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Got admitted to hospital tonight. They are running CT scans tomorrow. I just finally got off last 'water weight gain' from last week's IV treatments. I just really need to STAY off the scale when this happens

I got the band 3 years ago. It was great the first year. I lost 60lbs, had great restriction, and felt like myself for the first time in a long time! I started getting reflux at night, waking me up w/ bile or acid in my mouth, as well as asperating into my lungs. This caused a persistent cough. I saw the P.A. at my dr's office. An esophagram showed nothing unusual. They advised me to stop eating 3 hours before bed and take reflux meds. I got pg w/ 2nd baby, got a slight unfill, reflux systems subsided and pg was great (w/o the excessive weight gain from 1st pg w/o band). As soon as baby was born, my reflux symptoms intensified so that I could not sleep at all. Anyone w/ a newborn knows this is torture! Dr. Ren unfilled me and had me get an endoscopy. Turns out I have a hiatal hernia (stomach tissue coming up through the band). I wanted to avoid another surgery, as My Dr. was not sure the hernia was causing the reflux and surgery would not necessarily improve the reflux. I waited and now she says that the placement of my band is probably causing the reflux. She said people who have the band placed higher up on their stomachs tend not to have this symptom. So I am scheduled to have the hernia repaired and the band repositioned later this month. I am awaiting insurance approval. I have been struggling w/ eating all year and even went back on weight watchers for a couple of months. I am hopeful everything will work out after the surgery (and that the approval will go through!). Has anyone had experience w/ re-positioning of the band? Thank you!

I ,too, am having fill issues. I had my 6th fill last Wed, thought it was going to be good because when I ate soup it made all of the grumblings that I hadn't heard in months! However, two days later on solids.....NO restriction! I am a self pay and each fill is $200.......YOUCH! That can eat a paycheck quickly! So, I dunno....calling fill doc on Friday to make a fill. However, I think I will set it up after vacation! :cool2: Right now, I have been drinking Slim Fast twice a day to try and ward off any weight gain. Any helpful hints/comments would be greatly appreciated! Oh, I haven't had any good restriction in about 2-2.5 months...

I too, feel I have a leak, though I feel I have had mine since day one. I have not lost more than 5 llbs, since my May 19, 2010 surgery. I kept going back to my dr and they never offered to do anything. They kept telling me that the band wasn't a cure and it is a tool only. I kept telling them that something was wrong and I am not loosing the weight. Finaly in November, I told them to take out all the Fluid. I was 2 cc short. They told me that they could have missed. GREAT! Now, I don't know what I have in. They gave me a total of 8 ccs and a week later I was back because it was too much. I have a VERY slow leak. After 8months of the medical people telling me that it was me and I am not eating right, I made appointment with another Dr., and before I even saw them, they asked for an upper GI. I have a nice band with NO restriction. Even I could see that the band is just sitting there doing nothing, did not slow the birium drink at all. Then dr doing the procedure, the tech and me all saw it do NOTHING!!! My symptoms consist of very, very little restriction and weight gain. I currently weight 5 lbs more then I did at surgery day. I work out and try to watch what I eat, but to be honest, I was loosing more on Atkins and no band. What happens now?? I don't know what I am going to do now. What about you?

Your first fill, right? a lot of doctors don't try to max out the restriction, because a lot of patients get swollen and can't even swallow Water. So, don't panic if your first fill doesn't "take you there." Then, (and I get slammed every time I say this, but I won't stop) a lot of the "weight" that people THINK they have "lost forever" in the first few weeks post-op is nothing more than post-op dehydration. And then when they don't "lose" more or if they "gain," they panic. It was never lost and it wasn't regained...it was temporarily lowered due to dehydration and it later was recovered. If you lost a lot of weight in the immediate post-op time, you may have been dehydrated. Now you can get in more fluids and so you have "regained" that "weight" at the same time you have been losing fat due to decreased food consumption. That may show up as a zero on the scale, and it's perfectly normal. AND, you are exercising and turning some lightweight fat into heavyweight muscle. WLS or not, most people who start exercising show a small weight gain at first, because of the fat-to-muscle thing AND because your body tends to "retain fluids" to "pad" the joints that have recently been stressed by the exercise. I think...you should go by how your clothes fit and not the scale right now...and that there is not enough Protein in most cereals to make it a great choice for your limited stomach space...and that my doctors said that yogurt was simply a high calorie drink. Good luck, Sue

Hey guys! So I’m showing my stomach today. Haven’t done that since surgery.. sometimes I am ashamed of my surgery scars but at the end of the day it’s my body and I love myself and I’ve learned not to care about anyone’s negative opinion. Self consciously of course no one can see too much but it still feels good to dress like the old me, before the weight gain. I’m going out with 2 old friends today and I’m excited. Stomach doesn’t look too bad right?? I’ve been using dove lotion with pure coconut oil from whole foods and coco butter to reduce visibility of stretch marks on my stomach as well. goal - 140 sleeved on - 121416 ! (Idk my measurements now they are prob still the same, for those who do ask whenever I post pics)

Do you know when to stop eating? To learn the when, you must pay attention to your “stop eating” signals. How do you know when to stop eating? Do you eat until you're full? No, you don't. You should never again try to eat until you feel full, not just because that’s how you became obese enough to qualify for bariatric surgery but because if you’re like me, your stomach (or soul) is an endless void that no amount of food will ever fill. You’re going to have to figure out a new stopping point. As mentioned in Satiated vs Stuffed, satiety is not quite the same as being full. Full means your upper stomach has reached its maximum capacity: that you have overeaten again – an old habit that made you obese enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. Satiety happens on your way to being full. With a properly adjusted band, you will be comfortable if you stop eating when you're satiated, but you’ll experience discomfort if you eat until you're full. This third article in the Satiety 101 series discusses the signals your body gives to tell you you’re satiated, but that’s only half the battle. The other half involves heeding instead of ignoring those signals. That subject could fill a book (which that I might write some day). Today we’ll focus on recognizing your own unique Stop Eating Signals. Because of its anatomical position (near your diaphragm, and pressing on the vagus nerve at the top of your stomach), the band’s presence (but not your band itself – which we must remember is an inert piece of plastic without any magic at all inside) can give you quick feedback about your eating behavior. The feedback is written in a language issued and understood by your brain, with assistance from your endocrine and digestive systems. Even if you were lousy in your high school French class, you will have to learn how to get directions in that language, so you won’t end up on Weight Gain Road instead op Weight Loss Avenue. Those directions come in the form of what I call Soft Stop and Hard Stop signals. To understand those directions, you’ll need to slow down and pay attention while you eat. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for satiety signals to reach your brain and to be broadcast to the rest of you. If you usually eat with a crowd (family, friends, coworkers), you might need to try eating by yourself for a few meals so you won't be distracted. Stop signals can be subtle and they can come from unexpected parts of your body. It's better to heed a gentle reminder than wait for a hammer to hit you on the head. SOFT STOPS are your early warning system, gentle reminders from your body that it's time to stop eating. Because they don't hurt much, they're easy to ignore. They include: · Mild queasiness (an icky, but not about-to-vomit, feeling) · Fullness or pressure in the back of the throat · Pressure in the chest or just below the breastbone · Throat clearing · Some difficulty swallowing · Burping (or the urge to burp) · Taking a deep breath · Mild coughing · A sigh · Hiccups · Watering eyes · Runny nose · Left shoulder pain · A sneeze · More saliva in the mouth than usual · A sudden distaste for the food you were enjoying a moment before As soon as you notice one of these signs, stop eating! I don't care if your stubborn mind is insisting that it's okay to continue (because it thinks you have room for just one more bite, or the food tastes good, or you haven't cleaned your plate, or you deserve the food, or whatever's going on in there). If you go on eating past this point, you won't be changing your eating behavior and you're likely to get into trouble…that is, a hard stop. HARD STOPS are the equivalent of running into a brick wall. They can happen without any apparent warning, but usually you have sped heedlessly past a soft stop before you hit the wall. Hard stops are the painful and sometimes embarrassing reminders that you have eaten too much, too fast, in bites that were too big, without chewing enough. They include: · Chest pain and/or painful pressure or tightness in the chest · Feeling like you have a rock in the back of your throat · A burning sensation in the throat · A “stuck” feeling, as if the food you’ve eaten has nowhere to go · Productive burps (PB's) – regurgitation of food, kind of like the way a baby erps up milk · Sliming (excess saliva and mucus that's so profuse, you have to spit it out) When you experience a hard stop, STOP EATING! It's not at all a good idea to keep eating after you experience a hard stop, even if the discomfort goes away and your plate of food still looks appealing. You may feel fine and may in fact be able to eat some more, but you should not eat more. The hard stop has irritated your upper gastrointestinal system. Continuing to eat will just perpetuate the problem, getting you into a never-ending cycle of eat-hard stop-pain-eat-hard stop-pain. Cycles like that tend to turn into complications like band slips and esophageal and stomach dilation. That’s the reason for my next piece of advice: follow a liquid diet for 24 hours after a hard stop episode, then transition carefully back to pureed then soft then solid food. If you’re like me, you did not have WLS in order to live on liquids for the rest of your life. That’s yet another reason to learn how to prevent hard stops in the first place, so that you can eat and enjoy real food at every meal. Now here’s one last chunk of information before the bell rings and today’s class ends. You may not experience any or all of these stop signals any or all of the time. At breakfast you might get one signal and at lunch, an entirely different one. At dinner, you may notice no stop signal at all. As time goes on and you lose weight and the amount of saline in your band changes, your stop signals may change as well. All that can be frustrating, but it will force you to go on eating slowly and carefully for the rest of your life, and that’s actually a good practice for anyone, banded or not. That plate of food before you is a blessing that some people in this world can only dream of. Those small portions may look puny to you, but would be a feast to someone else. So treat your food, and your body, with the care they deserve. Learning to recognize satiety over and over again is an ongoing process because our bodies are not statues made of marble. We are all marvelous, unique, and complex creatures who change by the minute, every day of our lives. Click here to read about how those changes can affect soft and hard stop signals. http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/articles.html/_/support/post-op-support/restriction-riddles-r93 This is the third and final article in the Satiety 101 series of articles.

Thank you for starting this post. I never thought I would admit this but we will be married 20 years this fall but our sex life ended 17 years ago. I know my weight gain was directly related to my feelings of loneliness and emptiness and not wanting to be attractive (so my outside would match my insides). It's good to know that i'm not the only one on the planet with this problem, 'cause it sure seems like it from TV and movies! I know nothing will change if I lose weight. I do know it is very uncomfortable to get attention from other men now that I have dropped a bit of weight. BTW, i'm a trekkie too (live long and prosper)

I started my journey December of 2011. I am currently 5'5 and 242 pounds. I was feeling even more joint pain for months by then and had gained about 50 pounds. The shortness of breath and back pain were the most bothersome, besides the weight gain itself. I have always been a yo-yoer, but to be at a weight that I have NEVER been at, even when I was 9 months pregnant (which was roughly 230), was a major blow. I had a stroke of thought for WLS and began my research to see if I could be covered for the procedure by my insurance company and then proceed from there. I fit all of the criteria to be covered, so I found a great doctor and continued. I went to my psych appt and the seminar the same day, as I was and still am quite sure about having the WLS. I am scheduled now for my first consult on 12/28/11 and I am excited. The office is so helpful and they are rushing to submit the paperwork before the end of the year so I can schedule surgery sooner. I find myself already looking at food differently. Like, "I wont be eating THAT for a while" lol While I am not using that as an excuse to eat nothing but junk, I cant help but view food as I will after surgery, which I think is great that I am already in WLS mode. I think I am going to be able to handle the changes well, but that doesnt mean I know I will still have struggles and questions. I find that I am anxious and even a little impatient to get ahead in journey. I am hoping that the consult goes well and that the insurance approves the surgery and I hope that I will be able to have a surgery date set up...the sooner the better for me! It gives me hope that this new year of 2012 will be full of great things...manageable joint pain, being able to exercise again, weight loss, and a boost in my self esteem are just a few. I am also praying that all goes well, and that I havent gotten my hopes up just to be denied the surgery. I think that insurance companies should be more self aware of how others struggle instead of just the bottom line for their employers. I wish all the sleevers and would-be sleevers "Good Luck!!" and I hope to be joined the bench soon!

Today has started off not so good..................First I start my morning by stepping on the scale and it reflected a weight gain of 3lbs since yesterday morning. I was devastated!!! From there everything started going downhill. I went in for my first fill (after the surgeon made me wait what seems like a year) and he only gives me a 2cc fill. When I first went in I told the nurse and surgeon that I hungry ALL the time. After he did the fill and told me how much he put in, he must have noticed my expression because he went to explain that he normally only give 1 1/2 cc on the first fill, but since I was hungry all the time he gave me a little more...........WOW thanks doc (sarcasm)!!!! And that if that does not do it and/or I am still hungry to come back for a fill in a month. Seems my "bandster hell" shall continue. I pray that I will be more optimistic tomorrow.

I would appreciate your prayers for me for tomorrow. I am having a nuclear stress test. When they did the routine EKG on me for the lap band they saw an irregularity on it. They then did an electrocardiogram and saw something else. I had breast cancer in 1989 at age 39 and it seems the drug they gave me for chemotherapy might have damaged my heart. Great huh? Take this drug to save your life from cancer but it might give you heart damage. 12% of patients that get that drug have damage in their left ventricle. That is the main pumping chamber of your heart. So, tomorrow they are doing the stress test to see how much damage I might have. I don't have a lot of the symptoms (except weight gain and I'm not sure that's why I gained) that people with severe damage have so please pray there is no damage or minimal damage. I'll post when I know more. Blessings, GG

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 had my sleeve revision on October 10th. While in the hospital, I had a weight gain of 8 pounds from IV fluids. After being home for 2 days, I am back to my pre-surgery weight. Now the true weight loss begins.

Hi all! Great topic since I'm sure we see people come and go on this board; it's nice to know a little bit more about those who are currently active. My name is Carrie, I'm 35, and live in Shawnee, KS, which is a suburb of Kansas City. I grew up in St. Louis (Go Cards!), and my family is originally from New York, so I have a crazy weird Midwestern/NY accent. Some things I say make me sound like I'm straight out of Brooklyn and I talk very quickly. I went to the University of Missouri (Mizzou) with a BsED in Secondary Education English and taught high school English for one year. My husband's job transferred him to Kansas City in 1999, and I followed. I've been married for 9 years, and we have a little girl who just turned 2. We also have two dogs: A 4 yr old black lab mix and a 12 yr old yellow lab mix - coincidentally Mizzou colors I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2001 after gaining 40 lbs out of nowhere with no changes in diet or exercise since college. I was always athletic with cheerleading and track and field. I probably had PCOS in high school since my periods were very sporadic but the extreme workouts I did for my sports held off the weight gain. I went through four years of infertility treatments before being successful after rounds shots and IUIs. When I turned 35 I kind of freaked out about it and realized that I'm lucky. I have no issues with blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, etc. I knew I wouldn't be lucky for long carrying around 100 more pounds than I'd like. The PCOS, even with Metformin, made it frustrating to lose weight and almost impossibly no matter what I tried. I decided the band was drastic but necessary. I was banded on 2/17/11 and don't regret it at all. I quit teaching for numerous reasons when I moved to KS and started doing Project Management. I'm now a Quality Assurance Manager for a software company that does software for smartphones (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc). I actually get paid to play with the latest mobile devices; very sweet! Nice meeting you all! -Carrie

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!"

Hi. All surgeons have different expectations with weight gain/loss. Weight gain was a problem for me if I went over my consultation weight by even 1 lb. If that happened, I would not be scheduled for surgery and my process would end. I understand the food funerals. lol I had 4 and my husband was getting a little worried that I had gone off the plan completely. He didn't understand why it was important for me to have my last meals. (That was frustrating.) Good luck. I think you'll be ok as long as you didn't go over consultation weight.

Sorry I don't have any helpful advice on losing the weight, but I just wanted to say your bariatric team is there to help you. It is really common for pregnancy to cause weight gain, so you shouldn't be embarrassed about that! Especially since you've worked so hard to get back to your goal weight (but even if that wasn't the case, you have a new baby! cut yourself a break). I'm sure they've seen other people with similar issues, so I hope they are helpful.

I had my final class today and my pre-op testing. i just have an echo to get done tomorrow (born w/heart valve issue & they want me to be cleared for surgery) and then the covid on sun then my surgery next wed. i've gained some weight since covid (stress/hopelessness/depression) and my doc said no more weight gain from here until my surgery next wednesday or she'll cancel it. i get it, but i plan to start my liquid diet earlier (just bought a bunch of protein drinks/crystal light/jello from walmart to pick up tomorrow) and plan to walk 2x a day w/my dog if i can. a mile each time, more if i can swing it in w/my work schedule and appointments. It's gettin' real real ya'll.. i cant' have anyone w/me because of covid (not in the hospital to stay overnight or to visit..) but its ok bc ive been doing this journey by myself (not married/living alone) so it's only appropriate that i do this final step alone.

So beautifully said. Perfectly said. It’s a part of weight loss that isn’t much talked about and integral to losing the fear of regain. I have mirrored your journey. But I have also decided to completely move beyond valuing myself based on a number. I found that in order to be truly happy I had to accept that all “me” was a valid loveable person. The bigger me, the me now. My worth isn’t determined by my weight. This allowed me to let go of the fear of regain and also let go of any dieting behavior. I now eat freely and intuitively and it’s been such a wonderful transition. I’ve embraced my body weighing whatever it needs to to be healthy. That’s when I was really able to find happiness. My weight gain came about from self hatred and shame, feeling like a failure for not being model thin. If I kept holding myself to that standard I would have put myself right back where i started. Thank you for your post, it’s a really important thing to talk about.

stephC Oh how I wish that my signature was my current stat! No, that is my dream stat. I am now at 240 and after surgery hope to be at 180 in the middle and by the end of 1 -1 1/2 years hope to be 140. So i guess that signature is my goal signature, lol. Last year at this time I was 185!! I wish I could go back in time and stop the weight gain. Just an FYI for you, maybe try another type of shake slim fast is very very unhealthy. Last week i bought two cases without reading the ingredients and it is full of sugar and hydrogenated oil, and high fructose corn syrup. Maybe try a healthfood store for something that will work with your body. Keep up the hard work on the liquid diet, I keep starting one, even though the dr. hasn't said to do one, but after reading on here how many people do it, I figure it will give me a jump start. I can't even make it through an entire day!! I'm starving!

I am 5 1.5 but used to be 5 2 before all the weight gains my dr also rounds up. I was 270 pre-surgery on April 4th 2013. Today am 225. I am almost 4months out. Been a slow move down the scale this past month for sure. I try to stay positive and keep in mind that I packed this all on over the past 30 plus years so even tho I don't see bigger numbers dropping.....it's dropping I have not had any second thoughts about the choice to be sleeved! It's tough enough being short. Much less short AND round lol so I am looking gladly at just. Short. Best to all u other shorties.

I am so disappointed with myself. I started off great, then I had a blood clot and just was focus on not bruising myself or falling. Now, I have gained 10 lbs and still haven't reach my goal. I haven’t exercised, but now I am trying to do something each day. My two year surgerversary is 4/16/2016. Has anyone else come back and met goal after a long stall and weight gain? Thanks

Lacecute, I’m sorry that your dealing with this, but I hate to say that this is a rude awakening for you any will be for many others. This surgery is a tool to help assist with your weight loss. You still have to put the work in as you stated your doing. You will find in your journey weight gains and MANY stalls. The stalls could last 1 or 2 weeks, later in my journey my stalls lasted longer. Your not even two months out so your doing awesome with your weight loss. One thing you don’t want to do is compare your journey to someone else. Everyone is different! This will not happen overnight, please keep that in mind. As the person said prior to increase your food intake, Men’s bodies are different as well and will need more calories than a woman. When you come across a stall increase your protein and water intake. Stay focused on the end result, and to reach the end result don’t add in your triggers or those things that are not good for you I.e. chips. There are healthy options if you desire those guilty pleasures. I would definitely wait until later in your journey to indulge, bad habits now lead to more bad habits. Don’t be so hard on yourself the surgery is working and your doing awesome with your weight loss thus far!

I am aiming for 185 by July 4th. We shall see. I had a Water weight gain this week (traveling for work and eating out) and I am fighting to get off. I have started running/walking and I love it. Good Luck staying on track fellow bandsters!

All of the above for me.lol I was like you and had started yet another diet and was doing well. Right up to the night before surgery, I was second guessing myself. I then realized it was the same old, same old. Lose the weight, gain it back plus some. I couldn't afford to do that anymore. Like Missy, I needed my life back. You are the only one who can decide if you've had enough yoyo dieting. Glad I went ahead with it. In the past, I had always given up by now. Now I'm looking forward to making my goal for the first time ever. Good luck on any decision you make. Stick around and get a really good education on what the band can do and what it can't do.