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There are a few things that really made me decide to have WLS. I am getting married in August 2016, and my fiance is British. We've been together for over seven years (I am 30) and lived together in the US for three. I was around 150lbs when we met and started dating. I was diagnosed with bipolar about a year into our relationship and my doctor perscribed a medication called Zyprexa, which is great for someone having a severe bipolar episode...but it is notorious for weight gain. I think I gained 5 pounds by simply filling the perscription! In my year taking it, I gained 100lbs with no change to my diet or exercise. I was very active...I played rugby and soccer, and I ate a low-carb and low-sugar diet. No matter what I did, the weight kept piling on until I visited my psychiatrist and told her I wanted to try something else because I was so incredibly depressed due to my weight gain. She swapped me to a new medication, but a lot of damage had already been done. The Zyprexa combined with some of the other medications I was taking essentially destroyed my metabolism, making it pretty impossible for me to lose weight no matter what diet and exercise plan I went on. Fortunately, I am now on medication that is weight-neutral, so I have not really gained anything more. I could not play rugby or soccer any longer because all my excess weight made running EXTREMELY hard on my joints, and giving that up was incredibly painful for me. I still tried to lose weight on my own over the course of several years, but nothing helped, including physician-supervised metabolic weight loss. I visited my fiance last May-June, and I could barely walk into town. Getting around London was an absolute nightmare. I started looking at WLS options on my own, but was far too afraid to actually go to a seminar or talk to my family about it. This August, I went to the bridal shop to buy my wedding dress. They did carry larger sizes (I am an 18-20 at the moment) so I was able to try on quite a few. I found the PERFECT dress, and while my parents and the bridal consultant said I looked beautiful...all I could see was how overweight I was. I *did* look pretty in the dress, but when I stared at myself in the mirror, I kept thinking how much better I would look and feel if I was able to lose some of the weight. A few days later, I mentioned the idea of WLS to my parents, who were very supportive of my decision. I was still very afraid because it is a pretty major surgery in my book, but a close friend of mine had the VSG a few weeks earlier and told me that it didn't hurt quite as badly as she thought it would, and she was recovering quickly. Not only that, but she was losing weight and feeling much, much better. I decided to look into it more seriously and attended a seminar...and I decided that it was the solution for me. I went into my surgeon's office for a height and weight check, and I qualified for WLS. After speaking to the program coordinator, I decided to go through with the surgery and made my first appointment. I will be seeing Dr. Sebastien this Tuesday, and I am incredibly excited and nervous at the same time. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I will finally be able to lose the weight so that I can get back to doing the things I enjoy as well as look great in my wedding pictures! Sorry for this long winded diatribe...I haven't really shared whis with many people, and once I started writing, it just kind of flowed out. xx, Polara

Hi my name is Mary. I am 53 years old and had Gastric Bypass surgery on Sept. 28th at York Hospital in York, Pa. My surgeon is Dr. Garber. I have been struggling with weight gain over the past 5 years. I have tried numerous diets but would only lose 5 or 10lbs and then it would stop. All my weight is sitting in my stomach. I am 5'2" and weighed 230 prior to surgery. I have struggled with sleep apnea, acid reflux, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. I am married to a wonderful and supportive husband for 7 + years now. I have 2 beautiful daughters from my first marriage. My girls are 18 and 21. I work full time with York County as a Aging Care Manager. I am determined to be healthy and follow through with all the post surgery guidelines and hope to find support in this community. So far, I have been in little pain, except when I go from sitting to standing. I am able to keep the clear liguids down and have a strong support system.

Ooops didn't mean to hit POST yet... School is still going well, I have A's in both classes. The nutrition class is pretty interesting. My teacher knows I've had the bypass surgery and said we talk about that at some point and asked if I'd like to share. I said, sure! She's already called me out a few times in regards to my high Protein diet. In general, the US eats excess protein, which leads to weight gain if people aren't active enough, or don't burn off what they don't need. But obviously my case is different. She always adds, "and you're under a Dr.'s care with your high protein diet, correct?" Yeps!! I think I had mentioned before my knees were giving me issues. I've only been back to my "intense" workout class once since then. I really think I'm not quite ready for that class, unfortunately When I dread going....it can't be a good thing. All I've done is walking lately. Need to get in some weights or something! I might end up going back to my other gym I'd been going to. Frustrating because I really wanted to be able to handle that intense class. Ugh... we're supposed to go tomorrow morning, we'll see what happens. Maybe if I try it once more, I'll make my decision for sure. Okay--so a couple of "skinny person" issues I've come across. It's SO weird to have "skinny person" issues!! (sorry if I've already whined about these, LOL) Shaving my arm pits!? I don't know how to explain it, but there's like a deep concave area that I just can't get the razor into, LOL!!! Bleacher sitting....OMG, that tush padding came in a bit handy evidently!!! My butt bones literally feel bruised the next day after sitting at my son's football games! I am FREEZING all of the time!!!! I am seriously going to die of coldness this winter I think....I think I'll have to move to a warm, beach island, for sure. I was thinking I had another one, but I can't remember right now, LOL. Ok, I'd better go get some work done! I need to figure out how to make a picture thingy that shows a "Before and After" picture all in one?!

I'm still pre op. I don't have my surgery until December. However I quit smoking in June because first I was tired of smoking and two I heard it wasn't good to smoke if I'm gonna have surgery. I have gained ten pounds during my 6 month diet documentation per my insurance. My doctor hadn't said anything and my insurance didn't say I had to lose weight before surgery. But maaaannnn I swear I didn't want to gain during this time.

Just read through this whole post and I am just in the beginning of this journey. So, I haven't had surgery yet. I'm still going through the appointments and consults. However, this story grabbed my attention because this is one of my fears of having this surgery. I don't ever want to go back to old ways. I've already given up a lot of things because of being diabetic. The older I get, the more difficult the diabetes is to control. I take insulin and the insulin causes weight gain. I quit eating carbs and did really well with giving up carbs and sugar stuff. However about almost a year ago my blood sugar numbers started going all kind of whacky. I have not been able to get control back since. I quit smoking over 1-1/2 years ago because of the diabetes as well. I'm so tired of giving things up and nothing changing for the better. This story grabbed me because I don't want to have this dilemma after going through all the appointments, surgery, and the whole liquid to pureed to solid food diet following surgery. I just want to be healthy. I think you are doing wonderful, but my only suggestion would be to quit buying popcorn and chocolate and keeping it available to eat. Keep only the healthy foods and put them in single serve sizes. I try to keep all bad food out of my house. If we host a party or picnic, I will have the foods here for that occasion, but at the end if someone doesn't take the leftovers, they get trashed. I cannot afford to have bad stuff hanging around the house, because if its there, I'll eat it. Hope that helps. Good Luck!

Just got the call this morning that I was approved for surgery!!! My surgery date is set for October 26th! So apparently the weight gain didn't cause issues, my paperwork was resubmitted on Monday so it was a fast response as well.

Thanks for the info, @mayasmomma. I take it for medical necessity, not birth control. I had lost 74 pounds a couple of years ago - and almost as soon as I got the shot - my weight shot right back up and brought friends! I had no idea what was going on or why I was gaining weight until afterwards, and someone told me that Depo was problematic! Ugh. I was so upset! I cannot take traditional birth control pills any longer because I've had pulmonary emboli and DVT, and they've tried me on a range of other pills, none have been successful in controlling my menstrual problems. The Depo shot was like a Godsend. Until I found out about the weight gain, of course! It's a certain type of hormone I have to have in certain doses. I will talk to my gyno about it, however - maybe there's something else I can take! As much as I hate it, I'm terrified to come off of the Depo!

I am 33 years old, live in Washington state with my domestic partner of 12 years. I have struggled with weight and weight loss for as long as I can remember. In 2007 I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease witch came with many years of stariods and a tremendous amounts of weight gain. With the gain came a pill for high blood pressure, gurd, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma. After taking 20 + pills a day for my autoimmune diseases I came to the point where enough was enough. So in January of this year I met with my PCP and got the refural to my syrgon. It's crazy to think I'm 14 days away from the new and healthy me. My only wish if anything is to get off all the precipitation medications. The vanity will come along with it I'm sure, but to be truly healthy is my hope.

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

As far as birth control...I did depo and gained weight. My dr suggested the Nexplanon implant. It goes in your arm, it's like a little plastic stick and it lasts for 3 years. It was a little more painful but but worth it and it doesn't cause weight gain.

Hi all! I'm at 6 months down and I'm discouraged by the sagging tummy. I know, the weight loss is most important, but I do the Vitamins, tea, creams and exercise, it isn't shrinking in like it used to. Before I put on the massive weight gain, I used to have a flat belly at this numbered weight before, now I have a sagging belly What are some things people are doing to maintain a tighter body during weight loss? Everything else is going in perfectly, my neck, arms and legs. Just my stomach and thighs are kinda bumming me out.

I had severe acid reflux (GERD) prior to surgery. That is why I went with RNY. I am 28 months post-op and acid reflux is a distant memory now. Good luck on your surgery. PCOS can cause weight gain and make it difficult to lose weight. Maybe someone on this site can tell you their personal experience with PCOS pre surgery and how surgery affected them.

I have Cigna great west and no one has said anything about weight gain. I've been on and off prednisone and with my meds it's so hard to lose weight (my lupus meds) so I'm praying they don't consider my yo yo weight an issue bc I hopefully file this week. I follow the diet 98% of the time and try to get my steps in and I've quit smoking!

In addition to all of the above comments, which I agree with completely, you want to review your eating plan. Are you eating a low-carb, low-fat diet? Are you eating three discrete meals a day, or are you grazing throughout the day? Grazing is the most common reason for weight gain after surgery. Take a look at the following blog: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ She has some wonderful ideas, including great recipes.

I had to stop my birth control pills a week before and was able to resume a week after surgery. Several years ago, I was on the depo shot. In addition to the actual cost of the drug, you will also need to make a doctor's appointment every three months to have a nurse give you the shot. They won't let you give it to yourself. When you pick up the prescription from the pharmacy, it will just be a vial, no syringe. It also has a known side effect of large weight gain, so be aware of that as well.

I had my rny in 2011 and went from all time high of 412 lbs to 245. I had kept it off until last year, when I started to put it back on. I have gained back about 35lbs. I am having trouble getting back on track and getting my weight off. I gave a few other medical conditions that could be playing a part but honestly, it is mostly me. Can anyone offer some advice to help me get back on track and get some weight off

I'm a 51 year old guy that has spent the better part of three decades letting my weight define me. It was always a convenient excuse for anything that went wrong - health, problems at work (fat haters...), relationship issues. etc. A dozen years ago i married a wonderful woman who opened my eyes to this, but it still took me until this year to finally do something about it. Actually, it took my body saying enough, through ever growing pains, high blood pressure and sleep apnea to leave me no choice (if I wanted to have any semblance of quality of life, that is) So, I bit the bullet and decided in late May to have WL surgery. I opted for a sleeve and had the surgery July 29. I am 5"10" tall and weighed 347.8 lbs when I made the decision, and after the two week liquid diet my surgery weight was 331.8. Two months and lots of effort later, I weighed in this morning at 288.2! The journey has not been easy, but really worth it. Along the way, I have begun to exercise regularly (I bought an old Nordic Track and have been using it religiously every day), have fought my food desires (mostly successfully) and recognized that the surgery was only the first phase. I have tried eating what I should not or in ways I shouldn't (bread, pasta, too much or too fast) and suffered the pain and nausea (who though such a little sleeve could make you feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad). I have also had the joy of watching old clothes disappear almost as quickly as the weight. I have obsessed at the scale and fretted over stalls and, God forbid - weight gain. I have watched my friends and family eat heartily and felt the the pangs of remorse. But the I would get up (without pain or strain) and realize that I had indeed embarked on a new life. As I moved around more freely, the regret would slip away. Sorry for the rambling, but at this point, it's a jumble of feelings that I am trying to organize and understand. So far, the problems, while overwhelming at the moment they occur (especially when I eat what I shouldn't or too fast), rapidly fade in comparison to how good I am feeling and how mobile I have become. I remain committed to this journey. Wish me luck!!!!

You get stretch marks because the skin is stressed out so much from weight gain (or growth spurts) that the elasticity of the skin can't accommodate - they are technically damaged areas of skin that won't ever go away without surgery. All those expensive lotions have in the fine print that they will "reduce the appearance of stretch marks" so don't waste your money. No cream or lotion can remove them, so just use some good moisturizing lotion that isn't too expensive to keep the skin hydrated as they fade out.

I am wondering for those who needed surgery to try to combat PCOS or just trying to get pregnant, which surgery did you decide and why? Are you pregnant? Have you had weight gain that you can't loose after pregnancy? Any struggles?

I am wondering for those who needed surgery to try to combat PCOS or just trying to get pregnant, which surgery did you decide and why? Are you pregnant? Have you had weight gain that you can't loose after pregnancy? Any struggles?

I am wondering for those who needed surgery to try to combat PCOS or just trying to get pregnant, which surgery did you decide and why? Are you pregnant? Have you had weight gain that you can't loose after pregnancy? Any struggles?

I've been suffering from complications with my band for years. I finally got the nerve to go back and see my doc (after long term vomiting, reflux, pain, weight gain), and she and my surgeon suggested a revision to bypass. Has anyone done this? What have your results been like? How does eating differ? Worried that I may fail with bypass the same way as I did with the band. I have so many questions, and while the forums I've seen have been very helpful I'm seeking more specifics! Thank you : )

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 21 and prescribed Spironolactone. I thought it was a miracle pill for a long time because my skin was flawless, with invisible pores, no blemishes, and a lovely glow. I lost weight at first, too. Over time I began to experience detrimental effects from it, with weight gain being a major issue. It's a bit contradictory because it can make you lose weight at first, but over time can actually make you gain weight. I noticed a sharp increase in weight gain when I bumped up to 200mg. At first I thought it was due to age because I was hitting my late 20s, but it was so rapid. I began doing searches of it online and found that many other women had experienced weight gain and other unpleasant effects. I also read some alarming reviews of it (along with many happy ones) on MakeupAlley. If you go the site you can do a search of Spiro reviews with lowest ratings first. There are a few from women who've taken it long-term and have very negative reviews. I'm not advocating against taking it because it definitely helped me out at first with my complexion. I just am writing this as a word of warning and to encourage that anyone taking it be mindful about weight gain.

For all you single ladies out there, or ones in relationships that could be better... And even the married ones. This topic applies to all of us women who may have lost touch or never understood how to value ourselves. I've been doing a lot of thinking about self worth, what to look for in a potential partner, and how to make sure I respect myself and demand respect from others. When is was younger, I settled for men who were not good enough to be with. I did have standards for myself and I knew what I wanted in a man, but I never went for that. After a series of boyfriends who didn't respect me I settled for the first man to get serious about me. And that led to years of an unhappy and abusive relationship. Being overweight young, or simply struggling with insecurity, sets us up for bad relationship choices. As I gained weight my standards for myself and what I would put up with only got worse. There is a fear that one is not worthy of love from a high value person. Only the broken men made me feel comfortable because I was so insecure. I'm setting out to change this. I recently got into a relationship with a person far below my worth and dropped my standards for myself almost immediately for him. After surviving my 8 years of hell with my kids dad and losing all this weight, here I was again in the same situation!! This needs to end. I am creating a list of "standards" for myself based on how I want to be treated, what i will and won't do in a dating situation, the values I must have in another person and the reasons I deserve these things. I'm building a framework for my own worth and self confidence to keep myself reminded that in my search for a partner, there is a destination in mind. After losing so much weight I feel like a different person. I won't repeat the patterns of insecurity that ultimately led to my unhappiness and weight gain. I want to set the bar high and this time, no settling for less than Im worth in love and life. I know it's up to me to set the standards by which I'm treated!

Yeah it was a few lbs higher then before because I hadn't been strict with my eating since I had no idea I had to do another month. Oh good! Thank for the feedback! She said she was resubmitting my paperwork Monday so I'm hoping they come back with a quick response and approbal this time because I want to get my surgery date setup and they only have one more spot for the week of October the 12th. Not that I mind booking into the week of the 19th either but I'd rather do it sooner if possible. My Doctor said he wanted me to do a 2 week diet to shrink my liver and I think they said I might do 2-3 days at the end of liquid not sure yet though. Awesome! Thank you for the info, I can't wait for a response from them as the anticipation is killing me lol but knowing that people are still getting approved even with some weight gain puts my mind at ease quite a bit.