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I've found a doctor but he will not see me until I've completed a long checklist. I've done almost everything on that list including a 6 month weight loss program. Last day of that program is 1/25/17. I need to go my mental evaluation and I will be ready to see the doctor. I started this journey at 412lbs. I weighed in today and I'm down to 365lbs. It could have been more but the last month and a half my weight loss plateaued. I neither gained or lost. I see it as a accomplishment to maintain. Any advice on what more can I do?? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I was sleeved back on 12/22/14. During the liquid diet phase I lost about 30lbs going from like 491 to about 461. Since the surgery as of last week I was at 384lbs. So if including the liquid diet phase I am down about 107lbs. Have I had complication, oh hell yeah. Let start with a Vitamin deficiency that has landed me in the hospital twice within the past two months. First time was a stomach bug and strep throat that made me sick which caused getting anything down to be difficult. the second time was from sever dehydration because I just couldn't stop puking, that caused me to have blurry vision and now short memory loss that I have been battling for about 3 weeks now. As far as weight lost I haven't stalled cause I'm still not eating as much as I did and my surgeon had me start my weeks back over again. So I'm just now back on "soft solids" again. Other than the memory loss and sense of confusion I am happy with the progress. I feel like I could be farther along with this, but getting sick was also not in the plans. I will follow up with my primary doctor to see about getting on the B complex shot instead of taking the oral stuff to help at least restore my short term memory and get my B vitamin levels back on point. Good luck to everyone.

Thank you! The weight loss is real evident in my face and at 58 years old, I don't need to sag anywhere any sooner than I have to! LOL....Thanks Kimmy0926

How long after being banded or how much weight loss did it take you to get off the diabetes meds? Just curious because I am kinda in the same boat, meds but no insulin. Congratulations on your healthy success!

moviemomo05 i'm so sorry "things have not gone well for me" you are not able to keep food down???vomitting, tired et al - whats the problem, whats going on??? no such thing as a "small" accomplishment - any new accomplishment is GREAT big kudos on getting more protein in - that can be hard to do for the record....there no such thing as i "only' lost 1 lb or 2 lbs (many people use that expression) losing any weight is HUGE!!! never belittle any accomplishment or weight loss - its success, and we all want that congrats keep up the good work

awesome feeling huh? You will start to notice little things that make a big difference.. keep up the good work and there are tons of things you will begin to notice as you go thru the weight loss = enjoy them

You are losing at a fantastic pace for you!! Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. You will lose the weight, at YOUR pace. Congrats on your weight loss so far, it is phenomenal!!

Honestly it's been 7 months. 6 months of meetings with nutritionist brought me from 234 to 217, then a month and a half after surgery I went from 20s to size 18. I couldn't go to the gym for the first six weeks so my weight loss was stalled. Some weeks are better than others.

If you could get it fix get fixed I had a hernia before I had my sleeve three months out my hernia caused me to have bowel obstruction meaning my bowel couldn't come from the back so it came up I had to have emergency surgery because sometimes a hernia is your intestines twisted and it's possible it could cut off the blood flow I was scared cause the dr said if the blood is loss you will have to have a temporary boop bag until it heal then ill connect your intestine back caused the where gone have to cut off the dead part I had surgery April 19 and I'm doing well kno boop bag it was all good but if you have a hernia get it taking care of I don't wanna scare you I just wanna be honest

Hello, I have been researching this topic for a while. I am almost ready to start the process. I have decided on gastric sleeve and I will soon be going to my first information session at either Banner Gilbert or Bridges. I am leaning more towards using Banner based on what I've read here and their website and they are closer to my house. However first I am looking for a pcp who approves of weight loss surgery. I am never sick and so I haven't been to a doctor in years except for a chiropractor and ob- gyn. Instead of picking a doctor at random, I would prefer to start with a doctor who approves of weight loss surgery. Does anyone have any suggestions near Gilbert, Arizona?

I can relate to everything you said- including being a teacher (you're in that group here right?) and the bonky knee (haha funny term). I also can eat and love variety too. This week I also tried on all these clothes and was so happy going down from the 22/24's 2-3x's to tight 18/1x's. That was really fun. It's so nice to shrink. Kind of makes the whole loss of most of the stomach worth it!

I cannot believe it. Today, I got on the scale and I weighed 247 pounds! May 26 is my 3 month surgery-versary! I've lost 50 pounds in less than 3 months (I didn't have to do a pre-op diet). How amazing is this? I can only imagine where I will be in 6 more months. This surgery has been life-changing for me. I feel soo much better. My clothes that were too tight fit me now and clothes that used to fit me are hanging off me. I can actually work 12 hours on my feet and not be in a ton of pain, unlike when I was almost 300 pounds. I still have a long road ahead of me but This Feels Amazing! My goal is to get to, at least, 170 pounds. I would like to weigh 150 pounds though. We will see how I feel when I get there. =)

Amazing transformation! You look fabulous...but I wonder how long my nipples will ache from viewing that pic of you with yours pierced! **OUCH!!!!!!** Congratulations on your loss!

4/16/2010 I had my sleeve done on 9/15/09 and suffered with unrelenting anxiety post surgery. Prior to surgery I was never clinically depressed only took anxiety medication once for an acute bout w/anxiety during a doctor supervised WL regimen that required me to take handfuls of vitamins and phentermine. I lost 76 lbs but put it all back on and then some about 5 years later. After having the sleeve surgery I was so full of anxiety that I needed to get help. I was on the phone and on these message boards crying out for help. My PCP was very supportive and met with me often. Straight away she convinced me that it was OK to take an anti-anxiety medication while healing and that it might help me to get in the much needed nutrition. I tried xanax for about 2 weeks and although it helped me to feel better-- relaxed enough to get in bits of nutrition...when it wore off my anxiety grew even higher. My medication was changed to Klonopin .5mg and with such a low dose it was long lasting and helpful. I started therapy with the psychologist who has a practice and also works with my surgeon. I still had trouble eating even drinking, I'd a aversion, even repulsion towards food. My PCP had recorded one of my symptoms after WLS as "anorexia". I went to 2 psychiatrists, tried 2 anti-depressants, Welbutrin and Zoloft--both trials didn't last more than 5 days--I literally couldn't eat anything, they only increased my repulsion and anxiety. The second psychiatrist was better-I started at a low dose of an SNRI Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (since the SSRI"s increased my anxiety and aversion to food). The name of the drug is Remeron (generic version-Mirtazapine), 30mgs taken daily at night before bed...Bingo! It worked. I found out about Remeron through this message board...(if you go back and read through my early posts you may find it.) A couple of people on this message board mentioned Remeron but didn't like it because of the side effect of an increase in appetite. When I saw that I figured it could be helpful to me since I had no appetite and fear of eating. My psychiatrist confirmed this for me and started me at a low dose of 15 mg for the first week then upped the dose to 30...I had no weird side effects, just a little groggy at first in the morning. What did happen was that finally I wanted to eat. I desired foods, (not everything) but it was so much better. I was able to eat and had to remember to eat slowly and chew well. Fast forward to this week and I've stopped taking the Remeron, (I do not want to be dependant on any medication indefinately). I notice a minor decrease in my appetite but I am able to eat enough to keep myself healthy. It's been 8 days since I stopped and I am alright so far. I still take a .5 dose of Klonopin as needed for anxiety--that usually amounts to 1 a day whenever the anxiety gets too high. During this whole process of adjustment, I've I gotten myself in a 12 step support group called Overeaters Anonymous. The imposed weight loss compelled me to see I had issues with food and eating that had to be addressed so like a tortoise without its shell, I'm ready to deal with some underlying issues that created my compulsive eating habits etc. For me, I need to fix the inside as well as the outside in order to function well with the dramatic changes from this surgery. I'm 7 months out, 5'7", 158 lbs (25 lbs to goal) and wearing a size 10-12. It honestly feels good to have so much weight off but I still am not at peace with the forced changes in my eating capacity. I pray that will soon come. 4/18/2010 A big part of my anxiety is generated from discomfort in eating. I have lost most of my excess weight and it does feel healthier to not feel that heaviness on my body, although I am just now noticing that in some places I still have pain (like my right hip), which I had thought might be due to all the belly,hip, and rear-end fat I was carrying. There is a definite improvement in my knees, feet, and general mobility. On the down side, I feel I am more vulnerable and must guard myself against any outside illness/infection etc. I'm uncomfortably cautious of what I eat for fear of any food born illness-UGH. I just feel like I can't afford to be sick since my consumption for nutrition is now limited and stomach so small. I'm yet uneasy about the way food feels much of the time when eating. With the exception of soft stuff, I still have to stand often (helps the food move down) and/or stop and wait 10 minutes or so before resuming even a 3 or 4 oz portion of some denser protein like meats and sometimes even fish. This is something that causes me anxiety. I just get scared and wonder if there could be something wrong--Seven months out and I still don't drink plain (even the best filtered/alkaline), water. Water weighs too heavy on my sleeve so I drink Vitamin Water and dilute it with good water--I don't know why but it works. To sum it up I think I am happy that I went ahead with this surgery. I hope that in the final analysis I will truly be healthier and feel peace in that. For now there is always that nagging doubt and "what if" feeling and with every unusual sensation I worry.:cursing:

You looking good. It takes a while before our brain catches up to our weight loss.

So, DOS was 10/17 and I'm down 17lbs. Decided to cut 11" off my hair, go a little darker, and start my new life with a new look! My clothes fit a little bit looser and I didn't see much of a change until this... Yay me!!!

I think you're doing great! You can see my loss stats in my signature. I generally get around 800 calories, more on exercise days. I do aim to keep net carbs under 30 grams, though it has been higher over the past couple of weeks with some holiday treats. I start to panic if the scale hasn't moved in a week, but then it does....

Woww that is great weight loss. Keep up the good work. I hope I can loose like that.........

I received my lap band a little over three years ago.....and did pretty well until I plateaued the first time. Once that happened I steered away from the fundamentals of the lap band program. I began to test myself with things I shouldn't have (e.g. eating more......especially with things that I shouldn't have). Inevitably I began to gain some of the weight that I had lost back (about 15 or so lbs). I had moved to Alaska for grad school and found myself in a situation were I couldn't follow up on fills and such. While going to the doctor for a checkup unrelated to the band, I asked him about getting a fill. He checked around and it turned out that the local surgeon had experience with lap band fills. He gave me my third fill and I now feel that I have hit my "sweet spot" (at least I think I have). Ever since this fill, everything that I had spent so much learning about the lifestyle of the lap band came back. I knew I needed to get "back on track" and that is exactly what I did. I am about 7 weeks out since that fill and am loving the return to my lap band lifestyle! I focus my diet each day on protein beginning with my pea protein shake in the morning and am in a regular exercise routine of jogging about 1.5 miles a day along with using the elliptical. I couldn't feel better! Since having my last fill 7 wks ago I am down 26 lbs! This brings my total to 52 lbs loss since my surgery! The moral of this post is that it is possible to get "back on track." Even though we may detour from our goals, ultimately this particular goal is a LIFE goal. If you take a few steps back, regroup and take 20 steps forward!

Lissa great NSV - i can only imagine how happy you have felt with all your weight loss- successes btw haven't seen you around in a bit, then again, maybe you were standing sideways, too little to see now show that "little" self more often, love to hear and see more (less) of you keep those NSV's coming

Hi Rachel: My plan said I could eat solid food at 5 weeks out--had a week of clears, 2 weeks of full liquids, and 2 weeks of mushies/softs. I stayed on mushies/softs for a while because I had big problems with acid, and texture was a big deal for me. You'll be able to tell you're full through a couple of signals, and those differ with different people. Personally, I know when I feel like I need to burp and almost can't, I'm full. Also, my nose runs. Strange, isn't it, but I know other people on this forum have the same symptoms. You will definitely feel the sleeve's restriction when you're able to eat more "regular" food. At this point, my plan says I can eat whatever I can tolerate, keeping in mind my continuing weight-loss goals. I don't typically eat sweets (despite the last two days' lunch desserts!). I aim for Protein foods (Beans, cheese, milk, shrimp/scallops, nuts) and bites of veggies/salad. Really, the only foods I avoid are those that my sleeve doesn't seem to like: beef and chicken, although I "can" eat those in certain forms, raw onions, pasta/bread/flour products, excess sugar, fried stuff--just can't seem to handle the grease. Eating got a lot easier lately; I really feel like our sleeves hit a point where they kind of chill out--I still most definitely have restriction and can only eat around 1/4 to 1/2 c. at a time by volume (and that volume depends on the type of food)--a little more liquid volume if I take it slow. But I definitely get full and get that sensation of food that isn't quite all the way down if I take one bite too many (and I HATE that feeling!). I tend to try to undereat my sleeve, trying to stop when I'm not hungry as opposed to when I'm full--there's a big difference there. You'll do fine. Listen to your body and pay attention to measuring for a while. I still use my 1/2 c. containers every day, because I can't "eyeball" volumes very well, so it's easy for me to overdo by a bite or two, and then I'm in pain and feel icky. Best wishes!!

Congrats on your loss! I still maintain that having NO HUNGER has 100% made this journey easier...who would have ever thought we could go from thinking about food constantly to feeding our bodies because it is necessary. :lightbulb:

It sounds like it very well could be. I had to have my gallbladder removed years ago after I had my last child and lost weight quickly afterward. Weight loss aggrivates gallstones. I had definate episodic pain that made me run to the bathroom in pain, severe painful episodes. Fat in the diet sets it off as well as spicy foods because of bile stored in the gallbladder needed for digestion. Go to urgent care if its bad pain and they will do an ultrasound. The pain comes when the stone gets in the ducts.

First of all, congratulations! 22 lbs is something to celebrate! Everyone's body responds differently, but I wouldn't think of your loss as slow. I'd say your weight loss is at the high end of normal for someone at your starting weight and in our age group, based on the reports I've read here over the last year or so. The ideas vary over how many calories are too much. Some subscribe to keeping it around 500-600 for the first few months, but others subscribe to the concept that you have to eat a bit more than that to really keep your metabolism rolling. Your best bet is to consult with your NUT as you suggested, though.

I'm scheduled for surgery on Feb 22 and I have very mixed emotions. I'm excited that my 6 months of weight loss management is finally over and I'm so close to surgery. However I'm really nervous about surgery day itself and I really don't know what to expect as far as pain and moving around goes. Can anyone share their surgery day experience with me?