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I was 58 and very worried no doctor would do it as I'd heard I was too old-funny I don't feel too old. Anyway, I wish I could have had this done before I developed just about every co-morbidity there is related to weight. I was very physically active during my youth, but the weight gain really stopped me in my tracks and then all the related stuff about did me in. I do credit this surgery with saving my life. My insurace absolutely will not pay for anything like this to help save a life. :whoo:So I'll be paying back a loan until h _ _ l freezes over. :think Still worth it. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

Congrats on making the decision! I too made the decision back in October, the time will pass very quickly. You touched on some of the emotional aspects of weight gain and weight loss, I have read many great trheads on this subject here. They really opened my eyes to the person I have become and to the road that I am about to travel. Good luck on your journey and dont be a stranger. :frown:

I have had a few of those dreams about eating. They’re not anything like gorging on unhealthy foods… (my weight gain wasn’t food addiction related) I’m almost 4 weeks post op from my sleeve surgery. My dreams are about having a poached egg on toast or having a salad with grilled chicken… I think whatever you’re missing food wise your brain is trying to help you make up for it somehow with dreams? Anyway I can see how it would be scary to dream you are a bunch of off limits foods in access and be afraid you ruined your sleeve! Mine are more like “I was able to swallow the bite of salad without getting foamies”’.

sounds like you all have PCOS - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - look it up! Darkening skin on neck, etc. Skin Tags, weight gain/hard to lose, pre-diabetes or diabetes. etc. It's hormonal and gets worse with weight gain. Weight loss is one great way to diminish symptoms.

i am going for a revision after gaining back one hundred pounds after gastric bypass.i will be having a lapband. one more appt with doctor and then waiting for approval frooom medicare/medicaid. am very nervous about losing weight presurgery diet. will i be able to do it? must get off 3meds that cuse weight gain before surgery will start weanig off in two days. am concerned about hypogycemia and hair loss and costs of diet. i hope my shopping costs go down as i will be eating less. i have leiminated sugaar adn white foods. must get off caffeine too. are htere any revisionists in here? thanku abbagirl

all great advice up above. You said you have a hard time getting in your protein. Just a little side note. You get more bang for buck with protein. Not only does your body need it but it takes twice as much calories to break down protein than it does carbs. I was a huge carbie before surgery so I understand how hard it can be to get in the protein. At Christmas all rules went out the window and I ate all kinds of carbs, especially See's Candy and my own peanut brittle. I can honestly say what a huge negative affect it had on my body. Not only from weight gain, but I was so tired it was crazy! So get your mind in the game again and start following the rules! You lost 36 pounds, you CAN lose the other 87!

May I ask how your surgery has helped your Type 2 diabetes? I am going to have bypass soon and am also Type 2 with great difficulty controlling because of severe insulin resistance. Do you still take meds and how is your blood sugar both pre and post op? Thank you. Ms. renkoss before surgery (vertical sleeve) my A1C was 12. At my last doctor's visit in December 2015, it was 6.5. I too have struggled with uncontrolled diabetes. I was even on the insulin pump before surgery. It helped control the diabetes, but I gained over 100 lbs. I am no longer on the pump and my sugar levels have leveled out. I still take 500 mgs of Metformin twice a day. Although I've been having a lot of lows, which makes me think maybe I don't even need The Metformin. My overall health has improved so much. I am so happy I had this surgery! Thank you so much for your response. This gives me so much hope that I will also be able to come off the insulin pump and only need the Metformin. I've been on so many different combinations in the past, and I've never lost weight while being on insulin. I too gained a great amount of weight since going back to insulin, and the funny thing is as I get older, the insulin resistance gets so much worse and that starts the vicious cycle of greater insulin resistance, more insulin needed, more weight gained in the stomach. It just has to end somewhere. Either the diabetes is going to get me, or gaining all this weight will.

I can identify to a degree, I recently finished a six month course of 5 FU for rectal cancer. I have begun refilling because six weeks out hunger has picked up enormously. My.fill doc was reluctant because I lost a fair bit of weight through surgery, radiation and chemo but I yelled and screamed a bit - I am aftetall in the normal weight range, it is my body and my business how much I wish to weigh and she herself said everyone gains when unfilled! Coming back to this now I'm on my computer and not my phone, I'll add this: I did find everything tasted disgusting, but for me, that led to me not wanting to eat rather than eating and eating trying to find something normal tasting. I was also so conscious of being unfilled that I was extremely careful and actually lost TOO much weight. I really became quite afraid of food for a while there. I was pretty nauseous too so that had an effect. I think you've done pretty well, weight gain on breast cancer chemo treatments is well documented and can be pretty significant and very hard to shift, so you've contained it pretty damn well. the bad taste went away for me immediately chemo finished, wish I could say the same for the aching sore knees, shoulders and hips - I feel like I'm about 80 these days. I've started refilling my band as I mentioned, but it doesnt feel anything like the same as it did the first time round, I've got way less restriction than I had. I'm not too concerned, since I did a pretty good job of keepign the weight off whilst being unfilled for 8 months and I have to leave it anyway because I'm having another surgery next week and I dont really want to be tight at that point, but its what I feared - once you start mucking round with your band filling and unfilling, it can be hard to get back to where you were. Cancer sucks, its not fair and you shouldnt have to face these problems but we do and have to just accept that and do the best that you can in the circumstances. And dont be hard on yourself over a small weight gain.

It may seem like it, but we weren’t all born 50 or 100 lbs. overweight. At some point earlier or later, the weight started coming on and got out of control. For a lot of people who are WLS patients or considering it, the causes of the weight gain are obvious looking back. You might have had parents who equated food with love, or whose idea of fruits and vegetables included banana splits and chili cheese fries. Or maybe you remember turning to food because it was there for you when you felt alone, or you were always hungry, or you simply didn’t know what to eat or how much was reasonable. What caused your own weight gain? Was it one event that you can point to that led to emotional eating or giving up on yourself? Was it a constant hunger? Do you think it was genetic? Share your stories here!

I have an IUD and simply love it! No periods, no cramping, no weight gain, no side effects!!! And, I'm safe for 5 years! I would highly recommend you talking to your doctor about one! It's awesome!!!!!

This whole week was a mess. Mom in the hospital for 2 days and Thanksgiving. I've been eating like mad. The .5cc fill didn't work and I can't seem to get myself back on track. Tomorrow I will get back to protein shakes because I gained 2lbs this week. Arggg!! My neighbor is giving me a treadmill so between that and the Leslie Sansone tapes should be able to lose it again. I'm hoping to have another before Christmas because I don't want to be able to eat as much food as I did at Thanksgiving. Hopefully, the rest of the weekend is better.

Hard to be just a lil over 5 weeks ago, I was riddled with nerves wondering if I was making the right decision to have surgrey. Today, I know having the VSG was the best decision I could have made for my long-term health. It has re-engergized my motivation to work out and already so much of my confidence is being restored... Last week, I blogged about how I was bothered and now I guess I realized I am hurt that my ex-boyfriend had not acknowledged my weight loss. Well I talked to him about it and how that makes me feel. I am not sure what I expected to get out of it because I as reflect on the conversation, I am not sure he ever said he has noticed I lost weight. In fact, I do not realize much of the conversation, only that I walked away from it unsatisfied with his response. But life goes on... On the positive side, though my ex is not noticing so many other folk are noticing my weight loss and it is really a good feeling. I met up with friends over the weekend and none of them knew about the surgery and so I was worried about addressing the weight loss and not drinking. Well the not drinking never came up because I kept a cranberry juice in my hand and they only had good things to say about my weight loss...No questions as to what I was doing but just that I looked good...I also have began to see the weight loss in myself. When I was smaller, I always thought I had a long, giraffe neck so I hated my neck. Well I notice that giraffe neck coming back and I have never been happier to see it... And I am also noticing it in my midsection...It doesnt stick out under my boob like it used to...Shirts and dresses fix so much better...Yayy... Oan: Despite the warning against tomato based things because of acid issues, I thought I would give chili a try. Bad move. Other than the protein shakes that i grew tired of, it is really the only food that I have reacted bad too. Other foods have made me feel bad but more because I ate to fast and not because of the food itself. So for now, I am not doing tomato based because I already have enough issues with heartburn. I am pretty much able to eat most things. I went to our farmer's market this past weekend and ate fried noodles...It was just about a cup but still I know I was so out of line. It made me work out harder. I got mile 3 mile walk/run jog done in 43 minutes. I started out at 60 minutes... I am so happy that my stall/weight gain from last week did not carry on into this week. Last week I picked up two pounds by the time of weigh in. I actually picked up three pounds by Saturday evening. But today I am happy to report I got those pounds I gained off and then some... VSG 08/17/12 HW 232 SW 227 (5'8) Last Week 210.4 CW 205.4 ... It may be ambitious but I am going for 199.8 by Friday's weigh in. I am already down to 204 today so I gt 4.2lbs to make it happen. I am going to push the workouts and stick to high protein/low carb for the week. I want Wonderland...I want Wonderland...and with it so close it makes me go even harder for it.

Snacking on processed foods and eating fast food is one of the worst things that you can do while you are actively losing at the beginning. I know it is hard, but that handful of Cheetos is going to turn into several handfuls in the future if you don't try to put an end to it now. It takes just 14 Doritos to equal 140 calories. That is nothing. Saltine crackers are also very bad for you. Try to go without for the time being. When you are a little further along, do searches for protein pancakes. I will use those for sandwiches. I also use Flatout wraps on occasion. Anyway, the other posters advice about logging your food is sound. I use MyFitnessPal. It is tedious as first, but gets super easy in the long run as you already have your foods added. Try to purchase healthy snacks for the kids as well so that you will be less inclined to snack on bad things. Success or failure begins in your head. This surgery is going to help with the overeating, but that is it. It isn't going to stop you from eating junk food or other calorie dense foods. I once took a nutrition course that stated that if you list your main munches (snacking on salty and/or sweet treats, eating fast food, drinking soda etc.), each one of these can contribute between 20-30 pounds to your weight. I agree with that, and think that the weight gain due to the first two items can be lots more than the 30 pound limit. It is not too late to turn things around. You've got this, and you know what you must do to be successful. We are here for you. Just know that you deserve better than being overweight or obese. Society at large wants you to fail. Don't let it win! Good luck to you!

Exercise Routine & Weight Training Ok, I made up my routine however I did use a Personal trainer to get me aquainted with the circuit machines. My P.T. reviewed proper stance, movement and isolation using free weights. Please feel free to copy and paste my workouts and use them for yourself. Get a very supportive sportsbra, I would get mine a size smaller than I normally wore b/c it held me together better. Try to get 4 of them, that way there are enough to have for a 4 day per week workout. I have 6. Get a sweat jacket if you can. I used to wear the sauna suits to drop water weight and inches but it got to be too costly as I wrecked those suits every week. I use a sweater or sweat jacket and it works great. Keeps the heat in as I run and workout. Heat also allows your muscles to be less tense and more relaxed, so in other words, it will loosen up your muscles. After I run, I tend to get really cold so it keeps me warm. Just think about boxers in training. They wear sweat jackets, with their hoodies on. :cool: Weight training is great for you, toning your muscles and tightening your skin as you lose weight, however your weight will stall a bit during weight training. You will be building muscle hence speeding up your metabolism, causing you to be hungrier, more often. That's why I eat 6 times per day. I weight train 3x's per week. Word of advice - if you just want to tone and not bulk up then go with bigger repetitions and lower weights. If you want to bulk up and build muscle then up your weights heaviness and lower the repetition. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Food Choices & Food Portions Try to drink 64fl oz to 128 fl oz (1 gallon) per day. This will keep you hydrated and keep your system clean. Stay away from sugar and flour products. I stay away from pasta as well. Eat tuna if you can. It's packed with protein and very low in fat, abvout 1.5g of fat for 3oz. Albacore is the best. Salmon is high in protein and has good fats such as Omega 3's. Lean Chicken or any kind of Lean meats. I eat alot of Spinich leaves. It is high in iron, folic acid and full of nutrients, not like your iceberg lettuce. Iceberg is all water. I will also mix the Spinich greens with a bag of garden salad mix. I use fresh lime juice as dressing or I will use Asian Sesame or Mikoto dressing. I stay away from Italian, Thousand Island, French, Ranch, etc. They are very high in fat. Try to stay within whatever your nutritionist layed out for you with regards to caloric intake. If she said to stay around 1,000 calories then darnit, you better start counting. Calorie counting is a chore but it works. If you take in too few calories, you will lose weight BUT your body will go into "starvation mode". We don't want that. Starvation mode kills your metabolism and will allow you to survive and maintain at that calorie count. However, you will ruin your metabolism and if you started to take in more calories because you are hungrier then ..uh oh. Weight gain with a slower metabolism. Don't go under the recommended amount. If you are stalling on weight loss and you are taking in 1,000 calories.... crank up your exercise. You will exert the weight off in a healthy way. If you are running marathons or biking, jogging and lifting weights in the same day then you will need to up your caloric intake to over 2k calories. You need to understand that in order to drive yourself to these extremes, you have to fuel your body. If you are banded and are filled then you should be able to feel restriction and will know when to stop eating. However, the purpose of the band is to help remind you when to stop. You should be aware of portion size as well as be aware of how much you are eating on your own. You should pay attention to how much you are eating and stop yourself before the band does. I mean, we all know when enough is enough right? I got here b/c I had a bottomless pit I think, but I ate good foods, I just didn't know when to stop. I kept eating and eating and stopped exercising. So review time: Water - Drink lots of water Food Choices - Eat good, wholesome foods with alot of nutrients and low in fat, low in carbs. Complex carbs are better for you. Complex Carbs - potatoes, pasta, grains, beans, etc. Also may want to invest in some protein shakes. Isopure, Spiru-tein, Myoplex are good protein shakes to check out. Try to replace at least 1 meal a day with a shake. Cardio - Put in 45min - 1 hour of cardio per day for 5 - 6 days per week (if you can). Weight train at will but alternate muscle groups. Never work the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. It will do more harm than help you. (If you lift weights in a muscle group, you will create small tears in your muscles. This helps to build muscles as they heal. However if you go and weight train the same muscle groups the next day you will hurt that muscle and possibly damage it due to too much work and stress on it. Give it a day or so to recooperate). Portion Control - Know when you feel satisfied or pay atten to the band. Do not try to pouch pack. Vitamins - Take a multivitamin. I take GNC's Nature something..I forget it's a women's multivitamin. I also take biotin for hair, skin and nails and my hair is growing back after some recent hair loss. My skin is very clear, even glows and my nails are stronger than ever. I hope this helps a little.

Ditto!! I was also scheduled for the RNY, but cancelled 10 days prior to surgery…..for the same exact reasons. Though I added plication to my band surgery, I still sleep much better knowing that it can all be reversed. Once the other surgeries are done, they're done…..no going back. I know of too many who've had major Iron deficiency issues with the RNY, and the margin for weight gain over time is equal among all surgeries. Given that, I went with the least invasive.

My surgery was March 7th, and I've lost 33 pounds so far (starting weight 193). Lately my weight has been doing a weird thing where I will gain and lose the same half a pound or so for a few days in a row. (I typically weigh the same time every morning) I don't understand how I could gain ANY weight when I'm barely eating anything. Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes year 3 weight gain very common. The sleeve effect wears off somewhere between year 2 and 3. Agree with suggestion to track your intake to see what you are really eating in terms of calories now.

Continue what you're doing and try not to let what the scale is reporting discourage you. Lesson learned here from someone almost 13 months out at goal weight BUT if I was to do it all over again, I would have changed my strategy. I noticed early on post WLS that my weight loss would slow down every time I exercised, so I didn't exercise the majority of the time post surgery. I reached my goal in no time but I was left with a skinny fat body. I am now working out harder than ever and building muscle. This process is actually making me GAIN some weight which is kinda freaking me out, but my muscles are becoming lean ad strong. I'm losing inches despite the slight weight gain as I build muscle. In the long run having that muscle will help us both look better and let's face it, exercise will be vital in maintenance. Keep it up. You are on your way to an awesome, toned, healthy body!

Topomax is used to treat BP its a mood stabalizer and a size effect is weight loss. Altho it comes with about a million other side effects they only last about 2 weeks until you are on the drugs regularly. Paxil Is used to treat the drepression part of BP and can be used with the Topomax if you do well on this antidepressant maybe ask your doc about putting these 2 together. I gained about a billion pounds being on and off the anti-depressant drugs myself and when I went on the BP combos I asked for one specifically designed to make me not gain anymore weight or I wouldnt be taking them lol. I also take Lorazepan but I just started that because I still have panic attacks which I have always had bad. But with increased stress in my life over some work situations and other stuff they are back with avengance and I am not sure if they have any weight gain or loss with those or not I should look that up after i post this actually hehe. Anyway hope that helps. -Gummie

I can relate to your situation First let me say all of my weight gain was from my Paxil I was on for 1.5 yrs and gained 70 lbs. Me too! The anti depressants will slow down your metabolic rate is what I was told by my PCP to almost zero, the meds are used for depression but after time for me I was more depressed from my weight gain then from what I was being treatedfor so I quit. Secondly, my son who is 19 is Bi-Polar he was also on the lithium whicvh made him a zombie, no motivation and all he did was sleep, then he went to depakote and his blood pressurewas so high the doctor was in fear he would have a stroke, so he quit taking that, then the prozac which did not do much so he is now smoking marijuana, he has one of those cards from his doctor where he can gfet it legally, it has been the only thing that has worked for him. No bi-polar episodes but every now and then he has panic attacks so takes an occassional xanax. Every person that I know personally who has taken any kind of anti-depressant has had weight gain, you may find that just getting off of the anti depressante will be enough and wil lstill be able to take your bi-polar meds my son never had weight gain taking his bi-polar meds if anything he lost weight. Have you ever tried lexapro, that is an anti depressant that my husband takes and has had no weight gain it works well for him, my doctor told me it has the least chance of weight gain..but everyone is different.

Lithium is known to cause weight gain but I've never tried it. When I was put on Depakote, I regained over a hundred pounds that I had lost. I switched to Lamictal and found it to be less sedating and was able to actually excercise loose some of the weight. I am not currently taking a mood stabilizer however. Throughout, I have also been on zoloft and at times zoloft and wellbutrin. I do not suspect either of the anitdepressants or the Lamictal of impairing my metabolism/energy like the depakote seemed to. Have you tried Lamictal?

I need to cut back on the sugar.... I havent seen any weight gain from it yet but I find mysekf reaching for it a LOT mor often than I had been.... I never really limited the other carbs as long as I ate Proteins first... I recently had hysterectomy and studies show the aveerage weight gain 1 year out is 20 pounds...THAT CANNOT HAPPEN FOR ME so I need to monitor my habits....

why do we put on weight so easily after the band surgery?? If I eat protiens I am fine...but if I have normal food...uff...i have put on 1 kg in a day...so frustrating... and in India we dont have many options for protiens...we dont get all the non veg varieites that you get in other countries... and one cant go on eating cheese and pulses....I am very much depressed.

First of all your tired from smoking pot. Secondly you can drink if you want but its just empty calories and no you dont get drunk quicker with the band because it goes right through to the bottom part of the stomach. Dont you think that smoking pot is the reason for your weight gain to begin with. If you want to smoke and drink whats the point. In answer to your question yes you can drink and smoke but really whats the point of having surgery.

I was banded in 2008...took my small anti deps no probkems. Take them to hospital with you and they will administer to you as they should be.After years struggling with tge band im having a revision to bypass. If its possible fir you to go with sleeve instead i recommend it. Tge band is hughly fallinle and 80% of bands have to be removed within 10 years due to hiatus hernua, overworked esophagus, and weight gain. Mist banders will tell you it is the biggest medical con of the 20th century. Sorry for tge bad news but Re think if possible. Have a read of the posts under the forum heading "gastric band to bypass". It will give you a pretty realistic picture of the band. Sent from my GT-I9505 using the BariatricPal App