Diabetes: Gastric bypass and diabetes

It has been a long time since I posted here. I sometimes read, often don't, but continue to be on the list.

As long-timers might remember, I was doing a serious body-building exercise program with a professional trainer to lose fat and deal with diabetes. However, I felt my body clock was ticking in many regards and I was not close to where I wanted to be at age 60. I've considered this option for probably 10 years. I signed up for weight loss surgery and gave myself that wait time to see how much I could do on my own.

I opted for the bypass because it is the only one that has an immediate impact on blood sugars. I can't say that we know why bypass affects BG, but it does.

When I left the hospital in early-April of this year I was off byetta and fortamet. My sugars have not been as low as I'd like, but I want normal. However, the doctors are thrilled. I've lost weight, albeit more slowly than most because I was not malignantly obese. I'm told that I'll eventually be at or around a "normal" weight in a year or so - whatever normal means for someone who is still trying to do body building. My knees are better and I'm a lot more active as the weight drops off.

I attend a Healthy Ongoing Weight Loss (HOWL) meeting regularly and every diabetic who has had the bypass has reported either a huge improvement in their diabetes or are in full remission. We all eat a restricted calorie, low-carb, high protein diet of about 800 calories for women and a bit more for men. The trade off is taking vitamins, minerals and calcium supplments for the rest of my life. At the meetings I listen to people who are up to 10 years out and a year out the vast majority of diabetics have normal sugars that run in the 70's without any medication. The only people who still take medication were the ones with malignant obesity who, having lost hundreds of pounds are still a hundred or more pounds overweight; they mostly take low doses of insulin.

This isn't a solution that would work for everyone. In some cases people can't get insurance coverage - medicare doesn't seem to cover it for anyone and perhaps it is difficult to get in some countries. Some folks are intimidated by the costs or the surgical risks (which are far, far lower than having diabetes) or the concept of being forever restricted in eating - even on festive days. The center I went to requires psychological evaluations and ongoing intervention since the surgery is on the stomach and gut, not the head, meaning food addicts are going to have serious problems unless they deal with their addictions before surgery.

I am not advocating, merely reporting. For me, it was the right choice. My gastric reflux is gone as an added bonus and I now wish I'd done this years ago. The sugery was minimally invasive, I was back at the gym in a week doing walking, cycling, and the like and I feel good. I'm still learning what I can and can't eat - raw veggies and fruits are still beyond me, but my years on Bernstein low carb and the gastric restrictions of byetta made me a perfect candidate for this surgical intervention.