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Don't you feel the world is attacking obese people this week? It seems each day a new article comes out with another poke at obesity. Now, they are saying that being obese is linked to mental illness and that the fat aren't jolly? True, I am an emotional eater, who added two hundred pounds following the deaths of my mother and my boyfriend --- BUT I have always been FAT AND JOLLY!! I never denied myself anything that gave pleasure, and food gave pleasure. Also, I am a people person, so sharing good company and good food -- with a lot of laughter -- was common in my life. Though I am learning smarter ways to manage my weight, I certainly don't want to lose the laughter and friends. Joyce Here's the AP article... Study says obesity, depression linked By LINDSEY TANNER The Associated Press CHICAGO — Obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders, according to a new study by Group Health Cooperative. Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not certain, but there are theories to support both arguments. Depression often causes people to abandon activities, and some medications used to treat mental illness can cause weight gain. On the other hand, obesity is often seen as a stigma, and overweight people often are subject to teasing and other hurtful behavior. The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, were about 25 percent more common in the obese people studied than in the nonobese. Substance abuse was an exception; obese people were about 25 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than slimmer participants. The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, released Monday. The lead author was Dr. Gregory Simon, a researcher with Group Health in Seattle. The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study. "The take-home message for doctors is to be on the lookout for depression among their patients who are overweight," Fenton said. Both conditions are quite common. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and depression affects about 10 percent of the population, or nearly 21 million U.S. adults in a given year. Previous studies produced conflicting results on whether obesity is linked with mental illness, although a growing body of research suggests there is an association. The latest study helps resolve the question, said Dr. Susan McElroy, editor of a textbook on obesity and mental disorders. "This is a state-of-the-art psychiatric epidemiology study that really confirms that there is, in fact, a relationship," she said. The study was based on an analysis of a national survey of 9,125 adults who were interviewed to assess mental state. Obesity status was determined using participants' self-reported weight and height. About one-fourth of all participants were obese. Twenty-two percent of obese participants had experienced a mood disorder, compared with 18 percent of the nonobese.

Welcome Minny, I wish you the best as you choose your path to WLS! My sister had the RNY gastric bypass and I decided that I just couldn't handle the thought of altering my GI tract permanently. She does have the "dumping syndrome" which helps her control her carb intake but it is important to know that not all people have this side-effect from the RNY procedure. I can tell you that I was a bread/carb addict prior to being banded and now I tend towards hi Protein foods as my body seems to crave them. My sister is also struggling with weight gain now that she is almost 2 years post-op as she can eat a pretty healthy amount of food and has learned how to eat just the right amount of carbs to avoid dumping. She is still very happy with her choice for WLS and she looks wonderful. I can tell you that there are a lot of adjustments with either surgery and both surgeries are tools and can be defeated. I still struggle with head hunger but love that my band is adjustable and that my body can absorb nutrients as it was intended to. Good luck and hope you will find all the information you need to make an informed decision. Darcy

1st let me say I am glad to have found this Forum. I found it yesterday after google 'ing bariatric support groups at the suggestion of my nutritionist. Along with a list of "what to start doing to get used to it" items she said I should find a support group for obvious reasons. I have very little knowledge on the subject bariatric surgery other than what I have learned from my visits with my surgeon and his group so far and what very little i learned from my brother having lap-band several years ago. Well gotta figure no better way to learn than to ask those that have gone through or are going through what I plan to. I've been reading topics here since yesterday and have come across some things I didn't know or even think about. So I figured I'd give details of my current situation and see if others have anything in common and if they could give me some ideas of what to expect. It's been just over a month since I first saw my surgeon and came to the decision to go through with the sleeve surgery. I did not initially go to see him for it though. His name was on a list I received from my primary care doc after she told me the lump on my belly button was an umbilical hernia. When I went to see him he said he could repair the hernia but there was a high chance of either it reopening or another opening somewhere else due to my weight and big ass gut (not his words). After his, what I 1st felt was a sales pitch, He showed me some videos gave me some info to read and suggested I take some time to think about it and talk it over with my wife. We read, I showed her the video, we talked about it and decided it was probably the smart thing to do. Over the past few years I've put on a significant amount of weight and it seems every time I try to diet it off, I pack more on. A little bit of medical history for ya...... According the old trusty BMI system I've been heavy since my late teens early 20's but that is because of my height. I was pretty fit and muscular back then. Stayed pretty fit but did gain weight heading into my 30's and put on more the older I got. I've had back issues since my late teens due to a vehicle accident but it was never anything more than a good cracking my back couldn't relieve. My line of work has always been very physical, so along with getting older and the weight gain my back issues became worse. Now about to hit my mid 40s I've been out of work for going on 3 years due to osteoarthritis, slipped/herniated disks and sciatica. I have very limited movement and seem to be stuck in my "snowball". Also because of the weight I am on blood pressure, cholesterol and get happy meds. I do not take pain killers other than occasional 800mg ibuprofen. I have an addictive nature and am terrified of getting hooked. Speaking of which I am an "alcoholic". On the wagon and have it under control but still might as well mention it. Damn I am one F***ed up specimen. Well, I'll leave it at that and hope for any feedback, experience or suggestions/advice that any of you care to give. Thanks so much in advance for reading and feedback. Sorry this turned out so LONG. J

Mine has always been mild, nothing crazy and most of it was due to how I ate which was so horrible and obviously led to all my weight gain. I didn't really have to take medicine before surgery except for the rare occasion my food sat horrible with me. This is a new kind of burn though. My surgeon knew all about this and knew all other factors about my health and agreed the sleeve would be a good choice. So I don't feel in confident about my choice of surgery, just wasn't sure how common it was to have acid attacks in the middle of the night. I didn't think about the lying flat so I will try sleeping elevated tonight, thank you! Sent from my ZTE A2017U using the BariatricPal App Unconfident* Sent from my ZTE A2017U using the BariatricPal App

As I said before I had two babies close together. I have four in all, 13, 10 and 1 year old girls and one son, who is 2. The 1 and 2 yr. olds are 14 mos. apart. While I was pregnant with my son, I had a normal weight gain for pregnancy, even though I was over weight at the time (about 220lbs). My previous babies weighed in the 6 lb range and were both born 1 month early. I had a lot of trouble with my son, I started to miscarry at 11 weeks and was put on bedrest. So I lay in bed for about 3 months, and then at 7 months was back on bedrest and meds due to premature labor. I had my son one month early, and he was a whopping 9 lbs. I had been tested for gestational diabetes, but had shown I was 'borderline." He got stuck during delivery, and didn't breathe right away after birth. It was very scary!!! But thank God, he was just fine. Then when he was 9 months old, I found I was pregnant again. I was petrified. This time, I was monitored more closely and did have gest. diabetes. I was able to control it with diet. She was born 7 weeks early, and was only 4 lbs, 8 oz., but she was healthy. I decided that I DID NOT want diabetes, so something had to give. I actually lost weight with my last pregnancy. I began the pregnancy at 232 and ended at 229. I didn't want to eat, I had to force myself to eat. The baby pushing up on my stomach just deadened my appetite. I thought..."If I could only have this feeling without being pregnant!!!" Then I learned about the lap band. I felt like it would simulate the sensation of fullness I had during pregnancy. So this is what I'm hoping for! I decided I liked the lap band because of it's reversibility, and also that my digestive system would stay in tact. I have had some second thoughts, thinking that RNY would be good for losing faster and for discouraging to me to eat sweets (dumping) but really just like the band for it's better (I feel) qualities. good luck in finding a dr! Linda Dr. Bonanni 255/255/150

Thank you so much for the kind words. I really wanted to hear that I was not the only one with this battle, and that there are ways of "winning". I got a fill yesterday and I'm on liquids for 2 days then soft food. It's not so much that I would eat the wrong type of foods, as that I cannot seem to control the quantity. Probably I needed the fill sooner. I also found out that some medication that I am taking (only one more day) is causing me to retain fluid. Hence the weight gain. Also I put my scales away and decided to only weigh once a week so my moods don't mirror the scales. What complicated people we are!

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.

Has anyone experienced this...i am doing Protein and liquids....i can eat reg foods now but still am full really fast so i dont understand why i am gaining weight....helppppp Sent from my SM-N900P using the BariatricPal App

I woke up this morning and I'm heavier than I was last month at weigh in like .5lb...I'm so mad at myself and on the verge of crying cause I think I just screwed myself!! Did anyone gain during the 6month weightloss period and if so did you end up getting approved or denied?

Ok so all the weight gain and loss is that from everyone's 1st "official" weigh in or month to month? I haven't gained from my 1st "official" weighing just from the month before weight Ok I wweigh 312.8 at the visit with my surgeon (1st weigh in) and now I'm 308 last month I was 309.5 but my scale was showing 310 so that was up from last month's weight not the "overall weight" does that make sense? I worry, that's what I do and o talked to my ins UMR and they said there is "no guidlines" whatever that means so I guess all is ok and we shall see in about 2 months. Thank you all @@CourtneyLouise @@perforce @JessicaEllison-Correa @@provenzee @@cindyw41

I dreaded telling my husband because he would think the same way I did when I first contemplated this ...it just seemed so extreme, it doesn't now the more I educate myself about it and here all these success stories. He actually found out on his own when he got on our shared computer and kept seeing this web site narrowed down at the bottom. He laughes and doesn't think I'll actually go through with it and of course gave me the lecture about starting today ...eat right exercise etc. and I'll see in a few weeks I'll lose the weight....I kept my 10 year intense weight loss battle mostly to myself I guess. I felt like this last weight gain after a stellar 4 month effort of marathon training and healthy eating just did me in....it was the straw!!!!!

I’m one week out from surgery and my husband and best friend are making menhavwbsecond thoughts. They have no idea they both agree. My husband says I’ve had enough surgeries during my lifetime from car accidents and complications post car accident. I’ve also have a history of sepsis (infection) every time I get opens up for surgery. He know what I went through with all that.ni think he’s just afraid of what could happen or me not pulling through this time ans my friend said likewise. I really and and nee this surgery but now I feel like I’m second guessing myself. My initial plan was to have the sleev but the doctor takes me into duodenal switch because it’s less likely for weight gain. I agreed but also has second thoughts about that particular lad surgery just because of all the additional nutrients you malabsorption va the other surgeries. In my head I was also think duodenal would allow me to lose weight faster than the sleeve. Then again i don’t want to loose too much I don’t want to be looking too skinny from excessive weight lost from duodenal (CW 232 GW 150-160). Although not reversible the sleeve is less invasive and not switching around parts. Then again I’ve had a gastric ballon (obera ballon) and maybe lost 10 pound at most so that was also my reasoning for wanting duodenal switch more aggressive than sleeve as to me the obera balloonMimics restriction just like sleeve but it’s temporary. As you can see I’m a week out from surgery and all over the place. HELP!!! Has anyone that is slightly obese or obese who has extremely hard time losing weight even with diet or excercise had success from the sleeve? How fast did you lose weight?

My allergic reaction consists of itching of my mouth, lips, gums and for strawberries my throat swells up bt only for strawberries. Also could u imagine never being able to eat any fruit ever again?? I have a 5yr old so when im cutting his fruit i sometimes take a bite or slice and have a slight 1 minute reation. So its not that im eating a full apple or anything. Also i wasnt always allergic these allergies developed over time. It started with an orange and then everytime i ate a fruit i would discover it over the years as i went along until i realized its all fruit. I just put that in there to say pre-op my body was able to tolerate them now just smelling fruit will make me nauseous or vomit smh. Also its not only corn its mostly every vegetable its very weird to me. For example when i was pre-op i didnt like evry vegetable, but i was able to force myself to eat salads and a lot of things that didnt taste good at all to me because i knew it was healthy. Now if i would dare try to do anything like that i ruin my meal. Many times i will buy a sandwich or be out to eat and ill be okay and 5 mins later my body will reject food. And because of this i went to snacks which are no good because theyre "slider" foods which also contribued to my weight gain.

Don't worry, I have been on many weight loss forums and it its VERY common for weight gain or stalls in the 3rd or 4th week of any diet/lifestyle change for some reason. Carry on and you will see results.

I am 3 weeks post op and was doing pretty good. In the past week, however, I have gained 4 pounds. I go next Friday to get my first fill. I am rather confused and frustrated. Not sure what I am doing wrong. thoughts??

I am also a scale junkie and I have been my entire life. The only times I have gained weight have been when I stopped weighing myself every day. Much as the scale can put you in a foul mood, it keeps you accountable. As an example, I recently started a new workout program and in 2 days I gained 4 pounds. Logically I know that since my program is major cardio based the weight gain is a combination of an increase in glycogen stores and an increase in Water and that in 1-2 weeks I will start to drop weight. Now, just because logically I know that doesn't mean I didn't want to sob when I saw the scale this morning. I didn't eat more than usual and I worked out hard the last two days so while I know this is not real weight gain, it does make me feel very cranky this morning. The scale is like your mirror- you can't avoid it forever. You can hide from it and tell yourself that you're only going to weigh only at the doctor's office or that you're losing weight and you don't need the scale to validate you, but ultimately, the scale gives you a quantifiable value to know whether or not you are actually doing good or not. Some days the news isn't good, but you know when you gained a pound or two and you can make an immediate correction as opposed to finding out you gained 10 pounds because you wanted to live in blissful ignorance of the scale. I hate my scale. It routinely makes me cry. It is also the only reason I am still thin because every single day it reminds me that I can very easily go back to being a fatty again. So this morning while I may have stubbed my toe kicking my scale, I may have shed a tear or two, I also cut down my Breakfast to a half serving, I'll skip the smoothie I was going to get after the gym, I'll skip carbs at dinner, and by tomorrow I'll be back down a pound or two. If you give yourself the chance to modify your diet everyday as needed, you don't have to worry about getting on the scale and having gained far too much weight to lose quickly.

If you are having port pain, gallbladder pain, and a band too tight your first priority needs to be seeing your surgeon immediately. I'm not trying to scare you, but walking around with a band too tight for 4 years is just begging for a major slip. I guarantee the cost of having your band removed entirely because of neglect would be far more expensive than the cost of an office visit and a slight unfill. Bands too tight can also cause weight gain, btw. Yet another reason to get into your surgeon. Best wishes.

Hi- I thought I would post an update to my June post on this thread. In July I had my band removed. It's not the outcome I wanted, but my doctor felt there was too much scarring to give me another one. Since then, I've regained quite a bit of weight and I'm almost back at my starting weight pre-band. It's so hard... I'm now investigating the gastric sleeve. All this and I'm still pro-band. However, I do suggest that before having the band or any other WLS that you research this in depth. I subscribed to the Obesity-related medical journals so that I could read the studies coming out about the various WLS methods. Don't rely upon these boards for your statistics. Speak with your surgeon and read the medical reports for yourself. My surgeon cooborated what I've read in several journal articles that complication rates for bands are as high as 25%. And a good number of patients will require intervention at the four or five year mark and beyond. If you are a long-time bandster and experiencing complications or weight gain, please don't hide out from your doctor. Please get evaluated. Wishing you all the best~

I am 24 days out of surgery and today I gained weight. Am I doing something wrong? Not a whole lot of weight it’s only like .4 but it’s my first gain in 23 days.

I had a lot of problems with the band. It did get me to goal and then some. I worked really hard for my goal weight but after I hit goal I had complications and had to have it removed. I knew that removing my band meant weight gain so I revised to a sleeve for maintenance. I had esophageal spasms, esophageal motility issues, stoma spasms, reflux, periodic gastritis, port pain from rubbing against my jeans, etc. I finally threw in the towel and revised.

I got my Aetna approval on Friday and it was pretty easy. 4 months of supervised nutrition visits, meet their minimum BMI (or BMI and comorbidity) requirement, and don't gain any weight from your first visit to your last. Easy peasy!! I asked Aetna why on the no weight gain rule and apparently there are studies showing a much lower success rate for people who gain pre-op weight. It can cause more surgical complications and shows a lack of dedication and knowledge about what is required for a banded lifestyle. Makes sense to me, it just sucks people weren't grandfathered in if they started the 4 months prior to the rule change.

I'm 2 1/2 month post op. I've lost a total of 36lbs since surgery day. I get frustrated and even little sad when I get on the scale and it's saying I just gained almost 5lbs in 3 days. How does that happen?

How many of us have been "on a diet" for most of our lives? Too many, in my opinion. Not just because it's bad for our health or because diets don't work. It's bad for our mental health too. It leads to something I call "Dieter's Mentality." If you have Dieter's Mentality, you need to cut it out because it's going to sabotage your success. This is true whether or not you have had Weight Loss Surgery, are on your pre-op diet or are doing it the traditional way through diet and exercise. Diet Mentality is evil and it puts you in a bad place! What is Diet Mentality? It has four major components: 1) Putting food into Good and Bad buckets First of all, food is not Bad or Good -- it's just food. Some food is a better choice than others, but even then it's really just all food. If you are getting in enough of the essential nutrients and you account for your calories each day, you are doing good no matter if you have a bite of dessert once in a while or not. All food is bad food if you eat too much of it or only eat one kind. It's just as unhealthy to eat nothing but Protein as it is to eat nothing but birthday cake. A healthy diet is balanced and can even include a certain amount of junk food as long as it's a small amount and it doesn't trigger you into bad behavior. 2) Judging your worth by what you eat Making bad food choices does not make you a bad person. Your self-worth shouldn't be tied up in what you eat. Good people make bad choices all the time. Instead of beating yourself up when you make a bad choice, hating yourself, seeing yourself as a failure and otherwise engaging in destructive behavior, just figure out how to make a better choice next time. It's not easy to be dispassionate about your own behavior, but telling yourself that you made a bad choice and next time you'll make a better one is a good start and much healthier than telling yourself you are a bad person and you'll never lose the weight and you hate yourself. 3) Judging your worth by how much you weigh/how much you've lost this week The scale is just part of the picture. If you get too tied up in the scale, you get a distorted view of the world. Weeks where you lose are good weeks even if someone close to you died. Weeks where you don't lose are bad weeks even if you got a big promotion at work and did everything "right" in terms of diet and exercise. One of the dangers of measuring everything by your weight on the scale is that you can convince yourself that making bad choices is okay because sometimes you can make bad choices and still lose/maintain. You can also convince yourself that making good choices is pointless because some weeks you make all good choices and the scale doesn't move. But clearly making more bad choices than good will lead to weight gain in the long run. Anything thinking that leads you to conclude otherwise is destructive thinking. 4) Waiting until you are thin(ner) to start living Stop waiting until you get to goal to start living or loving yourself. Love yourself now. Live your life now. It's easy to fall into "when I lose 25 pounds, I will start..." type of thinking. It's a fine line between thinking about how you will reward yourself when you meet certain goals and putting your life on hold until you meet certain goals. Many of us have had the experience of thinking we were so fat back when we were in HS or college or a young adult and not being happy. But then we got even fatter and we look at those pictures from back then and we realize that we were actually pretty hot. In fact, we'd give anything to be "that fat" right now. Why not love yourself now while you're living your life instead of waiting until 10 years later to tell yourself how good you had it back then? What happens when we stop "dieting"? One of the best things I ever did for myself was to decide I was never going to diet again. It really allowed me to examine my relationship with food and to start listening to my body and figuring out why I eat what I eat. That would never have happened when I was caught up in "Dieter's Mentality". One of the things I found is that my approach to food was that of a child. I wanted people to make me or bring me food because I associate being fed with being loved. So I got myself to a point where all my meals were either quick things that require no cooking or can be zapped in a microwave or are made by my husband -- who does all the cooking -- or were purchased. In other words, other people had complete control over what kind of food I ate and how it was prepared! I never saw anything wrong with this until I decided to grow up about food. I realized that by approaching food this way, I was giving up tons of control over what I ate. Someone else buys the groceries so it's not my fault that there aren't healthy Snacks in the house. It's not my fault that I had that ice cream cone -- there was nothing else to eat and I was HUNGRY. Once I saw this pattern, I vowed to change it and start being an adult about food. I now plan out what I'm going to eat before I go to work. If I'm going to work late, I bring extra food so I'm not eating out of the vending machine. I don't eat lunch at the Cafeteria every day so my food choices aren't limited to what they want to make for me. I have healthy snacks in my drawers at work so if I do end up working late without having planned ahead, I'm eating a Protein Bar instead of a Snickers bar. This change in attitude and behavior has made a big difference. Which is not to say I haven't got much farther to go ... I still don't cook and I still eat way too much prepared food (because I don't cook). But I'm much better than I used to be and it's great to feel like a grown up! You may relate to what I said about having a child's approach to food or you may not. Not everyone gets fat the same way or has the same issues to work through. But one thing I can guarantee is that once you throw off the shackles of Dieter's Mentality, you will have the brain cycles available to see your relationship with food more clearly. You will be on the road to having a healthy relationship with food.

Sleeved 3/19/13 I know everyone is different, I reason these boards about people puking almost everyday or how they can't eat this or that. I'm almost 2 months post op and I can eat everything I've attempted...salad, raw veggies like carrots, a whole slice of pizza (not the crust) at a party. I don't have to sip sip sip I can drink like I used to pre surgery. I have to be completely honest here, I feel like I'm actually on a diet not that I had surgery because I have to control myself not to go for another 1/2 slice of pizza ** btw, I'm not a pizza person but I know I'd be capable of eating more than a slice if I wanted to*** I feel like its diet control not surgery control. I hope I'm explaining myself well. Also, I often feel hungry especially in bed at night. I spoke to my nut last month and she thinks I'm doing well, but I read others on here and I'm like...how come I can eat? I know some may say..."hey don't complain", but this makes me think as months move on it'll be easier still for me to indulge. I wanted the restriction....I don't think I really have enough. Also, just so you are aware, I had the lapband for 7 yrs and lost all my weight (gained it back after it slipped and had it removed) so believe me, I know what restriction feels like and how crappy it feels to take "one bite too many" I used to puke a few times a day and to be honest I welcomed it...bulimic?? Please let me know...is anyone else like me or am I screwed? Thank you for your help!

Well you two it took me a bit to google and translate kilos into pounds lol, but I think I got the gist of the weight gains and losses. Like Chilo said there are many band to sleeve revisions on this site and they will be able to give you the low down on that idea. I was just curious though, I heard the port and metal on the bands were titanium like the staples used for the sleeve. If this is so you may need to go with a physician that uses threaded sutures and glue vs the staples if this is possible or maybe go with the gastric plication which is not excising the stomach only folding it within itself and suturing it up, to avoid the titanium. Hmmm