New to this all (29F w/RA)

Hi everyone. I am new to this site, and new to this message board. I'm a little nervous to be here. I was thrilled to see so many arthritis patients who have gotten WLS! I enjoy reading your posts and topics, since I rarely get to discuss anything arthritis related with anyone who understands.  I am a 29 year old married female. My BMI is 38 and I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed in 1999.  I am considering Lap Band surgery to help supress my hunger.  I would love to hear from anyone. Thanks for your time.  Michelle

Hi Michelle - I'm Leone, also a newcomer! I'm 52 - got diagnosed with fibromyalgia and osteo arthritis about a year ago. Since then I've taken a nosedive health wise. My knees are very bad and painful - my rhuemy says we can try injections next - right now I put lidocain patches on them at night - it's worthless. After being obese my whole adult life, I got mad and lost half of my weight (150) by diet and exercise. Then I had a botched up, freak show tummy tuck and ended up on antidepressants. I;ve now regained all of the weight, and along with the illnesses, can hardly get out of bed sometimes. People look at me strange - don't know what to say - after all, just last year I was thin, and now I'm fat again! I've got any appt to see a bariatric surgeon. If he thinks we can get it covered with insurance, I'm going for it. But I have no idea what "it" is - there seem to be several surgeries - but I'm hoping he will sugges the one right for me.  I will still have the illnesses after the surgery, and with some of the surgeries, I've read that you can't take all your meds. I can't get along without them, so that will be something to consider. Write when you can. I love to hear other stories, see what we all have in common. Take Care, Leone

Michelle, I'm 39 and have had RA since I was 5 yrs old. I just had RNY on May 7th and have lost 65lbs. Having RA has been a struggle my whole life, add extra weight to that and I've had my hands full. Having WLS has been the hardest yet best decision I ever made. Having RA and Fibromyalgia certainly played a huge factor in this decision. Infact, most of my weight gain is directly related to having arthritis, due to meds and lack of mobility. Although I knew that loosing weight would not cure me of the disease, I knew for certain that taking off the extra weight would improve my mobility and take pressure off my joints. I first considered lap band surgery, but due to my immunosuppressant meds, the risk of rejection and possible infection was too high for me. Talk to your rheumatologist, PCP and WL surgeon. Get all your questions answered and then make the best decision for you. If you have any questions for me, feel free to send me an email. Good luck Rita

Hi Leone and Rita!  Thank you both very much for your replies! It is nice to hear from people who I have things in common with. It is hard for me to find people who are experiencing things similiar to I am.  I have not had the chance to talk to my Rheumy yet. I made an appointment for the end of September to discuss it with him. Rita, you brought up an interesting point. I am on immunosuppressants too, I didn't even think about the risk of infection and rejection...great point!  Let me ask you...now that you have had your surgery, do you feel ask though your arthritis pain has lessened? Do you have less flares? Right after surgery, did you experience a flare? The thought of having the surgery brings many emotions...fear, excitement, impatience...but it's nice to know that there are so many people out there to talk to!!! Thanks guys for answering my post! I can't wait to hear from you!  Michelle

Hi Michelle.. I have had lapband and i was having terrible pains in my joints in my arms, hands, feet, knees.. mind you i am 31 years old.. I went to my reg. dr and they took blood work and am awaiting the results.. my dr said that I either have rhu. arthritis or lupus.. just waiting on the blood work to be exact.... what are you taking for the pain? my dr. said to take 1 advil on a full stomach...which is weird because you hear everywhere that we are not supposed to take nsaids.. and advil is an advil..  one time that i was in sooo much pain and my reg dr could not see me,, i went to see my husbands doctor and he prescribed nabumetone which is also an nsaid... i havent taken my advil yet and today i cant lift my left arm to well and my left hand os killing me even writing this email it hurts, LOL!!!! if you have any questions or want to chat jsut email me...

Hi Irene!  I haven't figured out how to email from here yet, so bear with me!  I'm sorry to hear you are in so much pain! Isn't it hard to get ANYTHING done when you hurt so bad to move. And it's also hard being our age (I'm 29) and people not understanding. Things will get better. HANG IN THERE! I hope they can provide you with a diagnosis and help eliminate your pain. I am allergic to ibprofen, but I have taken Aleve in the past. I don't want to scare you or anything but, I had similiar smyptoms to you...pain all over in every joint, and it took 2 years for my bloodwork to show the rheumatoid factor...so for 2 years I had seronegative RA (no rheumatoid factor present in the blood) I am a few meds for my RA...Prednisone, Remicade, Celebrex, Methotrexate, Fosamax...this combo seems to help me for the most part, but I would be scared if I had to go without them for my WLS.  I have an appointment to discuss WLS with my Rheumy later in Sept and I am nervous about it. He's kinda old-school, but I think I can sway him :) Hope to hear from you soon,  Michelle

Hi michelle, you can e-mail me anytime this is my personal e-mail: [email protected] This pain is really starting to depress me so much... my knee was hurting so bad last night and the pain went all the way down to my whole leg, I could barely sleep.... I jsut want something to take this pain away...!! let me know what your doctor says...  when are you scheduled for lapband? Irene

Hi Irene,  Hang in there! I am sorry to hear you are in much pain...the pain won't last forever! Once your doctor finds out what is causing the pain, he/she will better know how to treat it! Have you tried a hot bath/shower before bed? That would help me sometimes for the pain.  I'm just starting my WLS journey, and actually I haven't even met with the coordinator yet, so my lap band seems ages away :( I hope you feel better soon! Keep in touch :) Michelle

Hi ya'll.   I have psoriatic arthritis and have had it since 1990.  I can relate to the pain that you have and am scheduled to have RNY on 9/12/07.  I currently take Indomethacina and Enbrel (a shot) for my disease.  I asked my surgeon during preop last week about whether I will still be able to take the Indomethacine and he said sure, since I have not had any problems with my current stomach from it before, then my pouch will probably do fine.  The Enbrel is an injection so there are no worries about that one either.  I am so looking forward to changing my life and to get rid of most of this weight to make my joints feel better!

Hi - Leone here. Michelle - I recently had a blood test come back "mildly positive" for an autoimmune arthritis. So I know what you mean about not getting diagnosed right away. Wow - predisone and remicade are pretty powerful meds aren't they? My sister is on them and blames all her weight gain on them! I'm going to a physiatrist next week - that should be interesting. Hopefully, it will be a productive appointment and I can get some help, or at least get headed in the right direction. Best of luck - Leone

Hi Leone!  That's bittersweet news! I am glad they were able to diagnose you, but it's a shame to hear that you have that. hang in there!  Yeah, prednisone and Remicade are my biggies, but they keep me up and going. I am on a very low dose (2.5 mg a day) of prednisone, but I used to be on up to 20mg a day and that is when my rapid weight gain and inactivity started :( Good luck with the psychatrist! Let me know how that goes :) I meet with the enrollment coordinator at the WLS clinic on Monday and I am NERVOUS!!!  Take care!  Michelle

Hi Michelle..

well I got word from the doctor and yes it is RA and also my blood sugar was low. I have made the appt to see the rhumetologist but he cant see me until 2 weeks! ughhhhh!!

My primary doctor told me he might put me on presidone... you know I am child bearing age and hope that when I want to start having children this will not affect the unborn baby!! I am trying to read up as much as I can... this pain is unbearable! Irene

Hi Irene! I am glad you got a diagnosis and that you are reading up as much as you can. Please don't let some of the information scare you though, some of it out there is kinda scary. The best thing I was told is that there are a lotof up and coming medicines to minimize the effects of the disease, and they like to talk about or show worst case scenarios online.  Did he give you anything to help with the pain in the meantime? I think when I had to wait to see my rheumy the first time he gave me some naproxen or aleve, and that kinda helped.  As far as the baby, I know whenever I am put on a new drug, I always ask if I was to get pregnany, what effect on the baby would this have. So far my rheumy has told me if I wanted to get pregnant, my meds would have to be changed and adjusted, and I would have to wait before I conceive. I think the only one I am on right now that would be a problem would be methotrexate.  Just make sure you ask questions, a lot of questions!!!  Hang in there...it will get better :) Michelle

Hi michelle, No nothing for the pain i dont see him until 2 weeks from now, but honestly i cant wait that long.. h e has another office thats closer to my house and possibly he has soemthing open much sooner than 2 weeks... My reg dr told me to take advil but its not doing much Yes I have LOTS of questions... ttys! irene

Hi michelle! Hope you are doing good.. well the rhumetologist sqeezed me in on Monday and i finally have a defiante diagnosis of what I have: Rhumetoid Arhtris and finally was able to get some meds to take care of this. he gave me presidone 5mg  1 a day and Planequil 200 mg 2 times a day. The presidone takes a while to kick in, its still kinda hard to get out of bed and do my regular morning routine.. I am probaly going to change my hours at work... it takes me alot longer to get ready.... and he also said I have water in one knee which is why that particular one is killing me! But overall at least I got the help I needed. How is your lapband quest coming along? Irene