Post surgery weight loss

[bbb]

Hi,
I had heart surgery one year ago and had a huge appetite afterwards and no weight loss. My friend David, who had endo cardititis and a mitral valve repair last week (11 days ago) has been losing weight every day. He went from 230 (after lots of IV fluid) on Oct.1 to 175 today, 33 days later. He is a large, healthy fit guy who works out and is normally is around 200 lbs. He eats some big meals, but doesn't seem to have a huge appetite. We will go to doc on Monday, but I wonder if losing weight after surgery is common???

Thanks,

Betsy

 

[Phyllis]

Weight loss is common until one's appetite comes back and then you usually put it all back on. It can't hurt to check with the doctor.

 

[Bina]

Is David the nervous type? I keep off weight just with that....it's hard for me to gain.

 

[aussigal]

I lost a load of weight in the first 2-3 months after surgery then literally oneday I woke up and had a huge appetite and piled all the weight plus extra back on and have never been able to lose weight since.
I think he will be fine....its only early days. I got so hopeless that I had to take anti-nausea pills because I was feeling sick from not eating.

 

[Jkm7]

I lost a bare few pounds my first surgery. It was back on within two months.

My second surgery, the only weight I lost was the water weight I gained during the surgery (17 pounds) but they got that off me before I was permitted to go home. I came home the weight I was when I went to the hospital and never lost any at all. In fact I gained a few pounds but have now lost that. I weigh just about what I weighed when I had my first OHS going on five years ago.

 

[WayneGM]

I lost about 15 lbs the first weeks after OHS. I never did gain it all back although my appetite is fine now. I'm still about 10 lbs lighter than I was pre-op, and feeling fit.

 

[Duff Man]

that's 55 pounds in a month... pretty serious weight loss. I'd be making an appointment with my cardiologist, myself. Better safe than sorry.

Not to get all homeopathic on you guys, but some people are more in tune with their bodies than others... if he feels ok he might be ok, depending on how discerning he is with his body's feedback. Maybe this is kind of stating the obvious, I don't know.

 

[Adrienne]

I only lost two measly pounds (which I wanted to lose anyway). I then gained back four pounds!! It took me two months to lose those four pounds. I know I'm not overweight, but boy is it a drag trying to stay this way. I'll probably be fighting putting on weight even when I'm 90 (if I live that long)!!

 

[ctyguy]

I lost about 10 pounds pre-surgery I think primarily due to the stress of it all (no appetite, etc...). I lost another 15 post surgery even though my appetite wasn't bad. I've put the 15 back on but am about 10 pounds down from where I started. If he is eating well I wouldn't worry all that much. Don't be suprised if that weight starts to creep back on about 60 days post-op, seems that then it started creeping back on me.

 

[hall]

I lost 16 pounds after surgery. No such luck, put it back on. I just had no appetite. 55 pounds is a heck of a lot of weight though. I'd get that checked. Best of luck.

 

[aussigal]

30lbs or so of that weight is/was water weight so we probably shouldn't be counting that as true weight-loss. 25lbs in a month is alot but when you have no appetite its close to what you would expect from a med-large bloke. As long as he feels otherwise that he is improving everyday I think he is OK...of course its always a good idea to let the Doc know of this weight-loss.

 

[CHDDoug]

I would say that , YES, weight loss after surgery is common. I normally weigh around 205 lbs. Post surgery, I ballooned up to around 240 lbs (fluids). By a couple of weeks after surgery, I was down to 190 lbs. I slowly put the weight back on and am back to about 205 lbs. Not everyone loses weight, but I would say it's very common to do so.

 

[JeffM]

Hi,
I had heart surgery one year ago and had a huge appetite afterwards and no weight loss. My friend David, who had endo cardititis and a mitral valve repair last week (11 days ago) has been losing weight every day. He went from 230 (after lots of IV fluid) on Oct.1 to 175 today, 33 days later. He is a large, healthy fit guy who works out and is normally is around 200 lbs. He eats some big meals, but doesn't seem to have a huge appetite. We will go to doc on Monday, but I wonder if losing weight after surgery is common???

Thanks,

Betsy

Hi Betsy,

So, Daviid's weight is down 25 pounds in 11 days. That's a lot. I'm not sure what you mean by "fit" since that is a subjective term, but if David had a few pounds of body fat to spare, he could easily have lost some of it by eating less overall. Additionally, he may be dehydrated, which can easily account for several pounds. If he also carried a lot of muscle and normally lifts weights, he will have already lost a few pounds to reduced muscle mass. Still, that seems like a lot of weight whatever the reason and I'd consult my cardiologist if it were me.

Jeff

Jeff

 

[Cooker]

It seems like it took me a while to shed the fluid weight and once my appetite returned, well the ThrowDown wasn't born because I was slim and trim ... I agree with others that this seems extreme ... never hurts to ask the doc.