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I just found out I was pregnant. I was banded in September of 2010 and had recently reached my goal of losing 110 lbs. I was feeling great about myself and then found out I was pregnant. My husband and I were told we would never have a baby naturally, because of infertility on his part. So imagine my shock when I saw the Pregnant on three digital tests! :eek: In one week of finding out I have gained 7lbs. I know that weight gain is going to happen, but for 10 months losing weight has been my focus. I was crushed when I step on the scale to find I had gained 7lbs. How do you deal with the weight gain? Does it get easier? I had set a goal to gain only 25-30lbs. I know that I will have an easier time losing the weight because of the band, but gaining weight is freaking me out!:tongue2: Please tell me I am not the only one!

Hi All, I am new here, but I am pregnanct with my 3rd child, my first while banded. I have to say that I am very fearful of the weight gain, but I am 6 months pregnant and have lost 6 lbs. I am having the healthiest pregnancy ever. I had 2 terrible previous pregnancies with hypertension being a major issue and pre-eclampsia. My doctor does not want me to gain any weight so I have continued on the health diet, but I had all the fluid removed from my band. I check the scale everyday in the morning and if I see that I am creeping up, I get back to the exercise and healthy eating. Just keep balancing what you eat. It works and my baby is growing big and beautiful.

The best advice I have seen on this board said, “Hey, remember this is a lifestyle change. If the process of going-on-a-diet-failing-and-then-beating-yourself-up worked, none of us would have needed a lapband in the first place.” (I wish I could remember who posted it so I could give them credit) Anyway, this is a lifestyle, not a diet. The idea of being perfect everyday for the rest of your life is unreasonable. My fear when I see these types of post (or I see myself doing it) is that overly high expectations lead to self anger, self anger leads to hopelessness, hopelessness leads to sabotage, and sabotage leads to weight gain. Don’t go down that path. Breath. You’ve done awesome. It could be the PMS (definitely a factor). You know what you’re doing otherwise you wouldn’t have done so well this far. You know what you have to do, so do your best at it. Great job all around!

I never ate off plan until I passed goal. I followed every instruction my doctor gave me. I have gotten 60g+ Protein and 64oz+ Water every day. (Except when I was so nauseous from a medication I was on for a C. diff infection that I couldn't even swallow my own spit...which of course led to dehydration and IV fluids at which point my doctor and I found an alternative solution to cure the infection. In other words, make sure you drink!). I take my Vitamins every day. I get my bloodwork done as recommended and adjust supplements accordingly. I am active everyday. I lost over 100% of my excess weight and have kept it off for 7 months. Sure, now I eat deserts and carbs and drink alcohol, but I'm in maintenance and I'm allowed anything and everything in moderation. Any weight gain I observe I immediately check by going back to strict protein and veggies. Dear God: Please make me as perfect as Kindle,

I've had Nexplanon for a few months now. They let me keep it for my surgery. I didn't notice any weight gain or loss after starting it. I had some spotting issues immediately after surgery, but nothing in that department from the day it went in. I love it and will probably never use anything else again.

I am having some issues with swelling that are causing my nausea when I eat. They are hoping this will give me enough to heal. I just have read it can cause weight gain and since every post bariatric patient is concerned about that I thought I'd ask...did you experience normal weight loss on TPN? Also is everything okay now? No leak? If you don't mind me asking

I tried various brands like Bariatric Advantage, Flintstones, Centrum etc but they were all useless. They chewables made me nauseous (because of the fillers in them) and the sugar content in the gummies were a major concern for weight gain. I then switched to capsules and finally on my nuts advise I settled for vita4life. It’s been three years and no complaints. I get all their products off the website. You can get the products off Amazon too.

Haha! I guess you should not worry so much about the scale weight duing TOM. And just realize it is TOm causing weight gain. Good luck.Karen

My total cholesterol isn't too bad at 181. I was very happy to see my HDL at 53 when it was once 17. Dexter, your post gave me visions of The Hurt Locker! I am sure this is all related to my massive weight gain. I was the picture of good health just a couple of years ago when I lost a bunch of weight (weight that I put back on).

Julie, Don't be too hard on yourself about the weight gain. With all that you are going through, it would be unusual if you didn't gain weight -- it is a very stressful time. Also, please let us know what your DH finds out today. You have been in our prayers.

So I have been released from the hospital on my second stay after surgery. On Saturday I was unable to eat or drink due to nausea. I was admitted to the hospital and given fluids then sent home to do at home infusions of "TPN". Has anyone been on a TPN infusion to speed up recovery and did you experience weight gain or a slowed weight loss? I got surgery to lose weight dammit!

All of this. I have a HUGE tote of heels I wore just 8-9 years ago when I was 140lbs. Soon...soon... I hate my body much less now than I did back then; something that started all the weight gain. I look back at those pics and I'm like WTF WAS WRONG WITH YOU. Fat at 140lbs?! Way to go, me. lol. I can't wait for my appearance to match my give no effs attitude that I've developed. First thing I do when I hit a size 12 is drop serious $$$ at Express and White House Black Market. And everywhere. Everywherreeeeee. hahaha.

weight gain in 3 days

I am 23 weeks along an had to be emptied at 16 weeks due to a nasty virus with some severe vomiting. My surgeon said that although I hadn't had the morning sickness is was unwise to stay filled due to moving organs. As the baby grows and organs get pushed up, so too does the band and pressure on the band is well, no bueno. It can cause a slip in some cases. My weight gain was normal to that point. I'm now reaching the Mac what I "should" gain the entire pregnancy (I was 127 pre preg. Gain should only be 25-35 pounds total and I'm up 26 so far). ::sigh:: we lost it before, we will lose it again!!!!!!

During my initial consult, I was given a questionaire about weight gain, eating habits and goals. I set my goal at 200lbs and the PA said my goal was very conservative. Their goal weight for me is 177lbs...so, I decrease my goal to 190lbs...still conservative, I guess but, I'd be darn happy with it. They do use a formula to come up with your goal weight.

I switched from splenda and went to Stevia. Splenda has so many adverse side effect and can cause cancer and weight gain.

If anyone know of any doctors that approve the sleeve revisions. It has been 5 yrs since my sleeve. I cannot find a doctor to approve for a revisions. My eating habits is still the same. I am not sure for the weight gaining. I have severe arthritis in my knees & shoulders. So exercising is not fun for me. Are all doctors against revisions. Help!!!

Okay, here's the deal. When you're stressed (such as the worrying you're doing now), your cortisol levels increase. High levels of cortisol cause weight retention and weight gain, particularly around the abdomen. You're self-sabotaging with stress. Put away the scale. Cortisol is a steroid. Steroids cause weight gain.

@@finding_onederland I had a small hiatus hernia over 20 years ago. I was most surprised after my pre op endoscopy, that it was gone! It fixed itself, amazing. As to reflux, I had a bit of intermittent reflux in the past couple of years, I put it down to my big weight gain, and eating lot of chocolates. I was given pantoprazole that I took for 2-3 weeks, and was good afterward. Post op, gastric sleeve however, I was horrified by the strong reflux I had, even while on rabeprazole. Every day I was uncomfortable or in pain during my nightly reflux foaming and frothing attacks. I also noticed that at every food phase change, reflux was bad again, even with me eating the correct food, eating slowly and chewing lots. So for me, Nexium was heaven sent. It fixed my reflux, and from then on I was fine. Good luck to you.

Are you vomiting or feeling "stuck" a lot? If so it might be your band becoming tighter. To be honest, I would worry more about a possible slip rather then weight gain right now. You got it off once you can do it again I would give your surgeon a call and have some fluid removed. Good luck!

Welcome to my world as well ... 100% of my weight gain was caused by medications. I have been on almost every single medication in all classes - benzodiazepines, SSRI's, tricyclics, MAOI's, atypical antidepressants, antiepileptics. This is over a 12 year period. I have to take trazodone to sleep to keep my cycles in check (difficulty sleeping, I think too much and my brain gets really wired, that's why I was so great at my job in computer science, my brain would start whirring away). Anyways the trazodone causes me to eat when I'm half awake. Other meds caused massive sugar cravings. Thank god for the band as I would be gaining weight again. Other medications, like carbamazepine, caused me to completely lose all sensation of satiety and fullness. I ate, constantly, was obsessed with eating, could never get enough food, food felt SOOO GOOD. It was scary. I lasted a week on those and gained about 15 lbs. Have you purchased a SAD lamp? I bought mine from northerntechnologies.com (I think). They work great. Maybe we should have a section for those who suffer from these conditions...

Jess, you have already accomplished what some people never do: you are aware of your triggers, and understand how your faulty beliefs have created an emotional dependence on eating. Build on that awareness, because in addition to having an emotional dependence on eating as a coping mechanism to manage stress in your life, now you are engaging in self blame, anger, and shame. All of these are incredibly negative thoughts, which set you up for a cycle of unending self criticisms and anger at yourself. You need to break the cycle... To break this cycle, it is essential that you do a reality check; if you could have lost all of the weight you needed to without the band, why did you not accomplish that? It is necessary to change your perspective, and re-frame your thinking so that you are not engaging in allowing your flawed thinking to generate negative thoughts of anger towards yourself and the world in general. There are numerous coping techniques you can use to distract your thoughts, and it does, to some degree involve "mind games". Only you control your thoughts, and we all, to varying degrees, have some automatic thinking, which is subconscious. Looking at ways to change the messages on those tapes of automatic thoughts will be a core issue for you and your therapist to address. The mind, like the band, is a powerful tool; learn how to use it to your advantage. Give yourself permission to be patient with yourself. Your thoughts did not get to their current perspective overnight, so understand that it is unrealistic to expect immediate results with anything which involves a process of change. Change, whether it involves mindful thinking or behavior modification is a process, and not an event. I do recommend that you seek treatment with a licensed therapist; though understand ahead of time that psychotherapy only works if the client is receptive to the therapy and the insights to be gained from that different perspective. You should approach working with a counselor with an open mind. Too often, if the client is not ready to engage in an honest self inventory to assess what the core issues really are, the therapy is destined to fail. I did read some of the other posts, and most contained valid insights. I encourage you to be your own person, and think for yourself. You know yourself best. It is unfortunate that some of the participants on this forum engage in writing in terms of gross generalizations; that is their perspective of a "one size fits all" solution. We may share some basic commonalities, but for the most part our path to here was as unique are we are. There are many reasons why a person may become obese, and certainly genetics can play a major role, along with the family relationship dynamics and home environment. I vehemently disagree with the belief that "we all have an eating disorder", as another individual has written in response to your original post. Emotional dependence on eating as a coping mechanism does not qualify as a diagnosis for an eating disorder. There are so many factors which contribute to one's weight issues. In my own case, it was medications which caused the weight gain, coupled with a metabolism which due to age sort of went into hibernation. Being angry at the doctor who prescribed the medication does nothing constructive to alleviate the problem; taking positive action to loose weight under medical supervision provides a solution path to improved health. Self inventories, which you are already in the process of doing, as evidenced by your writing about your new awareness of how your flawed thinking is a major contributor to your eating, can be difficult. Many people choose to live in denial rather than accept that their thoughts need to be modified. Give yourself the credit you deserve to have gotten to a place of awareness. I sincerely hope that you will continue on your journeys...both with the weight loss and with your awareness that you hold the keys and the power for your success. Only you will hold yourself back! Good luck!

Hi everyone, I thought I would just give those of you who might be interested a not so quick update!!! Be warned that I have written a bit of a novel. I had my mega surgery on September 9 and the 2 surgeons were able to do everything (yeah!!!!!). I have been told by about a dozen nurses and doctors that having everything done like that was probably as big of a surgery that could ever be done. Both of my surgeons have been positively giddy since the surgery, and I think they are very impressed with themselves :cursing:. I had: Anterior bowel resection (took out about 1 foot of my diseased colon and reconnected the remaining pieces) Reversal of my ileostomy – which means reconnecting my small intestine with my large intestine (for the last 2 and ½ years I had not been connected and was managing my bowels through my small intestine which had been poked through my abdomen and I “pooped” into a pouch that was attached to my abdomen – I had no bowel control). Repair of two huge hernias (one in my belly button and the other a peristomal hernia which was as a result of my ileostomy) Panniculectomy – the plastic surgeon removed about 5 pounds of excess fat and skin in my abdomen. I was in hospital for 10 days and had a wound vac for that time – special dressings attached to a type of vacuum that sucks out Fluid and guck (frangi has one) to help with wound healing. I had 3 drains across my abdomen and 46 staples. The wound line is about 28 inches from one back side of my hip to the other (the line is straight across the hips but then goes up and around my genitals – the doc said he had to take the cut a bit higher than they usually do). I believe he went higher to assist with the bowel surgery and to be able to remove the bad skin where my ileostomy site had been – I had a whole there plus some wounds that had not healed for a couple of years). When I left hospital they removed about half of the staples and two of the drains. The other drain I was supposed to keep – it ended up coming out (with some assistance from me) about 4 days later. I was noticing a bulge on my other side (which I was worried was a recurrence of the hernia), but when I went in to see the plastic surgeon to get the rest of the staples out it was a build up of fluid. He ended up draining 360 cc’s fluid that day, the next day 190 cc’s of fluid. I then went and saw him last Tuesday (four days later) and had 2 separate pockets of fluid (800 cc’s of fluid between them), so the decision was made to “reinsert” 2 drains again. To drain the fluid, they stick a really big needle into the wound line and start pulling out fluid – not a really pleasant experience. I was told it is not really unusual to have fluid build up, but the amount of fluid I have is unusual. Radiologists reinserted the drains this by ultrasound. They froze the areas separately by needle, cut two new wholes and inserted the new drains, which they stitch to the skin to hold it in. This time they used industrial size tubing and drain bags (the bags can hold up to 600 cc’s which is more than 2 cups), which I strap to my leg. What can I tell you – I am a fashion statement!!!!! I will likely have these drains for a couple of weeks. Worst thing – I can’t shower now until they are out). I have lived with an ileostomy for 2 ½ years, so taking care of the drains is really simple. My other main complication has been fluid retention in my legs. I went into surgery weighing 164 pounds and left hospital at 194 pounds :cursing:– all fluid being held in my legs (NOTE - I am NOT changing my ticker ). It is incredibly painful and uncomfortable to carry that kind o fluid. The docs finally put me on a mega dose of Water pills (80 mg per day). I have lost 17 pounds in the last 3 days – which really drains you (literally and figuratively), but at least the legs are starting to look and feel a little better. I am trying to sleep with my legs above my head - interesting position let me tell you). I have an appetite, but can’t eat much (which is pretty ironic considering the weight gain – I mean REALLY - gain that much weight but not with anything good to eat sucks horribly :smile:). I had very little restriction before the surgery, and I didn’t get any solids (clear fluid only) for the first 8 days after surgery. My band is being pretty picky right now – for the first time since being banded I am struggling with bread and some meats- although some days I can eat quite a bit and others almost nothing. Ironically, Pasta seems to slide right on down. I have been told to load up on Protein, so I am back on Protein shakes. My port feels like it didn’t move at all as a result of the surgery (I was not unfilled for surgery). It is hard to really say what my body looks like now, with the drains, fluid retention, etc., but the first time I put pants on I was incredibly excited because I had no extra stuff hanging in my abdomen to stuff into my pants. I could feel it was flat before, but wow it felt different and great when I put on pants :cursing:!!!! Because I didn’t have any lipo, my mid section is pretty square and boxy (I have never really had a waist though). I will never be able to wear a bikini (oh yeah – I also don’t have a belly button any more), but I am excited about what I can see (or not see). Sorry for the length, but I wanted to get it off my chest (or thighs or ankles :cursing:) and I have always felt very supported here. The first week or so after surgery was very rough - but I would gladly do it again. I hope to get my arms done in the next year (no hurry though). Thanks for listening!! Jacquie

Hi! I am almost 5 years out from my lap band. I lost 70 pounds during that time and over the course of the last 2 years I have gained about 20 back. the scale hasn't changed one direction or the other over the last year. I was doing ok with this as I workout 5 days a week and run quite a bit. (ran my first half marathon last November). I was diagnosed last month with breast cancer. Thankfully, it was caught early. I've already had a lumpectomy and am currently recovering from a lymph node biopsy, which was clear. My oncologist has recommended 6 weeks radiation therapy and then 10 years of tamoxifen, a hormone blocker, in attempts to prevent the cancer from returning. My biggest fear is the tamoxifen. It has so many side effects that scare me to death. Two of them being being joint pain which could decrease my activity and the second weight gain. I like my body, other than having to get used to the newest scars. I am trying to get myself back on track nutritionally, I have reached out to my nutritionist at my surgery center, so far without success. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to get back on track. Reset my head and diet so to speak. The way I see it, I have 2 months to get the scale going in the right direction prior to starting this new med. Any suggestions or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

I was 47 when I had RNY gastric bypass twelve years ago. There was no "honeymoon" period where the pounds melted away for me. I do not believe this was age related because my surgical peers at the time lost weight at about the same rate as younger women. Nonetheless, I exceeded my surgeons goal and have maintained this with a lot of difficulty. An autoimmune disorder, hypothyroidism and medications are to blame for an average loss of less than half a pound weekly. Watching the scale go down and up then repeat was frustrating but I had a good experienced surgeon who also had the same procedure. The metabolically challenged as he put it need to stay on plan even when it seems there is no progress. Not what I wanted to hear at the time. I was angry and beginning to have regrets but a good support network "talked me off the ledge". After a year of following the rules I made changes to my doctor's plan. Using information from the body building community I Incorporated eating practices used to increase lean muscle mass. None conflict with the needs of gastric bypass patients. I researched options I believed could serve me better. At 17 months post op I made my desired maximum weight. I'm still pushing to get 5lbs lower. I deliberately left out the numbers. Not because it's a secret, I've posted this info in the past. Some individual readers may distinguish between weight/BMI classifications then rate difficulty and speed of weight loss to evaluate "success". That is not the point of my reply. Also, I make no claim to post op diet perfection nor do I blame metabolism for my obesity. No matter where you start at any age you will need to work your plan. You may work hard and see only small results as you watch surgical peers break their surgeons rules and do well. Further, you will likely have to make Healthful adjustments to augment your progress based on your needs. I've met many success stories since I committed to surgical intervention and I'm in good company. Today my weight is 30lbs up because of steroids, hypothyroidism, and binge eating disorder. It was 40lbs up a few weeks ago. Age is not the only issue in my struggle but "I Got This". This is one of a few episodes of rapid fat gain. I'm not talking about pounds and Water weight. You will not hear me say I've gained my weight back. What I've put on is fat but it's not mine and I'm not keeping it. I've learned how to "re lose" body fat and curb weight gain in spite of menopause and other factors. There is no secret to my maintenance. Never buy a larger size, period. Clothing measurement, not size number is my guide. I avoid stretch fabrics when I can without sacrificing style. I also monitor my body fat percentage. Formulas used by the YMCA and the military are easy to find. Ten years plus post op forced me to figure this out. A support network even before your procedure can help you learn what you need for the long term. If you have access to counseling or mental healthcare take advantage of it. Many of us with recently recognized mental health concerns like binge eating disorder and compulsive over eating do not know these illnesses exist. They can even be incorporated into a healthy post op eating plan with your nutritionists blessing. The more you know about why you are obese the easier and more successful your maintenance plan will be. Yes, I said maintenance plan. You asked for post op support but You WILL Succeed. We all find our way here because we want to be well and we all can be. I've included what I wished I knew pre op. This process is emotional as well as physical. Every pound lost is joyful but for some even a week with no change feels devastating. Get ready for the highs and lows knowing will be the Winner. Some famous writer somewhere is quoted as not having had the time to be conscise. For me include spell checking and grammar too. You have my story and I hope it's helpful. All the best!