Hi! Welcome aboard.
We may not have much in common, but I'll overshare. I have a TON of issues to deal with. But I think a reasonable caveat is to not blame every problem you have after the DS on the DS. There are life choices and genetics and other things to consider.
So, I got the LapBand in 2002. Three years later, I weighed three pounds more than I did pre-op. I had lost about 60# and gained about 63# and a case of GERD as well as (self-diagnosed but observed w/fluoroscopy and witnesses) gastroparesis.
In 2005, I regained my sanity (such as it is) and had the DS. I still have the band...but it's where it belongs, in a Ziploc bag. So in a couple of weeks, it will be thirteen years! My starting BMI was a bit over 53. Currently, it is about 33. So I'm still "obese." But not as bad as the BMI charts would have us believe...because when I was a sweet young thing, built like a brick shit house and even at the end of Army Basic Training, my weight per the BMI charts categorized me as "overweight," which I was not. I'd guess that, ideally, I should lose about 30 pounds...as opposed to the 50 pounds the chart would have me lose. If I ever find myself a teensy bit motivated, it isn't that hard to do w/the DS. Just live on bacon and eggs, steak and eggs, ham and cheese omelettes...and there ya go.
Deal is, though, I'm no longer super morbidly obese, or morbidly obese, as I was thirteen years ago. Also,
I have close to zero self-control, and eat way too much junk.
I take lots of supplements. Lots. And many of them are because of the DS. Others are because I have osteoporosis. (Is that because of the DS? Maybe. Or maybe it's because my mom had it.) The cost is manageable.
I get iron infusions...maybe every 9-18 months. I was always a tad anemic. Now, it may not be worse...it is probably because I'm paying far more attention than I did in the past.
Also, in a few weeks, I'll be 72-damned-years old. Without the DS, I wouldn't have made it to 60.
Anyway, there's my overshare.
Welcome,
Sue