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Has anyone experienced weight gain before being banded? I was such a nervous wreck before I got the approval from insurance that I feel like I gained some weight. I'm afraid to step on the scale...as usual!!! My doc does not require a pre-op diet, but I think that I will try some protein shakes for a few days before surgery.

I agree, do not skip meals. You increase your metabolism every time you eat. I eat 4 or 5 times a day- 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks. I also agree your weight gain is not actual fat, but water. Personally, I only weigh myself once a week. The flucuations drive me crazy! I wonder is going on a liquid diet for 2 or 3 days would help get you on the right track. I like Myoplex Lite. You can get it at Walmart. 170 cals. and 20 grams protien. As far as excersise that is wonderful you joined a gym. Now the next step is to go regularly. If you could only do 10 min. for now that's fine. Do that 4-5 times a week and then slowly increase your time. Lastly, please don't beat yourself up. It is not productive. Each day is a chance for you to change your habits. Keep us posted! Best wishes!

Hi, I have bipolar and severe anxiety. Like you, I have worked really hard on my mental health over the last couple of years to get into a good head space. My mental health is now pretty stable and I'm working and have good relationships with my family and generally happy and stable for the most part. A lot of the psych med's I've been on for the last 20 odd years cause weight gain, which is part of the reason that I was over weight. Four months ago I had the VSG, I maintained a close relationship with my psychiatrist up to the surgery and post op. The sleeve has had zero impact on my mental health, my medication hasn't changed at all, although in saying that it is pretty standard if you have bipolar that you will be on medication for life. I'm sorry I can't tell you that it has improved, but I'm glad that it has had zero impact, I did have some concerns my mental health could get worse due to the stress of surgery. Good luck with your surgery and mental health.

I have given this thread a lot of thought. I have to say I now understand the "my body, my choice" argument a lot better than I did before. My option is to remain private. I've very grateful I made that choice. I am losing very slowly. I lost as much in the 6 months before my surgery dieting as I have after being sleeved so no one has noticed anything remarkable. I've also lost large quantities of weight before to where this isn't any different to them. I do not want to be responsbile for anyone else's decision. A friend came to me about 8 years ago and tried to talk me into gastric bypass. She'd had it 3 years earlier and lost 150 pounds.She may not have meant it that way, but I felt pressured. Remember what it's like being fat and having someone come and try to fix you? That choice didn't seem right to me and I didn't appreciate her "come to Jesus" moment of sharing with me. Now, I'm sleeved and she's easily gained 1/2 of what she lost back. She no longer offers solutions to people. And I know there's at least a possibiliy that in 5 years I'll be dealing with rebound weight gain. I see it every month in my support group. Everyone should have a responsbile primary care doctor who should be talking to them about surgical options. If they are not, they need a new primary care. And if you are thinking about going into major surgery like this without having been medically cleared, that's also a bad decision. Everyone I know, and I'm not exaggerating this, has access to the internet and there are multiple WLS seminars advertised and offered in our area by 4 different medical facilities each month. I just don't think I need to be putting myself into anyone else's life as an advocate for gastric sleeve. I don't want that responsibiliy and I don't think it's my job. As this thread starts out by saying, this is just my opinion.

The extra air thing I don't think is true if your conscious about HOW you drink. The air would only be excess at the bottom of the cup slurping the last of the drink. As far as carbonation, it won't stretch the stomach but it is very much a concern of becoming addiction. Soda isn't good out of moderation and most people form an "addiction" and drink too much soda not enough water. This will cause dehydration and can cause weight gain. This is where the main concern is.

Regarding neuron growth and Ghrelin: Here is what I see in this primary article. (I found a few others that mirror the same results I just figured I would include the one). Ghrelin does seem to positively correlate with the growth of some neurons. However, these neurons control appetite and hunger along with other dietary regulatory functions. So, by this research, yes wikipedia is right in saying that Ghrelin seems to support neuron growth. Although, based on the other studies I have looked at, there are other places in your body that contain Gherlin. Removal of the stomach does not remove Gherlin from your body. If it is true that Ghrelin stimulates neuron growth in the areas of the brain that dictate appetite, then the neurons do not stop growing, they just slow down. The body has many specialized neurons that only respond to certain chemical ques. Not all neurons are related to memory function. There are not enough studies done on this to predict other roles that Gherlin might play. In this, we are all a bunch of lab rats. It is very clear the detrimental effects of chronic obesity. I will continue researching this and let you guys know if I find anything new. Does anyone read this differently? I am a biologist, not a neurologist or biochemist so I could be missing something. Thank you for the original posting. I really needed to look more into the biochemical function of this hormone anyway Memory loss can be attributed to so many things in the case of a surgery like the sleeve. As was mentioned above, we also have to look at the chance that it could be post-op healing, dehydration, change in metabolism, lack of nutrition, psychological and physical stress etc. http://journal.9med.net/qikan/article.php?id=196709 1. Hypothalamic appetite regulation Feeding is a basic behavior that is necessary for life. Long-term lack of food results in death. It is well accepted that appetite is controlled by the brain and that feeding behavior is regulated by complex mechanisms in the central nervous system, in particular the hypothalamus (70, 207, 256). Removal of the lateral hypothalamus causes hypophagia (decreased feeding), leading to death due to severe weight loss. On the other hand, removal of the ventromedial hypothalamus causes hyperphagia (increased feeding); treated animals increase both feeding amount and frequency, leading to weight gain and severe obesity. Thus feeding is regulated by a balance of stimulating and inhibiting forces in the hypothalamus. Recent identification of appetite-regulating humoral factors reveals regulatory mechanisms not only in the central nervous system, but also mediated by factors secreted from peripheral tissues (174, 216, 250, 267). Leptin, produced in adipose tissues, is an appetite-suppressing factor that transmits satiety signals to the brain (79). Hunger signals from peripheral tissues, however, had remained unidentified until the recent discovery of ghrelin. 2. Ghrelin neurons in the hypothalamic appetite regulatory region Immunohistochemical analyses indicate that ghrelin-containing neurons are found in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, a region involved in appetite regulation (133, 148). This localization suggests a role of ghrelin in controlling food intake. Moreover, a recent report has indicated that ghrelin is also expressed in previously uncharacterized hypothalamic neurons that are adjacent to the third ventricle between the dorsal, ventral, paraventricular (PVN), and arcuate (ARC) hypothalamic nuclei (48). In the ARC, these ghrelin-containing neurons send efferent fibers onto NPY- and AgRP-expressing neurons to stimulate the release of these orexigenic peptides and onto POMC neurons to suppress the release of this anorexigenic peptide (Fig. 10). Neural network of ghrelin in the PVN is more complex. In the PVN, ghrelin neurons also send efferent fibers onto NPY neurons, which in turn suppress GABA release, resulting in the stimulation of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH)-expressing neurons, leading to ACTH and cortisol release (Fig. 10). 3. Ghrelin is a potent appetite stimulant When ghrelin is injected into the cerebral ventricles of rats, their food intake is potently stimulated (122, 173, 211, 246, 266). Among all discovered orexigenic peptide, ghrelin has been found to be the most powerful. Chronic intracerebroventricular injection of ghrelin increases cumulative food intake and decreases energy expenditure, resulting in body weight gain. Ghrelin-treated mice also increase their fat mass, both absolutely and as a percentage of total body weight. Not only intracerebroventricular injection, but also intravenous and subcutaneous injection of ghrelin have been shown to increase food intake (173, 246, 265). Ghrelin is produced primarily in gastrointestinal organs in response to hunger and starvation, and circulates in the blood, serving as a peripheral signal telling the central nervous system to stimulate feeding. 4. Mechanism of appetite stimulation by ghrelin The hypothalamic ARC is the main site of ghrelin's activity in the central nervous system. The ARC is also a target of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone produced in adipose tissues, and NPY and AgRP, which are both appetite-stimulating peptides (76, 163). NPY and AgRP are produced in the same population of neurons in the ARC, and their appetite-stimulating effects are inhibited directly by leptin. At least part of the orexigenic effect of ghrelin is mediated by upregulating the genes encoding these potent appetite stimulants (Fig. 10). As suggested by the distribution of ghrelin-containing neurons in the hypothalamus (Fig. 10), intracerebroventricular injection of ghrelin induces Fos expression in NPY-expressing neurons and increases the amount of NPY mRNA in the ARC (122, 173, 211). Moreover, intracerebroventricular ghrelin injection increases the AgRP mRNA level in the hypothalamus. The appetite-stimulating effects of ghrelin are blocked by an antagonist of NPY receptor 1. Intracerebroventricular injection of an AgRP inhibitor, anti-NPY IgG, or anti-AgRP IgG inhibits the appetite-stimulating effects of ghrelin. Intravenous injection of ghrelin also stimulates NPY/AgRP neurons in the hypothalamus. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that ghrelin neuron fibers directly contact NPY/AgRP neurons (48). These results indicate that ghrelin exerts its feeding activity by stimulating NPY/AgRP

Was sleeved in 2016, weight before pre-op diet was 453 pounds. Surgery weight was 429. Lowest weight was 330. My current weight is 399 pounds. Not gonna blame it on stress or anything. Was just very undisciplined. Is there any advice anyone can give me me or is there anyone on here whos been through this or is currently going through this?? Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry to the original poster I'm off topic. Fluff , You know I love you. your edit sounds less aggressive😉 The last thing the OP was asking for or needs is judgment. They already know their reasons for the weight gain. No need for anyone to restate what they should have been doing, where they went wrong and beat them down further. The depression, shame and guilt from a gain is enough. I agree, Therapy and talking with their surgeon about options including revision is a great place to start. Lifelong change means they can get the help and move forward. In a perfect world all of us would stay on track. We will continue to see people with weight gain. I want them to feel supported and see them take this on and get the help they need.

Hey everyone! I'll be banded in April and have just loved reading the posts; Great information and motivation to start off my new life right. I've read a lot of success stories, but I read a handful of bandsters that have NOT lost any weight, gained, or lost about 18 lbs with a years time. That was very frustrating to read and I can imagine how it feels to them. My questions is: Is it often that people NOT lose weight or lose a small amount when banded? Thanks, Shelly

It has been going on three years since my sleeve was done. I was doing great for little over two years. Then I started putting weight back on I went from. 210 to now weighing 285. I am so depressed over this weight gain. My doctors office said it happens, but I have to jump back to losing again. I excerize. Go for walks. Watch what I eat. Try to keep my protein up. Anyone have any ideas what i else I can try.

Hi Lyndsey, I can relate to how you feel, I felt the same when was due to fly to Brno in the Czech Republic for my sleeve. All worked out really well and I am sure they will look after you like a queen at Southampton hospital. It's not so far from home and getting this done will enable you to retake control of your life. I firmly believe that us fatties have a wrong setting that makes us perfect for stone age hand to mouth existance but prone to weight gain in the 21st century. As we are unlikely to experience stone age conditions (hopefully) getting the offending part of the stomach snipped off seems logical to me. I have been amazed at how much this operation changed my food mindset, I don't like sweet things any more and I am pretty indifferent to most food except when I feel real hunger. Like a normal person eh? No wonder they can stay slim, it's completely easy when you don't want to eat, no great moral high ground really. So bottom line stop feeling down about yourself, we are all on your side here. And let us know how you get on. And post if you need to chat or PM me. Jane x

So im almost 3 months post op i follow the diet and take my required Vitamins and i work out 4-5 days a week at the gym but last week i weighed about 2lbs less then i do this week what couls have happened and has this happened to anyone else? Sur date 6/13 sw 227 cw 182 Sent from my SM-G935T using the BariatricPal App

G'Day Stacy I gained back due to meds and also a very bad hiatus hernia which had the better part of my stomach and band above the diaprham ? and putting stress on all my organs due to the stomach being where it shouldn't be my band had also slipped slightly due to this. And as I had no insurance at the time and no way to have it repaired I just lived with it, Last year I had 7 operations which also stressed out me and my body more so weight gain was also caused from the stress.

Anyone gain weight? I'm a little more then 3 weeks out. Off purée food and eating soft foods for a few days now.. I just weighed myself and I gained a little more then 2 lbs. shouldn't I be losing? Sent from my iPhone SD - 1/28/13

After 31 lbs of weight gain over the last year of being off the wagon the alarm bells finally started ringing in my head. I had grown complacent with the slow gain. I had plateaued at 211 and fell back into eating the wrong stuff, not exercising. The sleeve part held good, I still can't eat like I used to before the sleeve but I began grazing junk food. I had fallen back into the trap of rewarding, comforting & punishing myself with food. I had recently made some break throughs in some old childhood abuse issues and that has helped me get a hold of the out of control drive cycle to eat myself to death & some other poor coping skills that beset in my mind early on. Yesterday I just had a glass of Unjury Chocolate for breakfast & lunch, no grazing, a healthy dinner & an hour long fast walk and I'm down 2lbs this morning, that's good motivation for someone like me. I just ordered more Unjury to make sure that I have it on hand for no excuses...

I got stretchmarks when I was a teenager (just from growing), and I know lots of people who did, too. It's not just a weight gain or pregnancy thing.

"Fluid taken out of my band so I could train. During that time I was hungry all the time and ate pretty much whatever I wanted." I don't want to sound mean spirited but it sounds to me like you shut off your tool (took the saline out), and ate what ever you wanted. The question is was what you wanted unhealthy fattening foods/ and how much of it? I am a big proponent of the 90/10 theory of eating. Eat what you know is the the right way and good for you food 90% of the time and treats (not always dessert) 10%. When I was preband I was going to meet friends at Chili's for lunch. I normally ordered the bite size burgers with fries. Turns out that meal has 1,000 cal and 100 g of fat! What! No wonder even though I was doing more than 7 hours of cardio a week I was a slow looser. I have a friend who lost over 50 on WW and who bikes like a fiend. They were noticing some weight gain because they had reintroduced dessert. Guess what they had to cut back on. Again, I don't want to sound harsh because we all have our food issues. I don't keep carbs like bread, Cereal, crackers in my house because I don't have good control. I wonder if you journaled your food and if necessary went back to weighing all your food you would notice counter productive behavior.

That's good you are aware of the weight gain and want to do something about it. Sounds like you need to go back to basics when it comes to food choices. What did you eat before when you where loosing? I would go back to those foods. Of course, keep up the cycling! You can correct this minor bump in the road.

A question for any of you who have done the 5 day pouch test. My husband has been out of town and I have had a nasty cold and not really hungry nor can I taste much...so I figured what a perfect time to do the pouch test! I had been stuck/plateaued for a while. During liquids I lost weight FAST! Like 6lbs fast...now that I am finally incorporating some food back in (and good food too) I have noticed that I gained almost 4 of it back :smile:. Have any of you experiened this??

This is where you're absolutely, positively wrong. In the short-term, gastric bypass patients do lose weight, pretty much no matter what they do. But after the honeymoon period, this can--and often does--reverse. The body gets VERY efficient, with its new machinery, and if not fed appropriately, weight gain is not only possible, but more common than not. Look, whatever surgery you have, you're going to have to change your lifestyle dramatically or you WILL have difficulty reaching and/or maintaining goal. If you want a magic bullet, you're not going to find it. Anywhere.

After RNY gastric bypass surgery, generally one loses weight quickly then after time, weight loss slows and then you bottom out and enter the "maintenance" phase. The goal in the "Maintenance" phase is to maintain the weight loss that you achieved thus far. A weight gain of 7 pounds in one week seems too drastic. During the weight loss phase it is important to consume an adequate amount of Protein. The daily protein requirement is a combination of the amount of protein obtained from supplements (Protein shakes, protein bars) combined with the amount of protein from meals. In the beginning of the process, one lives off of protein shakes to meet this requirement because the meal volume is extremely low. But as time goes on, one can begin to transition off from these protein supplements if one concentrates on high protein meals. These protein supplements contain calories. So when you say that you are increasing your calories to 800 per day are you counting the calories in the protein supplements that you are taking? So one strategy to continue weight loss is add up your daily intake of protein; concentrate on consuming high protein meals; reduce your protein supplements (and the calories they contain). That approach may help you kick-start your continued weight loss. I put together a short article on my experience in the "Maintenance" phase that you may find to be useful. It is available at this link: http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Worries about money, the economy, income levels, and finances are behind many women’s stress eating and overeating these days. In a recent group coaching call, every participant’s dominant concern boiled down to money worries of one form or another. Even if your own financial situation is secure, the worries, stress, and difficulties of others surround us in a big way. Feeling out of control, anxious, worried, or unhappy are all triggers for emotional eating, Here are some tips to keep stress about the economy from affecting your actual bottom line. Emotional Eating Tip 1: Acknowledge the Stress and Your Feelings As tempting as it is to avoid reality, it’s important to acknowledge the stress and the way you are feeling. That doesn’t mean that you are going to dwell on it or feel that way forever, but if you don’t let yourself deal with your feelings directly, you won’t be very effective at responding to them. One of my clients had been avoiding getting clear on how her financial situation has been impacted by the stock market. She was worried and fearful and was trying to cope by “not thinking about it.” Instead of feeling better, she found herself facing mounting dread and guilt for not doing what she knew she needed to do to clarify her situation. She also found herself snacking more–especially in the evening–and putting on weight. As this happened, she began to feel more out of control. Luckily, she saw herself entering a vicious cycle. Trying to avoid her feelings led to emotional eating, guilt, and weight gain (and didn’t help with the worry and stress anyway–in fact it added to it). It wasn’t until she acknowledged how stressed, worried, and fearful she was that she could start to develop a plan to take care of herself. A coaching client was noticing that economic changes were leading to changes in her clients’ buying habits. She panicked when a popular program wasn’t so popular anymore. Instead of spiraling into fear (and stress eating), acknowledging how she was feeling allowed her move into effective problem solving. Tip: If you have money worries or fears or stress, give yourself some time to let yourself really think about and address your feelings. This is not the same as “fixing” the situation. Give yourself time to journal, talk with a supportive friend, or think about how you feel. Emotional Eating Tip 2: Take Comfort If the economy is causing you stress, you could definitely benefit from comfort. Comfort eating reaches an all-time high when we are stressed and aren’t feeling entirely sure of (or in control of) the solution to our problems. In order to take control of comfort eating, it’s important to have comfort strategies you can use instead of turning to overeating. How are you compassionate to yourself during stressful or uncertain times? How can you take good care of yourself? Start making a list of things that feel good that you can turn to when you don’t. Emotional Eating Tip Three: Control What You Can Lots of people are feeling a loss of control these days and that’s leading to more emotional eating and overeating. The economy impacts all of us. If you are feeling less in control, it is important to identify what you can do to begin to feel more in control–because that’s where you want to be. As you begin to think about this, don’t only think about the big issues and worries. When life starts to feel out of control, one of the most powerful things we can do is to take charge of the things (big and small) that we can control. Ironically, when life feels out of control, it’s sometimes tempting to throw up our hands and quit entirely. Don’t. What can you control? What can you take pride in today? Pack a healthy lunch. Walk for twenty minutes after work. Do something kind for yourself this evening. If you are looking for order or predictability, clean out a drawer or your closet. Clear off your desk. Take one proactive action. It will help. ## Dr. Melissa McCreery is a Psychologist, Coach, and Emotional Eating and Overwhelm Eliminator for smart busy women and the creator of the Emotional Eating Toolbox™ Bonus Series for Women After Weight Loss Surgery. Are you struggling with emotional eating, overeating, and balancing work and life? Claim your easy-to-use audio series: "Five Simple Steps to Move Beyond Overwhelm with food and Life" at http://TooMuchOnHerPlate.com.

Hello extended family, I want to know is it okay to feel the way I'm feeling? Lately, I've been stressed out with school because I'm in finals week. I'm also extremely stress out at work because I'm expecting state audit soon at my facility. ( I'm a nurse manager working at a nursing home) To top it off, I'm moving at the end of this month, which is conflicting with my study time. What I'm trying to get at is that I'm under a lot of stress and I'm a big emotional eater. The other problem is that I have no restriction in my band (2.5cc). I could eat anything and large portions of it. Before finals week I felt no restriction but I was really trying not to gain any weight. I was fluctuating between at 2 to 3 lbs. I stop weighing myself because it was driving me nuts. So now that I'm not weighing myself, I have no restriction, and I'm under a lot of stress. I feel like maybe I'm giving off a "I DON'T CARE" attitude. I'm really afaid of gaining the weight I loss already. Call me crazy, but I think I could even notice some weight gain in my face. I'm feeling really depressed about it. I paid a lot of money out of my own pocket with no one's help to have this surgery. I want to prove to myself that I could do this. Anyway, I just wanted to vent my issue. Thanks Family. :eek:

First off, congratulations on your weight loss. I think it is common for some individuals who undergo weight loss surgery to gain some of the weight back. And normally when a woman has a child, it is common to have a little weight gain. So a weight gain of 10 pounds does not seem excessive. To maintain your weight loss, it is back to basics of Protein intake, food volume, Vitamins and exercise. I have also heard that the stomach heals after about 1 1/2 years and begins to absorb 100% of the calories from food instead of 70%. I do not know this for a fact. I am 1 1/2 years from RNY surgery, so I should see this effect around now. If this is true, then it will mean that I may have to cut my caloric intake.

Currently I am taking meds for all three. I have taken some meds that did cause a huge amount of weight gain, but I stopped them as soon as I realized that. So far, I have stayed at my weight for the past few months, if I have gained it's because of eating bad stuff. I don't want to stop taking any of my meds because I have been stable and out of the hospital for more than two years. I have had a few bouts with depression, mostly due to stress. My self esteem is shot because of my weight, I hardly leave the house because of it. But other wise I am ok. Thanks for responding. susi