New to this and looking for weight loss surgery advice!

Hi. I am a NEW member and I was referred to this site by a good friend who had successful weight loss surgery more than 10 years ago. While she does not have PCOS, she still felt this would be a great site to get some answers, support, and advice. I am heavily looking into weight loss surgery and am overwhelmed at the "variety" of types of surgeries, so to speak.  There is something absolutely terrifying to gastric bypass for me but I would love to hear from some of the women who have PCOS and have already have weight loss surgery. If you have not had surgery yet but are way more advanced in your research than I am (which probably is everyone!) please feel free to comment as well.  I am thinking LAP BAND might be a good option for me but I am open to ALL and ANY advice.

Here is a little background on me. I am 32 years old and was first diagnosed in high school when I was just 15 years old. I was very athletic and thin in high school (5'6 about 140 lbs) and that went down hill a little when I was in college. I graduated college at 160lbs and was still happy with where I was at. Granted I was running, biking, walking and not eating any sugar or fast food... EVER. Then I met my husband. He is a bean pole and can eat anything and it never affected his weight or cholesterol. He introduced me to his favorite foods (LOTS of carbs and fast foods!) when we moved in together 4 months before our wedding. Since weight had never been an issue for me, I didn't think twice about what I was doing to my body. 4 months later, I was already 15 lbs heavier at my wedding. I was still in a fog as to why I was gaining weight so quickly. Here I am 8 years later, 2 kids (ages 3.5 and 5 months) and I am sitting around 240. Wow.  It took me until only a couple years ago to really learn a LOT about PCOS and healthy eating. I now eat very healthy, NO MORE FAST FOOD!! And really limit refined carbs to a minimum. Sugar is still my weak point but I am trying to work through that. I exercise 5-6 days a week with either jogging or walking (run around 2-2.5 miles and walking for about 3 miles) which I feel is a great accomplishment considering I have two small kids to chase after too! Weight loss is NOT happening. While I feel the benefits of exercising with my mental state of mind, I am not seeing results which I know I have PCOS to thank for that. I am still nursing my little one so I know weight loss surgery won't be for a while anyway but I did want to have a game plan and know where I am heading. Ultimately, I would love to have a body that reflects ME and my activity level and interests. I still cannot believe what I see in the mirror or in pictures...

Any advice, support, wisdom is GREATLY appreciated. :)

Run, don't walk, to your nearest weight loss surgeon!   You are me, 20 years ago....always athletic, always active...and I even watched what I ate everyday of my life...I played sports in college and weighed about 175,  slowly crept to 190 when I was 24.  That year, my weight ballooned to 222..I was found to be infertile and diagnosed with PCOS....for the next 25+years I struggled with my weight each and every day..I raised 4 adopted children, had a very stressful career...I would range from 220 to 252 at my largest, but could never really loose more than 20 pounds, no matter how hard I tried, even though I was swimming with a masters level program and training with triathletes!....I debated about surgery for a few years, some of my doctors where concerned that my hormones and my immune system were so messed up, that the surgery may not work for me....I persisted, and as soon as my medical insurance began to cover Roux-en-y procedures, I went for it!  I started the process last year at the age of 51.... I weighed 242 when I started the approval process, was 229 the day of my surgery...and NOW, only 4.5 months later I am at 175!!!  The road has been long, and it is harder to loose the weight with PCOS, but not impossible!   I opted for the roux-en-Y gastric bypass because I had been self limiting my food intake for a long time, so restrictions on the amount of food would never have been enough.  I had to change the way my body, and my hormones worked and the RNY was the only way I could be sure to give myself a shot!  The last 2 decades of my life would have been so much better without the weight...I would not have developed diabetes, my rheumatoid arthritis would not be so bad, I would have continued to ski and sail and run and hike...and I would not have been so Rey, very tired all of the time!   Please do your research, I am not a medical professional, this is just my opinion, but do it!  You can always contact e if you have any questions or just need to vent...but if you are ready to work at your weight...DO IT!

I am just wondering what you have done since this post? Have you done anymore with the surgery? Have you had any appointments? Are you considering the LAP Band still?

I am pretty much in your shoes and am just now considering the same. My insurance does not cover anything so I am on my own with the payment and everything. consider the financial cost, I want to be sure that with PCOS this is a possible idea and not something that I will later regret.

Wow, our stories are really similar. I remember eating less than a 1000 calories a day and heavily working out and still gaining weight. My PCP also recommended weight loss surgery as a permanent solution to the PCOS and my hope to start a family with my husband. At that time, I found OH and started extensive research into the best long term solution for my health and happiness.

Have you checked out the DS at all? I liked that it changed my insulin resistance with the intestinal change, which was first developed in Europe and used as a stand alone procedure, without the sleeve to reverse diabetes. I always ate like bird, so I knew I needed the big guns to get my metabolism back to that of a normal person. Now, my body processes differently and all of my PCOS symtpoms subsided within the first few months. PCOS sucks and from my research, and now experience with my DS and observations from others, I believe that it has the best statistics for keeping weight off, long term. I relate in that as soon as I hit puberty, around 13 or 14, my battle with weight started. Whatever you choose, I wish you well and feel your PCOS pain.