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I worried my fiance' would not be supportive with my choice, so I went to consult and liked what I heard and set up surgery date for a month later, he had no idea, I am self pay. When I got home he probed so much where had I been. I told him I AM getting surgery for my weight loss on June 19. This let him know clearly that my body in not a democracy. I am confident that I know what is best for me. I explained I am in pain with my "older age hormonal change weight gain." He had met many of my relatives and the women especially have gotten hit hard with later stage weight gain. I told him I will fight to change my fate. He accepted it and has become supportive. I think if you take control others will follow. If you leave it open for conversation you will get just that. Your own self endorsement is really what you must look for. Take charge and don't need permission if your waiting for it.

So ok. I started having feet problems back in 2004. was working on concrete all day and figured I needed some sort of orthotic. my weight was around 400. over the course of the next year, started having chest pains which the Heart Doc said was caused by stress, weight steady climbing. in 2005 weight is almost 500 lbs, feet and knees killing me, drinking tons of energy drinks to make it thru the work day, seeing a podiatrist who says I have heels spurs and degenerative bone disease. makes me take LOA from work to wear special foot supports (boots) to try and ease the plantars fasciatis. off work for 1 month, weight stable around 500 at this time. september of 2005, the podiatrist again makes me take medical loa and am off my feet for next three months. weight starts climbing. can't sleep at night, chest hurts all the bloody time, usually because I am angry and blood pressure now a major issue. go in to visit with HR and they tell me that my only option is to report for work or be terminated. doctor says I can't work. lose my job, lose my benefits, watch my 401k get eaten alive, go into bankruptcy. I go in for a sleep study and find out I have sleep apnea, the sleep doctor tells me that I have apparently not gotten a good nights sleep in almost 25 years. cause for depression, suicidal thoughts, weight gain, I get put on a cpap. laying flat on my back now, can't move around, weight going up, chest hurts, legs hurt all the way into my hips. get a chest x ray and my heart is the size of a small football. no wonder it hurts...skip forward as all I am doing in 2006, 2007, 2008 is lying in bed dying. finally get aproved for medicare and go see a doctor. after a few visits, he suggest I see Doctor Lee Schmitt from alabama surgical weight loss center. I go to a seminar at St Vincents east in birmingham alabama and weigh myself. 590 lbs.gained almost 2oo lbs in 4 years. speak with Doctor Schmitt. he tells me to get my weight down below 500 lbs and he will do a gastric bypass. I start drinking protein shakes and eating salads. my weight starts inching down a lb or so a month, I start trying to walk and can make it from 1 telephone pole to the next and back again. I start trying to extend my walks every week until I can walk a quarter mile, and go back to a bypass support group meeting st st vincents east, I weigh in at 550. I have lost 40 lbs. I continue doing the protein shakes and salads and start going to the support group meeting every month. I have an interview with Doctor Schmitt and my weight is at 525. NOW I have to start jumping thru some hoops, visiting with a Psychologist and a nutritionist and getting evaluated and poked and prodded. I get a surgical date for december of 2008 and 1 week before my surgery, when I am doing a liquid diet to shrink my liver prior to surgery, the bloody shrink puts a the breaks on my surgery. she insist I speak with a therapist and take a test, the test cost me out of pocket over 400 dollars and told me what I already knew, I am depressed and suicidal and bi polar and just suffering from PTSD. I go in for a sleep study (also required) still need the cpap. I hate that thing. hurts my face, if I roll over I drool and the bloody thing fills up with drool, ever wake up drowning in your own spit? GROSS! february 15th 2009. report to ST V's at 5:30 am. I weigh in at 490 lbs. they lay me down on a bed, a nurse injects something into my IV and off to sleep I go. wake up time, my wife and daughter are trying to wake me up in recovery. jessica tells me that cloee my cat wants me to wake up I think, kinda foggy on that memory, but I wake up. within the next hour Sandra, My Wife, gets me up and walking short distances in the hallway. 2 days later I go home. will continue this story later.

About the only way you can get revision is serious GERD. But weight gain that soon after sleeve may indicate to some surgeons you aren't ready to undergo another procedure. Check with your bariatric center and see if what you are eating is contributing to weight gain. (are you back to old habits like soda, fast food, junk food, snacking, grazing, etc,). Also be aware that some medications can cause weight gain. Check any meds you take for weight gain as side effect. You need to figure out what is really going on before considering surgery again. With the restriction gone from sleeve, your weight now depends on you and see what you can do to fix problem. Getting regular exercise? Sent from my SM-T580 using BariatricPal mobile app

All people meet it at some point in their weight loss journey. It might come after you experience complications from surgery, or when you travel for vacation, or when you are unusually stressed at work. It might even come when you least expect it, when your diet and weight loss have been going smoothly for months. “It” is the dreaded plateau. How Do You Know When You Hit a Plateau? Simply enough, a plateau is when you stop losing weight even though you want to. It’s not just a day or two without weight loss. It’s a period of a few weeks or more when you keep trying to lose weight, but the scale does not budge. You think you are doing everything you can and should be doing to lose weight, but still you do not see results. That is a plateau. It can be frustrating and discouraging and seem to be unfair. Stay Positive Plateaus can be maddening, but the absolute worst thing you can do during a plateau is to give up. If you decide that your diet is not worth the effort, you are almost certainly going to gain weight. Going back to your old, pre-surgery diet habits, taking oversized portions, and eating high-fat, high-sugary foods will not just make you gain weight. These bad habits can erase your health gains. Worse, they could cause some of the weight loss surgery complications that you already know about, such as the following: Stretching of the sleeve in vertical sleeve gastrectomy Dumping syndrome in gastric bypass Esophagitis with the adjustable gastric band (lap-band) Feeling nauseous or having diarrhea Another reason to stay positive is to keep up your motivation to continue all of the other healthy behaviors in your lifestyle. Don’t fall into the trap of “all-or-nothing,” in which you decide to give up all of your healthy efforts just because your weight loss isn’t quite what you want it to be. These include: Taking your daily vitamin and mineral supplements Getting enough protein and fluids each day Following your regularly exercise routine It Could Be Worse And it will be worse if you give up. It may sound strange, but you can stay positive by thinking about how much better your weight is now than where it could be if you gave up trying. If your careful diet is not leading to the weight loss you had hoped for, it is still preventing weight gain. If you give up, you will gain weight, and probably be pretty disappointed in yourself. Measure Success in Other Ways Another way to stay positive is to stop focusing on the scale. Find other ways to measure your progress. Tracking your body measurements, for example, can let you know that you are shrinking and building muscle even if your total weight is not decreasing right now. Tracking behaviors instead of measurements is another strategy. For example, you assess your success according to whether you eat well, such as hitting your protein goals or sticking to your planned menu. Other successful behaviors to be proud of yourself for are planning and preparing meals ahead of time and making sure you drink enough fluids at times other than meal times. Be Honest and Go Back to the Basics “Why me?” That’s a natural question when you hit a plateau, but most people don’t ask it seriously. However, if you think seriously about what is causing the plateau and how you can fix it, this question can actually help you break through the barrier and get back to losing weight. In many cases, you can figure out “why me” by asking yourself these questions. “Am I logging every single bite that goes into my mouth?” “Am I following the meal plan my nutritionist or surgeon gave me?” “Am I measuring – not eyeballing – all of the foods I eat?” “Am I exercising as much as I am supposed to be?” “Am I getting in my protein each day?” “Have I been too busy or preoccupied to plan my meals and snacks in advance?” If you answer these questions honestly, you might discover that you have slipped up and are not keeping up your good habits quite as well as you thought you had. Go back to the basics of meal planning and nutritious eating, and you are almost sure to see the scale move again within weeks. You’re in Charge! Plateaus are frustrating and nobody wants to experience them at some point, but almost everyone does. These steps can help you when you notice that you are in a plateau. Stay positive and keep up your healthy behaviors. Focus on other measures of success besides the scale. Assess your diet honestly. Make any necessary changes. You can get over your plateau, and you will be stronger for it! Just be patient and do what you know is right for your health.

Hi I am 27 months out.I had made goal fairly quickly in the first year.And had passed it.Then I was hospitalized in my 13th month and was on a liquid diet and constant ivs.I had some weight gain from that and during that year I was on a week of Prednisone.I have been on trials of meds for certain things.My total weight gain was 20 pounds.My surgeon gives a 10 pound grace.I am 10 pounds over.Any help or suggestions would be appreciated thank you

We are back from our 2 weeks in CT. The cold weather was a wondeful change to our 80s in Florida. I was so excited to see my sister and friends and to get their reactions to my new look. Everyone cried when they saw me. Good tears, thank goodness. They were very proud of me, which made me feel wonderful. I was very worried that 2 weeks away would cause me a weight gain. I tried to sign up at LA Fitness for the 2 weeks, but they wanted so much money, I decided against it. My aunt had a treadmill in her basement - a very old one, but it worked. And my cousin lent me some weights. So I went down into the cold cellar every other day and worked out for an hour. I also did not cheat on my food in take. I stayed on track and when I stepped on the gym scale today was thrilled to find I had a 3.1lb loss. I have just over 1 lbs to lose to hit the Onderland. I have lost 67 lbs since my journey started and feel amazing. And I have to say I got whistled at in the supermarket! We had a great Thanksgiving. Now I have Christmas and New Year's to get through. And because I am hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my home, I can control what gets served and eaten by me. All is good. I think 2011 will be a good year for us all.

Go to www.oa.org and click on "meetings" for meeting times and places in your area. This is from the website: OA is not just about weight loss, weight gain or maintenance, or obesity or diets. It addresses physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. It is not a religious organization and does not promote any particular diet. OA members differ in many ways, but we are united by our common disease and the solution we have found in the OA program. We practice unity with diversity, and we welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. Welcome to Overeaters Anonymous. Welcome home. Good Luck!

Do you use FaceBook ? Linda Walsh from Nutley, NJ just posted the following question on the recently launched BariatricPal FaceBook page: Hi. I just returned home from losing my lap band due to severe slippage with a prolapse--the stomach had folded back over he band and twisted inside out. This was all due to a severe bout of the stomach flu twice last month. (I work in 12 Child Care Centers every week and am bombarded wth every virus you could imagine!) I could not hold anything inside me for a week. And of course I waited till I had things in control at home before seeking emergency care--of course it was a saturday. The Doctor said the stomach was very stretched out and battered--I had been vomiting blood and had bruised the top of the stomach badly. He refused to put in another band till it was totally healed. I agree, the pain and sickness it had caused me was not something I wanted to deal with before I got healed. The recovery is 100 times harder this time. My whole belly is covered in dark purple and red bruises. I barely can walk. The swelling is huge. I had nothing like this with the Lap band insertion surgery..Pain inside and out as well--He had to stitch the stomach closed also. Now what do I do? I didn't get a chance to think about what I would do in this instance. I am basically an emotional wreck, mourning the loss of this marvelous tool, and yet can't even think of putting myself through the agonly again. In the 2 1/2 years I had the band I lost 139 lbs. Previously I had lost 54 lbs. pre op. My goal is 150lbs. Ironically the time of the surgery I had weighed in at 192. I had gone below 200 and didn;t know it--well the fact that I lost 10 lbs in a week but puking and not eating or drinking. I was super dehydrated, and this morning the 10 lbs Water was replaced. Back to where I was. I have a goal of 150 (first goal weight) and know I am so close. I do NOT want to go back. But with a 10lb water weight gain in 2 days, how will I lose? I actually am not peeing enough still. I was seriously dehydrated!!!! Had to get potassium bags and 5 Fluid bags, and still very little pee. Dr said its my body absorbing again. I don't know. Im very depressed and very disgusted with myself for going through all the years of watching and measuring and hurting and not being able to get the right balance which destroyed my band and its usefulness. Is it worth putting my body through agony just because I haed the first band fail..IS IT STILL WORTH IT? Sorry for the rant but I.m feeling like a failure! Thanks for listening, Linda Walsh, Nutley NJ (Dr. Strom Montclair surgical associates) Click here to respond to Linda's question on FaceBook.

My name is heather and I'm a scalaholic. lol. I've done the same thing and experienced the same thing with the weight gain after peeing. Or even seeing the scale stay the same! I weigh myself about 2 or 3 times a day. Usually 1st thing in the morning. If it's a weekend I'll wait an hour and weigh myself after the morning weigh in and then I usually weigh myself at night just to see how much i'm up from the day. So no it's not just you there are others out there just like you!

I have always had a weight problem, with weight gains and losses, but now I am out of control with my weight. I am over 300 lbs. 17 months ago, I was at 200 lbs. I am so miserable, so depressed, that the doctors keep putting me on diets that don't work, and I honestly follow them. I actually excercise too. I think it's the depression pills they have me on along with my other meds that are making me gain so much. I need help. Does anyone know if Kaiser pays any part of the surgery?:scared2:

I know how stressful it is waiting to find out if the insurance will pay for the revision. My dad is currently waiting for his approval after having his band removed due to slippage, they denied him the first time because his BMI wasn't high enough yet. It's really sad how he has gained every pound that he lost back because he is hungry all the time. His lapband surgeon has been no help what so ever, and still has his picture up as a success story, sorry I just ventured off topic there. Good luck on getting a decision soon, I also have PCOS, and know how fast the weight gain comes and how hard it is to get off.

Your story echoes many of ours, just different names and places. Puberty is not an uncommon trigger for weight gain, many of us where rail thin till the big P and then BAM! It hits us, middle age widens us even more and before you know it we are morbidly obese. Most all of us here have a success story that we can share, there are a very few who have failures. You have to weigh the risk VS reward. We all wish you the very best as you start your new adventure in weight loss.

I have no experience with this, so I'm not sure if I can be helpful or not, as I am in the beginning of my journey. Your self worth is not your waist line or in the scales, I'm not telling you to accept this new weight gain though, you have worked hard and I'd be feeling the same way. Your keeping your exercise routine up and that's good, baby steps with that and you'll have to work you way back up. Hang in there!! and don't give up.

Wow, they actually let you have food in the hospital. I got nothing. The first day was nothing orally. Boy was my mouth wanting H20. The second day was juices and I couldn't sip the cranberry. I was so hungry. I think it was stomach acid. I picked up on mashed potatoes. I focused on eating my protein first, I didn't have any kind of potato until my 8th week out. We need alot of protein sot hat is what I had to focus on because I am worried about losing my hair. Now I think protein, protein, protein and I eat very little. Your weight gain may be water weight. I know you will do it, this is not a failure. It's the real thing. Hang in there and the weight will start to fall off.

OK, you might hate me for saying this, but you just had a baby, give yourself a little slack. It can take up to a year to lose the baby weight (although you really do not have very much to lose). Plus, your hormones are still adjusting, and I am not sure if you are breast-feeding or not, but there is another whole ball of hormones! Now, I can relate to how you are feeling a little. I recently started a new medication which resulted in a 7lbs weight gain when I have been stable for a year, so change in diet! I had to stop taking the medication and now am stuck wondering if I can get the last of the weight off. I have been very happy where I was, feeling like I was eating a normal diet, eating properly without feeling deprived. Now I keep obsessing over these few pounds and it is just about driving me crazy! It brings up all my fears that I will regain all the weight I lost. I keep thinking if I try this or try that, maybe it will work, maybe going back to pre-op diet. But the truth is, I really do not want to do that. So I have decided to just eat properly the way I always have been watching just a little closer, relax, and see what happens in the next month or so. I have already lost 1 of the 7 pounds, so I am hoping I am on the right track. You are so full of amazing advice and you still belong here! I think you will find what works for you again! And I know it totally sounds so cliche, but hug your beautiful little baby and remind yourself what you just accomplished...you brought a new little life into this world. Your body worked hard and did what it is meant to do!

I started my weight loss loss journey in may. All of ny pre op paperwork is done and approved. Im sad because I have gained weight instead of loosing. During the exams the doc found out im hypo thyroid.Dont know if weight gain is due to hypo or me not really eating.

Wow....people...people...take a deep breathe. I think the reason swilkins is here because she knows she is making bad choices. She needs support not slapping. Here is a place where we can go to confession. And be loved and lifted up, not beaten up like we were in our past lives. We were heavy for many reasons. But yes, one soda every day, 150 cal every day, 365 days a year adds up to over 45,000 extra cal per year which blossoms to over 15 extra lbs per year alone.(approx weight gain...the actual numbers are higher...don't slap me cause I am sitting in the dark with no calculator.) If we get to 150 lbs...this is 10 percent body gain per year. Ouch.... Every time you want a soda come here. We all walk with you....and add no calories...lol

great amazing wonderful post I wonder if a difference between those that lose 60 lbs and those that continue on to lose the extra 40 lbs is just getting back up after a slip and carrying on? Maybe that's determination, I don't know. It's hard after a slip or a weight gain to get back on the horse. Maybe too, others are okay with that 60% of weight loss. Thanks for your insights

i cant believe how much info this site has given me! Big thanks to all of you who are so eager to help and offer advice! When I turned 40, I declared this "My Year!!" I would do something for myself...and so far this has been my most selfish year ever! ha! I was always skinny as kid...very boney and lanky! My weight gain came on fast because I always thought I could lose it. Both my parent's passed away in 2004...and the pounds came packing on. Depression, bad choice of food, my love for pizza and my passion for a nice cold beer all caught up with me. I turned 40, I'm 5'3" and I weigh 265lbs! ugh! I always carried an extreme confidence....and even though I was sad and unhappy with myself, my friends and family never saw this. I was the jokester and the entertainment at each get together! I always managed to dress nice but the selections are small when you are wearing a size 24 jeans! I just got tired and said "I want to walk into a regular store and grab a shirt off the rack instead of special ordering my Cleveland Cavaliers championship t-shirt and paying 3 times the $ for a plus size shirt!" So here I am..... I'm waiting on approval. I have completed 6 months of nutrition visits, I had a apnea test, scope down my throat to check for ulcers, a psych evaluation (which I can proudly say I passed -haha) and many many tubes of bloodwork. I had my stuff submitted to insurance on Sept 2. They said it would be 2 weeks. They came back right away with a denial due to the hospital not being Accredited, which it is. So they went back to the insurance company...and I am sitting here waiting. They are super quick to come back with a denial but don't mind taking their time for approval. I'm a nervous wreck!! I stare at my phone all day waiting for the call. I keep logging on to my insurance website hoping I can see something positive. That's my story...I appreciate reading all of your journeys, all of your suggestions and all the info you all provide. thanks for reading! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using the BariatricPal App

Kyoto you won't regret having the swallow study. I'm glad you got help with your reflux. Yes...they do stitch the band in place by folding part of your stomach over the band and making a small flap (so to speak). That is then stitched so it almost makes like a belt loop that holds your band in place however, slippage can still happen or more so prolasps. The rest of the band is still free so your stomach can prolasps up above it or the band can slip slightly. It's almost as if it's hinged in place by the flap they stitched. They do this because in the beginning they did have issues with people slipping their bands and found this technique helped reduce that by a great amount. Weight gain stinks for everyone, no doubt...heck we got the band for a reason but, it's still best to know for sure and stay healthy. Throwing up and reflux are not healthy and can actually cause more health issues in the long run. So good luck with your swallow study....I hope it works out for the best and you can start getting slight fills again. Good luck!

I have come to realize from being on this site that every surgeon is different. I have gained 20lbs since my consult to now which has been 10 months total, 6 of which was my 6 month diet (which didn't work for me) and then three months of sending requested paper work from my doctors office to the insurance company and the review time it took). At any rate, I went in for my pre-op appt yesterday and the surgeon never mentioned a word about my weight gain. As long as insurance approved it, he is good to go. It's a shame some surgeons are such a pain when it comes to this.

Out of the blue I looked up Star Jones to see how she was doing, since her successful gastric bypass. First news headline I see " Disaster after weight loss surgery" picture of Star from every angle wearing a white one piece bathing suit. I guess she had gained back 80 lbs and many articles ridiculed her for her weight gain. Now, I am not a fan nor hater... I just wanted to see how WLS can be maintained. I am 80% committed to having the gastric sleeve and my worst nightmare is gaining the weight back few years down the road and for people to make snarky comments. I feel bad for Star since she was so successful with her procedure and I am not completely sure why the restriction is eliminated with WLS after couple of years. Anybody else share the same fear?

No, the Protein powders are not for "weight gain" they are to help "bulk up" weightlifters. They will cause you to gain weight if you eat your regular diet and include them. However if you are using them as Meal Replacements (which we basically are) you will not have an issue with them. I highly recommend IsoPure liquid. It comes in 20 fl oz bottles and comes in different flavors (Grape Frost is my fav). It is the consistency of Water and tastes like Crystal Light. If the flavor isn't strong enough for you, you can even add a little Crystal Light to it but I like it just as it is. Each bottle has 40gm of protein in it so even if you do 1 bottle a day, you'll be all set. It is very important to get all your protein in. Especially for your hair.

so should i be alarmed if the protein powder i am buying says its for weight GAIN? like i said, i'm just trying to verify if its true. does it make a difference which protein powder you buy that will make you gain weight??? is that the main purpose for them? lets dismiss whey, soy etc for a minute here. are there different TYPES of powder for weight gain, body builders and people that just want to get some protein in, like us??? (that was hard to get out!!! lol)

Again, I'm not a nutritionist, but it looks like the GNC product you listed is NOT focused on weight gain, and is probably a reasonable Protein source. I found this on BodyBuildingForYou.com: "So What's The Big Difference Between Whey Protein Isolate and Concentrate? Most of the whey protein powders you find will contain mostly whey protein concentrate with some whey protein isolate mixed in. You'll also find a lot of pure whey protein concentrate, and some whey protein isolate. Comparing the two, whey protein isolate is more expensive than concentrate - because it's of higher quality(more pure), and have a higher biological value (BV). Whey protein isolate contains more protein with less fat and lactose per serving. Usually, isolate contains 90-98% protein while whey concentrate contains 70-85%. Whey protein isolate is the highest yield of protein currently available, and it comes from milk. Because of its chemical properties, whey protein is the easiest to absorb into your muscles. Obviously, with its high concentration, whey protein isolate 'would' be the best to use, but like all great things, there's always a downside. It's more expensive, and just because it's more pure, doesn't mean it'll give you more muscle and size. Its extra concentration may not justify the extra costs for you." So...my nutrionists strongly recommend whey isolate, but what I'm seeing is that there may not be that big a difference. Whey protein appears to be better than soy or collagenic for absorption.