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Kimberly, Congratulations on losing half of your weight---that's fantastic! The thought of never gaining any back is completely foreign to me but exciting. I, too, have a low-functioning thyroid and have taken medication since I was very young. When I am on the proper dosage, I don't notice any problems, but when the dosage becomes too low, the first thing I notice is either weight gain or lack of weight loss when I am trying hard. And unfortunately, when my medicine is increased, the pounds don't just drop off. However, they do eventually come off, which is the most important part. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Good luck with losing the remainder of your excess weight!

I use to be skinny, in fact very unhealthy type skinny, and it wasn't from lack of eating. My sister loves to remind me of the 6 hot dogs I'd eat and not gain an ounce. I went out of my way well into my 30's trying to gain, then boom it slowly started hitting me. I really believe all those years of eating things I didn't like but because someone said they were high in calories and they would help me gain I ate....I developed some seriously bad habits so as my metabolism and life style slowed down the weight gain increased big time. No more anorexic looking skinny but instead a bery unheathy unable to do much fat chick. Right now my biggest problem is hubby like to come home, eat dinner play on our computers for a little while then watch tv together till he falls asleep. I unfortunately associate that time with snack time. I found out quickly that air popped popcorn and chex mix could easily be eaten around the band. I also gained six pounds doing it, ok so I did throw in some carrot cake as well telling myslef I deserved it I've done well. When I got on the scale and saw the 6 lbs back I wanted to cry. Thankfully I worked really hard and got rid of them fast. I've been stuck for awhile now and actually feel very restriceted, I know that I was eating around my band. I've made a pact to give up the pop corn and chex mix, substitute sugar free pop sickles and lettuce salad for a week. So far I've lost a new 1 1/2 lbs. It will be 6 months on the 23rd and I still fight with head hunger but seeing that scale get off the # its been stuck at by simply making a deal with myself not to eat around my band for a week. Not sure what I will try next but I too would love to hear how to get past triggers and head hunger

Hi, I am 37 and I started my weight loss journey on July 28th. I attended my first nutritional visit on 8-11-16, and i had my psychological visit. I am a new vegetarian. I weighed in at 5'4, 234 with the surgeon, and 241 with my nutritionist. So far I've only lost 3 lbs with this new lifestyle. I have PCOS symptoms of acne, weight gain, irregular periods, mood swings. I'm so frustrated with all of this! Which surgery option is best for my situation? Is there anyone out there with success with PCOS and weight loss surgery? I'm also thinking of going to another surgeon, because every time I call or email them, I get their live voicemail and they won't return my call or email. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

In the battle to lose weight, stop overeating, or break free from emotional eating, it’s important to pay attention to the things that trigger your eating to go awry. Simply focusing on what to eat misses an essential point–Your eating choices may be strongly affected by your emotions and your environment. And your food plan is useless if something is preventing you from following it. Here are five common overeating triggers that you can take control of by taking some smart, proactive action before they sabotage your weight loss efforts. 1. Getting too hungry Do you stick to your plan through breakfast and lunch only to find yourself irritable, craving carbs, and ready to eat everything in sight by the time late afternoon or evening rolls around? The end of the day tends to be stressful for many. The transition between work and home, mealtime decisions, and other peoples’ hunger or tiredness can push a busy woman over the edge. When I start coaching a new private client, it’s not unusual to hear that this is THE most difficult time of day. The key here: take control of what you can. This means doing what you can so that you don’t arrive at the end of the day feeling exhausted and starved. Too many women who are trying to lose weight, eat too little in the middle of the day and, as a result, lose control and overeat before, during, or after dinner (or all three). Make sure you are eating a balanced lunch (with protein) and then calculate the hours you are expecting yourself to last before eating again. Most women do well with a small snack midafternoon. Again, adding in protein can make all the difference. 2. Evening eating Evening (and late night) is a strong overeating trigger time for many busy women. If you are working hard all day long, it’s easy to come to see the quiet of evening as your reward. And if you are too tired and depleted to really enjoy it, food and emotional eating can become a big part of the evening ritual. “I eat in the evening because I want to treat myself.” “It’s my me-time.” “It’s the only time of the day where no one expects anything of me.” Women also overeat in the evening because they are tired (but don’t want to go to bed because this is the only alone time they have). Breaking free of the evening overeating triggers can be challenging, but it’s essential. Start by creating a policy for yourself about eating after dinner. Be realistic but be firm. Now, identify the bedtime you need to honor so that you are getting a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep a night. This alone can make a huge difference in your overeating. Trust me. Create a new wind-down ritual that includes some nice things for you but that doesn’t include food. Finally, start carving out some me-time (even ten minutes) on the front-end of your day. You might need to get up earlier, but you’ll be focusing on you when you have the energy to do it. 3. Snacking on treats at work Are you overeating or grazing at work on the sugary treats that your coworkers leave all over the office or the break room? Make it easy on yourself by making one decision instead of hundreds. Set a policy with yourself about your eating at work. Make sure it’s a policy you can stick with. Sometimes something as simple as “I’ll only eat homemade food that is truly a treat that I can’t easily have any time” will do the trick. Spend a bit of time strategizing how you will avoid temptation and how you will reward yourself for doing so. And don’t forget to enlist support. If you are putting on pounds at the office, I guarantee that you aren’t the only one being haunted by the food. 4. Stress eating and overeating Emotional eating—using food to cope with feelings—is one of the biggest causes of overeating and weight gain. Smart women take this one seriously! Take the time to check in with yourself before you eat. Try to identify how you are feeling. Become aware of patterns. Are you a stress eater? Comfort eater? Boredom eater? The key to taking control of emotional eating is to create better strategies—ones that really address the emotions you are having. Start creating ways of addressing your feelings that you can use INSTEAD of turning to food. 5. Too much on your plate When you are too busy, stressed, and overloaded, overeating can seem like an easy way to sneak in a reward, some comfort, or a much-needed energy boost. The problem is that any benefits tend to be short-lived and the costs and negative consequences aren’t. If you want to take control of your weight, your eating, and your relationship with food, you MUST take control of your life. Learn to say no, cut back your schedule, carve out time that’s just for you and start practicing the art of asking for help. The best part of addressing overeating triggers is that when you take charge of what drives your overeating and emotional eating, you are almost always fixing a problem that’s bigger than food. When you get to the root cause of your overeating and address it head on, the triggers often lose their power. When you find strategies for dealing with stress, overeating, and overload, you are also creating strategies for living a better life.

I had a small glass of wine about a month and a half out. No problems whatsoever. I "Drank Drank" about 3 months out. Multiple Crowns on the rocks at Hunting camp for three straight nights. No physical problems except a small weight gain from the calories and that came right off after a couple of days. I think you'll be fine if you take it easy. Enjoy Vegas and don't get locked on the roof of Caesars Palace!

thankss everyone!! heyy monkeyy i have glasses, my primary has checked it out, and i don't have any allergies that i know of! i have always had intense headaches ever since I was a child, but it has gotten worse with the weight gain ( hopefully it will clear up). thanks again everyone...you have been most helpful (as per usual) =]

I love to cook. I don' think that's something that goes away after surgery, at least it didn't for me. I'm a great cook, which also contributed to my weight gain. Now when I cook, it's usually something special for the family, otherwise it's just something small for myself. My husband and son don't really like many of the same foods as I do, particularly anything healthy like vegetables. I love vegetables but can't eat enough before they go bad in the fridge, mostly any lettuce or like items that you have to buy in a package like mushrooms or carrots, that sort of thing. I have to admit that I still enjoy some not-so-good-for-me foods, but I can't eat much at all so when I do indulge, it's now one small slice of pizza (if that) versus 3-4 slices of pizza! Big difference. Last night we had ribeye steak and mashed potatoes. I ate a very small portion of steak, about 4 small bites and two tablespoons of mashed potatoes. It was an indulgence, but I felt like I ate a TON of food and felt bad like when I would binge before the surgery. It's always been difficult at our house to make what everyone likes. Now it's twice as difficult with my limitations.

Good Morning Fellow Canadians !! I am so very glad this thread was started. I am from Edmonton. My surgery is booked for September 10th. Flying into San Diego on the 9th and back home on the 14th. I am then taking the rest of the month off for a full recovery. I have applied for short term disability through my insurance company so I can at least get paid while I am off for 3 weeks. I look forward to chatting with everyone soon ! Robin. My BMI is 34.1 on a bad day. I know its not SUPER SUPER high, but its way too high for me. I suffer from bulemia nervousa and I feel that this is going to be the remedy to kick it. My doctor is super supportive of my decision as he knows how hard I have tried to change my lifestyle and battle with weight gain and loss. I see my dietitian (NOT a nutritionist) next month. I am very excited to get some extra information and a pre-op diet ready for August. As well as a diet plan for post op. I have been doing alot of research on post bariatric Vitamins and not sure with brands, online vs. a health food store. So much information out there.

My doctor didn't require any weight loss, just no weight gain during 6 month pre-op appointments.

Hi all! I am just about a month out and doing great! I have a few concerns. One is that I go on the scale alot and start to get upset when I see for example a .6 weight gain. Today for some reason I have been so hungry! Usually im fine not hungry at all but for some reason today I just want to eat. Can anyone else relate?!

I’ve been looking at this bariatric forum for many years and have appreciated the insight of the stories on here and thought I’d share the end of my lap band journey and my story might be helpful for anyone considering having theirs removed. Banded: April 2004, Dr Talbot, Sydney, Australia (79kgs at consult, 85 kgs at surgery) Unbanded: February 2017, Dr Ali, Glasgow, Scotland (85kgs) When I was banded I thought it would be a quick fix to weight loss and was advised to gain a few kilos to be eligible for the surgery. I wasn’t mentally prepared for the drastic lifestyle changes I would need to make and the band was not a success for me. My problem was binge eating of sugar and carbs – chocolate, ice-cream, biscuits, cakes etc. and unfortunately the band did not help with the psychological issues that caused my binge eating. I never had a problem with healthy or normal food or portion sizes; my weight issues were due to junk food and binge eating excess calories when stressed, happy, sad … sugar and carbs were used as an emotional regulator as such and no form of weight loss surgery will help to fix this – I’ve since learnt that psychological understanding and therapy including CBT is more successful. In fact, life with the lap band created bad eating habits as I could no longer tolerate the majority of healthy foods including most meat and vegetables, this was even with no liquid in the band. I have been lying constantly for the past 13 years as very few people knew I had the band, I was ashamed of it. Eating out was a nightmare as could only tolerate certain foods and having to find a way to get food unstuck without having red eyes from my eyes watering when regurgitating. Dinner parties were a nightmare so lots of declines when I would rather have gone. Work dinners and travel/functions made me anxious of thoughts of getting stuck. Always having to review menus ahead of time when they were available to have a plan of attack of what I might be able to tolerate (if I could tolerate). Some days no issues, other days full restriction regardless of what I ate and especially in the mornings. I was unhappy. And I could still consume sugar and carbs in binges with no problems most of the time. I had my removal surgery yesterday and was wheeled to surgery at 1pm and woke up in recovery around 2.45pm. New incision scars were required but this time with internal stitches and I can’t see them at the moment due to the dressings but they look small and I’ve been told very neat. Was told my band and port were in perfect order with the original sutures still intact, they were removed along with the capsule that had formed and was told it was one of the best placed bands he had seen with minimal scar tissue and after 13 years I feel blessed to have had no erosion or major issues. Pain after removal is minimal and I was so worried and nervous, would have had this done years ago if I knew how good it would go. It feels like I’ve done a lot of sit ups and that is very easy to deal with, I can even sleep on my side if I’m slow with positioning myself. I do have a mild sore throat from the anaesthetic and shoulder tip pain from the gas used during surgery to see my organs and that will eventually dissipate from the body and go away. I’ve had a stitch feeling on my right side (near the port) today when I move quickly and have been told that could happen and hopefully that will go away over time also. I had some panadol before going to sleep last night and some today after the car trip home but that’s about it for pain relief requirements. Overnight stay in hospital but could have left same day I felt so good, I ate chicken with carrots last night in hospital with no restriction a few hours after surgery! That is the first time in 13 years … was a bit emotional. I’m not particularly hungry but the surgeon warned me at consult, before and after surgery that most patients gain a voracious appetite and gain weight rapidly after having the band removed. He wanted me to have conversion to sleeve surgery but I was not interested. Time will tell … I’m hoping to get my binge eating reasons sorted and be able to eat a healthier way … I wasn’t even in the obese category when I went for consultation 13 years ago (BMI 29 and then went into obese with the weight gain I was told to do to be eligible). Fingers crossed this decision ends up being a good one all over with no weight gain going forward.

I think my birth control sparked my weight gain as well. I was on the Mirena (hormonal IUD) and although I loved how it stopped my period, I felt like suddenly I wasn't able to lose any weight no matter how hard I tried. Thats really when I started trying all of these extreme dieting and exercising and developing bad habits. I eventually started gaining weight until I took it out but by then I think the damage had already been done. Also, I developed facial hair which still continue to grow after I removed the Mirena. Recently I tried the Paraguard (Copper IUD) which didn't make me gain any weight but I HATED it. My menstrual cramps were soooo bad and I bleed so heavily and often. I haven't tried anything post WLS.

Well my birth control is in the form of Mr.'s vasectomy. LOLOLOLOLzzzzzz I have several friends who have IUDs and swear by it. I also have another friend who does injectables, but wants to switch to IUD based on our other friends' experiences. It is said that hormonal IUDs *may* still cause slight weight gain vs. non-hormonal ones, but I know at least 2 of these gals are using hormonal ones and have not gained any weight in the years they have been using it. Mind you they are never-been-fat girls, so that may be a factor.

"Kayte"....some people say that you can't really get too much protein, but I would have to disagree. It is true that it takes your body more effort/energy (calories) to break down protein, but protein is still calories and doesn't have negative calories, and can eventually lead to weight gain in my opinion if consuming too many. Especially if you are getting plenty of protein from solid foods, then chugging 4-5 Protein shakes a day in addition to the solid protein. Eventually your body is going to get more protein than it can use and at some point (since they are calories), they will be stored as fat if you have too many. I think for us, it would be fairly difficult for us to get that many grams every day without drinking a ton of them. How many grams each individual needs varies and depends on factors such as overall body mass and it's composition (muscle), one's age, activity level, etc. I know for me, I don't go with the "1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day" theory like a lot of the other gym rats I lift with. I can't imagine consuming 240+ grams of protein, especially now. I don't care how lean that protein is, that's still a lot of calories. However, I probably do get in a lot more than most people on this message board. I'm guessing I get on average of 100-125 grams of proetin now. I lift weights very heavily and at a very high intensity and there is a lot of muscle broken down during my workouts, so they need the extra protein to repair and rebuild. But if I didn't lift weights or do much cardio, I would probably only shoot for around 60 grams of protein a day. But that's just my opinion as I know what works for me. Kayte, I would discuss this with your nutritionist as I'm sure he/she has a pretty good idea of your situation and needs. http://www.livestron...ou-gain-weight/

I have asthma too, and had been on prednisone on and off in recent years until I was put on the proper control meds. I fully believe that prednisone, although a necessary evil, changes our bodies far more than "an increased appetite and minor weight gain". I have vowed to avoid it as much as possible from now on. Good luck with your surgery. I hope it brings you wonderful health gains!

Everything that I've read and been told indicates that any rapid weight gain, as in the Last Supper Syndrome/gaining weight prior to surgery, significantly increases the fat in the liver. Even though the liver is being moved to the side, when it's excessively fatty, it's *easier* to damage. There have been cases of banding surgeries being *cancelled* after the doctor goes inside and sees how fatty the liver is. So even though you've been an OR nurse for 14 yrs, you might not want to second guess the surgeons who are doing this procedure. When they say it's to shrink the liver, I believe it is. If a doctor gives you a pre-op diet, you should follow it. Cindy

I didn't have my surgery until I was past menopause, so I've had no personal experience with post-WLS birth control, but I do remember being on Depo-Provera once and gained like 40 lbs from it before I begged to be switched to something else. Not sure how that one would be if someone had had WLS, but not sure I'd risk it. Weight gain from the pill isn't as high as that - and maybe some brands aren't as bad when it comes to weight gain. I did go on the pill for awhile after the Depo disaster and didn't gain any weight, but it could be that I was watching it like a hawk because I was terrified of gaining more weight. Would your doctor be willing to do something like place an IUD? I'd just talk to him/her about your concerns and your options.

Ddsweighin, don't stress over the weight gain. Perfectly normal the first month post-op. Stay on your eating plan and it will come off soon. Your body's been through a trauma, and it's healing. After the first three weeks I started to lose at a good pace. Two weeks post-op I developed a head and chest cold, and it hung on forever. I'm still coughing sometimes and I'm now six weeks post-op. I'm pretty sure the duration of this cold had something to do with being compromised by surgery, having a breathing tube, etc. I'm prone to bronchitis in the winter anyway. It's getting better, but slowly. If you're truly worried about any specific symptoms, call your doctor. Really! They can't help if you don't. But feeling generally lousy from time to time the first month is par for the course. For me, walking and lots of Water improved things. The days I felt crappy I was usually dehydrated and didn't realize it until I logged my calories, water and exercise in MyFitnessPal. Good luck.

The great thing about banding is that it is compatible with later pregnancy. Like all pregnant women, you will need to be careful to get proper nutrition. Your surgeon and OB can work together to determine the calorie level you require, and your band can be adjusted accordingly. YES, you probably WILL have back pain---it's a common occurrence during pregnancy, when body mechanics shift tremendously. But it's TEMPORARY---as will be the weight gain. After all, you WILL have the band still, and will be able to lose the modest amount of weight recommended as a pregnancy gain quite easily. We ALL worry about...well, everything!...when it comes to pregnancy. But this really is one worry you can put to rest. Please don't let your pregnancy be soured by weight ruminations---so many of us (even pre-banding) focused far, far too much on THAT, and far too little on the absolute miracle going on in our bodies! PS-Your worst case scenario seems to be regaining your weight thereby harming your baby for life. My kids have had an overweight mom for a good deal of their lives. Know what? They were gobsmacked when I told them I was having WLS. It had never occurred to them that there was anything about me that required changing. Really, having an overweight mom does NOT RUIN KIDS' LIVES.

the liquid diet will test your will power, i can say for 14 day i didnt cheat not one time, and this was during Christmas, amazed myself and my family that I stuck to it. Knowing what you have coming is SO worth it! What i can tell you and I dont want to be negative, but it is a possibility, after you can eat again u may try a "no no" food and be like oh that went down, so maybe i will try something else. DONT DO IT, it is the beginning of a very slippery slide. Example the other day i really thought i need a piece of candy, reminder, just because you had the surgery and made your tummy smaller your head still thinks it can do what it did before, so instead of eating 1 piece i ended up eating 25 pieces, yes 25 "fun size" pieces. There was NO fun in that but I couldn't stop. I felt so guilty that i did a 2 day liquid diet to "punish" myself. Just remember stay positive, set obtainable goals, and your weight gain didn't happen over night and neither will the weight loss. All the struggles and fighting is SO SO worth it. Keep in mind the big pictire. I have lost 37lbs since my 12/30/10 surgery, 56lbs since my highest weight and I FEEL SO MUCH better!! I wish you the best of luck and stay strong!

So I'm kind of a unique case- I had the lap band in 2009. Was 385 (I'm 5'4") at my highest, got down to 217 at my wedding in December 2013. Was working out 6 days a week, was a size 10-12, and had an ass you could bounce a quarter off of hahaha. But all of 2014 I was getting crazy stomach pain and gaining weight. I had moved and lost my gym routine so I thought it was that and jumped back into the gym and injured myself. Put on more weight during recovering from that. Then I had inexplicable back and pelvic pain (which later turned out to be a kidney infection)- during a CT scan for this pelvic pain they saw that my lap band had slipped, so that must have been what caused all that pain and weight gain. They gave me the option in Nov 2014 to convert to a sleeve but I was very gun shy and thought I worked so hard and I know how to lose weight, I can do it on my own. I don't want any more complications. So they took it out. I was 250 at that point. I ended up gaining 70 more lbs over the next two years. This was after I had gotten skin removal surgery (which sucks btw lol). I was incredibly depressed, gaining weight, unable to get in control of it, unemployed etc etc etc. So finally I in February of 2016 I thought I need to just bite the bullet and get the sleeve. I don't want to wait until I'm 385 lbs again to get motivated- I need something to help me now. So I started the process. I wavered on it a lot, which is why it took me 8 months instead of 6 to get approved- I kept going back on the idea of getting the surgery. Here's what I'm worried about: 1. What if I get a leak 2. What if I lose all the weight only to gain it back again 3. What if my skin sags so the horrible skin surgeries weren't worth it? I've got seams like a build-a-bear already- how much would it suck to be a build a bear AND have loose skin. All in all though, the pros outweighs the cons. Last time when I had Bariatric surgery I was 21. I didn't feel the effects of being obese on my body. Now I'm 65 lbs lighter than before and my back and knees and ankles kill. I have sleep apnea. My prediabetes and blood pressure are creeping up. My social life is suffering. My three-year-old marriage is suffering. The fears I have are far outweighed by the reality I live in. @@OhHeyMarina, you've got this girl. You will come out much healthier and happier. Don't worry about the loose skin. You may have some, but skin is an amazing organ and actually does snap back pretty well. If you're weight lifting and moisturizing well, you're gonna limit the amount of excess skin. And if not, you can always get it lifted. I'm telling you, nothing is not worth feeling thin and healthy. Wearing the clothes you want and feeling healthy on your body. You're making an investment in your life- ylure getting sleeved so you won't have the pitfall I had. Just stay on track and make that lifestyle change and it will be so worth it!

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I truly had no symptoms other than being able to eat a lot more and subsequent weight gain. I had a renewed effort and had three or four fills in a very short period and still didn't feel any restriction. My surgeon did a barium swallow and when he made me drink the barium three times I knew something was up. His staff scheduled me for endoscopy. When I woke from the endoscopy I knew there was a problem because they left some pictures on the table next to me. It really is shocking to see that stomach acid can turn that band from white to black. Ewwwww. So, we'll see how this goes. I'm guessing I won't be a candidate for ever getting another band because I've already had two. I just have to get my butt in gear and exercise. From 6/21 to now I've lost 9 pounds, so that's a great start. I don't know how the band eroded. It certainly was never too tight for me. On 12/24/12 I had oral surgery and had a lot of vomiting afterwards, but I never had pain. Would have been hard to tell if my band was different then because of the oral surgery I was eating only soft foods. So, I'm really guessing that it happened then. Again, thanks for the good wishes.

I would definitely get a note from your doctor who is treating your lymphedema to send in with your preauthorization that states that the recent weight gain was due to this issue. If they mark the date that you started having issues with it and coincides with the time you started gaining weight it will definitely help.

Impossible to say unless it's been actually presented to the Plan for approval, BUT, weight gain from lymphedema is hardly the same thing as weight gain from overeating. Lymphedema is not a contributor to obesity, though obesity may exacerbate lymphedema. Your NUT is not the expert in insurance approvals, your surgeon's insurance coordinator is. That is the person to speak to with your question. You don't say who your new insurance will be.

Be sure you are sipping, not gulping. And try to exhale before you swallow to reduce the amount of air you swallow. I also found that sitting up REAL straight seemed to help as well. You still have swelling (our stomachs don't like to be poked and pulled), but it will get better. Don't worry about weight gain/loss right now. Your only concern for the next 6-8 weeks is HEALING! I cannot stress this enough. You will have the band for the rest of your life. Be patient. The first couple of months can be difficult until you get enough fills to get restriction. Between now and then, be patient. Follow your doctor's orders. Make an eating plan to get you through the rough days, and you will do fine.