biggest difference is the pouch size and stoma issue. You come out of surgery with a tiny pouch and a tiny stoma, and most rny-ers are not starving hungry in the immediate post-op period. The band is not tight when we get it. We get the surgery expecting it to make a BIG difference...then we can still eat tons of food until they tighten the band...which can take 6-8 months for some people.

I actually meant it as a positive on the RNY. A lot of people who get the band are SHOCKED that they are starving hungry within days of surgery (not all people.)

No surgery is for the feint of heart. You undertook a more risky procedure and you have to work for the loss.

I took the chicken surgery and I am starving!!!

Please don't be upset. We are all going through a process that is at times not the most fun. I am there today. I can't wait for them to tighten my band so it can help me along.

Wishing you all the best.
Sheli