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I just thought I would share some of my story for those of you who are struggling with getting to the green zone as I am. I was banded in July. I lost 15 lbs in 14 days on the pre op diet. My first fill was 2 CC and I was primed with 1CC during my procedure. I had 5 fills in between then and now. I only lost another 15 and gained 5 back even though I felt like I was eating way less. I realized i had been misleading my Dr., unintentionally. I had been telling them what I was eating. Not what I was capable of eating. When I was discouraged, my portions became larger as I started to give up and not watch what I was putting in my mouth. Had I been more forthcoming with what I was able to eat, he most likely would have been giving me larger fills. I was also discouraged right after a fill. The first week I would be tight and feeling like I was in the green zone and by week 2 I could eat almost anything again. I was embarrassed that I had gained those 5 lbs back and finally worked up the courage to make another fill appointment and get back on track. I went to my fill appointment and waited until my dr came in, fully expecting to be scolded or frowned upon for my weight gain. I explained to him everything that I was experiencing and he gave me a larger fill of .75 CC. I believe my band has just over 5CC now. He also wrote me a prescription for a new drug called contrave. At first I was resistant to try it. I just had weight loss surgery and now it's back to the pills that have never worked for me in the past? He told me it was only temporary and it was a way to jump start my weight loss as the scale was moving in the wrong direction. I agreed. Filled the prescription and waited two days before I started taking it. I read some reviews online and found very few positive ones. I decided to give it a shot anyway despite the negative side effects I read about online. Turns out, it is working for me. I have lost 9 lbs in a very short period of time and the scale is moving in the right direction again. I have my motivation back, however I am experiencing some side effects but very mild and they have lessoned as time went on. So the moral of this story is.. Communicate with your surgeon and be extremely honest. And DON'T give up

My husband has always been kinda funny about me wanting to get my breast done (even before weight lost weight gain weight loss etc). He always said I feel like anytime a man buys a woman boobs someone else ends up getting them in the end. Which hurts. I’ve almost always worked. But I worked because I enjoyed it. We used anything I made just to blow and have fun. So when I won. I said welp I guess I can pay for it all myself. He is a great husband. He just is weird about some things. He has cute dimples so it just melts me and all is ok 😂

There are some antidepressants that can cause weight gain (for example, tricyclic antidepressants are notorious for it). Surely your doctor didn't prescribe an antidepressant that can cause weight gain since they know that you are trying to lose weight. IMO, the best antidepressant for overweight patients is Wellbutrin (burpopion) because it can actually promote weight loss. Sorry, I am a pharmacist so I can't stop myself from making drug recommendations. I know everyone pushes the "reset diet" but I have to say that what made it easy for me to get rid of my regain and not feel hungry doing it was my doctor prescribing me Ozempic. I am a type 2 diabetic and I had been taking Bydureon in the past without weight loss effect then my insurance removed Bydureon from their formulary and I was switched to Ozempic. Weight started coming off within a month of starting the Ozempic and just kept coming off. I have currently lost around 30lbs. If you are not a diabetic, Wegovy has the same drug in it as Ozempic (semaglutide) just at a different dosage for weight loss. I have been taking Ozempic for almost a year now and I no longer have cravings and rarely ever even feel hungry. It is funny how Ozempic, Bydureon, and Saxenda are all in the same drug class but I only experienced weight loss with Ozempic. I just flat out couldn't tolerate Saxenda. Slowed my gastric emptying to an unbearable level. Bydureon worked for my diabetes but didn't have any effect on my weight. Of course, these are all injectable drugs (Ozempic/Wegovy/Bydureon are only once a week though vs daily for Saxenda). Contrave is an oral weight loss drug that contains wellbutrin (bupropion) as one of the ingredients. It seems like it would be a good option for those who can't stand the thought of using an injectable medication but honestly, I. Rybelsus is the oral equivalent of Ozempic. Phentermine is probably the most popular weight loss drug but I have known of people with poorly controlled hypertension to have strokes while on phentermine so I don't recommend it unless I know that the person either does not have hypertension or they take their BP meds and check their blood pressure frequently. Best of Luck

Hi All! Its been a while since I posted anything or been active. I found out in November that I was pregnant. I was 8 months out of surgery when I got pregnant. My fiance and I had just gotten engaged a few months before and were planning our wedding. So it was definitely a surprise! I was really nervous about proceeding with the pregnancy. I just knew I would be ready in just one more year (I've been saying that for the last 5 years!) BUT I was pregnant now, 33, in a great relationship, with a stable income, healthier then Ive been in a while and all out of excuses not to start my family. So my journey began... I am currently 23 weeks pregnant! This is my first pregnancy so I have nothing to compare it with but this has been my experience in case any of you find yourself in my situation. Its hard to find doctors who understand how VSG affects my pregnancy. They understand that I need to be monitored more but don't really get the nuances. One example; I was given this HUGE jug to collect my urine over 24 hours. When I returned it, I was told that they need AT LEAST 4X more urine than I had collected. They were convinced I didn't collect all my urine. I told them that was everything I had to give! They told me to drink more water. Now this community knows how hard that task is. I still can not eat and drink at the same time. I also cant just drink a gallon of water in one go. It feels like a herculean task. I have tried 3 times and have still not filled this jug! I've learned that drinking tea increases my urine output so I have hope for my next attempt. I was really sick throughout my first and second trimester. I already had bad acid reflux before and after surgery and was taking omeprazole to relieve it. Turns out you can't take anything stronger than Tums while pregnant. So on top of the normal nausea, I felt the need to throw up to relieve my indigestion and heartburn. I started really hating food when everyone else kept trying to feed me more! I've been feeling better now though. I was allowed to take pepcid and it actually helps. Now, I have the desire to eat more but still cant eat more than a few bites of anything in one sitting. My food also takes forever to digest so I have to be really picky about what I eat. Fruits are my best friend! I kept my surgery a secret. My fiance and sister are the only ones I told about my VSG. So no one really gets why Im having a hard time eating more. They also keep wanting to see my belly but Im not sure how to explain my incisions. It feels too late to say anything now... so its awkward and more isolating than it could have been. But my family can be SUPER judgy so I think they would just find a way to make me feel bad about it and I don't need the added stress. I get to do more sonograms than your average mom to be. Because of my VSG and previous hypertension, I'm monitored more and have more doctor visits. I really don't mind! I love getting to see whats going on in there! So far so good... mostly. I keep expecting the docs to say my baby isn't growing or Im malnourished but that doesn't seem to be the case. Everything is progressing normally and baby looks good. They did mention that one of babys kidneys is not eliminating waste as it should. The other kidney is fine but they want to keep an eye on it. Of course we are worried but its actually pretty common and generally resolves itself. If it doesn't, there is a small procedure to fix it after birth (if necessary) so we are trying not to sweat it. I got Covid. I'm a teacher and as soon as the mask mandate was removed, I got COVID. Never mind that Ive been vaccinated, boosted and was still wearing my mask! Im actually recovering now. (SIDE NOTE: We seem to be having a second surge at my school. I wonder if any other teachers (or parents) have noticed that?) I was EXTREMELY sick the first week. I was lightheaded, coughing, full of mucus, achy and just couldn't get out of bed. I also couldn't take any medicines because of the pregnancy. My mom kept sending me home remedies but when I looked them up, there was always a warning for pregnant people. I just had to ride it out. Baby seems ok but I'll know more at my appointment next week. As far as my VSG goals... I was 195-200 lbs when I found out I was pregnant (SW:267) and had been stalled there for almost 2 months. I was getting a bit discouraged because my whole weight loss process had been so slow and felt harder for me than it seemed like it was for some people here. I also had a friend who had her VSG after me and had lost almost twice as much weight as I had so I knew it wasn't in my head. I started drinking again and sneaking in more cheat snacks. When I found out I was pregnant, I cut out all alcohol and was really strict about making sure the little food I ate was good for baby. I dropped 20-25 more pounds. Im currently 175 lbs. I havent really gained any weight. Part of me is happy about that and still trying to get to my goal of 155 while pregnant. But I know I have to put on weight for baby. It's really a mind f**k. Doctors say the baby is growing normally so there isn't much to worry about... yet. Technically I'm still overweight and they don't recommend as much weight gain for overweight moms. Im entering my third trimester now and am supposed to put on 1-2 lbs a week. We'll see how that goes. Im still trending downwards... If you made it to the end, thanks for reading through this entire post. I hope it helps. I hope to update you with only good news in the weeks to come! Last note, I'm having a girl! So exciting!!! My VSG has definitely complicated things but I think we made the right decision and I am really excited about entering this next chapter of my life healthier than I have been in years!

So, it is said that some people who lose a lot of weight gain the self security and corresponding attitude within themselves to be more open to others of the opposite sex. Has anyone left their spouse or significant other because of their new weight loss?

So I had my gastric sleeve on October 18th and since been losing weight evenly. I was down to 209 and then my period started on the 5th and I jumped up about 5lbs. I wasn't really worried as I normally gain 5lbs around my period but yesterday was the last day of my period and I'm still up about 5/6 pounds. Any of you have similar stories? Should I be worried or should it go down in a bit? Any advice is appreciated! Also having my 2nd follow-up with my surgeon next Monday.

Hi everybody, A little background info: Had vsg in Fall 2012, lost 120 lbs, felt amazing! I got married, had a baby in Fall 2014, gained weight. Had another baby in Summer 2016, gained even more weight. I sought the advice of my bariatric surgeon, he recommended full bypass, and gave me a goal to lose 15 lbs, before he would schedule. Well, I've lost 40 lbs. I feel like I should be able to get back to my goal weight (165lbs) without having a bypass...but the task of losing another 80 pounds seems almost impossible. Has anyone on here, lost that much weight, without additional surgery? Thanks for reading.

So my VSG surgery on August 26 everything appeared to be going fine.... the last 4 days my scale has crept up from 242... to 245! I dont understand why this would happen, I'm following my plan, maybe a little short on water, but not much and I'm not premenstrual atm...... what would cause this...its disappointing seeing it go up ..... makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong.... help.... has this happened to others? Sent from my SM-G965W using BariatricPal mobile app

I had posted this on the WLS Veterans forum, but thought it would be a good idea to post this on this forum as well. I had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago. I was incredibly determined and managed to lose 180 lbs. in a year's time. I'm 5' 9.5" and I went from a size 28 to a size 10. Now, I've regained a lot of weight and I'm starting over. I thought it might be helpful to list the steps that caused my weight gain. My goal is to tackle these 6 and starting moving in the right direction. Does anyone else have additional things that contributed to regaining weight? Stop weighing yourself Stop tracking your food intake Stop exercising Drink liquids with meals and ignore the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after rule Start eating your old favorite foods Stop visiting Bariatric Pal forums

I had a very good experience. I did not have gas pains and only took liquid Tylenol. My biggest issue really was having to get up every 15 minutes the night I was in the hospital to go to the bathroom because of the IV fluids. Though on the upside I did not have the high liquid weight gain some get the day after surgery. In addition to doing short walks the first couple days I was back at the gym on day four on the treadmill.

Warning, i'm preop, so take this as it comes I feel ya. There is a part of all of us, I'm sure, who resent that we have to monitor every little stinkin' bite we take or pay the price in a weight gain. And there have been times when I've franklin fallen off my plan out of sheer rebellion at the relentlessness of it. I've spent the past year simply trying to be more aware of what I'm eating and why, quite deliberately trying to get the oughts and shoulds out of my thinking. And the real truth is, being overweight is just a pain in the posterior. It's inconvenient. it's uncomfortable, it's expensive - and that's without taking into account that it's gotten harder and harder to keep my blood pressure under control and now my blood sugar is creeping up, too. I've decided it's worth the relentlessness to get my health and energy back. I want to retire in the next couple-three years, and dangit, I want to enjoy it. I want to be able to travel and hike around Europe and simply bend over to tie my shoes comfortably and not wince at photos of myself. If I have to buy new clothes, I want it to be because I've either worn out or fallen out of love with the ones I have, not because I've gotten too big for them. I'm just plain done with that. I don't know that this will help you, but you've come this far, surely it's worth the the effort!

Hello from another that was in the same situation as you . . . Banded and lost 83 and gained back 35. . . . never received restriction from the band and like you did a little cheating on the band and that's why the weight gain. I also, had the same thoughts prior to sleeve surgery last week. My thoughts just before surgery were "I will never give up on myself because I am worth it and others are depending on me to be there in the future" . . . that should be enough to put your fears to rest. I believe everyone of us that are banded, sleeved, and RNY'd have cheated on the diet. I can guarantee you that each and every one has done it. so, don't feel like you are the only one that let things slip. But, it is what you do with your life after the slip. Never, Never, Never give up on your WL journey. You have done great with the band. I was sleeved last wednesday and everything is going so well right now. I am walking daily and keeping to my healing meal plan. Getting in my water and protein and staying with the program. I will overcome my excessive weight with this procedure. You should feel this way and believe in it. You are worth it. . you health will be so much better. Good luck with your surgery.

I wish you all the best. I still struggle with the fear of weight gain and find that there are days (like today) where I cannot stop eating. Even though I am choosing Protein first and trying to keep track of what I eat, I get over whelmed with depression and then "the moose is loose" in the kitchen. The food I have in the house is "safe" but when I go to my parents home I have even a bigger challenge. Tonight I was offered a mini bag of popcorn only to realize it was kettle corn. Like an idiot, I ate the bag (didn't want to offend dad) and then I was nauseated. I am still on the weight loss diet and loose about 1/2 lb a week. Though I am getting closer to my goal, I fear the day when I start gaining. I know this is a life long struggle and the surgery is a tool to help meet my goal. Fighting the head/mind games will be an ongoing battle for the rest of my life. It helps to read that others have the same struggles.

you were banded a month before me, I gained 2lbs between surgery and my 1st fill I have since had another fill, how often are you seeing your Dr.? don't worry too much about a weight gain though like the person above said it's a marathon not a race, and there are days when I can retain as much as 5 or 6lbs of Water. Don't give up.

It could just be your PCOS, unfortunately. I just read another post of someone who had unexplained weight gain with it the other day. Try not to feel defeated or give up though. Even if you didn’t lose another pound which hopefully you will you are still better off than you were before surgery. Or at least that’s what I try to tell myself (I have bipolar and it’s similarly difficult for me to lose it all and keep it off because of the meds and depression). I would keep asking the drs and nutritionist for advice and try what they are suggesting (hopefully something does work for you) but don’t be too hard on yourself if it doesn’t. I know that for me that if I hadn’t done surgery a year and a half ago I would probably be even heavier now than I was before I started all this (I was gaining about ten pounds a year) so the fact that I am somewhat smaller instead of even bigger is certainly better than nothing. I may not fit into my skinny jeans but at least my knees don’t hurt when I exercise like they were beginning to pre surgery. Trust me, I know it doesn’t seem fair and it gets to me some days too but I just try my best to maintain what I have lost because I know that every pound I can keep off is better for my health. You are currently down 57 pounds!! That is definitely something you should be proud of and if I were you I would celebrate that loss. Don’t just give up on losing the rest by any means, but at the same time don’t be too hard on yourself either. Our bodies and circumstances are all different. Try to focus on the non scale victories that I’m sure you have already seen with a 57 pound loss when it starts to get you down.

YAY! Well I am certainly always glad to kill two birds with one stone! I am 23 soon to be 24. I just got married 4 months ago. We have been together about 5 years. When we first started dating I was the "ideal" 155. I gradually and unwillingly gained slightly over 100. I suppose I was in denial for years of the gradual weight gain. However, It was always that elephant in the room! I saw my wedding photos and I was just astonished. It was almost like a slap in the face, I knew I just was so unhappy. I didn't get to have the wedding dress of my dreams because every bridal shop we went to only have sizes 4-10 to try on it felt like. I havn't told my husband yet what I am going to do. Not that I think he won't support me but more like I would love to not bring attention to something we have always know was there but yet opt not to talk about. Obesity runs in my family, my uncle and my mother definitely struggle. My Mom fortunitely had gastic bypass 6 years ago. I thank god every day I see her that she did. She is so happy and loves life and lives it to the fullest everyday! I have never seen her so happy. I wish she would have done it sooner. So I know I do not want to let it get that out of control I want to put an end to it now. As for not having a safety net. I suppose it will still be there however, you will probably learn really quick as to what it is willing to take and what it just won't. At first it's hard to get things "threw" In time in moderation I hear it's easier but simply only as a "treat" not a permanent fixation.

I was sleeved Oct 17 in South San Francisco, CA. My journey has taken several years and I've had to switch surgeons. (The first required me to lose 85 lbs pre-op and even after I lost 50lbs he said to keep going, and stop eating fruit... needless to say I got a 2nd opinion) I was originally scheduled for June 20 but got sick, then I was put on steroids for my asthma, so my rescheduled date of July 22 was canceled also due to weight gain (due to the dang steroids!!!) So I'm now happily post op!

I'm glad to hear that someone besides me is on a dreaded plateau (although I'm not glad you're on one). I've been on one for over four months. I also began to tweek my diet, going back to a double protein shake for either breakfast or dinner. (If you whiz it up with some unsweetened frozen fruit and some fat free/sugar free instant pudding, it's not half bad.) I have been tracking every morsel of food. I'm now regularly under 900 to 1000 calories a day. Can't seem get it less than that. Less than that leaves me too hungry and I'm afraid I'll go crazy and eat something I shouldn't. My doctor and I have discussed it. The only thing left is to increase physical activity. An increase in aerobic activity can jump start metobolism. I'm trying, but I'm severely arthritic and have some restrictions. If I heat my knees before and ice them after, I can do some stationary bike work. The problem is finding the time. But I perserver. These weight plateaus are very discouraging, but I have learned that when you hit a plateau it is more important than ever not to overeat. Weight gain can occur rapidly on a plateau because metobolism has bottomed out. I'm actually encouraged by the fact that I have maintained my weight for all these months. Please let me know how you're doing. And if anyone else has hit this wall and has some suggestions, or just some encouragement, please let me know. Thanks.

My massive weight gain is from an under active thyroid problem...I am at my highest weight ever...I weigh more now than I did when I was pregnant with my 3 children...God in Heaven please forgive me...We had a young relative die from WLS...She never made it out of surgery, because of a blood clot to the heart...I may not have the surgery now, because the doctor called and said my eco was abnormal...Going to the cardiologist tomorrow...He will have the last word...They all think right now, that my throid is being removed...If I do have the surgery, I will tell them the truth after the fact....

Hello Everyone, My name is Melissa and I am scheduled for surgery on July 9th. I am 50 years old and have been fighting the weight gain/loss battle for the past 20 years. I finally decided 1 1/2 years ago that I needed to finally take care of ME. In retrospect I feel like in the past I put everyone else before me. Now it is me time. Yeah!!!! So excited. Start my 2 week liquid diet next Saturday. Should be interesting.

As a fellow asthmatic I can tell you steroids are notorious for weight gain. Ah you can't live with them and we can't live do well without them. As the King says in Anna and the King of Siam says " is a puzzlement" Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

A bariatric surgeon named Dr. Matthew Weiner has several informative videos on YouTube, and one is about the reasons people regain after losing a significant amount of weight due to WLS. He was not my surgeon, but I found his videos to be very helpful. Besides lifestyle choices such as being sedentary and overeating, there are other possible causes of regain, such as certain conditions or medications. Steroids such as Prednisone can cause rapid weight gain. If someone injured their knee, as an example, and was prescribed steroids as part of the healing process, he'd have the double challenge of having to limit physical activity and taking medicine that will likely cause weight gain. Many antidepressants cause weight gain, as do various hormonal medications. Your stomach does not significantly stretch after having the VSG, but as your body heals and adapts after surgery you will be able to consume more than you initially did. There are many caloric "slider" foods that you can quickly consume without having the same level of restriction as with denser foods. I had the VSG in 2015 and have been maintaining a BMI on the low end of the normal range for over a year, but my weight bounces around about 10 pounds due to medical issues. I have Addison's disease which makes me dependent on steroids, which can cause my weight to rapidly surge. Anytime I'm going to be encountering a stressful situation, with work or even just something like a really long flight where I'll be sleep deprived, I have to take an increased "stress" dose, and I gain weight. I then just work to get that weight off again. But I can see how if someone was in a chronically stressful situation, that would be much harder.

Recently at the gym I spoke with a person that had gastric sleeve surgery about 3 yrs prior. She lost a tremendous amount of weight - 275 lbs. and over time gained back 200 lbs. My question is, how does that happen if your stomach only holds 1/2 c of food. I had the roux en y procedure and if I eat one tsp more than I should then I am miserable.

You can't "spot lose" weight because you gain and lose weight all over your body; it would make sense that even one's private parts will change with a large weight loss--they changed with a large weight gain, but we were so busy watching our buns or boobs get bigger that we didn't pay much attention to the less obvious parts. I have noticed that there's a little "pillow" on top of my pelvic bone--it wasn't there when I first met my husband. The mechanics of female pleasure don't seem to be working quite so well for me at this heavier weight. Since reading this thread, I'm actually looking forward to possibly losing that little pillow--I'm not sure I need so much "cushion for the push'n"!:thumbup:

Hey everyone. I am 4 years out and struggling with the covid 20 and some additional weight gain on top of that. I am working with an online coach for exercise training and nutrition following a macro based diet. I have not lost any weight so I reached out to the team where I had my surgery and they commented that my macros are way to high for protein. They were happy my calories were in the 1500 range (135g protein/160g carb/ 45g fat) but concerned about the protein being so high (optimum is 60-80g). Anyone else follow macro based plans?