Search the Community

So I am doing my 6 month supervised diet. I went on vacation and gained some weight. I think I am still going to be up by a couple pounds by the time my next weigh in is. Is this going to be detrimental to me? I have lost like 3-4 pounds every month so far (this will be my 4th weigh in).

Has anyone heard of gaining weight when you transition from mushies to solid food? The nutritionist said that there is a possibility of a small weight gain initially....what the heck?!?! Is there any way to avoid that???? Thanks, Katie

I had my band removed a little over a year ago due to erosion. The thing with me is I didnt have any pain symptoms. The only thing I noticed is I started gaining weight. I also went to a different bariatric surgeon. He did an endoscopy and immediately found it. He immediately took out the band and during the course of a little over a year, I have gained 65 pounds. The weight gain has affected my moods, well being, motivation and friendships and relationships. I am happy to say that I have taken the first step to getting my life back. My surgery date is October 8th. I am having to self pay but I feel like its a small price to pay for a healhier me and getting my life back on track. I hope you find your way and wish you luck.

Renee, you REALLY need to read Crosswind's post "I left my stomach in Mexicali". It's normal to be wondering if you've lost your mind making this decision. Drastic times call for drastic measures. You've tried everything else, right? And you're tired of being a failure at something so many other humans seem to do effortlessly (lose or maintain their weight), right? Welcome to the club! Life isn't fair!! Some chicks get fantabulous bods and are "bootylicious". Other chicks (like me) get fat reading a grocery list and are relegated to nicknames like "eartha-quake". So, after determining that I've thrown a boat load of money at fighting this "problem" over the years that I could have paid for the surgery 10 times over, I've FINALLY said "stick a fork in me, I'm DONE!" So, while I don't know how things will ultimately turn out (my surgery is April 26th) I do know how it's gone for me in the past -- unrelenting struggles resulting in unrelenting weight gain and self loathing. I'm way too old and way too tired to keep fighting the insanity scenario. I'm going for it and I'm NOT looking back. Empress

Was probably 300 lbs at my highest, about 270 when I had my surgery 3 years ago. Finally got into a size 10 and was feeling great was weighing 170 or so. Throughout 2007 I am gaining weight and need to get control of this. Went to the Dr. yesterday (internist) and my weight read 201. My home scale reads 190 so I am somewhere inbetween but this is unacceptable and I have to start going down again. When my band is filled too much I vomit all the time. Right now there aren't many foods that stay down so I am hesitant to get more of a fill and want to take some control on my own. Find myself eating high fat content foods because they stay down (and they taste good). Need a new plan for 2008, going to PR in June for a wedding, have to be down 25 lbs or so by then. Want to get my chin/neck done at the end of this year and will only do so if I have controlled my weight. I will keep this journal up and hope that it will help me control and monitor myself. Am using the word control a lot. I definitely have some willpower and responsibility issues. Am 48 years old, thought I'd have a better grip on this by now. Guess not. Have been home sick for 6 days now, (borderline pneumonia) laying in bed, eating, but not too much, there's no food here which is probably good. Am taking a steroid for lung inflammation which probably has added a few pounds. Took 2 Diruex (otc fluid pills) in desperation. Want this to be the year I get healthy on a more natural note. Always looking for an easy fix and with this weight gain I have see that the lap is a tool and I still have to take responsibility. Cannot go up a size. Cannot buy bigger clothes. Will start to journal my food. Can do that on actual paper. :clap2: Will drink water. Will not eat candy (maybe a little once a month). Will try to start some kind of excercise. My husband is a world of warcraft "addict" and we only have one computer. He is going to have to share or get me a laptop. So happy 2008 to me and everyone else on this journey. My goal is get back down another 20 - 30 lbs at least this year and to STOP GAINING. Good luck to us all. :clap2:

Was probably 300 lbs at my highest, about 270 when I had my surgery 3 years ago. Finally got into a size 10 and was feeling great was weighing 170 or so. Throughout 2007 I am gaining weight and need to get control of this. Went to the Dr. yesterday (internist) and my weight read 201. My home scale reads 190 so I am somewhere inbetween but this is unacceptable and I have to start going down again. When my band is filled too much I vomit all the time. Right now there aren't many foods that stay down so I am hesitant to get more of a fill and want to take some control on my own. Find myself eating high fat content foods because they stay down (and they taste good). Need a new plan for 2008, going to PR in June for a wedding, have to be down 25 lbs or so by then. Want to get my chin/neck done at the end of this year and will only do so if I have controlled my weight. I will keep this journal up and hope that it will help me control and monitor myself. Am using the word control a lot. I definitely have some willpower and responsibility issues. Am 48 years old, thought I'd have a better grip on this by now. Guess not. Have been home sick for 6 days now, (borderline pneumonia) laying in bed, eating, but not too much, there's no food here which is probably good. Am taking a steroid for lung inflammation which probably has added a few pounds. Took 2 Diruex (otc fluid pills) in desperation. Want this to be the year I get healthy on a more natural note. Always looking for an easy fix and with this weight gain I have see that the lap is a tool and I still have to take responsibility. Cannot go up a size. Cannot buy bigger clothes. Will start to journal my food. Can do that on actual paper. :clap2: Will drink water. Will not eat candy (maybe a little once a month). Will try to start some kind of excercise. My husband is a world of warcraft "addict" and we only have one computer. He is going to have to share or get me a laptop. So happy 2008 to me and everyone else on this journey. My goal is get back down another 20 - 30 lbs at least this year and to STOP GAINING. Good luck to us all. :clap2:

I feel like the person I used to be before my weight gain, like the person I always was on the inside is showing on the outside again. Physically, I can do more, faster, and with less effort. I have less aches and pains. I still can't believe it's me when I pass by a reflective window or mirror. I want to stop and stare but I know how weird that would look, lol. I wonder how it feels to a person who has always been thin, because I keep thinking of myself as "normal" now, and it makes me sad to think that I ever thought of myself as less worthy because of my weight. We are our own worst critics. I still obsess about diet and exercise. I have to, because it would be so easy to revert to old habits. I'm sure the people around me are sick of hearing about it! I need to find some groups that want to exercise and do active things as a form of socializing instead of going out to eat.

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

i wanted to ask you how do you define "restriction" i know i had the wrong idea of what it was. i thought i would be able to eat like 3 teaspoons of protein and feel like i was gonna throw up if i ate another bite...well to my surprize that's not was restriction is. lol i found out the hard way that true restriction isnt necessarily about how much you eat, but about how long you are satiated between meals. sometimes before i got restriction i would be hungery like 2 hours later. now i can go anwhere from 4-6 hours before i am truley hungry and not just "head hungry". (boy is that a hard lesson to learn as well.) I feel your frustration on the weight gain to,. i was about to jump off a bridge whenever i gained one pound! but i've figured out that my weight is gonna fluctuate a few pounds and now i just focus on how my clothes fit. Hope something i said helps. Keep up the good work. Jennifer

I have taken gabapentin used to take 2400 mg before I switched to lyrica the weight gain was minimal it can be managed by decreasing your calories a bit its a very good drug. Although I would ask about lyrica because its been way better at managing my pain than gabapentin did

My doc (not surgeon) just prescribed a steroid dose pack for me b/c of my back but he mentioned possible weight gain! Well that's the last thing i want! Has anybody had to take something like this? I am debating if I should just wait out the pain and skip the meds or take a chance but I would freak if I gained weight!

No, you absolutely do NOT. Only about 1/3 have significant "dumping" in the first place, and most of those lose that so-called benefit after a year or two. And the body adapts so that there is less malsorption over time. It is these things, plus the distended, non-adjustable pouch, that causes rebound weight gain in the majority of bypass patients.

I have NYSHIP as well, why do you think they wont cover you? The NYSHIP group is very big, which is why the coverage is more than most. As long as you went to a surgical group with experience with NYSHIP, you met the prerequisites, I'm not sure why they would deny you. My surgical group said, they never have problems with NYSHIP, including if patients have slight weight gain or loss during the 6 month monitored diet.

I'm so glad I found this post this is exactly what is happening to me (no weight gain though thank goodness) it is good to hear that its normal not to feel the restriction at first.

Thanks, Brandi and Ms. Maui. I have FM and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I have other conditions that are "part of FM and CFS", such as Neurally Mediated Hypotension (drops in blood pressure), Reynauds, irregular pulses, and so much more. I don't expect these conditions to change. I do expect my comorbidities of Type II Diabetes, Reflux, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and some fatigue due to weight gain to go AWAY! I am aware of that warning, Ms. Maui. I think the sleeve would be worse as there is a longer recovery time, the stomach being cut and stitched to not allow me to ever use an anti-inflammatory. With the band, my surgeon and others have said it as well, that I can use these sometimes. My achiness just needs an anti-inflammatory medication sometimes. I am trying to use it less now and hope to continue doing so. With the sleeve, there are too many internal changes to my body to be potentially problematic for me. That is my thought. The least invasive and reversible is the best choice for me. I will continue to ask lots of questions! You can never know enough! Thanks again!

I recently got to see my past and current medical records because I am trying to overturn my insurance company's decision to cut me off since I will soon be going over their income limit with my salary raise. Before I tell you what I found in my records, let me take a moment to highlight the real truth: I am moderately healthy. The only physical/mental issues I am still plagued with are hypothyroidism, mild to moderate anxiety/depression, and a mild skin condition. However, my records indicate that I suffer from a long list of diseases and inflictions. Many of these were problems I had over 15 years ago and that I consider conditions that I have RECOVERED from. I totally understand your repulsion with being labeled OBESE. My gosh, you have gone through sweat and tears just to get that ugly label off your plate. But the truth is that you will probably carry that label the rest of your life even if you became anorexic. I compare this to my "drug addict" label that I have to carry around even though I've been clean for 15 years. About 17 years ago, I had terrible inflammation in my joints because of rheumatic fever. The Vicodin that was prescribed not only alleviated this pain, but also instantly relieved me from anxiety and depression. It was like letting go of the100 pounds of bricks that had weighed me down for over 10 years. I felt optimistic, awake, energetic, and hope for my future. It took over a year to finally get help because I did not want to be forever labeled as a drug addict. I wasn't in a back alley shooting up heroin with dirty needles after not sleeping for days or taking a bath for a month. However, that is the image many people get when you have a drug addict label. Even at NA meetings, you have to present yourself as a drug addict. You can present yourself as a recovering drug addict, but the truth is that you will be recovering the rest of your life even if you never touch substances again. As a teacher that works with children with special needs, I could debate endlessly the pros and cons of labeling. Like lipstick lady mentioned, a label does tell a doctor what you have been through and an awareness that certain symptoms have a chance of returning again. A doctor shouldn't prescribe codeine syrup for my bronchitis due to my past substance abuse tendencies. Likewise, a doctor probably shouldn't prescribe Zyprexa (for depression) either, since a side effect is about a 20 pound weight gain. One could say that having this kind of opinion helps me to feel better about turning in my appeal with all my past health conditions and diseases. If they took the time to really read through my past medical file, they should be able to gather that I'm not afflicted with most of these problems anymore or not to the same extent. My doctor has filled out the insurance paperwork already and has informed me that she has put all my past health conditions onto the current health problem report. I would like to believe that she did this because she believes that past medical problems will always stay with a patient or because related symptoms could someday return. However, I think she may have done it so that she can continue getting paid.

I have OCD took paxil for it which was my demise with my weight gain I can relate to you very well, their is no drawer or closet left uncleanedin my home. I have 3 boys and peoplecan not believe how clean my house is.. Like you Iam always on the go Plus the fact we can no longer eat out of boredom like we did pre band makes boredom even more difficult

Thx for the info! I'm already emotional abt it all! All I do is research, and look for answers online. I'm mad that I have to go through this. I thought of revision, but the fact that it could slip again or erode??!! Ummm just not enough confidence to make me revise. I know it was never guaranteed but I swore it was a one time thing!! BUT now after researching like a nut...I see sooooo Many complication stories: slips & erodes--scary! I won't let that happened to me again! I'm worried abt weight gain. I have been with a personal trainer for 5 weeks & now I have to give that up for awhile I guess bc of the surgery. I'm gonna miss my aqua classes :-( I'm more mad abt not being able to exercise the way I have been lately :-( How long does it take to be able to exercise!?

That's great! I too lost weight on my own many times but guess what? it came back but if I had a band in me I could have tried to stop the weight gain sooner. For me Losing is the easy part, keeping it off is the hard part. If you ever stray you may find yourself wanting to fill your band and it will be there for you wether you need it or not. That's is he bonus of being banded

I wouldn't use the "weight gain" protein, but you should be getting more calories if you get in all your protein. Make sure you are getting in all your protein every day and then you can work on adding healthy carbs and fats. I would recommend that you work with your NUT closely to make sure you are getting proper nutrition.

Hi Lovies, Great to see so many posting again... oldies and newbies :smile2: I'm sorry no personals today, there's just so much info here my head's gonna pop (((well you know it doesn't take much for me lol))). To bad we can't do one big meet up, that would be awesome!!!! You know. ... like at Pat's house Still struggling with wl ... actually weight gain uggggh. So in a nutshell nothing is new, sosdd. Still fighting the thought of another fill. Got a busy day, karate (dd), a visit to FIL...haven't seen him since his stroke 2 weeks ago...poor old thing. Then we are going to the honda dealer that I said we were going to last week LOL...gonna check out the pilot. Then if the night time storm doesn't hit us to early, we'll take a swim. How are all you chickies doing? I so wish I had more time to be here :thumbup:

I have tried that but I had an LEEP PROCEDURE and it scarred my cervix so the pain was CRUCIAL. So I tried the skyla iud today same thing [emoji30] and I'm afraid to take bc pills because I know some have weight gain.

also: Aspartame Side Effects The components of aspartame can lead to a number of health problems, as you have read. Side effects can occur gradually, can be immediate, or can be acute reactions. According to Lendon Smith, M.D. there is an enormous population suffering from side effects associated with aspartame, yet have no idea why drugs, supplements and herbs don’t relieve their symptoms. Then, there are users who don’t ‘appear’ to suffer immediate reactions at all. Even these individuals are susceptible to the long-term damage caused by excitatory amino acids, phenylalanine, methanol, and DKP. Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include: Eye blindness in one or both eyes decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision, decreased night vision pain in one or both eyes decreased tears trouble with contact lenses bulging eyes Ear tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound severe intolerance of noise marked hearing impairment Neurologic epileptic seizures headaches, migraines and (some severe) dizziness, unsteadiness, both confusion, memory loss, both severe drowsiness and sleepiness paresthesia or numbness of the limbs severe slurring of speech severe hyperactivity and restless legs atypical facial pain severe tremors Psychological/Psychiatric severe depression irritability aggression anxiety personality changes insomnia phobias Chest palpitations, tachycardia shortness of breath recent high blood pressure Gastrointestinal nausea diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools abdominal pain pain when swallowing Skin and Allergies itching without a rash lip and mouth reactions hives aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma Endocrine and Metabolic loss of control of diabetes menstrual changes marked thinning or loss of hair marked weight loss gradual weight gain aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) severe PMS Other frequency of voiding and burning during urination excessive thirst, Fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating increased susceptibility to infection Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all death irreversible brain damage birth defects, including mental retardation peptic ulcers aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets hyperactivity in children severe depression aggressive behavior suicidal tendencies Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epstein-Barr Post-Polio Syndrome Lyme Disease Grave’s Disease Meniere’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease ALS Epilepsy Multiple Sclerosis (MS) EMS Hypothyroidism Mercury sensitivity from Amalgam fillings Fibromyalgia Lupus non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) These are not allergies or sensitivities, but diseases and disease syndromes. Aspartame poisoning is commonly misdiagnosed because aspartame symptoms mock textbook ‘disease’ symptoms, such as Grave’s Disease. Aspartame changes the ratio of amino acids in the blood, blocking or lowering the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is typical that aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in lab tests and on x-rays. Textbook disorders and diseases may actually be a toxic load as a result of aspartame poisoning. Ever gone to the doctor with real, physical symptoms, but he/she can’t find the cause? Well, it’s probably your diet, your environment, or both. source: http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

I had the mirena IUD and HATED it - basically every sideaffect listed, I got. I had headaches, weight retention, and a weird out-of-body feeling like my body was not actually my body. Also, it can contribute to ovarian cysts so isn't a good option for those with PCOS. I only know one person who used the nuvaring and she got pregnant the second month she was on it, and the nuvaring made it an ectopic pregnancy. I take the pill now, I'm on one of the ones that helps with PCOS symptoms (acne and facial hair). It's taking a looooong time to see those benefits though! I've been on it for 3 months. I haven't had any weight gain from it though.

I'm in the same boat. A trainer suggested that I use a weight gain Protein enhancer that people use to gain weight. They are high in calories and was told to use it before my work out. GNC carries these. I have a doc appointment tomorrow and will ask about this. It makes sense, but, seems so wrong. jake