Search the Community

Thank you everybody for your help. I declined surgery ladt minute that was set to happen yesterday, I am working hard on weight loss and will potentialy have the sleeve surgery in October. I currently weigh 190 pounds, I had been able to maintain 150 pound weight loss for 14 years until right after I started taking gabapentin. My doctor said that gabapentin can infact cause weight gain for some. Thank you again for saving me from a bad choice!

Hello Diana, I'm not sure if you plan on having anymore kids but if you are FYI the average weight gain during pregnancy is 25 pounds. You gained almost 50 pounds more then what is recommended by doctors. So my guess is you know how "us guys got so big". You are stupid, insensitive, & cruel. You probably shouldn't post anything else. We wouldn't want your bony butt to get sat on.

They did lol! Thus the weight gain... Sent from my SM-T550 using BariatricPal mobile app

The weight gain is said to be for the long-term users. Unless it's a "end of life/cancer " issue and w/ seeing the impact opioids is now having, I'd rather not see it used long term.

morphine will probably hinder your weight loss efforts LESS than Vicodin/Percocet, because there is no acetametaphin in it. from a study on the LiverTox website: "There have been no convincing cases of idiosyncratic acute, clinically apparent liver injury attributed to morphine. Morphine and other opiates have little hepatic metabolism and they are generally excreted unchanged in the urine, perhaps accounting for their relative lack of hepatotoxicity." the weight gain (or slowing of weight loss) from Vicodin/Percocet comes because the liver has to process all that acetametophin. if your liver is doing that, it can't process your food and your body fat. it slows the whole works down. your liver needs to be at optimal performance for optimal weight loss.

I was stalled forever and then suddenly, after kicking artificial sweeteners to the curb and drinking plain water (advice from my nutritionist), my stall ended and I have lost 4 pounds! A call with my nutritionist today was even more eye opening... she said, "don't be afraid of a little sugar!" Here's what that means.. Artificial sweeteners can be, for some, tougher to break down than regular sugar. Sure, regular sugar isn't good for you in large doses and may cause dumping, but don't shy away from it completely, especially when you need to up your caloric intake to lose weight. Some of us strain to get 600 calories a day, or when we stall, we need to push additional calories to shake up our metabolism. I drink coffee and before surgery, I used to drink a caramel latte daily (I love caramel). But that's way too sweet for me and causes dumping big time. However, after her advice, I began adding 1 pump of caramel to my regular Dunkin Donuts coffee along with skim milk and Splenda. It's the only sugar and artificial sweetener I consume every day (now). I began drinking more water and the weight loss has resumed. It's my one "sweet" treat a day, and I look forward to it every morning. It hasn't interrupted my weight loss and I no longer feel cheated when I get coffee. I'm not promoting ice cream or candy, resuming the crazy binge sugar feasts we may have once had (our bodies can't handle that anyway). But for some of us, artificial sweetener can cause us to stall or cause water weight gain. Natural sugar is, in small small doses, sometimes better for us than the artificial kind. If you can handle it, add a little sugar to your coffee (be realistic) or some sweetened flavoring like the International Delights flavors with Splenda or Stevia. Just once a day, it won't kill you. (Now, if you think it is a "gateway" to eating more sugar a day... then don't. You know yourself better than my nutritionist. For me, once a day sweet treat is plenty. I can no longer tolerate anything super sweet.) I'm so happy to be losing again after a long stall, and I won't jeopardize that by overindulging in anything, but I enjoy my coffee every morning and this makes it so much more pleasurable. I feel like I get something sweet and yummy without going nuts.

Sorry to interupt. Will morphine cause weight gain? I am prescribed the oral liquid to have at home. I already expect weight gain due to epidural steriod injections, but do not know what to expect from morphine. Op sorry for the issues your having.

I concur that Sammie's response may have been blunt. Nonetheless, it was truthful. The original poster can definitely go on another diet and get back on track to lose the 50 pounds she's recently regained. Still, unless she addresses the root cause of the weight gain (read: emotional overeating), she'll most likely turn to food for comfort and stress relief when the next situational crisis occurs, thereby regaining the pounds once again. To succeed long-term after weight loss surgery in the lifelong maintenance phase, bariatric surgery recipients must learn and actively utilize coping skills to deal with life's ups and downs that don't involve overeating. Again, I'll keep the original poster's family in my thoughts. I'll also silently root for her with the hope that she succeeds in losing the regain and maintaining the loss long term.

I'm 6 years out from treatment after a high grade, Stage IIIC, hormone positive BC. I had 3 recon surgeries after the treatments and the first surgery, a double mast/1st recon. I have excruciating neuropathy about 9inches wide almost 360 degrees around my chest and neuropathy in both feet from hand-foot syndrome during chemo. The neuro drugs don't touch the pain. I also have some bone changes in my spine and hip that add to that pain load--so sleeping for longer than 2 hours in any other position is impossible--and I have to sleep in a reclining chair. I do have a script for Norco and muscle relaxants and I guard them like a demon. I ration when I take one of them because I know it costs my PCP plenty to prescribe them--so I try to keep it to 1 script per year. I have to be at an 11 (cuz you know...my amps go up to 11--thanks Spinal Tap) before I take one because: 1.) I know they are rarer than hen's teeth and there might come a day when I will need them worse than today. 2.) They make me gain 5 pounds of fluid overnight. I resist going the pain manager route because I don't want to be on drugs like Celebrex or Lyrica that also have weight gain as a side effect. Mostly I don't want to be on daily pain pills, nor do I want to surrender autonomy (the right to take a pain pill ONLY when I need one) for a pain script. I also don't want the stigma attached to being a patient seen by a PMC. I see both sides of the argument and am sympathetic to both the prescriber and the patient. I also understand how easy it could be to become an addict (and that by nature of the addiction, addicts will lie and might sell their grandmother for a fix). It sucks that a few bad apples spoil the pie and make everyone's position so difficult. Sorry you're experiencing such difficulties. Pain and quality of life--man--it's a fargin' marathon. I look ahead at a life expectancy for me and sometimes get super sad, because no way do I want to live endure 25-30 more years in this pain-filled world. I'm shooting the dice and optimistic that losing weight down to a normal BMI might help my pain/recurrence experience.

Okay, interesting about weight gain. I have just had my sleeve for about 4 weeks. Converted from lapland. I can hardly get anything down, and I get satisfied. Obviously, I better enjoy this "honeymoon" because it appears the ability to eat more and want more creeps back in. Best to all of you for getting back on track. YOU CAN DO IT!

Thanks for the posts. I had surgery July 11th and lost pretty good the first week and a little the second week. By the third week, my period came on and I had water weight gain. My surgeon totally freaked me out. He berated me and made me feel like such a failure. I have followed all the recommendations and even went down a size. Now that my period is off, my weight has dropped a few pounds. I am doing drinking protein shakes, water, and taking about 6000 steps about five times a week. I know this is a process but I am literally scared to death to go back to my surgeon and not lost like he wants me to. You all have confirm that these things happen, but I am so afraid to return to his office in three weeks without a huge amount of weight loss.

I did not know what side effects gabapentin might have, so I looked it up. http://www.rxlist.com/neurontin-side-effects-drug-center.htm Generally speaking, the drug has a lot of bad side effects but weight gain is generally not one of them. In a controlled trial only 2% of patients identified weight gain as a problem. As far as type of surgery, I would probably recommend either gastric bypass, sleeve or duodenal switch. If you have severe acid reflux, I would recommend against the sleeve because the sleeve will only make that condition worse. Although some have success with lap band, many have experienced problems with that procedure. One of the individuals in our bariatric surgery support group, had a lap band, but after several years that band started to erode and eat through his stomach, it became life threatening, so he had it removed and replaced with gastric bypass. For that reason and others, many doctors are no longer performing that type of surgery today.

I have been on a large dose of gabapentin, I'm not sure if that cause any my weight gain or just the fact that I've become less active and my diet has not been as strict as before. 14 years 30 carbs a day diet has kept 150 pound weight lost at bay until my left leg was paralyzed eight months ago. I've gained 45 pounds total in the last year. I have lap band surgery scheduled for Monday and when I went to see the surgeon for the final visit a new surgeon saw me and said I should not get the lap band and I'm wasting my money. He showed me pictures and said everybody is getting it removed and that I should only have a sleeve. My paralyzation is hopefully temporary and was caused from a back fusion cutting/injuring my nerves. I need a tool until I have my mobility back. I was so devastated I started to cry, I wasn't prepared for the sleeve operation. I was at peace getting lap band and the doctor thoroughly scared me. At this point I'm thinking about canceling everything.

Hi Julie, yes I believe the Overstitch is fairly new, although not to sure how new it is. It was new to me and my surgeon is quite experienced and up to date with new developments and I think he'd done about 5 previously and only in recent weeks. They go in endoscopically and put some permanent sutures in the stoma, then if needed also in the pouch to reduce the size of that as well. I don't think they could do it to a patient with a band in because you don't have a pouch or stoma. And it wouldn't be a stand alone procedure as it's designed to be a remedy for gastric bypass patients experiencing weight gain due to enlarged stomas / pouches. Although I believe they can do something similar to a gastric sleeve endoscopically which I think is gastric plication. (If I am not 100% correct anyone please feel free to correct me) :-) Now as for the cost, my surgeon didn't charge me for this Overstich or the Gastric bypass. I've been quite lucky. I paid the full price for the band 13 years ago, which I had done in the South off France. Then 10 years later after I had moved to Australia from England, I had the band removed and the sleeve done in the same operation. My private health care insurance covered most of it, I think I had to pay $3000 extra towards it. Then as my sleeve failed, the same surgeon did the bypass for 'free' just charging my healthcare fund with no co-payment, and the same for my Overestich. No co-payment. He accepted just the payment from my health care fund here in Australia. All I had to pay for was a payment towards the anaesthetist fees which in total were $800 and Medicare paid $300 so all I paid all up was $500 which I was very pleased about. :-) Now to answer your last question about pain, I experienced next to no pain at all. I had a slight scrape on my lips from the scope, like I've had bigger pimples really. And a very mild sore throat when I woke up. The kind of sore throat you had after slight cough for a few days. Gone all together within 24 hours. Hardly worth mentioning. I was prescribed antiemetics and some strong pain relief, however, didn't fill the script as my nausea and pain were zero, seriously nothing at all painwise post op. I should add though that I was the same after gastric sleeve and bypass. No pain, no wind, no pain relief needed, I was up doing laps of the ward same day as both operations and declined all pain relief. I've either been very lucky or have a high pain threshold or a mixture of the two! Never even had reflux or anything. Oh and time in theatre was 1hr 20mins, think that it normally takes around 45 minutes, but I had sutures to both the stoma and pouch, and there was an Overstitch rep or something in the theatre watching the procedure and asking questions / having things explained I think, so that may have added time, not that it bothered me, I wouldn't have known if the operation took 10 minutes or 10 hours, i just closed my eyes and then woke up, felt like milliseconds haha, I went home after about 2 hours with a recommendation to follow a liquid diet for 1 week then soft / puréed for the second week, then a normal diet after that with lots of chewing and not to push the amount of food eaten. Now I am at the stage of puréed food and cottage cheese, I am eating around 100mls and feel as full as an egg. Have lost over 10kg and am only 4kg away from my target and about 1kg away from being in the healthy weight / BMI range, but I did start the Saxenda injections one week before the Overstitch and they are definitely helping, I felt the appetite suppressing effects of the Saxenda even just on the initial starting dose of 0.6ml, am now up to 2.4ml and will be on the maximum dose of 3ml starting this Friday. Apparently a fair few people stop taking the Saxenda because of the most common side effects which are abdominal pain, headaches and nausea, which I haven't experienced any of at all, must be my high pain threshold again! :-) The thing with the Overstitch is that I guess it can stretch again over time if it's not looked after. I'd imagine it wouldn't be able to stretch as much as without the stitches as they'd continue to provide some resistance, although I'm not sure if there have been any long term studies on this yet, again happy to be corrected if anyone knows anymore about this. Not sure what could be done after stretching the Overstitch, maybe another Overstitch or change to a Duodenal Switch. In wouldn't be too keen on the DS as I'm already severely anaemic, even though I'm not feeling any ill effects. My doctor said my iron levels and ferritin are in the low single digits and I shouldn't be feeling at the very least tired and exhausted but I'm not for some reason. Anyway, I'm hoping I won't need any more revisions. I have enough already!! So here goes, fingers crossed for me. Anymore questions, just ask, more than happy to share my journey / experiences. John :-)

Thank you so much! I wish you luck as well. My gall bladder has been gone since I was in my early 20s. I have had dumping syndrome for years. I'm already used to knowing what is going to happen if I eat this or that, wait all day to eat and then eat and experience the dumping. I was skinny when I had it. I believe my weight gain was more due to my lifestyle afterwards. They say once you're sleeved that eventually you'll have to have your gall bladder out. I hope all goes well with you no matter what happens. It's all going to be great!

Hi was banded like 4 yrs ago. Lost weight , gained back due to injury, broken back and more. Usually smoothies and soup are all I keep down. Throw up a lot, and I know there's hardly any liquid in the balloon. I guess check back with Dr? My prior Dr passed away. Any ideas for healthy breakfast smoothie even if it has green stuff in it😀

In one of the books I've been reading to prepare for surgery, they talk about not weighing yourself for the first couple of weeks after surgery because of the water weight gain that can happen during surgery/hospital with the IVs. And weighing yourself can end up being disappointing and discouraging because of it. So, be patient, it will resolve. [emoji178]

Try seeking counseling or attend wls support groups, alcohol causes weight gain Sent from my SM-J320P using BariatricPal mobile app

to be accurate: the DR in the videos maybe/ was wrong THEN, in 2012, he may be saying something else today. and also one article by one source is not the end of the conversation. However I wonder if he WAS correct on the location of the ghrelin 'spot' "....But neither of these theories fully explains improvements in beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity after bariatric surgery, Kashyap told MedPage Today." In addition I saw a medical researcher (will find if I can to document source) indicate that the CHANGE in diabetic response is IMMEDIATE within hours of the surgery...so not days or weeks of improvement, but 'something' in the (possible shock) to the body of disconnecting the stomach severely with WLS is what makes the difference. No studies yet to confirm I have seen..this may ALSO be wrongly interpreted, but for people with severe issues with BG/insulin problems this is one solution for them. shouting 'wrong' (like politico John McLaughlin) does not take away that real science is open to debate constantly as nothing is absolute. with a very short time of results of bariatric there is still much to be revealed. I am more concerned (for myself) with what I see on all the issues years out, weight gain, leaking sleeves, redoing RNY somehow again, etc.

Congrats on the loss! It's normal to progressively be able to eat a little bit more over time. Since you've cut out your protein shake, have you been replacing the content with a lean protein? I'm nearly 6 months out and have played around with my diet quite a bit. I always end up running back to my protein shakes because it's so difficult too meet my minimum protein intake without them. Maybe the protein deficiency is aiding the weight gain. Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

Dr. Wiljon Beltrè is the go to guy for surgery in Central Florida. He cares about his patients "beyond the knife". His patients have a high success rate and few complications and weight gain, IF, you commit and follow the plan. Sent from my XT1097 using BariatricPal mobile app

I need help and tips on loosing weight and maintaining it off my surgery date is not scheduled however the insurance won't approve me and that's my worry. I'm craving so much and I'm out of breath a lot lately I need help something.

I haven't weighed myself yet since being back from the hospital b/c I'm so bloated and my belly feels so huge. They told me at the hospital that they had given me more IV than needed because they assumed I wouldnt be able to get all my fluids in at first. (They were right, i feel like ive been drinking pretty often but am still at half of my liquid requirement).@QueenCity, I wouldnt worry about the weight gain. I'm sure they did something similar to you and you'll drop it in no time. I was able to go #2 twice already today, which I think is a good thing given that my doc was worried about constipation. It helped with the bloating, but i still can't for the life of me burp or pass gas. I never wanted to so bad in my life!! Lol I also have this weird "depression" in my belly right around the belly button incision (photo attached). It looks bigger in person. It wasn't there before surgery and it's freaking me out that it will stay this way (the nurse assured me it wouldnt). Have any of you experienced similar?

Chips are a slider food, a.k.a. slurry food. Other sliders include crackers, pretzels, biscuits, mashed potatoes, cookies, and other snacky carb treats. You can eat an unlimited amount of sliders. Sliders turn into a liquid slurry once you chew/swallow and don't stay in your stomach for more than a few seconds, so they'll never challenge your sleeve in a way that produces fullness or satiety. You can eat a 1-pound bag of chips and never feel full. Sliders also promote rapid weight gain because they 'slide' right through the stomach into the small intestine where the calories are readily absorbed and stored as fat. You have an amazing tool in the form of your sleeve. If you continue to sabotage your body's weight loss efforts by eating junk foods and high-glycemic fruits so early in the game, then getting a sleeve may have been an ultimate exercise in futility. Don't waste your tool. You can do this. Good luck to you.

Hey i really need help if you can mention a dr it will be great here is my story I had gastric bypass surgery since 2012 everything was okay till last September 2016 anyway my weight suddenly increased in 3 months up to 30 kilos i was 65-70 and in jan 2017 i became 90-95!! I went to the dr complained he said i messed it up so i said maybe i kept a journal of my eatings, plus i hit the gym and i didnt lose weight but in fact i gained weight per day!!! Like a kilo my feet and hands most of times are itchy and swollen and i get severe water retention i use tablets daily ti jus keep the water out, im so tired and frustrated my surgeon didnt ask for any medical analysis i thought it was some issue due to ovary cyst as it happened before i went to gynecologist and he. Found one he gave me something called aldactone 100 and eltroxin 50 daily suddenly it all stopped all the fatigue and the weight gain and i started to come down to 88 after 95 and after like week and half to two weeks it all came back the weight gain etc i got some blood testing TT3 is 82 reference is 70-200 TT4 is 11.2 reference is 4.5 - 12.5 TSH is 1.45 reference is 0.3 - 4.8 Free T3 is 2.0 reference is 2 -4.4 Free T4 is 1.3 reference is 0.7 - 1.8 Cortisol am is 19.78 reference is 4.4 - 20 Cortisol pm is L 2.62 reference is 3- 16.6 ACTH am is 31.50 reference is 0-50 ACTH pm is I dont know if the blood tests are normal , even if they are there is something seriously wrong with me and im so frustrated not knowing what the hell is going on to my body and im currently on eltroxin 50-100 i tried to stop it it came back again worse i gained 4 kilos in 5 days my eating habits didnt change at all and doctors seem to dont know whats wrong with me please if you have experienced anything like this or know Someone who could help let me know thx again....