Tirzepatide and Bariatric Surgery

[nurseratchit]

Up front I'll tell you, I know now that my main obesity and diabetes problem is food noise. Tirz revealed that to me when I woke up on Nov 7 2023, after having taken the first shot the night before, and my food noise was gone. I had gotten control of my life back.

I had gastric bypass in 2017. At almost 300 lbs (M, 5' 6"), my surgeon made me go on ultra low carb diet to lose as much as possible before the surgery. It was 8 months of Hell thanks to the food noise. Absolutely brutal and I know there was some clinical depression in there (maybe PTSD lol???) along the way due to it. Got down to 220 and had the surgery, which got me to about 180. Then I started slowly gaining over the years. Last year was back to 240 when I started Mounjaro after I got a new diabetes Dr and he put me on it.

On Nov 8 2023 I completely changed my eating habits for the better, and have had a fairly consistent 2lb/week loss. I'm at maintenance now, bouncing around 150-153.

There have been a few dosage modifications along the way. I'm currently on 5mg every 4 days.

Tirz gave me my life back and got me where I wanted to be with my weight. Surgery couldn't do that because surgery can't touch the food noise.

I plan to be on tirz or something like it for life.

That really is a mind blowing experience isn't it. I remember reading about this before I tried it but one can't fully appreciate it until they experience it. I didn't even know I had it until it was gone which was within 24 hours of first injection.

 

[dogmom]

I had VSG in 2011 at about 330lbs. lost about 150lbs by 2013 but never got to goal weight (155lbs). I did get to 175lbs . Slowly year by year after reaching 175lbs I gained weight , like 5lbs+ a year and after 8 to 9 years I had gained about 55lbs back.

So in October 2022 I heard about GLP meds and mounjaro specifically. I've been on various GLP meds since then, off and on, Tirz, sema, reta, and also had long periods of stalls, but was able to get to 155lbs just recently.

I'm still happy I had VSG. It helped me from gaining all my weight back. Kept me at a "normal fat" weight rather than super morbidly obese weight.

I also think because I stopped binging (haven't binged since fall 2022), my stomach has shrunk back to my 2011 VSG stomach size.

 

[touringsedan]

I had a RNY in 2007, lost 150 (420->270) and held that for 5 years and starting gaining and would bounce around 290-310 always dieting and at war with my body and losing.

Enter GLP-1 agonists. Food noise suppression alone is a game changer for me as I feel that my lifetime battle with obesity already trained me to be a master dieter, but now I can follow any diet and focus on other things not food and lose weight.

Lost 55 lbs since July and it's working great.

I don't have the delayed gastric emptying effects or the fullness as I don't use my normal stomach, so for me I do rely mostly on the food noise suppression to keep me on track.

 

[clayd]

I wish you the best of luck combating two addictions instead of just one. I don't think that transference addiction is discussed enough before people undergo bariatric surgery, unfortunately. One of my friends is on tirz, and it has curbed her drinking immensely. (I believe she's at 10mg), so hopefully, you'll get that same effect soon. I feel for you. Keep doing what you gotta do to get to where you wanna go!

It's not stressed enough that 15-20% of bypass patients will end up dependent on alcohol. That's a huge number. I'm always torn about whether I'm glad I did the surgery because I'm still down 90 pounds but I have this other struggle now. In some ways if these meds continue to evolve, hopefully these surgeries will become more of a last resort/ a thing of the past

 

[fyrepep]

Surgery did zilch for my food noise and appetite. Other than physically restricting the amount of food I could eat (literally only a couple of tablespoons in the beginning), the constant screaming in my brain for consuming more food never went away. Just needing to taste it even. It's been over 24 years since I had my surgery but I still remember when I physically could not eat the food due to the pain it would cause with the small pouch, but I would chew food just to feel like I was eating, and then spit out. Gross, I know, but that's what I did.

With tirz that voice in my head has been silenced. I get hungry, but it's normal hunger and I eat a normal amount of food, and then I'm done and don't think about it again until I'm actually hungry again. I have been battling my weight since I was 8 years old (doctor told my mom I needed to lose 20 lbs) and it has never stopped. Now here I am on the cusp of 46 in a couple of weeks and I am still not sure this is real. I have tried everything you can imagine over the last 38 years to lose weight, and none of it ever came even remotely close to what this medication has done for me.

Side note: my mom (age 74) has been morbidly obese my entire life. She was 410 lbs at here highest and has had two bariatric surgeries in her life. She lost weight with both, but not permanently. She started Mounjaro (diabetic) also in Dec 2023 at 292 lbs. She is has now lost 77 lbs and says the same thing about the food noise. It's just gone and she feels normal regarding hunger and satiety for the first time in her life.

These are life-changing meds and I'm so sad and also angry that many people who desperately need them cannot get them due to their high cost. I really do hope

I agree with you that it sucks bad that people who desperately need the medication don't have access to them. It seems extremely unfair. I have had to administer ridiculous amounts of Suboxone and methadone to addicts, but we don't provide the same level of care and access to food addicts. I am not sure why the topic of food addiction is not taken seriously or a dress like it is with other addictions.

I'm glad to hear that both you and your mother are doing so well, and I really look forward to the food noises disappearing.