Hi everyone,

My name is Corne and I am a 40 year old woman from South Africa.

I have been struggling with my weight for about 17 years, ever since I started taking antipsychotic medication for my bipolar. - That stuff is WICKET for your weight. Anyway, it never really bothered me too much, until my health started to suffer. I developed asthma and sleep apnoea. Also, in 2017 I landed up in ICU with heart failure. And my back is literally killing me most of the time.

I struggle with daily living, as even walking small distances are very difficult. I get out of breath, and I sweat a lot, which is horrible if you are female. I can't wear make up, which I love, because I sweat it off.

At my heaviest I was 211kg (465 pounds) - Horrible, I know.

I have had my first visit to the dietitian and surgeon and is currently on a diet to lose some weight before I can get the Roux and Y. As of today, my weight is 185kg (407 pounds)

This was not easy. I have struggled with some life difficulties, like being out of a job for 9 months already and I went through a horrible break up. So in the last few months I have gone through some periods of weight loss and then gaining back again. But I hope to stick it out going forward. I see the doctor again at the end of January and I would like to lose a lot of weight before then.

I guess the fact that I already weigh 26kg lighter is an indication to myself that this is indeed possible. I just need to keep it up EVERY day. Which is why I joined this community.

Good Luck!

I too am on anti-psychotics but have been lucky and never had metabolic syndrome.

I am curious as to what your psychiatrist has to say about your situation.

Are there no anti-psychotics you can take for bi-polar that won't cause metabolic syndrome?

Or are you already on them and that is why you are able to lose weight?

Does your psychiatrist think the RNY will combat the metabolic syndrome and what does your surgeon know about metabolic syndrome?

Sorry about your break up and job, that is a lot to take in a short time.

Hope everything goes your way in the new year!

Congrads and enjoy the journey best decision you ever made, Reach out here for the information great source and good people

Good luck

Sorry you have been having such a rough time. You can do this and we will be with you along the way! Welcome to the group!

On 12/1/2019 at 12:46 PM, mcfluffington said:

Good Luck!

I too am on anti-psychotics but have been lucky and never had metabolic syndrome.

I am curious as to what your psychiatrist has to say about your situation.

Are there no anti-psychotics you can take for bi-polar that won't cause metabolic syndrome?

Or are you already on them and that is why you are able to lose weight?

Does your psychiatrist think the RNY will combat the metabolic syndrome and what does your surgeon know about metabolic syndrome?

Sorry about your break up and job, that is a lot to take in a short time.

Hope everything goes your way in the new year!

Hi, thanks for your message.

I am not really aware of any anti-psychotics that do not cause weight gain as a side effect, and when it comes to psychotropic meds I hit the jackpot - if they mention a side effect, you can bet your salary on it that I would get it.

My psychiatrist is not really a fan of the op, but it is my choice and he must live with it. I think there are still misconceptions out there and medical staff is not immune to misconceptions. The op is much safer these days - and psychiatrists don't deal with it every day, so I don't think they know everything about it.

I am not on antipsychotics anymore, so that is why I can now focus on losing this weight.

I haven't really spoken to my surgeon about it yet. Will with my next visit. But my Pulmonologist and Internist is all for the op. Both of them wrote motivation letters.

Thanks for the great wishes for the new year. May you also have a great one ahead.

On 12/1/2019 at 1:27 PM, AJ Tylo said:

Congrads and enjoy the journey best decision you ever made, Reach out here for the information great source and good people

Good luck

Thank you so much. I see that you lost quite a lot of weight. You are an inspiration.

On 12/1/2019 at 5:04 PM, Lynda486 said:

Sorry you have been having such a rough time. You can do this and we will be with you along the way! Welcome to the group!

Thank you so much for your kind words.

On 12/1/2019 at 1:26 AM, Corne said:

Hi everyone,

My name is Corne and I am a 40 year old woman from South Africa.

I have been struggling with my weight for about 17 years, ever since I started taking antipsychotic medication for my bipolar. - That stuff is WICKET for your weight. Anyway, it never really bothered me too much, until my health started to suffer. I developed asthma and sleep apnoea. Also, in 2017 I landed up in ICU with heart failure. And my back is literally killing me most of the time.

I struggle with daily living, as even walking small distances are very difficult. I get out of breath, and I sweat a lot, which is horrible if you are female. I can't wear make up, which I love, because I sweat it off.

At my heaviest I was 211kg (465 pounds) - Horrible, I know.

I have had my first visit to the dietitian and surgeon and is currently on a diet to lose some weight before I can get the Roux and Y. As of today, my weight is 185kg (407 pounds)

This was not easy. I have struggled with some life difficulties, like being out of a job for 9 months already and I went through a horrible break up. So in the last few months I have gone through some periods of weight loss and then gaining back again. But I hope to stick it out going forward. I see the doctor again at the end of January and I would like to lose a lot of weight before then.

I guess the fact that I already weigh 26kg lighter is an indication to myself that this is indeed possible. I just need to keep it up EVERY day. Which is why I joined this community.

I am looking to do surgery as well. One thing I heard in a video is that the sleeve is a better option because it removes the part of the stomach where our hormones tell us we’re hungry? Something like that. For me that I stress eat, sometimes binge, and if you gain depending on what’s going on around you, that might be something to look into.