my neurological complication from weight loss surgery
First let me say that I know there are many out there, the majority in fact, that weight loss surgery has been wonderful for. Lives are changing all over the place for the better *because* of weight loss surgery and I could not be happier for this growing community.
My story however is different. I am posting it on here because when I tried to find answers to the issues I was having, they were few and far between.
I had a lap RNY 5 years ago by a top rated surgeon who continues to be the top surgeon in my area. I however had a very different experience from the moment they closed up my little incisions. I encountered an acute adrenal crisis and once that was treated many of the symptoms eased. I was in the hospital 5 days, the two extra days were to make sure I didn't go home to have another adrenal crisis. They send me home with the usual post op stuff and steroids for the adrenal thang. The pain I had encountered was immense. I had all 3 of my children via c-section , an ankle surgery ,a 2 hour dental surgery, tubal ligation and and as a child had a tonsillectomy. None of my previous surgeries had me prepared for the pain I was feeling.
I followed the steps of post op to the letter. small portions and even smaller bites didn't keep me from vomiting, often times at least once a day. I would start back on day one clear liquids and repeat the pattern each time I had too much vomiting. I had two strictures which by themselves are not that unusual. For me, despite the small portions and smaller bites and for months living on cottage cheese and yogurt I still would vomit. Vomiting wasn't a side effect for me it was a way of life. But the doctors couldn't find anything else wrong aside from the two strictures.
I kept up with my vitamins, taking nasty tastin liquid ones when I couldn't swallow the pills and had aftercare from both my surgeon and my primary physician.
8 months after my surgery I finally felt well enough to take my dogs for a brief geriatric paced 1 mile walk. I came home and felt fine. Then I fell asleep on my couch and began my ascent into debilitating fatigue. After my walk with the dogs and with the exception of bathroom breaks and grabbing some yogurt or cottage cheese to eat, I stayed on my couch for 1 week. My whole body felt weak and heavy. I contacted both of my doctors and some low level blood tests were taken and all the numbers and values were fine.
Over the next 16 months I began to have other issues I was assured had NOTHING to do with the RNY surgery.
I began having issues with things that were NEVER an issue before.
list of issues:
short and long term memory problems
processing and comprehending information *(I went from performing in the top 10% in my company to the bottom 10% because everything took me more time)
more vomiting and nausea
dizziness
seizures
my feet were constantly COLD (needed a heating pad at work just to function)
carpal tunnel (manifested by making my hands hot hot hot)
weakness ( I worked out before the surgery, held down 1 full and one part time job, a preschooler, teenager, two German shepherds, two cats and a wonderful husband to share it all with)
Pain in my torso and my upper back (still no reason despite a myriad of tests, specialist and physical therapists
fatigue I finally had to quit work because I couldn't stay awake for more than 90 min in a row and when I did stay home I could only choose a limited number of things to do before my body would rebel. I could either make my family dinner OR take a shower after wards I would be spent
inability to eat any fresh or frozen fruit or veggies,my stomach would not tolerate anything that took effort to digest.
Neuropathy speaks for itself
Vision problems
loss of tooth enamel and eventually teeth from vomiting so so much and vitamin deficiency despite levels that were borderline ok and taking all those supplements
depression I was taking Prozac before the surgery but this depression didn't let up, doubled my dose of Zac and tried other newer and older meds to see if they would help. they did not.
all in all I saw 12 different doctors , 3 physical therapists, and had too many scans and blood tests than I can count.
finally in 2007 I found an article that explained the possible neurological complications of weight loss surgery. the list was VAST.
My story has a better ending than some. I was able to fly to NY and have my surgery reversed. My stomach resembles something like an hour glass and it took a while for my WHOLE stomach and bypassed intestine to work but it was well worth it. This year I got to cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the 1st time in years. it felt so good to be able to care for them like I used to. My life will never be the same but it's so soooooooo much better than it was before my reversal. I'll never find the right words to express how grateful and blessed I feel to have found a surgeon that would put me back on the road to physical wellness.
I say again for many many these types of surgery yield a better life and better health but for those of us who have had a much different experience I say this, "you are not alone"
Below I have placed in some links to scientific studies. I apologize that some of the articles are not full but I don't have a subscription to these websites.
If you need someone to talk to please feel free to send me a pm or email me at [email protected]
thank you so much
Grace
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/21/1843
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/8/1025? maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=gastric+bypass&sea rchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/61/8/1185
My story however is different. I am posting it on here because when I tried to find answers to the issues I was having, they were few and far between.
I had a lap RNY 5 years ago by a top rated surgeon who continues to be the top surgeon in my area. I however had a very different experience from the moment they closed up my little incisions. I encountered an acute adrenal crisis and once that was treated many of the symptoms eased. I was in the hospital 5 days, the two extra days were to make sure I didn't go home to have another adrenal crisis. They send me home with the usual post op stuff and steroids for the adrenal thang. The pain I had encountered was immense. I had all 3 of my children via c-section , an ankle surgery ,a 2 hour dental surgery, tubal ligation and and as a child had a tonsillectomy. None of my previous surgeries had me prepared for the pain I was feeling.
I followed the steps of post op to the letter. small portions and even smaller bites didn't keep me from vomiting, often times at least once a day. I would start back on day one clear liquids and repeat the pattern each time I had too much vomiting. I had two strictures which by themselves are not that unusual. For me, despite the small portions and smaller bites and for months living on cottage cheese and yogurt I still would vomit. Vomiting wasn't a side effect for me it was a way of life. But the doctors couldn't find anything else wrong aside from the two strictures.
I kept up with my vitamins, taking nasty tastin liquid ones when I couldn't swallow the pills and had aftercare from both my surgeon and my primary physician.
8 months after my surgery I finally felt well enough to take my dogs for a brief geriatric paced 1 mile walk. I came home and felt fine. Then I fell asleep on my couch and began my ascent into debilitating fatigue. After my walk with the dogs and with the exception of bathroom breaks and grabbing some yogurt or cottage cheese to eat, I stayed on my couch for 1 week. My whole body felt weak and heavy. I contacted both of my doctors and some low level blood tests were taken and all the numbers and values were fine.
Over the next 16 months I began to have other issues I was assured had NOTHING to do with the RNY surgery.
I began having issues with things that were NEVER an issue before.
list of issues:
short and long term memory problems
processing and comprehending information *(I went from performing in the top 10% in my company to the bottom 10% because everything took me more time)
more vomiting and nausea
dizziness
seizures
my feet were constantly COLD (needed a heating pad at work just to function)
carpal tunnel (manifested by making my hands hot hot hot)
weakness ( I worked out before the surgery, held down 1 full and one part time job, a preschooler, teenager, two German shepherds, two cats and a wonderful husband to share it all with)
Pain in my torso and my upper back (still no reason despite a myriad of tests, specialist and physical therapists
fatigue I finally had to quit work because I couldn't stay awake for more than 90 min in a row and when I did stay home I could only choose a limited number of things to do before my body would rebel. I could either make my family dinner OR take a shower after wards I would be spent
inability to eat any fresh or frozen fruit or veggies,my stomach would not tolerate anything that took effort to digest.
Neuropathy speaks for itself
Vision problems
loss of tooth enamel and eventually teeth from vomiting so so much and vitamin deficiency despite levels that were borderline ok and taking all those supplements
depression I was taking Prozac before the surgery but this depression didn't let up, doubled my dose of Zac and tried other newer and older meds to see if they would help. they did not.
all in all I saw 12 different doctors , 3 physical therapists, and had too many scans and blood tests than I can count.
finally in 2007 I found an article that explained the possible neurological complications of weight loss surgery. the list was VAST.
My story has a better ending than some. I was able to fly to NY and have my surgery reversed. My stomach resembles something like an hour glass and it took a while for my WHOLE stomach and bypassed intestine to work but it was well worth it. This year I got to cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the 1st time in years. it felt so good to be able to care for them like I used to. My life will never be the same but it's so soooooooo much better than it was before my reversal. I'll never find the right words to express how grateful and blessed I feel to have found a surgeon that would put me back on the road to physical wellness.
I say again for many many these types of surgery yield a better life and better health but for those of us who have had a much different experience I say this, "you are not alone"
Below I have placed in some links to scientific studies. I apologize that some of the articles are not full but I don't have a subscription to these websites.
If you need someone to talk to please feel free to send me a pm or email me at [email protected]
thank you so much
Grace
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/21/1843
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/8/1025? maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=gastric+bypass&sea rchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/61/8/1185
You are not the only one having very SERIOUS side effects from this surgery; I can think of a handful off the top of my head who are regulars here and I'm sure they will be reading your story and thinking "yes, I can attest to that too" later in the day.
Thanks for sharing your story. We need to hear EVERY type experience, not just the happy endings.
So glad you are feeling a bit better these days....continued improving health for YOU!
Thanks for sharing your story. We need to hear EVERY type experience, not just the happy endings.
So glad you are feeling a bit better these days....continued improving health for YOU!
Marilyn (now in NM)
RNY 10/2/01
262(HW)/150-155(GW)/159(CW)
(updated March 2012)
I am sorry that you went through all this and wish you would have come sooner. With all your symptoms, I am sure you had many vitamin and mineral deficiencies plus probably protein deficiency as well. What many doctors and surgeons don't take into account when looking at labs, they look at basic ranges and as long as you are in the range, they say you are fine. This isn't the case. We need to be at the top of most of the ranges and some we even need to be way over the range. So, you said you were at the bottom of your vitamin levels, this is telling me you were severely deficient and needed major supplementation in many areas. If you had neurological problems, I am sure you were B12 deficient as well as other Bvitamins. You mentioned your eye sight was giving you problems, that lend itself to vitamin A. Severe fatigue - that goes along with vitamin B12, iron, ferritin, folic acid, vitamin D. I hate to see what has happened to your bones.
I really hope the reversal has eliminated these problems. I wish you all the best.
I really hope the reversal has eliminated these problems. I wish you all the best.
actually my b12 was waaaaaay over. I gave myself shots of b12 every week. when for the short time my labs were abnormal I changed my vitamins and they too came back fine and often times over the normal range as well.
My reversal plucked me from the downward spiral of health issues. I still have some Neuro damage but it's not near as bad as before and more importantly, the ailments I did suffer from were halted where they stood and didn't get any worse.
sadly there are MANY people out there that like me, do all the things and tests and whatnot and still have issues.
I wish you all the best as well
My reversal plucked me from the downward spiral of health issues. I still have some Neuro damage but it's not near as bad as before and more importantly, the ailments I did suffer from were halted where they stood and didn't get any worse.
sadly there are MANY people out there that like me, do all the things and tests and whatnot and still have issues.
I wish you all the best as well
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