My wife is getting the sleeve in November and she currenty is 430 pounds, and she has a hard time walking a long distance and has knee pain and was told her cartilage is gone on both knees but one is worse than the other, my question to you on this forum is how much can she expect her pain to improve as she loses the weight.

I noticed major relief in my knee joints after dropping 30-40lbs, and now after losing 145lbs, my knees no longer ache at all. I have zero cartilage in my left knee, and have had 2 knee surgeries. My ACL has been replaced once, and the replacement tendon has been repaired with cartilage removed during both surgeries. I was diagnosed with arthritis in both knees in my early 20s.

My knees no longer hurt after hours on my feet. They don't hurt after exercise, but I do have some bone rubbing during certain workouts that cause some discomfort.

The one big difference is the fact that I can get out of bed, and not wobble around like an 88yr old woman with snap, cracking and popping joints like I did pre-op.

her pain may decrease but eventually the pain will increase if left untreated. ambulating without cartilage in a knee is painful and can eventually become impossible for some. can lead to osteoarthritis and could lead to a joint replacement. there other therapies out there but most find a joint replacement to be successful

i've worked with patients who need joint replacements but surgeons will not perform on them unless they lose weight because walking is crucial to the obese person. w/o it their health declines.

so overall, yes her pain will decrease after some weight loss

I noticed major relief in my knee joints after dropping 30-40lbs, and now after losing 145lbs, my knees no longer ache at all. I have zero cartilage in my left knee, and have had 2 knee surgeries. My ACL has been replaced once, and the replacement tendon has been repaired with cartilage removed during both surgeries. I was diagnosed with arthritis in both knees in my early 20s.

My knees no longer hurt after hours on my feet. They don't hurt after exercise, but I do have some bone rubbing during certain workouts that cause some discomfort.

The one big difference is the fact that I can get out of bed, and not wobble around like an 88yr old woman with snap, cracking and popping joints like I did pre-op.

That is such REALLY good news!!! I have mild arthritis... but chronic pain in my hips, knees and heels... what I want MOST from surgery is mobility without pain!!! (and increased energy!!) :-) Amy

Was an absolute game changer for me. Three years ago this month I was walking (actually on a break from work walking to my car to get a 44 oz diet coke and a giant cadbury bar) and just by walking broke my foot. Yup. Broke the damn thing. ( I will also have you know that I still went and got the soda and chocolate) Ever since then and actually way before then even, my feet hurt all the time. This last summer I walked all over Universal Studios and got to the end of the day and realized I wasn't in pain. It was amazing to me. I have a crummy back and that is partly just a hereditary thing, but preop I had been at a place where I was throwing it out (like can't move got stuck on the floor) every couple months minimum. I haven't thrown it out once since surgery.

Obviously we will still have to deal with the damage we have done to our bodies by being obese, but I hope that this really makes a huge difference in her pain, and I promise it will make a huge difference in her life.

Anna

Was an absolute game changer for me. Three years ago this month I was walking (actually on a break from work walking to my car to get a 44 oz diet coke and a giant cadbury bar) and just by walking broke my foot. Yup. Broke the damn thing. ( I will also have you know that I still went and got the soda and chocolate) Ever since then and actually way before then even, my feet hurt all the time. This last summer I walked all over Universal Studios and got to the end of the day and realized I wasn't in pain. It was amazing to me. I have a crummy back and that is partly just a hereditary thing, but preop I had been at a place where I was throwing it out (like can't move got stuck on the floor) every couple months minimum. I haven't thrown it out once since surgery.

Obviously we will still have to deal with the damage we have done to our bodies by being obese, but I hope that this really makes a huge difference in her pain, and I promise it will make a huge difference in her life.

Anna

It's encouraging to hear what folks say. I have end stage osteoarthritis in my knees and need knee replacement. My weight in May was 385.5 Have lost 70 pounds (at 315 now). I have noticed reduced pain. I take hydrocodone for the pain and have been able to cut back on its use. Also I can walk farther and can stand longer than 70 pounds ago. I still have pain intense enough to limit my mobility, but much better now. My internist says I may not need knee replacement. We'll see when I lose down to 250 (the weight at which my orthopedist will do the surgery). I just turned 63 yesterday so my age may complicate matters. Above folks younger than me. But obviously I agree with everyone. I think I read somewhere that every 10 pounds of weight people lose puts substantially less stress on the joints.

Before surgery, I had started having significant pain in one of my hips. There was no explanation other than my weight and joint stress. By the time I lost 15 pounds on my preop diet, the pain was gone. I went from taking a strong RX NSAID once or twice a day to manage the pain to not needing it at all. My knees have been an issue off and on too. I'm noticing a big improvement with them every passing week. They still creak when I'm taking some stairs, but it's getting less and less noticeable. I think increasing my exercise and strength training will improve it even more.

Best wishes to you and your wife.

This is such good news! I have problems with a knee, my hip and flat feet... Its one reason I chose sleeve insted of RNY...taking asprin....My Dr said the surgery will not fix the damage, but could improve the pain.