Insulin Pumps and weight loss surgery

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lindanurse Posted: Mon, May 25 2009 5:00 PM

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Does anyone know of a someone who has had weight loss surgery and still needs a pump?

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kat replied on Mon, May 25 2009 11:50 PM

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I believe one of the long-time posters had weight loss surgery and continues to use a pump.  He doesn't check in as frequently as he used to, but maybe he'll see your question. 

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lindanurse replied on Tue, May 26 2009 8:31 PM

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Thanks Kat for that message, it gives some hope

Linda

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biscuit01 replied on Mon, Jun 1 2009 3:12 PM

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If you are a typr 1 diabetic you will always ned insulin regardless if you have weight loss surgery or not. You certainly wil require less as you lose weight and your resistance goes down, but short of a cure as a type 1 you will still need insulin in some form. be it a pump or shots. Hope this helps.

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GreenGiant replied on Mon, Aug 10 2009 1:37 PM

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hello.  I have not posted in some time.  I am the poster that Kat was referring to.  I have RNY Gastric bypass surgery 3 1/2 years ago.  I am type one, and was using a pump before the surgery, and continue to use a pump today.  If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Fred

Green Giant

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ceaton replied on Thu, Oct 29 2009 4:32 PM

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good afternoon fred- i am looking for info on how u made out with ur gastric bypass surgery. i am on a pump and have been for 15 years have some trouble with lows very tight control. could lose 100 lbs. have gastroparises, reflux and gerd dr recommended the surgery a bit worried about lows and how to treat them. need to do some thing.

catherine

ceaton

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JoyceL replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 8:13 AM

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I would talk to your doctor to see what resources are in your area, as well as to discuss the pros and cons.  Have you seen a dietician in the past?

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GreenGiant replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 8:57 AM

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Hi Catherine.  This surgery changed my life.  Its one of the best things I've ever done, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is overweight by a large amount, and struggling with it.  I was having some problems with lows, so my endo prescribed he continuous glucose monitoring  to my minimed pump.  that has helped tremendously, as I get a warning if I start going low, well before it is too low and I can do something about it.  If you have any questions regarding the surgery, feel free to ask here, or you can email me privately.

Fred

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jen1229 replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 9:02 AM

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OK I have a question.  If I were to consider surgery, I would only consider lap band which I can't have because I had pancreatitis.  However I was told by an endo, who would talk about nothing else with me, that you have to lose 50 pounds and go through extensive behavioral modification.  If one is going to go through all of that, then why not just continue with the weight loss program.  You say you need to lose 100 pounds, that wold put you half way there?  I just can't understand why anyone would want to mutilate their body and never be able to eat a real meal again, and, it still takes hard work to keep the weight off.  There is no guarantee that you won't gain the weight back if you become complacent.  There is a woman in my Weight Watchers meeting who had gastric bypass, and she joined weight watchers because she started to put on weight (and had not yet lost the amount of weight she needed to lose) and felt that she still needed to be motivated not to eat the wrong foods.  So my question is still "why would someone go through all this?"

A long time ago when the first "celebrity" had this surgery and stated that her boy friend wouldn't marry her until she lost weight (I would have told him where to go) I wrote to the magazine and said that soon Drs. would be touting this as a method of quick weight loss and not having to deal with overweight patients.  It is so true.  The first words out of any physicians' mouth to me is always "Have you considered weight loss surgery?"

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GreenGiant replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 9:34 AM

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statistics show that people who have lap band surgery versus gastric bypass lose a smaller percentage of their excess body weight, and are mor likely to regain the weight that they do lose.  Also, it requires a foreign object to be implanted in your body, the band itself and the tubing and the port used for fills.  for these reasons I would chose bypass surgery over the lapband.  I don't eat meals the size I used to, but I can eat just about anything I want, so I don't think it is true to say that you can never eat a normal meal again.  that is just not true.  Jen' comment that you have to lose 50lbs before they will do the surgery is also not true.  that may be the policy of the surgeon so looked into, but it is not a general requirement, and each surgeon seems to have their own policy.  My required going on the South Beach diet upon initial meeting, but did not put any specifics goals, only that you can not gain any weight from initial meeting until day of surgery.  In my case I lost 20 pounds from initial meeting until day of surgery, but trust me there is no way I would have lost the amount of weight I did after surgery  if I had continued with diet only.  I believe this surgery has truly given me my life back.

Fred

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ceaton replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 10:00 AM

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Good morning Fred- Thanks for the reply-how do u treat ur lows?  have tried the cgm have a lot of errors weak signal, lost sensor, got very frustrated not using it right now.  questions about the surgery- did u have a lot of lows after?, how was the recovery? did u have trouble with dumping syndrume because of lows? what r u post op- have u gained any weight back? did u have a lot of weight to lose-i feel a bit overwelmed.

catherine 

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GreenGiant replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 11:06 AM

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Good morning Fred- Thanks for the reply-how do u treat ur lows? 

I usually eat some crackers and or juice.  I also carry "sweet tarts" they work just as well as glucose tablets and they taste better.

have tried the cgm have a lot of errors weak signal, lost sensor, got very frustrated not using it right now. 

I know what you mean.  I get frustrated over them too, but continue to use it.

questions about the surgery- did u have a lot of lows after?

not any more than usual

, how was the recovery?

I had no problems, and was back to work in about 2 weeks.

did u have trouble with dumping syndrume because of lows?

I continue to have occasional dumping, but I would not necessarily associate it with lows, but rather what I ate.

what r u post op- have u gained any weight back?

I am just over 3 1/2 years post op.  it will be 4 years in March.  I lost about 160lbs. and I gained back about 20, which is not uncommon.  they say that most people gain back between 15 and 20 pounds after a few years.  I have now been at a stable weight for over a year.  I am happy where I am at, but have been considering trying to lose the 20 again.

did u have a lot of weight to lose-i feel a bit overwelmed.

As I said above, I lost 160 lbs.  that put me at a BMI in the normal range.  I started with a BMI that was morbidly obese.

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ceaton replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 11:41 AM

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thank u for all ur help. just one more question.  did u have trouble immediately with getting enough sugar to cover lows? sorry about beating a dead house but have lots of trouble with lows some explained some not

thanks again

Catherine

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GreenGiant replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 12:02 PM

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no, I did not have any problem treating low.  bear in mind though that eating pure sugar can cause dumping.

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ceaton replied on Fri, Oct 30 2009 1:25 PM

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Well thank u for ur imput it has helped alot

catherine