Year 6 and things to think about when considering surgery

I haven't been on this site in years, but wish I had someone tell me about the things I could expect after weight loss. I find myself on sick leave, severely anemic and weak due to an iron deficiency. This time off has left me feeling nostalgic and a reflective of the "fallout" of wls. I have gained about 50 lbs in the past year and a half, mostly due to the fact that my life has been significantly impacted by my exhaustion and I litteraly work, eat and sleep. I have encountered incredibly difficult challenges at work and the death if a loved one...I feel aweful about my weight gain. The malabsorption of iron has caused huge issues with my stamina. I wish I had paid more attention to this before. My mind is all there but my body is not keeping up. I am wAiting for IV iron infusions, if that doesn't work, then blood transfusions will be required. If I could do it again, I would insist on having IV transfusions prescribed when the iro deficiency became apparent 2 yrs ago.

We definitely need to be our own advocates. No one cares as much about our health as we need to.

Always better to take our supplements before a deficiency occurs.

I haven't had any " fallout" of having weight loss surgery.

It is a well known fact and was even 10 years ago when I first started researching it.

Weight gain is usually not the fault of the surgery. It is the fault of what we put on our mouths.

I also malabsorption iron and have infusionscwhen necessary.

Even with iron deficiency anemia, I am still healthier and on better physical shape than I was before WLS. My type 2 diabetes went into remission and had been in remission since my surgery.

I am sorry for your loss.

I am almost 10 years out... probably 5 years ago my Ferritin would come back low first a 11 then a 7 ...never got higher and not much suggestion from WLS Physician Assistant. My primary doctor also reviews my labs and he had me start taking Ferrous Sulfate the first lab it came back low. This was constipating, so I was not religiously taking it. I had no support and joined OH last Spring. I read where someone else had problems with constipation and I believe Grim, a member here, mentioned that Carbonyl Iron was better and not as constipating. On my own I went and switched to Carbonyl Iron which I found at CVS. I reasearched google/online and saw where a doctor had someone taking 2 of the Carbonyl Iron a day. I normally don't do things on my own without my doctor but I did this. January 16 I had my labs again and my Ferritin is 60... which they say is good. My Iron was a little high and I am now cutting back to 1 Carbonyl Iron. I was tired too all those years with comuting an hour 15 min to and from work which were 12 hour days and 2 teenage girls at home. Laid off now after 18 years (General Electric) which has turned to be a blessing for me to concentrate on me for the first time. Better for family too. My world felt like ending at first!

(Grim I thank you for this Iron suggestion in the Spring... that was not personally to me but I benefited from the great advice).

I too gained 40 with all the GE stress I had for 2 years ... husband worked there too (25 years) and laid off ... scary times! He luckily found something great pretty quickly and all is well again. We were blessed. I found something as well this past Summer but it was 2 hours away with 2 major traffic zones and I did not stay. Didn't realize when I took how horrible the commute was. Not a good fit with kids home. I am enjoying for now being home and regaining my mental and physical health. It was tough to come to this decision. I have worked my entire life. Could not find anything local. Been losing weight back to basics and need 15 lbs more. I feel much better with my Iron higher.

Do you know what your Ferritin number was?My doctors never recommended an Iron Infusion which I probably needed too at the time. We have to be our own advocates and our kids as well.

I hope you feel better. Hopefully you will get the infusion soon. Maybe pick up a bottle of Carbonyl Iron as well? Are you taking Iron daily?

I saw a hematologist before I had RNY and he gave me an infusion 6 months before my surgery. I have not needed another one since and it has now been 2 years and 2 months since RNY.

I feel amazing and even though I am going through severe stress right now I know I have the power to control this weight and not regain any further.

I'm sorry you weren't sufficiently educated before your surgery. (that might read as derogatory but is not intended that way).

The good thing is that now you know. Do what you need to do to get fixed back up. I'm a veteran of countless iron infusions and yes even many, many blood transfusions. Just get it taken care of and you'll feel much better I promise.

Feeling so strongly that others should be better informed pre-op will I hope translate into you sticking around and sharing your knowledge and experiences. You can personally change this situation for the better by contributing your thoughts and ideas to the newbies here.

It seems like the severe anemia is something that can pop up several years after the surgery. I wonder if half the challenge is that we can go a few years, maybe not being all that diligent about taking our iron and vitamin supplements but all appears to be well, then we start to slack off the supplements even though we know it's critical to our long term health. I've also read stories from people who WERE diligent with their vitamins and iron supplements who still have needed to have iron infusions because their body simply can't absorb enough through the gut system, no matter how much or often it's taken.

I appreciate your post and thank you for posting it. A lot of vets on here have comments in their signatures about the importance of taking your supplements and it never hurts to keep getting that message out there!

One of the things I'm loving so much right now (mid honeymoon/weight loss stage) is all extra energy I have! I hate the thought of allowing my body to deplete to the point where I'm suffering from anemia! I know I don't get anywhere near the normal amounts of vitamins and minerals from my now reduced (volume) diet, even BEFORE I take the malabsorption into account. I know that by focusing far more on protein than complex carbs, I'm not getting nearly the level of general vitamins I used to get from eating all those dark leafy greens, red peppers and berries, and cruciferous veggies! I still cook almost exclusively on cast iron, but I don't cook very much or even daily. And of course, even if I was eating better, I'd still have the malabsorption issue.

As I was reading your post I took my iron supplements :)

Hi,

I am post op and a revision patient with autoimmune issues. My iron is always going to be a challenge. Just a few months after surgery, my iron dropped a lot to merit iron infusion in December. Glad I did it. I had lost a lot of hair, had problems with energy and lethargy. I also gained weight due to chronic reflux with the sleeve and now I am at the weight I was in 2009 since the bypass. Go get an iron infusion. You will feel much better.

The problem as I see if that we need to be our own advocate and researcher.

Way before you became severely depleted in iron they might have been signs that docs ignored. Not because they mean you harm, but because thy don't know any better.

I was a case like that. I complained about being tired, always sleepy, dead tired.

But my docs were telling me that my numbers are fine. Unfortunately they did not measure what was important - ferritin. they relied on iron and hemoglobin...

The other numbers were "fine" until they dropped when my ferritin dropped into 10 and below. And I was miserable. Very tired, very emotional.

I was lucky taht I found a doc who hated when I grown woman was "crying in his office" and realized that I am iron depleted and ordered iron infusions.

2 weeks after them - I felt more like a human. 4 weeks after them I was hiking in Colorado with more energy that I should have. But when you lived with low iron,low ferritin, anemia, and suddenly you body gets charged - you can breathe and move.

Low ferritin is not fun. RLS, being tired yet unable to sleep, but falling asleep in a chair .. just because.

Hopefully you can get iron infusions and fell better.