Guest guest Posted April 25, 2004 Report Share Posted April 25, 2004 Six weeks ago, I go into my doctor's office to have the physical I need done so I can have bariatric surgery. Up until now, I figure my worst problem in life (other than the stress of being a mom and teaching in a juvenile prison) was my weight. I get a call back the day my bloodwork comes in saying the doctor needs to see me. I got a triple whammy that day because I also went in to see the pulmonologist for the results of my sleep study. So the following day starts off with the pulmonologist and I find out there's a reason I feel like crap and I'm dragging... I have SEVERE sleep apnea with an average of 95 apnea events an hour. Talk about a walking time bomb for a heart attack? By the way, sleep apnea adds to weight gain because you don't go into REM sleep and necessary hormones and such aren't released that are needed to burn calories and such. Because of my asthma and the severity of my sleep apnea, I am put on BiPAP therapy instead of CPAP and now I'm on my way to my doctor's office. So now for the blood work. Whammy #2 comes when we talk about my TSH level. I never heard of this before... but anyway, I find out my TSH is 45.54 and I am hypothyroid. What?!! 15 years of talking to my doctors about weight issues and dieting not being effective and despair and depression and social isolation... and NONE of them ever tested my thyroid?! Man, was I pissed! Well, there's another reason for the weight gain and issues with dieting- and oh yeah, the lack of energy and such, too. But... we're not done yet, oh no! I find out that I have diabetes as well. This is not a totally foriegn concept as I had high blood sugars when I was hospitalized 15 mos. previously for asthma, but there weren't any problems after that and this was sort of a set back. So I leave with a prescription for Avandia and info packets and totally shell shocked from all the news about my health in one day- only to go through another hospitalization, long round of large amounts of steriods, and now needing insulin even after that because my bgl's are still way too high. So now I am trying to figure out what to do for a diet. For starters, I was on the pre-surgery diet: Low cal, low fat, 1400-1800 cals a day. No caffeine and having to do the induction stage of South Beach the month before surgery. Now we add avoiding goiterous foods- only my favorite veggies and fruits, no biggie! And of course, battling the carbs for the diabetes. Oh, I forgot- low salt for good measure to help with the fluid retention and I'm lactose intolerant to boot (of course, that doesn't matter much because of the carb counts in most dairy anyway). What the hell does that leave TO eat? Between the struggle with the diet and the damn finger sticks and insulin injections only to still have bgl's in the 250 range, the medications, the stupid mask thingy I have to sleep with... I'm just feeling angry and frustrated and like this whole thing is a pointless battle that just can't be won. I still can't even manage to take off the 20 pounds necessary to get the final approval and a surgical date and I feel like more of a failure than ever. I'm almost beginning to think that ignorance really is bliss... because learning all of this (especially all at once) has caused me more stress and frustration in the last 6 weeks than 6 years of working in a juvenile prison! Not a pleasant intro... but this is the reason I'm looking for some support! Fawn Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2004 Report Share Posted April 25, 2004 My first question to you is - What is the bariatric surgery for? Is this the stomach stapling surgery? If so, DO NOT DO IT! Since you have low thyroid function, the doctor should have given you a thyroid medicatin. It will cause you to lose weight! Yeah! You will have more energy too. My mother in law takes this and I have seen dramatic results with it. Second, why were you put on insulin so soon? Does your body produce none at all? Ask your doctor about the medications that assist the body in making it's own insulin (Glucotrol aka Glipizide generically) and the ones that show the body's cells how to utilize the insulin properly (Glucophage aka Metformin generically). It seems the Glucophage is the most widely recommended med for Type 2 diabetics. fawnlori wrote: > Six weeks ago, I go into my doctor's office to have the physical I > need done so I can have bariatric surgery. Up until now, I figure my > worst problem in life (other than the stress of being a mom and > teaching in a juvenile prison) was my weight. I get a call back the > day my bloodwork comes in saying the doctor needs to see me. I got a > triple whammy that day because I also went in to see the > pulmonologist for the results of my sleep study. > > So the following day starts off with the pulmonologist and I find out > there's a reason I feel like crap and I'm dragging... I have SEVERE > sleep apnea with an average of 95 apnea events an hour. Talk about a > walking time bomb for a heart attack? By the way, sleep apnea adds > to weight gain because you don't go into REM sleep and necessary > hormones and such aren't released that are needed to burn calories > and such. Because of my asthma and the severity of my sleep apnea, I > am put on BiPAP therapy instead of CPAP and now I'm on my way to my > doctor's office. > > So now for the blood work. Whammy #2 comes when we talk about my TSH > level. I never heard of this before... but anyway, I find out my TSH > is 45.54 and I am hypothyroid. What?!! 15 years of talking to my > doctors about weight issues and dieting not being effective and > despair and depression and social isolation... and NONE of them ever > tested my thyroid?! Man, was I pissed! Well, there's another reason > for the weight gain and issues with dieting- and oh yeah, the lack of > energy and such, too. > > But... we're not done yet, oh no! I find out that I have diabetes as > well. This is not a totally foriegn concept as I had high blood > sugars when I was hospitalized 15 mos. previously for asthma, but > there weren't any problems after that and this was sort of a set > back. So I leave with a prescription for Avandia and info packets > and totally shell shocked from all the news about my health in one > day- only to go through another hospitalization, long round of large > amounts of steriods, and now needing insulin even after that because > my bgl's are still way too high. > > So now I am trying to figure out what to do for a diet. For > starters, I was on the pre-surgery diet: Low cal, low fat, 1400-1800 > cals a day. No caffeine and having to do the induction stage of > South Beach the month before surgery. Now we add avoiding goiterous > foods- only my favorite veggies and fruits, no biggie! And of > course, battling the carbs for the diabetes. Oh, I forgot- low salt > for good measure to help with the fluid retention and I'm lactose > intolerant to boot (of course, that doesn't matter much because of > the carb counts in most dairy anyway). > > What the hell does that leave TO eat? Between the struggle with the > diet and the damn finger sticks and insulin injections only to still > have bgl's in the 250 range, the medications, the stupid mask thingy > I have to sleep with... I'm just feeling angry and frustrated and > like this whole thing is a pointless battle that just can't be won. > I still can't even manage to take off the 20 pounds necessary to get > the final approval and a surgical date and I feel like more of a > failure than ever. I'm almost beginning to think that ignorance > really is bliss... because learning all of this (especially all at > once) has caused me more stress and frustration in the last 6 weeks > than 6 years of working in a juvenile prison! > > Not a pleasant intro... but this is the reason I'm looking for some > support! > > Fawn Lori > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 In a message dated 4/27/2004 8:47:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time, fawnlori@... writes: Yes, bariatric surgery is stomach stapling Hi Fawn, One of the guys at our church had this done last Monday and he was at church Sunday and seemed to be doing okay. He probably weighed close to 450 lbs. hugs Eunice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 Yes, bariatric surgery is stomach stapling ... and while I will lose some weight when they synthyroid takes hold, but we're talking 20 pounds or so... and that's a drop in the bucket. I was put on insulin because I was on prednisone and my bgl's were in the 400's. They didn't come down after the prednisone was out of my system and they feel that the years of steriods have finally done their damage. My bgl's are in the 350 range every night. Because of the sleep apnea, I cannot take glucophage or glucotrol because with the oxygenization issues, both medications can cause a fatal reaction. Instead, I am on Avandia, but since they are saying I'm type 1, that will probably change when I see the specialist. Fawn > My first question to you is - What is the bariatric surgery for? Is this > the stomach stapling surgery? If so, DO NOT DO IT! Since you have low > thyroid function, the doctor should have given you a thyroid medicatin. > It will cause you to lose weight! Yeah! You will have more energy too. > My mother in law takes this and I have seen dramatic results with it. > Second, why were you put on insulin so soon? Does your body produce none > at all? Ask your doctor about the medications that assist the body in > making it's own insulin (Glucotrol aka Glipizide generically) and the > ones that show the body's cells how to utilize the insulin properly > (Glucophage aka Metformin generically). It seems the Glucophage is the > most widely recommended med for Type 2 diabetics. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 Please allow me to clarify. Apnea events are times when you stop breathing for a period of 10 seconds or more. Sure, obesity can cause sleep apnea, but so can the enlarged tonsil I have and the hypothyroid and the severe asthma. Obesity was not the cause here and I stopped breathing 95 times AN HOUR... not 95 times. Sleep apnea causes much more than just " being tired the next day " . The main risk is heart disease and sleep apnea is a leading cause of heart disease. Besides that, there are risks for high blood pressure, stroke, and coronary artery disease. As for the weight gain, during REM sleep, your body releases hormones which according to Dr Ralph Pasqualy/Seattle Swedish Sleep Institute : " No sleep, no growth hormone, poor processing of glucose, sugars and the body will gain weight. " Bariatric surgery is " stomach stapling " ... and because all of the combined health issues, this is the only way that my doctors see me taking off the weight at this point. Fawn > Being obese can cause sleep apnea. The 95 apnea events means that during her > sleep she stopped breathing for a duration 95 times. She is not getting > enough oxygenation for her body, hence being tired the next morning. I had > this test done too. > Jany > apnea means without breath > > -- Re: New here > > I would of never though that sleep apnea would cause weight gain. What is > meant by 95 apnea events? what happens? And what is a bariatric sugery? > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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