surgery for weight lost

i went to see my doctor recently for my annuel check up. he told me i had to lose wight cause i was at risk for cardiac problems and said if in 6 month i was still the same weight, he would send me for an operation to lose weight.

i know there are 2 different operations and was wondering if somebody had or know somebody who had the operations. i am looking for feed back on the surgerys.

if it's to personnel to share in this thread you can pm me if you would like. it's just i'm kinda freakin' out right now and it would help to know about the surgerys.

Weight loss surgery is NOT a good idea, hon. The complication rate is incredibly high. It's recently been promoted in the New England Journal of Medicine as a cure for Type 2 diabetes and as a way for obese people to avoid becoming T2 diabetics, but the NEJM article in favour of the surgery is written by a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic--the major centre for the procedure in the US--who has a financial interest at stake.

Jenny Rhul has written a very good critique of the NEJM article. Jenny also wrote a fine analysis of weight loss surgery in January 2010 that's still on point.

"But wait," you might be thinking, "I don't have diabetes. These resources don't apply to me!"

Well, maybe... or maybe not. There's a huge amount of medical research showing that obesity is caused by the body's inability to deal with insulin properly. If your pancreas is producing too much insulin, you will be hungry and will, in effect, eat in order to deal with the insulin which, in turn, will store the excess carbohydrate as fat. Insulin is always involved in overweight.

The best way to lose weight is to reduce your carbohydrate intake significantly. Carbohydrates are found in "white foods"--sugar, bread, rice, pasta, wheat, cereal, potatoes, milk--as well as in fruit and fruit juices. Reducing or eliminating those foods from your diet will cause you to lose weight.

You can find a lot of information about following low-calorie, low-fat diets, advising that these are the only healthy ways to lose weight. In fact, they're not healthy. The American and Canadian Diabetes Associations have been strongly criticized for advocating these diets because they increase the risk of heart disease and complications from diabetes! The diabetes associations recommend these diets because their major funding sources are drug manufacturers and processed-food companies. They have an interest in promoting consumption of foods that are harmful for us and drugs that may or may not help address the problems those foods cause in the first place.

If you have bariatric surgery, you will need to severely limit your food intake for the rest of your life and you will be told to eliminate bread, rice, pasta, wheat, cereal, potatoes and milk from your diet and also to restrict the amount of sugar you consume from all sources. In other words, the reason that bariatric surgery produces results is that it forces people to follow a low-carbohydrate diet. The surgery doesn't cure or prevent diabetes, either. It just eliminates the symptoms as long as the patient follows the diet associated with the surgery. When someone's carbohydrate intake is restricted, they don't have insulin management problems and so they don't gain weight. Their blood sugar levels return to normal. But if they continue to eat the standard North American diet, the insulin regulation troubles return and they regain the weight they lost, sometimes more.

I only know about this stuff because I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last fall and was immediately put on insulin. Type 1 diabetes has usually been associated with children, but it is actually more frequently diagnosed in adults. I'm doing very well, now. I'm in great health and I feel wonderful. In learning about being diabetic, I've learned a great deal about both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, diet, nutrition and health, not only because my own health was at stake, but also because I'm an information junkie. Much of what I learned surprised me because it wasn't what I'd always thought was true. Following the advice I've received has worked beautifully for me. My blood sugar balances beautifully now. I'm healthy!

You can learn about low-carbohydrate diets like the Atkins diet, the Protein Power diet and others. Jenny Rhul has just published a book about low-carb dieting that's actually more useful than any of the standard, popular diet books. It's available as an e-book for about $10.00.

You can do this, shymale. You can lose weight, get healthy and avoid surgery. If you're not diabetic or pre-diabetic, you can also avoid the complications associated with diabetes, including heart disease, by getting your insulin regulation and blood sugar levels under control. It doesn't mean that you have to give up foods you love. It may mean reducing the amount you eat. But you will find other foods that are delicious and satisfying. And once you lower your carb intake significantly, you'll also find that you're simply not hungry as often or for as much food as before. Try it and you'll see!

I don't know very much about this. I do know an individual who has undergone this, and it really seems to have worked wonders. As Samantha suggests, though, i'm not sure whether it's because of the surgery or the lifestyle changes after. He now eats well, exercises regularly and generally looks after himself. He was so obese, however, that absent anything as radical as the surgery, I'm not sure he could have gotten to the point of being able to exercise.

In any event, I would say these procedures are incredibly invasive and radical. I would think it should only be considered as a last resort. I also don't think many family practitioners are in a position to actually know who is a good candidate for this procedure. If your doctor pushes it, insist on getting second opinions and don't just see the specialist your doctor sends you to. Get another opinion there as well.

Exercise and diet are the key. Start by even walking. I have a bad knee, and lots of exercises bother it .... Running is out of the question for me. I walk. 2 km to work, 2 km home. Most lunches i go for another 2-3 km walk. Most days I clock between 7-10 km of brisk walking.

Start off going round the block, or even to the end of the street and back. Park a block further from work, or at the far corner from the mall entrance, get off the bus a stop earlier. Do it for a week, then add a bit more. Don't expect miracles overnight, but it will happen. And you'll feel better for it.

Trying to do it on your own seems far preferable than going under the knife!

Good luck. You can do it!!