Many of us are dealing with the guilt that comes with how much damage we've done to our bodies because of the obesity. I've had to have both hips replaced and my knees will have to be replaced as well sometime in the future. I've always felt that I caused this damage because of the excess weight I've carried around for so many years.

My rhumatologist kept telling me that I have joint disease and inflammatory disease and this would have happeded regardless. It's hard to believe it but I now understand he's correct. My mother suffers from IBS...irritable bowel syndrome and my sister suffers from hidranentis suppurativa..which is eruptions/boils in the groin, armpit, and under breast area. She saw a specialist the other day who explained to her that this was an inflammatory illness and when she told the doctor about my mother and myself, he said that we're all suffering from inflammatory illnesses, just in different areas of the body and that this is absolutely genetic in origin.

Now..it doesn't get me totally off the hook. I might have been able to keep the degeneration of my joints under better control had I been smaller, but at least I know that the outcome would have eventually been the same. We carry enough guilt due to our weight issues so one less thing to feel guilty about works for me.

I have felt this same..remorse.

When I was evaluated by a very top notch physical therapist she pointed out that my right hip/thigh are angled, ever so slightly, in the wrong direction. She said it was likely a birth defect or childhood injury and it absolutely contributes to the unusual wear and tear on my joints.

I have a skinny mini friend that needed a knee replacement in her late 40s, no apparent root cause.

I guess it all just goes to show how useless remorse and self blame are. Glad you found this out though, I had no idea those were all inflammatory conditions!

I know the strain I've put on my joints won't fully be understood until I get older. However, deciding to have WLS in my mid-30's continues to reaffirm itself. Hopefully I will have minimized the stress on my joints enough to where I won't have to get joint replacements.

Only time will tell.

I've suffered from joint, mostly back and leg, issues for as long as I can remember. I've been to multiple doctors and specialists and while I never got a true diagnosis for my condition, I found out a lot about what causes my problems. 1) I have a naturally tilted pelvis and an extra vertebrae that is fused on the left but not the right, 2) I'm hypermobile in the majority of my joints which causes muscle pain when stretched beyond normal limits along with severe muscle imbalances.

By the time I was 20, I started to experience extreme spasms and back pain. They did an MRI and said I had no Fluid in my L4 and L5 and had degenerative disc disease. I had some steroid injections that caused me to gain more weight and only relieved pain for a few weeks. When I was 27 I went to physical therapy for six months and came out in more pain than when I went in.

Everyone kept telling me if I lost weight the pain would go away because all my problems were caused by my weight. Well, I'm still in as much pain as before when I'm having a flare. So while my weight may have been contributing to the pain, it was NOT the cause. It is frustrating but I'm happy I can at least enjoy all of the other benefits from being a normal weight. I would still have my surgery all over again.

This is an interesting post. I am one of those people who constantly scolds myself for doing so much damage to my joints and spine.

Now I do know that while the weight certainly did not help my joints I do have auto immune illness called psoriatic arthritis which attacks your joints and your skin. No amount of weight loss helps that disease.

In addition I have severe osteo arthritis of the spine. I had really hoped that my losing the weight would improve my spine. For me that is not the case. My spine is worse that ever. Both my neurosurgeon and my orthopedic spine surgeon both told me that they see a lot of weight loss patients who hope for improvement. The reality is a lot of that fat provides more structure and once it's gone, your back gets worse.

I will say that both my knees and my ankle joints have improved tremendously.

I just need to remember that some of this was unavoidable because of the disease. My Mom died at 66 from complications of Rhematoid Arthritis. My goal when I chose to have this surgery was to be around a lot longer for my children, grandchildren and husband. My Mom passed in 2005 and I am still heartbroken. I swore I would never do that to my family.

So here I am strong as hell, down 140lbs and moving forward!