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I have always wanted to be able to walk my dogs. I would be content with that. I think a treadmill would be awesome, except for the fact that arthritis prohibits the walking part. I so hope that the banding will in some way help the arthritis. I may be reaching for the stars, as there are very thin people with arthritis, but I know mine has gotten worse with weight gain. The thought of buying and being able to use a treadmill would be an ultimate goal, just as walking the dogs would be. I'm kind of scared the banding won't work if I can't really excercise. Someone suggested Water therapy, but the thought of me in a bathing suit is about more than I can bear. I want to actually be able to walk without pain. Has anyone had arthritis that improved with the banding? I would love to someday jump on a threadmill, but the first goal is simply walking 2 little dogs. As for the emotional aspect, I'm not yet banded, but I expect I will go through a range of emotions. Perhaps an anxiety medication would work. I know I have panic attacks and they settle in my chest. It's a very scary and uncomfortable feeling and I take medication for it. I'm not really pushing medication, but I feel sometimes we really benefit from it as a coping mechanism. There is only so much we can fight on ourselves.

Hi Celialou, The advantage you have is that you are young, and by getting banded you will avoid any possible problems that might pop up as you get older, not to mention the possibility of more weight gain. As someone told me when I first joined this site, it's better to have the risks with the band, than the ones you might have without it. I am not where I'd hoped to be but I have been taken off a couple of blood pressure medications, and have more energy than I have for a long time, not to mention all the things I can do that I couldn't preband. Please keep us posted. I hope you go through with it, and as others have said, you may look back on this in six months and be as happy as so many of us are. Good luck! Debbie

@@AvaFern, I'm glad you contacted your doctor as soon as you suspected something was wrong. And I agree that antibiotics are indeed a boon to humankind. But don't you think it's likely that the two parts of your post are related? The weight gain could be Fluid retention caused by the inflammation. If the weight gain persists for another week, then it will be time to react by cutting back on calories. Make sure you are drinking plenty of plain Water. Try not to panic. I know that's easy to say and hard to do, but it's counterproductive. Edited to add: If you are not currently tracking your food intake, you might want to start now. That information is very helpful for weight loss and for maintenance.

Sorry to hear of your struggles. I too appear to be on the up scale of weight gain. I'm going to take the advice of uping my protien and excersie I never had to do much after surgery to lose weight now Its time. Keep us posted on your progress as I will too Taniea

Yes, totally normal! It'll disappear soon. I had my surgery Monday, came home with weight gain on Tuesday (but had heard about that on YouTube so was expecting it), and today, I'm 5 pounds below my day-of-surgery weight.

Has anyone experienced this...i am doing Protein and liquids....i can eat reg foods now but still am full really fast so i dont understand why i am gaining weight....helppppp Sent from my SM-N900P using the BariatricPal App

As others have discussed, some of the supplements commonly taken by bariatric patients such as Biotin and B12 can cause acne breakouts or exacerbate existing skin problems. I have stayed far away from biotin since it caused a horrific breakout two years ago when I took it to try to speed up hair growth after a hair cut. My dermatologist told me that biotin and excessive B Vitamins can cause acne breakouts in many people. Hormonal fluctuations can also cause breakouts, and losing weight can cause your hormones to fluctuate. For the most part, my acne has gotten better since having surgery, though. I have PCOS and have struggled with acne because of that for a while. I was taking medicine that cleared up my skin, but caused weight gain. I gradually went off that medicine post-surgery, and had some breakouts along the way. Some things that have helped me - - Simplifying my skincare routine. In the past I was using so many different products in a desperate hope for it clearing up my skin that they caused more problems than they resolved. Now I use rose Water on a cotton pad to clean my face in the morning, and only La Roche Posay products. I use their Effaclar face wash at night, and the toner a few times a week. I put a very thin layer of the spot treatment on as needed. Overdoing it with these products can lead to peeling, so I've learned to be careful. I also use a serum and moisturizer by this line. - Being very careful with all vitamins and supplements. I read through the labels and make sure they don't overdo it with B vitamins. The ones I've responded to the best are Garden of Life's Vitamin Code Multivitamin and Flintstones Complete with Iron (one or the other, not both). I take a multivitamin, and Vitamin D, and peppermint oil supplement (for acne and other PCOS issues; you can find it on Amazon inexpensively). About 4 months post op I took a B-12 supplement for a week when I was trying to bounce back from being sick, and it caused a month's worth of acne. I've had very little hair loss. - Not using heavy makeup, creams, or anti-aging products. I'd been using some Lancome anti-aging products that came in a gift with purchase bag, and my dermatologist said it was far too heavy for my skin. He said to use lighter weight products and avoid ones designed to be anti-aging. - Using fragrances sparingly. At the advice of my dermatologist I use fragrance-free laundry detergent and fabric softener because he said they can cause breakouts. I avoid putting things with fragrances on my face. - Changing my pillowcases three times a week. I bought extra sets so I can change them out quickly. - Using SLS free products. SLS in toothpaste and hair products can cause breakouts in some people with more sensitive skin. Loreal has an inexpensive, readily available line, and you can find many other options as well. - Having a facial once a month by a reputable esthetician.

I weigh myself every morning. Cm four weeks out and dealing with PMS-no weight gain but no loss either. Also dealing with constipation. I adjust my diet as necessary. More fluids etc and increase my exercise As needed Guess I will be a scale junkie.

Thought it was about time for an update! Long rant...Heads up! Completed ins requirements Dec 2014 & approved by ins the first week of January. Wooo hoooo! NOT! Surgeon changed hospitals so he is currently doing ZERO surgeries. My luck, right?! I waited and waited.. Now, 2.5 months after approval still no surgery. I went to another surgeon. Their office submitted all of my documents again under their name. Insurance cannot just change their info over to another DR.. They have to open an entirely new case. Its okay.. The first go around only took approx 3-4 days to get approved- cross your fingers that its the same this time too! In the mean time, I got started on buying Protein drinks. I tried some powder stuff. GROSS! I am sooooooo bad with textures of foods / drinks. I tried mixing it with greek yogurt. Nope. Gross. Tried super cold Water. Nope. Tastes like old milk-literally. Thats a sure way for me to lose weight though-- I will throw that crap up with a quickness. I did find Isopure through GNC. At our local store it was $5.50 per 20oz bottle (zero carbs, 40G protein) OR $40 a 12 pack. There are a few different flavors to choose from too. I poured half of the bottle into a water bottle and mixed it up. To me it tasted like kool-aid without sugar & super watered down. I can actually stomach it. I suggest trying a single bottle if you are afraid of spending $$ and not liking the product. I wasted $$ on powered stuff and I'm glad I found this Isopure stuff! Oh! I have also read a few posts lately about commodities (or lack of) and weight gain during supervised diet. Let me give you my advice as I should have listened to other people when they were telling me the same thing.. Every insurance is different. Call and speak to a rep from the insurance company. I found that sometimes they are very vague with requirements though. But your DR knows what will and will not work to get you approved (typically). My insurance normally denies people if they gain so much as 1/2 lb. HOWEVER, per somebody here's suggestion, I found a loop-hole. If your Dr documents a reason for a small gain you should be okay. For instance, I could not exercise at a normal rate for awhile due to my foot pain. Then my GYNO put me on the Depo Shot for my endometriosis. Gained weight then too. Documented. Then I had a hysterectomy and was out of commission for exercising all together. Documented. I gained 6lbs roughly during the 6 month period. Still approved.. But like I said I made sure the DR noted it all on the surgery paperwork. As far as commodities go... Some insurance companies have OTHER comorbs aside from sleep apnea, high bp, diabetes, high collest, etc. I fact, there could be as many as 30+ that could qualify you. I dont have ANY of those typical commodities. I was just pre-diabetic with a few other medical probs but not the typical that qualify for surgery. I only just recently ( after 1st ins approval ) was diagnosed with having edema. Aside from that, I am perfectly healthy for being so over weight. When I spoke to my ins company I specifically asked if those typical conditions were the ONLY ones they accepted and they said yes.. However, I did have those and still got approved. Anyway.................. Hope this has helped some of you!

Hi everyone, Is anyone out there struggling to maintain their weight loss? i was 86.5 kilos when I had my surgery in Feb 2008. I had reached 92 kilos prior to that. In 6 months I got down to 63 kilos and loved it. It was so easy as I never get hungry. However, I now am fighting "head hunger"more than ever before and am up to 78 Kilos which is very scary for me. I have had top ups as I need them and think I am about right. I am very restricted in ths first part of the day and once I start eating I find by night time I can eat quite a lot. I am starting to eat wrong foods and getting anxious. I suppose there are no magic answers other han making wise choices etc. Anyone else struggling like this?? gaylene

OK, so do you want quality or touristy? Not that you can't have both but alot of the best restaurants are not well known outside of the city. As you know, it's Protein first, veggies and then carbs so I would say you should stick with places that can offer you and your sister that option. FYI, I am banded, my sister is not, and we eat out together all the time. If you want great fish, Oceana is terrific as is most Greek restaurants. Fresh and simply grilled. You can't beat it. If you can tolerate meat, one of the most iconic steak houses is The Old Homestead. The meat is top notch and it reeks of 'old New York'. If you want to step into a time warp, Spice Market in The Meatpacking District is amazing. Like you've walked into a 1930's Shanghai bar. The food is terrific as well...especially the cod. If you want small plates...tapas...Alta on West 10th St. in the West Village is the place. This way you and sis can share a few items. The brussel sprouts is to die for...and so is the Sangria...lol. If you want something like pastrami or corned beef, Carnegie Deli is OK but Katz's on the Lower East Side is better and really iconic as well. Just know that the meat is very sodium laden and you will have Water weight gain for sure. I agree that Chinatown and Little Italy are places you should explore and as long as you eat sensibly, you will be fine. Everyone who visits Chinatown should experience a Dim Sum Palace. It's amazing.... If you like 'ethnic' food, I can recommend Turkish, Russian, Italian, Mexican, Spanish...even more exotic like Ethiopian and Afghan restaurants as well. Just let me know how adventurous you are. Feel free to PM with any questions you may have. As Lisa notes...I live here in the city and know it very well. I can recommend restaurants and sightseeing options as well.

I jumped on the scaled and saw that I've put on 2kg is this normal ? I don't understand how I could put on weight I was eating the same food I eat last week ?? Last week I lost 4kg and this week I've put on 2kg , I felt that I didn't lose weight ? I'm getting worried that I'm gonna start putting weight on again

Weight gain is totally normal - I always gain about 2-4 pounds during my cycle, I gain Water weight if I eat certain things or gain/stall if change up my exercise routine. And don't forget that fat also acts as a storehouse for things like hormones (like estrogen), so as you lose fat (weight) it is releasing tons of stored hormones back into your system. That can not only can that cause weight fluctuations, it can also make you feel moody and screw with your general well-being as well. But it is all perfect normal!

Its all relative. This is the BEST surgery with the best stats. Thats just the way it is. I agree weight regain is ALWAYS a concern. But this one has the least regain. You may indeed regain some weight after losing a lot, but it will be relatively little and it will be extremely easy to take it right back off. Right now you probably only notice weight gains of 10-30lbs. After the surgery and weight loss, you will notice gains of 1-3lbs and you will have an extremelly effective tool at taking it right back off. Yes, you can eat around your weight loss surgery and sabotage yourself, so if that happens it is time to see a head doctor to help. Bypass, has really given WLS a bad perception, since so many had it and regained, but this surgery doesn't have nearly the same regain statistics as the old ones.

It could be something more serious if you're gaining weight without a diet change. Perhaps a serious medical, hormonal or prescription issue? You said you moved too, maybe stress/depression; it plays a HUGE roll on weight gain/loss. Definitely be persistent in getting in touch with your doctors. I'm sorry they've been so difficult to deal with. Try to do an elimination diet, maybe the shakes aren't taking well to your body now after some time. I know when something works for me (even in a positive way) I find my body builds a tolerance for it and it never works the same way! I'm unsure if you can have two procedures entirely different from one another, but I'm sure it is possible. I can't imagine it being terribly healthy or wise though, I'm sure your surgeon would have a better understanding of your body.

Hi All :help: I have had great loss of more then 65 pounds but once again find myself additcted to the ice cream and weight gain. Does anyone have any idea's of how to get off the ice cream or has found any "subsitute" for ice cream? I just can not get enough of anything that is "ICE COLD". I even drink 2% milk only with ice in it. What ever happened to back in the days when they made ICE MILK? Any thoughts or suggestions please? David dkgingras@comcast.net

I Know the two weeks is for the benefit of reducing my liver so I have been strong and not cheated at all. What I can't figure out is why I've gained .2 lbs exactly everyday for three days in a row. Seems a little odd to me. Hope I start losing after surgery.

My wife was originally planning on having WLS (specifically VSG) after watching my successful recovery with relatively minor complications and successful weight loss. She was going to wait 6 months after my post op to see how things are progressing for me before making a decision to attend a WLS consulatation. Regardless, her latest decision is to not have WLS for a couple reasons. 1. Slimes and throwing up: She didn't like all the slimes and throwing up I went through when adjusting to the solids phase. It was mainly my fault because I am a fast eater and it took me a while to learn to "hear" the full signals. I had to learn how much to eat, how fast to eat and what types of food my sleeve an tolerate over time. Regardless, she didn't like seeing me in the bathroom so much after eating. I am better now, but still have issues with eating stringy things like roast bean or string green Beans in addition to fatty meats. Truely, it feels like dumping syndrome. I do try to explain to her that not everyone slimes and throws up and most of the time, it was my fault. 2. Auto-immune disease: She has at least 1 auto-immune disease. The one that she has requires an infusion of remicade every 6 weeks. This is one expensive infusion. It is called Ankylosing Spondylitis. You can follow the link for more details. It is basically an auto-immune disesase that attacks all the joints and there is no cure. When we talked to the surgeon during one of my pre-op visits, he said that people with auto-immune diseases might have more complications, but did not go into the details. She might also have PCOS. We do not know yet and will find out soon. This is where I could really use some advise from others. She has about 150 lb to lose as we both ended up in the same weight range at our heaviest earlier this year. Maybe it is because of life stresses? Who knows. The fact is that her extra weight may be contributing to other complications like high blood pressure, pregnancy issues, lack of desire to be outdoors like walking and hiking and on and on. There are plenty of reasons here alone that would make sense for her to consider it. She has tried manu diets (as I have), but has never lost more than 10-20 lbs on them. Atkins, weight watchers, etc. I've had fairly good results from the diets because I am very focused when something needs to be done, but then I lose my focus and the weight comes back. Hence, WLS was the only tool left for me in order to stop the up and down of weight gain and weight loss. She used to be "thin" (size 12) in high school, so I am pretty sure she remembers what that is like. She was a pretty hot girl in her younger days. In college she was slightly overweight, but still very hot and sexy (we got married then). We both put on a lot of weight in the last 12 years of our marriage. I don't hold the weight against her (never have), but I would like her to be healthy to avoid future weight-related complications. The weight does not cause her to be unhappy about her life (mainly family is what makes her happy). She is usually in a positive mood and certainly brings happiness and well-being to my life. I would like her to consider WLS because it is life-changing and truely opens up a lot of opportunities that did not exist before. However, I don't want to push her into something she is against. Any thoughts?

:help:I'm post-vacation and so bummed. I was away for three weeks, and we either had to eat out a lot, or the people we were with were terrible eaters (heavy grease, old food, lots of Pasta and rice, which I can't eat - they hurt), so I ended up eating out some more. I was fairly active, but I came home with a 9-pound weight gain. If that's not bad enough, I CANNOT get back on track. I'm scared to post this, because I don't want a gazillion lectures, etc. I've been banded since December of '06, and I KNOW what to do. Why am I having such a hard time getting back to doing what's right? Could anyone else, who has had this happen, share what toasted their buns back to eating like a bandster? Thanks. __________________

I have Mirena it lasts for 5 years. I had it placed in march of 09 and havent had a period since april of 09!! No complaints there! I haven't noticed a weight gain with it either....I was on the depo shot and became a crazy B****! I also no joke gained 30lbs in one month!

i was banded on 10/31/06 Lost weight, gained it back, do to the fault of poor aftercare.... I found a new surgeon, they put me under Fluoroscopy, and we are now rolling. I also journal my diet, and exercise. I hope you gave yourself a calorie limit to follow, and stick with it, and if it's to high then yep you can cut back in different foods. Some stuff goes a long way. Also look for another surgeon, and get checked out. They will also give you new guidelines.

I have to say, I've been through several surgeries (thus my weight gain) two parents with different cancers and I've never posted on a forum until now (looked but never participated) you guys are great thank you so much. It's good to hear that I will be constantly ingesting. Since I've done this once before (dumb weight loss show) I know logically that my calorie intake is minimal, it's just a weird feeling to NOT feel hungry and believe I'm actually losing. Woke up w minor tummy pains, so the constant stream of PAC maninzing stuff Into my mouth has subsided but we will see how the day progresses. Thank you!

I gained about 12 pounds in the 6 month "Physician assisted" weight loss attempt. My surgeon doesn't submit paperwork till you've completed this step. I was close as far as qualifying BMI wise at 36 (35 with co-morbidities was the cut off), when I started the 6 months so losing before I qualified wasn't an option, AND my PCP had just started me on a statin, which can cause weight gain. No one cared. What my surgeon DID care about was AFTER I was submitted I did have to lose 10 pounds for liver shrink within the 4 weeks before surgery. I dropped 13.

Hello Sleevers, I weighed myself in the am and was 238. Yay!! 10 pounds in 8 days. Now I weigh myself this evening and I'm 240. I'm only drinking Protein shakes and a half cup of Soup for lunch. Total calories is about 470. I'm also walking at a brisk pace for an hour for exercise. It's not the calories. The only thing diffrent today was that I managed to get about 58 ounces of Water down. So, I think this could be just water weight and it will all work it's way out eventually. Has anyone else had or seen this?

Suz, glad you found something appetizing for dinner, and it is crazy how you eat something and get really thirsty afterwards but can't drink. Is your throat dry at night because you're sleeping with your mouth open? If I don't sleep with my machine my throat hurts because I've somehow, don't know how, but trained myself to sleep with my mouth shut when I'm wearing my mask. It sits right above my upper lip so I kind of force down my mouth when I sleep. I don't use the heater but I do have a humidifier on mine. PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome and there are many signs that women have who have it and it can affect your weight and a lot other issues. A lot of women who have fertility issues are found to have it. I'm no doctor and that wasn't my issue but I can list some signs: Infrequent periods or messed up cycle Infertility from not ovulating Increased hair growth, can be on many parts of the body Ovarian cysts Acne, oily skin, dandruff, dry skin Weight gain especially around the waist Insulin resistant or type II diabetes High cholesterol/blood pressure Male pattern baldness or hair thinning Dark skin Patches on neck, arms, breasts or thighs Skin tags arm pits and neck area Pelvic pain Anxiety or depression due to appearance and/or infertility Sleep Apnea Does any of this sound familiar? I have most of these and that's why my primary thought I had pcos. There is a thread for PCOS here near the diabetes one. I'd search it on the web and find a site that explains it to you better. I guess from what they say there's no cure it's just managed. But anyway like Telecia said sleep apnea can cause heart attacks and it can be dangerous if it's not treated and whether or not the insomnia is related to your apnea isn't clear but if you could kill two birds with one stone wouldn't it be worth it? Anyway let me know what you think, Nancy.