Unbeknownst to me, around the same time I was beginning my weight loss journey my overweight friend Chris in Charleston started his journey as well. He started at 357 pounds and quickly started losing weight with a lifestyle change similar to mine — until he uploaded this picture to his Facebook account.
He was in the hospital — with gallstones.
His drastic weight loss was 100% to blame for sending him to the emergency room. It frightened me, but honestly and perhaps naively/ignorantly, 344 pounds scared me a lot more than the possible risks/dangers of losing weight quickly.
I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV — even if I did, the acting would be worse than Caddyshack 2. Therefore, none of the information (or information I link to) on my blog should be construed as medical advice. 344Pounds.com is the open, honest documentation of my weight loss journey — nothing more.
And in case you were wondering, since his surgery Chris is back to losing weight again. He’s lost 53 pounds and weighs 304 pounds after 19 weeks.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Darn handsome fellow there. I hope he continues his weight loss! I know for a fact that he is doing a program through MUSC Weight Management Center so it wasn’t like he was doing something wrong to get them either!
FYI Here is a link about dieting and gallstones.
http://www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/gallstones.htm
I developed gall stones many years ago due to being overweight. It had nothing to do with weight loss for me as I was not losing weight at the time. Being overweight can contribute to developing gall stones, as can eating a high fat diet or being pregnant.
There are, however, other dangers in losing weight too quickly.
Good point, Becky. There are many more dangers to losing weight too fast, not just gallstones… that’s why one should heed the advice of a professional.
Hightide, that’s a great link about dieting and gallstones — thanks, good read!
How do folks who get surgery (lap band, etc) prevent similar situations – or – do they get them and it’s just a non-publicized side-effect of those drastic measures?
I’m on the same journey as you, Tyler. Down 25 lbs in 4 weeks now so I’m also curious about this.
My wife had her gallbladder removed after having gallstones but this was a post-pregnancy thing and not weightloss related.
“The Biggest Loser” just had another cautionary tale. This is the seventh season and have close medical supervision on top of the interactions with the trainers. These aren’t just people who decided to head to the gym one day, and they should have the process down after working with hundreds of severely overweight people.
Last week a contestant had some leg pain that wasn’t getting better. The doctors checked it out – she had a stress fracture in her hip. This is very serious, especially in a young woman. Fortunately it looks like the show is paying for her rehab.
That’s rare, but it’s a real concern. Gallstones might be the least of the serious complications.
BTW they’ve been working out for 14 weeks (which I think is actually 28 weeks in the real world), and are all in very good shape even though they’re still carrying some extra pounds. (Not that much, though, since many (all?) of the women are now under 200 pounds.) This was a problem from overtraining, not just being heavy.
I’m currently losing weight fairly rapidly; I started at a BMI of 29 and am not losing nearly as many lbs. as Tyler in a week. But, since I am losing more than the generally-advised 2 lbs. per week, I’m doing it under my doctor’s supervision. He’s drawing my blood every two weeks and monitoring my gall bladder, liver and iron level (as I tend to be a bit low there).
It’s probably a good idea for anyone losing major lbs. to be sure his physician is kept up to speed and/or running tests.
There’s weight loss and then there’s weight loss.
My son was a very overweight teen and he wanted to change. Cut WAY back on food and instead of eating, downed diet sodas.
A lot of diet sodas.
He slimmed down. Joined the military. The sudden intense exercise combined with bone-hating diet soda caused stress fractures.
Seven of them. Hips and legs and wrist. He had to be medically discharged after making all the way to the end of basic, in awful pain.
He’s way bummed about it. Yes, he’s on to other things, but I read your blog and realize you are doing things the smart way.
When you’re extremely overweight, I think large losses aren’t that extreme. Your body requires so many calories (which junk food is more than happy to supply) to stay at that weight. So a diet change and adding some exercise can cause a huge change till you reach a more normal body level.
Personally I’ll take my chances with the risks once I start up. Can’t be any worse than the risks of staying so unhealthy.
Wow. I hope Chris feels better soon!
I actually had my gallbladder out at the tender age of 21… so that’s not something I need to worry about now.
A few years ago I went on my own gigantic weight loss journey. I weighed 385 pounds and in a matter of five months (March – June) I lost 117 pounds to reach 268 pounds. And, like Chris, I developed a wicked case of gallstones. The doctor said it was because of excess cholesterol trying to leave my body due to the extreme healthy lifestyle I took on to lose the weight.
All I know is it hurt – bad.
I’m a big, tough guy and I rarely feel enough pain to get brought to tears. However, the gallstones had me on the floor in the fetal position, crying my eyes out and in such pain that I couldn’t even make a sound to wake up my roommates to take me to the hospital. It was like someone had a dull knife stabbed in the middle of my back and was ripping it through my rib cage.
My gall bladder was removed in July 2005 and since that time, I’ve had a horrible time with my weight. I ballooned back up to 385 in a matter of a year before I began managing my caloric intake again (I’m now “down” to 350 and on a somewhat regular workout routine). The funny thing is that I can’t eat certain things without a gall bladder that used to be staples of my weight loss diet (apples, for example).
But the loss of the gall bladder generally effects each gastrointestinal system differently. It took me the better part of 3.5 years to figure out which foods my body can healthily process.
Thanks for the info re: losing weight & dieting — it clears things up for me! I lost 32 pounds in 3 months –low-fat, no starch diet and some serious aerobic/cardio exercise. Had a gall bladder attach two weks ago, was admitted to the hospital on a Saturday and had the pesky thing removed on Monday. Couldn’t understand why — now I get it!
just showss to go ya!
Who would have ever thought losing it too fast could be a probelm. Yes, thanks for this information. How mazny of us give the bad advise to new dietors about getting it off fast and even recommend starvation diets.
I fees so guilty. I could have been that very person that gave the bad ifo to that poor fellow
Hi–
I too lost a lot of weight (230 lbs down to 112 lbs) and wound up in the ER. I had seriously large gallstones and a “hot” gall bladder, not really sure what that is but sounded bad. I had no idea I suffered from this and it was a real eye opener. Best of luck to you.
I had my gall bladder removed 2 weeks ago today. I have lost 70lbs since the end of July 2009, so I do have the rapid weight loss, 2 pregnancies, and other contributing factors. However, the feeling that sent me to urgent care on New Years Day began as the same feeling I had felt on occasion since 3.5 years ago, but had felt it more in the weeks prior to the removal. My surgeon was kind enough to take pictures of the gall bladder and the contents (500-600 stones, which were golden yellow in color). My doctor did tell me that the number being high was consistent with a hereditary factor and according to mayoclinic.com, the color of the stones seem to be attributed to the cholesterol in the gall bladder not being broken down. Regardless of why, #1 I am glad to have lost the 70lbs in 4.5months, #2 I am glad that I will never be in such pain again from having passed a gall stone and having pancreatitis, #3 I am glad that I don’t ever have to worry about my gall bladder exploding or rupturing.