I am 21 years old. I am 5 foot 4 inches. I have always been around 135 pounds. I delivered my son in March of 2015 and stayed very small during my pregnancy. After my pregnancy, I shot up to 230 pounds in under a year without my eating habits changing, and my weight has stayed the same sense. I have been diagnosed with PCOS, Endometriosis, and Fatty liver disease.
I also have had a few muscle spasms around my heart. My physical and mental health are getting worse with each passing month. I have been on a weight loss journey for a while with my boyfriend. We don’t use salt. No sodas or sugary drinks or foods. Daily exercise. Cut down on meat tremendously. Small portions and hardly use dairy unless the recipe requires it.
Exercising has become so difficult due to pelvic pains. Does anyone have experience with weight loss surgeries? Any info? Pros and cons. Can someone my age and weight get the surgery since my weight is affecting my health so much? How do I go about getting this type of surgery? Thanks in advance!
Answers ( 5 )
You talk to your family doctor most insurances you have to jump a few hoops. With mine, I have to do weight loss with a dietician for six months then go to the weight loss place where the surgery will be performed for six months. Once that is done, they can perform the procedure, but it is different in all cases.
Also, check for vitamin and mineral deficiencies… something like deficiency of vitamin D can be common & mess with EVERYTHING. Have you checked your thyroid or parathyroid?
So the best start is talking to your family doctor.
I have had my thyroid checked before a couple of years ago, and it was fine. Other then that, I have no idea.
Have doctors asked for ALL the labs… vitamins, minerals, everything?
I don't think so. I have to have a preop physical in a few weeks before surgery to clean up my Uterus from Endometriosis, so I will definitely have everything checked.
I'd start with getting a full blood workup done. See if it's something small like a thyroid issue or vitamin deficiency. Just cause it was okay a few yrs ago does not mean it's okay now. Then if everything checks out okay, I'd ask for a referral to a weight loss program.
They'll direct you on how it works to get it approved by insurance. It'll be a lengthy process, but probably within a year, you should get the surgery. I haven't had the surgery so I can't speak for it. But I did look into it.
I have some other health issues, so we voted against it for now. Also, make sure you are eating enough calories a day. I thought I was taking in at least 1200 a day. One PA thought I was taking in 3500 to maintain my weight. I was only taking in 700-800 a day and was basically in a constant state of starvation.
This caused my periods to stop – Weight gain/plateau – Nausea all the time – Horrible vitamin deficiencies. It was rough. Now I always tell people on diets to make sure they are eating at least 1200 calories a day. It's crucial that you don't shock your body or starve it. Things will begin to stop working.
A lot of women with PCOS have had great success losing weight and becoming healthier by switching to the Keto way of eating (myself included.)
It might be worth doing some research and talking to your doctor to see if Keto may be something to try before you have WLS. I also agree with the recommendation above that you should have a full blood workup done, including testing for vitamin and hormonal deficiencies, esp Vitamin D!
Weight Loss Surgery is a huge step, a ton of recovery, and from what I understand, it may not always be covered by your insurance, so why not try going the non-surgical route first if it's an option. 🙂
In the end, though, it's entirely up to you, there's no golden ticket or easy way out no matter which option(s) you choose.
I’ve done some research and there are different types of surgeries. There is one type where they remove I think about 85 percent of your stomach, that way, your food is not able to sit in your stomach, and you aren’t able to absorb fats and whatnot from the diet. It passes through you faster, and then I would need vitamin supplements. But I feel like that is the only surgery that will actually work for me.
I have been told by five different doctors that I need to lose weight. I have followed their advice. From what I’ve read, people who are accepted for this type of surgery have:
It’s such an intense and critical decision, but I feel it is the only thing to help me. I would just like other people’s stories and experiences for reassurance.
You have to check functional medicine! The approach of this medical technique! When the hormone system is so messed up that the body gets bigger and bigger fast, calorie restriction is considered not the best option for losing weight in functional medicine. Cause it disturbs the metabolism even more.
I have PCOS too, I understand from functional medicine that I simply have to get my hormones in balance to get optimal weight. I did "eat less diets" as well, they worked for weight loss, but afterward, my hormones always got worse. This is a big Con for weight loss surgery.
Now my PCOS is ok as well, with no symptoms since I am doing functional medicine. It was two years of hard work for me. One reason can be a nutritional deficiency or lots of things. Thyroid, adrenals, etc… Vitamin D can play a significant role, yes! So can be the imbalance of Vitamin K, Magnesium, Folic Acid, Vitamin-B, Minerals, etc. Toxins, anything.
As far as I know, it is not the salt-restriction that is best, but rather carb and blood/sugar-optimization. You have to eat enough animal fat since sex hormones are made out of cholesterol!
If it would get hard for me to move and function, I would take hormone-therapy rather than surgery, of course, first priority would be healing the system from the basics. It is worth it!
I had weight loss surgery last year. My highest weight was 270; surgery weight was 240, and my lowest weight after surgery was 124. I got pregnant 11 months post-op and have gained 40 pounds in the last 22 weeks. My restriction is completely gone. Even before the pregnancy, I felt my hunger coming back.
The surgery was the most mentally and physically exhausting thing I've ever done. It is a great tool, but you can still gain the weight back.
Some days I regret it, but it allowed me to get pregnant, and that's all I ever wanted.