Straight up...I am SO tired!!!

I am taking my vitamins, eating properly, drinking enough, doing my exercise etc, but still feeling beyond tired!

Did anyone else get this after losing so much weight? Is this just my permanent state now ?

I was feeling tired and weak all the time. My surgeon referred me to a cardiologist because my resting heart rate was below 40 bpm. He said that when I had 200 pounds of excess weight, my heart had to pump really hard, and when I rapidly lost weight, it suddenly had much less work to do and compensated by slowing way down. I ended up getting a pacemaker that kicks in when my heart rate goes too low.

@BigSue oh wow! That is something I'd never even considered - I hope you are doing okay!

thankfully my resting HR doesn't often drop into the 40s very often! It may get into the 50s sometimes but that is it!

Have you had blood work done recently? Anemia, Iron anemia, vitiamin b, can all cause your symptoms and are not uncommon for post-ops.

Heart rate, depending on how much cardio you do, may not be an issue. When I was doing marathons my resting rate was under 40. When I had my plastic surgery at the time, the kept sending the crash cart in because of it. Finally they turned off my heart monitoring.

Good luck,

Tek

Edited July 21, 20251 yr by The Greater Fool

@The Greater Fool I did about 4-5 months back I think and they were all normal - but I may request another!

I bet you were glad when they turned that off!

I hear you!

I am feeling totally and utterly exhausted the last week or so to the point where I can barely get out of bed. I had a planned blood test this morning and when I came back from the hospital I barely made the 2 min walk from the bus stop to my apartment, thought I would pass out in the stairwell and had to go to bed immediately.

The surgeon has since phoned me and said the results were very good, I have white blood cells back and my CRP is right down to 2 (had been 91) so he was a bit surprised when I told him how exhausted I was feeling. As I had to have a procedure last week (to remove clip and insert drain) I am hoping it is just the stress of it all and the general aesthetic leaving my body, my lip is even still a bit numb a week later.

The last few days my fitbit has been sending me notifications of low heart rate, between 43 and 46 whereas my average resting rate is 56.

I have told the surgeon I would like a cert for this week to rest and then try to slowly build myself back up again to return to the gym (been a month), office and social life. I'm due to see him later this week anyway so maybe he might have an update for me, as I had a CT scan this evening (took Ubers instead of bus this time) and I'll try to remember to mention the heart rate to him also.

5 hours ago, The Greater Fool said:

Heart rate, depending on how much cardio you do, may not be an issue. When I was doing marathons my resting rate was under 40. When I had my plastic surgery at the time, the kept sending the crash cart in because of it. Finally they turned off my heart monitoring.

I will add that the cardiologist said this is common in people with massive weight loss and not necessarily a concern (and may not even be noticed) if there are no symptoms. In my case, however, I was experiencing symptoms that were not attributable to my bloodwork results, so that is why a pacemaker was indicated for me.

I agree do get your bloods checked again.

I have periods when I’m exhausted but it does depend a lot on what I’ve been doing. Life gets so busy & stressful at times and feeling tired or lacking in energy is your body telling you to stop or slow down so you can rest & recover. I had a very busy week last week, my mum was staying (it’s like caring for a 3yr old), we had appointments, lunches, afternoon teas, a memorial service, lots of driving & rushing about. I slept 10hrs on Saturday night!

My heart rate slowed too into the 40s for resting rate. I remember after one of my surgeries (gall I think) a nurse asked if I was an athlete. If you know me you’ll know how funny that is. No one says anything now so I presume it ‘s back to an appropriate rate or they think it’s just normal for me now. Just going to check my pulse now to see.

Edited July 22, 20251 yr by Arabesque

On 7/21/2025 at 4:29 PM, Bypass2Freedom said:

Straight up...I am SO tired!!!

I am taking my Vitamins, eating properly, drinking enough, doing my exercise etc, but still feeling beyond tired!

Did anyone else get this after losing so much weight? Is this just my permanent state now ?

Totally get it! I’m pre-op but I’ve seen others hit that wall too after big losses. Looks like you're doing all the right things, hopefully it's just your body adjusting and it passes soon.

I do too but I put it down to my age and Fibromyalgia. As my checks have all come back as ok. I have to learn to pace myself.

my heart rate went way down as well.

i was probably at resting heart rate of 80-90 when i was super morbid obese (BMI 43)...and if i walked up a single flight of stairs it probably shot up to 140! dont know for sure as i never measured, but it sure felt like it!!

anyway about 3 weeks post wls, my resting heart dropped to like 40-50 for about 7 or months or so (if i remember correctly). while i wasnt tired or drained-feeling...quite the contrary, actually i was energizer bunny energized, i was prone to mild fainting if i got up too quickly.

since then (about 6 years ago!) my resting heart rate has pretty much been at around 60 (give or take a couple beats).

not sure if it was just a coincidence, but low heart rate condition started its upward trend to where i am now around about the time i started the transition into maintenance.

??‍♀️

p.s. btw, my doc was at no point concerned, and all my labs always came back satisfactorily.

p.p.s. just checked..at 61 but i did just eat butter and toast..

p.p.p.s ok, just asked my husband if an HRV 27 is good or bad and he said its low for my activity level despite my age (i..e., not good) oopsies.

Edited July 23, 20251 yr by ms.sss

On 7/21/2025 at 3:29 AM, Bypass2Freedom said:

Straight up...I am SO tired!!!

I am taking my vitamins, eating properly, drinking enough, doing my exercise etc, but still feeling beyond tired!

Did anyone else get this after losing so much weight? Is this just my permanent state now ?

Tired is not the word... exhausted, fatigued beyond belief, a walking zombie? About a week ago was the worst and I ended up in the ER had blood and urine tests run and the doc told me I was fine. I did get a bag of fluids finished and they sent me home. As near as I can tell from research... at that time I was dehydrated from not hitting the 64 oz of water daily - I was just TOO full and so tired I wasn't awake enough to get fluids in. I have done much better with fluids (although I am behind today) but still the fatigue lingers. To quote the nurse one of the many times I talked to different doctors - "Everyone goes through it, you just have to ride it out." I'm sorry but that is not the right attitude when someone is stressed to the breaking point, in my opinion. I am increasing my visits to my mental health therapist and talking to my provider who prescribes my anti-depressants as it may be related to depression. I am taking all my vitamins and trying to get enough calories and water in, but the fatigue remains. With my luck it is just how my fibromyalgia body is reacting to the stress on my body and for fibro there is nothing that can be done about it. I hope you are resting better now and have regained some energy! 🤗

On 7/21/2025 at 4:29 AM, Bypass2Freedom said:

Straight up...I am SO tired!!!

I am taking my vitamins, eating properly, drinking enough, doing my exercise etc, but still feeling beyond tired!

Did anyone else get this after losing so much weight? Is this just my permanent state now ?

If you having recently had you ferritin/iron and B-12 checked it could be that. May as well get a full Nutritional panel.

I swear I was born tired. I've never known the feeling of "well-rested" after sleeping. I haven't noticed if surgery has made it any worse or not.

On 8/5/2025 at 9:01 AM, NeonRaven8919 said:

I swear I was born tired. I've never known the feeling of "well-rested" after sleeping.

^^^ This was me my whole life. Even in my younger normal weight life. After WLS, I had boundless energy. Waking up feeling rested at 5-6 AM was completely foreign to me. I am amazed at this wonderful change.

Days that I feel tired, I attribute to a few different things... low iron. I had to go to a no iron daily vitamin due to stomach upset. Also, dehydration, not getting enough sunshine/vit D, not resting enough and the biggie, sugar. I have allowed it to a small degree back into my diet. I can tell a big difference in my overall sense of well-being after eating it.

I was diligent after surgery not to touch the stuff and I felt like a million bucks. Carbs will have the same effect since our body turns them into sugar. Over 2 years post-op, I was allowing more sugar/carbs in. I wasn't eating enough to cause weight gain but not taking into consideration how it would make me feel. TIRED. I can totally recognize the difference in my energy levels. Food for thought.

I was tired for a long time after surgery.

I was exhausted, dizzy most of the time, my bp was (is) always low, my blood sugar was (is) low, my heart rate dipped to low 50's high 40's as most of people above me had shared. I would be super dizzy when I got up, almost passed out every time I stood up. You name it

You're losing weight, probably not eating enough, losing vitamins and minerals. All that takes time to settle and for you to stabilize and everything that comes with it.

I feel much better now, but I also take multivitamins, iron, omega 3, magnesium ...etc. religiously. I still get dizzy when I get up but generally feeling much better. It took me around 1.5 years post op to feel "normal" again. Eat your protein, take your vitamins and hang in there, it gets better :)