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I am 8 years out from my sleeve surgery and have gained about 50lbs. Anyone else have this issue? Any ideas on how to lose the weight? I can't lose it the way I use to lose weight, pre surgery habits. Any ideas?

divorced......, There are plenty of folks around who have had them removed, I being one of them although our circumstances are much different. In fact this is the first I've heard of undigested food collecting above the band and causing an infection. I know a weight gain is traumatic but it seems like you have more important issues on the table right now and doing whatever you can do to make yourself healthier is what is important right now. Good luck to you, Nancy.

Immediately after the surgery I was curious about my weight I went I to surgery weighing 198 lbs. After surgery I weighed 230 [emoji21]🤤[emoji24] why???? I know I'm swollen everywhere but why is the question Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I completely understand. I'm in the same boat. I'm so excited for this journey, it's odd to me because everything is happening so smoothly. The only small hiccup that I had was my surgeon strongly suggested that I have the bypass and not the sleeve after he observed my results from my endoscopy. I have to terrible reflux, who knew? My surgeon said there's a very small percentage of people who have it, but have no real symptoms, well nothing making me uncomfortable or pain, just a lot of burping. So now I'm on the bypass track, which is completely fine with me. I've completed my first appointment, endoscopy, 2 of 3 dietician appts, psych evaluation, I'll be attending a support group next Monday. I just have to make sure there's no weight gain. I didn't have to lose weight before the surgery. I do have a 3 day liquid diet. I'm 5', 243 lbs, with a bmi 47. I'm excited too! I just excited to start seeing results! Oh! My surgery date is October 12th. If there are any other October dates, I'd love to buddy up. ???? Good luck to everyone!

YES ... i still have this problem 6 months out ... nothing taste the same anymore... I just look at it this way- Food is Fuel for my body and so I eat what I need to keep it running properly. Don't get me wrong I do treat myself every now and then to foods that really taste good- I like to think of this as Premuim Fuel and I don't do it all the time just because Premuim usually comes at a higher price JUST LIKE GAS ... The higher priced Premuim usually equal to weight gain or more time at the gym... either way- I HATE THE COST... #STICKING2REG(most day LOL!!! )

I too have had some weight gain- 40 of 107 lost. I don't know how it frieken happend. Anyway, I am told I got to thin so of the 40 I want to loose 15-20. Not feeling real motivated- have a couple vacations coming up. Overall I am struggling. I will be happy if I don't gain any weight over the next month or so. After my vacations I will hopefully get back on the wagon and start loosing. I had a tummy tuck and am very worried I ruined the results of that with the weight gain. I guess only time will tell on that. Get a fill and get back to basics. You can do it!

I had the last supper going on also. My surgery is 9-9. I had gained 7 lbs. since May when I went to see my surgeon 2 weeks ago. My liquid diet starts tomorrow officially(8-26) but because of my weight gain, they put me on it two weeks ago. Just told me to up my portions some, which I did. So...I've been doing liquid during the day, but eating supper (just moderately) until tomorrow. It has worked though, because I haven't felt completely deprived. And.. I have lost some of the pounds I put on. The bariatric nurse told me as far as liquids, to go by the "stage 2" diet but that I could also have eggs with cheese and oatmeal.

So here I am… I’m finally getting around to starting my blog on here after lurking for a few weeks… commenting on a few posts and making a few new friends (virtual ones if nothing else). We all have a story right? How’d we get here? I got here courtesy of an angry failed (I guess you could call it the black sheep of the family) thyroid and a b!tchy thin doctor who told me I just needed to eat less and walk more as I packed on weight (my underactive thyroid was discovered YEARS later by another doctor when I’d finally given up – she was reviewing the old lab results). It’s been almost 7 years since it started failing and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still bitter… I’ve gained somewhere between 80 and 100 pounds since then. I’ve lost as much as 50 of it and gained back nearly all that I’ve lost. About two years ago my doctor told me to have surgery (she had Lap Band in Mexico before it was approved in the US) and I joined Weight Watchers instead… I was convinced I could beat my thyroid if I just worked hard enough… I worked hard for my less than a pound a week losses only to find that when I stopped WW I gained it all back! Last year the same doc told me that at 29 years old, I was prediabetic , prehyperlipidemia, and that pain I was having was degenerative joint disease because of my weight and I had to lose weight immediately… Less than 10 years before that I was in the military! Needless to say I dieted a ton after that and regained everything immediately when I stopped… This past winter I was doing a couch to 5K program (not losing weight though LOL) when I contracted pneumonia which was not a fun mix with my asthma. After the pneumonia was gone my asthma became severe and the steroids to keep me alive caused even more weight gain. As my medicine cabinet became more and more full between the asthma and other conditions I realized I can’t keep going like this and my doc was right two years ago – If I’m going to get to and maintain a healthy weight I need to have surgery and if I’m going to see my daughters become adults, I need to get healthy…. So that said, here I am. I’ve done everything and now I’m waiting on the insurance company and a date. I’m here for support and to be someone’s support. In my life I’m strong for everyone and I always have been and the downfall of that is that for the first time I need people being strong with me and for me and I don’t have that.

I started at 9.5 wide and about 4-5 months later I was down to a 8.5 medium. Love it! 2 years later, still 8.5 ( despite 8lb weight gain).

I have been through all the pre-op steps and insurance approval and have a surgery date of 12/9. My problem is I quit smoking on 10/19 and I have gained 7-8lbs from that. I didnt even realize that I was overeating. Now of course I'm worried that I may run into problems with surgery. My surgeon's office made it clear that weight gain before surgery is not acceptable. Any one else have this problem? Starting today I'm going to the gym and watch what I eat....

I agree with the warm fluids. I've never heard of Protein drinks causing weight gain and even by adding stuff like fruit may increase carbs, but seriously I've never heard of anyone gaining weight on straight Protein shakes. It is true your body is shock, but on a mere 300 calories a day, any humans body would be in shock and hang onto every little pound, nutrient, calorie that you're taking in. Eating with pain is not supposed to happen unless we overeat. I measured my portions and stopped before I ever had any pain. 300 calories is ridiculous, sorry I'm not trying to insult your medical team, but that's absurd. Oatmeal does swell up at least that is my experience, but it isn't like you can stretch out your stomach by having 1/4 cup of runny oatmeal or cream of wheat. I've never heard that our bodies will get energy from fat stores. We burn fat by building muscle, and calorie deficiency, but I know when I was on full liquids only (300-500 calories a day), I was beyond weak and needed to nap often. I wasn't walking much at all because I was restricted on activity, and if I walked more, I would have needed more calories. Your body needs fuel, good fats, calories, fluids and nutrients. I think guidelines are just that guidelines, and nothing should be set in stone once a patient is out of the danger zone of leaks and complications immediately post-op. Every person is different, every body works differently, and what works for 100 of their other patients might not work for 10 others.

Hey everyone! I am getting sleeved tomorrow and I'm as nervous as all get-out. This will be my 6th surgery over all- when I was a kid, I had open heart surgery. Then I had a lap band in 2009. Two skin removal surgeries in 2013. And I had a lap band removal in 2014. Now, I'm getting the sleeve. I have this nervous feeling that my body wont be able to handle anesthesia for a sixth time. I know there are a lot of people who have had more surgeries than me, but my anxiety has to manifest somehow, I guess. I'm also excited, though. Here's a little bit about my back story: I was 385 lbs at 21 years old when I had the lap band in 2009. Lost 170 lbs and ended up being around 212 lbs at my lowest, after skin removal. I was a size 10/12, down from a tight size 28. In 2014, I had weird abdominal pain and swelling they couldn't figure out (turned out to be a kidney infection) so as part of the testing, they did a CT on me. When they did the CT, they found that the lap band had moved from its position. Explained the year and a half of upper abdominal pain I was ignoring and my weight gain. I had gained about 30 lbs by then. They removed the saline from my lap band and I instantly gained 10 lbs. So when I met with my surgeon, he gave me three options: (1) fix the band, (2) remove the band, (3) convert to a sleeve. He was pushing for the last option, but I was sick and incredibly gun shy about having another surgery. I was not ready to have them do anything else to my body. And my husband and I also wanted to start trying to have a baby, and I would have been postponed by at least a year. So I told him to just take out the band. I knew how to work out and eat right and I had worked my ass off before, so I didn't see why I couldn't do so again. Probably the worst decision I have ever made. I experienced injury after injury that led to more and more weight gain, compounded by the depression (triggered by a lot of things, not least of which was losing one of my biggest life accomplishments, weight loss). Two years later, I'm 322 lbs (as of today- my highest pre-op weight was 338, pre-liquid diet), I'm on a CPAP, my knees creak all day, I have a bulging disc in my back, I can feel my skin stretching around my plastic surgery incisions (which is another huge worry of mine- the plastic surgery recovery was far worse than the lap band itself, so I really don't want to have to redo it), I'm prediabetic again, my PCOS is back, and my life is basically on hold. My worry that I would postpone trying for a baby for a year became 2 years of weight gain that will lead to at least another year, if not longer, of postponing the baby. That's 3 years, instead of the 1 if I had gotten the sleeve 2 years ago. But hindsight is 20/20, I guess. And if I wasn't ready for the sleeve, then I wouldn't have done well on it. So I'm glad that I'm doing it now. And I already feel better after losing 18 lbs on the liquid diet. My clothes fit better, I don't hear myself breathing as loudly as before all day. It's only gonna get better from here. I can't wait to get back to working out 6 days a week. Besides the clothes and the confidence, the thing I miss most is being strong and working out. I was doing an hour of cardio 6 days a week, yoga 5 days a week, and strength training 4 days a week. At 212 lbs., I was fit, pain free, with a flat stomach and probably no more than 30 lbs to lose. I need to get back to that, and continue down to a lower weight. If you pray, please pray for me tonight. If you don't, send out good vibes into the universe for me. And if you need a prayer, I was taught that the prayers of the sick are closer to God, so I'm happy to pray for you during my recovery. Much love to you all, Ayah

Wow that's amazing! Yeah I'm already fighting weight gain but it's so hard because since I no where have no fluid in my band everything goes through and I'm hungry all the time!! I have to control myself...especiallly since I'm able to eat EVERYTHING with no restriction. I just want this out and revised to be 100% on track with my weight loss goals. Being hungry all the time I still terrible! I really hope I have similar success as you have had!!!

Are you vomiting or feeling "stuck" a lot? If so it might be your band becoming tighter. To be honest, I would worry more about a possible slip rather then weight gain right now. You got it off once you can do it again I would give your surgeon a call and have some fluid removed. Good luck!

Hello, I posted here way back when I had my surgery in 2006 but I haven't been back in years. I tried talking to some folks at OH.com but.... not too helpful there. Here's my story and question. I will try to make it short and sweet. I got banded in July, 2006 with the 10cc band. I lost 130 lbw in the first year and got down to a size 6 (from a 22!). I still love my band and I am happy with my decision to have it but the last few years have been bad to me. I lost my job and insurance about a year after having the band. I was able to self pay a few times to get into my doctor for check ups but after year 2 or 3, I could not afford to go back. In that time, I gained 70 lbs back and I have had horrible acid reflux with aspiration. I was recently able to get on the state funded insurance program and upon telling my PCP what was happening, she referred me to a local bariatric surgeon (not the same that did my surgery) I had to jump through a bunch of hoops with them to get in as an "adoption case" as they weren't the ones who performed my surgery and my appointment is today. This past weekend I ended up in the ER not being able to eat, drink or even swallow saliva. It was very all of the sudden and I hadn't even eaten anything that day, only had coffee. The ER I went to was clearly inept at handling band patients but by the guidance of my former surgeon, they did unfill me under flouroscopy and that is how we saw the slip. I think I already knew just going by my syptoms for the past 2-3 years and the weight gain and the increase in amount of food I can eat. The band is supposed to lay horizontal or point up towards the shoulder. Mine angles down towards my hip bone. They also found I have a hiatial (sp?) hernia. I did get in with my former surgeon and he said I definetly need surgery. He recommends transitioning to a bypass or sleeve but my insurance wont cover that and I don't have 25k lying aroung. He indicated that after repositioning, there is only a 50/50 chance that I will lose the weight again. That scares me. I am thinner and healthier than I was, but not where I want or need to be. At 5'8 and 224, I am considered obese now. So my question is, has anyone else had their band sugically re-positioned and still managed to lose weight as they did before? Or did you just continue to have problems? Im on my way to the other surgeon right now for his imput but any comments or sharing your experiences would really be helpful. Thanks so much! Kayla

FYI: anitibiotics have been known to put on weight gain because it regulates our hormones, meaning your energy is low so you would have a tendency to eat more. Its very common, and happens to many of us. It could work either way, loss or gain.

I had my band done at a BMI of 35. In Australia with many insurances, you qualify for the band at that BMI or more, and for it at a BMI of 30 and above if you have co-morbidities. This is because it has been recognised that most long-term overweight people do not go on to lose weight and keep it off so lapbands are used as preventative medicine to stop people from becoming even more overweight than they already are. The band is also very effective for lower BMI patients, as opposed to, say, bypass. I had steadily gained weight all my adult life, and I was heading for major health problems if I continued the way I was. I'm grateful to have arrested my weight gain with the lapband when I did. I have no doubts that if I hadn't I would have had it done anyway at a higher BMI and had to work a lot longer and harder to get the weight off.

I have been overweight for most of my adult life. Big boned was the explanation and quite true in my teens as I was very muscular, broad shouldered and round in the butt.... After miscarriages in my early twenties, two successful pregnancies for beautiful children, and two more miscarriages in between them my weight went crazy. Also I started to get Gerd, arthritis, IBS, diverticulosis, kidney stones and gallbladder issues. After my son was born in 2000 my female issues increased rapidly and I was in pain so much that exercising was intolerable. In 2006 after a year of non stop ER visits and doctor appointments I was diagnosed with Adenomyosis of the uterus. I had a total hysterectomy due to that and pre cancer cells on my cervix, cysts on my ovaries... I was told I absolutely had to take HRT even though I didn't want to. Six months into them I had gained 47 lbs. Believe it or not, I was eating 1500 to 1800 calories a day, swimming or walking 4 miles 4 times a week. I was devestated by what was happening to me and stopped the HRT on my own.. No more hot flashes, anxiety or weight gain.. phewww.. The only problem was I couldn't lose the weight. I went to a nutritionist and kept food journals on sparkpeople.com,, kept exercising and started to become seriously depressed. The only thing that made it worth it was that I didn't have anymore PMS or other female problems or moodswings. My doc said I was BS'ing her and needed to get it together.. Last aug 07 I fell of a landing on the river and shattered my leg.. 2 months in a wheelchair, 6 months physical therapy,, jan to april in a gym.. full exercise 3 days a week for 60 minutes, stationary bike at home 5 days a week and still no weight loss.. We were so broke from me being out of work I couldn't aford to overeat.. total frustration... My lipid specialist wants to refer me for lap band surgery.. I'm terrified of being layed up again, but fear onset of diabetes, heart attack and stroke.. I have 2 brothers who had attacks at age 50, one wasn't even overweight. I also fear that after I go through with the surgery that it won't help because of my hormone issues.. Has anyone had lap band after hysterectomy and been helped???:confused2:

I would guess that almost all of us have felt the same way, I know I can relate. We are bombarded with the message from society that obesity is a character flaw. I had an awesome surgeon and one of the best things he did was educate me on the disease of obesity and the physiology of weight gain/loss. That helped a tremendous amount toward relieving a lot of guilt. With modern world of abundant food and industrial food production there is a reason that obesity is epidemic all over the world.

While shuffling down a longevity rabbit hole on PubMed, I found a fascinating recent study in the area of calorie restriction and longevity. What I wasn't expecting was its findings on low protein, high carbohydrate diets. The study found, amongst other things, that low protein, high carbohydrate (20% fat) was associated with the greatest longevity and best overall metabolic health in spite of a tendency to weight gain as fat. The improvement was equal to caloric restriction alone, and combining the two had no additional metabolic benefits (LPHC also tended to expend the most energy) The version of the experiment where LPHC was combined with CR had the same longevity, but also avoided the increase in body mass from the high carbohydrate Intake. They also had the best immune systems The low carbohydrate, high protein group were found to have reduced longevity and poorer cardiovascular and metabolic health, though again, LCHP group with CR fared better than those allowed to eat freely. The area where LCHP created an advantage was in reproduction. Not in fertility, but in the actual process of reproduction, which makes complete sense. You can read the whole report here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472496/ It should be mentioned this study is still one part of decades of research on Calorie Restriction and dietary composition. From the strong evidence in favor of dietary restriction, we should all be seeing increased life spans (depending on age of intervention, some will be more modest than others). But I wonder how the evidence building up for HCLP can be applied to us. HCLP emphasizes low glycemic index carb sources and 5-15% protein intake, but at our level of consumption 600-1000 calories a day in maintenance depending on your needs), that would only be 12.5-37.5g protein which seems like it would result in a deficiency. The famous Okinawan Ratio is on the low end of that, though people studied consumed about twice the calories (if I remember right, and I might not) which is still only 25g protein/day. And yet, I'm not seeing any of these deficiencies in the literature. No deficiencies in the Okinawans either. Curiouser and curiouser. What do you think? What did this study make you wonder?

I'm getting close! Monday the 29th is my band day. I spoke to the hospital today and I need to be there at 5:30AM, scheduled for surgery at 8AM. I will spend the night with DD1 the night before because the hospital is an hour away from my home, but only a few minutes from her apartment. DH will come later - he took off from work even though I didn't want him to - I'm afraid he'll overhear how much I weigh. Isn't that crazy?? Even when I was pregnant with our 3 daughters, I didn't want him to know how much I weighed. Everyone elsed seemed so proud of their weight gain, or of their pregnant bodies, but I was ashamed - I remember it like it was yesterday. Not that he isn't able to see...it's just kind of the ultimate humiliation to weigh more (way more!!!) than him. My doctor ordered a low carb diet for 2 weeks prior. I started a little before that, and she only ordered liquids for the day before. However, I've read so much here and on other sites, that I put myself on a liquid diet this past Monday. So far, I'm doing OK except a little light-headed at work. I hope the liver is nice and small. I have a convention to go to this weekend with a bunch of teen-age girls, and we'll be eating out the entire weekend. I had to tell a few people about my surgery so they would know what was going on and so that they wouldn't try to get me to eat. They've been very supportive. This weekend will be tough, but the prize is in sight. I've been reading some other blogs about anxiety and depression...I don't really feel that way, but it seems a little weird to me somehow - like I'm separating myself from the pack...does that make sense? Maybe if I were more comfortable sharing this experience with my co-workers, I would not feel as much like a phony. Does it feel like a cop-out to anyone to see others lose weight without surgery? I know, I've been there and tried it. And I owe it to myself, and I owe no explanations to anyone. There - I said it and I feel better. I turned 50 this year and I can remember turning 40 saying I didn't want to be 40 and fat. Where did the 10 years go? I have a lot of life left in me - and I'm ready. I probably will not post until after surgery since my weekend will be full. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the support, for putting yourselves out there, and for being real. I know some folks don't like to read the blogs with complaining or negative thoughts, but for me, this is cathartic; and it's my diary. Talk to ya'll later. Yes, I'm from Texas!

Sbee, I really appreciate you posting this, because 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, etc.), 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.

Good luck next week! I'm in Georgia and I just had my bypass on 05/05/15 I feel fantastic and am ready for these lbs to start coming off. Heads up you will see a weight gain after surgery depending on how anesthesia and IV fluids affect you but don't worry cause it's temporary

So I am about 5 weeks pre-op. How many of you gained weight before going on the liquid diet? I don't feel that I am going nuts but it is SOOOO easy for me to gain that just by relaxing and eating the things I normally wouldn't, I have started gaining :-( I am perpetually on a limited eating plan / diet to try and lose weight (which obviously doesn't work) and now am eating things I typically wouldn't like bread, milk, Cereal etc. Anyway, I don't want to jeopardize the surgery but I will do the two week liquid diet, just wondering how many of you gained once you had made the decision to do the surgery?

@@GranadoM74 OMG you're almost at the finish line. Please share once you get your date! Everyone's stories and result keep me so motivated. I know the 6 months will fly by! The weight gain or loss is a good question that I will ask my dr, thank you for brining that up. Do you know if you'll have to pay any money for the surgery? I'm not sure if I should my plan to low deductible VS the high ded that I'm on now w UHC. I may need to look into that more or search the threads. Seems like the evaluations are easy peasy I feel much better now after everyone's encouragement. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Wishing you the best and looking forward to seeing your progress! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App