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I am being banded on 6/3 and the realization is really hitting home. I have to say I am a basket case also. I know I wasn't suppose to have any alcohol in my last 2 weeks but tonight I went out and had 3 cosmos. I feel really bad but I needed them to. Why????? I know that I am doing the right thing but I am truly scared about this surgery. I needed to feel that I can let myself go one more time before my new life. Am I going to be okay and still get the 1 lb weight gain off? I will but it will be alot of work for me as of tomorrow. Now I am down to the wire. I will be starting full liquids in a week and clear liquids the day before the surgery. I guess I will have to eat alot of chicken and salad starting tomorrow! I am glad I have the support of this group. Since no one knows what we are going through unless you are getting banded.

i have seen alot of people say they have a small weight gain and it is normal.

I read this in a support group online and loved it :-D thought I'd share. What newbies need to know before/after surgery 1. Do your own research! You are responsible for your own health! Ask questions and do lots of research! 2. Be clear about why you want this surgery. If you are having the surgery to weigh a certain number on the scale, wear a certain pant size, to make your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend happy, or to fit in or to stand out, then realize now that none of these have anything to do with the reality or success of this surgery. 3. Do this for you and for your health. This isn’t the easy way out. WLS will fail you if you fail to live the WLS life. Be diligent, be mindful, be aware, and be present with the journey. 4. This program is for life. It is a wonderful tool for health. It is only a tool. You still have to do all the work. There is no finish line. Just day after day choices. 5. This is NOT a diet. This is healthy eating for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! If you think of this or treat this as another diet you are setting yourself up for failure. This is a new way of life, for the REST of your life. Keep that in mind and you WILL succeed! 6. If you are looking for happiness and fulfillment from everyone around you, you won't find it. No one can MAKE you happy. Happiness comes from within! 7. In the end, you are your own best support person. Don’t expect everyone to understand or be supportive. Tell only those who are supportive or tell everyone. 8. This procedure doesn't fix you or your life, just your guts. You are responsible for working on your emotional and mental issues along the way. There WILL be emotional and mental challenges. If you haven’t already started doing the mental and emotional work, START NOW! 9. Some people, NOT ALL, experience buyers remorse if you are not mentally or emotionally prepared. Just because you've had your guts rearranged does NOT mean you don't still have A LOT of work to do emotionally. The successful people ALL do their emotional work. Positive people have a much easier time on this journey than the whiners, complainers and poor me's. This is your chance to change your life for the better! 10. You have the choice of how you want your roller coaster journey to be. Kicking and screaming, or screaming with joy! 11. Your life and your relationships WILL change. You are developing a new relationship with food, yourself, and life. 12. Having a goal or prize or image will help keep you focused and moving forward. 13. You WILL have pain and it will take time to feel like yourself again. The pain WILL go away. You will heal. Focus on Protein and Water. Protein melts fat, and water flushes it. Some days you will have energy, and some days you won’t. Rest when you need to. 14. You WILL have temporary post op weight gain as your body processes the fluids and inflammation from surgery. 15. Your whole belly MAY turn purple from blood thinners after the surgery. 16. If you have a problem, CALL your doctor! Don't mess around! 17. You may or may not have temporary moments of insanity. They will pass faster if you just let them go and not fight them. 18. The more you walk the less gas you will have. Sip while you walk. That way you will get more water in. The more water you sip the faster the drugs will flush through your system and the better you will feel. 19. Don't drink 30-45 minutes before or after meals. Drinking before makes you too full to get the food you need. Drinking during or too soon after flushes the food. Drinking in between helps keep you feeling satisfied. 20. Eat one food at a time to find out which foods give you gas. DONT EAT THOSE FOODS! You won't be able to get much food down at first, or many calories, so don't worry about that. Always eat protein first. 21. It's not how much food, but what food. PROTEIN! You may not be able to handle meat protein for several months. Shelly has great protein recipes of all kinds, heavenly protein smoothies, and even protein ice cream. Check out The World According to Eggface. 22. Taste, texture, and smell preferences change after surgery. 23. Fiber + water = no constipation. Diarrhea is common immediately post op until your body stabilizes. Keeping your water up helps prevent dehydration. As your bowels stabilize your still need to keep your water up to lubricate and stay regular. Many people need a regular fiber supplement. You SHOULD be daily regular. If not, get your fiber and water intake up. Smooth Moves Tea works wonders! 24. Your stomach does NOT get hungry at 1 week out. The hunger is all in your head. At one week, your stomach is still inflamed, swollen and healing and needs very little coming into it. Hunger, at least the first month, and often for many months, is head and emotional hunger. You are used to turning to food and are going through mental withdrawal. Gurgling noises are normal functioning noises. The glands that line your stomach go into action every three to four hours whether you eat anything or not. SMELLING FOOD, SEEING IMAGES OF IT OR EVEN JUST THINKING OF can start the release of gastric juices. The movement of your stomach walls and the juices being excreted creates growling and gurgling noises. So when you are obsessively thinking about or drooling over something that sounds good you are actually activating the hunger signals. Hence it being called head hunger! 25. Hormones, periods and therefore emotions can be affected for a while post op but will stabilize in time. 26. Your weight WILL fluctuate up and down from day to day plus/minus 1-3 pounds. 27. Don’t be a slave to numbers. If you obsessively weigh you WILL make yourself crazy! DON'T! Obsessive weighing = insanity. 28. Everyone sheds at a different pace. Comparing only makes you needlessly crazy. 29. You WILL have LOTS of plateaus/pauses! Get used to it! The first plateau usually happens around 3-4 weeks. Protein first thing in the morning!!! Water, protein, adequate sleep, less stress, addressing emotional number memories, and exercise will help them to pass. The weight will shed whether you drive yourself crazy along the way or not. 30. As you backtrack through time, weighty memories surface, usually during plateaus. Working through them helps to move through the plateaus, and the whole journey, faster. When you hit a pause, look at what was going on in your life when you were at this weight before. You are releasing more than fat. You are releasing years of weighty emotions, memories and pain that you have stuffed or eaten: worry, anger, resentment, grief, sadness, guilt, fear, drama, victimhood, self- punishment, fears of the future, what if’s, old patterns, old beliefs, and attitudes that no longer serve you, etc., etc. 31. Questions to ask yourself during plateaus: What am I afraid to let go of? What am I hanging on to? What was going on in my life when I weighed ___, that I don’t want to address or look at? What old attitudes, beliefs, or thought patterns am I resisting releasing? What is it about succeeding with this that scares me? What emotions do I want to “stuff” my face with? 32. If you eat too much or too fast you WILL get sick. Chew your food to mush. One bite at a time. One food at a time. Eat with presence so that you can pay attention to your pouches signals. 33. Listen for the subtle cues of your new pouch. If you listen, your pouch will treat you well. If you don't, you will regret it. Pouch signals range from runny nose, stuffy nose, gurgling, subtle fluttering, sneezing, hiccups, etc. Learn your pouch signals. 34. Measure everything until you know what 1/4 or 1/2 cup looks like. 35. Track everything! Great Iphone apps are, Target Weight, Water Tracker and Food Scanner. Or use a document chart. 36. Protein, Vitamins and water are important for the rest of your life! Get your protein first. It helps with wound healing, muscle mass, and hair loss. Water keeps you hydrated. Vitamins provide the nutrition to help keep you healthy. Get blood tests regularly. 37. You WILL lose hair between months 3-7. If you have thick hair you are lucky. If you have thin hair you may need to cut it short, wear a hat, a scarf, or just don’t concern yourself with it. Biotin, Nioxin hair products, and protein help but it still comes out. Shampooing less often, refraining from coloring, perms, and heating appliances helps as well. Your hair will grow back. 38. You will have body aches and pains along the way as your body posture adjusts to not having to carry such a load all of time. There are a myriad of ways to help with aches and pains. 39. You are going to have loose skin, bat wings, saggy belly, legs, arms, breasts. That’s a fact. Many people who never cared how they looked being fat, all of a sudden care when they are flat out skinny. Either accept the loose skin or start saving! 40. Relax! The harder you hang on, the longer it will take to meet your goal. Instead of refusing to "not" meet your goal, try affirming that you WILL reach your goal. 41. You WILL have A LOT of non-scale victories. 42. The people who focus on daily non-scale victories have an easier time on this journey. 43. You WILL be happier, healthier and have a more fulfilling life than you could have ever imagined! 44. Enjoy the ride of your life! Posted on 11/06/11, 01:48 pm

I've been called fat since I was 145(in 6th grade at 5'1" tho) all the way up until my highest at 275. I had friends that told me this surgery was stupid and lazy, that I should do it with diet and exercise...DUR! gee I never thought of that...and this is coming from a person that is comparing her needed weight loss of 10 lbs to my 130 lbs. Also I had one person recently ask how my weight loss was going...I said fine, and she replied "I could never do that surgery...I think I'd just rather go run another 10 miles." My mom used to make comments every time I walked into the kitchen. She once said she'd rather have me be anorexic than fat, this coming from an overweight woman herself who has an anorexic and bulimic sister who has been struggling for 30 year. When I go to restaurants, they always assume my b/f and I are just friends...since he's normal sized and good looking. I have lost all my friends since I've gained weight. My teacher last year (during my worst months of weight gain) told me the biggest problem I had in writing my english papers was because I was lazy. The farthest from the truth, I was in multiple clubs, got damn-near straight A's, played violin for 9 years, took care of the house and bills from age 13-16 while my mom was on her deathbed, I helped take care of my nephew while my brother was in basic training and his ex-wife tried killing herself by jumping off a bridge, and I also was having a hard time with depression/bipolar-like mood swings and panic attacks. But I was lazy. I've been ignored everywhere. I once talked to a guy I met at a party, we were texting and he says "Oh yeah, you're the fat girl." I had a guy friend not go out with me, slept with me, but wouldn't go out with me unless I grew my hair out and lost weight. Now since I've lost 25 lbs, and my hair is longer, he's suddenly started talking to me again. It's hurtful to experience this....I'm only 19 for god's sake and I feel like I'm missing out on so much...I mean, should I really have to worry that when my b/f and I are..."together" and he closes his eyes, should I have to worry that he's digusted by me and wishing he was with someone else... I have to wonder if I'm insecure because I'm fat or insecure because I'm fat and I'm ashamed of that only because people discriminate me. Sorry this is so long, but I could go on for days, tons of stories...

I just recently told my mom, who thought it was a fantastic thing, and wants me to talk to my older brother about the Lapband for himself. I've not shared w/friends - only hubby (also banded w/me) and my younger brother know, and for as slow as the weight loss has been (which is fine w/me) I'm glad I've not shared just yet -... so not to get the "what did you loose so far" comments. I'm sure I'll evolve & let others know my process, but right now I'm kinda private (except here..LOL) about my WLS - as I was with my weight gain....Best to you~

Well today is one day away from having to weigh in after 2 whole weeks. It has been driving me ......to eat...not crazy. Yeah I will blame any weight gain on them. I am exciting and scared to weigh in. I am glad I walked this weekend. 3 miles at Haines Point with Kee was not easy. Thank God for sending one of his angels, a fiesty, older lady who could out walk us decided not to walk with her 2 daughters but with us. She talked and she walked and talked and walked. Finally she decided to leave us near the end but if she had not been with us I would have said Kee I need to slow down and would have. This woman kept our speed up. Also, everything was going on at the park. There was a triathalon going on, there is a swimming pool down there. There was a 10k training going on and it had to be about 200 people doing that. Then there were the usual walkers and joggers and all of this was going on at 7:30 am. Sunday morning I knew I had to walk so I text Kee again and she said where. I thought PGCC would be good because the track was resurfaced but then I started thinking about the sun. So I said Watkins Park, which is what she said on Saturday. Then she said well let's walk around Fed Ex Field, you don't know how big that things is but I got to her house got out the car and we were stretching. I said are we going to be in the sun the whole time and she said pretty much. I said let's go to Watkins, I can't do it. After not walking for a few weeks, daily, I was not motivated to walk in the beeming sun, after walking yesterday and know how I was struggling....oh no. We went to Watkins and the trees were just a tall and blocked out ALL the sun. LOL There are 2 spots on the trail that does not have tree coverage and that sun was beaming. 3.4 miles done in comfort. That girl has more energey then a jumping bean. sat sm salad, pickle egg salad steakum/cheese 1 bread slurpee med 4 crackers spoon of peanutbutter fried egg 1 cheese few doritos McD sundae,pie 580 cal sun 2 fried eggs 2 cheese 1 1/2 sausage 8 M&M's hamburger/ 1 cheese Roast Beef soup hershey bar w/ almonds cereal sundae/pie 580 cal

CG is right. I've been at my current weight since January and have gone down as much as two clothing sizes. Somehow the body does get smaller even if it doesn't show on the scale. In fact, the only reason I weigh myself at all is because I'm on steroids and need to watch for Water weight gain as that can indicate kidney issues.

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?

I know I'm super late with this (I just signed up to this forum) but have you thought about the Nuvaring? This was my birth control before my surgery and I loved it. Low dose of hormones and not any weight gain.

you lost 43 lbs already, i don't think you're going to be a disaster story! are you weiging yourself preferably naked? or wearing the same exact thing every time? when i go to appointments i wear the same thing because my boots weigh 3 pounds alone together! also, when are you weighing yourself? the same time every day? if i weigh myself at night, i usually weigh 1.5 pounds MORE than if i weigh myself that SAME morning! this is my body, surgery or not. so i don't flip when i wake up and weigh 227.2 and then that night i measure and weigh 228.4. consistency is key to revealing your true weight gain/loss. you have to average out your weight loss over a the week to get your true weekly weight loss. hope these things help at least a little.

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?

So those of you who are post op and are using birth control have you had any weight gain or has your weight loss slowed at all? What type are you taking?

I was sleeved on October 11, 2017. I feel good about my decision. I am down 75 pounds since surgery. Down 100 pounds from my heaviest weight. Weight loss isn’t as easy now. I really have to work hard on the head game portion. Eating is too easy and nothing bothers my stomach so I really need to pay attention to avoid old habits. I still feel some restriction but I push the limits a lot. I also recently started taking some medication that causes weight gain but so far I have been able to keep my weight in check. So bottom line is, I have done well but it’s getting harder but I refuse to give up. This was a lifestyle change that I must stick too. How is everyone else doing?

Recovery from food addiction is basically the same as other forms of addiction. Awareness is the first crucial step, and you are aware of what has happened to cause your weight gain. I am aware of how drastically my eating habits and patterns have changed over the past months. And I am a self confessed carboholic. Yes, every day we do have the opportunity to re-commit to doing the best we can to get back on track. I feel it is important to understand the reasons we allow ourselves to engage in behaviors to sabotage our efforts to remain compliant with eating. My band has been empty since June, and everyday it is a constant awareness of staying compliant to remain with good food choices and portion amounts. I have continued to lose weight, but only because of exercise on a regular basis. You have taken the first crucial step...do your best to take back control of your eating. Self talk helps...ask yourself does the sandwich, Pasta, or whatever allow me to stay compliant and reach my goals? If the answer is "no", then you have a choice to make. I hope all will be well with your band...

That's it...I give. I can't... I've been struggling to not gain back weight. For a few months now, I've been saying each and every morning, 'today I will make good choices'. And more often than not, I am eating more than I should. I presumed it was stress eating, head hunger, happy new relationship overeating, blah blah blah. Turns out, I'm just plain hungry. Went to see my doctor and told her of my struggles. I've gained ten pounds over the last six months. Some of my clothes are getting tight. I refuse to buy anything that's going to accommodate weight gain. My doctor explained that the fat cells aren't gone..they're just dormant. And now, they are waking up again and my body is begging to gain weight back again. She swears it's biological and not emotional. I feel like I'm failing and she tells me that failing is not doing anything about this new found hunger, and not requesting a fill. So...Friday will get my first fill after nearly three years banded. I'm both troubled and relieved. This reminds me of when I recently had surgery and went off my anti-inflammatory meds. Was in so much discomfort that I couldn't even walk standing straight. All my joints hurt. I couldn't believe how much the meds were keeping me pain free. The band needing Fluid is sort of the same thing I guess. I'm not 'cured' from overeating and obesity. The band manages my hunger enough for me to make good choices. Without it, I'm back to square one. I have to think the same about the band as I do about the meds I take. Prevention in order to not suffer from my arthritis, or my obesity. It really is a disease...and not a vice.

Eating all of these foods daily in place of lean meats and vegetables is absolutely not a healthy diet and is precisely the cause of my weight gain. When I lost over 60lbs in the past, I could still occassionally eat these, but not to near the extent as I am now. I was simply explaining my reasons for regaining which was replacing my whole foods diet with a high carb/starch diet out of convenience.

I glad you decided to choose a healthy path for yourself. The weight gaining thing is a slippery slope that we all seem to get on and it only gets worse as we age. This was the right decision for me. I am almost 7 months post opp and down 95#. I still have a ways to go but loving the trip! Don't be intimadated about posting it will make things easyer when you get closer to surgery to talk things through.

Had surgery 2/26/13, last week was down to 217. Just weighed and it was 233. WTF?

In defence of TurnThePage - I've been thinking about this thread a lot today, having read through the posts last night. It strikes a chord with me as sugary food (including chocolate) is one of my big problems. I'm not an 'eat one or two chocolates and put the rest away' type of person, although I have tried many times. So, I exclude sugar from my diet knowing how addictive it is for me and how it increases insulin which lays down more fat (in layman's terms). Since seeing my Dietician last week and realising that I really do have NO restriction and I'm not losing weight, I hit the 'oh sod it' button and let sugar back in. Ok, let's get some persepctive, it's only been ten days and I haven't binged on sweet stuff but it's right back in there, when for me, it is a huge contributor to my weight gain. So, I read the posts and can relate and whilst some people have mentioned that TurnThePage's reply was less than helpful and I do have to agree that tact is perhaps something she could improve upon - it has actually been her words ringing in my ears today. Regardless of what happens about my lack of restriction, I have just spent £11,500 pounds on a bypass. I was lucky enough to sail through the initial healing period and this isn't only a second chance, it's my last chance to solve this problem - and I do really want to solve it! I realised she's right, I am sabotaging and once I'd realised that, I relaised why I hit the 'oh sod it' button and let sugar back in. And from there I realised that this behaviour only takes me further away from my goal of losing the weight. So, it's her post that may have got me back on track and for that I can only be thankful.

After 3 1/2 yrs with my band (which I lost 104 lbs with, btw), we're about to part ways. Good. Causes much reflux and stomach pain. Last year, I was at my all time lowest (144) when I got a minor slip. After much unfilling/filling/tweaking, it was shown to not have changed. So I was left with whatever fill was there that didn't cause major nightime reflux. My band worked at about 50%. Sometimes it didn't feel like I even had a band. I gained 18 lbs. 2 mths ago, after 4 days of increasing stomach pain, the ER diagnosed me with a herniated band from a CT. Not only had it slipped but my stomach was protruding up over the band. I was totally unfilled and told it needed to come out. Another 12 lbs. A total of 30 gained in 18 mths. Last month, after my appt with my surgeon about a sleeve revision, I was so excited I was getting this done. he showed me how he folds over the excess skin of the cut part of my stomach over itself reducing the chance of a leak.. Yeah. Then I went to talk to the insurance coordinator and schedule a surgery date. I found out that because I cancelled my Part B Medicare 2 yrs ago (I was paying $110 a mth for something I never used once in 12 yrs), I had to pay a $5400 drs charges in cash. Wow. I don't have $5400 lying around the house. By the time I can resign up for my Part B (July 2014) my stomach is likely to be so damaged by my band that I will have no choice but to just take it out and not revise. What to do, what to do... We have poor credit so no loans for us. We don't own a house so no mortgage for us. We make a decent income, but it would take YEARS to save that much. A friend offered us her 0% interest for 16 mths credit card. Making 450.00 a month payments are not something that sounded good to us (we luv to travel so we'd have nothing left to travel) and we couldn't ask a friend to do that, But it's nice to fall back on if we HAD to. The last 2 weeks, we've been in Ca vacationing with my inlaws and my mom (we're from OR). My inlaws are so concerned about my bad band causing me pain. Today they offered to pay for it. Wow. Couldn't believe it. They told us there was no need to pay them back, by hubby and I talked about it today and we will eventually pay them off, little by little. Goodbye good friend that allowed me to have more confidence in myself while losing 104 lbs. You allowed me to enjoy single digit clothing sizes, allowed me to cross my legs, polish my toe nails, and say no to seconds. I loved my band. However, it's hard to be perfect all the time and maintenance with the band is crucial. Did I follow all the rules? Nope. I ate whatever I wanted, just much less of it. So happy that my new tool will take little maintenance and will start working right away (not waiting for proper adjustment and keeping it there forever) so happy that they cut out the part of the stomach that has the ghrelin, so I won't be so hungry. Also, the part they removed is the least stretchy part keeping a stretch to a minimum. I've heard that it starts out at 2 oz and over a year can stretch to 4-8 oz, but nothing more than 8 oz. I've heard so many stories about RNY patients gaining all the weight they lost back. Anyway, I'm so relieved. I have the best in laws in the world. My mother in law loves me so much and is so happy I married her son (we've only been married 18 mths). I think they offered me the $$ cuz she doesn't want me to get too fat so he leaves me...hubby disagrees! They've noticed my weight gain but are the most concerned about the damage the band is doing right now. I have raging nightime reflux and occasional stomach pain. Now hopefully my stomach is good and unswollen now so they can do both surgeries at the same time.A whole new set of worries if they get in there and can only removed my band. Prayers that I wake up without most of my stomach. Can't wait to be satiated with 1/4 of a sandwich or 1/2 carton of yogurt (like I did with my new band). Please wish me luck!

(continued) Weight maintenance: YES, YOU CAN GAIN WEIGHT AFTER THE VSG! BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO! About two years out, I noticed that I could no longer truly eat anything I want at every single meal even if I did work out quite intensely. Mind you, we are talking eating out constantly, Desserts, etc. I also became more performance-oriented, so I started to think more about fueling my body for exercise. Recently, I had a severe back injury that left me unable to exercise at all except walking for 9 months. I was also having major sleep issues due to pain and work stress and was away from my husband and very socially isolated and unhappy for a variety of work-related reasons. I love to cook and was certainly amusing myself by cooking lots. Normally, my husband would inhale most of my creations, but now I found myself eating less healthy and in greater quantities. Together with hardly any activity, this led to a weight gain of about 13 lbs in 9 months. Not the end of the world, but I was certainly worried! Thankfully, I buckled up and once I was cleared to start exercising, I restarted couch-to-5K and then signed up for a 10K race. I lost the 13 lbs in about 2-3 months with only minor diet changes - basically, eating less crap and more fruits and vegetables. I still ate some sort of treat almost every day. I didn't follow any specific diet plan like low-carb or keto, although I do try to limit my carb intake that doesn't come from fruits and vegetables. I am now closely monitoring my diet as I want to get as ripped as possible since I have lipo coming up and will be away from the gym again for at least 4, potentially 6 weeks. I eat whatever I want within reason, but I count my macronutrients, so every day I eat a certain amount of Protein, carbs, and fat. I eat a fairly high-protein diet - 120-150 grams. I have had no problem losing fat on this plan while eating 2500-3000 calories a day depending on my exercise level. SO YES, YOU CAN GAIN WEIGHT - BUT YOU CAN ALSO LOSE IT, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS REMAIN IN CONTROL! DON'T LET YOURSELF GO TOO MUCH! IT'S NOT HARD TO LOSE 5-10 LBS, BUT 25+ IS A PAIN! LAST BUT NOT LEAST: PHOTOS All these photos were taken within the last week. These are my pre-op photos:

I have also noticed her "slight" weight gain. She still does exercise every morning, but, in her line of work the food is always tempting. I hope she notices herself before she gains a bunch of weight back. After all her efforts that would be a shame.

How long did you wait before trying to conceive after getting banded? Did your doctor recommend a waiting time? My doctor suggested 12 - 18 mths. because the majority of the weight loss is in the first year. I was banded in October 08 and just planning for down the road. I do plan to wait until the end of the year to start trying. I'm still on the pill and taking other precautions as well. I’m not in a huge hurry and am committed to my band and weight loss and have no issues with waiting. My doctor does have experience with banders and does work with your ObGyn. I feel confidant about that. I gained 50 pounds with my 1st pregnancy and had gestational diabetes and pre- eclampsia. Even with that much weight gain, I delivered early w/ preemie @ barely 5 lbs. I just hope to bypass that much weight gain and all the symptoms that go along with it and still have a healthy mommy and baby!!! Have any of you preggers had any recommendations by your band docs to wait a certain amount of time before getting pregnant? Have you experienced any pressure on your band or port from the baby or baby weight gain? Thanks in advance for your advise and suggestions! :cursing:

I guess I didn't know what else to call this and I'm sure I might have posted a related post quite awhile ago. However, here I am again and I'd like some thoughts from people who understand where I'm coming from. I'm 21 years old. I had surgery almost 3 years ago. I went from 270 lbs to 125 lbs. I feel healthier than I have ever felt, but I'm miserable. I'm getting asked out all the time by guys and it would be great if I could get excited about it. But with each one I just get more depressed. Thing is I look normal...maybe even good...with my clothes on, but when they are off it's a whole different story. I can't afford surgery and have been trying to get my insurance to cover a tummy tuck but I feel that'll take a lot of appeals and maybe a doctor that doesn't have their head up their ass. It's especially depressing because most of my problems stemmed from extreme rapid weight gain that caused deep purple stretch marks all over my body. Thank you thyroid and PCOS. Now I just have to find a doctor who will stand by me when I say it was the thyroid. Anyway. So basically, I know that these guys would not be interested if they knew what I really looked like. It's really depressing me. To the point that I have been thinking about suicide. I would never, but I'm depressed by the fact that I will constantly have intimacy problems, and that physically I will never be good enough. And all that getting to goal has shown me is that I guess it's the physical side of me that matters, not at all my mind or personality. I'm just looking for others out there that feel that same as me or that can give me some advice or something.

I was banded July 2009. I statred out at 252 lbs and lost over 100 lbs. I got down to 147 lbs.. I was on top of the world. Until my band had slipped. I had gotten some fluid taken out to help it fall back into place. I was able to eat more comfortably. Then I had decided to get even healthier by quitting smoking. I quit in January of this year and have put back on 30 lbs. I'm so afraid this is just the start of a downfall.. so of course with the weight gain my self loathing is back and the depression is starting to set in again.... HELP, What do I do?????