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Losethemess, I became pregnant exactly one year from my lap-band surg. My husband and I were not exactly trying but feel very blessed at our new addition. I had lost 115 lbs. and still had 70 to lose. I too with my first baby gained a tremendous amount of weight and of course did not lose any of it plus gained an additional 40 on top of that after being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2007 and had to endure chemo and radiation treatments and was told that the chemo may make me infertile. I did have injections of lupron to shut my ovaries down during that time to hopefully preserve my ovaries. My doctor did give me a weight gain limit of 15 lbs. because I am still overweight and I am glad she did I did not want to gain a whole lot of weight with this one.The Lap-band made it very easy to control myself during my pregnancy and my baby is doing great! Thanks blaze for the congrats. I am on my way to losing the rest of the weight I began to lose almost 2 yrs ago.

I'm booked... after a billion emails and questions to the office and to many people in this forum and another, I've booked my surgery date - June 22, 2010 - with Dr Armando Joya in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I've read through all of Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies (great book, but very gastric bypass-centric point of view) and have been reading pretty much every post that i can get time to go through on here. I think I'm ready. nervous as heck, but ready. lol I know this is the right decision for me, but it's so hard to be confident about it when not all of my family is supportive. I have one brother who is quite vocal about me making the wrong decision and nto really trying. I know he'll be there for me after it's over, but in the meantime, it leads to doubts... things like excess skin, weight gain after sleeving, and if I really have the fortitude to make this work. I assume nervousness and doubts are normal?

I also had a debilitating back pain prior to surgery.. 4 pregnancies, 9 years as a gymnast, 6 years in cheer, massive weight gain after said pregnancies.. Also, my posture is terrible after the weight gain. My back didn't stop hurting when I got my RNY.. And it seems to be consistent with where it was before. If I stand up completely straight, my right side of my abdomen has a searing pain- so it's difficult to make adjustment.. Hope you figure out the problem, & you're able to fix it! Hopefully weight loss and exercise will aid.

It's challenging, I was hospitalized for dehydration.... I can't get the liquid in but after a 4 pound weight gain and getting stuck 7 times because they couldn't find my veins... I'm drinking my water, if it kills me...

Weight gain is a really common side effect of depakote! Let your prescribing doctor know that you are working towards weight loss surgery, and ask them to prescribe a medication with less likelihood of weight gain-there are definitely other options. I’m a psych nurse, we use depakote sometimes for a mood stabilizer and it also used to treat seizure disorders. Either way, there are other options that your doctor should be willing to prescribe.

I want to say, this post still rings true. I dislocated my shoulder in December, and it was more serious than initially thought - but not diagnosed well at first so I was basically immobile in my neck/shoulder/right arm for FOUR months. I was sad and I ate. I never really got off what anyone could call healthy eating, except I drank lots of smoothies and juice and was not mindful to the calorie content. So I gained. About 20 pounds. I thought I would loose it as soon as I was "aware" but not really...so now I can say, even with a bit of weight gain the "-" in the yo-yo saved me. I will loose it and maintain again and hopefully never creep back up the scales again. The surgery, even if you do not get all of what you envisioned, is very worth it. Do not take advantage. Work hard. Good luck!

Hey guys! So I have yet to get lap band, but I am really interested in getting it. I have looked into a few times and each time I think to myself that I can just lose the weight myself by dieting and working out alone. I think I am finally ready to take the first step and talk to a doctor about getting this procedure done. I’m 20 years old 285 lbs. have awful asthma as well as lower back pains and knee pain. I know I need to do something about this issue while am young. I am hoping that I can get some real information from people who have had this done! I know the basic information that you read online, but what are some of the things that you experienced pre and post op? “(examples: hunger, food you can eat, can’t eat, exercises and when you can start exercising, pain, weight loss and then weight gain, rapid weight loss and extra skin..) I am hoping to gather as much information for myself so that I can better prepare myself…. Also…are any of you picky eaters? If so did you find that to be an issue for you after the surgery? Really any information would be great! -Heather

I just had to ring in and share some lessons I've been learning throughout my short journey so far (Banded April 28th) I know and am open to learning more but wanted to share in the hopes of helping others in their journeys through lap-band-land. Things I've learned: 1) I don't blame my lack of weight loss on my band, it cannot force me to exercise or eat the right things. 2) I don't give all the credit of my current weight loss to my band either, I still have to monitor my calories and nutrients to continue to lose. 3) My skin will sag if I don't do weight bearing exercises to offset this, and in areas where my fat is concentrated (for me its my INNER thighs...) I will still have some residual sagging skin. 4) Unless I get a boob job, my breasts will sag and never be 'perky' again...this is meaningful to me, to others its not, and I respect that. 5) If I PB, I don't curse the band, I curse myself. 6) I love my band, I love the choice I made, some days are better than others, I accept that and I do not dwell on the bad (even though its hard sometimes) 7) I am learning everyday about things I can and cannot eat. I can eat things others that are banded can't just as others can eat things I cant. 8) I get my fills when I need to, i.e. if I'm not losing, I don't go on a timed schedule. 9) I've had a bad fill experience (overfilled) I had some taken out and have been fine every since. I don't blame my fill doc, or myself for not noticing right away, but I learned from the experience. 10) I respect everyones individual journey, I think everyone needs to take responsibility for their own weight gain/loss. IMHO, the lap band has made many unhealthy people healty. Like anything, everyone handles change differently and each person has their own individual expectations. I sincerely admire everyone who is on this journey and respect your choice to change....GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!

I can ditto every word Gail said!! I can understand being terrified of weight gain but it may happen, as it did for me, and I've managed to not go crazy and gain everything back. I lost 65 lbs in a year, and gained 15 back after putting my dog to sleep. I didn't go off the deep end, just made bad choices because I didn't care about anything but my grief. Now I'm back on track and losing again. I'd like to be back where I was at my one year follow up appointment, at my two year in June. Then maybe lose the last ten. No matter what, this surgery was a success for me, and I'm exactly where I need to be. I learned a LOT about myself through all this, especially about why I always turn to food, and am continuing to learn.

Thanks for the info everyone. I have had no problem so far with weight gain I've actually lost 11 pounds since I had the shot 2 months ago.

I have been hypothyroid since 2009. I take 75 mcg of synthroid. Major weight gain since then after being obese my whole life. Got my first appointment with the bariatric surgery team at the Mayo Clinic in November. Interested in seeing how this all turns out.

It's not always stress/emotional eating or addictions that make you obese. People gain weight when they eat more calories than they burn through activity. This imbalance is the greatest contributor to weight gain. Other factors: poor nutrition education/misinformation Your location : Lack of access to healthy food choices Genetics/family history medical conditions medications life style and habits lack of activity/mobility issues Aggressive food marketing and availability of poor quality food. Even if you don't have the food addiction or stress/emotional eating. You still have to make changes to whatever got you to the point of having surgery. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/obesity/conditioninfo/cause

I can't begin to describe how blessed I have been this year. Before I was banded, I was lost. I would wake up most mornings and just say to myself "where do I even begin to dig myself out of this hole". Yes I was referring to the massive weight gain that I had in the past 2.5/3 years. I was falling into a depression but no one knew about it because I was putting up this front that I was the most confidence "fat chick", because I had to...it was my defense mechanism. May of 2009 rolls around and I am desperately searching on the internet for a surgeon to finance my surgery because I am a part time employee and full time student with no health insurance. That's a different story though! The angels sent to me Dr. Webber at Harper Hospital in Detroit MI. This was the start of a new life for me, it was the end of my sorrows, the beginning of a lifetime of happiness. I wasn't going to be overweight for all of my 20's, I will enjoy the last 5 years of my 20's shopping in the same stores as my girlfriends...going to a party and not cry because I have nothing to wear, attract guys with my real confidence and not just a pretty face. More importantly I was going to live to get married and have children w/o any complications. So this Thanksgiving I want to give the greatest Thanks to my Dr. Webber, who without him, I would still be lost and in the deepest hole that I wouldn't be able to get out of. I want to give thanks to him for convincing me to have the surgery and reassuring me that it was going to be OK when I was scared and crying the morning of surgery and about to change my mind. I want to give thanks to him for keeping me safe when my life was in his hands for the 2 hours of surgery. I want to give thanks to him for being the person that saved my mind, body and soul! So thank you Dr. Webber I love you! I was banded May 22nd 2009 and 6 months later I am down almost 70 lbs!! I am happier than ever, and I wish that everyone reading this is as happy as I am and has the greatest success as I have had so far. Goodluck to everyone....and God Bless!

Pinky, Have you been tested for sleep apnea, I was shocked when I found out I had it, because I am overweight but not huge. I had symtoms of fatigue tiredness, body aches, my bloodwork checked out ok so dr. sent me to rheumetoidologist (sp.) and sure enough I have it, my Dad had it and I have a brother and sister with it. The weight gain comes along with it because you do not feel like doing anything and when you do it makes you tired. I have a CPAP machine but I pull the mask off every night cause I hate it. I am going to look into surgery that is supposed to correct it. Anniemay

After a long month of complications following my brachioplasty I finally got my sutures removed! Looking forward to being able to get in the gym again for sure. I have a lovely 17 lb weight gain to work off. Despite the complications, popped my running stitch & had major gaping, I'm so happy I did it. Looking forward to feeling comfortable wearing tank tops!

I go to my 2nd dietician appt. on Thursday. I'm certain I've gained weight. To make it worse, the scale at the doctor is always a few lbs more than the one I have at home, so I'm quite certain it will be ugly. Is this going to blow the whole process for me? I know I have several more months of pre-op left. My (starts with -H-) insurance requires that I have to do 6 months cumulative, 3 of which must be consecutive, of medically supervised weight loss & exercise. Is a weight gain this early in the game going to reset the clock? This happen to anyone else?? Thanks.

I started the whole process in Jan 2013. Finished all requirements that insurance and dr wanted so he turned the paper work in on July 3 on July 11 my insurance denied me because of weight gain during the 6 months of pcp diet. On wed July 16 Dr. Eibes of Iowa speciality Hospital called and did a peer to peer with the medical director of Aetna and convinced them that the sleeve is what I needed. Dr eibes said it was a long call and pretty tough but finally they approved my surgery. Got home and got a call from Medical coordinator and dietician and got my date. Went on my 1200 calorie diet on Thursday the 17th and dropped 11 pounds. Had to do liquid diet sat and sun and surgery was on Monday August the 4th. My surgery was done in Belmond, Iowa an amazing hospital with a staff that did everything to make you comfortable. I felt like every person working was part of my team. They encouraged me with every step I took. We live 4 hours away from Belmond so they let us come to the hospital and stay Sunday night. We walked into our room and it was a hospital suite, we had a kitchen with table and chairs. In the main room was a sofa bed and and recliner that turned into a bed and the hospital bed which was extremely comfortable. They showed use where everything was refreshments for my husband, Snacks and food vouchers so he could go done and eat for free in the cafeteria. We slept good and were up and ready by 6 and the nurse came in at 7 and took us down to the surgical unit. Once we were settled I got undressed (everything) and into my gown. Two nurses were in my room prepping me Iv, blood work, questions, anesthesia Dr came in asked questions and told me what he was going to do told me that at times he can give a fat lip ( he did but went away quickly). I asked him to just take care of me and make sure I wake up and he said he would. The or nurse came in and explained more the dr eibes came in and asked if I was ready I said yes gave brad a hug and walked into the surgical room. I said hi to everyone and then told me to lay on the bed they unsnapped my gown I layed down, they put 2 warmed blankets on me and strapped my arms down and they gave me the oxygen and something good cause the next thing I remember was being taken to my room. Surgery was at 9 and I was back in my room at 10:30. The have this hover blow up bed that transfers you from bed to bed got me into bed and vitals and all were taken then I just slept. I had a pain pump so I pressed the button whenever I needed it and just went back to sleep. My mouth was so dry they gave me ice chips to moisten my mouth. They were good but made my stomach seize a little. My new stomach was not crazy about cold. Likes room temp the best. I wanted to go to the bathroom at 12 got up it felt like I had done 100s of sit-ups but was fine. So decided to go for a walk so off we went and we went every hour. First time 4 laps 2nd time 10 then they told me 20 laps was a mile so I started to do a mile every time. I had no GAS PAIN AT ALL! And I give walking the credit. I could have stayed in bed and milked it but I wanted to be up and going. Night was not a sleeping night bp cuff kept going off it was no longer on my arm they kept forgetting to shut the machine off. Then my fluids ran out, then my pain meds ran out, then had to have vitals taken so was a short night. At 8 they came and got me for the leak test. Ok this was the most disgusting tasting stuff! They make you stand up and step up on this platform it was quite a step and drink this yellow stuff as the dr took photos. They lay you down and almost invert you to get all angles. I could have gagged but knew I had to do it so I got thru it. Back to my room and they brought me Isopure, beef broth, Jello, lemonade Needed to drink the isopure and could go home if I did. So I did. Brad took my prescriptions to the pharmacy to get filled lots of them. Pain, nausea, spasm, gallstone, acid, happy pill, and blood thinner I have to give myself two shots a day for two weeks. We took off on our 4 hour drive home. I had taken a pain pill just to take the edge off I held a pillow and slept for two hours stopped so brad could get supper. I just drank my Water. Then homeward. We got home and went thru everything and took a shower and went to bed. Woke up feeling like I could throw up but it passed in less than a min. So on wed brad went back to work and I just focused on drinking. Didn't quite get it all in 40 oz water and 60 gr of Protein. Thurs dr Jon called to check on me and said make your water a priority we will worry about protein later. Did better Thursday got 64 oz of water in and my 60 gr of protein also. Had 5 bites of cream of chicken Soup and 5 bites of applesauce. With a baby spoon. And I was done. Tummy told me enough. Friday has been good have been off all pain meds for 24 hours had been passing gas and had 2 bms. Walked outside and have this great app called waterlogged it rings every 15 minutes so that I drink I have consumed 60 oz so far and it's only 3:30. Will have another Protein shake tonight and more water. Stepped on the scale and in 2 weeks have lost 17.7 pounds. Love my sleeve so far.

There are too many "what ifs" in life. But since you started...What if you don't have this surgery? What if you continue on your current weight gain track? Its totally normal to feel anxious, nervous, scared, excited and whatever other feeling you may have. Just ask yourself why you are having this surgery and why you decided to do it now. Whenever I doubted my decision, I reminded myself why I was doing it. You can do it. Hopefully, you have a support system at home but if not, we are all here for you. good luck

Has anyone gotten pregnant after the sleeve? I’m 10 weeks and having bad food aversions and nausea. Idk how I’m going to gain weight when I barely ate before pregnancy and now even less with pregnancy because nothing looks appetizing and I’m sick half the time (not throwing up just nausea). I’m just nervous I won’t be able to eat enough to gain the recommended weight for pregnancy. Sigh! 😞

I had metatastic breast cancer back in 2012... I just got the bypass...being overweight and getting fatter by the day was worrying me....weight gain and obesity would cause it to reoccur and I have to lose this weight.I take anastrazole and lupron shots post breast cancer...now I am off metformin and ,chloresterol medication. Nosy relatives with too many damn opinions.Keep the em out of your business...tell them you have hiatal hernia...end of story...being overweight you just may have a hernia. Not being able to drink and eat at the same time? are you kidding me..,you will be drinking Water every second throughout the day. Being a big fatso is no fun and I am sick of being invisible...I am too good for that...I had to do something.Bypass is working...it is helping me...take control.

Post is getting a little old, but have to say this has been my experience. B-52 nailed it. All the tearing of muscle creates inflammation which, I believe, is mostly Water retention. My weight always jumps for a few days after starting a workout. I jumped 3 pounds almost overnight this last time. This initial weight gain though falls off within a week then I usually see a huge weight drop.

Yes poor eating habits will cause weight gain. This is the reason why everyone that decide on surgery should really think "are you ready for a life change"? this is not the so called easy way out or the fast way to lose weight. It's all up to the individual. If you eat pizza before you stop it completely or you can eat it once every 2 months a slice not a pie or a few slices. It's about mind control portion & if you are ready to change. I haven't gain any weight back even when I get TOM. I eat as healthly as I can because eating a lot & fried food is what made me fat. I want to live long & enjoy my life healthly not a fat woman not wanting to go out & have fun.

Hi, Last week one of the pre-op doctors and I almost came to blows. First off I have an IUD and am 49 do not have a partner. But I had not taken a pregnancy test. We went back and forth and he said "do you want your date canceled"? So I went ahead and took the test. The next day I was sleeved, 6/8. They will find any little things including weight gain to make sure you are ready. So just hang in there and brace yourself for these things. And do not be like me and wait to kick caffeine. Going through recovery and having the headache from hell was not fun. So you will be able to breath and sleep better going forward after the having the study. Just do what they say and keep on track. I am so hungry right now it is crazy. Go ahead and eat something you really, really like not overboard and not same week of surgeryand follow it up with walking to burn the calories. If you gain even an ounce though they will stop you. Just be smart about it. Funny my daughter is 15 her name is also Mia, that was my screen name for along time MamaMia. Wishing you all the best, be strong! Walk, walk, walk! My start weight was 280.1 currently at 235 post-op. Still getting rid of the surgical gas that stays in your body. It is no joke it hurt my shoulders and neck but went away in a couple days. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. Good luck! Michele

It’s been six years since I have my surgery. Lost over 100+lbs. However in the past few years, it’s slowly regaining - approx 70lbs up atm. Most because I went vegan for two years and regained a ton because I ate quinoa mostly (carb galore) ughhh...mad at myself for that. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian now and looking for some help. Can anyone suggest any tips on how I can jump start my weight loss again? I’m thinking about doing the 5 day pouch test to start.

You are such a great inspiration.. I am also anemic and I know how you feel Brrrr.... I had a complete unfil in Oct and my first re-fil on Dec 3. I was able to eat anything I wanted to on Thanksgiving and boy did the scale show it, I was not happy with the weight gain but now I am losing again becoming more active in working out!! Congrats to you at almost being at goal weight!