Bariatric surgery after long term prednisone use - experiences/advice?

• by CaseyAnn
• 2018-09-20 00:46:52
• General Posting
• 1013 views
• 0 comments

Hi everyone,

As anyone who has been on long term prednisone knows, they give you your prescription and throw in 10 buckets of free fat!  Woo (not).

I've been on prednisone for the last 3 years since getting my pacemaker and being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.  In that time my weight has almost doubled, I've developed sleep apnoea, lost my hair, I now suffer from severe joint pain, high cholesterol, questionable blood sugar levels,and I'm very self conscious about my size/appearance ... none of which helps my mental health!

While I'm thankful that the prednisone originally saved my life, it's now causing way more health complications which I really want to get sorted out before the complications become more serious.

I'm slowly tapering off the pred (almost there thank GOD) and have a referral and appointment to see a bariatric surgeon in a few weeks to discuss undergoing surgery for gastric banding.  I've decided to persue the gastric band approach over a sleeve/bypass as it is far less invasive and is also easily reversible if anything doesn't work as it should. 

I am fully aware that any sort of bariatric surgery is not a "quick fix" and thats not what I'm looking for.  I'm doing this because at this point in time it is the safest and most effective way for me to regain A LOT of my health, get mobile again and reclaim a bit of my pre-prednisone life.

Has anyone else gone through any kind of bariatric surgery with a pacer and/or after medication-induced obesity?  Do you have any tips or stories you want to share?  

Thanks in advance.

xx