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First, you're not drinking enough Water. You should be drinking closer to 2-3 litres a day. Second, you also shouldn't be concerned with weight gains or losses during the recovery stage. How much weight did you lose pre-op and post-op? What kind of purees are you consuming and how much? If you're consuming carbohydrate rich purees, your body will retain a lot of fluids. Plateauing during the first 2-4 weeks is normal and gaining a few lbs of water is typical. Read this article about the 2 week plateau: http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html

I have had the lab band for about 10 years now. For me, it was a complete failure. Actually, I found ways to "eat more" with the band, resulting in more weight gain. A few years ago, I had all the Fluid emptied out of it, and went on with my life as if I never had the surgery. I joined Weight Watchers and started losing weight successfully. I am fully convinced that these bariatric surgeries are not worth the money, the time, and the constant discomfort. The only thing that works is a full commitment to a drastic lifestyle change. Unless your insurance pays for the surgery (which mine didn't), save your money and invest in a good treadmill or elliptical trainer.

For those of you who want to review what issues/problems may occur with a bariatric surgeon, I've been updating my blog. The latest has to do with the FOIA'ed police reports I got. Basically the cops never found me in violation of any laws and that I ever did anything "concerning" to the bariatric surgeon, the staff, or the patients. While there were claims of trespassing, it couldn't be justified in any way. I've got more questions on the way. Be careful all, unfortunately there are some programs that you need to really ask deep probing questions about. Whatever you do, ask about complications and their experiences 2 years or more out. Ask how many people come back after 2 or 3 years and how old are their figures and when they gather them. If they deal with nothing but "everything ok", what medical reason do they have to get you back in? Outside of their database for ASMBS? Ask to talk to people who have had complications over 1 year out that were NOT weight gain related. You'll find out some good info very quickly.

I'm 4 months post op, I've lost 50 pounds so far, but this past week I gained 5 pounds! Why!?! Why has it happened? Feeling super discouraged. Is this the end of my weight loss? Has this happened to other people?

My insurance company BCBS said absolutely no net weight gain during the pre op supervised visits with my PCP.

If you can eat enough calories with no unfill then there isn't really a need to losen it! If you are overweight then they won't get super concerned about minimal weight gain or even a little loss during pregnancy. Just keep an eye on how you are feeling and if your band gets too tight when you swell up. And stay hydrated!!!

hey guys and girls just a heads up. I got a gastric bypass recently that i did not need to have. thats right you read that right i did NOT need the surgery. I have an underactive thyroid gland which can cause pcos , irregular menstrual cycles , ALOT OF WEIGHT GAIN ,very bad mood swings , feeling of depression that never goes away and many more other things. My doctors never thought about checking my Thyroid gland with the TSH , free T3 & free T4 test to rule it out before giving me the surgery or even thinking about the surgery. I did ask my doctors every chance i got if there is an alternative treatments and they just said flat out no. and now a few months later i find out from my GP that i have a underactive thyroid gland and i didn't have to have the surgery. Underactive Thyroid gland means that your thyroid is not producing the hormones needed in your body and the rest of your hormones you have are all messed up. PLEASE GUYS AND GIRLS BEFORE EVEN THINKING ABOUT SURGERY DEMAND TO YOUR DOCTORS TO GET THE TSH , FREE T3 AND THE FREE T4 TESTS DONE! you may not need a gastric bypass!

Me too! Oct 15th. Very nervous. Hoping I made the right decision for getting the sleeve over the bypass. I've been reading about people who are struggling with weight gain after a few years with the sleeve and that makes me nervous. Maybe everything makes me nervous at this point. LOL. Excited though. I'd just like it to be done already so maybe I can quit stressing. Can't wait to hear how our Oct group progresses. This is an exciting journey we are undertaking. I admire you all for your courage.

I am a former D1 college wrestler (heavyweight). I've been big all my life, and wrestling/football kept my weight under control. I wrestled at 285 in college and now I weigh 475. While I once blame the immobilization of my two herniated discs in my lower back and the meds administered afterward for my weight increase (common med steroids) ,I think we all know that terrible eating and drinking habits are the true culprits to my excessive weight gain over 2.5 years. Im 6 ft 5 in. So how on God's earth can I go through the sleeve operation without having the extreme drooping and sagging of my skin after losing the weight so quickly?? I hope to schedule my surgery before Christmas '14, but I feel I need to get a gym membership to lift and run asap to start the process now. What are tips and workouts to follow before, during, and after my procedure to keep from having skin removal surgery? I am open to any and everything! I am getting married to the love of my life on 6-4-16, and I want to look as amazing (265) and fit as I did when Liz first met me. I also want to increase muscle mass along with the weight loss. Again, any advice is welcome. Thank you for your help, -Adam

I am a former D1 college wrestler (heavyweight). I've been big all my life, and wrestling/football kept my weight under control. I wrestled at 285 in college and now I weigh 475. While I once blame the immobilization of my two herniated discs in my lower back and the meds administered afterward for my weight increase (common med steroids) ,I think we all know that terrible eating and drinking habits are the true culprits to my excessive weight gain over 2.5 years. Im 6 ft 5 in, and how on God's earth can I go through the sleeve operation without having the extreme drooping and sagging of my skin after losing the weight so quickly?? I hope to schedule my surgery before Christmas '14, but I feel I need to get a gym membership to lift and run asap to start the process now. What are tips and workouts to follow before, during, and after my procedure to keep from having skin removal surgery? I am open to any and everything! I am getting married to the love of my life on 6-4-16, and I want to look as amazing (265) and fit as I did when Liz first met me. I also want to increase muscle mass along with the weight loss. Again, any advice is welcome. Thank you for your help, -Adam

Uh oh.....I just had paperwork submitted to aetna and gained 4lbs during the 6 month trial. Do they automatically deny for weight gain? I thought I saw other posts indicating people were still approved with Aetna even with gain but now I can't find them.... If denied, what options are there?

Hi TMF, I travelled to the South of France to have my band 10 years ago, the surgery was performed by a highly regarded, well know surgeon, at that time he used a Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band which was placed via the pars flaccida technique. Which I believe may have been fairly advanced or new at the time. I'm not to sure about this peri-gastric method to which you refer. Anyhow to respond to your comments further, there were no issues regarding the safety of my procedure and my band was not sold to me as a panacea it was clearly sold as a weight loss tool only. However, I was told that the band was totally reversible and would not cause the stomach any damage (not true) and that it will stay in for life (not true). I'm not knocking the band, it got me down to my goal weight, but I probably had 100 doctors room visits over the 10 years it was in and then started having severe reflux and needed less Fluid which for me equalled weight gain. It was a relief to have it taken out, the sleeve for me, although it's only early days (5 weeks) so far has given me a much more 'natural' feeling of fullness. Which is great. Thanks for your good luck wishes. Regards John

I was banded in 2011, I too had great success, started out at 321 and got down to 144 at my lowest and i am 6 feet tall. Over the past several months I started cheating my band (I have always been a stress eater) and the stress has been out of control. Now I add even more stress because I am so unhappy with my weight gain (41 pounds) that I eat even more due to stress. I now have out of control acid reflux (I feel like the girl from the excercist - it just pertrudes) on top of that I will eat too much and I will intentionally get rid of it and I just tell people that I was stuck. Even though I know I wasnt. I am having such a hard time getting back on track. How do you know if your band has slipped due to too much vomiting? I too can eat anything french fries, white bread, pasta etc. I am so embarresed to go back to the doctor and I have even refused to see my primary doctor because I dont want to get weighed by anyone else. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi JakeLancaster , You would not believe how many people claimed that the smaller Bougie is actually the better choice and if I would have done this blind without researching on the internet I probably would have followed their advise. But I am glad that after the moment my first surgeon (band surgeon who is retired now) suggested a revision and my second surgeon who actually did my surgery confirmed that it would be a good idea to make a sleeve when the band is removed, I started researching. Great topic, I am scheduled for my band to sleeve revision. I think the starting BMI has a lot to do with it too. I would be scared of the 44 size bougie, I really want this to be the last surgery. I get the acid problem with the band though and understand why you choose the large bougie I just do not want to risk it. I am prepared to lose slower than I did with my band, I was told revisions lose slower but your averages sound great. See you on the other side in a couple of weeks! I had only 2 months to make my decision. I was for hrs on the internet trying to find the newest research published by the medical world , newest studies and so on. I am glad I did!! Because even though I value VERY much real life report from Sleevers I still think that each and everyone of us has a subjective approach, which is often mixed with emotional statements. When I went to my last meeting with my surgeon I had a list of questions I needed to be answered by her. I made my decision depending on her answers at the end. I asked about : - which size of staples to use since different cases demand different staple sizes to prevent leakage - wanted to discuss her position on oversewing or not - and buttressing or not - on the problem with the hourglass shape or the twisted stomach in case of an ear curve which happens to be a problem with many surgeon because of the way they staple - on the fact that the staple line distance to the pylorus and the sphincter is crucial in regards to prevention of damage to both - and last but not least the size of my bougie because research shows clearly that there is no difference in the success of weight loss results with bougie sizes between 32F up to 40+ F The surgery in itself through the removal of 75% to 85% of ones stomach and therefor the reduction of the ghrelin (hunger producing hormone) production completely changes our metabolic biochemistry, which at the end causes us to lose weight. But the fact that a smaller bougie size is proven to have a significantly higher affect on GERD occurrence and on leakage made me 150% sure that I choosing a smaller size was a risk I was not willing to take. I can say I'm only one week out of surgery but I did not regret anything. I have no acid reflux symptoms not the slidest nor to I feel I could eat more than my fellow sleever. I am in close contact to sleeve friends who had been sleeved on the same day and when I read what they can eat and what I can eat there is no difference in size or portion. I agree with you Cowgirljane 100% the quality of life is much higher with the sleeve than it is or was with the band. I can not count all the times I was vomiting, the permanent hunger, or almost suffocating in my sleep because of horrific GERD or feeling I would die and having to go to emergency because some kind of food got stuck again and closed my stomach that I felt I was drowning on my own saliva. Since I have my band out and my sleeve in, I actually feel normal again..... I just feel like life is perfect and I just can only eat 2 or 3 spoons full of whatever I am eating for a meal. I feel as full and satisfied as I would have eaten 2 plates of food. I even do not feel the desire to step on the scale every day, which I did with each and every diet or with the band. I feel like all will come as it is supposed to be and that I will be back to my normal slim healthy weight before my illness. It almost sounds corny but I wake up every morning thinking : OMG I am so so happy . Happy I am alive . Happy I got rid of this band. Happy I made the decision to get the sleeve. Happy I feel like I am being a fully integrated part of our social life again soon. Happy I can do stuff with my grandchildren again. Happy I can go to every normal cloths store like before my illness and before my outrages weight gain soon. Happy Happy Happy that me second half of my life started last Monday!!

Hi, My name is Chris, I am 50 years old and had VSG on January 20th, 2014, in LaCrosse, WI. at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital. My surgeon was Dr. Grover and my starting weight was 322# on December 7th 2012, my weight the day of surgery was 295#, as of today, September 14th, 2014, I am down to 217.6#. My reason for surgery was that I was going to be turning 50 years old and was definately not in the best shape and needed to change my life so I could be around for my husband, children and someday grandchildren. The last 8 years truly have tested my faith and wonder for life. I have lost my parents, 2 siblings, but the worst was the loss of my oldest daughter, 2 days before Christmas 2007, she was only 23 years old. I truly have no idea how we got through it, but we did, although life is never the same, but we have to go on, as we have two other children that needed to be taken care of and loved. We also had 3 family losses on my husbands' side of the family, another one being only 22 years old, which in turn brought back all of the memories and loss of our daughter. The losses I lived through, were part of the reason for my weight gain, it was easier to eat than to deal with the pain and suffering. There were also other reasons, but I have decided I cannot live the past and must let things go and learn to enjoy the present and future. I truly wish I had had my surgery earlier in life, due to the fact that I feel so WONDERFUL,so full of energy, that I almost can't imagine how I got through life carrying so much weight around. I am down over 200# since 2012, and am hoping to lose another 50#, but if I don't, I am so thankful for where I am at now. In 2012, I wore a 4XL nursing assistant uniform, today I am in an XL. I can hardly believe it. My jeans were a 26/28, my shirts were a 4xl o a 5xl and today I fit into a 16 pants and an XL shirt. I have not worn those sizes in at least 30 years. It is hard to believe that I can go into a store and be able to fit into regular size clothes and not feel embarassed that I won't fit into anything they have or get the stares, like why are you in here? I feel so blessed that I am almost giddy. I have written down certain dates that have been important, such as the date I got into a size 18 pants, now a size 16, when I got into the different sizes of uniforms. I am now off my blood pressure medications, which makes me terribly happy. I remember the day I was able to fit into my jacuzzi tub without touching both sides of the tub and not being able to be comfortable when the jets were turned on. I feel like I am in such a new world that I am just amazed by so many things, that most people take for granted. I truly struggle with eating some days, as the old habits want to come back into play, but I know that I NEVER want to weigh over 300# again and hopefully soon, I will be under 200#. I do sometimes think that is a dream, but I am trying very hard to make that dream come true. For people who are having a hard time deciding whether to have this surgery or not, please do not wait any longer, you will be so much happier and feel so much better. It is not easy, but in life nothing is easy that you truly want. I could go on and on, but will close for now and hopefully will talk with some of you later.

Do we need to send a message to Alex? He assured me in the past that it was private.I wasn't aware that there was a new ap and people are having issues. I need to commit to exercise because I am a nervous wreck without it. I can't take those SSRI's for depression and anxiety but I really need to . When I do cardio every day, my anxiety is better controlled. For the first few hours in the morning, I feel so nervous and anxious, it's very upsetting. Maybe they have come out with something new since i last tried. I know a lot of those medications cause weight gain, as well. Sheesh, why does life have to be so complicated? When you think about it, everyone in our group is stressed out. Florinda has the state bothering her, Dee is really down, Sheryl is out of sorts, Sheila is trying to get used to being a mom and working full time, I am a nervous wreck for no reason at all that I know of, etc. What has being overweight most of our lives done to us all mentally?

I've been back on the 5:2 bandwagon for a couple of weeks and have managed to rein in the really bad junk I was consuming; hence, weight gain. Have lost back down some of the weight. Need another 5-8 pounds to be where I want to STAY. (Yeah, here I again! ????). Haven't been on BP much because the new app freezes up everytime I try to read posts on any thread. Lots of people having the issue so hopefully, there is. "Fix" soon. Anyway, let's hit it, Girls! Florinda, "Fall- new season - fresh start!"

I'm so glad you are in a good place now. I had my surgery April 2nd 2012. I was 182 pounds by surgery date. I was at 211. I have Cushings and this was the solution. I met my goal of 145 in 4 months because I couldn't stop vomiting. My goal is 115 and was 9 pounds from it and they don't know why I have abnormal weight gain. I'm back to 146. I have never stopped vomiting or gagging every day. My food still consist of the step above fluids. Sometimes I can eat something solid, but an upper GI showed the food or liquid hesitates before going down. Real food feels like glass ripping my insides all the way down. I had been off of here for a while because my Parkinsons symptoms got real bad but where my doctor left me the good Lord showed me a way. I had lost 75% speech and thought process. I did my own research and found something to try. It worked well as an off label test and now it is on record. I have no symptoms at all and hopefully we can try for a grant to study more patients. My brain is like a sponge, wanting to learn everything. I have full speech and thought process back, but I'm still vomiting or stay nauseous but promethazine helps. I got discouraged because I went from a 6 back to a 12. I didn't lose my waist length hair until I had to go on heavy rounds of steroids. I finally cut it myself last week. I did a reset and now if I eat the sweets the dumping happens and I don't care for that. No one told me about gallbladder problems or digestive problems that would occur. Keep up the great work and attitude! You are doing great!

Thank you all for your responses. It will be interesting to see how my skin bounces back. I'm only 22 and my weight gain was very rapid due to being diagnosed with an auto immune disease about 2 years ago I really became immobile. I only got up into the 200's two years ago and it was impossible to come down my weight just kept adding on. My breasts will definatley need surgery because I have always been large chested and gravity hasn't been kind. No fun to be 22 and have saggy boobs! Also I'm 6 days post op and this morning I woke up and my stomach was flat! ... And my butt. I don't know how much weight I have lost yet because I don't own a scale. I think I'm gunna keep it this way so if I want to know the number I have to get my butt to the gym! Later down the line. For now I'll just wait till I see my surgeon.

Beni is right, it can take a while for your skin to catch up with your weight loss when it's been rapid. The younger you are the more likely it is to tighten up but the older you are, and the longer that you have been overweight, it's less likely to. Having said that it's partly genetic I think. I have yo-yo dieted all my life, gaining and losing up to 140lb and yet I don't have a single stretch mark - other people get stretch marks with a much smaller weight gain. I do get flappy arms and a wobbly stomach nevertheless. I always found that exercise made the biggest difference because at least the excess flab is draped over a shapely frame! I'm not convinced that anything that you rub into your skin makes any difference - apart from making it well hydrated. After I lose the weight this time I'm pretty sure I will get a tummy tuck as I've always wanted a flat stomach and there's no other way I'll get one, even with exercise!

You know... get back to basics, clear the house of junk, get back to measuring and logging your food, step up the activities. I do a semi-fast twice a week to maintain. If I stop any of these things I gain. I have recently lost my mom, and the stress of this and other things have thrown my practice out of whack. I have gained around 3-4 pounds over my goal range. Even though I have been snacking and eating out a lot the last two months, my weight gain has not been more because of the semi fast days (5:2: see pinned at top of vets forum) If I tighten up my other days to 12-1500 cals a day, I should be able to get the 3-4 pounds off in a couple of weeks. I did gain 22 pounds during year 2, and after trying lots of plans to get it off, found the 5:2 worked to get it off pretty painlessly.

Hi, my name is Nikki. I'm 39 yrs old and I'm from Mississippi. I have 4 children ages 22,15,14,and 13. I'm recently divorced and very happy. I'm a massage therapist that works for a chiropractor for the past 9 years. I've been overweight probably for the past 4 years. I started to seriously gain weight when my oldest son fell ill with complications from sickle cell disease. I had to stop working out and give him all of my attention and support. Emotional eating played a big role in my weight gain too! I've researched WLS for the past year and just decided that enough is enough in this weight gain/loss roller coaster. My surgery is set for October 21, 2014 and I'm very excited and nervous all at the same time. I can't wait to be happy with my self image again!

I have my first appointment scheduled with the surgeon, nutritionist, and psych for September 23rd. From my research, my insurance requires 3 months pre-op of monitoring, etc. I've seen plenty of post of people denied coverage for any weight gain during this time. My hope is for a January/February surgery date. My main concern: in my 3 months will be a wedding (not mine, a friend) with shower and bachelorette, my birthday, Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas. I have never NOT gained during the fall/holidays. Is anyone else facing this situation? How do you plan to make it through?

Hi. I am almost a month out and I am having energy issues. By the end of the day, I am exhausted. It has, to be fair gotten better, but i just don't know how to better manage my food or Vitamins to get to somewhat normal energy levels. I have lost about 20 pounds from the day of surgery ( including post surgery weight gain ). I look different and my clothes are falling off of me. I feel like I can't enjoy the new me quite as much as I would have thought. The nutritionist told me to eat more and workout less ( which is a dream to hear ), but I don't feel right and my work is starting to suffer due to lack of interest and motivation. I feel bored, and I don't know why. I assume that it's due to lack of energy and lack of mental clarity. Any suggestions on foods that may help pick me up?

Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice/support on having my band removed. I was originally banded in 2007 at 319 lbs. I lost 30 lbs to get the band. After it was placed my lowest weight was 275 about 5 months after surgery. Over the next 7 years I gained all of my weight back and then some. I got back up to 330 lbs. Until November of last year I decided to change my lifestyle and eat healthier, exercise etc., I am now 250 lbs and working hard every day to keep the weight off. I have been experiencing all kinds of stomach issues and had all the tests done, endoscopy, upper GI etc. the fluid has been removed from my band but apparently my band is fine. In my head I feel like the band is making me miserable and I want it out!! I no longer want this foreign object in my body if it is not serving me a purpose. I have talked to a surgeon and she thinks we can get it done and insurance will cover it. I would like to get some input from those who have had their bands removed. The thought of any surgery scares the heck out of me and I do not want any other type of surgery such as bypass or the sleeve I just want to be done with it. Are those of you who have had it removed glad that you did it? Have you had any complications? I know weight gain is a big concern but I am not as concerned about that as I am about feeling worse. Right now the band is sitting there doing nothing, should I just leave it? I am so confused...... ~Becky