Hi. My name is Kimberly. I am over weight and I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have recently decided on weight loss surgery. I am just in the beginning stages of it. I am signed up for a seminar given by the physicians to learn about the Lapband and the Gastric Sleeve. I have done tons of research on them both and I'm still undecided. I think it will come down to which is best for my RA. I realize I need to get answers from my doctor but I wanted to know if anyone with RA, an auto immune disease, or takes daily steroids has had one of these surgeries and if so which surgery did you choose and how is your journey so far? Thanks. Any advices on these surgeries would be helpful!

I have degenerative arthritis.

I began my journey last year and my sleeve surgery is next week.

Gather information and I will tell you, you are in the right place.

There is so much knowledge and information here, however always remember to follow the advice of your Dr.

I don't take steroids, but I do take meds each day for inflammation and to try and manage the pain. I also have a gel called Volteran that I swear by for joint pain.

You should get some great feedback.

I have degenerative arthritis.

I began my journey last year and my sleeve surgery is next week.

Gather information and I will tell you, you are in the right place.

There is so much knowledge and information here, however always remember to follow the advice of your Dr.

I don't take steroids, but I do take meds each day for inflammation and to try and manage the pain. I also have a gel called Volteran that I swear by for joint pain.

You should get some great feedback.

. Thanks so much!

I have RA and was on prednisone for 7 years and took daily NSAIDS for the last 15 years. I decided to ween off the steroids because I have experienced first hand the effect they had on healing from previous surgeries. It took almost 8 months to ween from10 mg to none because I kept having rebound effects. This is a good article about weening http://www.cssassociation.org/patient-stories-reader/items/reducing-steroids-while-on-a-low-dose-activating-the-adrenal-glands-by-marian-mesker.html

It's important to work with your doctor while weening if you choose to do so. And be sure to share your history with your anesthesiologist. The extra stress of surgery can cause an adrenal crisis and they would need to give you medications to help your body produce cortisol.

I also knew that with a sleeve or bypass I would not be able to take NSAIDS. That was scary to consider seeing I relied on them heavily for relief from pain and inflammation.

I have never felt better, my knee pain is nearly non-existent, I haven't had a flare-up or any swelling since surgery. It's the best choice I could have ever made.

Good luck in your decision!

I have RA and was on prednisone for 7 years and took daily NSAIDS for the last 15 years. I decided to ween off the steroids because I have experienced first hand the effect they had on healing from previous surgeries. It took almost 8 months to ween from10 mg to none because I kept having rebound effects. This is a good article about weening http://www.cssassociation.org/patient-stories-reader/items/reducing-steroids-while-on-a-low-dose-activating-the-adrenal-glands-by-marian-mesker.html

It's important to work with your doctor while weening if you choose to do so. And be sure to share your history with your anesthesiologist. The extra stress of surgery can cause an adrenal crisis and they would need to give you medications to help your body produce cortisol.

I also knew that with a sleeve or bypass I would not be able to take NSAIDS. That was scary to consider seeing I relied on them heavily for relief from pain and inflammation.

I have never felt better, my knee pain is nearly non-existent, I haven't had a flare-up or any swelling since surgery. It's the best choice I could have ever made.

Good luck in your decision!

. So did you have the Lapband? Do you still take steroids at all? Can I ask what RA meds you take after surgery?

I haven't taken any prednisone or other steroids since surgery. I get Rituxan infusions every six months and the IV steroids with those infusions. I had RNY.

I have R.A, and A.S. I have also started on this journey beging in june and surgery is in december. I have asked lots of question and done research as well and the sleeve is for me. I know it will not cure my issues but any weight I can get off my joints is worth it and if my body is happier that is just a bonus. I get infusions and take daily meds and yes there will be 6 weeks of no diflocinac NSAIDS and my infusuins will have to be delayed a few weeks for my body to heal but to get back things that i have lost is soo worth it!! good luck on your journey!!

With an autoimmune problem I would not put a foreign body into my body. Who knows when the immune system will decide to revolt against it. Be sure your Dr is familiar with autoimmune issues as many of them are not.

When I met with my surgeon he said the lap and actually says right on the thing to not implant in people like us. Our bodies will try to reject it. Because steroids cause blood sugar issues and the bypass helps the MOST in that regard, have you considered it? It also leaves your remaining, disconnected stomach to continue to produce gastric juices for digestion and if anything were to ever need "rebuilding" in your stomach or esophagus, the tissue is there to pull from without ever affecting your bypass. I have both lupus and RA, btw. Your surgeon will likely require that you come off steroids before the surgery and stay off them until your are healed. Other than that, there seems to be no contraindications I have heard of. Good luck!

I have degenerative arthritis, was on nsaids for well over 10 years plus narcotics. I had the lap band in 2010. The nsaids contributed to the erosion of that. I had bypass in October and have had to stop nsaids completely. So that defiantly needs to be part of your decision. Can you live without nsaids after surgery. I'm finding that to be very hard to do!