Anyone have weight loss surgery after cancer??

[peanut_8]

I think the most interesting thing I took from the Atlantic article, was the speculation on why the average weight gain over the time frame may have happened. Pesticides, plastics etc. all of these seem like they may contribute to more folks being diagnosed with cancer. And it seems like the ages of diagnosis are going down. That concerns me.

from The Atlantic article:
First, people are exposed to more chemicals that might be weight-gain inducing. Pesticides, flame retardants, and the substances in food packaging might all be altering our hormonal processes and tweaking the way our bodies put on and maintain weight.

Second, the use of prescription drugs has risen dramatically since the ‘70s and ‘80s. Prozac, the first blockbuster SSRI, came out in 1988. Antidepressants are now one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., and many of them have been linked to weight gain.

Finally, Kuk and the other study authors think that the microbiomes of Americans might have somehow changed between the 1980s and now. It’s well known that some types of gut bacteria make a person more prone to weight gain and obesity. Americans are eating more meat than they were a few decades ago, and many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics in order to promote growth. All that meat might be changing gut bacteria in ways that are subtle, at first, but add up over time. Kuk believes the proliferation of artificial sweeteners could also be playing a role.

The fact that the body weights of Americans today are influenced by factors beyond their control is a sign, Kuk says, that society should be kinder to people of all body types.

peanut

[Jachut]

Interesting in light of the fact that earlier this year I discovered by gut flora was in bad bad shape and I had a long course of antibiotics to fix it all up. Since then I've effortlessly dropped about 15lb - I had a colonoscopy in May and scans earlier this year, so I'm sure its just that otherwise I might freak out about significant weight loss like this in the face of no dietary or exercise changes.

[peanut_8]

Interesting in light of the fact that earlier this year I discovered by gut flora was in bad bad shape and I had a long course of antibiotics to fix it all up. Since then I've effortlessly dropped about 15lb - I had a colonoscopy in May and scans earlier this year, so I'm sure its just that otherwise I might freak out about significant weight loss like this in the face of no dietary or exercise changes.

That's really interesting Jachut. So you must have had some sort of bad bacteria that the antibiotics got rid of. Did they tell you what it was? And did you do anything special to repopulate your gut with good bacteria, like take probiotics or yogurt?
peanut

[KimT]

I speak as a woman who is in total menopause after my treatment for colon and ovarian cancer. I am on hormone replacement but because I've had ovarian cancer, I am on the very lowest dose of hormones. There is a hormone variable that makes weight loss more difficult for sure. That being said, I have to disagree with a lot of what you said Jayne. Menopause does make weight loss more difficult, but it is still mainly a calories in, calories out situation in weight loss. I've gained a good 25 lbs since completing chemo in March 2012. I'd like to blame it all on the lack of hormones and chemo but the truth is, I've sat around for a good 2 years. My mom died in June 2013 and we had to move for my husbands job in September 2013. I had a hernia repair surgery in May of 2012 and could not work out as I was accustomed too for 6 months to a year. But it was the loss of my mom and the move that put me into a deep depression. It was a huge loss for me to move away from the rest of my family so soon after my mom died. I had a pity party for a good 18 months. I pretty much hibernated in my home. It's only been in the last 6 months that I have finally started making a life for me here in Pennsylvania. I sat around the house and didn't eat very well and lbs piled on. While the menopause hasn't helped me at all in the weight department, it was my sitting around eating crap that caused my weight gain. I think it is a great disservice to women to say you can't help gaining weight because of your hormones. As dr Phil says all the time on his show, you cannot change what you don't acknowledge. If you believe there is nothing you can do to stop gaining weight or to lose weight, you will not make the necessary lifestyle changes to lose the weight. I finally joined a gym in July. I've lost about 8 lbs but I could do better if I buckled down on my eating habits more. There is no doubt that the hormone situation makes it harder for me to lose weight. I have to workout longer and harder and really clean up my diet to lose weight. But I am losing it. I am determine to lose another 10-15. I am realistic about my weight loss goals. I'm probably not going to be a size 4 again without major sacrifices in diet and working my tail off in the gym. I don't need to be a 4 to be happy. I just want to get into a size 8-10 comfortably and be healthy. I am at the gym 4-5 days a week. And I workout HARD. But it is laying off and I am seeing results. While I haven't lost a lot in lbs, my body is changing. My muscle yo fat ratio is changing. I am seeing muscle definition in my body. And I have so much more energy. I used to go back to sleep after my son got on the bus and sleep until 11-12 every day. And I was still exhausted. Now I rarely nap. I have friends and I get out of the house more. I've changed up my cooking. I mainly use whole foods. I've cut out almost all processed foods in my diet. I'm nit starving myself, just trying to make my calories count. If I want a candy bar, I eat one. Just not every day like I was before.

[KimT]

I am not against weight loss surgery as long as the person doing it understands that it is not a weight loss cure but a tool. Long term weight management requires lifestyle changes. My mom had gastric bypass and lost 150 lbs. But she gained every bit of it back and more because she refused to eat better or to exercise. She wanted am easy weight loss plan. But there is no easy weight loss plan. Lifelong weight management requires sacrifices and changes in lifestyle.

[weisssoccermom]

I never said that you can't lose weight because of a lack of hormones...I said it was much more difficult and IT IS. There is no doubt about it...ask any medical professional how the lack of hormones affects a woman's metabolism. Our bodies are meant to function with our hormones...not without them. Studies have shown that a menopausal woman simply cannot eat/exercise the same way she did before and expect to maintain her weight. That same woman, after menopause, must either exercise MORE or EAT less and exercise the same way that she did before menopause. That simply, makes it more difficult for a woman to lose weight. A post menopausal woman simply cannot eat and exercise the same way she did prior to menopause and maintain her weight. Something has to give. So it's a little more complex than just saying energy in vs energy out...the rules change after menopause. Anything that drastically alters your metabolism is going to affect your weight....both menopause and chemo do a darn good job of altering our metabolism.

[Jachut]

Interesting in light of the fact that earlier this year I discovered by gut flora was in bad bad shape and I had a long course of antibiotics to fix it all up. Since then I've effortlessly dropped about 15lb - I had a colonoscopy in May and scans earlier this year, so I'm sure its just that otherwise I might freak out about significant weight loss like this in the face of no dietary or exercise changes.

That's really interesting Jachut. So you must have had some sort of bad bacteria that the antibiotics got rid of. Did they tell you what it was? And did you do anything special to repopulate your gut with good bacteria, like take probiotics or yogurt?
peanut

I was absolutely overrun with streptococcus gallolyticus - it made up 98% of what grew from the culture. Interestingly, its strongly associated with active colon cancer, when it is discovered as a result of a bacterial endocarditis infection - they think it breaches a lesion and gets into the bloodstream. Simply being a carrier though, the association has not been proven. Whatever, its a huge producer of D-lactic acid, which my practitioner believed explained all my symptoms- depression, brain fog, awful fatigue, nausea. The fatigue was the main reason I sought help. I had six weeks on huge doses of amoxycillin and one day three weeks in, I woke up feeling AMAZING. The excessive fatigue has gone and not returned. It hasn't solved quite all my problems - I then went on to try to repopulate my gut taking some pretty strong probiotics - mutaflor and something else I can't remember the name of. I still get what I believe is overly tired and I have a fair degree of exercise intolerance - a couple of days running in a row and I can count on spending a day in bed with flu symptoms, but I"m so much better than I was!

Despite the studies my surgeon turned his nose up at my claims and told me I was imagining that I was better. But he did a colonsocpy because it had been 4 years. All clear.

[Jachut]

its hard to tell why I put on 30lb extremely quickly after I got over chemo - menopause, HRT and antidepressants - but no matter what I did, it just went on week after week after week.

Antidepressants were my problem I think, once the weight gain got to the point where I was not going to tolerate it, I came off cold turkey, didnt even ask the doctor. My god, I never want to go through that again, but to me, being fat is worse than suffering prozac withdrawal The weight gain stopped immediately. Then when I got this fatigue sorted, I've lost 15lb through - I think - repopulating my bowel flora. And I think what HRT does to me is make me carry more weight on hips and thighs. I've always been pear shaped but never ever as bad as I am now - and I don't want to lose weight to try to get rid of it because I know it will only come off my upper body and leave me looking starved again.

But all of this change - 30lb up, about 20lb down, and becoming a significantly different shape at relatively the same weight - all done without real change to diet! Or exercise! I do not believe its as simple as that damn equation. I got control of that equation many years ago.

[Nik Colon]

I have not read all but I have to say that weight gain and loss is different for everyone. One person can eat anything and as much as they want and remain thin, others can diet exercise etc and still have issues. It's individual. The people who have it easy have no idea how hard it can be. I can do everything right and maybe lose a few pounds if lucky, my hub stops just drinking pop and can drop weight quick. People need to realize it's NOT just diet and exercise, it's a combo of things. And those who don't have to work hard at it don't realize what it's like. I'm slightly above average right now and am trying to lose it due to the damn steroids, etc, but I literally need to practically starve myself to get to where others are at natural. So please stop judging. Unless you know all the facts STFU! Sorry, just makes me angry. It's people who judge that made people like me when I was younger develope an eating disorder, and I wasn't overweight to begin with!

[KimT]

I have not read all but I have to say that weight gain and loss is different for everyone. One person can eat anything and as much as they want and remain thin, others can diet exercise etc and still have issues. It's individual. The people who have it easy have no idea how hard it can be. I can do everything right and maybe lose a few pounds if lucky, my hub stops just drinking pop and can drop weight quick. People need to realize it's NOT just diet and exercise, it's a combo of things. And those who don't have to work hard at it don't realize what it's like. I'm slightly above average right now and am trying to lose it due to the damn steroids, etc, but I literally need to practically starve myself to get to where others are at natural. So please stop judging. Unless you know all the facts STFU! Sorry, just makes me angry. It's people who judge that made people like me when I was younger develope an eating disorder, and I wasn't overweight to begin with!

I find it ironic that you tell people to STFU unless we know all the facts but yet you didn't bother to read the entire thread. Hello pot? This is kettle. You're black.

[Nik Colon]

I have not read all but I have to say that weight gain and loss is different for everyone. One person can eat anything and as much as they want and remain thin, others can diet exercise etc and still have issues. It's individual. The people who have it easy have no idea how hard it can be. I can do everything right and maybe lose a few pounds if lucky, my hub stops just drinking pop and can drop weight quick. People need to realize it's NOT just diet and exercise, it's a combo of things. And those who don't have to work hard at it don't realize what it's like. I'm slightly above average right now and am trying to lose it due to the damn steroids, etc, but I literally need to practically starve myself to get to where others are at natural. So please stop judging. Unless you know all the facts STFU! Sorry, just makes me angry. It's people who judge that made people like me when I was younger develope an eating disorder, and I wasn't overweight to begin with!

I find it ironic that you tell people to STFU unless we know all the facts but yet you didn't bother to read the entire thread. Hello pot? This is kettle. You're black.

Wow, I did right after and read most prior. That's kinda rude. But thanks for your opinion. Obviously you have never been through what I have, or just don't care. Maybe you should look it up. Pot/kettle, hmmmmm, as I said I read most b4 I replied then read the last after. Btw, I did not point you or anyone out, just saying that in gereral, if someone does not know they should not judge.

[weisssoccermom]

Hey folks....not judging anyone but PLEASE let's not have another problem thread here just because we have a difference of opinions. It isn't worth getting all worked up about. I think we all agree that many factors play into weight gain/weight loss....and let's just leave it at that.

[ozziej]

Just heard about some research suggesting a relationship between actual/perceived isolation/loneliness and reduced impulse control. I'm wondering whether the sense of isolation that can accompany a cancer dx might be a factor for some people's weight gain during/after treatment?

[Lee]

I didn't have a weight problem prior to my cancer diagnoses, but I sure do today. I believe menopause (surgeon it all out during my rectal surgery) and chemo and age all play a factor into my weight problem today. I am at a healthy weight today, but only because I'm a member of Weight Watchers.

When I was diagnosed, I was losing weight (stress from cancer diagnoses), Onc told me to stop losing weight, maintain, but do not lose anymore weight. After that, I started to gain weight and yes I'm one of those that gain weight during chemo. Following chemo I continued to gain weight. When I quit smoking, I added even more weight. When I was 3 yrs out, my Onc told me I could weight SLOWLY. No rapid weight loss. Thus I joined Weight Watchers. Lost 40 pounds, but slowly gained it back.

Back in Oct of 2013, my Dr told me to get the weight off. It took over a year, but I did it. This time I will keep it off, but it is hard. Weighing in with Weight Watchers is what keeps me there.

I have a few friends, who are my age, and can eat any and all they want, with no problems. Yes we are all different. And yes, it is hard. At the end of the day for me, it is sheer will and determination.

Lee

[dianetavegia]

I can struggle to diet, giving up everything fun and not lose more than two or 3 lbs. I've finally decided that 154 to 157 is going to be my forever weight. Also, when I DO lose a few pounds, my face looks old and I don't like that at all! I'm short so I look fluffy.

I eat healthy but I get almost no exercise. I sit all day long........... soooo........

I got another puppy and this one is a Border Collie and you MUST work hard with them if you want a good dog. She's only 14 weeks old and very smart. We have almost an acre out back and with all our storms and rain this fall, we have hundreds of small limbs and pinecones. I got a lightweight wheelbarrow and am going to pick up limbs, etc. while she runs and plays. I had her outside a lot yesterday and she slept 12 hours last night!!!!