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My doctor gave me Lyrica for severe nerve pain in my shoulder/neck area, and carpal tunnel pain in my hand. This was Thursday and I have been high as a kite ever since. I mean really happy, floaty fun....thank heaven I am not working or needing to drive anywhere right now. Supposedly I will adjust to the drug and simmer down and it does seem to work on the pain. But when I weighed myself I found that I gained 3 or 4 lbs and all the time I kept to my 1200 calorie limit, met my protein level, took my vitamins, etc. So I believe it is the drug since weight gain is right at the top of the list of side effects. I think I'm going to ask to switch to Cymbalta which has fewer side effects and one of the main one is loss of appetite. Has anyone else had experience with these two medications for nerve pain? Had the floaty feeling and know if it does go away? Or the weight gain - does it stop at a few pounds? I joined the 4th of July Challenge and feel I need to lose not gain each week.

Factory Girl, You have lost before and now admit there is a problem with weight gain. Good for you. Do not beat yourself up for falling. Just get up and get going. Our prayers are with you. It is SSOOO easy to slip back:scared2:. Been there, done that. We all have highs and lows. Just take time to focus on yourself.

Grrrr! Everything seemed to be going so smoothly & now it just feels like one more thing...no wait, just one more... Or wait! Sorry...just THIS one more thing... Today: birth control This battle over my uterus has got to end. Is it not bad enough that I have to stop taking my Yaz? Now my PCP won't quit haggling me about switching. She is CONVINCED that Mirena is best. I know that it is not, for ME. So then she wants me back on Nuvaring. (NOT going to happen--that thing did evil things to me) I asked 3x abt depo & now that my pill pack is almost ready to run out, she's calling me back in for ANOTHER APPT TO DISCUSS THIS ISSUE. In my eyes, it's not an issue. If I can't be on the pill, I want the shot or I'll take my chances on nothing. She is so thick. I am fully aware that depo has been linked to weight gain. However, I've been on it before & I know what to expect! . I should've gotten a sep GYN. omg I'm so frustrated. 347*294/285/135 (*347HW/294SSW) | @Mwrarr | mwrarr.wordpress.com

Ok I know I didn't blog last week. First off I gained 2 pounds last week but then I lost 2 pounds this week so it is a wash for the last two weeks. Let's talk about week 33 really quick. On Sunday the family and I were coming back from a reunion at my in-laws and I blew a tired on the freeway on the way back. Scary I know. Well in changing the tire I injured my back and hamstrings. As a precaution to keep from hurting myself any further I did not walk for the week. Thus the two pound weight gain. My injuries did heal thank the lord. Now for this week I walked on Monday. It felt great. Then Monday afternoon we had a meeting at work which was to inform us that we as employees needed to make a choice. We could either be laid off and go on unemployment or we could take an hours cut and only work 16 hours a week. Well for me that meant dire financial consequences as it would anyone and so my wife and I had to discuss what to do. As a result my stress level has been on high all week. I have hardly slept through the week. Today will be my last day at work but yesterday we learned at my work place that a client may be needing major work done which would bring everyone back to full time and keep us there for several months. So there is a glimmer of hope that the layoff will be short lived. My diet and exercise has not been the for thought in my life this week. So I can only attribute the weight loss this week to stress. However I am getting back on track and will continue to work on it. It feels so much better to to have lost what I have but I still have plenty more to go. I also will be back on track with blogging weekly and hope you all continue to check in on my blog each week! Weight loss totals for the last two weeks... Week 33 This week 2 pounds gained Current Weight - 357 lbs Loss Since Surgery - 85 lbs (33 weeks) Total Weight Loss - 128 lbs Week 34 This week 2 pounds lost Current Weight - 355 lbs Loss Since Surgery - 87 lbs (34 weeks) Total Weight Loss - 130 lbs

Sorry for my radio silence last week. It was a crazy week and I spent most of it exhausted. I was going to post on 9/27 which would have been 30 days since I started my pre-op diet but due to some strange water weight or something I didn't lose any additional weight until this morning. So here are the hard cold facts as of this evening, I am down 22 lbs and almost 2 pants sizes!! That is a total loss of 5 lbs last week!! Woo hoo!! It is so bad that I am going to have to either go shopping for some suspenders (real sexy I know) or some new pants this week. I have been actively logging everything that passes my lips into my mouth with www.myfitnesspal.com and also logging my workouts. It is really eye opening the calories in some items. I look at things before that I would have eaten without hesitation and now think, wow that is so not worth it. If you are watching your weight, I highly suggest getting the My Fitness Pal app, or you can visit them online. Sunday I trekked across town and made it to My Fit Foods, (www.myfitfoods.com) and picked up my meals for lunch for the entire week. I have to say that it is really nice to have healthy fresh choices. And I don't have to guess if I am eating well or have that anxiety standing in the kitchen in the mornings trying to figure out what I should eat. I know a lot of people eat the Lean Cuisines and such, but foods like that are usually very high in sodium. And as I learned last week, water weight gain is not your friend! This week also started my return to solid foods, I'd be lying to say I wasn't ecstatic. Had my first experience of food backing up on me, Wednesday at work we had some breakfast tacos brought in. I was attempting to eat one, sitting around the table at work chatting with everyone, when I stopped thinking and started shoving this delicious tasting taco down my throat. It didn't take long for my band to remind me (not so nicely) it was still there and that I was eating entirely tooooo fast. I felt like I was going to throw up at my desk, which I refused to do. If you know me, I HATE throwing up. I got up and walked around outside for a bit seriously contemplating if I threw up in the bushes who could possibly see me. I managed to keep it down and seriously logged that in my brain in the "DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN," file. This weekend I went out on Friday night and had a couple of drinks. I logged them on my tracker so all calories were accounted for. From trial and error I have discovered that drinking beer or carbonated drinks causes that funky gas pain in the middle of my back (which the only remedy is Icy Hot, which is not a great perfume choice). So I have been sticking to wine and mixed drinks. But for once I feel like I am resuming my life, but just a much much much better choice making, health conscious, working out maniac. For the first time in a long time I feel like I have control of myself and my body. I got a wild hair up my butt this weekend and signed up for a water zumba class at the local rec center. I've always wanted to try zumba at the gym, but quite frankly have been too chicken to do it in front of other people (I really am shy). And I am really not all that coordinated. Being in the water gives you the sense of security if you don't exactly get the move that no one will really notice. Its a 45 minute class and at about minute 20 I thought to myself, what in the hell did I get myself into. But at the end, it was awesome and a great work out. From all the running in the pool my big toes are sore and will probably make walking impossible tomorrow. I've ordered some aqua socks to fix this. I've mapped out when/where I am going to work out on a weekly basis, my goal is 5 times a week to work out. Aqua Zumba is 3 days a week. So I will be going to the gym the other 2. I plan on starting my Couch to 5K training on Wednesday. Lets see if I can make it one week through the workouts without killing myself. I am a terrible runner...swimmer for life. LOL. Anyways to wrap this ramble up, I had a big non scale victory tonight, I checked my food log and I still have enough calories left to go to McDonald's after work out tonight and get a sundae. I sat in the parking lot of the rec center debating, a creamy chocolate treat would really hit the spot, but ultimately I exited the parking lot and drove home. I sliced up an apple and had some peanut butter with it. And then when I still had an itch to eat something, instead of giving in to my mom's Klondike bars (she needs to eat all of them next visit) in the freezer, I made a protein shake!! By no means does this mean I've won the war but I have definitely won this battle, however, the light at the end of the tunnel is still dim. But I will win...eventually after all, Rome wasn't built over night and in spirit of my new running adventure, life is a marathon not a sprint. Until tomorrow, Amanda

Thanks for the reply. So to clarify, you also GAINED weight for about the first week but beyond the week you ended up losing? It's just something I haven't read anywhere - I've read stagnant/ no change or minimal loss at first. But continuous weight GAIN is not something I've read in anyone else's experiences. If that happened to you and others and then you ended up beginning to lose despite increasing food intake over time, then I would feel a lot more 'normal' about myself right now.

Hi, My sleeve was done about 9 days ago. Initially, I slept for 3 days with very minimal oral intake. Ended up 9.8 lbs DOWN when I woke up post-op day #4. I assume that wasn't fat loss since it had only been 3 days - probably just loss of water weight from no food/ limited water intake in those first few days when I wasn't awake enough yet, which I know is temporary artificial weight loss. But I didn't expect that I would start gaining again literally starting post-op day #5. Since then, I've been gaining it all back. 1-2 lbs per day. I'm on a full fluid diet still as required with Plus 2 protein shakes a day. Max 500 kcal per day for now. Yet my weight has been going up starting on post-op day #4 onward, ~5 lbs in ~5 days. I'm nearly back at my original weight pre-op about 9 days ago. I know that weight re-gain is a common thing post sleeve but I thought that was after months or years. Has anyone had the experience of weight gain starting basically right after surgery? And if so, can you tell me if your body eventually caught up and started losing and by what week after surgery did you start losing? If I'm not able to start losing on such a restricted immediately post-op diet with 300-500 kcal per day max right now, how can I expect to start LOSING when my intake inevitably goes up to something resembling more of a sustainable level of intake? Thanks.

I appreciate the posts. I, like you "ScaredtoDeath" am in the process of trying to determine if it's actually something I will do. The Pro's definitely outweigh the Con's, but nevertheless it's surgery and the alteration of the body. My concerns? Leakage,weight gain after the first two years, but more than anything what am I to say to my kids. My son (9) is starting to eat more than his fair share and I see him having problems if I don't intervene. Question...how do you tell your kids to watch what there eating if you can't? It's a serious question that I haven't heard many people talk about. Once the surgery is done (I expect to have surgery Feb/Mar) what do I tel my son when he tells me he's upset with himself because of the habits he's engaged in. He's already had people make fun of him and will not take his shirt off at the pool. This is exactly how it started with me. I was 160 lbs in 6th grade, 300 in 9th grade, and now 350lbs at age 34. Although, I have lost 100lbs twice in my life it's never stayed off and my Doctor thinks I'm an ideal Candidate for this type of Surgery. As you can tell, I'm a bit twisted...

I have lifelong major depressive disorder and have been on all kinds of meds. I've been taking Wellbutrin since 1995 and have added and subtracted other meds along the way. My long-term psychiatrist always said that it was very important that I sleep, which was a big problem. Benzos don't work for me (Valium, etc). The best thing that worked was a combination of Ambien and Thorazine. But who wants to take Thorazine?! So after a while he suggested Seroquel (just for the insomnia, I'm not bipolar or schizophrenic). Started at 100 mg maybe 8 years ago. Gradually worked my way down to 25 mg. Then my doctor died. In the midst of this, I had a VSG in Jan 2010. Beginning weight was 385, day of surgery 361, lowest 285, today 335. I've learned to eat around the restriction, obviously, but could the Seroquel be part of the problem? Meanwhile, I'm not sure the Seroquel is working as well for sleep. My new doctor isn't too happy to prescribe it. She would like to see me off of it because it's not supposed to be a sleep medicine, although she's always saying what a low dose it is. (200mg is a low dose; 800mg is a high dose.) So I don't think she'll increase it. Seroquel is known to increase weight, but she says the effect lasts about 12 hours, so since I take it at night, it shouldn't be a problem. But since it's not working well anyway, and since it might be causing weight gain, I decided to go off of it on a trial basis. Today is day 4. The first two nights were hell. The second two nights were better, but still not good enough to function. But I do feel less driven to eat. Do you think that Seroquel could be a factor in my less than stellar weight loss results? How long should I suffer through sleepless nights before going back on it? Should I try something else to sleep?

Hi all, I'm approaching five weeks out and I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced yoyo numbers on the scale so early out. I've been the same weight given 2-4 lbs for about two weeks. I'm taking in about 48g of Protein on good days and generally eat between 700 to 1000 cals a day. I'm planning to call my NUT tomorrow but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Thanks!

I have a date, Jan 10th, I'm so nervous, I have never had surgery ever, and now I'm doing it!!!!! I have so many emotions going through me, this has been an ongoing battle for me, 3 years. Of weight loss , weight gain to finally getting here.. Wish me luck, I'm about to change my life.

Well I guess it could be a lot worse. I haven't been on the scale since the end of Sept and tomorrow I'm going in for a fill, I've gained 10 pounds. Are you ready for my excuses! I had vein surgery end of November so I couldn't exercise. Christmas was here and so were the sweets. Life has been really stressful! I know...I know..I know... So tomorrow is my fill. Do you know what I love the most about the band? I know that even though I gained this weight, I would have been a lot more without the band, and the bast part is that I can get my little tweek tomorrow and be back on track in no time. So I am not going to beat myself up (to much) for the weight gain, and I'm going to get back on track cause unlike before I know I can!!!

Well after many months and many ups and downs I finally have a date to have my eroded lap band removed. March 29th is the big day!!!!!!!!!!! I will have my surgery VERY early in the morning and will stay overnight to make sure there is no leaking from the repaired area of my stomach. Hopefully, if all goes well, in two months I will revise to either the sleeve or banded plication. There is much to consider with both of these procedures and the positives and negatives are pretty well balanced. I have read good and bad things about both procedures. Right now though, I'm just going to focus on getting the band removed and see what kind of damage it's done. So far I have felt no effects other than an occasional pull or tug or momentary pain in the area just below my sternum. I still have some minimal restriction due to there being a plastic ring in the middle of my stomach but I can pretty much eat anything I want and have been. I figure that eventually I will have the tool necessary for me to succeed so I might as well enjoy myself while I can even though the weight gain is making me feel miserable physically. I can't wait to be thin again. Weird how the mind justifies things. If I couldn't eat another cheeseburger tomorrow it wouldn't bother me, but since I can I do! Ugh. I'm definitely ready to get back on track. Let's get this party started!

In May I will celebrate my 3rd surgiversary and I should be thrilled but this past year has been a struggle. I started out at 250lbs, did excellent the first year of my sleeve with weight loss, by May of 2016 I'd released about 80lbs and was 170lbs -about 10-15lbs from my 155-160 lb goal. Then I started having gallbladder attacks and ended up having it removed in an emergency procedure in August of that same year. The following month my father passed away (he was only 65) and I started to notice that I wasn't following my diet plan as closely. I gained about 10lbs within and was 180lbs by January of 2017. A few months later I had some other family changes that involved several very close family members moving away out of state, some of my core support. I tried to stay on track with exercise, training for a 5k then developed a bone spur (osteoarthritis) and was told not to run by my Dr. That was this past summer. I am now at 192lbs and feel like I can eat more before becoming full, have been completely unmotivated to exercise and eat right. I'm feeling angry, guilty, upset and completely confused about how this is getting out of control. Has something similar happened to anyone else? Can anyone please recommend some resources to help motivate me or get me back on the journey towards my healthy goal? I am very independent and hate asking for help, but for goodness sake, I had an operation that involved cutting out half my stomach and now I'm gaining weight again? I never thought I'd find myself here...

I had my gastric sleeve surgery on April 12th 2016 and I could tell there was a problem right after. I couldn't keep anything down I found out I had a kink in my sleeve. They sent me to gastrointestinal doctor who dialated it with a balloon on August 12th 2016, October 20th 2016, and again on April 28th 2017 (it kinked 3 times so far and I think it is kinking again). But I made it from day of surgery weight of 254 to 162 in January 2017 I was happy as a clam. Recently I've been gaining weight I had to cut my working out quite a bit because I had to have knee surgery on may 12th 2017 I also have fallen off the good food wagon a bit and started drinking soda more then i should and cut back on water which I shouldn't have. I'm going to start back to a healthier lifestyle and cut the soda to low to none amount. I have gained almost 15lbs in the last 5 or so months and I am so scared that I will gain it all back. I need support on my journey, words of encouragement, someone to say you are going to be ok. I went to put on a pair of jeans I did fit in fine before this morning and they were a tight I broke down and cried, I feel i may be going backwards.

I had a breast reduction prior to the sleeve. I went from a really large I think DD or larger to a high B cup, which increased to a C with weight gain. The surgeries are nothing alike, I needed more help with the reduction because of the initial restriction in movement. I did have to lie on my back for both operations to sleep but couldn't use the restroom on my own after the reduction. I don't remember how long until I drove but I remember every bump in the road when in a car was uncomfortable. Hope that helps

Off weightloss topic (but still birth control topic): How long does the shot actually last? I'm on birth control pills (had to stop them a month before surgery to avoid blood clots) and I'm so sick of forgetting 1. I'm 46 and not in the mood to get pregnant and not into the IUD and condoms. Just curious about it. However, after reading about the weight gain, I'm having 2nd thoughts. But they say that with BCP's too and I've never noticed any gain myself. Just curious how long they last...

You may want to put the work into changing this now... You are still early out, but when you get further along flushing out your food will become an issue (as in weight gain when you are able to eat more and hunger returns) what starts out as a little will become more after awhile in my experience. the "rule" is there for a really good reason and although I don't follow every rule (I drink coffee in the mornings) I find following most of them sets you up for success long term.

I had a Uterine Ablation 4+ year ago and thought that not really enjoying intimate time was a side affect. I see now that it was moats likely depression then the weight gain. I see light at the end of a long lonely dark tunnel.

Most of the issues you are having with the band you would probably have had with the sleeve as well. Try going onto the sleeve board and reading some of the threads there - life isn't always greener on the other side. Would you have felt ashamed if you had needed a kidney transplant because your kidneys weren't working properly? No, then don't feel ashamed that you neede WLS because your hunger control mechanism wasn't working properly. You might feel that you could have lost 60lb without the band but I bet that you couldn't have lost that and kept it off. If you could have done then you would have done. Stop being so down on yourself. Instead of looking at the glass as being half empty see that it is half full. And most importantly make sure that YOU ARE WORKING THE BAND and not expecting it to do all the work. You should not have a band that is so tight that it restricts your diet. Ideally a well adjusted band should mean that you are able to eat most foods but less of them and not get hungry soon afterwards. Being too tight leads to weight gain, slips and other issues.

I am at week 5 and starting soft solid foods. Since I've started the pureed foods last week I have stalled in my weight loss and when I weighed in on Monday (I weigh only on Mondays) I gained back 2 pounds. Is this normal? Has anyone else had this problem. I was sleeved 2/17/14 and am down 18 pounds, I'm a bit disappointed it is not more at this point. I started doing weight resistence training and 20 minutes of cardio this week hoping this will start bringing me down again. Any advice?

I am 3 years out and had put on 10 lbs over the holidays. I too have kicked my self and been very angry for falling back into old habits and irrational thoughts. This is all cognitive too. I am a sugar addict and even though I knew this, I kept eating all the candy I wanted, and it had become habit to put into my mouth without a thought. I would then rationalize and say I would stop tomorrow. Each day it was tomorrow. This was a flash back to the past.... So in the past two days I have stopped eating carbs, I have a protein drink in the AM and a healthy high protein meal for lunch, and protein for dinner.. I am following the 5:2 diet plan also. I just did 2 days of eating 700 calories and I lost 2 lbs. This diet is posted here. The diet saids to do 500 calories but I struggle with keeping it that low. So if I can do this so can everyone else here. Don't be too hard on yourself, this is a learning lesson. Get back on the wagon and stay away from carbs and keep portion size small. I can eat more but I'm not hungry. I'm over eating and that caused weight gain. but it tasted so good is the rationale I would use. In fact, I was just making excuses. We really don't need to eat as much food as we have and other people are still eating. Less is better and healthier. Hang in there and be good to yourself...

Great job on the loss!!!! I was right there with everyone on the holiday weight gain. But I got it under control and did 9 days of liquids and you would not believe how much stronger my restriction is again now. It's like being fresh out of surgery. I did it because I read a post from someone who thought they'd stretched their sleeve and their doctor put them on one for 2 weeks. They did xrays and there was a substantial difference between the before and after, feeling like I do now I believe it. Strongly recommend doing it if you feel like I did about the quantity of what you can eat.

seems upper GI was "normal" -- with minor dilation that is expected given I am 3 yrs with band -- told doc I don't like the pain when I eat (and not the get stuck pain) but this other weird pain for the last 6 months. So I am going to push for the revison and have them submit to insurance and we'll see. He is also going to do an endoscopy (which means an empty band and more freaking weight gain)

Hello, I had a lap band in January of 2006. I lost weight very slow but steady and all was good for about 2 and a half years. I got food poisoning and had to have all of my fluid removed. After that I was never able to get my restriction right. Ok maybe that sounds crazy but thats what happened. Also in the last two years I have been v'miting and acid reflux, no eating in the morning, can't ever get full blah blah blah. Oh did I mention weight gain. Recently I went and had another fill and explained that I had been feeling worse than usual but some days I can eat way to much and others nothing. My doc sent me to have an abdominal scan and an upper gi. Well I have gallstones and my band was so tight that the barium would not go down. My doc then told me I had to have some fluid removed, and then told me that I should consider the sleeve because he thinks that I won't be able to tolerate any more fills. So I had the fluid removed and now of course I have zero restriction. This is scary I can eat whatever and big portions. I'm sorry for being so winded I just wanted to give some background. I am going on 7-8-10 to get a surgery date hopefully at the end of July for the sleeve. Ok finally my question is has anyone had the band to sleeve revision and the gallbladder out at the same time and what type of recovery should I be expecting. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.