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Yay for you! Good job on preop weight...be prepared if you get on the scale tomorrow you may have some weight gain, just fluids drops off quickly. I was sleeved on the 19th and i am down 10 since surgery. Had pintos n cheese, frozen yogurt and lemadelines tomato soup today. Plus a protein shake....was a good day. Besides the acid reflux which i know will go away this is the best thing ever...you will see....we are on our way! ~kris

Have you had a blood pressure medication change recently? My doc just switched me to a med without HCTZ (it depletes potassium and I struggle with low potassium). Anyway, since Saturday I'm up 6.5 pounds. Yup - you read that right! The only "good" thing is I know I'm retaining Fluid due to my medication and that it isnt a true weight gain, but boy is it frustrating to see on the scale. Obviously I have a call in to my doc to go back to my old medication and deal with low potassium as needed. Just a thought -

Thanks for the responses. I am going to take said advice (as it confirms what I was thinking) and have a very slight unfill. Perhaps 0.2 or 0.3. I am terrified as I have have been so tight for so long, that a newfound openness will cause weight gain, etc. but I am hoping that by being better able to eat more balanced, that it will be ok...... Appt for nov 24. Thanks again.

Not every one develops gall stones after weight loss surgery. Many actually had them already. They are caused by high cholesterol or high bilirubin levels & can develop during menopause. As you lose weight cholesterol, which is stored in your fat, is released as you lose weight & can cause stones to form. They found a stone at about my 6/7 month mark after a ultra sound to check my liver function. Don’t know when mine formed as I was menopausal before my sleeve, my cholesterol had gone from a steady for years 5 to 5.6 as I lost weight (it’s 4.1 now) & I have high bilirubin. I won the lottery of causes. Never had symptoms before my first attack 25 months after my sleeve surgery. I had my gall removed about two weeks later. The gall removal surgery recovery was similar but different to my sleeve. After sleeve, I had no gas or pulled or strained abdominal muscles. I had a lot of gas pains & muscle strain affecting my movements for a good week after the gall surgery. But no restricted diet, constipation or diarrhoea, no swallowing issues of course so that was a plus. My surgeon used the same incision sites he’d made for my sleeve. I was home the next day. Same weight restrictions for lifting & same no driving for a week again. He sent me home with some opioid pain meds but I didn’t take them. Did take one nurofen, with his permission, on day 3 but no pain meds at all after that. Just put up with the gas & muscle pain. Haven’t heard about a potential for weight gain. I have gained 2kgs in the last five months but continued to maintain my weight for 6 months after the gall was removed. I attribute the weight gain to starting a higher dose HRT & working on increasing my protein in that same five months. Plus I’m at the 3 year mark & there is always a potential for weight gain during that 2 or 3 year mark. Since my gall removal I don’t absorb protein well anymore which was unexpected & is likely just me. We tried medication (creons) for 3 months which didn’t seem to help hence my increasing my protein intake. I’m back on creons to give them a longer go. I am noticing my hair is thinner (not shedding like after the sleeve) & my nails are weaker because of the protein issue. The other odd side effect of no gall is I have random diarrhoea attacks. Usually every 2 or 3 weeks. Almost like there’s a build up acid, which the gall used to regulate. It irritates the bowel & causes the diarrhoea. My sister in law is the same & she hasn’t had weight loss surgery. My aunt says if she eats anything fatty she gets nauseous. Not everyone is prescribed meds for gall stones after surgery. Personally, it seems odd to prescribe meds to dissolve gall stones before you have them. I did ask my surgeon about dissolving the stone after my attack but he said: if you grow one stone you will grow another so it’s best to remove the gall. I have three friends who have had sleeve surgeries too within the last 4 years. None of us were prescribed urisidiol or similar & I’m the only one to form a stone. But your surgeon must have their reasons for doing so.

You are putting too much pressure on yourself. 126 pounds in a year is a tremendous accomplishment and you deserve to give yourself a huge pat on the back for getting to this point. There are "stalls" in the process, I am only five weeks out and had my first stall a week ago and I am sure there are more to follow. If you are doing everything that is being asked of you, why do you feel it is not enough? Could it be that way because you have emotional struggles that need to be addressed by a therapist? Or could it be that you are comparing yourself to a version of yourself that may not exist (for the time being). Or is it that you have established muscle which weighs more than fat and switching your exercise routine may be the answer? Instead of beating yourself up, look for solutions in unexpected places. Maybe visit your nutritionist and get some feedback about your diet; she/he may suggest something different. Stress, sadness, the feeling of being overwhelmed won't make the scale tip in the direction you want. It may also contribute to weight gain and even worse a general feeling of malaise that will lead you down the path of turning to food for comfort. It is going to be okay and the number on the scale does not define who you are, your worth or take away any of your previous successes.

Thx so much ladies. Well my story is not that far off from most. I gained most of my weight after I had my son in 2008. I am an asthmatic and have been put on steroids constantly which adds to my weight gain. I had lapband surgery done Feb 2010 and lost around 55lbs but gained most of it back. I have done tons of research on the sleeve and sleeve plication and now I am looking into having a revision.

Hello everyone, My nickname is Izzy and I am happy to have found support as my WLS journey begins. I am 36 years old and have dealt with weight gain since i reached puberty. I have PCOS and hypothyroidism, metabolic syndrome, asthma and pre-diabetis. And with all these disorders I never thought I would have WLS. I was naive and thought it was an easy way out. Boy was I wrong! this takes a lot of courage, letting go, allowing support from others and I am sure I will find out what else it requires. Well after battle-ling with severe lower back pain,for 1 1/2 years, that made it hard to enjoy my life as before and gaining 30lbs that took me 4 years to loose, i finally listened to my doctors and decided to do this surgery. Its was a scary and hard road just to get all the tests. Now 6 days post surgery I am so happy and looking forward to a new life. I look forward to learning from others here. -Izzy

Some of us can tolerate it while others can't. Is your fear sugar because of dumping syndrome or weight gain? If I have sugar and carbs I crave them more. I don't get sick from it in small amounts. I also feel bogged down when I don't eat healthy.

I was led to believe that any carbonation was banded for life. Something about the carbonation irritating the sleeve and causing weight gain.

My doc wanted to check my thyroid, turns out it is lazy. Might explain the 44lbs weight gain in the last 18months, or at least how more easely they came than before. So I am starting on some thyroid meds. But what I am worried about is does it affect the surgery or more so the weightloss after surgery? It would suck so bad if it will cause me to lose less after taking this step and all the sacrifice.

@@SWEETTEA I don't want to derail the thread, but yes, I had a doctor explain it to me that way. We have the disease obesity. And like any disease, there are treatments and there are cures. WLS is a treatment for the disease, not the cure. Eating right, exercising, tracking calories etc is the treatment, not the cure. That's why if you stop the treatment, the symptoms of the disease return (weight gain). Made total sense to me.

@@hisandhersleeves you are not alone!! I've read that other people on the board have gained over the holiday too don't tell anyone, but i gained 4.2 lbs!!! what is done is done look toward the future you gained 6 lbs over the holidays GET OVER IT KNOCK IT OFF!! you can't do anything to change/undo the past couple weeks vaca over the holiday all of a sudden being home food, food, food all over temptations from the devil dwelling/upset over your "temporary" weight gain doesn't help go with the present and future you can control both of those i have confidence in you you will get back on track whatever your weight loss is congrats i'm sure you have been doing great get back to "normal" follow everything @@McButterpants said!!! she's such a smarty pants good luck bud kathy

I agree with Missy and CG, they are there. After 2 kids and endless weight gains and losses I have the USA road map on my belly. I have cottage cheese thighs, but I am thinner and healthier. I don't plan on wearing a bikini this summer either or any other.

I'm not sure how to explain this but am going to torture you all by trying to muddle through. I recently heard a speech or whatever you call it on Sexual abuse and harrasement. Now...I have never thought of myself as being a victim of this, but this person obviously has triggered something. I can't stop thinking about what she said and this one moment in my life keeps poppingin my head when I do. When I was 16 my moms boss at the time grabbed at me and tried to kiss me....he said something about if I wasn't careful that I would end up as fat as my mom. His teenage son came in and kinda kept anything from happening. I remember telling my Mom, but she didn't believe me and said something to the effect I must have been mistaken. Now here is the interesting part...or the part that has started making me thinking I'm mental. Looking back through pictures and videos of myself, I wasn't heavy at that time. I won't say I didn't have a weight promblem, because I did...I was dieting almost constantly...and in the typical teenage fashion doing it in not so healthy ways. But sometime around that time is when I slowly started gaining weight. I mean it wasn't sudden, but looking at my pictures you would think thats when my weight promblem started, because thats when my attempts to control seem to have started failing. Now I have lost weight over the years...and to be honest I haven't thought about that incident in my life for years and years. But since hearing the speech its been tumbling around and around. I have a pysch evaul in August, and I really don't want to delay the surgery at this point....but think I might benifit from some type of body image counsiling as I loose the weight. Anyone else want to psycho anaylize me in the mean time . And if I talk about this now with the psych will it jeapordize my approval? I have never before thought that my weight promblem was all that emotional, since my weight gain was slow except for the weight gained and not lost during my pregnancies. Melissa

I really think you should wait to have any plastic surgery done until you are closer to goal. I am now down to 150 lbs at 5'5" from 294, and am very close to my 140-145 goal. I can tell you that my body has made changes I never thought would happen. My breast shrank with the last 15 lbs and actually look better than they did two months ago...so I believe that if I had already had something done, I would have to have it redone at some point. I just know that my sister-in-law had breast lift, implants and TT done all at once when she got down to 200 lbs and needs the TT done again after a 30 lb weight gain and loss. Any kind of weight fluctuation will effect the TT. Her breast didn't seem to change a lot when she put the weight on and then lost it again. I only want to go through that sugery one time!!!

I've also heard such dire predictions from the so called "nay sayers", and also that on average an individual will loose only 66% of their excess weight with the band. My weight loss has also been basically stalled over the past few months, but I do attribute that to the 2 surgeries I have had since December, 2012. I will reach my first "bandiversary" short of my goal, however also 78 lbs less than I was, and much healthier from a clinical standpoint. I have little doubt that I will reach my goal, as I know how to work with my band and how to eat a healthy, band friendly diet. The carb addiction which was a major factor of my weight gain is in the past, and I am vigilant to keep it there. I know from my history, it will be the exercise which will help me reach my goal. It helped me to begin to use a "Fitbit", which helped me see how many calories my activity level that day had burned, and it motivated me to get on track and exercise more regularly. I still lack the patience to participate in "My Fitness Pal", at least I believe that is where you log your foods daily. I just try to stay with basic and unprocessed foods, and that has worked for me. I also believe that motivation for success and maintaining focus on goals are integral parts to successful weight loss. We will all get to where we want to be weight wise, if we are sufficiently motivated to get there!

In 26 hours I will be sleeved. Having second thoughts?? My mind is playing tricks on me telling me that I really do not need this surgery!! I know I do need it and still am going through it....was wondering did anyone go through this....is it normal? I am looking forward to the weight loss and able to run around and play with my 5 year old....Today she asked me if this surgery will help me take her to the park and play with her...I just cried realizing I am missing part of her life because of the ball and chain I have on my body.... I want to be healthy and be off MOST of my meds.....tired of giving myself insulin and taking so many pills...I feel like my parents where they take a pill for every ailment they have...I refuse to be like them..... I want to walk into a normal store and buy ANYTHING off the hanger without wondering how long can I fit into these clothes before I have to buy new ones cause I out grew them,,,,,, I am tired of being tired and out of breathe everytime I do something or too much pain cause of the pain in my legs and back due to the weight gain...looking forward to being able to take control of my own home and clean it the way I love to clean.... YES THE SLEEVE IS FOR ME!!!! I am playing mind games with my brain telling thenm that I need to do this because of all the positive in my life....TIME TO GET RID OF THE NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I better start writing about this journey now so I don't forget. I had lap band surgery November 3, 2007. I actually lost about 60 pounds with the lapband at one point but gained most of the weight back. For the first four years of the lap band I was in constant flux. I dieted more in that four years than in the rest of my life. In December 2011 I was back up to 255 pounds. At that point I realized the lap band had failed me and I needed to consider other options. Through a long drawn out process I was accepted by my insurance company to get a revision to the Sleeve. On December 27 I decided to make a radical change in my lifestyle and eating. After confirming with my bariatric surgeon that I qualified for the revision I decided to become a raw foodist for the next five months. It was a very positive experience and I learned a great deal about health and nutrition. I have to say I read everything I could get my hands on regarding raw foodism, veganism, and the like. I finally understood what it is to make a very real lifestyle change. Understanding that eating processed, boxed, bagged food was not the answer, it finally dawned on me that what I was missing was the live enzymes of fresh fruits and vegetables that no one seems to think are important, or simply don't know that they're absolutely necessary and needed in the body. I watched quite a few documentaries and I'd like to recommend that you also consider watching these few. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead was the first documentary I watched; that became life-changing. Foodmatters, Food Inc., The Gerson Miracle, Burzynski, Forks over Knives, and The Beautiful Truth. Sorry more than I thought... Anyway I guess what I'm trying to elude to is that we've all had an eating problem to the point where we've had to have surgery once or twice and for some of us it is still escaping us as to how we can actually make a real change that will ultimately save us. So many times I have heard people say I could never give up sugar, coffee, meat, wheat, bacon, soda, etc... When I hear this I think then a lifestyle change for you is probably not something that is going to happen for you. How much do you truly want good health? Maybe it's time to start pushing yourself in new and different directions, maybe there is new and exciting information to be gleaned that will help you to a better and healthier you. For me being a 80-10-10 raw foodist wasn't for me. But I did adopt eating a high fresh fruit and raw vegetable diet into my new lifestyle. I have decided to include cold blooded sea creatures in my diet as well as cooked Beans and rice in moderation, but also to maintain a balanced healthful diet for me. Please understand I am writing this as much to myself for my own remembrance as I am sharing my experience with you. The day of surgery I weighed 204 lbs. Two days after surgery I weighed 213 lbs. that was disappointing but the Water weight gain from th IV was to be expected. Today is 7/1/2012 and I am at 202. So from December 27th 2011 to June 25th 2012 I lost 56 lbs. I am so excited about where I am going... God bless us and keep us! Mardee

The past 6 to 8 months I've not like posting my weight on my anniversary, as you can see, it has stayed in the same range. Today makes 17 months since my banding. I am still struggling to get my fill just right. I thought my 10th fill would be the perfect amount, but I still believe I need a tad more. I still can eat anything, bread, steak etc. some days are tighter than others, but I find that it is only about 1 week out of the month that I have perfect restriction - and that is during my monthly. sometimes when I ovulate I am tighter, but again, that is just a few days out of the month. I will be going for fill #11 next week, right before my cruise. I know some might think I'm crazy, but I'm sick of not losing so I don't care if I am tight on the cruise. I don't want to gain on the cruise, I actually would like to lose a few pounds while on the cruise - this will be a first if that happens. The average weight gain for a cruise is 10 pounds and I've always gained weight while on a cruise. Always, at least 5 lbs, last year, I think I only gained around 3 or 4, I can't remember. Well, it hurts, but I have to be honest with myself - so here is my weight history since banding......month by month. I am still determined to finish this race by my 2 year anniversary! I want to lose and hit my goal, I will lose and hit my goal! I will not give up and I will not quit until I reach my goal! Highest weight - 248 1 mo post op - 206.8 2 mo post op - 198 3 mo post op - 193 4 mo post op - 184.2 5 mo post op - 178 6 mo post op – 174 7 mo post op - 178 - went on vacation and ate big (7 day cruise) 8 mo post op - 174 9 mo post op - 170 10 mo post op- 167 11 mo post op - 170 - haven’t even been trying 12 mo post op - 174 - again, not trying. But finally refocused - exactly where I was at 6 mos post op – so basically no weight loss in the past 6 mos 13 mo post op - 183 - Ouch! started taking steroids and made my weight go up, along with not eating right and no exercise! 14 mo post op - 185 - grrrrr 15 mo post op - 180 - weight is finally going down, but inches are actually coming off faster since I've been exercising a lot. 16 mo post op - 178 17 mo post op - 175

I had my gallbladder removed about 10 months before getting sleeved. I gained about 38 lbs in those months and the weight gain didn’t seem to be slowing down so WLS was a must at this point. Comparing the two, I feel like I had less pain with the WLS. I actually asked my mom if she was sure they even did anything! 1. I didn’t need any painkillers after WLS, but I took them for about a week after gallbladder removal. 2. I’m typically a stomach sleeper and was also able to go back to sleeping on my stomach faster after the sleeve. 3. i only needed to sleep on a recliner for 2 days after WLS, but slept in a recliner for about 10 days after gallbladder removal. 4. Moving around was also easier for me after the sleeve, mainly because I felt like I couldn’t stand up straight after the gallbladder removal. 5. I was sleepier after the sleeve and generally had less energy the first week. 6. I had a bowel movement faster after WLS and going to the bathroom was easier in general. 7. TMI but I had sex sooner after WLS than I did after gallbladder removal. 8. Oh, my surgeon used my main gallbladder removal incision (the top one) so I only had 2 new tiny incisions for a total of 3 incisions for WLS. He felt like it was unnecessary for me to have more scars than I should so maybe that’s an individual thing that differs from surgeon to surgeon so I’d ask if that was possible. I only have the 3 WLS incisions visible and the gallbladder ones were so tiny they disappeared (you can only see them if you know where to look). So all in all I’d say my recovery from the sleeve was easier than the gallbladder removal, but of course that’s just me. I’m sure other people have it the other way around. Either way, you can do it! For me, the hardest step was actually deciding and committing to the WLS. Don’t worry, you got this!! Please feel free to message me if you feel like you have more questions or if I missed anything.

Rene, my 25th reunion is in 2 years as well, never thought about it till you pointed it out. When I was in HS I weighed over 300 lbs (at graduation)... When I went back for my 10 year reunion, I weighed 150 lbs. BLEW their socks off because the cheerleaders got ugly, the jocks got fat and bald and I just got BETTER Okay well I'm back up over 100+ lbs and I refused to go to my 20th year just because of my weight gain. :devious ***evil grin*** :devious guess I'll be going to my 25th

It's been 8 months since my surgery. For me, the honeymoon phase of never being hungry is O-V-E-R. I caught myself grazing a few times this week, and those calories add up. My old habits made me fat, so it's time for new ones. I needed to find out how naturally thin people eat, so I did a little Google-fu and found this article on Prevention.com that pretty much breaks down the difference between the fats and the fat-nots. I'm posting a slightly shortened/edited version of the article here. Most of you will know this stuff (I'd forgotten all about HALT), but I hope it's helpful to some of you. Habit #2 might be my biggest issue. In my brain, hunger = brink of death = MUST EAT RIGHT NOW. 8 Habits of Skinny People 1. They Choose Satisfied Over Stuffed On a fullness scale of 1 to 10, skinny people stop eating at a level of 6 or 7. The rest of us may keep going to an 8 or 10. Why? Maybe you mistakenly equate the sensation of fullness with satisfaction and feel deprived if you stop short. Or maybe you were raised to clean your plate. Copy Them: About halfway through your next meal, stop eating and rate your level of fullness on a scale of 1-10. Do it again when you have about five bites left. The goal is to increase your awareness of how satisfied you feel during a meal. (Bonus: It also slows down your eating, which allows the sensation of fullness to settle in.) 2. They Realize Hunger Isn't An Emergency We often view hunger as a condition that needs to be cured. If you fear hunger, you might routinely overeat to avoid it. Thin people tolerate it because they know hunger pangs always come and go, buying them some time to eat later. Copy Them: Pick a busy day to purposely delay lunch by an hour or two, and see that you can still function just fine. Then next time you feel those grumbles, maybe you'll hold off before making a beeline for the fridge. 3. They Don't Use food To Cure The Blues It's not that skinny people are immune to emotional eating, they just tend to recognize when they're doing it and stop. Copy Them: Add the word 'Halt' to your vocabulary. More than just a command, it's an acronym that stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired --the four most common triggers for emotional eating. If you're truly hungry, eat a balanced snack to tide you over until your next meal. But if you're angry, lonely, or tired, seek an alternative calorie-free solution to your emotional need. (Personal note: Food as a solution makes no sense. If a friend told you they were lonely, would you tell them that a fish stick will fix it? Sorry, Finding Nemo. Fish are food, not friends.) 4. They Eat More Fruit Skinny people, on average, have one more serving of fruit and eat more Fiber and less fat per day than overweight people. Copy Them: Find ways to add whole fruits (not juices) to your meals and Snacks. Sprinkle berries on your yogurt. Add sliced pears to your turkey sandwich, or bake an apple for dessert. Keep a bowl of fruit on your kitchen table or desk to motivate you to think fruit first, vending machine never. 5. They're Creatures Of Habit A varied diet is good, but too much variety can backfire. Too many tastes and textures encourage you to overeat. Thin people have a "food groove". Most of their meals consist of staples. There are a few surprises thrown in, but for the most part, their diets are fairly predictable. Copy Them: Try to eat as consistently as possible with your major meals--have Cereal for Breakfast, a salad at lunch, and so forth. It's okay to add grilled chicken to the salad one day and tuna the next, but by sticking to a loosely prescribed meal schedule, you limit the opportunities to overindulge. 6. They Have A Self-Control Gene Researchers at Tufts University found that the biggest predictor of weight gain among women in their 50s and 60s was their level of disinhibition, or unrestrained behavior. Women with low disinhibition (in other words, a finely tuned sense of restraint) had the lowest body mass index. High disinhibition (i.e., low restraint) was linked to an adult weight gain of as much as 33 pounds. Copy Them: Prepare for moments when your disinhibition is likely to be higher--such as when you're in a festive atmosphere with a large group of friends. If you're at a party, tell yourself you'll take one of every fourth passed hors d'oeuvre. If you're out at dinner, order an appetizer portion and share dessert. Or if you're stressed, make sure you have a source of crunchy snacks (like fruit or carrot sticks) at the ready. 7. They're Movers And Shakers On average, skinny women are on their feet an extra 2 1/2 hours per day--which can help burn off 33 pounds a year. Copy Them: Try a reality check. People often overestimate how active they really are. Most people actually spend 16 to 20 hours a day just sitting. Wear a pedometer on an average day, and see how close you get to the recommended 10,000 steps. Your day should combine 30 minutes of structured exercise with a variety of healthy habits, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or mopping the floor with extra vigor. 8. They Sleep--Well Skinny women snooze 2 more hours per week, compared with overweight people. Researchers theorize that a lack of shut-eye is linked to lower levels of appetite-suppressing hormones like leptin and higher levels of the appetite-boosting hormone ghrelin. Copy Them: Break it down: Two extra hours of sleep a week is only 17 more minutes a day--a lot more manageable, even for the most packed of schedules. Start there and slowly work toward 8 hours of snooze time a night. This might be a little tl;dr for some of you, but I tried to trim the fat! Pun totally intended.

Oooh! Sorry that you had to have th eband removed, be careful of weight gain! Just my personal waring. I only had a revision in November of k]last eyar. I am just now starting to lose again since my intial weight gain while empty and it has been a battle of my own wits, not surgeon's. He is satisfied, but I am not. I am back to being overweight! Anyway, glad to hear that you are on the mend. It can happen to anyone, but it is not as common as people on this board seem to think. Mine was my 2nd slip, the 1st one was approxiamtely a year and half before, and it was easily fixed by an unfill for a month. I think the 2nd was because I sick and then let myself get dehydrated. People, take care, call your surgeon even if its Sunday, and don't do what I did, i didn't want to disturb him and flet it coudl wait for Monday! Good luck.Karen

There are simple and tasty ingredients that can be added to meals and snacks to help with weight gain. Add butter, Use whole fat dairy products. Add dried fruit. Mix in nuts, such as cashews or almonds to salads, trail mixes or cottage cheese. Hope this will help you to gain your 40 BMI. Cheers

I have been thinking about getting banded for a while now. Went to the info session back in July and got a little freaked out so decided to go to the nutritionist on my own to see if there was anything I could do to change my diet... found out I’m doing what I’m supposed to with food and exercise. Went to the Dr and got tested for just about everything that could cause weight gain (I have always been heavy but gained like 50lbs in 4 months... odd). From that I found out that I may be diabetic (second test is still being run). The whole reason I wanted to get banded and lose weight was to do it BEFORE I became 'unhealthy' (i.e. diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, ect). So Monday I decided I’m sending in my application. At 5'4 and 250lbs I know I’m a candidate... and looks like my current insurance covers surgery so I should be all good Of course Monday I also found out we have to change insurance coverage which means I have to pay WAY more out of pocket and I don’t even know if the new plan covers it:thumbdown: Hope all go well in the end though... I’m ready to live again!!!!