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What type of birth control are you on???? Need info. Feed back !!!! I'm 5 months out of sleeved!!! I'm still trying to figure out what birth control I should take#!! My doc said to get on Depo shot but I'm scared of weight gain!!! Ladies please leave your feed back!!!! I would really appreciate it!! Thanks Sent from my SM-N915T using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes, I know that it ultimately boils down to my eating and exercise choices. I lost 250 pounds and kept it off for 8 years so believe me, I've lived it. What I'm saying is that the "tool" that the lap band provided me which helped me achieve that is no longer working. The "tool" being two things: (1) restriction, without unmanageable acid reflux, and (2) cessation of head hunger. #2 went away first, lasted maybe 3 years. #1 lasted until within the last year or so the acid reflux has become such a severe problem that I had to have the restriction taken away to manage the acid reflux. My question should really be directed at bandsters who have had their bands for 7+ years. Every other long-term bandster I know is also struggling with acid reflux and weight gain. Julie, are you struggling with acid reflux at all? Good suggestions about protein bars. I have maintained my morning tradition of a green protein shake since my surgery up until today so I know I am getting plenty of protein. My biggest problem is evening snacking. I switched to an apple in the evening to keep me full with less calories.

I wasn't weighed at all in the hospital -- not pre-surgery and not post-surgery and not before being released from the hospital. I know what I weighed before the surgery and I'm up -- which would be a major problem without this forum to turn to. Thank goodness I now know that what I'm experiencing is normal. There have been so many times in my life when I would try to diet and end up gaining instead of losing -- and seeing the numbers go up when I got home was deja vu all over again. I'll keep on keeping on, of course, but I think that people should be told weight gain is a side effect of having an IV. I'm finding that in order to get information from my medical team, I need to know the questions to ask -- and without a forum like this -- who would know what to ask? This forum is invaluable! Anyway, thanks for the information and know that you've done a really good deed today.

That is the issue. When I did my last weigh out before going home they warned me of the weight gain. They said not to weigh myself for a week. I didn't listen. That water weight was dropping a pound to two pounds a day.

I was banded in 2008 at 433 pounds. For the first two years, the band was like magic, and I lost 200 pounds in 2 years very easily. The next 50 pounds came off much more slowly, with a lot more effort and several long plateaus. But I got down to 178 pounds which although still overweight, is not too bad on my 5'9" frame. My weight fluctuated a bit but always stayed below 200 pounds until about a year and a half ago. My acid reflux started getting really bad and even with prescription acid blockers was still causing me trouble every day. The band was no longer taking away that "head hunger" that was so magical in the first years after the band. My weight started creeping up and up, and when I tried loosening my band to deal with the acid reflux, the weight gain comes on even faster. At the moment I have no fill in my band because I wanted to see how I would do without it. Unfortunately, I am not making the right eating choices. And I have fallen off the exercise bandwagon. This morning, when I stepped on the scale, it said 249! I'm upset and depressed. I feel like the band isn't working for me anymore and I don't know what to do. I don't want to gain this weight back. I'm considering converting to a gastric bypass but would like to give the band one more go. Has anyone had luck getting their band to help them lose weight past the 7+ year mark?

You certainly want to keep an eye on your calories as you move on from losing into maintenance and beyond. We often see people come through these forums who proudly proclaim that they do "full fat everything", which works well early on when capacity is minimal but then the struggle with regain later if they let their calories get away from them. From a practical perspective, the clinical use for a high fat/low carbohydrate diet is for non-WLS gastrectomy patients (from cancer or gastroparesis, typically) who need to minimize their weight loss and ultimately gain back lost weight, so there is weight gain built into the diet that you need to counter.

Thank you both for your replies. So sad to see so many veterans, myself included have left these forums. Everything is dated from so long ago. The weird thing is throughout my 2 year weight gain I regularly e exercised which proves to me that diet is much more important than exercise. The points of not keeping bad foods in the house is a good one for me. I researched macro nutritional goals (which I had forgotten) and set up my fitness pal again. Went to the grocery store and only bought ice cream flavor and snacks I don't like for the rest of my family. Carried my water around all day and sipped all day. Thank you for the advice. Love to hear more if any other veterans want to participate.

Being on the coumadin is difficult within itself but thus far no weight gain. Sent from my SM-P550 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am currently 33 Weeks pregnant and have been concerned about how my weight loss might continue after the baby is born. How have fellow Sleevers that had a baby a little over a year out from surgery got back on track with their weight loss and how difficult it was? My partner and I are both nervous that I won't be able to lose weight. Pregnancy causes weight gain no matter what, but I know I have given into craving more than I would like too. Nothing to crazy but I'm aware that I have strayed a little.

So, I just went for my final diet and exercise appointment April 3. I had gained 5 pounds in a month! I nearly died right there on the spot. The nurse practitioner I saw was not a happy camper and told me to be mindful and prepare in advance for trips and such. How do you prepare in advance for eating on a 4 hour one way trip?! 1.) I can't afford that much jerky!!! and 2.) The trip itself is very limited on the kinds of eating establishments along the particular route I had to take. My Nutritionist and Exercise guru on the other hand was actually not too upset. He said I was still under my starting weight and that I was actually doing pretty darned good despite the weight gain. He also noted that the weight gain could be the fact that I began bicycling again after several years and that I have probably developed some good thigh muscles, which would add weight in the short term and then help lose the weight in the long term. The fact that I've bicycled every weekend since I got my bike is awesome. The first two weekends pretty much did me in though! The first Saturday that my and my family bicycled was a killer! We bicycled I don't know how far. I know it was over 5 miles...it had to be! By the time we got back to the car my legs no longer wanted to function and I literally collapsed in the grass next to the driveway because my leg literally could not hold my weight. So, naturally for me, I had an anxiety/panic attack wondering if I'd be able to get back up so I could drive us home. The next weekend it was just my youngest son and me. We rode 4 miles and took a rest halfway at subway for lunch. Then finished riding home. I had to walk up two hills that ride compared to the several the weekend before. Last weekend we (my boys and I) rode 7 miles! I was so proud! Now, back to my appointment....I talked to my patient care coordinator before I left my final diet and excersise appointment to double check and make sure everything was ready to submit to Medicaid for approval. She said it should be about a week or two before we would hear anything back. Mind you this was Monday, April 3, 2017. On Friday, mind you this was only 4 days later, I got a call from my PCC. She asked if I was ready to schedule my surgery! I could not believe it! Already? They approved it that fast?! Others that I had talked to dealing with medicaid said that they had to wait a month to a month and a half! I felt so blessed! I still feel blessed. She asked if I'd have the money together by pre-op day. I asked her when that was. It's this Wednesday! It doesn't seem possible! THIS WEDNESDAY! I told her no problem. When can we get the surgery scheduled? Do you think we can have it done by the end of the month or the first week in May? She asked me "How does April 18 sound?" April 18? APRIL 18!!! That's like less than 2 weeks away! I started crying and she was laughing cause i was so happy i was crying. Well, she thought it was happy tears, but in reality it was happy mixed with terrified tears. OMG I was sitting here thinking I had at least another month to wrap my head around this (like 6 months hasn't been enough) Now, I am so thoroughly excited! I start my mostly liquid diet tomorrow to begin shrinking my liver. 2 shakes a day and a regular meal. Gee, just like slim fast, but better! LOL! And next Monday it's all clear liquid. The only major bad part right now is no pain meds at all until after surgery because the pain management doctor hasn't been able to get a hold of my PCP to get my meds changed off the NSAIDs and the Wellbutrin I take (and doesn't help) for my depression. Since I have fibromyalgia (Yay! finally got a confirmed diagnosis a month ago! after 4 years of trying) So, I'm dealing with a lot of back nerve pain right now and will be until my doctors can get together on stuff. Joy. The waiting of the doctors that have everything to do with everything NOT pertaining to my weight loss. LOL I'm still excited though. And I'll trudge through the rest. Oh, and by the way, for all you non believers in the Heavens above...be careful what you ask/pray for because you just might get it. See, 4 years ago on April 18 I got a call that would change my life forever and lead me on a downward spiral that I'm actually still trying to crawl out of. I think I'm reaching the top most days, but it's still difficult on a lot of days. Anyway, April 23, 2013 my husband of 14 years committed suicide. This was actually one of the best things that could have happened. I know that's horrible to say, but to say that he was very sick at the time would be an understatement. So, I prayed a couple months ago that I could have my surgery on April 23 of this year. It would be a new birthday of sorts to borrow someone's phrase I saw today. It would be a reset day. The day that my life begins anew. New health. New happiness. New chances. New me. Well, I realized soon after that prayer was made that that would not be possible. April 23 is a Sunday. No surgeries that day. So I blew it off. No big deal. No matter what day my surgery ends up being, it will be a new beginning. Instead He answered my prayer by my surgery being scheduled on the anniversary of the day I got a fateful call that turned my world upside down. So, you see, He did grant my prayer. He just knew that the 18th would be a better "reset" day than the 23rd.

Initially I was going to Mexico for self pay because my BMI was 36 and I had no co-morbidities. But I figured, why not give it a shot through insurance first, that way I can justify spending out of pocket when I have good insurance. My first appointment was 2/7 and my surgery was 3/23 here in the US fully covered. Most insurances only give you the very basics when calling for the criteria. Either 40 BMI or over 30 with co-morbidities of severe sleep apnea, high blood presssure, cardiac problems, diabetes, athsma, high cholesterol and maybe one other. I didn't have any of them and I'm thinking to myself, I'm trying to PREVENT that! And WHY would you want to wait until they are developed and THEN perform a surgery on a sick patient!?! So I went to my Doc in NY in HOPES of having sleep apnea. My requirements were blood work, check up and clearance from pulmonary doc, cardiologist, primary doc, NUT, psych doc and endoscopy. It was a PAIN to find a nutritionist and psychologist who dealt with weight loss surgery but I called some local weight loss practices and was able to find local people. my doc is an hour away because I didn't want my family/friends to know my plans, they so have all of the specialists in house at their main office, but none are covered by insurance and it was more inconvenient due to the distance for me. I left that first appointment and literally scheduled the cardiologist, pulmonary, nutritionist, and endoscopy in the parking lot and all within 1 1/2 weeks. The psyc took me 2 weeks and I had just seen my primary doc for extensive blood work. I did a sleep study at home and had the results about 2 weeks after the first appointment. I was not hopeful when the results were mild-no sleep apnea. I called my insurance company and was told that those are just the basic guidelines, and if the doctor could articulate why the VSG was medically necessary (I.e. Mild apnea interfering with my rest, I DO have a host of documented orthopedic issues that were exasperated by my weight gain over that past few years and mild reflux) that I could be approved. And 2 days later I WAS approved. You would have thought I won an all expense paid vacation when I got the call! I guess technically I did! I'll take my Mexico self-pay money and go to Mexico for some fun!! BTW, my insurance did require 6 months of weigh-ins, but somehow i got around that (I wasn't going to call and ask why) Not sure how. My doctors office took care of all of the insurance approvals so I had minimal dealings with them. so all in all there were definitely hoops, but I was on such a mission to get this done, I used it's a motivator. It also felt good knowing I had been examined and had minimal health problems going into surgery. I had a required class just before surgery with a bariatric nurse at the hospital (going over the diet, the procedure, and what to expect, etc.) and the pre-op blood work and the rest is history. from start to finish, just over 6 weeks from first appointment to surgery. I'm 2 1/2 weeks post op and I feel great.

I feel great! I just finished up 5 days in Disney World doing 8-12 hour days at tha parks, pushing 75 pound stroller. Lol. I did most rides except I pushed it a bit with the Big thunder Mountain, comes to an abrupt stop and I was a tiny bit sore. Day one after surgery I felt crappy. I had to be up by 5am for my surgery so I was definilty tired later in the day. I thought I would be up and walkin laps around the place (bc a few people I knew had been just after surgery). I was 2 hours post op and like I'm ready to go, let's walk!! And then 1/2 way down the hall I was like, ok let's go back. 😂 But every 2 hours (even overnight) I got up and walked, each time going further and more steady. I passed my swallow test with no problem and tolerated the water, protein shake and jello, so I wasn't out by 1:00 the next day. They said to catch up on my sleep on my first day home and then I could go to the gym and they wanted as much moving as possible. I don't go to the gym, but I used my eliptical every couple of hours for 5-15 minutes day one and then every couple of hours for 10-20 the next. That helped so much with the gas pain. My gas pain wasn't that bad and was totally gone by day 3. I did use a few gasX strips each day, but I'm not sure if it helped, but it couldn't hurt. I was driving by day 3, but sore and tired. Since I have kids I couldn't take the narcotics too much (driving, etc) but I took Tylenol during the day and the oxy at night for the first 2 nights home. I went back to work day 4, but my work pants hurt my incisions (yoga pants we so comfy that I didn't factor in a belt and sitting at a desk) so I only made it 3-4 hours. But day 7 I was back normally with no problems. My only complication so far was a wicked rash that formed on my abdomen. I took benedryl each night (again can't get doped up on meds when you've got kids depending on you). They weren't sure what was causing it, because it wasn't really around the incisions, lightly all over but heavy on my sides. But it started to get super itchy near the incisions and the glue was coming off (after 8-9 days) so I peeled it off and the next day the rash improved and after that nearly gone. So I'm thinking it was an allergic reaction to the glue they used OR from the stitches. Either way, if that's my worst complication I'll be blessed. It WAS hard to get my protein and water in those first 2 days, but I make it my business to get it in. I over pack stuff for work and travel just to be safe and I track EVERTHING on baritastic (app). That's the most user friendly app for me personally and has been a very valuable tool. As far as weight loss, I'm hopeful. I'm away now, and I have. Even perfect on my diet. I ordered shakes and had them delivered to the hotel along with some foods I can have (yogurt, cheese) but I will see tomorrow when I weigh in at my mother in laws house. One big thing I WAS NOT prepared for was the weight gain after surgery. I was UP about 6-8 pounds on my home scale the day I came home. This apparently is common bc they have you on IV from an hour or so before surgery until a few minutes before discharge (which for me, was about 30 hours straight. I lost that over the first 4-5 days and now I'm about 10 pounds down from surgery. Since pre-op (about 4 weeks ago) I'm down 20 But I FEEL good. I have energy. I already look visibly better in clothes. I'm starting to see my old shape I'm not sure if they work, but I take biotin pills (COSTCO) and vitamin patches (patchmd.com) calcium/Vit D, B-12 and multi vitamin, and biotin plus. I told my PA at the office and she said other patients had good results, so I'm hopeful and I think they are helping with my energy. I'm praying they keep my hair fro falling out, but I've read that it says futile lol Don't overpack for the hospital. Just comfy clothes to walk in (I'm not a fan of the gown. And comfy clothes for the car ride home (and a pillow to hold over your stomach for the ride home). Someone posted about dry mouth here and it was helpful. It's NO JOKE. I packed a dry mouth spray and that was good. You can't swallow, but 2 sprays was soaked up immediately in my dry mouth- yuk. I'm typing on my phone half asleep- so sorry if there are typos

I agree! I started gaining weight when I was happy & comfortable in my relationship. We both love eating & drinking, that's it. I believe what also contributed to my weight gain was I eating the same portions as him. He's taller than me so he didn't gain as much as me, I'm really short. I'm not blaming him but I think sometimes people get fat because they're happy & comfortable. It's not always a tragic reason why we become fat. Height: 5'0" Weight for WLS consultation: 216 lbs. Surgery date: 2/13/17 Goal: -71 lbs for healthy BMI (about 145 lbs). Current weight: 174.2 lbs My profile picture is not me. It's my "FITspiration" body.

Anyone struggling with weight gain afterwards? I am a huge sugar addict and I worry about gaining back the weight. My bf does not like sweets so we don't need to have any in the house but my job always has some type of sweets lurking around.

Yes, hypothyroidism could easily explain your weight gain. They discovered I had a goiter at age 6 and then hypothyroid in my 20's on. I have been on medication for it for many years. However, around my mid-twenties, with 2 small kids, being a stay-at-home mom and my current husband at the time, we did not have much money and no insurance. I quit going to my thyroid doctor and quit taking thyroid medicine. It wasn't long after that when I started gaining quite a bit of weight as well as having other symptoms of thyroid problems. Then I got back on my thyroid med and lost weight. Fast forward 15 years and I got off my thyroid med again and gained a bunch of weight. Now I am on thyroid med again (for 2 years now). But this time I couldn't lose the weight on my own. Had the sleeve surgery back in November '16 and I am still on thyroid meds. Since October, I have lost over 80 pounds. I think that if you are sticking to the plan with your sleeve (make sure low carbs, over 60 grams protein), that once your thyroid gets under control with medication, you should lose weight. Don't get discouraged, if you just started your thyroid med, it can take 6 weeks or so to notice a difference. Also, you will need to go back in for more bloodwork and see if you need to go up on your thyroid med dosage. It has to be a gradual increase. Getting your thyroid back to where it needs to be might take awhile.

So, I had surgery March 16 and lost 25 lbs the first week! Then didn't lose anymore and started gaining weight! I have reduced my calories by 1/4 of what I used to eat and I'm following the diet! (No carbs, very limited fats). My family is losing weight like crazy from our lifestyle changes! Anyways, I went and had my thyroid panel done and I have hypothyroid. Could this explain my weight gain???? I feel so depressed, I've done what's asked and even started excercising....

Hi everyone, I've been reading for a while but never posted. I am currently 3 appointments away from completing all my pre-surgery requirements. My Dr. says I need to drop 14lbs before surgery. I was wondering if any of you have had their thyroid removed? I had mine taken out about 7 years ago and my weight gain just escalated from there. My concern was the 14lbs but so far I'm doing great. I don't have a surgery date yet and have started seriously cutting back. No sodas, very minimal carbs, Protein drinks during the day and a very light high Protein meal for dinner. I've lost 8lbs in 6 days. I worry about how I'll do after surgery and if anyone has heard how those with no thyroid do after surgery. Its typically extremely hard for me to lose even a few pounds. Thanks for any feedback and good luck to everyone.

Of course over eating is a cause of weight gain. I must have miss understood you when you said "but some of us didn't eat unhealthy food to get to this weight".

Ok, I am taking Zoloft because my other medication was dangerous for my pregnancy. I am weaning my daughter from nursing now and ready to take any medicine required. Now, I am freaking out about reading that Zoloft causes weight gain. Is it that it makes you eat more or store more of what your eating?? I also have PCOS, not that it is really specific to Zoloft questions but I saw another poster that was really similar to my situation.

Hi Sky - thank you for sharing. My weight has been steady around 200 lbs and it seems after the first year or two of being on Zoloft, the gain has slowed a lot and I hover around this weight that I'm at right now for quite some time now. Regardless, I feel like crap with the BMI being 30 and the weight I'm at w/my height... I feel WLS (gastric sleeve, which is what I'm going for) is drastic enough to hopefully reset my weight downward enough to pre-zoloft levels at this age, which in my view, "buys" me healthy years even if I have to continue with the SSRI regimen... The only thing I am curious about is if dropping the weight as a result of WLS will relieve my symptoms, as I've read that people develop depression as a result of being overweight too... I don't know which came first, the gain or the depression or perhaps in parallel... All I can say with certainty is I felt the depression in spades and I also felt great relief while on Zoloft. I tried stopping once, it backfired... so I learned my lesson, sucked it up and took the weight gain rather than counter productivity and misery as a result of MDD.... Quite frankly, I have no idea how it will all pan out.. I'm glad this forum is here so I can share or update on what will happen, but this is certainly a venture into the unknown for me, hoping God steers me in the right direction, whatever that direction may be.... could be good, could be bad, or could be ugly... I have an intention of losing weight - how it pans out and what the ultimate price might be and what it looks like, I have yet to see - though I have optimism based on other people's experiences so far. Thanks for responding.

Howdy folks - I'm a 41 year old software engineer (tells you about how physically active my job is :), and since I was diagnosed with MDD about 3-4 years ago and started on a 100 mg Zoloft (sertraline) regimen, my weight went from around 180 lbs to a current 204 lbs (I'm 5'8"-ish), without any change in eating habits or exercise patterns. God bless psychiatry whom I was a major skeptic of until I realized depression for some people isn't caused only by situational circumstances but also genetics and heritage contribute to much of it as well... My entire family has been dealing with their own anxiety and depression in other ways, via alcohol, lustful activities, gambling, shopping, overeating - since I don't come originally from the USA, the taboo on psychiatrists is even greater back home where I'm from..... and taking an antidepressant for most people who suffer is almost non-existent. Zoloft has helped reduce, or rather, help me cope with 90% or more of the symptoms I experienced - basically reluctance to do anything and just curl up and cry due to the severity of the depression as well as the several times a day panic attacks each of which felt like impending doom and death knocking on the door... Good luck focusing on mental work with those experiences in your head/body - I don't wish them on anyone. What I never saw coming as a result of my SSRI regimen is the progressive weight gain that has been taking place... obviously partially this is due to age, but the majority of it is really due to the side effects of taking an SSRI like Zoloft. I've found it nearly impossible in terms of time consumed and habit change to manage my weight with exercise and nutrition alone and I've scheduled a surgery with Dr Ortiz for this April after reading here extensively, watching Dr Ariel Ortiz and Dr Juan Lopez Corvala perform this procedure on numerous patients. It was a tossup for me between Dr Ortiz and Dr Corvala, I guess I really liked Dr Ortiz's website and information provided better, so I picked him, but I feel that these 2 doctors are probably among the best at what they do in the Tijuana area.... With a BMI of 30 and no end of the weight gain in sight as age progresses... I feel like I've made the right choice for myself, my wife and my children. Wish me luck and pray for my speedy recovery. Many of my colleagues suffer from extreme obesity, so I'm hoping I start a trend here :). M.

Pretty sure I have. I went off over the holidays and gained about 10 pounds. I had stopped logging, so went back to eating as I had and started logging and weighing again. I was eating the same things I had before in (I think) same amounts. Lost the weight gain. Then have only maintained since then. I didn't realize how long this had been going on because I had a bad thyroid (cancer) for a long time before my surgery and had experienced long, long stalls because of that. I guess I was used to it, so it didn't register this shouldn't still happen. Then, like I said, I screwed up over the Holidays. But, yes, basically since about July I have been at the same weight (other than the 10-pound gain and subsequent loss). It's possible my portions were larger before the holidays I guess, but I really don't think so. I get all my protein from real food and don't do shakes or bars because I'm cheap. I eat veggies and the occasional fruit (no more than 1 oz.) with Greek yogurt for breakfast. I don't eat bread or rice or potatoes or sugary stuff. Two mistakes I pinpointed was drinking Fairlife milk with my decaf in an effort to get in more protein (I forgot about the calories involved) and eating too much cheese when we didn't have other protein in the house. I have cut out cheese because that's so high in calories and I don't think it was helping me. Also stopped the milk. Right now I'm trying to decide between upping calories, staying this low or trying to reset my sleeve. So, it's possible I was consuming more calories than I thought even though I wasn't "eating" a lot. But in my tracking of food I have noted I just can't seem to lose if I go over the 800 mark.

Has anyone gained weight before starting their pre-op diet? Were you still approved?

Having a hard time dealing with the weight gain after getting to my goal of 125... I had Gastric Sleeve on 10/18/2012 Starting weight was 235 and being only 5' 3" it was hard on my body. I decided to have the procedure done after seeing the fantastic results of my father in laws surgery ( he also had the gastric sleeve). I saw results right away and was very happy with how things were progressing. My husband at the time was totally against the surgery and did not even stay with me in the hospital. It was a bummer to say the least that I was so exited to finally feel good about myself and no one to share my success with. I finally reach my goal of 125 in just a few short months. By this time my husband and I had split up and of course he found someone else ( who of course was larger then myself). I was so sad and happy at the same time, I had the body I had been hoping for and my health was improved. A few months later my then ex- husband committed suicide and I fell into a very deep depression and my bad habits came back with a vengeance. I slept to much, didn't exercise and went right back to eating just like before surgery. As you would guess the weight started coming back and quite quickly. It has now been a few years and I've been trying to get back on track. I have lost about 30 lbs of the 80 I gained back and I see no reason to stop now.