I have been noticing in several posts that people report feeling colder after this surgery. Some people attribute it to the weight loss, but others say they have lost large amounts of weight before and not had this effect. I decided to do some research. There are several articles that say increasing ghrelin increases body temperature. This article suggests that rats that don't produce ghrelin have trouble regulating body temperature in cold environments. They also have less nonREM sleep, (more dream time, less deep restful sleep), but they stay awake better during the day. I guess what is interesting to me is this hormone is a big player in sleep and thermo-regulation. I was wondering what others have personally noticed about their changes in sleep and ability to adjust to cold or hot temperatures.

Personally. I have noticed I sleep less, 6-7 hours at night. I feel awake but tire easily (which I think is more related to surgery recovery). I have definitely felt colder and always have a blanket over me.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/03/0903090106.full.pdf

That's so weird.... I was ALWAYS cold pre-surgery!! I slept with a down blanket year round, always wore sweat-shirts and rarely broke a sweat! I've been sleeved for about 6 wks now and havent really noticed a difference! I still sleep with my comforter and wear sweat-shirts in the evening.... I've only lost about 25lbs so far, so I guess after I start losing more weight I'll start to get super cold now???? Should I bring a sweat-shirt jacket to keep at the office, just in case???

What brought me to this forum is a google search on ghrelin and body temperature. I have not had VSG but did have RNY gastric bypass Dec 2003. Relevant background long story short, my BMI was only 37 at time of surgery but I was approved by insurance due to all the co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, GERD, sleep apnea, several back surgeries, etc. Prior to surgery I could kill house plants with frostbite in the summertime. I was ALWAYS HOT, with my heat exiting my head leaving my hair dripping perspiration ALL THE TIME. Like some have mentioned here, I had fans blowing on my all the time, home, work, always.

My body temp regulation changed the day of surgery; NOT after losing 5 lbs, 10 lbs or 50 lbs.... but the day of surgery. My sister,as usual, wore her jacket in my room turning thermostat down for me out of habit, but it was not necessary. Upon discharge we spent another night in hotel (I was 200 mi from home and hated to leave in case of complications) where she kept turning down thermostat for me... again not necessary. On trip home out of habit she cranked the a/c in the car and aimed all vents at me, again not necessary.

I have been truly baffled by the change in body temp which was not a result of weight loss, but a result of surgery. I believe (many years ago) my surgeon answered this question explaining the lack of a hormone (which name escapes me hence the research) produced by the stomach that not only regulates hunger messages sent to the brain but body temp as well. I also find it odd that my normal body temp is less than the norm 98.6 but usually 97.4 anytime during the day.

Finally, finding such a discussion on a VSG forum baffles me more since your stomach is still a part of your digestive system, whereas mine was severed with gastric bypass and is not. Has anyone found a study on this or can point me towards more relevant research?

Maintained BMI 25.0 for 7 years post RNY

The portion of our stomach that produces ghrelin has been removed in our surgery. I do believe the removal of ghrelin does have an impact on our body temperatures. I've heard of some studies being done about it, and some findings are in favor of this, though nothing conclusive yet I believe. It's been awhile since I've researched this though so who knows. Right now it's just my speculations, along with many others.

I wonder how many of you have had your thyroid checked with this weight loss. Changes in the body can affect your thyroid. Being overweight can be a cause of, or can cause hypothyroidism. Conversely, losing weight can cause the thyroid to kick into gear - your thyroid could be now functioning at either a normal rate, OR to high. Please be sure to have your thyroid checked! Your thyroid controls much more in your body than most people understand. Make sure that you're not just having a TSH test, but also have your Free T3 and Free T4 as well as antibodies tested. Studies have found a direct correlation between higher Ghrelin and Hypothyroidism.

http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/ghrelin_elevated_in_hypothyroid_problems/

I have always been the one that is colder in a group of people, but not always that bad of a difference. Lately, I am FREEZING!!! I am sitting here at work with my winter coat sitting at my desk. Of course, most are guys sitting around me- so of course they are fine. Argh!! I think I'm going to be one of those temperature guages and see what the temp really is. I swear it feels like its in the mid 60's. Now, on a sunny breezy day, ok.... but it's winter. I get home and CRANK up the heat in the house just to get my bones warm from being cold all day. I guess I figured it has to do with having lost so much hair that I'm not retaining heat like I was, plus I don't have near the "insulation" I used to either. Either way, I know I am COLD A LOT!!!!

I searched for this thread after I found an article that scared me on the role of low ghrelin levels in the development of Alzheimer's disease. It seems that more and more research is being done on this. This is from Nov 2011 and I am trying to get hold of the whole article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21983104

Shame I hadn't seen this before I got sleeved!

I'm cold hot cold hot cold hot... I think my hormones must be a mess! Im almost 12 months out and was through menopause before surgery...

Very interesting, thank you for sharing this.

I'm not sure it would have kept me from having the surgery because my quality of life was just not that great and at the rate I was going it was not going to get any better. I actually have been having short term memory issues for a few years now and I just turned 40 last October- so way too early to be having that problem. Most people tell me its because I always have too much on my plate to deal with. Perhaps, but it has gotten worse over the past year or two (before my sleeve surgery). My PCP dismisses this when I talk to him about it, and so I made an appointment to see a neurologist this month. I might bring a copy of this article with me though just to see what he says about it.

I'm doing some more googling though on this subject just to see what pops up. Here is another article I found if anyone is interested.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100301/Study-shows-ghrelin-prevents-acute-liver-damage-reduces-oxidative-stress-and-inflammation.aspx

I searched for this thread after I found an article that scared me on the role of low ghrelin levels in the development of Alzheimer's disease. It seems that more and more research is being done on this. This is from Nov 2011 and I am trying to get hold of the whole article.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/21983104

Shame I hadn't seen this before I got sleeved!

I wonder how many of you have had your thyroid checked with this weight loss.

Had the thyroid levels checked twice as part of my periodic checks and it's still OK. Something else is obviously going on here.

Very interesting, thank you for sharing this. I'm not sure it would have kept me from having the surgery because my quality of life was just not that great and at the rate I was going it was not going to get any better. I actually have been having short term memory issues for a few years now and I just turned 40 last October- so way too early to be having that problem. Most people tell me its because I always have too much on my plate to deal with. Perhaps, but it has gotten worse over the past year or two (before my sleeve surgery). My PCP dismisses this when I talk to him about it, and so I made an appointment to see a neurologist this month. I might bring a copy of this article with me though just to see what he says about it. I'm doing some more googling though on this subject just to see what pops up. Here is another article I found if anyone is interested. http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100301/Study-shows-ghrelin-prevents-acute-liver-damage-reduces-oxidative-stress-and-inflammation.aspx

On the plus side, it seems that the body compensates for the sudden loss of ghrelin from the stomach as shown in this article based on people who have had total gastrectomies. On the down side, ghrelin is also involved in bone formation. Of well!..... better look after our pancreas then! http://physrev.physiology.org/content/85/2/495.full#1._Total_gastrectomy

The stomach is the major source of circulating ghrelin. Total gastrectomy, as is performed in the treatment of gastric cancer or sever gastric ulcers, was shown to decrease the plasma concentrations of ghrelin to ∼30–50% of those of pregastrectomy when measured at 30 min after the operation. This concentration gradually increased to ∼70% of the level before the operation. These results indicate that gastric ghrelin production accounts for ∼50–70% of circulating ghrelin but that this percentage is subject to compensatory production possibly by the intestines and pancreas.

It has been suggested that gastric factor(s) may control bone formation, since total gastrectomy sometimes induces osteopenia. Synthetic ghrelin agonists, GHSs, have been shown to directly stimulate osteocyte growth. Thus ghrelin may be involved in the gastric regulation of bone formation.

Well, I had bloodwork done at 3 and 6 months, and nothing came up showing a problem- but I don't know that he specifically checked for that. What do they have to request when checking?

Well, I had bloodwork done at 3 and 6 months, and nothing came up showing a problem- but I don't know that he specifically checked for that. What do they have to request when checking?

No idea, but I guess the research about how the body compensates is still underway! if you find out more please let me know. I would also be interested in what your neurologist says about the memory issue.

Thanks.

I sure will. My appt is in a couple weeks. I'm going to friend you so in case I forget where this thread is I can get back to you. :-)

Before my surgery, 6 Dec 2011, I got cold easily. I'm down 37 lbs and I haven't noticed a change in my temps. I'll definitely keep a look out for temp changes though. I don't want to be colder.

On the other hand, I live in Alabama and the instant I walk out into that sunlight, I start to sweat profusely, but everyone sweats profusely in the Alabama sun. lol

Being cold will be a nice feature during New Mexico summers!! I look forward to that.