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I am hypothyroid also and had surgery the same date as you. Yes, weight gain/stall is normal from what I've heard. I also got the added pleasure of having Aunt Flo visit on Friday. Plus feeling very bloated and constipated. Needless to say I've not wanted to feel dissapointed so havent weighed yet. My surgeon visit is Tuesday so will weigh in for my one week surgiversary. Keep us posted...we are all here to support each other Sent from my VS990 using the BariatricPal App

I am thinking a thigh lift is the only way to tighten my inner thighs also : ( I really do not want to have another surgery !! I had a tummy tuck years ago so luckly that was not ruined by my massive weight gain . Good luck ob your TummyTuck and let me know if you have a thigh lift : )

Hey, I see there are some tentative dates for October. I just received my date for October 12th. I'd love to join in this forum; although I'm not from NC. However, I attended Bennett College and went to many parties at A&T. Many, many year ago LOL! I was originally going to have the sleeve done, but after my EGD, my surgeon suggested that I have the bypass. I have reflux and gastritis. Therefore, he thought that since most patients develop reflux with the sleeve, that would not be the best choice for me. I have completed my EGD, psych evaluation, weight history is submitted. I have Aetna which included a 3 month supervised diet. I have one more dietician visit, which is in September. I do have a phone visit, this month. So far, no weight gain. ???? I've been reading and researching everything I can, trying to pass the time buy because I'm so excited. I can't wait to start losing weight.

I opted for the Depo Provera shots. No daily pills, no Nuvaring (my daughter saw the commercial about the bad side effects of it and I stopped using it). Just once every three months, and that's it. I don't even have periods anymore. I'm loving that!!! And I haven't gained weight with it. It even says that average weight gain is five pounds. The weight I have gained is due to PCOS and not being able to exercise like I'd like to. Just thought I'd share an alternative to pills. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

You may be slipping up in minor ways that add up in the long run. Weigh and measure everything. Track your food on an app like Baritastic. It will keep you aware of what you are actually eating. You could also try resetting your set point by returning to all liquids, and build up again to solid foods over several weeks. If you have achieved your goal and stayed there for a while, a bit of weight gain is quite normal.

My thoughts are with you and your family. On getting back to weight loss, don't think the below as a weight loss diet because weight loss diets end. Then one returns to the 'normal' diet which results in weight gain. This is just the old habits reasserting. Get back on your post-op plan. Return to the good habits you learned during the early post-op months. Whatever you do now, it won't be fast weight loss, but if you are consistent you will get where you want to be. Then you need to continue on plan consistently for the rest of your life. If you're inclined increase your activity or even :gasp: exercise. Exercise is not my thing, but I am active(ish). Good luck, Tek

Hi All! Well, i'm back! I had replied to a post on here earlier about an elimination diet i started January 1st to see if it would help control some of my cravings, etc. I am happy to say that it has worked! I have lost 10 lbs and have managed to look at this "diet" as a new way of eating. I also feel that it has "renewed my sleeve" (if that's even possible). I guess I was feeling before I started this that I could eat so much more.. and thus gaining weight. I'm now back to literally having a few bites of things and then feeling full (the way we all felt post op to about 1 year after). The elimination diet is from a book a friend gave to me called the Virgin Diet (by JJ Virgin). I believe that the reason it has worked for me thus far is that you have to be completely obsessed about what you are eating all day in order to keep certain things out of your diet. You have to read every ingredient in everything you buy. You have to be extremely creative in the meals that you prepare for yourself. It might not be the healthiest approach, but in essence, I obsess about food anyway, all day, what I can eat what i "shouldn't" eat, which creates a lot of shame, and then tells my brain to eat more for comfort. This diet is allowing me to continue the obsession, but in doing so, i'm searching for healthy alternatives. I'm eating almost no processed foods (which is a huge culprit in weight gain). And by eating mainly Proteins and vegetables, brown rice, etc. this slows down the digestive process, which allows you to feel full longer.... and also, fills up your sleeve quicker. I will admit the past 4 days or so I had a few bites of a cupcake on Valentine's day....a chocolate....two bites of a cheese quesadilla and yesterday, totally forgot to order a "pizza" gluten free. (I say "pizza" becuase it was actually a huge farmers market salad on top of a gluten free crust... i just forgot to say gluten free and thus suffered the consequences). Yep, turns out that since I haven't eating gluten for almost 2 months, I had a reaction to it when I ate it yesterday (mouth numb and tingling and stomach issues). Also, since not eating eggs for the same amount of time, when I tried to reintroduce them, they made me want to gag. I know this sort of thing won't work for everyone, but I feel such success and a new way of looking at food, that I never thought I would EVER see.... I want to share it with all of you that have similar obsessive food issues and emotional eating. You can still eat as much as you want (which us sleevers know ,its isnt much)... that's why I dont really call it a diet... i'm not restricting myself. BTW, the cupcake and the chocolate did not taste good AT ALL! All I could taste was the sugar. I will say, however, the few bites of cheese quesadilla tasted incredible! I chewed and savored both bites of it.... but that was enough. Becuase I know that if I even attempted to eat an entire slice of a cheese quesadilla, the consequences that I would suffer the next few hours following that slice, is entirely not worth it. Anyway, thank you to everyone that posted on this thread. I've read all of your posts and appreciate all of the support here. My spirits are up and I feel like I am in a much better place. I never thought that my sleeve was going to work again for me, and I was completely wrong. We can get out of this.... and its not about willpower becuase that NEVER works. I didn't think I could change my eating habits, but I do feel so much better in my body and this feeling, of not waking up every morning to diarrhea (sorry to be gross but its true), is worth me staying on this path of food decisions. I do suggest you check out the book (or maybe you can find parts of it on line if you dont want to buy it). Take care, everyone!

This might be a totally different topic, but it's poop related...somewhat. I find this really interesting. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31168511 A woman has dramatically gained weight after a stool transplant from her daughter, doctors report. It is a genuine medical procedure to transplant healthy bacteria into a diseased gut, but US doctors think it may have affected her waistline. She quickly gained 36lb (16kg) and is now classed as obese, the case report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases says. A UK expert said the link between gut bugs and obesity was still unclear. A faecal microbiota transplant - also referred to by some as a "transpoosion" - is like an extreme version of a probiotic yogurt. The aim is to introduce good bacteria into the gut and it was officially backed by the UK health service last year. New treatment It is used when people have stubborn Clostridium difficile infection in their bowels. This can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain and cannot always be treated with antibiotics. The 32-year old woman, who has not been indentified, had an infection that could not be treated with even the most powerful antibiotics. Dr Colleen Kelly, from the Medical School at Brown University, said the option of a faecal transplant was discussed and the woman wanted to use a relative - her daughter. The daughter was overweight at the time and was on her way to becoming obese. The procedure did clear the woman's infection. But Dr Kelly told the BBC News website: "She came back about a year later and complained of tremendous weight gain. "She felt like a switch flipped in her body - to this day she continues to have problems." She started with a Body Mass Index of 26. Sixteen months after the procedure she had a BMI of 33 and three years after it, a BMI of 34.5. Caution Previous research has shown that transplanting gut bacteria from obese people into mice led to the animals gaining weight. Dr Kelly said limited conclusions could be drawn from a single patient, but called the case a warning as "there's not a lot on safety evidence out there". Dr Kelly has now changed her practices and "as a result I'm very careful with all our donors don't use obese people". Dr Andreas Karatzas, from Reading University, said: "You have to bear in mind that this person was saved. "If you run the risk of losing a patient, you don't bother about what could happen 20 years later." However, he said the evidence that gut bacteria affected human waistlines was still inconclusive. "There is some evidence in animals, but we have to be careful - it is a different organism. Just because it happens in animals doesn't mean it happens in humans as well."

Thank-you everyone for your words of encouragement. Yes, I did sign on to change my eating habits for life. "Gowalking" was right on. I need to stop weighing myself and have more realistic goals. I kind of relapsed and took on the habits I had while dieting "before" surgery. A way of life that created the weight gain in the first place. I will now focus on eating healthy and not the number on the scale. Believe me, I have learned my lesson and will never do it again. I do not want to end up in the hospital or cause a harm to my body!

All you need to do is look in the mirror and be honest. You'll know if the weight gain is mostly muscle or fat. As far as what you told your doc, what you REALLY meant was that you would not gain back any fat. The number on the scale isn't very important. He can look at you or check your body fat % (not BMI) and know what happened. As far as your 20 lbs+ go, based on your lifting advances I would guess maybe at most 10lbs of muscle, plus some Water weight if you're better hydrated now and maybe a bit of fat.

I see as many saying 'I've gained' as those saying 'I've lost'. AND MANY have what you describe a few weeks out. From the posts, it ain't "real" weight gain, it's just your body dealing with recovery from major surgery. Just stay with your program and you WILL do fine!!!

Your list most definitely hits the majority of the reasons I experienced the weight gain I did. When I first started having weight creep back in, I ended up ashamed of it and after a bad visit with my bariatric team about it, I left and didn't go back to them. Which sure the heck did not help matters! Those, though, are the main pitfalls for bariatric patients to look out for!

The first 6 months after the sleeve you are healing and your stomach is swollen so you have the most restriction and can eat the least. This is the best time to build good healthy habits because your stomach is going to offer you the most support and you should hopefully have no legit physical hunger during this time period (notice I said legit physical hunger, you can still have head hunger or confuse acid for physical hunger). 6-18 months you are fully healed but you should still have little to no ghrelin (stomach hormone that signals the brain for hunger). It gradually returns over time. The first 18 months you get the most physical support from your body to facilitate weight loss. You also have your set point lowered so your body is not actively trying to maintain a higher weight. So while you have this support from your body and this hormone and physical reset, you should take advantage. Learn new eating habits so they because a new lifestyle not a diet and avoid things that cause weight gain. I don't eat carbs, I didn't eat them during the first 6 months and now I don't want them. If I have the occassional carb, it is a once a day once a week kind of thing, not a habit. They just don't appeal to me. You can really change the way you think about and relate to food if you follow the eating steps laid out in your plan. WLS is more than a physical thing, it offers the chance for a complete mental reset in how you think about and relate to food. If you don't follow the plan or the steps you blow that chance and a lot of people end up feeling like they are dieting forever. So the difference ends up being, creating a new way of life, or being on a diet forever, or worse, failing. This Dr has a lot of very good information about Weight loss and weight loss surgery

I am a firm believer of everything in moderation. I have failed too many diets because I would deprive myself of something I wanted, then couldn't stand it anymore and would binge like crazy. I got the sleeve because I want to eat like "normal people". If "normal people" want chips, they have a few and are satisfied. That is what I do now too, as opposed to eating a whole bag like I used to do. My partner is a nutritionist and he is a firm believer of this too. It is a matter of living a healthier lifestyle, making healthier choices and when you want a treat, have it, enjoy it, don't over indulge and don't beat yourself up over it. If any of you look at my diary on my fitness pal you will see, I eat like a "normal person". If I want ice cream, I have it, but I do go with the low fat kind now and about half a cup is all I need. And yes, on the weekends I will partake of an adult beverage or two as well. Now that I have my back problems somewhat under control, have recovered from the weight gain as a result of not being able to move much and it has been a while since my steroid injections, I am back losing a healthy two pounds a week and beyond happy with that. I feel good, I have great energy, a great man in my life and am happy, exactly what I had hoped for. Sent from my iPad using VST

The bypass and sleeve are very similar. I’ve seen you comment about people who’ve gotten back their weight, but my girlfriend and her mom did the sleeve 5 years ago and they have kept all their weight off. I have friends who’ve done the sleeve 2-3 years backs and they are still in great shape(no weight gain after 2-3 years). People who gain weight years after are people who start eating unhealthy and don’t follow the plan their Bariatric team has given them. My friend was 298 and in 9 months lost 150 pounds. She exercised and followed her diet. Simple. What is this myth you talk about? 18 month window? You’re always going to keep losing until you start eating to maintain your ideal weight. There is no window that magically stops you from losing. Who is giving you this information?

That's a good but difficult question. The simplest way to put it- the band doesn't change your behavior at all, it's your job to change your behavior. Very often, band patients do revert back to old behaviors if they haven't deal with the psychological aspects that lead them to obesity to begin with. There is a saying around here "the band goes around our stomachs, not our brains". If someone is eating for a reason other than physical hunger then they need to deal with that issue because the band can't change that. Another reason it's imperative to deal with the psychological issues of obesity is because the biggest weight gain "comfort foods" are also slider foods. Slider foods are foods that you can eat a ton of because they essentially liquefy when you eat them so they slide right through like the band isn't even there. For most of us (including me), chips are a slider. So is chocolate and ice cream. Some baked good are too- I found this out when I made homemade sugar Cookies last Christmas. When it comes to slider foods, you can easily binge and really sabotage your weight loss efforts. It's a slippery slope and one that really needs to be dealt with. What the band does do is allow you to be satisfied on much less food for much longer periods of time. Essentially, it controls hunger. This helps significantly for two reasons- it's a lot easier to eat less food and you're not so pre-occupied with food when you're not constantly hungry. If the band is removed, or Fluid removed, it is common for weight gain because all the sudden your appetite comes back with a vengeance. Last summer I had to have a total unfill for surgery (not band related). I got out of the hospital and I swear I was starving. I mean... my stomach was growling hungry all the time. I didn't gain weight during that time but boy it wasn't easy. Getting my band refilled couldn't come quick enough. If I'd had to stay like that long term, or worse lost my band forever, I have no doubt I'd gain weight. My personal feeling is, the better mentally prepared you are for the necessary changes with the band the better off (and more successful) you'll be. Best wishes.

Hi guys, so I’m exactly 1 month post op today and my start weight was 125Kg and I went down to 115.9Kg but this was in the first two weeks maybe even week. Since then I haven’t lost anything which was stressing me out, but what is stressing me out even more is I decided to get on the scales today and it came up as 116.7 and I checked in different places just to be sure. I’ve literally not added anything major into my diet I haven’t gone astray. So I’m still on protein shakes and I’ve only just this Tuesday started soft foods so literally yesterday prior to that I was having lentil soup as a meal 200grams of it for dinner and two protein shakes and water . I haven’t even eaten any foods today I really don’t know what’s going on. I’m actually so upset . Did anyone else experience this?

Shelly, I was not told to lose any specific amount and I had like 134 to lose to get to my goal. What you can do now is jumpstart your loss and be in better shape for surgery and after. I guess you can address this with him first. I got the impression that as long as I didn't gain (remember period Water weight gain) before ANY of my preop one on one's with him, I was in the clear. I knew my monthy was coming and it's always good for a whopping 5-7 pounds of water for a few days, and I didn't want THAT to be the cause I couldn't get surgery. LOL! I worked darn hard to put a "wider" gap between my highest wieght, and what I was at the moment. I lost 13 pounds of fat, goodbye forever before surgery...and surprisingly, I stopped snoring so my chances of having obstructive apnea became less of an issue. I was lighter on my feet, and had more energy, even at that small of a loss. Why not ride the wave of good feeling while it's high and mighty? Just the thought of having the procedure done to help me keep the weight off was super duper motivating. All of a sudden I had willpower I didn't know I had in me. My only concern was that I didn't have any co-morbids and dipping below my MO status would risk my ability to get surgery. I started at 48...and I knew that if I lost more than 35 before surgery approval, I would be risking it...as I wasn't sure which NUMBER the dang insurance company was using to guage my BMI status...the beginning, the middle or the pre-op. ((HUGS)) It's all unofficial, but nekkid weight today puts me at 90 pounds to lose instead of the 134 I started at the first of July. I am no longer morbidly obese...oh how I hated that title, it was do depressing!!! Linda

Yeah. Been here recently. Exact same feeling as you... convinced I'm going to do this surgery and die on the table. Angry with myself that I'm taking this risk. Why can't I just lose the weight and keep it off myself? Why do I need to have surgery? Why couldn't I have done something when I was younger? And on and on and on, running on my hamster wheel of anxiety until I'm completely exhausted. You're SO not alone. Lately I've been feeling better. I had an extremely long talk with the nurse practitioner at my program and she said basically before surgery you're going to meet with the anesthesia team and they will run tests and make sure you're safe to be put under. She told me that this is elective surgery and most of us are healthy when we go under... meanwhile extremely sick, unhealthy people who have severe illnesses or disease or organ failure are put under for emergency surgeries all the time. That made me feel a lot better. They're monitoring your stats all throughout and nothing will be a surprise for them. If something happens you are already in the best place to get emergency care. My therapist says that surgery is a risk, but staying obese is also a risk, and so is getting in the car, or going swimming at the beach, or any number of other things in life. As far as anxiety goes... I have an appt 8/24 to start medication, most likely Wellbutrin (bupropion). It will help both my anxiety and depression and is one of the only drugs of this kind that doesn't have an issue with weight gain or increased appetite; in fact the psychiatrist said it has an appetite-suppressing quality. I was extremely afraid to try drug therapy for my anxiety for the longest time, but my husband began using Wellbutrin for depression and has had great results for more than six months with no personality changes or side effects. That gave me the confidence I needed to finally say yes when my therapist asked if I wanted to try medicinal assistance as well as therapy. So, don't be afraid to get help for your anxiety. We don't have to be slaves to our hamster wheel minds. Good luck!

I have had this problem, it can be from water weight gain, regular weight gain or irritation of the band area due to reflux - or at least this is what I was told by my physician.

I am 2 weeks post op and while things seem to be going ok...I have gained 5 pounds back this week! HOW does one gain weight when they are on an all liquid diet of less than 800 calories a day? The only thing NEW is that my General Dr. cut out my heart pill which is a diuretic, and lowered my insulin in half and cut my BP meds down 75%. Not sure why the weight gain, but it is ticking me off to no end! It is not like I am cheating and EATING something... Very discouraged at this point!

I have a Mirena and have had it for a year. I really haven't noticed any weight gains with it. It was one of the best things I have done especially since I haven't had a cycle in a year now.

I have had the mirena since 8/09 and haven't had any problems or weight gain issues... at least none that I can directly attribute to it!!!! I love it. I don't ever think about it. I don't feel the strings, and from what I know, my SO can't either. Definitely keeping it in til '14.

Hi Brandy I'm on paxil,didn't notice any weight gain but I do have the other side effects I was really sick when I started taking paxil,it lasted about 3 weeks lost 20lbs but soon gained that back once i was not sick.I think paxil saved my life because I now feel so normal.I think I was depressed all my life and didn't know what was wrong.I like you have generations of family depression.It spiraled out of control once I hit forty.Hang there we'll get through it.I wonder if the meds are the reason I don't feel full for so long.:thumbup:

Good Morning everyone, i truly enjoyed reading everyone comments. When i tell you guys this has been super hard for me. My first year all i did was stay going into the hospital from issues with my surgery. like now i was rush to the hospital from my PCP. The issues was that my throat felt like something was blocking it and it was cutting off my airways. Once i arrive to the hospital and they check me out. According to the doctor it's GERD I HAVE. its been kicking my butt for years. like now cook food is a no go for me. cant swallow meat so i do not eat it. Let's not forget about constipation x10. Plus now i have arthritis in both knees and neck until its hard for me to walk. fluid building up because of my 20lb weight gain from the steroid shots... just started walking again... i need some relief from all this. The insurance i have do not cover no type of weight loss surgery. when i got my sleeve done my late husband insurance paid 100%, but this market place cigna EPO connect do not cover at all. unless the doctor will have to submit a medical note. i do not know what to do helpp...