Search the Community

Hypoglycemia is on track because I had to eat alot of fat and carbs to get it there because of low blood sugar and now a ton of weight gain. This surgery is NOT for everyone and I say that unapologetically

It's the sunday after my surgery (Wed Nov 4th was the surgery). I was in the hospital from 6am to 1pm the next day. Surgery must have been a breeze according to the dr. But my dad said the doc was very proud of himself for finding a hiatal hernia and 'fixing it'. Now I don't know too much about them but I do know that I have had many years of misery with my stomach! Was told I just had acid reflux. The gastro doc did every test imaginable and that was the diagnosis. Here take this pill, there is nothing else I can do. And then it was the allergist to test for food allergies. No allergies there, but I had asthma! Where the heck did that come from? Never had it in my life before! Then it just was one thing after another....bad back, sleep disorder, stress....and now the hiatal hernia is 'fixed'. It seems that was the problem! I ate because it relieved the a nausea. I woke up every morning sick to my stomach and green looking even after trying 5 different acid reflux medications. And it took me deciding to have lap band surgery and taking my health into my own hands to figure out what was really going on. Dang! I feel so much better. Sore from the staples, stitches and surgery and I didn't do too well in the hospital with the anesthesia, but I would do it all again just to get rid of the constant nausea, lack of sleep and continual weight gain!!! What a blessing! After a horrible year, this has been the easiest thing I have dealt with. I look forward to my journey and again being a 'hot mamma'! And will gladly share it all!

It's the sunday after my surgery (Wed Nov 4th was the surgery). I was in the hospital from 6am to 1pm the next day. Surgery must have been a breeze according to the dr. But my dad said the doc was very proud of himself for finding a hiatal hernia and 'fixing it'. Now I don't know too much about them but I do know that I have had many years of misery with my stomach! Was told I just had acid reflux. The gastro doc did every test imaginable and that was the diagnosis. Here take this pill, there is nothing else I can do. And then it was the allergist to test for food allergies. No allergies there, but I had asthma! Where the heck did that come from? Never had it in my life before! Then it just was one thing after another....bad back, sleep disorder, stress....and now the hiatal hernia is 'fixed'. It seems that was the problem! I ate because it relieved the a nausea. I woke up every morning sick to my stomach and green looking even after trying 5 different acid reflux medications. And it took me deciding to have lap band surgery and taking my health into my own hands to figure out what was really going on. Dang! I feel so much better. Sore from the staples, stitches and surgery and I didn't do too well in the hospital with the anesthesia, but I would do it all again just to get rid of the constant nausea, lack of sleep and continual weight gain!!! What a blessing! After a horrible year, this has been the easiest thing I have dealt with. I look forward to my journey and again being a 'hot mamma'! And will gladly share it all!

My Doc believes there are 2 groups of people. The sweet eaters and volume eaters. With past results she recommends the sleeve to volume eaters generally. One reason many slider foods (sweets) can be consumed with the sleeve and actual weight gain can be accomplished. With the other surgery you would have instant dumping syndrome from the sweets. One other item I myself looked at was the sleeve was a less invasive surgery compared to the other. Also, I am a volume eater so both myself and Doc agreed that would be the best route. I understand you have to decide but have you asked or considered your Docs recommendations?

This will be my first blog here, so I'll briefly introduce myself to the world of blog-readers, though it may be small. I'm 29 (until a week from tomorrow) and I had surgery on March 6, 2009. I have an Allergan 4cc band placed in Juarez, Mexico by Dr. Jose Rodriguez. Before I decided to have the surgery, I was at my heaviest ever. Shortly after losing 30 pounds or so on Atkins, I started re-gaining weight very quickly; roughly 70 pounds in just a few months following my parent's breakup. Nothing had ever affected me as profoundly as when my parents split up - not even my own divorce. Anyway, one day at 272 (my highest weight) I realized I had fat hands, which I had never had in all my 25+ years of being overweight They were so plump that they dimpled in at the knuckles. I snapped and realized I had a closet full of clothes that didn't fit anymore, and ankle pain every morning when my feet hit the floor. I dreaded that ankle pain every time the alarm clock woke me up. I truly believe I had (have) a food addiction. I would go to McDonald's with my kids, eat my meal (often with dessert) and wait for my kids to finish so I could glean what was left of their happy meals. A couple of nuggets, an extra order of fries. I would eat it all, and it didn't matter if the fries were cold. I once confided in my good friend that I had a food addiction. She thought I was joking and we laughed about it, but deep inside I knew it was true and that I had to do something. I did a quick search for food addiction on the internet and I found a video advertisement of a young lady who had lapband. I thought she was so beautiful, and her story was so much like my own - heavy all her life. There are some things about having had the surgery that I hate. But for the most part, I love that I made the decision to get the band. For example, I hate that I told so many people because I can't stand when someone says, "You can't eat that, can you?" UGH!! lol. "Watch me!" :biggrin: If you're reading this and thinking about having the surgery, consider who you tell. Some people love to tell everyone, and they have that screw-you attitude. I'm not quite as resilient. I wish I hadn't confided in as many people as I did. Another thing is - be ready for criticism. People will tell you you're taking the easy way out. (Lemme tell ya - this is anything BUT easy. The band will make you confront demons you never knew you had. It will force you to think about everything that you put in your mouth. It will cause - at times - physical pain like you've never experienced. It will sometimes scare the heck outta you). Others will say "shouldn't you have lost more weight by now?" or "is it healthy to lose weight that fast?" "why don't you just get that thing taken out?" "I couldn't live with that thing inside of me" all with a sly attitude about them, of course. I had one friend who said, "well, I'm not big enough to have lapband, I just need to lose about 50 pounds," while she was (is) morbidly obese. I think this was her way of telling me she wasn't near as fat as me. In my part of the country, we have a name for those kinds of people - haters. What I love: I LOVE that I've lost nearly 40 pounds and I'm back to feeling like me. I LOVE that soon I won't feel like myself anymore because I'll be an all-new-to-me thin person! I've never been thin, and at my least-fat, I was 198 pounds. (After some serious weight loss, I celebrated breaking 200 by gaining it all back. Go figure.) I LOVE that I always only order the kid-size meal when we go out, and I can't finish it. Now my kids eat my leftovers. :thumbup: I LOVE that my ankles don't hurt every morning, and my clothes are starting to fit again. I LOVE that all the fat clothes I had bought to accommodate my weight gain are now too big for me. And for the first time in my life, I know I won't be fat forever. There is light at the end of this tunnel. I used to say that I was just destined to be a big girl. I LOVE that I don't believe that anymore.

Hi, If you're reading this, you're probably considering sleeve surgery. I will share a shorten version of "my long story." I am 51 yrs old. and have not been obese all my life. Three years ago i quit smoking (30 yr bad habit) and my small 5'2" frame went from 120 lbs. to 195 lbs. I know, it was bad. But that's not the worse part - apparently the rapid weight gain had decided to reek havoc on my liver. Having some routine blood work done was showing my liver enzymes beginning to sky rocket. I was trying weight watchers, Atkins, starving myself, etc. and like everyone else, I would gain everything back again. I used to be semi-active but with the added pounds on my small frame, my knees, back and joints were killing me. There was no way I could exercise - Not to mention, I was out of breath soo quickly. I was so depressed. My extremely high liver enzymes forced me to see a specialist. I went to Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and he told me that if I did not lose this excess weight rapidly, I would be needed a liver transplant in the future. Please note my liver enzymes were over 10X the normal high. On the way home from Philadelphia that day, I called a friend who went to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA for lapband surgery. She told me that she had Dr. Harrison and for me.... this was the beginning of changing my life. My insurance company required me to go thru a 3 month program which included weight loss meetings, meeting a psychiatrist for an evaluation, dietitian counseling, nutrition counseling, group meetings, etc. I was traveilng down to Allentown almost once a week for 3 months. After I completed the entire program, I had a problem with my insurance company. They initially denied my claim and my original January 2012 surgery date had to be cancelled. I was "crushed" but my surgeon appealed their denial and I was back on the schedule for April 24th. : ) I did not have a pre-surgical diet to follow, except to do High Protein or Atkins Diet to help to "firm up" and shrink the size of the liver for surgery. The surgeon must actually lift up the liver to move it out of the way for the surgery. I did Atkins for 2 weeks prior to surgery and then 3 days before surgery, I did a Atkins shake Fast - no food and lost 8 lbs in 3 days. Current weight was 188 lbs. on day of surgery. As far as the sleeve surgery is concerned, well... it was bad for me. They also removed my gall bladder. I never imagined to be in such pain since I am usually a quick healer. One of the hardest parts for me was getting out of bed after surgery. I was not able to use my stomach muscles without a lot of pain. Probably the fact that my stomach was sooo out of shape at that point, there was no muscles. I was lucky enough to borrow a reclining lift chair from a friend and I actually slept in this chair for probably 2-3 weeks. Eating the first 6 weeks was just to survive - I did not enjoy eating at all and I never got physically hungry but there is a mental hunger. I accidently ate a little too much and TRUST ME - you won't let that happen very often. You feel like you must throw up to get this excess out of your stomach. It's not a fun feeling and it lasts about 2 hrs for me. I am now 2 1/2 months post op and I feel great. I am down to 150 lbs. which is a loss of 38 lbs. since surgery. I was wearing a sz. 18 pants and am wearing between 12 and 14 now. I feel like my self confidence is finally coming back and I look forward to a future. And by the way... I went to get my bloodwork done a few days ago and my liver enzymes have almost gotten back to a normal range. This was the whole purpose of my surgery - to SAVE MY LIVER - the other benefits are an extra perk. : ) If you have any questions, Or I can help you with anything, please let me know. And lastly, GOOD LUCK to you. PJones

I don't like Shot Blocks because it's like eating salty licorice. :smile: The rule of thumb is to consume 200 calories an hour when doing endurance sports. I find that hard to do with just drinks, but I can't eat anything and run and I find the gels do nothing for me anyway. It's like they go right through me. What works best for me is a sports drink with a 3:1 carb to Protein ratio (my body hates pure carbs), Protein Bars and bananas. As for weight gain, are you tracking all your food and exercise? I track everything and so I can always go back when I get an unexpected number on the scale and analyze what happened. Without that information, you are just shooting in the dark and relying on (notoriously unreliable) memory.

I have the Para Guard and had no problems, then again the paraguard doesn't contain hormones or weight gain. I had it before surgery 1 1/2 years ago and a few pounds from goal.

Hi Ryan, I completely understand how you are feeling right now. My son is almost 6 weeks old and I experienced the same feelings you are right now: pissed off because all of the sacrifice you've done with your weightloss and now a baby to put it back on etc etc. Let me tell you that when I was about 3 months pregnant I went for 6 days without eating and realized that I was being selfish to my baby. I went and got completely unfilled (heaven by the way). My total weight gain throughout my pregnancy.... are you ready? 11 lbs! He weighed 9.2 of them! You will be surprised that you may not actaully gain alot of weight! You are so used to controlling what you eat that it is just second nature to not eat like it is your last meal again. I didn't crave anything like I did with my first child. I can tell you that even unfilled, the last month I experienced restriction in the morning as if I was filled. That was wierd! Don't stress it will all work out. Each pregnancy is different and you can't compare the two. Enjoy it while you can. I immediately had my dr. cut my tubes! Good luck! Karen

1 bite of anything isn't going to cause weight gain. The main thing is to be vigilant in the future and not let 1 bite lead to a 2nd, and then to a 3rd. (I can't claim to be completely perfect about this, so I'm not throwing stones, just a handful of of Nerf rocks. ) You might call me lucky/unlucky because I wasn't able to tolerate much of anything my 1st month. So I wasn't tempted and was really forced to change my eating habits. I ate only the few things Frankensleeve would put up with - Cream of Mushroom Soup and Peanut Butter. I kept testing new foods, but it was a long time before I could eat more than a tablespoon full of anything.

It’s tough being around loud, pushy people who voice every emotion they feel when they feel it. On the opposite end of the spectrum and easier to be around are quiet people who don’t complain and keep their feelings to themselves. As it turns out, your body begins suffering physical symptoms when you hold unresolved emotional feelings inside. Research supports that the more the emotional baggage is felt internally, the worse it is for the body. Nowhere is this demonstrated as clearly as heart disease or with emotional issues such as depression and anxiety. Women’s bodies are another area that suffers from emotions held in is. According to experts in mind/body medicine, our emotions affect our bodies because they are linked to our bodies via our immune, endocrine and central nervous systems. Just as a broken heart affects our heart and can lead to death, what we feel affects our body and how effective it works. For women, emotions such as unresolved grief or anger at a partner can cause intestinal problems and headaches as easily as it can cause chronic pelvic pain, and many other bodily issues. Holding in emotions weakens your body’s immune system which make it tougher to ward off colds, infections, and when you do get sick you have a more difficult time getting well. Observing a list of body functions affected when women (or men) hold in their emotional baggage is staggering. This is why when you become ill it is so important to evaluate what you are feeling, and what you have been feeling for the past six months because some illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, may take months to become symptomatic. Constipation or diarrhea, as well as stomach pain/ulcers Back/Neck pain Depression Insomnia High blood pressure Anxiety/Depression Weight gain or loss (eating disorders always have an emotional aspect) Sexual problems Rheumatoid arthritis Fibromyalgia Asthma Cancers (for example, pancreatic cancer may present with depression before the patient is symptomatic with cancer) Emotional healing is very different from physical healing. When I worked with cancer patients I was reminded of this fact many times. The tumor went away, and the body healed, but the mind lingered sometimes for years over the experience of losing hair, a body part and/or trust in your body. Counseling becomes a wonderful way to release pent up feelings so you can heal emotionally. There are many ways you can help your loved one or yourself unpack your emotional baggage. Try these suggestions and practice them frequently. Laugh as much as you can. Watch funny videos and allow yourself to laugh out loud. Cry when you need to, don’t hold it in, and just let it flow. Practice voicing, “I’m angry.” You don’t have to do an action with it, just say it out loud and say why. Mindful actions. Before you take any medication for a headache, tummy ache, backache, to stay awake, or to fall asleep, ask yourself what am I holding on to. Begin jotting things down. This small action offers huge rewards. Massages are a common treatment for people who have gone through horrendous crisis, and they’re also a wonderful treatment for fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Breathe and let go of held in emotional pain as the therapist works on the body part that holds the physical pain. Medical care has come a long way with advancements in treating so many illnesses. Your body is more than physical though; there is an emotional and soulful part, which is more complicated to treat. Knowing yourself and being able to express uncomfortable feelings is healthy, not only for your mind, but for your body and soul as well. –Mary Jo Rapini

Have you tried metformin and Spironolactone for PCOS? That's what I'm on and balances out my hormones. I've been on both since I was 16 and diagnosed with pcos. These meds at the right dosages should help with any weight gain that's due to pcos. Metformin alone can do it. I just have the added spironolactone because I have high androgen with my pcos.

My weight gain was due to me not having any restriction from sleeve. There was legit no explanation as to why I had no restriction. I could eat a plate of protein and be full after the entire plate, not just a cup of food like I was taught. I believe developing GERD didn’t help as well. As time went on, certain foods caused it and one learns to stay away from those foods. But GERD can also lead to eating unhealthy foods because they’re more tolerable...thus the weight gain.

I had my lap band surgery on 8/18/2011 and was d/c'd home on 8/19/2011. When I got home I weighed myself and noticed I gained 8 lbs overnight. Has anyone else had this experience and does anyone know why this may have happened?

I'm suffering from PCOS. Irregular periods, weight gain, water retention, anxiety... all the symptoms you can imagine and quite severe. I had my surgery 5 weeks ago in hope to lose some weight and that the body would reboot the whole hormone household and metabolism, having posiive effect on pcos too. I've lost almost 20 lbs in 5 weeks. Currently having a stall and fears not to lose any more weight. But like everyone here on the forum says, carry on with the routine and it will follow. Now coming to effects on pcos.. I feel positive regarding to my body image and weightloss, can sleep much better and have barely anxiety attacks. Can't say anything about menstrual cycle yet. Just hoping it will regulate the cycle too. The facial hair growth has increased though. I was taking inistole prior surgery for PCOS. Stopped at the moment. Will speak to my doc if I should continue taking them. Sent from my SM-N960F using BariatricPal mobile app

I had a sleeve gastrectomy on Monday and had to go through the approval process with Health Alliance. My hospital handled all of the paperwork and there were never any hitches or questions. Then again my hospital has a very good rep, so it may be as much a question of how thorough and diligent the personnel are at your hospital, as opposed to Health Alliance itself. When I first embarked on this journey late last year my doc told me up front that Health Alliance will want to see long-term weight loss during the pre-surgery program and no major weight gain at any point. They never gave me any specific numbers. I was originally scheduled for surgery in April, but of course that had to be canceled due to COVID. When elective surgeries opened back up in June, I did not have to get re-approved; everything was still in place. So no sage words of wisdom, just a singular data point.

It does matter. They want to see no net weight gain.

Thanks Kirajh. Stinks to being hungry doesn't it! Hope the 21st comes fast. I'm now waiting until the 26th. Hoping it happens then. I guess we should just remember that we didn't put it on overnight and it will take time for it to come off. I hope for both of us that the delay doesn't mean some weight gain. I'm going to keep on walking my butt off (3 - 4 miles per day) and I'm going to bed early so that I don't go to the fridge too many times. Good night and good luck. H-324/S-287/C-267/G-160 Anxiously waiting for fill and full feeling tummy. Sue Magoo

You should realllllllly consider BC. After the sleeve so many hormones are being released that you become extremely fertile. I have heard of women who were "sterile" for 15 years getting pregnant months after surgery. If you do get pregnant it is very dangerous for you and the baby to continue on, some women have done it with no problems, but the likelihood of having problems is huge. I am one of the few who is on depo and loves it, every 3 months I get one shot, no weight gain, no headaches or nausea. I guess I lucked out.

I was first diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 18 years old, this was around 1992. At that time, little was known about PCOS. I was basically prescribed birth control pills to regulate my periods. I think I was probably around 200 lbs then. I actually participated in a clinical trial at a research hospital where they were researching the use of metformin to treat PCOS (yes, it's been a while:/). Gradually, the weight gain, painful acne, facial hair, diabetes, high cholesterol, high triglycerides snowballed. All that became complicated by clinical depression. By the time I was 30, I weighed more than 300 lbs. I could not understand why I continually failed at weight loss attempts. I had graduated colleges with honors, earned a Masters Degree, and excelled in my career....I knew I was not lazy nor ignorant, but I could not succeed with weight loss no matter how hard I tried. The depression spiraled out of control and I generally stopped caring about my health, defeated. At 32 years old, I topped the scales at 333lbs. Then I began having long, heavy periods which was my body screaming that something was wrong...endometrial cancer. In 2006 I had a complete hysterectomy at age 32. Single, no children, devastated. Then came medical menopause. I eventually began to feel better and was able to lose down to about 265 on my own with diet and exercise, but it was a hard, hard struggle. From 2008 until 2012 I bounced around on the scale from 265 to 280 or so. My diabetes was out of control, cholesterol very high. I had lap band surgery in March, 2013 weighing 258. Today I weigh 222. My recent lab work revealed excellent control of the diabetes, cholesterol that is only slightly elevated. My skin/complexion has never looked better. I sleep so good at night and wake up rested. I want to lose down to about 180. I don't have periods any more due to the surgery, but I do feel that the WLS has helped to alleviate the PCOS symptoms. PCOS is more than just a disease of infertility. It affects your whole body and your whole life. It is nothing to deny or to play around with. Oh how I wish I had the information years ago that I have now. I would have had lap band surgery years ago. The lifestyle for wls still requires work and conscious decisions to make your health a priority, but the difference for me is that the work I put in actually yields results! Yesterday I bought a size 18 pants when it wasn't too long ago I barely squeezed into a 28. The NSVs are great too! I know that was a long post, but I hope it helps someone.

Hey! I am guessing from your use name you may be in Idaho? So am I! The 6 month thing is what many insurance companies require. They want you to follow a medically supervised diet for 6 months. Mine is 3 months. I didn't know what to expect for that and was devastated when I went in for my month 1 appointment and had not lost any weight. It sounds like different insurances are looking for different things. I think some want zero weight gain and others want a few pounds lost....I think they basically want to make sure that you can follow doctors orders. My doctor explained to me that yes they would love to see weight loss during the diet because it makes you healthier for surgery, but as long as I didn't a lot of weight, I would be fine. My doc has been more focused on using the diet and time to really prepare me for surgery.....getting a support system in place, learning about food choices, exercising EVERY day for 30 minutes, even if it is a light walk. It seems like such a long time at first but it goes by very quickly :-)

Thanks so much for sharing your stories. I was banded in March and am down 33lbs. My pcos symptoms are slowly fading. Good to know there are others out there as frustrated as I was with the catch 22 of having a diagnosis that causes weight gain while the only "cure" for it is weight loss. Best decision I ever made!

I have a question about loose skin. I have a bunch of it. A small pannus, arms that could fly, and more than enough belly skin to go around despite my still needing to lose another 50 after I have the bambino and only being down about 70 some pounds. Will I get more loose skin as the bump starts to grow? More stretch marks? Or will the loose skin I already have just sort of take up the slack? I'm only nine weeks and while I can't button most of my pants anymore (no weight gain yet) I am not showing at all, but I am wondering...

From the UK. I had my op 6/2/13 and was doing ok but last week I gained 2lb!! And this week I am at the same weight as my 2lb gain. I was doing ok till then having lost 26lbs in 6 weeks. Has anyone had experience/advice on this. I want to be honest with you all and say that I have been drinking alcohol as I was away for the Easter break with my family and managed that well but I did not over indulge by any means and also this does not account for the 2lb weight gain incurred prior to my weekend away. I'm a bit scared by it. Will I never lose any more. My start weight was 182lbs (13 stone) and I am now at 159lbs (11stone 4). Hope my calculations are correct I do everything in stones and lbs. I'm grateful for some support, advice or a serious talking to......x

Hey ya’all. I am 3 days post op from a lap band revision to the RNY bypass. It wasn’t the smoothest of recoveries. I was sick for almost 2 days. Vomiting more than I was taking in. Also I got Crepitus from my breast to my eyes and it swelled up my left side of the face. That has subsided a bit but still painful in the neck and it rubs on the inside so I get terrible chest and upper back pain. Now my abdomen on the left is so swollen than my left upper this is swollen. Feel like a fatty. The worse of it all is that i gained 22 pounds in the hospital and I ate barely anything. I just about lost it when I got home. But since I couldn’t eat anything they continuously pumped in fluids. Anyone else out there he any of these problems and relate and help me through this “scary phase” of healing? Otherwise I am pretty excited I had it done. I was able to drink a crystal light tonight and not get heart burn like I would have with the band so i was excited about that.