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So, I've been fat for most of my life. I've been fat ever since I was roughly 10 years old, but what I considered fat then is nothing compared to the state I am at now. After I got sex reassignment surgery, my metabolism went straight to hell and my energy levels fell. I didn't make any lifestyle changes afterwards, but the fact that I didn't was a part of the problem that resulted in the state where I am now. And gaining so much weight, I likely contracted sleep apnea due to my weight gain and also contracted plantar fasciitis, which makes it harder to be out and about without my arches screaming at me. I've tried so many diet and exercise programmes, from Bikram Yoga to Weight Watchers, from marathon training to calorie counting, from parkour to South Beach. In fact, I would have continued trying if not for someone in a chat room. They told me that I should get a lap band... to which I said "why? I can exercise, I have the discipline to diet, why the hell would I need a lap band?" We had a long discussion about bariatric surgery and I decided to do my research. I first considered the programme at Denver Health. After all, I didn't know about the programme just north of me in Fort Collins (and to be quite honest, that's kinda okay given the support network I've built up there) and I thought Denver Health was the natural place to go. That and UCHealth has had... issues with serving employees of the State of Colorado. So, I went to their support groups/medical weight loss classes (which were combined), attended sessions with their psychologist and saw their nutritionist only to get rejected because I had clinical depression. I feel the problem was that since the psychologist was not my regular psychologist and did not know me nor my support network well, that made her more skittish than she should have been. I then contacted the programme at Northern Colorado Surgical Associates (which is a part of the Poudre Valley Health System and their combined programme is called the "Bariatric Centre of the Rockies") and started attending their medical weight loss classes, their patient education seminar, got my regular therapist and prescriber to write my letter, and as of Tuesday, had surgery with them. Unfortunately, I don't feel that I can attend their support groups often (as their support groups are in Fort Collins and the transit back down to Longmont after 8pm is dismal at best), but the good news is that I have found other practices in the area which have support groups that I might be able to attend. I have a therapist that I really mesh with and I have a support network from both my church and my political party (Green Party of Colorado, FTW!) And I look forward to the future. I look forward to wearing all those cute goth/steampunk clothes I see in my Facebook news feed, I look forward to finishing up my transition by having facial feminization surgery/breast augmentation (which can only happen once I get to my goal weight, if my concern is having the best results), and most pressing, I look forward to the day I can waltz into the Denver Health support groups, look into the eyes of the nutritionists, psychologists, and that bariatric coordinator and tell them where they can stick it.

Hi all, so I have a question because I'm freaking out a bit. The day off my bypass 13 days ago I went into the hospital weighing 275lbs. After surgery my weight went up 10lbs while still in the hospital which I understand is from the IV fluids and what not. However after coming home, I dropped to 264lbs and in the past three days I have gained 3lbs. I know that's not a drastic gain but I'm still concerned. Has anyone else had weight gain after leaving the hospital during the first couple weeks post op ? Sent from my Pixel using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 16 days post op and haven't lost anything in about 5 days, today I gained about .5 pound. I know this isn't a true stall but I was wondering if anyone has hit this wall so soon. So far I've done awesome and I am happy with it but I feel like I am failing already. I am busting my butt to get fluids and protein in, but find it almost impossible to hit them daily. I am also cleared for food and can eat about an oz at a meal. Most of the time it's a meat or a cheese stick ( for the protein). But I am really focusing on fluids over real food. I've also had a bad allergic reaction to the adhesive they used, so I am not sure if that is playing a role. I plan to keep up with increasing fluids/ protein as well as increase my walking. ( currently a mile 4-5 days a week) Is this normal? Did I hit the dreaded three week stall early? Thanks in advance

That's great you are finally going to a psychiatrist. The know much more about issues like bipolar than your family doc. I take 2 meds for bipolar. One possibly causes weight gain but it didn't for me. I lost steadily on it. I would take the meds prescribed for a couple weeks and see how it goes. If you are doing all the right things and still don't loose than you can decide what to do. For me, I'd rather stall in weight loss for a bit than suffer with deppression/anxiety. Good luck!

My name is Mel, I am 31 years old & I have just finished all my requirements prior to submitting my Prior Authorization request to Insurance. Before I do, I have to tell my patient advocate if I want the Rouxen-Y or the Sleeve. I am a little unsure. I am 270 lbs, 5'3", I am at my highest. I am lucky to have an insurance plan that covers WLS at 90%. I recently entered into a relationship with a great man and her is very supportive of my choice to do this. However, recently the topic of children came up. Now, I had my tubes tied 7 years ago and I have 2 boys ages 7 & 11. He, however, does not have any children. And he wants to have 1, just 1. Now I have read online how you should wait between 12-18 months post surgery before you try to have a baby. And I am currently researching TR & IVF options. I am doing all the research now so I know what I am getting into. I am wondering, has anyone else ever gone through this situation? If so, I am wondering, if I am planning to have a baby later is it best for me to.... 1. Rouxen-Y or the Sleeve? 2. Whats the weight gain like? will I regret it? 3. Will I be able to nourish an unborn baby adequately? 4. Will getting pregnant cause damage to my existing WLS? 5.... is there anything else I should consider? Any feed back is greatly appreciated. I really want to be able to make a good choice before I decide which surgery to go with.

This happened to me, don't worry! I didn't get my first fill for about 6 weeks post-op. I lost about 5lbs post surgery from the restricted diet but as soon as I got on solids I gained weight. When I went in for my first fill I was devastated to find I had gained weight. My nurse told me it was VERY typical and I shouldn't worry. Actually I had gained muscle from the working out and walks, and that added to the weight gain as well. As soon as I had my first fill it melted off. About 4-5 weeks later the weight loss tapered off. It was time for another fill, then it started melting off again. Just eat till you're full, but make smart choices. Of course with the holidays just passing it can be hard, but don't give up hope. I gained a few lbs from the holidays from eating junk, but as soon as I got back on track it came off. Are you exercising? Make sure you're at least walking. :confused:

I think with any surgery you can gain wait back. The only thing with the best numbers in regards to weight gain is the DS. I haven't heard anyone gaining all their weight back, but I mean if you stretch out your sleeve or your pouch, and you eat crap it will happen. If a person hasn't learned to eat right within the eighteen to twenty four months, then it can start to come back on. My friend gained about forty pounds back, and she had the RNY. Thing is she gained that back after about nine years of her surgery, still gaining alot at any date post op sucks. Thing is she doesn't eat that great all the time.

My stall came with a weight gain, too. It was close to 3 pounds, I think? Since then I've had mostly loss, but occasionally I'll have a couple days where I don't lose, or a day where I put on a pound and take it right back off the next day. Bodies are strange >.>

my insurance took the weight gain as a sign that i wasn't able to do a regular diet. so they approved me.

Congratulations for making your decision on changing you life in a healthy manner. I'm also sorry you have those who are not supportive of your decision. I read it and hear it alot from those on this website and people I personally know who have had the lapband. All I can say is chalk it up to ignorance, jealousy, fear & care for us, and who knows what else. Hopefully you've researched your surgeon and staff and have found the right mix for you. You will also learn so much here on LBT. I'm sorry I found this after my surgery but better late then never. I'm still learning from everyone on here on a daily basis. My husband & I had the surgery earlier this year and we've had nothing but support from loved ones, co-workers, clients, etc. And if someone thinks differently about our choice of "taking the easy way out", that's their opinion as they're entitled to it. I'm 57 and at the stage of my life that I can't worry what people think about me. I still have a good 25 lbs to lose and feel so much energy and confidence then I have in the past years of putting on a good 60+ lbs and not being able to walk up or down the stairs without holding on to the railing, enjoying gardening, and just getting out of my car to food shop was a problem with my knees and back. At this point I can do it all and then some! Have there been compromises along the way, absolutely. Like any other addiction, I'm learning to change people {moi} places and things that caused my weight gain. In the beginning it was an everyday challenge and right up there in my conscious mind, As time goes on, with the help of the lapband being a tool, it's helped us to be just a part of our everyday life and reminding us to make better choices. So far so good. I wish you the best on your journey. Hopefully, as time goes on, your loved ones will see you made the right choice and change their minds. If you need support, we're all here for you on LBT 24-7.

I have had weight gain for a few days then it suddenly drops

I am 5 weeks post op and I understand there are stalls in losing weight but is it normal to gain? I was down 40 pounds 2 weeks ago and I have slowly gained back 5 pounds, I am trying not to panic but when I see the scale moving up instead of down it's kind of scary. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thanks, I do understand re alcohol but I had this app for a couple of months pre op and I do know that stuff like alcohol & carbonated drinks are way off limit. Not sure if the op is slightly different here but nothing is off limits to us. In fact the bariatric nurse told me to have a glad of wine 1 week post op as I was convinced my op hadn't worked!! Lol that does not however deter from the fact that alcohol contain cals and I agree this is not something I do even weekly however my 2lb weight gain began a week prior to my having the alcohol so that has mystified (and panicked me) a bit. I have been so intrigued by the small differences is diet advice from both countries post op. it is rare for anyone here (I believe to suffer any gas pain!!) not sure why that is, however I was so grateful I didn't as it sounded painful. Anyhow I'll stay off the alcohol and continue with my 20 lengths swimming 3 times weekly and hopefully I'll move from my current hurdle to a more positive one soon. Thanks for your messages x

. I can always lose more weight but at 35 my chances of getting pregnant again go down. Dont worry about weight gain, its part of growing a human being!!

You have not really started using the Lap Band for weight loss yet. The first few weeks have not been for weight loss but for healing...weight loss has just been a fortunate side effect of liquid/mushy diet. The meaning of Bandster Hell is the period between when you go on solids to when you start getting fills and really using your band. Weight loss often stalls and weight gain is even common but that is alright and perfectly normal, we've all been through it. You have done some drastic switches to your metabolism in the past 4-6 weeks and now it is a little out of whack but it will normalize. Just be patient and try to stay calm. This was a stressful time for me too, there is a lot of worry and concern over whether we are doing things right and whether this will work for us. But if you just do what your doctor says everything will be just fine.

I had this issue when I'deat things I wasn't supposed to eat and with a 40 pound weight gain that's probably your issue as well. The best solution is to change your eating habits back to day 1 if you can and go from there. If you never got in to exercise or physically unable tt hat would also help. Good luck.

I seen a lot of people on this forum not receiving family Support and getting called weak well i have a confession to make i didnt get any support i was laughed at and made fun of called weak called will less was told its all in my mind and was told several time I will fail most of the people were so called friends and family who themselves are not in perfect shape but have a lot to say . I feel it is your strength that you are taking this step also all you are getting is a tool to help you win this battle. I went to hospital with one of of my friends cause family wouldn't support me and thought i am wasting time.Guess what Surgery weight height 6 ft wt 287.5 in 5 days ( my surgery was on 8th of this month) today weight 264.... With ought this tool it's a very hard battle something I read at New York Times..... Shows Why It’s Hard to Keep Weight Off For years, studies of obesity have found that soon after fat people lost weight, their metabolism slowed and they experienced hormonal changes that increased their appetites. Scientists hypothesized that these biological changes could explain why most obese dieters quickly gained back much of what they had so painfully lost. GETTY IMAGES But now a group of Australian researchers have taken those investigations a step further to see if the changes persist over a longer time frame. They recruited healthy people who were either overweight or obese and put them on a highly restricted diet that led them to lose at least 10 percent of their body weight. They then kept them on a diet to maintain that weight loss. A year later, the researchers found that the participants’ metabolism and hormone levels had not returned to the levels before the study started. The study, being published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, is small and far from perfect, but confirms their convictions about why it is so hard to lose weight and keep it off, say obesity researchers who were not involved the study. They cautioned that the study had only 50 subjects, and 16 of them quit or did not lose the required 10 percent of body weight. And while the hormones studied have a logical connection with weight gain, the researchers did not show that the hormones were causing the subjects to gain back their weight. Nonetheless, said Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia, while it is no surprise that hormone levels changed shortly after the participants lost weight, “what is impressive is that these changes don’t go away.” Dr. Stephen Bloom, an obesity researcher at Hammersmith Hospital in London, said the study needed to be repeated under more rigorous conditions, but added, “It is showing something I believe in deeply — it is very hard to lose weight.” And the reason, he said, is that “your hormones work against you.” In the study, Joseph Proietto and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne recruited people who weighed an average of 209 pounds. At the start of the study, his team measured the participants’ hormone levels and assessed their hunger and appetites after they ate a boiled egg, toast, margarine, orange juice and crackers for Breakfast. The dieters then spent 10 weeks on a very low calorie regimen of 500 to 550 calories a day intended to makes them lose 10 percent of their body weight. In fact, their weight loss averaged 14 percent, or 29 pounds. As expected, their hormone levels changed in a way that increased their appetites, and indeed they were hungrier than when they started the study. They were then given diets intended to maintain their weight loss. A year after the subjects had lost the weight, the researchers repeated their measurements. The subjects were gaining the weight back despite the maintenance diet — on average, gaining back half of what they had lost — and the hormone levels offered a possible explanation. One hormone, leptin, which tells the brain how much body fat is present, fell by two-thirds immediately after the subjects lost weight. When leptin falls, appetite increases and metabolism slows. A year after the weight loss diet, leptin levels were still one-third lower than they were at the start of the study, and leptin levels increased as subjects regained their weight. Other hormones that stimulate hunger, in particular ghrelin, whose levels increased, and peptide YY, whose levels decreased, were also changed a year later in a way that made the subjects’ appetites stronger than at the start of the study. The results show, once again, Dr. Leibel said, that losing weight “is not a neutral event,” and that it is no accident that more than 90 percent of people who lose a lot of weight gain it back. “You are putting your body into a circumstance it will resist,” he said. “You are, in a sense, more metabolically normal when you are at a higher body weight.” A solution might be to restore hormones to normal levels by giving drugs after dieters lose weight. But it is also possible, said Dr. Jules Hirsch of Rockefeller University, that researchers just do not know enough about obesity to prescribe solutions. One thing is clear, he said: “A vast effort to persuade the public to change its habits just hasn’t prevented or cured obesity.” “We need more knowledge,” Dr. Hirsch said. “Condemning the public for their uncontrollable hedonism and the food industry for its inequities just doesn’t seem to be turning the tide.”

Are we talking insure off the shelf in walmart? Ignore this if it does not apply to topic Have you seen the macro nutrients? Lots of sugar and carbs. They are used for weight gain for senior citizens. Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App

Hello, Quick question. Did they require that you lose the weight you gained during the preop diet? I was recently denied due to my weight gain. No I didn't have to lose the weight for the appeal process... Mine went all the way to the external appeal they don't even look at if you gained weight

Well there isn’t an average, everyone is different. Generally the heavier you are to start the more you lose. But then some people struggle to lose the water weight gained during surgery etc.

Hi, I will be seeing a bariatric surgeon this week. I've always been at least 10 or 15 pounds overweight. But I am now at least 70 pounds over ideal weight. I thought it was only going through treatment for colon cancer, that caused me excessive weight gain. The surgery and the chemo wore me out, the steroids I had to use to treat the chemo side effects also affected my weight and I was not making good food choices. My oncologist raised bariatric surgery as a possible treatment for the obesity. My primary care doctor is ok with the idea, she just wanted to make sure that I was mentally and physically prepared for another surgery. My BMI is about 36. That BMI level, plus having at least two competitors, high blood pressure and sleep apnea, will qualify me for insurance coverage. I've found some studies that suggest excess weight increases the risk of developing certain forms of cancer. But I've also seen a study that suggests that those who have had bariatric surgery have a greater likelihood of colon cancer after the surgery. Ann Surg. 2013 Dec;258(6):983-8, Increased risk of colorectal cancer after obesity surgery. I have records of my weight and I see that as far back as 2012 I was at least 60 pounds overweight. So this weight problem has been with me for awhile, both before and after cancer treatment. I've tried calorie restriction and exercise in the last few years but it hasn't helped. In the past I've used slimfast, Atkins, weight watchers, etc. They all worked, but I gained the weight back. I am an emotional eater. What will happen if I continue to eat based on emotions after I have bariatric surgery? I recognize that surgery will not cure the emotion based eating. I am considering either lap band or gastric sleeve. I would like to know anyone's experience with these surgeries. Were the side effects really difficult to deal with? How did you decide which surgery was better for you? Do you think that the reduction of the likelihood some cancers outweighs the potential increase in colon cancer likelihood? Finally, I am aware that bariatric surgery is not a quick fix or a cure all.

You should be proud of your success, and they, as health care professionals, should be proud of you too and want to encourage you! I really think weight loss causes most people to be jealous. Especially if they see you doing well. Most people want to see others fail at trying to lose weight. The dietician at my surgeons office told me that only a small percentage of people in their practice have gained 'some' weight back. And have an on-going study over the past few years to deterimine why that small group gains some weight back. They don't have all the results yet, but it boils down to them eating all the 'wrong' foods (high fat/calories) and enough of that, even in small quantities, will cause weight gain.

I haven't had surgery, but my understanding is that it's normal for the weight gain. I'm sure you'll see weight loss soon. Good luck!

Hi, my name is Chris - I was just banded on Wed 1/23 by Dr. James Davidson in Dallas. I'm 44 and have been fighting my weight since college. it has been a slow upward spiral with lots of weight loss followed by even more weight gain. I finally decided to do something about it as I hit an all time high of 304 and a BMI of 40+. My insurance excludes bariatric surgery so I had to go the self-pay route, fortunately Dr. Davidson was running a $9500 special and I decided to go for it. I lost 18 pounds on the pre-op diet (but have my expectations set a lot lower for the next few weeks based on all the posts about stagnant weight during the post-surgery period). anyway, just wanted to say hello to everyone. I'm looking forward to the journey! Chris

Yeah, I'd definitely get in touch with the doctor to see what's going on. You shouldn't be consuming enough to result in weight gain in such a short period, though the body does do strange things (you'll find THAT out post-sleeve when you gain weight on 600 calories XD) when it comes to weight loss.