Question:
Did Gastric Bypass help with pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromylgia

also, did anyone with Rheumatoid have issues with meds after bypass?    — drowland (posted on June 17, 2008)

June 17, 2008
Hi, wow my friend has exactly the same symtoms and she is having GYN soon I would check into diff doc and see what they say best of luck Tammi
   — Tammi Sandoval

June 17, 2008
My sister had RNY 4 years ago and has a severe case of RA. She was taking 13 diff meds, since RNY she has lost weight and has been able to function w/o a can and/or wheelchair! She looks normal..and unless you know her, and she tells you she's in pain... you'd never know! She looks awesome!!! Good Luck.
   — 502Laxi

June 17, 2008
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia several years ago, and my symptoms have significantly decreased after WLS (RNY) with a loss so far of 61 pounds. Best wishes!
   — Gina S.

June 17, 2008
I am 19 and I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when i was 17. I had my surgery on November 20th 2007. I have done so much better with my Fibromyalgia! I am not having near as much pain as I use too! I have also lost 100lbs. So the weight coming off really does help! Good Luck!!
   — Jennifer B.

June 17, 2008
I have fibro, and have not had surgery yet. This was one of my questions as well. I am in a constant flare along with other chronic pain conditions as well. At the informational meeting I went to, I asked this and was told that it would not cure it by any means, which I already know, and that it will not have much significance on any of the pain, except for a little better mobility. I guess for me, only time will tell. Best of luck to you and hoping you have many more pain free days than not. :)
   — bicngillette

June 17, 2008
I have not had the RNY, I have had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, but I too, suffer from Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have lost 76 pounds in about a three and a half months. My Arthritis had improved nearly IMMEDIATELY after the surgery! I believe that just the reduction of caloric INTAKE made a BIG DIFFERENCE. As I lose more weight, I find that I am LESS troubled by the LITTLE arthritis that was left. My Fibromyalgia has taken LONGER to resolve, but I have made some great strides in reducing the amount of pain that I was suffering from, even with THAT. Before the surgery, there were days when I would wake feeling as if I had been hit by a TRUCK! My day would get WORSE from there (including migraines). Today I am 76 pounds LIGHTER, and I no longer wake feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I do not get the feelings of having SPIKES shoved through my ARMS. The worst that I get is a SORENESS where the spikes USED to be. I have about 65 or 70 pounds to go before I hit my optimum weight. I suspect that when I do, things will be much better for me with regards to both my Fibromyalgia and my migraines. The improvement in my arthritis has been PHENOMINAL at this point. Before the surgery, I did not want to walk around the local WALMART due to the pain. Just last WEEK, I was on vacation with my family in Washington, DC, and we walked EVERYWHERE! I was TIRED afterwards and a FEW times I had to SIT on account of some discomfort, but after a few minutes of rest, I was ready to go. There was NO WAY I could have done something like this BEFORE the surgery. I was FEARFUL of the surgery BEFORE having it because I had noticed an INCREASE in both my Fibromyalgia pain and my Arthritis pain when I was HUNGRY. After I had EATEN, the pain would seem to subside a bit. I was afraid that the SURGERY would cause the pain to be CONSTANT, because It would be as if I was HUNGRY all the time. It has done the OPPOSITE. I do not know if my heightened levels of pain while I was hungry was due to what may be termed "sympathetic pain" where I felt the OTHER pain more acutely because I was hungry, or if it was a psychosomatic response, caused by my THINKING it was so, but whatever the cause, my fears were unjustified. Getting the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy was the best thing I could have done to treat these conditions. Having gotten the SLEEVE, I do not have to fear WHICH medications to take, since I can take ALL of the medications that I could PRIOR to the procedure. The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy is the SAFEST WEIGHT LOSS SURGICAL ALTERNITAVE for people with IMMUNE SYSTEM PROBLEMS like ours. MANY insurance companies will PAY for it if they KNOW that you NEED it to take your MEDS. Many SURGEONS do not OFFER it because it is so DIFFICULT to get insurance companies to PAY for it. It is WORTH the EFFORT to TRY. It MAY be worth the effort to PAY for the surgery YOURSELF, considering that you are going to have to LIVE with the RESULTS of the operation for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Many surgeons now offer financing for Weight Loss Surgery. If that is not an option, perhaps you could borrow the money from elsewhere. It seems ODD to me that people are willing to pay more money for a CAR that they will THROW AWAY in 7 to 10 YEARS, than they are willing to pay to have a Surgical Procedure done that could improve their HEALTH (OR make it WORSE) and that they have to LIVE with the results of for THE REST OF THEIR LIVES! They would MUCH RATHER get a FREE (IE-paid for by an insurance company that DOES NOT have their best interest at heart but that of their OWN BOTTOM LINE) Procedure done and spend MORE money and time in the LONG RUN on the EXTRAS, than make the sacrifice up FRONT and SAVE themselves some GRIEF and MONEY in the LONG RUN. I have NO MALABSORPTION ISSUES to deal with! The ONLY SUPPLIMENTS that I take are REGULAR VITAMINS that you can get from the GROCERY STORE! My BLOODWORK comes back FINE (except for the medication that I have to DROP constantly because I am LOSING WEIGHT SO FAST)! If you are WORRIED about the meds, this may be the surgery that you need. Try locating a surgeon that DOES this operation AND accepts your insurance. Talk to him or her about what it would take to CONVINCE your insurance company to PAY for this surgery as medically NECESSARY for YOU. If it is COUCHED in THOSE TERMS, many insurance companies will pay for the alternative operation. A SURGEON that does BOTH procedures will have LESS AT STAKE in trying to SELL you ONE type of surgery over the OTHER. If it was ME, however, I would go to the surgeon that only did the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (if one existed) and took my insurance, because he would fight HARDER with the insurance company to get the SLEEVE procedure done, instead of just SETTLING for what he could get with the Gastric Bypass, which may be FINE for HIM, but not necessarily for YOU. You are not likely to FIND a situation like THAT, though. I am NOT trying to "BASH" the Gastric Bypass surgery. It is a PERFECTLY VIABLE OPTION for many people. People with IMMUNE SYSTEM ISSUES should avoid it, if POSSIBLE as well as the Lap Band and the Duodenal Switch. People with IMMUNE SYSTEM ISSUES should avoid the Lap Band because there is a foreign object that is placed INSIDE your body that your immune system can REACT to. It is ALREADY PROVEN that we are SENSITIVE to this type of intrusion, since we ALREADY HAVE IMMUNE SYSTEM PROBLEMS. Putting a piece of PLASTIC inside us is just COURTING disaster. Our Sensitized immune system is likely to go CRAZY with the Lap Band and FORCE us into a very PAINFUL and COSTLY REVISION (if not something WORSE). The reasons to avoid BOTH the Gastric Bypass AND the DUODENAL SWITCH are the same. The procedures, due to the very NATURE of their design, often interfere with the medications that we need to CONTROL our immune system problems. There is NO GARAUNTEE that ANY Weight Loss Surgery, Either the Gastric Bypass, the Duodenal Switch, the Lap Band, the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty, OR the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy OR any OTHER Weight Loss Option available, will CURE or REDUCE your Immune System Issues! You NEED to keep your MEDICATION options OPEN! The Lap Band, the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty, and the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, ALL do this. The Lap Band is NOT a suitable option for Immune System Problem sufferers. The Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (the old fashioned "Stomach Stapling") has not been shown to be as effective as the Gastric Bypass, the Duodenal Switch, OR the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (there is not much long term data in the US about this procedure, but it has been done in Europe and Central and South America for quite some time with GREAT success). There are some health related concerns OUTSIDE of performance with the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty that have caused it to fall out of favor with many surgeons. Since this missive is long ENOUGH, I don't want to go into details, but I suggest that you do some research on your OWN on the subject, if you are curious. To learn MORE about your options, Check out my profile page at: http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/hubarlow/. Look for my post titled, "Surgical Comparisons." If you don't see it on my profile page when you first get there, check out the March Archives. There are LINKS in the post that will get you to VIDEOS of each surgical OPTION commonly available. There is quite a bit of information there. Use MY research as a FOUNDATION for your OWN research! It is CRUCIAL that you DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and KNOW what you are getting into. I didn't, but I was LUCKY. My INSTINCT TOLD me that this was the RIGHT SURGERY for ME when I FIRST WAS TOLD OF IT at my SURGEON'S OFFICE! Having DONE the research, I am CONVINCED that I was right. If you have already HAD your surgery, then I am sorry. I do NOT want, NOR do I intend to upset you by trying to make you feel that YOUR choice was the wrong one. If the Gastric Bypass is the ONLY OPTION that you HAVE, then BY ALL MEANS, GET IT! Deal with the OTHER ISSUES that come as the side effects of the procedure as they come. Just reducing your weight is very likely to HELP in dealing with your IMMUNE SYSTEM ISSUES, and you may not NEED to take the immune medications for long AFTER the surgery. It is NOT a guarantee, though. If you HAVE had the Gastric Bypass, and I have written this to you to no avail, then consider this: Perhaps the next person who READS this response can use the information. I have had people get angry with me in the past because I have written something like this, assuming that I was trying to bash their CHOSEN surgery. That is the FARTHEST THING from my mind. If this is your case, then I wish you ALL the BEST, and I hope that everything works out WELL for you. I am just trying to help. I find that INFORMATION and EDUCATION are the best cures for IGNORANCE. THAT is my goal. I hope this helps, Hugh
   — hubarlow

June 18, 2008
I have RA that affected mostly my knees and shoulders/neck... I could barely walk with a cane. After open RNY, the pain of the surgery displaced the pain in my knees and with all the meds I was on, I barely felt my RA and walked all over the hospital. It was not long before all signs of RA were completely gone. I was no longer allowed to take my meds because they were too harsh for my pouch. Doc told me to take tylenol if it got bad. But it only got better. fast forward 4.5 years....I am beginning to get a touch of RA in my elbow/fingers/neck ...and on rainy days i can feel my knees, but NOTHING...like before surgery. Glucosamine with chondriotin and msm helps...along with tylenol on bad days. There are times when it flares pretty bad and Blue Emu Oil helps a lot to take the edge off the pain.
   — .Anita R.

June 18, 2008
I have RA and the flare ups right after wls were quite frequent. No sooner than I was over one flare another was right behind lasting longer each time. I did not come off all my RA meds and have to take due to slow down progression of the disease. Now 4 yrs later the pain is not as bad as the first 2 yrs post-op and but it can be severe when a flare up first starts to happen and when I have done something like yard work or stood for a long time doing something. I have had right knee replaced and due the other with possible hip. The damage done before wls to my joints there is nothing that can be done. I take pain meds and tylenol when the pain gets too unbearable at times.
   — mspisces