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I guys, any thoughts on Lapband removal and going to sleeve? I was banded April 2008 and have many complications over the last few years from GI issues to slippage causing weight gain. Spoke to my doctor today originally thinking of going to gastric bypass, but after much discussion of how I am dedicated to working out, counting calories and portion control, that he feels the sleeve would be a better option for me to lose the weight Ive gained and help me obtain my goal weight with out dealing with the complications of re routing intestines and malobsobtion. Any thoughts?

I am six lbs heavier this morning than I was Tuesday morning! Please tell me it's just all the fluids going in you through the IV?

I'm going thru the same thing. My surgeon told me he wanted me to lose 10-15 pounds before he would do my surgery. I initially lost about 12 pounds but now I am stuck in a bad spot. I have jumped up to only having a loss of 6 pounds. I am worried that when I see him on the 15th he will be angry and postpone my surgery date. I hope he won't, I have switched medications and I am on my period both of which can cause weight gain. I'm hoping for you. Like someone else said drink lots of Water and try not to stress. I have heard stressing can stall weight loss. Good Luck I'm sending good thoughts your way.

Sorry this is so long. :-( I'm just starting my journey but wanted to just get this out. My BMI was 40.3 at my initial consultation. I want this, but I'm stressing about the thought of my BMI dropping below 40 and being denied by my insurance. I have to have a 40 BMI, do 3 months weight management, a nutritionist visit, 2 year weight history and. Psychologist appointment for my insurance qualifications. So the earliest my case will be submitted to insurance is October. I have health issues but none that qualify according to their list of co-morbidities. One member of the staff at the surgeons office said don't gain anything or you may have an issue with your insurance. Another member of the staff said my insurance won't cancel for a little weight gain. So I'm stressing and have a few months to continue stressing! Anyone been through a similar situation. Sent from my XT1585 using the BariatricPal App

I found this article on another WLS site. It's old but makes sense: By: Cynthia Buffington, Ph.D Did you drink carbonated soft drinks prior to your Bariatric surgery? Do you still consume carbonated soft drinks? Were you advised by your surgeon or his/her nutritional staff NOT to drink carbonated drinks after surgery? Do you understand why drinking carbonated beverages, even if sugar-free, could jeopardize your weight loss success and, perhaps even your health? A carbonated beverage is an effervescent drink that releases carbon dioxide under conditions of normal atmospheric pressure. Carbonated drinks include most soft drinks, champagne, beer, and seltzer water. If you consume a soft drink or other carbonated beverage while eating, the carbonation forces food through he stomach pouch, reducing the time food remains in the pouch. The less time food remains in your stomach pouch, the less satiety (feelings of fullness) you experience, enabling you to eat more with increased risk for weight gain. The gas released from a carbonated beverage mat "stretch" your stomach pouch. Food forced through the pouch by the carbonation could also significantly enlarge the size of your stoma (the opening between the stomach pouch and intestines of patients who have had a gastric bypass or biliopancreatic diversion). An enlarged pouch or stoma would allow you to eat larger amounts of food at any one setting. In this way, consuming carbonated beverages, even if the drinks are diet or calorie free, may cause weight gain or interfere with maximal weight loss success. Soft drinks may also cause weight gain by reducing the absorption of dietary calcium. Dietary calcium helps to stimulate fat breakdown and reduce its uptake into adipose tissue. Epidemiological and clinical studies have found a close association between obesity and low dietary calcium intake. Recent studies have found that maintaining sufficient amounts of dietary calcium helps to induce weight loss or prevent weight gain following diet. The high caffeine in carbonated sodas is one way that drinking carbonated soft drinks may reduce the absorption of calcium into the body. Studies have found that caffeine increases urinary calcium content, meaning that high caffeine may interfere with the uptake of dietary calcium into the body. Keep in mind that one 12 oz. can of Mountain Dew has 50 mg of caffeine, and Pepsi and Coke (diet or those with sugar) contain 37 mg of caffeine each. Colas, such as Pepsi and Coke (diet or with sugar), may also cause calcium deficiencies from the high amounts of phosphoric acid that they contain. Phosphate binds to calcium and the bound calcium cannot be absorbed into the body. Both animal and human studies have found that phosphoric acid is associated with altered calcium homeostasis and low calcium. Drinking carbonated beverages may also reduce dietary calcium because these beverages replace milk and other nutrient-containing drinks or foods in the diet. Several studies report inverse (negative) relationships between carbonated beverage usage and the amount of milk (particularly children) consume. Carbonated beverages, then, may reduce dietary calcium because of their high caffeine or phosphoric acid content or because drinking such beverages tends to reduce the consumption of calcium-containing foods and beverages. Such deficiencies in dietary calcium intake may be even more pronounced in Bariatric surgical patients. Calcium deficiencies with Bariatric surgery have been reported following gastric restrictive and/or malabsorptive procedures. The reduced amounts of calcium with bariatric surgery may occur as a result of low nutrient intake, low levels of vitamin D, or, for patients who have had gastric bypass pr the biliopancreatic diversion (with or without the duodenal switch), from bypass of the portion of the gut where active absorption of calcium normally occurs. Drinking carbonated beverages may further increase the risk for dietary calcium deficiencies and, in this way, hinder maximal weight loss success. For all the reasons described above, including calcium deficits, reduced satiety, enlargement of pouch or stoma, drinking carbonated beverages, even those that are sugar-free, could lead to weight gain. Carbonated beverages that contain sugar, however, pose a substantially greater threat to the Bariatric patient in terms of weight loss and weight loss maintenance with surgery. Sugar-containing soft drinks have a relatively high glycemic index, meaning that blood sugar levels readily increase with their consumption. The rapid rise in blood sugar, in turn, increases the production of the hormone, insulin. , that acts to drive sugar into tissues where it is metabolized or processed for storage. High insulin levels, however, also contribute to fat accumulation, driving fat into the fat storage depots and inhibiting the breakdown of fat. Soft drinks with sugar are also high in calories. An average 12 oz. soft drink contains 10 teaspoons of refined sugar (40g). The typical 12-oz. can of soda contains 150 calories (Coke = 140 calories; Pepsi = 150; Dr. Pepper = 160; orange soda = 180; 7-up = 140; etc.). Soft drinks are the fifth largest source of calories for adults, accounting for 5.6% of all calories that Americans consume. Among adolescents, soft drinks provide 8%- to 9% of calories. An extra 150 calories per day from a soft drink over the course of a year, is equivalent to nearly 16 pounds and that weight gain multiplied by a few years could equate to “morbid obesity”. In addition to the adverse effects that carbonated drinks have on weight loss or weight loss maintenance, carbonated beverages may also have adverse effects on health. Soda beverages and other carbonated drinks are acidic with a pH of 3.0 or less. Drinking these acidic beverages on an empty stomach in the absence of food, as Bariatric patients are required to do, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of the gastric pouch and intestines and increase the risk for ulcers or even the risk for gastrointestinal adenomas (cancer). Soft drink usage has also been found to be associated with various other health problems. These include an increased risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, bone fractures and reduced bone density, allergies, cancer, acid-peptic disease, dental carries, gingivitis, and more. Soft drinks may, in addition, increase the risk for oxidative stress. This condition is believed to contribute significantly to aging and to diseases associated with aging and obesity, i.e. diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, reduced immune function, hypertension, and more. From the above discussion, do you now have a little better understanding of why your Bariatric surgeon or Bariatric nutritionist advised you NOT to consume carbonated sodas after surgery? Your Bariatric surgeon and his/her staff want to see you achieve the best results possible from your surgery – both in terms of weight loss and health status – and so do YOU. Consider the consequences of drinking such beverages now that you understand more clearly why such drinks are “Bariatric taboo”.

I don't drink carbonated drinks at all. Nor do I drink beverages that contain artificial sweeteners as they lead to weight gain (based on results from many scientific studies) and the chemicals have no nutritional value.

Hi Justathing, I've just (re)joined bariatricpal to get some support myself. I am 9 years out. I got all the way down to 132 (120 lb loss). Than I started to gain, slowly but surely and am now sitting at 165. I am pretty certain I have a leak going on. Anyway, I too contribute excess stress to my weight gain (divorce, career change, ft work, blah blah). Certainly nothing compared to losing a child, which I am terribly sorry to hear about your loss. The reason I wanted to reach out to you is because you mentioned "forgetting" the basics. I suffer from the same problem. It's been so long that my life pre band seems like another lifetime and I'm not hyperfocused on the band/rules. After all the stressful times I went through, my brain thought stress before band issues. How bizarre is that? After spending years focusing on the band and being in the green, I'm now needing to relearn these basics and practicing them. I also need to get back to green (which may mean a placement of a 2nd band to get me restarted). I think this is a common phenomenon for us 'old banders' and its one of the primary reasons Im back on the site. I need to think, breath, and be the band again so I can stay accountable and get better management of my weight again.

I am bipolar. I have to take 7 different medications. Not taking my medications is not an option for me. My medications do have the side-effect of weight gain. What the medication does is it turns off the brain's signal to tell me when I am full. That is where the band comes in. I have accepted that my medication has an effect on how fast I lose the weight. But I am still losing!!! So I rock!

Ditto to much of what you guys said except I don' have diabetes. Weight gain after 40. I had 2 hip resurfacings and wouldn't know they were not my hips but I didn't want to outlive them so decided on WLS. Wanted the lap band but my Dr's explained why there wasn't a high success rate on them. Also when I went through the pre classes there were quite a few band revisions to sleeve. My loss is slow but sure. 30 lbs down and I feel so much better. Arthritis pain is way down, BP normal, people compliment me on looking good and psychologically and emotionally I feel great. I did this for ME and it's the best decision I could of made for my health. I'm 1/2 way to my goal of size 10. I'm down to a 14 and loving it. The saying I'm not getting older I'm getting better is so true for me now. Good luck you'll do fine as long as you put your mind to it.

I have a friend who is banded like me and like me she is also struggling with weight gain / inadequate loss and what to do. She has booked to attend a seminar, in Melbourne Australia, with Dr Vuong. Wondering what they are about and what the goal is. Does this Dr promote a certain type of surgery, does he have answers that other Drs don’t? Why is he travelling the world like a rockstar, is he drumming up business for some surgical group?

This. And I'm honestly surprised (again and again) that an eating disorder and/or stress eating or whatever eating has to be ruled out because... well... if all of these things weren't a problem: how did the weight came on after all? I somehow doubt that the majority of people that qualify for WLS is on a drug regime that caused a 100 lbs+ weight gain and the prolonged maintenance of that weight gain.

This is me. I have checked after falling back asleep too. But the fluctuations don't bother me as long as I am in a downward trend, so I weigh myself every day if I'm home or at my parents' house where I know the scale more or less matches mine. I would say that if you find yourself getting panicked and wanting to do something extreme because of a 0.5 lb weight gain on any given day, probably you shouldn't weigh every day. I expect my weight might go up 1-2 days in a row but still be down for a the week. I just don't want to go a whole week without being accountable. YMMV.

Thanks for sharing. I was curious as your height & starting weight & BMI are similar to mine were. Honestly, when I started my research the permanency of the surgery was a concern too but the more reading I did & self reflection I realised the permanency was what I probably needed. Not that I was really someone who binged, emotionally ate or craved food but I felt it was the only way to alter my dead slow metabolism & the hormonal influence on my weight gain/loss cycle. That was my thinking for my situation & it’s certainly worked so far. Good luck whatever surgery you choose. 😀

What they told you about the BCBS PPO approach is true. You have to be on a six month medically supervised diet before the surgery. You might lose weight, not lose weight, gain weight...there is no requirement other than the surgeon's office being able to say that you were on "a six month medically supervised diet". Then BCBS of Illinois will pay for the surgery. I don't want to wait six months and having any of the surgeries (lap band, gastric sleeve plication or gastric bypass) are less than half the cost in the Mexican hospitals. Plus, the Mexican doctors have more experience with the procedures. They have all done more and have been doing them longer. That is why I decided to go to Mexico and to pay for the surgery myself. Clinic in Chicago wanted $13K for the lapband vs. 4995 in Hospital Angeles Tijuana. They don't even offer the gastric plication surgery here yet. So, I am off to Mexico for surgery at the end of the month. I should be 60 pounds thinner before BCBS would even let me do anything.

Absolutely they can! Be very careful not to gain weight for that reason. If you do end up gaining weight be sure to wear lightweight clothing and weigh without shoes when you weigh in at your Nutritionist appoinment. If you have gained weight while on your menstrual cycle be sure your nutritionist puts that in the notes as the reason for possible weight gain. I had gained 2 or 3 pounds and my NUT made sure to notate that because she said that insurance companies are using weight gain as reason for denying or at least forcing you to delay your surgery.

I'm a former bander too. It caused all kinds of problems and then the weight gain. I had my sleeve done about a year ago and love it. I knew how to eat and what to do it was like riding a bike. I'm really happy now! Good luck on your journey!

I've been reading again for the same reason. I joined when I was banded back in 2007 long story short I lost some weight down to 224 band was too tight for a long time I gained to 246 and then had an unfill due to dilation so I gained up to 276 and now from there I'm sitting at 320. I had Fluid added back in last year, but all it has done is stop the weight gain. I visited another surgeon hoping to have a revision to sleeve. My insurance right now is UnitedHealthcare Plus Choice (something like that) my RN told me that if it was approached as a revision surgery I would have to show some kind of complication with the band which my doctor said would be slippage, erosion, or the band somehow failing mechanically, otherwise it would be treated as a new surgery and I would have to go through the 6 month supervised diet, psych evaluation, and would have to show a 5 year history of heights and weights from a doctor to prove a history of being morbidly obese. Because I haven't had complications my surgeon believes that it is likely my insurance will deny the request for revision and possible deny it as a new surgery because I don't have the 5 year weight history I need so right now I'm looking into self pay options. I hope your insurance will approve you and you can get the sleeve. I've also struggled with feeling like I failed so I understand that. If I had just found the money to go back and get the band unfilled instead of living with it being too tight I might've kept losing weight. I just try to learn from it.

I have not seen an endocrinologist. In 2007 I had my gallbladder removed and weighed 240 pounds. Even though I was overweight, I still rode a bike 30 minutes a day, walked about a mile a day, and was very active. Since then, I have nearly doubled in weight. I'm having digestive issues as well as my bloid pressure so my doctor and I have been focused on that. I plan to bring up weight loss surgery on my next visit. I just started seeing this doctor so she is unaware of my rapid weight gain.

Today marks my 1 week post op and what a week it has been. Let me recap in a few important catagories. Physical I've experience the pain, which in all honesty isn't as bad as I would have expected. If we ignore the day of surgery and the day after, the rest of the week has been ok. I haven't needed any pain meds since the 3rd day post op. Pain has been limited to gas pain and incision site pain, both completely tolerable. The begining of the week I was a bit more tired than usual and I became tired quicker when doing simple activities like walking, each day this gets a bit better. Today I went shopping with my mother, my fitbit says I took around 3500 steps and walked 1.4 miles. My knees feel better, my back feels better, my feet feel better. I am actually sleeping better and waking up feeling as if I slept, no more waking tired. Looking forward to the next week! Emotional This has been one of the toughest things to deal with, the disappointment in not being able to enjoy the foods I love has hit me pretty hard a few times, always when out. I went to breakfast with my wife and her dad, I assumed that the resturant would have yogurt for me to eat since most do, they didn't. So I sat there with a decaf coffee and a kids sized orange juice while they ate. I don't like eggs and what not, but the smell comming off of their plates was so amazing, it took most of what I had to keep from breaking down into tears. I focused on why I'm doing this and resolved in the fact that I would be able to eat again in a few weeks. The biggest test was Thanksgiving. My family are big eaters, Italian families know how to eat. So I was dreading Thanksgiving at my parents house. The night prior I jumped the gun on my puree phase and attempted some pureed meat pie, a tiny 1/4 inch slice and some beef broth, blended it up, poured it into my 1/4 cup ramekin and heated it up. It looked so nasty, but the taste, after all the liquids and puddings and jello's was so damn amazing. And lucky for me, I didn't have any problems with eating it, I finished the serving a little quick for my liking, but I held off and sure enough, I felt the fullness coming on, but it never got painful, so I knew I hit the mark size wise. This gave me a bit of a bump for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving came and I pureed some turkey with gravy, some corn and potatos and took a 1/2 slice of cranberry sauce about a cup of food in total. We all said our thanks and got to eating. I focused on taking my time, I watched the clock and put my spoon down between "bites". About 20 mins in I knew I should stop, the fullness was just starting to kick up, so I put down my spoon and pushed the plate away. Everyone was suprised by how little I could eat. But they were all impressed. So one more big eating day left and it will be a smooth year. Weight I saved the best for last. I weighted in at 350 when I finally decided that I had had enough and that diets and yo-yo weight gain/loss had to go. My last appointment with my surgeon I weighted in at 343. The last "official" weight in at my pre-op training class was 336.8. The night before surgery I weighed myself on a medical scale at 335. Pretty good. But these next numbers are amazing. I had surgery on Friday, the following Monday I weighed in at 329, Yesterday, I weighed 324. So from 335 to 324 in 1 week! and all without feeling underfed. This is the motivation I need. I'm feeling the weight loss in my clothes, on my back and knees. It's noticable. I'm greatful to everyone here for the information and support that you are providing. All comments, both positive and critical are appreciated. I understand that to learn we need to be shown our faults. Stay Strong LBT!

I am currently on my last month seeing my nutritionist for the 3 month program required by Aetna for WLS. So far all together I have gained 4lbs over the two months I have been seeing her and have yet to lose any.( I started at 391.6 my last WI was 395.6). I explained to my nutritionist that I was experiencing Water retention thus the reason for my weight gain. I struggle with PCOS which I've learned also makes it hard for me to lose weight. Last week I also found out that I may have ovarian cancer which my GYNO says is due to my size. I am currently 26 and on my parents medical plan which will end for me in 2015 so this is my last shot. If I don't get this surgery this year I will not have the opportunity again. I have seen different stories of people being denied due to gaining weight. Can anyone shed some light on this please? If I lose weight this month will I still be approved although I gained weight the first two months? TIA

I think there is a misconception with wls. I had a friend go from 285 to 130. I think I was told I'd lose like 60 lbs? My goal for myself was 150. I said I'd be excited to hit 140. Which is where I am now. I didn't really put any expectations on this, other then I just wanted to be healthy. I have a chronic lung condition, I was mid diagnosed as a teen with a condition and was put on steroids for 3 months on a very high dose- I gained 80 lbs in 2 months. And could never get it off. A few years ago I had a lung mass found and because of the location and size no surgeon will remove it since it's considered "stable" so they choose to treat it with steroids, 5 months of that cause weight gained again I couldn't get off. I was diagnosed with svt in 2015 and had an ablation at 33.So for me it was important to try to do everything I could to get the weight off, just to be able to give my lungs a fighting chance, and to avoid a pacemaker. I'm 36. I have a 15 year old that I want to see graduate high school, so I knew I needed to consider what my pcp was suggesting. It took me a full year to consider gastric surgery. At 230, I wasn't sure I was "fat enough" to qualify, but I had enough co-morbidities that got me approved. You may be in a stall right now, but keep going. Trust me I've delt with fair share of complications from it too. You're going to get there. Some journeys are tougher then others. But I bet in a few months you'll be one to tell someone who is doubting " you got this! I've been in that same spot!"

Try sprintec. I was on it for years before my surgery . Then placed on ortho-tri-cyclen lo and it messed my cycle all up after 9 months . I'm back on sprintec again and love it . It's cheap ( no co pay for my insurance ) and it's a low dose one so there's less chance of a weight gain . I've been taking it since January , even through my post op .

My mother had her first knee replacement in her late forties!! Then she had her hip replaced in her early 50's, a couple years later... her other knee. She's 57 and next month will have her other hip replaced. She's battled w/ being overweight after having my brother at 30. Her mom had major joint problems as well. I dont' want that life!!!! My dad resents her because he wanted to travel after retirement but she can't do the things he wants to do. I don't want THAT life either. :-( That's why I'm having this surgery. I was so active pre weight gain. I can still run/jog (2 miles in 28 minutes is what I'm up to and can walk an hour). I can no longer do incline training because the pain in my knee is awful. Even driving hurts. I'm glad to hear you're doing better since surgery. i can't wait until I can post that I did my 10 mile hike that I did when I first met my husband! :-)

Yea, unfortunately, women can be mean and jealous! I don't like this aspect of our kind!! I have too have experienced this first hand ... I've told the story before, but I will tell again (now I find it amusing). Just after my sleeve - nearly 2 yrs ago - a friend of mine saw how I was losing weight. She had just had a baby and was caring extra weight. OUt of the blue, like so many other stories, she became a diet and exerise 'expert'. She worked out 7 days a week and hardly ate a thing - her mother had her two kids for her to do this btw. She kept telling me how many inches she was losing, howmany pounds she had lost and what size she was. This would be followed by a half hearted question about my own weight loss. She knew about my sleeve. She used me as competition. She couldn't stand the thoought of me being smaller than her... I have ALWAYS been the biggest in our friendship group. She even gave me her clothes that were 'too big' for her, these included several maternity trousers. She explained this by stating that: 'I know your problem area is your tummy, so these are perfect!' Implying that I looked pregnant! Anyway, fast forward two years... here I am currently maintaining at my 72lb weight loss and I fit nicely into a UK14. My friend however, has put a lot of weight back on and is now a good 14lbs if not more heavier than me and at least one clothing size bigger. I have not said ANYTHING about her weight gain. I have been tempted to pay back her back handed compliments, but I am being the bigger -metaphorically of course - person! Try to ignore comments with negative undertones and outright negative elements... this is your experience. This is your time to get healthy, fit and happy.... bugger everyone else!! Good luck to you ... =]

Dont panic yet - its simply a matter of getting restriction. I must say, the older 4cc bands seem to have people at their sweet spot much much quicker, I found with mine, I had the right restriction for me at that particular time each and every fill. But i know from four years on here that its very very normal to take even up to a year to get good restriction and start losing. till then, well you DO have to summon up some willpower. Dont underestimate yourself - you do have it. Maybe not enough to have 2lb coming off every week, but to start making healthy changes. The band has NOTHING to do with your exercise habits, for example, there's absolutely nothing to stop you going at that really hard and with dedication and that will prevent weight gain, if not see weight coming off. Its a shame its such a drawn out process, but you dont have a "window" in which you have to lose weight or the opportunity is lost, when you get good restriction, it will start happening.