WILL IT WORK? Please read bc i am desperate!
HI and thanks for reading..
I had Thyroid Cancer 12 years ago. Complete Thyroidectomy. My metabolic levels are balanced by synthetic hormones.I was normal weight until my thyroid was removed. then had full hysterectomy. Now up 120 lbs. I do not eat very much...probably 800-1000. I have every co-morbidity! MD's said they cannot do anything else with hormone therapy. I'm a veg and eat mainly fresh food. don't binge and don't really think about food much nor do I even get hungry. Sometimes, i'll go all day without eating. I do not exercise bc it is too difficult. I know there are still mysteries as to why this surgery works.....re the immediate remission of diabetes 2. etc.
Do you all think surgery will help me?????
any and all comments appreciated.
If you are eating only 800-1000 calories per day (I assume you are measuring portions to be sure you are calculating calories correctly, because many of us are really bad at determining how much of something we are eating (we grossly underestimate our portion size) if we don't measure) and you are gaining weight on that, I would encourage you to get a full metabolic panel (not just thyroid levels) and a full hormonal panel done to see what is contributing to the weight loss. Without determining why you are gaining weight when eating so few calories, you may not get the results you would otherwise expect from surgery. That is not to say that it won't "work", but it may not work as well. I had thyroid oblation via radioactive iodine in 1989 because of Graves Disease (and now take 175mcg of Synthorid daily) and had a partial hysterectomy in 1995 (and removal of one ovary in 2004). With adequate synthetic thyroid hormone, the removal of your thyroid should not be the cause of continuing weight gain. Many people gain weight initially while they are trying to get the medication levels right, but once that happens, the weight gain shouldn't continue.
I did well with the surgery, but I am sure that I was eating several thousand calories a day when I was gaining weight. If you are gaining weight truly eating only a little above 800 calories, you may only lose weight for the first few months after surgery (since most people are up to eating 800-1000 calories per day after about 6 months, depending on the individual surgeons's plan) and so may not lose everything you need/want to lose with surgery if you don't get to the bottom of the metabolic problem first. I would hate to see you go theough such a drastic surgery, and endure a lifetime of lack of vitamin absorption and restrictions on NSAIDs to only lose a portion of the desired weight.
I will say, though, that going without eating regularly is likely part of the problem, because your body drops your metabolism between meals (the best way to lose weight is to eat small meals every few hours). If you have surgery, you will have to change your eating habits and will need to be drinking off and on all day for a while in order to get enough fluids in.
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
What Lora said. If your thyroid hormones are balanced by medication, then that's not causing weight gain, so you need to find out what is. If you are truly gaining weight eating only 800 calories a day, then I would worry that surgery won't help much because eating less is going to be almost impossible for you. Before my surgery, I probably ate at least 3,000 calories a day.
Why does your doctor think you are gaining weight eating that little? Are you sure that's all you're eating?
You can certainly talk with a bariatric surgeon and see what he or she thinks.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Would like to share my mother's story, and echo the recommendations of others to get a full metabolic panel and second/third opinions. After that then see if the bariatric surgery makes sense.
My mother was always slim, although not skinny--definitely no weight problem. She is very active, and walks 45 min-1 hour per day. Although I suspect she may eat more than she realizes in terms of calories, at the same time, I am also very aware that she eats very healthy. As a kid, we never had sugary cereals, etc. in the house. Dessert one or two times a week, but not every day, etc. Her cupboards are really devoid of junk.
She had her thyroid removed several years ago. It has been "balanced" with synthetic hormones. Despite all her efforts, she is having weight problems (not enough to be morbidly obese, but still substantially more than she weight 20 years before). She would get very frustrated when the doctors would tell her to "just lose a few pounds," "cut back," etc.
Well--turns out, her doctors started to notice that her cortisol level was high. Monitored it, monitored it, still high. Now seeing an additional endocrinologist specialist--sort of a specialist's specialists, and she may have intermittent cushings.
All this to say--don't assume your (lack of a) thyroid is causing everything. Keep investigating, definitely!!!!
pearl7000
