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Hello everyone! I know I need o get on some kind of BC for after my surgery but I'm unsure on which to get. The dietitian recommended getting an IUD because sometimes after surgery your body will absorb medications differently than before. I don't know much about an IUD but my main concern is weight gain or stalling postop. Does anyone have any experience they'd be willing to share? Also, if I do get the IUD, should I get it before my surgery or shortly after?

The first few weeks can be challenging for many - physically and psychologically. Your stomach and your mind have to acclimate to profound changes. It's also common for your weight to fluctuate more then. I didn't even weigh myself for the first couple of weeks because I anticipated having gained weight from the anesthesia pumped into me for the surgery, and then a roller coaster of gain and loss as my body healed. I anticipated the infamous "three week stall" so many others experienced. I hadn't wanted to be discouraged, so I had my husband put the scale on a shelf that requires dragging out the step ladder to reach until things were more stabilized. I wouldn't really quantify the three pounds you gained as actual weight gain, considering that it came on the heels of a 17 pound rapid weight loss. Anytime you lose weight too fast it's common to gain some of it back. It's why the trendy juice cleanses and detox quackery usually cause people to drop weight fast, and then gain a portion of it back even faster. To me the positive to focus on is that you lost 17 pounds, but only gained back three of it. Meaning you've already lost 14 pounds since surgery just a few weeks ago. If you had a child who was recovering from a surgery and prescribed a diet specifically designed to help her heal, would you permit her to defy it and eat things that could jeopardize that process? I doubt you would. Love yourself as much as you'd love someone whose care is your responsibility. It's not a diet like ones you've probably followed in the past that is to help you to lose weight, though that's a side benefit. It's a medical diet, not unlike other ones people follow prior to or after a surgery or medical / dental procedure. As an example, one of my colleagues just had her teeth whitened and has to only eat white or clear foods for a couple of days to avoid discoloration, and another has been open about having to only eat certain foods in preparation for a colonoscopy. You might not have gotten sick yet, but you're chancing it by eating things your stomach isn't ready for yet. I didn't eat solids until the one-month mark, and got sick that day, so I then reverted to liquids and soft foods for another two weeks until I felt more steady. Have you ever checked out the blog "The World According to Eggface"? It has some recipes for each of the phases following WLS. Pinterest also has a lot of ideas. I enjoyed getting a little freshly ground peanut or almond butter from Whole Foods and adding that to chocolate protein (unjury was my favorite brand) and Fair Life (higher protein) milk and ice in my Nutribullet and having a dessert-like shake. I also still make a lot of smoothies using high protein yogurt like Fage, and lower carb fruit and some frozen kale (berries will mask the taste of it, and it being frozen helps with the texture) rather than having Protein powder. Tasty Soups, like the red pepper one by Trader Joe's, also helped me to have some variety. My nutritionist had suggested egg puddings for the soft food phase, and I found a low-carb, low-sugar but tasty recipe that uses SF Torani syrup. Persevere through this challenge. It's worthwhile.

Struggling with a small weight gain of about 3.5kg so started back with the basics today. How about you how are you coping shotochick

Same boat here. This food addictions SUCKS with my weight gain I get down about it and all I want to do it eat. Vicious Cycle. I actually started a thread earlier this morning called Pre-Op Blues and this is what I wrote: So I am having pre-op blues. My weight keeps going up WTF?!?!?!?! My first appointment with the surgeon I was 254 and now I am 257. I am having my second appointment next wednesday (11/16) and I don't want to be heavier. Why can't I get it together? I know its all mental because I know I can do it. Is it that I am eating like its my last meal or that the I will only take it seriously when the doctor finally puts me on the pre-op? What a mental brain fart!!!! ARGHHHH!!!! I just hope that I am not doing this for anything. The Lapband better b*tch slap my a$$ into gear Off to change my ticker in the wrong direction. BTW a good point my best friend made...maybe I needed this weight gain to realize how much I do need the Lapband...talking about seeing the glass half full.

Did anyone get the surgery after gaining weight after a hysterectomy? Just curious how that turned out?

The "advice" 3 dieting attemps ago was NEVER lacking in my case, LOL. We low carbed for 2 years at one point. (Hubby lost 100, I lost 50). Mind you most people can't get through their heads that there's a difference between LOW carb and NO carb. Even sitting across from you watching you eat salad, cooked veggies, and berries they are lecturing about the dangers. The minute we'd pass on white bread all the other stuff became invisible. Although my meat portion was no bigger than theirs the fact that I chose green Beans over baked potato meant my meat was going to destroy my kidneys. HUH? It was almost comical. Then many of the same people reminded me of how successful we were at low carbing when (after regaining what we lost and more) we decided on WLS and thought we should do that instead of surgery. ANd there were people who thought hubby should have WLS and praised his success then 2 1/2 years later made it clear that I should "consider" diet and exercise first. I really think that people (and we all do it in different ways) find giving advice and/or back-handed compliments to be a way of showing interest and care. It makes life less frustrating if I think of it that way. LOL I recently called a beloved niece who’s had RNY and has gained some weight back to tell her about the “band over bypass” surgery. I tried to think of how to bring it up so she’d have the information without coming off sounding like, “hey I’ve noticed you’ve gained a bit of weight too.” Know what? There is really no way to say it without that coming across. But I love this niece heavy or thin. AND she DOES have a pretty face heavy or thin. (I didn’t say that of course.) But knowing how much she’d gone through and how much WLS has changed her life I wanted to share that her weight gain isn’t because she failed to do what she should (as most people assume) but because the surgery had failed her (5 yrs out). I could tell that even though she still loves me and we are still close, she didn’t love that I mentioned it. She had previously mentioned her weight gain and what she’s trying to do to reverse it before I called with my golden information. Some areas are just touchy no matter how well meaning and encouraging we think we are being. Of course I also knew she was noticing MY weight gain due to having my band unfilled. But she didn’t call me to tell me to try RNY or sleeve. LOL Ironically just last night I was telling another RNY person the same (band over bypass) information and SHE was excited and is going to look into it. This whole conversation wasn’t initiated by me directly making a phone call. Maybe that made the difference? Maybe the relationship? Who knows. But I’ve obviously been on both sides of this fence. So since my comments are out of genuine love and concern, I have to assume other people's are too. :thumbup:

it's not time to panic yet! That is probably mostly period water weight gain. Most women eat more on their periods or right before their periods. I agree that it is probably water weight. If the scale continues to go up steadily for the next few weeks then I think you need to re-evaluate what you're doing as far as calories. Are you still doing protein first? I hope you figure it out

While shuffling down a longevity rabbit hole on PubMed, I found a fascinating study in the calorie restriction "genre" This one found, amongst other things, that low protein, high carbohydrate (20% fat) was associated with the greatest longevity and best overall metabolic health in spite of a tendency to weight gain as fat. The improvement was equal to caloric restriction alone, and combining the two had no additional metabolic benefits (LPHC also tended to expend the most energy) The version of the experiment where LPHC was combined with CR had the same longevity, but also avoided the increase in body mass from the high carbohydrate Intake. They also had the best immune systems The low carbohydrate, high protein group were found to have reduced longevity and poorer cardiovascular and metabolic health, though again, LCHP group with CR fared better than those allowed to eat freely. The area where LCHP created an advantage was in reproduction. Not in fertility, but in the actual process of reproduction, which makes complete sense. You can read the whole report here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472496/ It should be mentioned this study is still one part of decades of research on Calorie Restriction and dietary composition. From the strong evidence in favor of dietary restriction, we should all be seeing increased life spans (depending on age of intervention, some will be more modest than others). But I wonder how the evidence building up for HCLP can be applied to us. HCLP emphasizes low glycemic index carb sources and 5-15% protein intake, but at our level of consumption 600-1000 calories a day in maintenance depending on your needs), that would only be 12.5-37.5g protein which seems like it would result in a deficiency. The famous Okinawan Ratio is on the low end of that, though people studied consumed about twice the calories (if I remember right, and I might not) which is still only 25g protein/day. And yet, I'm not seeing any of these deficiencies in the literature. No deficiencies in the Okinawans either. Curiouser and curiouser.

I feel the same way! I have already had 2 fills and am going for my third one tomorrow. I am afraid that I actually gained weight since my last fill (I am not certain because my doctor's scale is substantially different than mine). In all honesty, this past month I have been nothing but bad when it comes to eating the right foods and exercising, but I just feel so frustrated with the whole thing. I mean, I was banded on July 9th and, up until like three weeks ago, was eating right, controlling my portions, going to the gym 4 times a week, and I only have a total of 22 pounds gone to show for it. I am almost regretting my decision to get this surgery. At least before, when I dieted I lost some weight, but now I feel that I am at such a plateau and have even gained some of the weight back. I am afraid that my doctor will not give me another fill because of my weight gain which really kind of stinks since I am out of state at school and can't just go to her whenever I want to (she is two hours away). I am also super concerned that I have stretched out my pouch. I don't know if there is a way to check for that or not, but I know that it is possible. Anways, I'm glad that I'm not alone.

The nutritionist at my support group this evening spoke about calories from Protein and calories from carbs. He said that the weight gain comes because of what carbs do to our insulin and blood sugar. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I know when I did Atkins, I was eating a ton of calories and I was still losing weight. Back then I could eat a huge steak which is all protein, but was probably 1,000 calories. I gained 8 lbs on my cruise and lost it in a week when I got home and went back to my regular eating habits. I sure do love my sleeve!

Congratulations! The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has revised guidelines for weight gain in women who are obese. They do not, however, recommend weight loss. Sometimes, a bit of loss is unavoidable--due to things like hyperemesis. And babies do tend to fare well in these situations. However, intentional weight loss during pregnancy is discouraged--there are increased nutrient needs. Talk with your OB about this. Some will permit weight maintenance if you are meticulous about meeting nutrient needs; I did this with my last pregnancy, with great results. (Large, healthy baby.) Good luck--what an exciting turn of events for you. (Good that it happened now--in the year after banding, it would be tricky--but now you can have your babe, then be banded!)

Cindy, First I want to say DONT GIVE UP! Loosing 55lbs without a good fill is excellent! Everyone here have given you great ideas! PLEASE get some blood work to check your thyroid function, hormone levels and your blood sugar and have them check for insulin resistance. If they find an inbalance it could be easily fixed with medication and you'll be on your way to loosing again! DId you know that one of the side effects of birth control pills is weight gain? This could be hindering your efforts. I know the pills are important for you to have but maybe you need a different kind of pill. I also think you need a good fill. Making better choices is much easier when you can only fit a little food in your pouch! I was making bad choices too before I was restricted. Sometimes we have a little tinkering to do with our band before it works well! Hang in there. Please let us know how you're doing. Marsha, RN

I don't want to take the thread in a whole other direction so I'll try to answer short. =) All of the above. Here is what went wrong: I had a knee injury early last year which caused me to stop working out the way I loved to, so I became depressed (literally). I started eating terrible which both of which lead to the weight gain. Then I had knee surgery and was told I will never run again which caused more depression. I always had GERD since my lap band but in the past year it has gotten progressively worse. It's so bad right now I sound like a crying frog and cough like a 2 pack a day smoker and choke in my sleep. This does not help with the weight. I found out the Sleeve can make GERD worse so I went to see my surgeon via my insurance and he ordered tests to see if I did have it and if so how bad. Turns out my stomach looks like an hourglass and I do have GERD so bad I can't keep anything down, no matter what it is I'm eating. He has suggested the best offer he can give me to help me with my physical problems is to give me a bypass. I don't feel I have a choice because even though the tests did not show any issues yet but in time the GERD will lead to Barrett's or cancer, not a chance I'm willing to take. In the past few months I've gotten my attitude in order and working to get back into shape the best way I can and get off the bad foods. I'm doing good and doing everything I can to prepare myself for my revision. I kept all my weight off for nearly 3 years so I know I can do it. I just can't let depression get to me in the future like I did last time, and to stay diligent with any signs I'm having problems.

Hi all, I had my first gallbladder attack and ended up in ER. I have multiple stones and they are recommending removal. I’m reading a lot about weight gain post removal- has anyone experienced this? What was your experience like recovering from gallbladder removal post vsg?

fIt it helps, I have been on this board for over 3 years, and almost NO ONE is sorry they got the surgery and the restrictions you end up with in the long run. In fact this is the honeymoon, and those restrictions we feel early on are the very reason we are losing weight. Later it is much easier to eat and drink what and how much you want. I can Gulp Water now, and around 6 gulps I get this little voice saying "STOP!!" I even end up having to hold the last half gulp in my mouth until I can feel the water empty out of my stomach so I can swallow! It makes me smile really, I know that tummy is still little because I could glug water until the cows came home before surgery. After letting it go down, I can gulp some more. Easy Peasy. Really, now is the time to learn about how to eat less and feel good about it, because later on it might be easy to eat alot more, and hinder weight loss or even have weight gain. It really is a learning curve, but one that can be so enjoyable, and when you start looking like and feeling like the you you want to be, those little things you give up, are just little things. I have foodie friends who were really worried I had ruined my ability to socialize with them around a good meal, but now, they are not worried at all. I do eat less, but I do still like to eat! You will be fine. I think getting into your AA contact about it is a great idea, I can see how this is overwhelming for you, but you will be fine in time. One foot in front of the other.

You are so right! So many great perspectives come out of these boards - I try to think of all the reasons why to do it (and yes, there are many!), but your point was a new one but one I know very, very well! Every single time I have launched a new weight loss program I kept telling myself "stick with this - in a year you can be where you want to be, or you can stay the same as you are now, your choice". And of course, I'm not here now because I was able to stick it out and lose the weight. There is NO fighting the new set-point we arrive at every time we lose weight, gain it back plus more. That's the new set-point and we cannot fight it - no way. I now know that it isn't lack of willpower, lack of desire to be better, lack of time, whatever I might come up. We just can't physiologically fight our body's purpose to get to a new top weight, as it does this for survival. Can't do it. And I am so tired of 'hiding', in more ways than with clothing! Thanks for the boost - I'm a lot closer to feeling good about this decision now :-)

I am worried I will resent my husband for treating me differently after losing weight. When we met I was much thinner and I definately notice a difference after the weight gain. I am worried that when I lose the weight he will start treating me differently and pay more attention to me especially when we are out in public. Anyone have that issue? Can anyone offer some insight?

Sleeveme, I think I know where you are coming from. Once you lose the weight, you will start thinking, now why couldn't he treat me this well when I was overweight? Why would the pounds make such a big difference? I feel this way. My husband has always been naturally thin and I gained most of my weight while undergoing multiple surgeries that caused me to be incapacitated. I couldn't move and I ate. My husband never completely understood the weight gain and the pain I was in. When I told him in January that I was ready for this surgery, he was so utterly excited that I was ready to have this surgery that it made me mad that it was so important to him. Yes, I weighed 105 pounds when I met him 35 years ago but still! I never got the I love you know matter how you look talk... Even after 31 years of marriage, it's important to hear things like this.

Please note that while the sleeve can be converted to bypass...not every doctor nor insurance company is willing to do so. Especially if the reason is just for not enough weight lost or weight gain.

I may be late to this post but I agree with not going with depo. Especially if already on it long term. A few years ago I stopped taking BC altogether to see if that was the cause of my weight gain. Plus I think the depot was making me go crazy! When I got back on bc I went with The Nuva ring. It stays in for 3 weeks and on the 4th I take it out and have my period. I love it and so far no significant weight gain that I can tell. Only thing is it's hella expensive and your insurance may not cover it. I know mine doesn't and theres no generic

My clinic told me. I worked with my pcp on the DASH diet, it is helpful for blood pressure but wouldn't necessarily make me gain weight. Think south beach with no salt (grain rice, grain Pasta, fish/chicken). My weight gain is also heavily from rx meds. So it's impossible to get off without serious intervention ie surgery.

Do you take your measurements? I try to do that the first Sunday of every month. Remember that mussel weighs more then fat. If you are exercising with weights, this could be the issue. Have you been getting all of your fluids? Have you has a BM recently? I don’t mean to be personal; just spiting out ideas. Any one of these could be a reason for weight gain. Don’t stress too much and let it derail you.

I think you hit the nail-on-the-head with that statement. You lose a lot of muscle mass within the first few months of this surgery. That is one of the reasons that Protein intake is so important. Muscle mass is very dense and it takes up very little space; versus its counter part, fat, that takes up a lot of space. Here recently, I have been trying very hard to add on mass to make up for the little bit of skin that I have flapping around in my arms. I finally managed to add an 15 pounds. Despite my weight gain, I remained the EXACT same size. Why? Because my fat content went down and I added on muscle mass. Look don't sweat this. You're still a newbie with your sleeve. Continue educating yourself and retraining yourself to eat correctly; fueling your body with the right foods and the right amount of protein. You are not going to learn this or get there overnight. That is why most doctors tell their patients to take the FIRST YEAR to reteach and relearn how to eat. Also, take this time to formulate a habit of exercise. Incorporate some weight training in there. It is very hard for women to gain muscle, so learning to lift heavy could be something you could do to help gain that prized muscle mass. The great thing about muscle: the more you have, the more you lose. Your body burns more calories working to maintain its muscle mass, than it does trying to maintain fat. So, the muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Okay, side-tracked conversation is now over. Good luck to you. And remember, with a little bit of education and a routine of healthy eating and exercise, YOU WILL GET THERE!!!

Check to make sure you're not letting those pesky simple carbs sneak back into your diet (the crackers, chips, breads, etc, etc, etc). Seems a lot of us at one time or another along the way encounter this and it is often a reason for weight gain. Good luck in getting a grip on what's going on. You are being proactive and that's the important thing.

I get it. I too had about a 3lb gain after being stable for a year or so. Yes a small gain but just like you it was concerning to me. My fluctuation had been 48.5-49.5kg but suddenly I was 51kg. I liked being under 50kg & I too worried it was the beginning of the end. I am a believer in your body settling into it’s correct set point & what it needs to function effectively which may be at a higher weight. Building muscle will result in some gain. Becoming more complacent & less vigilant in your choices, making adjustments to your way of eating to better suit your lifestyle, medication changes, or your original way of eating was too limiting all can contribute to weight gain. For me, I discovered a contributing factor was my HRT was no longer working (absorption issue after my gall removal. I also had increased my protein intake due to the same absorption problem. Changed to a patch, made a slight adjustment to the protein sources I’d added (legumes be gone - well reduced) & slowly I lost not all but most of that gain. I now fluctuate between 49.5-49.9kg & have been stable for about 6 months. Funny thing is I do eat more than I did at the lower weight (about 1300 then & about 1500 now) which, according to those BMR calculators, is about right for me. If you want to nip the regain in the bud, maybe start with tracking your food intake for a couple of weeks to see what may be contributing. 100 extra calories can result in a 10lb weight gain over a year. You mentioned you’ve been snacking more & that may be contributing. May be drop one or two of those snacks, reduce your snack portions or look for a lower calorie alternative. But only change those things that are sustainable & don’t affect how you want to enjoy your life. You have to decide if the changes you may need to make to your eating are worth weighing a little less or whether being a couple of pounds heavier is an acceptable increase. And what an acceptable fluctuation may be for you. Unfortunately, I think we will always have to be vigilant. We have too much history with eating & weight gain not to be. All the best.