Sorry this is a bit of an essay, but it's been something I've been thinking about for a few weeks!

Before my wls, I'd been taking NSAIDs for some years because of bad arthritic pains. I thought I'd still need anti-inflammatory drugs after the bypass and this was the thing that worried me the most about the operation (I couldn't have the sleeve because of reflux). My thinking in deciding to go for the bypass was that once I lost the excess weight the arthritic pains would be manageable without anti-inflammatories ?

At my initial consultation in the August before my bypass in October, my surgeon prescribed me different anti-inflammatories that he said would not cause an ulcer and so would be ok to take after the bypass. I tried these for about 4 weeks pre-op but found that they exacerbated dry eye symptoms that I also suffer from and this was extremely painful. So I just decided I'd stop taking the anti-inflammatories completely after the bypass and put up with the arthritis pain until I'd lost enough weight for it to make a difference.

I did lose about 1 stone in the pre-op fat reducing diet, but since the bypass (literally since I stopped taking them about 5 days before the op) I haven't taken any anti-inflammatories at all, and immediately noticed that I had significantly reduced arthritic pains (so before I'd lost any significant amount of weight). I found this so unexpected? My diet before wasn't particularly fatty, but I definitely ate a lot of sugar and I can only think that the sugar was causing a lot of the inflammation? Has anybody else experienced anything similar?

yes sugar is very inflammatory esp if you are insulin resistant. I also stopped NSAIDS after WLS, though I had the sleeve, and found I did not need them as I was losing weight. Unfortunately, in the last couple years my diet has gone to pot and I'm eating a lot of junk and definitely feeling it in my joints. I've regained 30 lbs and am back on this site for the motivation I need to clean up my diet again and get back to what works. Good luck to you!

I've noticed something similar too. I have a "bad" ankle that I sprained one to many times so it had a bunch of scar tissue around it and carpal tunnel in one wrist. Over my years of dieting, I've noticed that pain and daily swelling in both these areas goes down significantly when my diet has been low in sugar and included zero added sugars. on my pre and post op diets the pain and swelling in both areas has gone away completely.

I noticed this before my weight loss surgery journey when I did a Keto diet and now post bypass. I was on the verge of getting a double hip replacement due to arthritis. Now I think I’ve got some more years in my hips.I’ve even been walking and biking like crazy because now I can. ?