Please Tell Me This Will Go Away

Today I found out that I have high blood pressure and was prescribed Micardis for it. A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I'm 24 years old - 24 years old and taking medication for high blood pressure. Really? I am shocked, sad, and scared.

I keep wondering what happens if my husband loses his job and we don't have the insurance to cover my surgery around January 2012. I have way too much going on with my health to stay fat. It's scary. Maybe it's childish and selfish of me to feel the way that I do, but I don't think it is right for anyone my age to have to ALREADY be on bp meds.

Please give me reassurance that getting the DS and this weight off will more than likely reverse my blood pressure problem.

losing weight weight by any means will reduce your high blood pressure

 High blood pressure is one of many comorbidities associated with obesity.  In the majority of cases weightloss can resolve the issue.

I am 26 myself and have had the first stage of a DS (VSG), and while I still have a way to go and am in the process of setting up a second surger to complete the DS my general practitioner has stated my blood pressure has gone down significantly with the nearly 300lbs I have lost.

I was prescribed medication for high blood pressure back when I was around 22 I believe.  High blood pressure does run in my family, however in my case for the time being it is being considered a weight related issue.

I can certainly see your concerns if you all of a sudden lost your insurance coverage (one thing I have not had to worry about in Canada), so I don't see your concern being selfish.

And I was also diagnosed with sleep apnea over five years ago.  I've noticed my breathing while sleeping is less inhibited.  At this point I would say chin up and look forward to the benefits that WLS can provide for your overall health.

I don't see anything about you being childish, what I see is a young adult taking charge of her life, saying enough is enough, I want to be healthy.  sure you should be scared to have to take medication in general, but you are doing something about it.  the DS is a powerful wls tool, and has the best weight loss statistics both in losing and keep off the weight.  if your husband loses his job it is not the end of the world, he can get another one or you can get one.  keep advocatinf for what is best for you...

Getting the sleep apnea under control will be very good for your blood pressure. So if you are to get on CPAP therapy, do it RIGHT NOW, no ifs, ands or buts.

Yes, getting the weight off will more than likely reverse all those issues.

There IS such a thing as inadequate weight loss with the DS. It CAN happen. This is not a guaranteed procedure. NONE of them are. The DS is just the best bet out of several gambles you could take. The statistics are absolutely betting odds in my book.

In order to stack the deck even more in your favor, research your surgeon's person stats on his/her DS patients. Some surgeons have better outcomes than others do. Even surgeons who theoretically do the procedure the same way, such as Dr. Peters and Dr. Greenbaum, who both do only open procedures and use the same modification of the Hess method, have some variation in their outcomes. Peters patients tend to lose a little slower and have fewer recorded deficiency problems, but they lose more of their excess weight in total. Greenbaum DSers tend to lose very rapidly and then level out, and they seem to report more deficiency issues. (This could very well be an aftercare issue, I don't know.)

This is all just my general observation of a good chunk of DSers from both practices. I have no collected stats to offer you to back it up. It's just to illustrate that there are variations in the individual surgeons.

Hi Elizabeth,

That is a really good point.  How did you get that information?   I want to chose the best possible surgeon without having to travel 3000 miles if possible.  I have Dr. Sudan, so how would I find out stats for him?

Don't want to make ANOTHER bad decision.

I expect surgeons to provide me with that kind of information when I ask them. I asked both Dr. Peters and Dr. Greenbaum about it to their faces. If I were communicating via long distance, I'd do it on the phone or via email.

1) Statistically, yes - but statistics include a %age of people who are on the wrong side of them.  YOU have some control over this.

2) Please do some searching on OH about your surgeon.  Although he is a DS surgeon, in the sense that he has performed them, he has a pretty bad reputation.  I wouldn't use him myself, or recommend him to anyone.

Erica, I have high hopes for you that your co-morbidities will get resolved with your DS surgery. My sleep apnea, high BP, diabetes,and high cholesterol were all resolved. The data shows a high likelihood that it will in your case as well.

 Erika - try not to get too upset - the more upset you get the worse the blood pressure gets.  My mother has taken bp tabs since she was 21 - she is now 84.  I started taking them when I was about 40 - and when I loose weight (via whatever means at the time) - it goes down.  Now I am not dieting or loosing weight - I find a quick walk in the morning and evening - even just a block keeps it under control.  The doc says I have model bp - but I do take the pill everyday.  Don't pay with high bp - it is dangerous at any age.

The other ladies are right - and even my doctor - told me very good change I will be able to come off both bp and diabetes medication once I get to a respectable weight.

You will be fine - you are on the right path doing something for yourself.