Every single one of my doctors encouraged me to get bariatric surgery because they said that it would cure all my comorbidities. I have type 2 diabetes, idiopathic intercranial hypertension, migraine, GERD, and hypertension all of which they said would go away. I think I should have realized that was super optimistic. These are the same doctors that said if I lost 10% of my body weight, all of these would get better and they didn't.

Well I've had the surgery. I've lost 93lbs so far and ... I still have every single one of those problems. I feel a bit mislead or maybe just broken. I have other medical problems besides those, they were just the ones they blamed on my weight. I like losing weight but had gotten my hopes up about being less impacted by these other diseases and it didn't pan out.

Did it work out for anyone else and they actually had other medical problems resolve after surgery?

Edited January 23, 20224 yr by ClareLynn

Alright I keep forgetting stuff I want to add and don't know how to edit posts on my phone, but I also had asthma, which got diagnosed about 7 years before my wls and that has completely improved. I hardly ever have to used my rescue inhaler anymore. Like twice in the past year!

My cholesterol is higher now than before surgery...........surgeon said that can sometimes happen and can take over 12 months to resolve, I live alone so not sure if my sleep apnoea has resolved, I don't get the head splitting headaches I use to get I didn't get a headache at all for the first 6 months but have had a couple in the last month or so I get a lot more back pain now than I ever did before . SO I am a little disappointed like yourself But hopeful as time goes by things get better

1 hour ago, SleeverSk said:

My cholesterol is higher now than before surgery...........surgeon said that can sometimes happen and can take over 12 months to resolve, I live alone so not sure if my sleep apnoea has resolved, I don't get the head splitting headaches I use to get I didn't get a headache at all for the first 6 months but have had a couple in the last month or so I get a lot more back pain now than I ever did before . SO I am a little disappointed like yourself But hopeful as time goes by things get better

My cholesterol went up immediately postop to a little bit to where he told me to watch it and the surgeons office told me to take fish oil but someone on here said it could have to do with the rapid weight loss somehow. I haven’t verified that with a doctor yet but they must’ve heard that somewhereI haven’t verified that with a doctor yet but they must’ve heard that somewhere

46 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

My cholesterol went up immediately postop to a little bit to where he told me to watch it and the surgeons office told me to take fish oil but someone on here said it could have to do with the rapid weight loss somehow. I haven’t verified that with a doctor yet but they must’ve heard that somewhereI haven’t verified that with a doctor yet but they must’ve heard that somewhere

Yes my surgeon said it is because sometimes when the body "releases" fat the liver gets a bit overloaded and cholesterol goes up but it should be temporary but can take 12 months or so to start coming down

I’m down over 160 lb for context and I definitely have a personal opinion about this as some of my conditions did not resolve. I have found that doctors and data can correlate conditions with being fat but being fat isn’t always the cause of conditions like migraines which can be hormonal as an example, and sleep apnea which can be caused by bad genetic jaws and teeth that fall back needing braces /jaw surgery instead of having fatty throat flab. The data doesn’t distinguish this so neither do the doctors who use it to inform themselves when discussing with patients. Being fat youre statistically more likely to die sooner fact. But the surgery may not cure all your conditions because some of them may have other causes like genetic bone structure or hormones out of whack etc that weren’t fixed. 93 lb is a lot and don’t let your brain play tricks on you to discourage you from hitting the finish line. Check to see what resolves when at goal, and focus on other wins like how many sizes you are probably down - being able to move around easier- etc

Pouch pals

My cholesterol went up too & I was also told it was because of the weight loss. They still kept their eye in it. It was back within my usual range of about 5 (had been that for decades regardless of diet or weight) once my weight stabilised. Now it’s low 4s.

The back pain & other body aches are also related to your weight loss. Your body is getting used to holding itself differently. Before it was compensating for the weight you were carrying. Now it’s relearning how to stand up straight again. A friend go also had surgery & I often joke about how we still slouch a bit. We don’t have a large tummy to prop us up anymore. ? I also had back pain until I bought myself some new bras that fit my smaller breasts - made a big difference.

5 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

My cholesterol went up too & I was also told it was because of the weight loss. They still kept their eye in it. It was back within my usual range of about 5 (had been that for decades regardless of diet or weight) once my weight stabilised. Now it’s low 4s.

The back pain & other body aches are also related to your weight loss. Your body is getting used to holding itself differently. Before it was compensating for the weight you were carrying. Now it’s relearning how to stand up straight again. A friend go also had surgery & I often joke about how we still slouch a bit. We don’t have a large tummy to prop us up anymore. ? I also had back pain until I bought myself some new bras that fit my smaller breasts - made a big difference.

Ooh yea I forgot all about the bra situation. I had back pain also until I got new bras. Huge difference that made.

I had type 2 diabetes on 3 meds off meds since 2 days prior to surgery my fasting blood sugars are around 104 now close to perfect also off cholesterol meds. I was sleeved 12/22/21 down 39 pounds only 40 more pounds to go to reach my surgeons goal I would like to loose another 60 but no meds for this Girl!

Mine have. I’m six months out and have lost 75% of my goal. I had high blood pressure and mild sleep apnea, both of which are completely gone (I don’t even have to take medication for the HBP anymore, and the improvement happened at around the 3 month mark).