JohnnyCakes

Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my surgery. Feeling great not only physically but mentally as well. Still have a way to go but the goal is within sight.

Regular cane sugar (sucrose) is made of two sugar molecules bound tightly together -- glucose and fructose in equal amounts. The enzymes in your digestive tract must break down the sucrose into glucose and fructose, which are then absorbed into the body.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consists of glucose and fructose, not in a 50-50 ratio, but a 55-45 fructose to glucose ratio in an unbound form. Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your bloodstream.

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When I started the 'program' at the current hospital , they asked me at my first appointment... "so, are you excited?" I burst their little bubbles by saying NO, I am not. Then explained to them that I had been trying to get WLS for 2 mind-numbing years but that because of insurance issues the rug kept getting ripped out from under me. But i'm soooooo excited now. This morning I found out I've lost 5 of the 17 lbs I need to loose, my A1C is down, and I have only 3 things left to do: Loose the remaining weight, take life classes, and complete the sleep study. THEN I can meet with the surgeons. WOOHOO this is the first time in a LONG time I've been excited about this journey. Feels good. Feels realllllll good!

my BP went from 170/110 (just a tad high) to 110/65 a month after surgery.
again, this surgery is a frickin miracle.

Overall I’m pretty pleased. Been a long slow journey. I started at 410 lbs. Currently at 225 lbs. Want to lose 25-30 more lbs. No longer Diabetic which means no more insulin shots. No more sleep apnea & no more Neuropathy in my feet. Off all 10 of my medications. Have not gained back a single pound. Completely changed the way I eat & exercise everyday. Gym workouts & a 3 mile daily walk is the norm. I’m really proud my A1C was 5.6. Bout as good as it gets. Blood Pressure & Cholesterol levels perfect. Main thing is I feel great. Hope to finally hit my goal next year. Still eat about 1500 calories a day. I like the new me & looking forward to the better me.

congrats and merry xmas back

i would suggest your PCP/internist.

@JohnnyCakes Thank you!

if it hasn't gone down yet, it likely won't.
assuming you don't smoke, sometimes it's a genetic thing and it's out of your control. you need to get on prescription medication. talk to your doctor. it is quite dangerous to be walking around with for any length of time...

i would suggest your PCP/internist.

my BP went from 170/110 (just a tad high) to 110/65 a month after surgery.
again, this surgery is a frickin miracle.

my BP went from 170/110 (just a tad high) to 110/65 a month after surgery.
again, this surgery is a frickin miracle.

if it hasn't gone down yet, it likely won't.
assuming you don't smoke, sometimes it's a genetic thing and it's out of your control. you need to get on prescription medication. talk to your doctor. it is quite dangerous to be walking around with for any length of time...

if it hasn't gone down yet, it likely won't.
assuming you don't smoke, sometimes it's a genetic thing and it's out of your control. you need to get on prescription medication. talk to your doctor. it is quite dangerous to be walking around with for any length of time...

do not pretend to speak for everyone like you are some psychologist.
no, i would NOT respond with anger if my wife became disabled due to an accident. i would be too filled with sadness, sympathy, and support.
you sound exactly like the wife that Thom here needs to get away from. wow.

day 1 was the worst.
every day since, it’s gotten better.

bypass > sleeve in nearly every respect.

you are correct. i must have glanced over the Hashimoto’s part. my bad.
that said, the surgery usually does correct subclinical hypothyroidism. it did with me. it also lowers inflammation in general, so i’d be curious to see how it affects Hashimoto’s. sounds like you got on top of yours. congrats!

get the surgery! 1,000 times over. for 2 reasons:
1 - if you’re struggling this much with weight (and health and thyroid) when you’re this young, do you think things will get better/easier as you get older? i just turned 40 and let me tell you, it does not. all your issues will continue to worsen, including your weight after a few more yo-yo’s. get the surgery because it works and you’ll be able to go on with your life without struggling with your weight. you’ll never need synthroid or metformin again either.
2 - i know it might seem like a “nuclear option” (your words), but it’s really not. you have a problem (as do we all), and this is a fix. it’s as simple as that. but the main thing is how normal life is after surgery. YES, you will be able to eat and enjoy food still. NO, if your surgeon is good, you will not experience complications.
again, i wish i could go back to when i was 25 or 30 to do this surgery. would have saved a lot of energy, heartache, and health damage. i’m happy to read you’ve decided to go ahead.

you are correct. i must have glanced over the Hashimoto’s part. my bad.
that said, the surgery usually does correct subclinical hypothyroidism. it did with me. it also lowers inflammation in general, so i’d be curious to see how it affects Hashimoto’s. sounds like you got on top of yours. congrats!

I have my bypass surgery on Dec 18th. Super nervous, but so ready to start this new chapter. I had a good conversation with @JohnnyCakes and I will tell you that after talking to him and others successes on these forums, i felt sure that I was making the right choice. I'm happy for you. You made the right choice. See you on the other side of this weight loss success journey.

Untrue that OP will never need Synthroid again if she loses the weight. That is not a legitimate claim you can make about WLS, that it will resolve autoimmune hypothyroidism.
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies directed against the thyroid gland lead to chronic inflammation. This means she’ll almost certainly need to be on medication the rest of her life. What changes with weight loss is the dosage she’ll require.
I have this disorder and as I’ve been losing weight post gastric bypass I’ve had to have labs drawn every few months and my medication adjusted a couple of times. I’m currently below goal weight and am at the low end of normal BMI. My endocrinologist is very happy with my weight and T3 & T4 levels.

get the surgery! 1,000 times over. for 2 reasons:
1 - if you’re struggling this much with weight (and health and thyroid) when you’re this young, do you think things will get better/easier as you get older? i just turned 40 and let me tell you, it does not. all your issues will continue to worsen, including your weight after a few more yo-yo’s. get the surgery because it works and you’ll be able to go on with your life without struggling with your weight. you’ll never need synthroid or metformin again either.
2 - i know it might seem like a “nuclear option” (your words), but it’s really not. you have a problem (as do we all), and this is a fix. it’s as simple as that. but the main thing is how normal life is after surgery. YES, you will be able to eat and enjoy food still. NO, if your surgeon is good, you will not experience complications.
again, i wish i could go back to when i was 25 or 30 to do this surgery. would have saved a lot of energy, heartache, and health damage. i’m happy to read you’ve decided to go ahead.

get the surgery! 1,000 times over. for 2 reasons:
1 - if you’re struggling this much with weight (and health and thyroid) when you’re this young, do you think things will get better/easier as you get older? i just turned 40 and let me tell you, it does not. all your issues will continue to worsen, including your weight after a few more yo-yo’s. get the surgery because it works and you’ll be able to go on with your life without struggling with your weight. you’ll never need synthroid or metformin again either.
2 - i know it might seem like a “nuclear option” (your words), but it’s really not. you have a problem (as do we all), and this is a fix. it’s as simple as that. but the main thing is how normal life is after surgery. YES, you will be able to eat and enjoy food still. NO, if your surgeon is good, you will not experience complications.
again, i wish i could go back to when i was 25 or 30 to do this surgery. would have saved a lot of energy, heartache, and health damage. i’m happy to read you’ve decided to go ahead.

a few issues to unpack here -
1 - to answer your question, i think the hysterectomy is the primary culprit for your recent weight gain. because it's known to do that, AND because you've been drinking this whole time up til now without gaining.
2 - gaining 13 (or more) pounds is the least of your concerns. probably the biggest thing in the field of bariatric science right now is the risk of alcohol (and drug) addiction. before i got my surgery, my surgeon stressed to me (rather disturbingly) that alcohol addiction is the ONLY thing that keeps him up at night. it is a huge concern for him. it's so big, that i think it might eventually threaten the viability of the surgery. if the statistics and research keep bearing out what it has been, it's possible that they "outlaw" the surgery.
why? well we all know that alcohol "hits" you harder, and longer. anything that has more dramatic effect is more easily to be abused. however, there's a mystery element going on. a recent study found it's NOT just about our new anatomy. i.e. it's not just that alcohol isn't cushioned by the stomach anymore and dumped right into the intestine. they did a study where they took two groups of rats - one with normal anatomy, and another that had a gastric bypass - and they administered alcohol into these rats intravenously. so they bypassed the entire digestive tract and made the rats equally "drunk" through IV-administered alcohol. they shockingly found that the rats with the gastric bypass ended up significantly more addicted. what does that mean? basically they don't know for sure yet, but there is something about the surgery that increases the susceptibility to addiction and substance abuse. something about the surgery changes the brain to make this the case. which is also the reason that those with gastric bypass get addicted to things like cocaine and heroin. those don't go thru the digestive tract either. this is different from "transfer addiction". that is not what's going on.
so what to do? i'm in the same boat because while i wasn't an alcoholic before surgery, i was getting there. and unfortunately now that i find myself nearing my goal weight, i have started drinking again after a good 5 months off. and yes, i notice it's much stronger and more effective. so i'm worried as well. aside from finding a very sweet person on this website who has partnered up with me to support each other in our addictions (mine being alcohol, hers being a particular food), there's another strategy i'm going to try...
it's called naltrexone. it's a prescription drug that has been found to have profound effects in curbing alcohol abuse. take it once a day and it basically neutralizes the "reward" signal in your brain when exposed to drugs and alcohol. so eventually you can look at a glass of wine and have zero interest in drinking it. more and more physicians are wising up to this powerful tool and prescribing it to their patients (as opposed to just telling them to join AA). i've decided i'm going to make an appt with my doctor and ask for it. i did not go thru this surgery to go from one hell to another. i want to nip it in the bud.
here's an article on how naltrexone can help: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/