On getting old.

As many of you -- I have had lower back pain for years, and in my normal Beth way I have ignored it or (...don't tell anyone!) medicated it with NSAIDS off and on, and heat, and exercise, and stretching.  AND GOD DAMN IT, IT HURTS.

Source - Healio 

NSAID use is contraindicated in gastric bypass patients as it can cause serious ulcers.  I started popping them like candy recently.  No. good.

The back pain comes  in cycles and never really goes away.  It gets to the point where I cannot ignore it and I am currently in a Flare Of I Cannot Sit Down Or Sleep Or Lay Down And Nothing Feels Right EXCEPT getting on my knees in 'downward dog' position.  When I describe it to other people they chime in with "Yep.  I live this." 

I had my husband take me to the urgent care MD on the weekend for X-Rays.  They show disc degeneration. No surprise. I suppose after ignoring it -- plus a few years of massive obesity, plus four pregnancies, losing all of the weight plus eating haphazardly and vitamin-deficiencies, it shouldn't be a surprise.  

Hooray.

I was prescribed an anti-epileptic drug instead of a pain-medicine, at my request because I do not want to be sedated, and that I am epileptic.  

Although as the doctor was describing the medication's side effects to me, he explained that it might cause "sedation, dizziness," and I stated, "... that it isn't like I do anything important anyway, I'm not using heavy machinery as it is."  

I do not know that he got my seizure humor. 

I don't feel much relief from a few days of this added medication -- and I do not feel that it will be of help to the pain, but there are more options.  I think that I will need to use exercise somehow, because this, just isn't working.  

I can't sit.  I can't sleep.  

I have a broken ass.  I. am. old.

Health is Not Measured in Pounds

Bariatric Surgery Linked To Increased TASTE Sensitivity - Does Taste Perception CHANGE After Bariatric Surgery?

I think mine is broken. I go for SALTY every time.

I hereby define this study in the flesh.  Everything tastes too, everything to me.

-MM

Via Science Daily from ASMBS -

People with obesity may have an unexpected ally after weight-loss surgery: their tongues. New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine finds patients who reported a decrease in taste intensity after bariatric surgery had significantly higher excess weight loss after three months than those whose taste intensity became higher.

Findings from the new study, "Does Taste Perception Change After Bariatric Surgery?", were presented here at the 31st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) during ObesityWeek 2014, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity. ObesityWeek 2014 is hosted by the ASMBS and The Obesity Society (TOS).

In the study, the majority (87%) of patients reported a change in taste after bariatric surgery, with 42 percent reporting they ate less because food didn't taste as good. However, those who said their taste intensity decreased, lost 20 percent more weight over three months, than those whose taste intensified.

"In our clinical experience, many patients report alterations in their perception of taste after bariatric surgery. However, little evidence exists as to how and why these changes affect weight loss after surgery," said study author John M. Morton MD, Chief, Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine. "It appears it's not just the flavor that influences weight loss, it's the intensity of the flavor. Patients with diminished taste intensity lost the most weight. A potential application to these findings may include teaching taste appreciation in hopes of increasing weight loss."

Before surgery, patients with severe obesity had lower total taste scores than a control group of individuals with no obesity. The 88 patients in the study were on average, 49-years-old, had an average age of 49.2 years, more than half were female with an average preoperative body mass index (BMI) of 45.3. Prior to surgery, the patients and controls completed a baseline validated taste test that quantified their ability to identify the primary taste, using paper strips with varying concentrations of each taste solution, presented in random order. The tests were then performed again at 3-, 6- and 12-months after surgery.

"The study provides excellent new insight on taste change after bariatric surgery," said Jaime Ponce, MD, medical director for Hamilton Medical Center Bariatric Surgery program and ASMBS immediate past-president. "More research is needed to see how we can adjust for taste perception to increase weight loss."

Study - American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). (2014, November 4). For some, losing weight after bariaric surgery may be a matter of taste.ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 5, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141104083132.htm

Post-Bariatric Surgery Vitamins and Minerals via Dr. Sharma

 

Imagine a standardized bariatric vitamin label!  Could it happen?