Re: Angie - gastric bypass and weight gain

[Guest guest]

Angie,

YES! your story sounds just like mine except it took a little longer to

really start gaining weight. I had my first attack of acute panc in Jan

2000. Things got better around Feb 01 after a rough year. GI insisted panc

was fine, I'd never have another attack, blah, blah, blah. I had pretty bad

gastric bile reflux where the bile was splashing into the bottom of my stomach

and causing severe gastritis and would eventually eat a hole in my stomach

wall lining. Gastric bypass would not only take care of the gastric bile

reflux since the bottom of your stomach is 'closed off' but would also allow

me to get rid of the excess 100 lbs. I don't regret the gastric bypass and

would do it again tomorrow but it does complicate being able to determine

what's going on with the pancreatitis because of the inability to do an ercp

now. Anyway, I had gone from 260 in Dec 01 down to 180 in Jul 02 when the

panc attacks returned and I ended up in the hospital. Actually I now know

they never really stopped as the pain was still there almost all the time

since Jan 00, it just got a lot better and even when it got really bad never

lasted more than 30 minutes til Jul 02. I continued losing weight from Jul 02

to Feb 03, but I was VERY sick and my blood work showed I was on the border of

being seriously malnourished. In Feb 03 I dropped from 159 to 155 in a week,

thanks in part to starting prednisone for my liver disease and being nauseated

24/7. My goal weight was actually 162 because I am 5'9 " so even though 155

was not below normal it was really less than I wanted to weigh. In fact, my

daughter came to visit during that time, took one look at me and said, " Mom,

you've lost more weight and it's not a good thing. " and she promptly started

crying. So, at that point, I started eating on a schedule. I ate even though

it made me hurt more, made me more nauseated, etc. My weight stabilized at

about 159 for a while. At my daughter's wedding, My 29, 2004, I weighed 170-

175 and had started having lots of problems with fluid retention. However,

I'd been on prednisone since Jan 03 - so a weight gain of about 15 lbs after

over a year on prednisone was really nothing to complain about. It was really

after my prednisone and imuran for the liver disease was stopped in Jul 04

that I started putting on more weight. By Dec 04, I weighed 190. That's when

I had a MAJOR relapse of my liver disease. However, I also had numerous panc

attacks during this time with a hospital stay about once every 4-6 weeks. In

Dec 04, I was put back on prednisone and imuran. I also had to start taking

oral med for my diabetes for the first time - thanks to wonderful prednisone.

That's when I really started having major fluid retention and weight gain. My

weight has gone as high as 230 lbs. I once gained 22 lbs in only 3 days when

I had a panc attack and was put in the hospital. This was July 05. I stopped

the prednisone in March and refuse to take it again unless I have a major

crisis with my liver disease. My weight right now is ranging from 208 to 215

depending on the fluid more than anything else. I am eating healthy - when

I'm not having a panc attack. I have been a lot more active the last month

because I've had more good days than in quite a while but I still can't seem

to get the scales to move past the 208 mark!

It is incredibly frustrating. I even made an appt with my bariatric surgeon

to see if he had suggestions. I told him I felt like a failure. He told me I

was absolutely not a failure and that I just had to keep doing what I'm doing

and be patient. He said it would take up to a year after being on long term

prednisone for my metabolism to return to normal. He told me to walk 5 days a

week, which I am not doing. However, it is very difficult to walk for an hour

when you barely have the energy to go to the bathroom! Then when I do have

energy, there are so many other things that need to be done that I never make

the time for walking. I can come up with at least 100 more excuses for not

walking! Seriously, though, I really beleive that prednisone is only a

small part of the problem and the rest is related more to the pancreatitis.

On the one hand, I am incredibly thankful that my pancreas is not bad enough

to be causing malnutrition and I hope it never gets that bad. However, I

think the periods of being unable to eat and having to be inactive just throw

everything out of whack and you get into a vicious cycle.

By the way, I really let the weight get me down for several months. It didn't

help that my obnoxious sister-in-law who works in health insurance kept

telling me that all the insurances were going to totally quit paying for the

gastric bypass because 95% of people who have it gain back all their weight in

3 years. Well, excuse me - in spite of my health problems and prednisone, I

have NOT gained back ALL my weight. My sis had the gastric bypass in Jun 02

and weighed 285 bs at 5'5 " and was wearing size 26/28. She now weighs about

155 lbs and wears mostly size 10/12. My stepdad had it in Dec 02 and weighed

340 lbs and wore size 52 pants. He now weighs about 230-240 and wears a size

40 pants. He's still heavy but he has to be on steriods and other meds

because he has a disease called empty cella syndrome and his pituitary gland

is totally dead. I could go on with the success stories of the gastric

bypass. I truly believe (and so do my hubby and doctors) that without the

gastric bypass, my weight would be over 300 because a 40-60 lb weight gain is

not unusual for people on long term prednisone or other steriods.

Hang in there and just take it a day at a time. Eat healthy when you can -

good balance of complex carbs and protein. Be active when you can. Do your

best to put your weight out of your mind and just concentrate on being as

healthy as you can be. Very hard when none of the new clothes you bought when

you lost weight fit any longer but just remember that there are things that

matter a lot more than the number on the scales. Also, tell people like my

obnoxious sister-in-law to go to h***! do it for me, because I can't say that

to her because it would cause too much family strife and frankly, she's not

worth it!

By the way, it is nothing for my weight to fluctuate as much as 8-10 lbs in 24

hours.

take care,

W