2.5 yr post op - gaining weight with health problems

My OPEN RNY Gastric Bypass was on 9/28/03. I was at 315 top weight and by my 2 yr anniversary had dropped to 197. Unfortunately I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune deficiency disease called ITP, where my blood platlets are destroyed in my spleen. I was put in the hospital, placed on high does's of Prednisone, Lupron and Mexyprogestrone to stop my menstrual cycles when my platelts dropped to 22,000 (normal is 150-400,000) and was also given 2 Iron transfusions, overnight infusion of gamaglobluin and 8 weeks of chemotherapy on Rituxan. Needless to say, this disease has made me the weakest and most tired I have ever been in my life! I have lost intrest in most things and all i can seem to do is keep my current job and come home and rest. Iam feeling so down, I have gained about 30lbs of my weight back in the last 5 months , My Gastric Bypass surgeon Dr. Tanaka told me that these things would put weight on me, but Iam feeling like such a failure. At current my hair is falling out so terribly bad, very very thin. I seem to have forgotten Iam a post of gastric bypass patient and had stopped taking my protein suppliments. I thank you all for being here, while reading some of the information posted, it has jogged my memory to go back to basics and protien. OPEN RNY 9/28/0 315-197-230 (wants to set goal of 175 then have abdominoplasty)

Penny, sorry to hear about the ITP, my husband was diagnosed with ITP about 8 years ago and went through the prednisone treatments also. Steriods, although a good treatment for ITP, are known to cause weight gain and hunger. I hope they can put the ITP in remission for you, my husband has to really watch what types of medicines he takes are the ITP flares up. Get back to basics making healthy choices and supplementing with protein drinks, a low-carb, low-fat plan right now will keep the weight gain at a minimum. Best wishes, Dana

I understand you are having health problems and gaining weight. However they are using some antidepressant medications for weight loss. Ask your doctor if you could take Welbutrin and topamax for weight loss. They do work for WLS patient and they will help you not to gain weight. After all you had the GBP surgery to loose weight. I believe there is a solution to every complication. Let's hope your Dr will have the answers for you. Their is a list of medication specifically for us that list of what we can and cannot take. If you are interested I will email it to you. Just send me an email to [email protected] with your email address and I will send it to you. Please take the list to your MD. Good luck and I hope I am able to help you Dani

Penny, I'm new to the forum and getting banded on Monday. While I don't have ITP, I can understand how you are feeling. Last November, I was diagnosed with primary kidney disease and secondary nephrotic syndrome. It seemed to come out of nowhere! My particular disease is idiopathic. It has everything to do with my autoimmune system. We'll never know what caused it so the treatments are a crap shoot! What I'm trying to say is... I was ALWAYS HUNGRY from my meds ... too tired to do much of anything... unable to work consistently or focus... and gained a tremendous amount of weight. I felt like such a failure ... at everything. I felt so guilty for feeling so bad. I think I actually made myself feel worse. But... I don't feel like such a failure anymore. I take it a day at a time... I set realistic goals each day... and I let my family help me, even when they aren't happy to do it! I still have bad days but there seems to be more good days now. It was a huge adjustment. Don't be so hard on yourself. Just do the best you can everyday and focus on getting well. If you are tired then rest. Your body needs it right now. Your body my also develop new nutritional needs while it's healing. So, eat your protein and try to take it a day at a time. I'll be praying for you!

Hang in there! I have had ITP which unfortunately progressed to full blown lupus (another of those auto-immune idiots) - Prednisone and I have a love /hate relationship. On the one hand they have saved my life on more than one occasion. On the other hand I call them "instant PMS" pills. I get moody, very hungry, gain weight, weepy, and just gosh darn irritable - not mention they make my skin break out. And yes, they do make you gain weight - the good news is, as you wean down off the prednisone... guess what happens?... off comes the weight along with it ... so you cannot judge where you are at while you are on prednisone. Give yourself a break and tell others so they can give you a break as well. Book you might find helpful "Coping with Prednisone (and other cortisone related medicines" by Zukerman and Ingelfinger. Hopefully this is a temporary issue... Things WILL get better.... and you will be amazed at how you recover your old self once those little powerful pills go away. B