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Hello everyone. I am excited about this new journey in my life. I just got banded on May 30 and I am down 12 pounds. I have been struggling with PCOS for over 15 years. It is the most horrible and depressing thing to have. I have had most all of the problems you can have with PCOS. Huge infertility issues, tons of weight gain, no periods, lots of hair, roseacea, insulin resistence, and more. PTL I did manage to have at least one child through ferility treatments, but was unable to have any more after numerous attempts. Last year, I ended up having to have a hysterectomy due to numerous tumors on my ovaries. They were benign thank the Lord, but the doctors did not want to take any chances. I have been overweight for many years and have not been happy with myself for a long time. This weight is causing other medical issues as well. I had been thinking about doing the lap band for the last two years and finally did it. I know I have a lot to turn with this lap band and for this new life. I hope to hear some wonderful and encouraging stories from fellow PCOS patients that have had lap band. Hopefully we can all encourage one another.

Your weight loss journey will vary by the type of surgery that you have selected. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery. I lost a lot of weight very quickly and then the pace of the weight loss slowed down and leveled off and I transitioned from the weight loss phase to the maintenance phase at around 7 months. I am now over 5 years post-op. Sleeve patients lose weight much more slowly, encounter many stalls along the way but can achieve good weight loss eventually transitioning to maintenance at around the 2 year mark. During the weight loss phase, I completely lost my hunger. It was not difficult to lose weight when hunger was not constantly continually gnawing at my bones. But this loss of hunger does not last forever. About a year post-op it returned, just not as strong as before. One of the problems with this phase is that there is not a lot of medical guidance available at this point. You sort of have to figure it out for yourselves. Maintenance can be the hardest phase to survive. Some people will gain all their weight back, sometimes in quick order. In a sense some people figure they can go back to eating and drinking like before and then slowly the weight begins to pile back on. Other individual will experience some limited weight gain. It is generally called "a twenty pound bounce". That is where I am. Some will maintain their weight loss for years and years by exercising great concentration and control on what they eat and drink. But remember the tool is still there. Some people who have lost a lot of weight from surgery, then gained it all back, have buckled down and lost it all again. There are not many veterans on this board. Many times they are chased away by newbies with abusive attitudes. Some just decide to move on with their lives. So when you weigh responses take into account the length of time from surgery and their measure of success to guide you. And try not to flame the board. These are two links to articles documenting my surgery. The first covers the weight loss phase and the second covers the maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf (I did find that essential oil blend helped me lose a little more weight at the end of the weight loss phase. But then later it seemed to lose its effectiveness.)

Everyone handles maintenance differently. We each have our own weight gain risk factors. Its important to know yourself. Will you need to remind yourself you had surgery? Is it healthy habits? Precautions? Simply eating less? Do whatever works for you to maintain and not go back to obesity. Five years out, I never want to feel like my normal “obese” self before surgery. I feel better than normal after weight loss and maintaining in the 130's. I have no issues. I bounced back with minimal pain and I have no complications (Gerd, dumping or vomiting etc.) Personally, I don’t need to remind myself. I have a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining has become habit/mundane. I don’t put much thought into it. I eat mainly healthy and indulge within reason. I give myself a ten-pound bounce range. If I gain, I go back to weight loss mode and work it off.

The weight gain from IV and swelling, Water retention are pretty obvious things with any procedure. The 3 week stall, while unexplained I think it's the bodies why of responding like WTF just happened?

You have to realize the band doesn't cause weight loss. Taking Fluid out of your band has no more effect on weight gain than taking a bracelet off your wrist does. It can, however, create a drastic increase in you appetite. When we're hungrier we eat more and then we gain weight. With that said, in order for you to gain 10 pounds in 3 days you had to have increased your calorie intake by over 11,000 calories a day for all 3 days in a row. That is extremely unlikely if not impossible. You only need fluid back in your band if you can't go at least 4 hours between meals without hunger. Best wishes.

This sounds just like me, when I met my husband I wasn't heavy either. I was 15 years old when we started dating and I weighed 118 pounds. I think the weight gain had to do with a few things, one I grew up poor and we lived off of pb&J, mac and cheese and ramen noodles. So when my husband (boyfriend at the time) would bring me McDonald 20 piece nuggets or take me out to eat it was like a huge luxury to me and I would just pig out. Around age 18 (literally like over night) I went from someone super active to not even being able to get out of bed because I was just so exhausted all the time and I was also never hungry. This went on for YEARS!! and during that time is when I gained about 100 pounds. I didn't have health insurance at the time so I never went to a doctor. Then we got married and I was on his health insurance policy. About a year into the marriage we decided to try for a baby and I ended up having miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies (one of which took my fallopian tube) so we set up an appointment with an RE and he ran a bunch of tests and that is when I discovered I had hypothyroidism. The doctor said most likely I had it for years and it was never diagnosed because I hadn't been to a doctor. My thyroid levels were through the roof he said. So I'm a little bit bitter and angry because I feel like the weight gain could have been prevented had I even known what hypothyroid was and had it diagnosed 9 years sooner. Anyways, what I meant about being in the same boat was that my husband is an enabler and spoils the crap out of me and gets me whatever I want but I really hope after this surgery he doesn't try and sabotage my weight loss efforts.

Hi. I've been lurking for months, but this is my first post. I've come to an abrupt end of my pre-surgical rigamarole, and am just waiting for the bariatric clinic to call me in order to schedule an appointment with my surgeon for the final consultation before scheduling surgery - I wasn't expecting it to be so soon, as I only started the process on April 11th. My insurance - Excellus BCBS - requires a 6 month stretch of supervised weight loss only if they don't feel that your previous attempts at weight loss were serious enough. I guess 25+ years of constant struggle was adequate, because after my 2nd nutritionist follow-up (a group seminar and 2 follow-ups scheduled a month apart are my clinic's required minimum) I was handed my post-surgical diet info and was told to expect a call within a week. Yikes! Anyway. My name is Amanda, I'll be 38 in a month (sigh) and am 5'7" and currently about 282 (and an increasingly snug size 22.) I'm married and I have a 5 year old daughter and I live in Rochester, NY. I'm an MFA grad student and work (incongruously to the MFA) in inpatient pharmacy compounding services at the big hospital in town. I have been fat since I was about 6 years old. When I was a teenager, I was about 170-180 and thought I was the fattest thing on two legs. I look back at pictures of myself and my heart breaks for all that self-hatred, sadness, and lost time - not only because I realize now that I wasn't fat at all (you wanna see fat, 16 year old Amanda?? I'll show you FAT!! flubflabflub) but also because I realize how much it never mattered to my friends and family. This is stuff I still struggle with, though. I started gaining rapidly around 18, and have more or less hit peak mass. I was abut 245 when I met my husband 11 years ago, 270ish after having my daughter 5 years ago, and was 291 when I was weighed at the beginning of the bariatric surgery process. I've attributed my weight gain over the last decade to the insidious "domestic spread" - both husband and I have gotten fatter in that time. But that doesn't explain away all the years before that. I have a progressive, hereditary autoimmune connective tissue disease that is treated sort of like cancer - I get infusions at the cancer center every month through a port in my chest and take a low dose of oral chemo at home every week. Women with autoimmune diseases sometimes see a worsening in disease progression after pregnancy, and this was certainly my experience. I've been having to treat my disease aggressively over the past 5 years, and I've recently reached a really stupid cyclical point where the more I weigh, the less effective my treatments are, the more immobile and depressed I become, the more weight I gain, the less effective my treatments are, and so on. This decline in my health and quality of life is what pushed me to reserve a spot in a bariatric seminar in April. As the reality of surgery looms on the horizon, I've begun to worry about some stuff. Somehow I managed to avoid that certain heartbreak that is endemic to fat kids - I was never bullied for my weight (I was popular in my high school, even as a weird kid with green hair and combat boots,) I have never been (obviously, anyways) discriminated against because of my weight, I've always been lucky in love and never had a problem with finding romantic companionship, and so on. The only person that has ever had a problem with my fatness is me. It's been the thing that I've blamed for every disappointment or unhappiness in my life, even though, intellectually, I know that's total nonsense. I worry about what will occupy my thoughts once the fat is gone. What will it be like to thoughtlessly sit in a chair without anxious thoughts of weight limits and chair-smashing public humiliation? What will it be like to not have to obsessively strategize my wardrobe for maximum chub-concealment? What will it be like to simply take up less space? I feel as though I have never not been fat, and I have no idea what to expect. So, Hi!

Good to hear some positive comments. I was still losing on 1200 calories a day, so I've upped it to 1400 this week to see how I do. I'm so afraid of getting on the scale and seeing a 10 pound weight gain. I know that's not scientifically possible, but part of me really believes it. Since this is also PMS week, I'm trying to stay off the scale for the week. Not sure if I'll make it, but I am going to try. Wish me luck!

@@skeewee You should be worried - dehydration is dangerous. If it is impacting your kidneys - then it's critical that you increase your fluids. The weight gain is not unusual - but it's not what you should be concerned about.

I'm 6 weeks post op and have lost 30 pounds. However, today I gained back 3!! The doctor says it's dehydration and my GP said my kidneys aren't functioning at full capacity and to increase my Water intake. Should I be worried? Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I am 48 days out. *(maybe I should start counting weeks) and I'm recently down from 3 to 1-1.5 a day just to make sure I get in my 75g a day. I like them. They are very convenient and I have to be in class 3 nights a week.... I use GNC Lean 25 pre-made and they are very tasty. Funny, this topic should come up. I just met with my nutritionist this past Saturday and she explained why we should wean off Protein shakes. Basically, we have to learn how to eat enough to get our protein from food so we can keep ourselves feeling full longer. That will help avoid cravings for bad stuff. Protein from shakes is protein received, but in liquid form doesn't help to keep our tiny tummies full. Therefore, we can end up eating bigger portions than we should as time progresses. Our portions will eventually get bigger as the months pass from surgery. Our goal is to eat 3 distinct meals with small Snacks, but if we use fluids instead of meals we leave room for more bad stuff. Also she warned that patients will think "oh I've made my protein quota, I can eat this and this..." and they can bc there is room. Too much protein with bad stuff will cause weight gain. She gave me a scheduled ratio for protein to carbs to ensure continued weight loss. BC if you eat too many carbs (good or bad) with protein you will gain weight back. I don't have to worry about sugar or calories or fat - yet. She said focus on protein and carbs ratio and if you plateau we will examine the food log and see if sugar or calories or fat comes into play. I can't eat that much yet anyway- and still rely on at least 1 shake a day to meet.

I have had Mirena for about 3 yrs I've lost about 50 lbs the only change i noticed. Was I started getting periods again with the weight loss, I've discussed it with my OB and she thinks its the weight loss over-riding the IUD in a little over a year and I have not had a problem.Once i het to a stopping point things should stop again. I have not had any weight gain from it either. I am not allowed high dose hormones due to my stroke history and at the time of placement the paragard was not an option. Don't worry because of someone else's complications. Discuss the concerns with ur doctor and let them help you make a decision you'll be happy with. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Like others, it depends on how you define "stall". Every month from the start I went 10 days to a couple of weeks without weight loss and then a big drop. I'm still doing that. I don't see it as a stall. My body is just adjusting. For example, if I drank a lot more water the day before or I had more pickles (salt aka water retention). I love tracking my food too so as long as my calories were low, I know it is just a matter of time. Even people who are bed ridden need over 1000 calories just to survive. For me, I think I would be far more anxious if I didn't track calories though. Seeing low calories day in and day out gives me comfort so I don't have to worry. It's very calming. Excessive worrying just causes cortisol spikes and weight gain. Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats. Your story is somewhat similar to mine. I was 320 and joined WW. I learned to love working out. I was 50 and running 5 mikes, biking 50 plus, lifting weights etc. I got down to 185 where I stalled. then I had a major hip injury and surgery. Working out was not an option. Slowly I gained 50 pounds back and it has been a yo yo ( with more yo than yo) for 2 years. I recently reinjured my hip simply due to the weight gain. I am now up to 280 and it's feels worse than the 330 ever did! That was the last straw. I am in the early stages...not even had first appointment. But I know how good if can be..and I am determined to get back there.

Here is a real interesting article about carbs: http://www.marksdail...rate-continuum/ I was looking for a threshold of what constitutes "low carb". I am usually teetering around 100g. I was never scared of carbs, but I guess since it seems to work for others, maybe I should try it. But then, I just hate the thought of trying to figure out good carbs, bad carbs in my log. I mean, an orange has 20g of carbs, and I don't want to fear those - how do I split that in MFP. Anyway, I found the below really interesting, here is part of the article that I'd like to share. From that, I will really try to stay between 50 and 100g: 300 or more grams/day - Danger Zone! Easy to reach with the “normal” American diet (cereals, pasta, rice, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, soft drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, desserts). High risk of excess fat storage, inflammation, increased disease markers including Metabolic Syndrome or diabetes. Sharp reduction of grains and other processed carbs is critical unless you are on the “chronic cardio” treadmill (which has its own major drawbacks). 150-300 grams/day – Steady, Insidious Weight Gain Continued higher insulin-stimulating effect prevents efficient fat burning and contributes to widespread chronic disease conditions. This range – irresponsibly recommended by the USDA and other diet authorities – can lead to the statistical US average gain of 1.5 pounds of fat per year for forty years. 100-150 grams/day – Primal Blueprint Maintenance Range This range based on body weight and activity level. When combined with Primal exercises, allows for genetically optimal fat burning and muscle development. Range derived from Grok’s (ancestors’) example of enjoying abundant vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains and sugars. 50-100 grams/day – Primal Sweet Spot for Effortless Weight Loss Minimizes insulin production and ramps up fat metabolism. By meeting average daily protein requirements (.7 – 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight formula), eating nutritious vegetables and fruits (easy to stay in 50-100 gram range, even with generous servings), and staying satisfied with delicious high fat foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds), you can lose one to two pounds of body fat per week and then keep it off forever by eating in the maintenance range. 0-50 grams/day – Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Burning Acceptable for a day or two of Intermittent Fasting towards aggressive weight loss efforts, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed otherwise. May be ideal for many diabetics. Not necessarily recommended as a long-term practice for otherwise healthy people due to resultant deprivation of high nutrient value vegetables and fruits. Source: How many carbs should I eat?

I was started on zoloft prior to surgery, I didn't notice any weight gain then. I've continued on it since surgery and to my knowledge it has not had any effect on that aspect of things.

I've been taking Zoloft for over a year and didn't notice any weight gain. I took Prozac before Zoloft and it caused hair loss. I love my Zoloft and how much better I feel mentally. I believe everyone's body reacts differently to anti-depressants. You'll have to figure out what works for you. They have been a life saver for me. 🙂

Look into the health issues caused by most artificial sweeteners, including weight gain and insulin response. Organic stevia seems to be the safest out there. Sweet and lo, Equal and Splenda have been linked to cancer, parkinson's, alzheimer's, dementia, and lots of auto-immune disorders. I feel we should avoid the chemicals because we want to lose weight and be healthy too - not trade obesity for some other horrible disease. It's so hard to avoid the chemicals in low sugar "diet" pre-packaged items, like Protein bars. I do eat them when I need protein, but try not to have the chemicals in coffee, diet drinks, and processed stuff. I found a Protein powder (Jay Robb egg protein) that was approved by my NUT because I have a dairy and soy allergy. It is sweetened with stevia. Good luck to you!

Ok, folks I am new to this forum, I want to share my story to hopefully help some of you stay on track and to hopefully get myself back on track. In May of 1999 I had the VSG surgery, I was at 350 lbs and in less than a year I was down to 255 when I stopped losing weight. I should back up and tell you I was a police officer fro 20 years, when I cam out of the police academy in the early 1990's I was 267 with 12 % body fat, running 5 to 7 miles a day and very healthy. Overtime the drive throughs and my constant schedule chages helped me to gain weight. After I had the vsg I felt great, I was back to exercising, but I still didn't eat the best. I will say I pretty much hate the color green oh and I didn't metion yet that Diet Pepsi is like crack to a crack addict for me. So over the last 15 years I have been putting the weight on once I got back to my orginal start weight I pretty much through in the towel and didn't really care. I marked it up as a failure which has never been my norm. I am up to 473 pounds and I have had enough. I have contacted my local hospital and will be meeting there staff to see what I can do. I am hoping to be able to get a vsg pouch back to working if that is possible. What I want to say to all of you brave people is DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WITH YOUR MEALS NOT EVEN A LITTLE. AND NEVER QUIT YOUR EXERCIS EVEN FOR ONE DAY. AND NO MATTER WHAT NO SODA. I will keep you all posted as I will look for stength and encouragement as I start this journey again. Steve

@@Doggirl79 I was actually denied because of weight gain also. I was also told if I lost the weight they would approve me but i still got denied again. Hopefully this doesn't happen to you and you get a quick approval. In the end I did get approved but had to go through an external review. Keep us updated. Good Luck!!

I have a question about this: is this a 1 pound weight gain over-all; or any 1# weight gain at any time during the trial? In other words, say I started at 100# and ended up at 99#, but during 1 month I went up to 101# - would this be a disqualifier? Or is the net loss at 99# the magic number? Hope I have made myself clear.... I finished the three month supervised diet, unfortunately I gained one pound. Would this little gain get me denied ?

Sooo i need some help! My preop is July 27 surgery date is august 25th. My Bariatric coordinator keeps telling me that if I’m over my original weight my insurance will deny me. She keeps saying Aetna is strict but i don’t have Aetna i have Medicaid but it’s called Aetna better health Maryland. I even called my insurance company and they said weight gain is not something that will deny me that’s not something they look at. Help please!

Wow. In one week, I will be celebrating my 3 months surgiversay. I can't believe my new life. It is amazing and I am so greatful for having the surgery. In retrospect, I can see clearly how being so overweight was affecting my life in a negative way. You make your own destiny. I truly believe that. You have to be willing to reach for your goals and seize opportunites when they arise. Being fat made me reluctant to reach for anything other than food. This sounds harsh, but it was true, so very true. Being so sad on the inside and mad at myself was reflected in my choices, decisions, actions, words, looks, marriage. Once some of the heavy weight fell off, so did the heavy feelings and it has been liberating! Since the surgery, my husband has been crazy affectionate ( more so than he used to be), I have earned a promotion and a substantial raise at work, I am remodeling my house and adding a large addition, and better yet, my husband has decided to take us to Cozumel first part of December-will be my first trip out of the country! I really think that because I BELIEVE good things can come my way now, they are. Before my weigth loss, I would have dreaded a beach vacation before because that means swimsuits, I would have stressed about a promotion and gained more weight, I would probably still be indecisive about what I wanted to do with y house because I was fearful of making decisions so I just didn't make them. I have lost weight before, lots of weight, but I was always overshadowed emotionally by the fear that I would gain it back--and i DID, everytime, plus some. This time, I just know in my heart and mind, that WLS is the key to PERMANENT, MEANINGFUL weight loss because it has forced that hand of changing my lifestyle. I have NO CHOICE but to eat right and if I don't the consequences are very real, very rapid, and very lasting. Hair loss, weight gain, feeling crummy, bone disease, dehydration, and malnutrition are pretty serious tools of leverage for maintaing a better lifestyle when I choose what I fuel up with! I never thought I would get such a sense of empowerment and forward momentum after surgery--I guess because I couldn't believe it to be possible, but NOW, I can!

Notes on saggy skin: 1. Both my children love my arms, they say they are so soft and squishy, and my youngest likes how they flap when she pats them! 2. Don't ever do a plank in a loose shirt that you can look down, you will be terrified! I plan on getting plastics the moment I have the funds. I would get plastics tomorrow if I could. I have been heavy since Kindergarten, my skin didn't have a chance. I have also had 2 children and one of them was a c-section, so I even have some weird areas because of that. I am working on not being my own worst critic. I am horrible and Skinniness, you talked about the lense. That is where I am struggling at the moment. I tend to pick out everything that is wrong without considering the good. This is what I am trying to tell myself. I have put this poor body through a lot of things, not just weight gain/loss, but accidents, and stress. And this body has also given me 2 beautiful children. Despite what I have done to it, I am still healthy (even healthier now!) and I wouldn't be me if I didn't have this body. I am really working on giving myself just a little more compassion, I think not only does my body deserve it, but my mind and my heart as well.

You're off to a good start then! You're going for the VSG? Then you know that it removes a lot of the stomach that produces the "hunger hormone". But if I were you, I'd plan for tackling the Oreo attraction.... IF, and I say "IF", your surgery does the trick for hunger, you are still going to be in love with Oreo s. I wonder, if your hunger were satisfied, would you be able to turn down an Oreo or just have "one"? Nibbling it slowly, and savoring every morsel of taste? Hell, you don't have to have the whole box, and that's what behavior modification is all about. Sometimes it may be easier to say "no" instead of having to use restraint. But if you have the surgery, you have a darn powerful tool to help you to have restraint!! It's such a paradox..... that we enjoy such abundance, and that people around the world, and even in our OWN country, don't know where their next meal is coming from.... And we are grateful that we live in such a time of abundance! We pray that others may be as lucky as we are! Back to the subject; You know how hard it is to lose the 'baby fat' and as we age, the metabolism slows, naturally making weight gain easier. The VSG is rather radical as opposed to the lap band, but even if the VSG were to not be enough, as you already know, you could elect to go for the full duodenal switch and go the full magilla. But then, I don't know what your BMI is and how much you need to lose. Point is, Surgery, is just one tool in the tool box of options for us to choose from in order to cope with the plethora of food we have at our beck and call. Tonight in the Supermarket, I was marveling at what we have, so close and at our reach. Basic food, prepared food, frozen, even hot, ready to eat. And you'll drive past fast food franchises on the way there and back. Are we food obsessed??? Yep. So don't feel like you're lacking in any way because you are uncomfortable being overweight.... It's miraculous that everyone isn't 200 lbs overweight! We're not a food oriented society, say like France, where they savor food and look to their Chefs, like our people look up to sports stars! It's all dollar driven, and Big Bucks Food Industries box it, bag it, freeze it, and sell it to us on tv, in magazines, on billboards, in newspapers, heck, even on the internet! We are the first, biggest and best consumer society in history! An experiment in action! I'm rambling, but I think what I'm saying is that moderation is the key. Anything anyone can say about "DIET" is "Calories in, Calories out." that's it. Anything I, or anyone else could say is an elaboration of that. And surgery is just another tool to help YOU regulate those calories. I'll pray for you. But you are the one who'll carry the load.... And you can do it! You're making antother step helping yourself towards achieving the life you want to lead....